Music Venues Abound in Murphys, CA  by Bethany Woy

There is nothing like listening to live music. Yes, your ipod and CD can ease your troubles in the car—but there is something about sitting down and watching talented musicians taking you away to a far off place. Now, add that live music experience with a glass of wine and delicious food and you’ve found yourself a new spot to be. Every. Week. The following are a few places in Calaveras County where you can kick back, relax and let the good times roll… May I suggest booking a Food and Wine tour with Local Roots Food Tours and hitting up one of these lovely establishments after your tour to listen to some amazing local musicians???

Alchemy Market -  191 Main Street, Murphy’s, Ca  (209) 728-0700      Alchemy is a very well known and loved restaurant in Murphy’s and boasts Chef Jason Wright’s personal menu. The lovely interior showcases California Cuisine while adding local flair with their wine menu and baked goods. Not only is the menu to die for, live music is played at Alchemy TWO times a week! (My kind of place!) Every Tuesday from 4pm-8pm, $5 glasses of wine are served and Alchemy also offers a menu of fresh fish dishes as well as house made desserts.  Sounds good to me!

Every Friday, Alchemy offers jazz music by Matt Cullen on their patio from 5:30pm-8pm. The music is free- but the restaurant asks that you call for reservations and stay for dinner. Seems like a pretty easy thing to me. Alchemy also suggests if the mood strikes you- feel free to get up and dance!

V Restaurant, Bar & Bistro  402 Main Street, Murphy’s   (209) 728-0107 Any place that has been voted “best cocktail” years over, gets a gold star in my book. V Restaurant in Murphy’s has done just that. Not only are their award winning cocktails amazing- their menu showcases fresh, local and organic food that is absolutely mouth watering. Lamb meatballs or fresh vegetable risotto? Yes, please. Pair this with some local wine (or cocktail if that strikes your fancy) and some live music? You’ve got yourself a perfect night.  Each Friday and Saturday night, V offers local music that will knock your socks off! My suggestion is to check out their Facebook page for updates, calendars and specials. You won’t be sorry you did!

Want to make a full weekend of it? The V Restaurant is located in the Victoria Inn- check out their website and see if there are any reservations so you can make it a weekend destination!

Twisted Oak Winery  363 Main Street, Murphy’s,  (209) 728-3000 A beautiful winery with amazing wine, that has the brilliant idea to start a concert series? I’m in. Twisted Oak Winery has now released their summer concert series and boy does it look like fun! The winery offers a breath taking venue as well as food, drink and (most importantly!) delicious Twisted Oak Wine. The winery allows you to bring in your own food and drink (but the big wigs ask that you keep alcoholic beverages at home)- which I am okay with, because Twisted Oak wine is absolutely delicious. Hanging out under the stars while listening to beautiful folk music? Sounds like the perfect summer evening to me. Check out their website right now and purchase some tickets for these events. I guarantee they will sell out quickly.
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Exploring Northern California’s hills and valleys by bus is only the beginning. We take participants right to the source of our local food chain: the farms and vineyards.  Our bus goes behind the gates and beyond the tractors to meet local farmers & vintners. Learn where their farm story began, how they see our local agriculture growing, and their role as a provider to our local communities and restaurants. We literally go from the farm to fork in our bus adventure.

Take advantage of our special farm and wine bus tour day this upcoming May 19th with discount savings on tour tickets.  For this date only, we are offering a special ticket price of $54 per adult ticket – a $15 savings per ticket!  Use promo code: FRESH to receive discount:  http://www.zerve.com/LocalRoots/Sierra

Our Sierra Foothill Farm & Wine Tour focuses on the Placer County area on the Sunday, May 19th bus tour route. We showcase Placer Grown farms and vineyards along a beautiful planned tour route.

Though subject to change, you can expect:

• Transportation from a central meeting location in our 14 passenger executive bus
• A 4 hour bus tour with 5 to 6 different stops
• A trained local guide ready to showcase farms, orchards, & vineyards
• An opportunity to shop at each stop
• A catered, 4 course gourmet lunch
• Local Roots Food Tours reusable shopping bag

Typical stops will be to a indoor farmers market/bakery, a local olive oil mandarin farm, 1 or 2 fresh berry patches/farms, 1 organic produce farm, 1 flower farm and 1 local vineyard with wine tastings. Shopping will be allowed on all stops and is highly encouraged!  Our bus tour is fully guided by our locally trained hosts who will delight you with stories and fun facts about the region. Each participant will be treated to a gourmet lunch, along with complimentary beverages.

Come along and enjoy the beauty of the rolling Sierra’s along with bountiful farms, spring flowers and delicious bites of our local bounty.  It will be a day you will always remember and the opportunity to connect to our local farmers and vintners.  Don’t forget to bring your cameras -  there will be some wonderful photo ops!   For further questions about our farm & wine tours please give us a call:  1-800-407-8918  or contact us via our email:  info@localrootsfoodtours.com

GIVE THE GIFT OF FOOD & WINE THIS MOTHER’S DAY!

Mom’s always know best but how about giving them a break for a day and treating them to a day away from their kitchen? I don’t know of any mom who doesn’t find comfort in food!  Celebrate all the women in your life and what they have done for you and others by sending them on a culinary adventure – a walking food & wine tour!  A special way to say “thanks!”

MOTHERS DAY GIFT CERTIFICATE SPECIAL:  For a limited time only -  Buy a GIFT CERTIFICATE with a special Mother’s Day Message for $45.00.  A SAVINGS OF $15.00! ***Gift certificate is good for any Local Roots Food Walking Tours***  Offer expires May 18, 2012 – No expiration on gift certificates. Limited to 4 gift certificates per order.  To order your Mother’s Day Gift Certificate Special please visit: http://www.zerve.com/LocalRoots/Giftcertificates  ***Use Promo Code “BESTMOM”*** OR 1-800-407-8918.

ADULT FOOD TOUR TICKET SALE:  Take your mom/spouse on a food tour!  Treat your well-deserved mom to a day out of the kitchen and into 6 different restaurants for a culinary experience she will never forget!  FOR A LIMITED TIME purchase any adult food tour ticket for any of our walking culinary tours and receive $15 off each ticket purchased. Use code: BESTMOM for this limited time discount.  To take advantage of this offer you can purchase tickets thru: http://www.zerve.com/LocalRoots

Our LOCAL ROOTS FOOD TOURS GIFT CERTIFICATE is a GREAT way to show your love or appreciation to that someone.  Nothing says “thank you” or “I love you” more than delicious and fresh ingredient food!
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5 Reasons For a Food or Farm Group Tour by Bethany Woy

1.  Do you have a Family/Class Reunion in the near future?

So, you have your family in town for little Bobby’s graduation and the ceremony lasts 3 hours. And you have 3 more days with your relatives. What are you going to do? You’ve gone bowling, hiking and seen 4 movies. I have a fabulous idea: FOOD TOUR! Walking out in the fresh air, learning about history and (the best of all!) EATING! Nothing brings families closer together than food. Meeting chefs and owners of local restaurants and tasting delicious food is a perfect way to spend the day with the ones your love. Showcasing your hometown (or destination for that matter) is a fabulous way to spark conversation and open up discussions about local food and agriculture. And Uncle Fred can’t complain if you are feeding him right?!

2.  It’s your turn to plan a Girls Day Out?

I cannot tell you how often I stop and look at my day planner and say to myself, “it’s been too long since I’ve seen my girlfriends.” If you are anything like me- work seems to get in the way of everything! Sit down, email your girls and carve out a day to meet up. The rule is— no one can cancel. You won’t be sorry you did this. There is nothing better than getting together with the women that know you best and experiencing the behind the scenes of the culinary world. (cocktail tastings also make life fabulous!) Catching up with your friends, tasting amazingly delicious food and walking around beautiful settings— adds up to being the most perfect of days.  Book Club, Bible Study Group, Red Hat Society, Cooking Club, Travel Club…..bring all your girlfriends and let Local Roots take care of the rest!

Need More Reasons? Click Here!

Local Roots Food & Farm Tours Celebration Gift Certificate Offer

In honor of our food touring company’s 2 year anniversary mark – we are offering all our customers the opportunity to SAVE!!

Buy our CELEBRATION GIFT BOOKLET for $250 and receive a FREE ADULT FOOD TOUR TICKET.   Celebration Booklet comes with 5 adult food tour tickets to all walking food tours excluding our bus tours.)   A SAVINGS of $110.00

Buy our SPRING FARM TO FORK GIFT BOOKLET for $350.00 and receive:  6 Farm & Wine Bus Tour Tickets and a SPECIAL FREE GARDENER’S GIFT!  A SAVINGS of $100.00

******Offer expires 4/30/13.  Discount pricing only for ADULT TICKET.  Limit 2 per booklets per person/per offer/per order.  To receive Gift Booklet Deals, please call our home office: 1-800-407-8918 OR Submit your gift certificate request on our form below.

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This could be my favorite time of year. The weather warming up, the trees starting to bloom and best of all… my mouth watering at the new, fresh produce. With that being said, I have compiled a list of some ‘foodie’ events happening in California in April. Get your calendars ready and put a bib on. If you love food, wine and fun- this list of events is for you. Enjoy!  (Blogger- Bethany Woy)

Sacramento Turn Verein Bockbier Festival- April 5: 6pm-12am, April 6: 3pm-12am
Tickets: Adult $20, Children under 12 $5
Turn Verein Hall- 3349 J Street, Sacramento

http://stvbockbierfest2013-zvents.eventbrite.com/

A traditional bockbier is a strong dark beer usually brewed around Christmas or the Spring. Well, it’s that time of year ladies and gentlemen! The celebration kicks off the first week in April and will take place at the historic (and beautiful) Turn Verein hall here in Sacramento. The festival will showcase the authentic Bockbier from Germany, traditional German music from local bands and delicious, mouth-watering food. Special performances of traditional German dances will be performed during both days. An amazing, educational and best of all delicious way to spend the weekend!

Festa di Vino- April 6: 6:30pm-10pm
Tickets: Adult $45
Scottish Rite Masonic Center-6151 H Street Sacramento

http://festadivino.com/

Music. Dancing. Live auction. And best of all… FOOD. A lot of food.
This tasty event  and will be showcasing over 20 local restaurants and 20 local wineries. Some of our local favorites (Ambrosia Cafe, Blackbird Kitchen & Bar, Firestone Bar- truly the list goes on and on) will be contributing at the event. A true celebration of food and wine. Right up my alley.

Sacramento Beer and Chili Festival – April 6: 1pm-4pm
Tickets: Adult $35 pre-order, $40 day off
Fremont Park- 1515 Q Street, Sacramento

http://sacramentobeerandchilifestival.com/

Sacramento Artists Council in partnership with the Grid Agency and Dad’s Kitchen is proud to announce the 2nd Annual Beer and Chili Festival. I don’t know about you but when I hear chili and beer as a combination my mouth instantly starts to water. The pair just seem to go so well: like peanut butter and jelly.  The Festival is a fundraiser for The Sacramento Artists Council and raises money for art programs that help at-risk children, children of homeless families and fund adopt a school art programs for Sacramento schools. Not only will you have your fill of delicious beer and chili, the money for the event goes to an amazing cause. You can feel like you’ve helped the community while gorging yourself! My kind of event! The festival will begin with a chili cook off competition (industry and individual) and unlimited beer tastings provide by local breweries. (Mad River Brewing, Lost Coast and Speakeasy Ales— just to name a few!)

Sierra Foothills Food and Wine Bus Tour- April 14: 10:30am- 2:30pm
Tickets: Adult $69,
Newcastle, California

http://local-food-tours.com/culinary-cultural-experience/farm-tours/

Wouldn’t you love to take the back roads through the beautiful California olives trees, vineyards and fruit farms? Want to know how vineyards can tell when it’s time to pick their grapes or how to grow the best tomatoes? We are so fortunate to live in the “Farm to Fork Capital of America”. Now is time to jump on board the Local Roots Food Tours Culinary Passport bus and explore the cornucopia of agriculture. Tickets include: transportation in a 14 passenger executive bus, a 4 hour bus ride with stops at independent farms, local  vineyards and a local produce market. A trained local guide ready to showcase their knowledge of the area. Hands-on, one on one access, from owners of the farms, orchards and vineyards. A catered 4 COURSE GOURMET LUNCH (what a deal!) and a reusable Local Roots Food Tours shopping bag. Can you say amazing weekend?! Don’t you want to be able to get to know this area of California a little better? This is the way to do it!

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Get your mobile calendars out…..March is just around the corner with many opportunities to explore your palates in and around Northern California.  Take the time to savor each moment by planning ahead and mapping out every weekend’s foodie adventure for the month of March.  No reason to get up and dig in!

March Foodie Events

Capital Beerfest -  Sacramento, CA
Saturday, March 2nd – 9am – 5pm – Cal Expo
The 3rd annual Capital Beerfest is expected to attract almost 90 breweries, including every Sacramento-area brewery. Celebrate the close of Sacramento Beer Week with one of the largest beer festivals in Northern California. The generosity of brewers, attendees and partners benefits the Runnin’ for Rhett Scholarship and the Runnin’ for Rhett Youth Fitness Program.                  Tickets:  www.capitalbeerfest.com

Pig Out at Pig Day – Davis, CA
Saturday, March 2nd -  8am – 1pm – Central Park
Come celebrate National Pig Day at the Davis Farmers Market.  This is a Piggie themed event for the whole family.  Lots of fun filled food, activities and entertainment all celebrating the plump pink and fabulous pig!  We encourage you to come in pig attire.  Davis Farmers Market is one of the top markets in Northern California – bring your market bags and baskets to fill up on all your local fresh produce, fruits and meats.   www.davisfarmersmarket.org

Spring Obsession Art & Wine Show 2013 – Murphys, CA
Sat & Sunday, March 2nd &3rd – 10am – 5pm – Ironstone Vineyards
16th Annual Art Show, Wine Tasting and Food.  There will be art in action, art demonstrations and cooking demos by chefs. Live music and daffodil flowers exhibit on the ground level. Ironstone Vineyards is a beautiful place set in the Sierras Foothills north of Sonora and south of Lake Tahoe.  www.ironstonevineyards.com

Sierra Foothills Farm & Wine Bus Tour – Placer County, CA
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Good news, foodies! You don’t need to be in a culinary program to partake in some excellent culinary classes offered in and around Sacramento.  Come on – take your spatula by the handle and get ready to learn, create and taste your newest creations in some fun, local culinary hands-on cooking classes.  Don’t let the word “culinary” intimidate you.  Let your passion for food drive you to some interactive food training.

Crepes, Gnocchi, Truffles……The Learning Exchange
The Learning Exchange is offering up some excellent cooking courses this spring in and around Sacramento. Who wouldn’t like to know how to make perfected crepes or have some fun with a class all about creating Gnocchi or focusing in on French Cooking?  These courses have a great variety for any type of cook and are located throughout the city and its suburbs.  To learn more about their courses and sign up check out:  www.learningexchange.com

Croissant & Empanada Workshops at Co-op Cooking School
Co-op Learning Center and cooking school offers something for everyone: from their extensive cooking class program to health and well-being seminars to a variety of lectures and panel discussions. They love to educate our community about important food, family, health and environmental issues.  The Co-op is committed to supporting organic local family farms and small producers of high quality food. They highlight these growers and producers in our specialty food tastings as well as featuring their organically grown ingredients in their cooking classes.  How cool is that?   www.sacfoodcoop.com

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Gourmet on ‘K’ Culinary Walking Tour is everything gourmet along one of Sacramento’s most historical areas.  Tour participants will be guided down Sacramento’s original main street exploring the beautiful architecture with many stories dating back to the mid 1800?s.  Learn stories along the walking route such as how Sutter selected the area along Front and K streets to harvest lumber for his fort and how the famed street became the premier location for department stores, theaters and hotels.  Even locals will enjoy this culinary excursion, enlightening their views of the most controversial street in Sacramento.

Sacramento has recently been named the “Farm to Fork Capital of the Nation” by Mayor Kevin Johnson.  K Street is seeing an urban revitalization with more and more empty storefronts becoming filled with excellent foodie establishments along with some local dive bars that boast locally produced ingredients on their menus.  Join Local Roots Food Tours as they share with their participants what’s “hot” on local farm to table cuisine by experiencing up to 6 different stops along “Downtown on Kay”.
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Trying to figure out something clever and unique for your better half or friend but the same old box of chocolates seems to be more and more cliche’?  Thinking of dinner reservations for Valentine’s amongst the other 20 million individuals with the same thought?  Forget all this nonsense.

Be creative.  Be fun.  Be unique.

Local Roots Food Tours Valentine Gift Certificate Special

Purchase a Valentine Food Tour Gift Certificate Booklet for 2 and receive $30.00 off your final price.  These special gift certificates are good for any of our walking food tour adventures in Sacramento or Murphys, CA.  The certificates do NOT have to be used in February….pick a month and surprise your loved one!  Food tour gift certificate includes a 3.5 hour walking food tour to either our City of Trees Food & Cultural Walking Tour OR Origins of Sacramento Food & History Walking Tour OR our getaway tour – Murphys Food &  Wine Walking Tour.  You pick and we will guide and make sure your bellies are full!  To learn more about each of these tours please click on their links above.

Looking for a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Join us on our special VALENTINES FOODIE LOVE TOUR – Thursday, February 14th, AND Friday February 15th, 2013!   We have two different food lover tours to choose from – each unique and filled with some great food and delicious desserts!  Tours will sell out so don’t hesitate in making plans to join us.  Group sizes will be kept small and intimate.

ORIGINS OF SACRAMENTO FOODIE LOVE TOUR -Thurs. Feb 14th & Friday Feb 15th – 2:30pm to 5:00pm .  Walking tour route will include 4 food stops; 3 main courses, 1 cocktail and two chocolate desserts all focusing on fresh, local ingredients.  Special Ticket Price:  $42.00 per adult ticket.  No child tickets.  Click to purchase special Valentine Food Tour Tickets.

MURPHYS FOOD & WINE LOVERS FOOD TOUR - Thurs. Feb 14th & Friday Feb 15th – 11:30am to 3:00pm.  Walking tour route will include 7 stops including 2 main courses with wine and beer pairings, a cheese and wine pairing, a dessert, a special treat at a chocolate shop and keeping things spicy at one of the most popular shops in town – a gourmet spice shop.  Ticket price includes personal shopping bag to hold all your yummy food products in.  Ticket price: $55 per person adult ticket.  No child tickets.   Click to purchase special Valentine tickets.