"northern california" news and stories

It appears that selling more than 90 million albums and winning ten Grammy awards hasn't been quite enough to make Carlos Santana want to retire in the lap of luxury on a beach somewhere. Instead, the musician (who will be 60 in July if you can believe it) along with his wife, Deborah, plan to convert three existing restaurants in Northern California into a new chain featuring authentic Mexican cuisine. The restaurants will be named Maria Maria, after his Grammy-winning song.

The atmosphere in the restaurants will apparently be inspired by his music, which means that if you are a Santana fan like myself you will probably want to start lining up at the door now. They are planning to open their first location in Walnut Creek, CA in April, followed by Mill Valley in May and Santa Rosa in June.

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According to the SF Chronicle, chef Thomas Keller is planning to expand. Mr. Keller is in the process of opening a butcher shop in the town of Yountville, CA, where his restaurants Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery and the world-renowned French Laundry are located. The shop will be called Bouchon Boucherie and is slated to open later this year. Not only will it sell the same cuts of meat that are available in Keller's restaurants, but it will centralize the production for them, as they currently butcher their own meats. "'Don't expect 99-cent ground chuck here,' says Keller."

Food and Wine magazine also reported that Keller is considering opening his own burger joint in Northern California, similar in style to In-N-Out Burger but more upscale, serving wine alongside juicy beef burgers.

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To persuade those worried about the levels of mercury in seafood to buy more fish, one of the nations largest fish wholesalers has introduced a line of low-mercury fresh fish under a brand called Safe Harbor. San Francisco’s Micro Analytical Systems (MAS) has developed a scanning system that tests the mercury levels in fish, comparing the levels present to the USDA standards. Previously, fish retailers had to send samples of fish off to a lab to have it tested for mercury in a process that could take seven days. The MAS process takes about 40 seconds. A representative from the company said that probably half of all fish tested would be rejected and not sold under the Safe Harbor Brand.

The USDA states that all fish mush have mercury levels under 1 part per million to be sold. There is a database that lists the averages, highs and lows of mercury content for different species of fish and the Safe Harbor brand fish will have mercury contents below the average for their species. The low-mercury fish is currently on store shelves in Northern California.

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The City of Oakland, located just across the bay from San Francisco, has passed legislation to place a tax on the businesses that it believes create the most trash. The tax will not be determined on waste created in the ordinary operation of a store or restaurant, but on the amount of litter that is generated by the sale of goods. The city's legislators agree that fast food restaurants and other stores that sell convenience foods need to be held socially responsible for the litter that is caused by patrons failing to properly dispose of the wrappers and other food packaging. The tax would pay for crews to remove litter, mainly from areas around schools and bus stops. A council woman said, "You can see the paths students take to lunch by the trail of litter."