Lissa and Earth & Ocean hosted a successful Seattle dinner Friday night with W Seattle, the Mayor’s Office and Washington Film Works. It was a great group and the food was exceptional.  Ben Closson, sous chef at Earth & Ocean whipped-up a stunning meal paired with wines from rock star Washington winemaker, Anna Schafer of àMaurice Cellars.

Chef Adam Stevenson’s Charcuterie started the meal, followed by a Mushroom Potage with Tarragon, Hazelnut and Apple paired with a 2007 Chardonnay. Next up, Smoked Duck Braesaola with Pistachios, Oranges, Roasted Beets with aMaurice Cellars 2007 Grenache/Syrah Blend. The main course was Painted Hills Beef Short Ribs, Rapini, French Lentils and Horseradish Cream with a 2006 Tsutakawa Red Blend. And for dessert, cookies from Earth & Ocean and chocolates from Theo Chocolate with Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese 2006, Mosel.

Repeat dinner Saturday and Sunday night is the Seattle Party celebrating $5 Cover Seattle and a Moving Pictures Magazine party.

Tons of snow, slushy streets and loads of good fun.

Hop Kiln Winery recently entered their soon-to-be-released, 2008 HKG Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Estate into the venerable San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition of American wines in the world with over 4,900 wines submitted with 63 professional wine experts tasting and evaluating these wines over 4 days.

Hop Kiln is pleased to announce that their delicious 2008 Pinot Noir received a “Gold Medal” in the $40 -$49.99 category!

If you’re eager to taste it yourself before it’s released to the public, Hop Kiln will be at the San Francisco Chronicle’s public tasting on Saturday, February 20th at the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason Center from 2-5pm.

To purchase your tickets visit http://www.winejudging.com/event_tickets.htm.

Kenwood Inn and Spa was named #4 on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List of the Top 5 Hotels in the US, a coupe that both MSNBC and World Tourism Blog helped to spread the good news about in recent posts.

It’s a very big week at The Shops at The Bravern! Check out the big savings they have to offer right now!