"napa" news and stories

• Will work for wine: Even Napa's feeling the economic pinch this winter.
• When surly chefs start tweeting, social media takes on an antisocial vibe.
• "Motorino is having a moment. That seems fair. It serves the city's best pizza."
• Meanwhile, this Phoenix restaurant's goal is less lofty: "We're just trying to bring reality back to dining...to get back to the way people used to eat."
• Speaking of of old-fashioned eating: Finish your Brussels sprouts. No, really. You'll like them.

Photo: Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

If you were betting on Vegas for the season finale of "Top Chef Las Vegas," you've lost.

The finale of the show will be filmed in Napa, Bravo officials said Monday.

Be sure to check out Slashfood's latest recap of the series here.

I'm one of those geeky gardener-cooks who tries hard to close the loop: I grow veggies and herbs, compost the scraps, and throw it back into the garden to make even better veggies and herbs. But thus far I haven't taken the final step--harvesting rainwater from the roof--because I've never found a rain barrrel I liked enough.

Now a company called TerraCycle has partnered with wineries in Napa, including Kendall-Jackson, to make rain barrels out of their used oak wine casks. According to TerraCycle, once casks have outlived their use in the winery, they're typically burned--not the most environmentally friendly way to get rid of them.

Hence the concept of "upcycling," or finding a new use for formerly non-recyclable materials. And when the new product is pretty, well, I'm a sucker! Find the rain barrels at Sam's Club and Home Depot for $149 each.

Married ...with Dinner visits the Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Napa.

Via: Married ...with Dinner

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour (until I run out), so please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously -- Midnight Sausage: Toluca, Mexico

I have quite a collection of different salts in my spice cabinet due, in no small part, to the general popularity of flaked salts, sea salts and other, more exotic salts from all over the world. At first, I was just following the trend, but as I tried more salts I found that I bought them for their different textures, many of which still come through in a finished dish. I regularly use only a small portion of the salts: Maldon or a pink Australian salt for finishing dishes, kosher or sea salt for cooking and any more finely ground salt, including ordinary table salt, for baking.

The reason I don't use the rest of the salts is that they rarely differ significantly where flavor is concerned. If you're looking for flavor, I'd suggest opting for a salt that is has been purposely flavored. This set from NapaStyle has three different varieties: Sundried Tomato Garlic Gray Salt, Roasted Garlic Gray Salt and Citrus Rosemary Gray Salt. All will add a very impressive flavor-boost to a dish before serving, along with the look and texture of a coarser salt. The grey salt used as a base for the flavors is a sea salt from France that has a light purple-grey color and a slightly moistness to it, which many feel contributes to an increase of flavor during cooking.

Perhaps the best use for these salts, especially if you don't feel like cooking, is as a popcorn seasoning, turning a bag of plain microwave corn into a gourmet snack.

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