To the delight of foodies near and far, the California Nut Festival is proud to announce two celebrity chefs participating in the culinary event this year -- Sacramento’s highly acclaimed chef Patrick Mulvaney and nationally recognized chef and cookbook author Holly Clegg. With a focus on locally grown foods from the North Valley, the third annual California Nut Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  As part of the entertaining activities, the day will be filled with live cooking demonstrations by the two talented chefs.  A demo schedule follows: 11:30 a.m. Holly Clegg -- Mango Chutney Spread & Spiced Pecans 12:30 p.m.  Patrick Mulvaney -- Almond Wo

On September 15th, at the Capitol, 12 awesome food trucks are getting together to help celebrate Mexican Independence Day! I know what you are thinking, isn't Cinco de Mayo supposed to be for that? Oh contrare! September 16th is the actual day. If you went to the last SactoMofo food truck festival at Fremont park back in April, then you know just how crazy popular this has become in Sacramento. It was packed from the moment it opened until the time it closed! The organizers weren't expecting such a huge crowd, and unfortunately most trucks weren't prepared to handled that many people. Wait lines were horrendously long, and a lot of people stood in line for hours just to hear that the food

As Francis House of Sacramento continues to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, this very important institution will honor the memory of Greg Bunker, Executive Director, who passed away December 28, 2010 with their upcoming 20th Annual “Feast for the Streets Food and Wine Gala”, April 27, 2011 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in downtown Sacramento. Feast for the Streets is the largest fundraiser for Francis House and is highly regarded as one of Sacramento’s premiere food and wine tasting events. With the sudden passing of Greg Bunker in December, Francis House wants to celebrate his life’s work for the homeless and destitute in a way that he would have wanted. Forrest Reed, Acting Direct

Lemon Grass Restaurant owner and cookbook author Mai Pham is expanding her culinary empire to new regions, with a different name and broader-range cuisine. Pham said she expects to open her newest restaurant, Star Ginger, in East Sacramento on Jan. 25. She's also working on plans to open more Star Gingers on the East Coast in the next year or two. She cooked up Star Ginger as a modern, pan-Asian dining concept that would allow her to widen the menu to include more Asian cuisines while offering quicker daytime service. "As I cooked over the years and as my horizon expanded.... I became enamored with other Asian cuisines," Pham said. The former TV reporter and public relations profession

In this day of Food Network stars and celebrity chefs, one culinary icon (BAM!) has been singing the praises of the pig for nearly as long as he's been mugging for the camera:   "Pork fat rules, baby".   Apparently, the man has never been to a Duck Off. Thursday night marked a unique culinary experience at Grange Restaurant: to my knowledge, Sacramento's first-ever Duck Off.  The five-course, prix fixe dinner benefitting the California Waterfowl Association, was preceded by an Iron Chef style competition between Grange executive chef Michael Tuohy and food writer Hank Shaw.  The cook-off was judged by a veritable who's-who of Sacramento Foodie Glitterati, including Darrel Corti and Rick