{"id":1665,"date":"2014-09-15T14:19:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T18:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=1665"},"modified":"2014-09-15T14:20:37","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T18:20:37","slug":"tomato-festival-at-lark-creek-restaurants-in-san-jose-sf-and-other-bay-area-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=1665","title":{"rendered":"Tomato festival at Lark Creek restaurants in San Jose, SF, and other Bay Area cities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Heirloom<\/a>

Heirloom Tomato Salad with grilled shrimp addition at Lark Creek Walnut Creek<\/p><\/div>\n

Good news for heirloom tomato fans: September is the Heirloom Tomato Festival hosted by Lark Creek Restaurant Group<\/a> and all the LCRG restaurants \u2013 including Lark Creek Blue on San Jose\u2019s Santana Row, and Lark Creek Walnut Creek \u2013 are featuring delectable artisan tomato creations.<\/p>\n

Even better news: there is an opportunity for one of you to win a gift card good at Lark Creek restaurants — see end of article for contest details. You can use the card during the tomato festival or at a future date.<\/p>\n

LCRG chefs are preparing dishes made from tomatoes still warm from the garden. Restaurants will source Brandywine, Green Zebra, Yellow Marvel and Purple Cherokee heirloom varietals among others from local growers, including J+K Smith Farms. In addition, bartenders have crafted delicious heirloom tomato cocktails.
\nChef Scott Wall of Lark Creek Walnut Creek has been cooking at Lark Creek for 14 years.\u00a0 Of all the themed menus the restaurant does each year, the Heirloom Tomato is his favorite. \u201cThe tomatoes are so fresh and grown just miles away; (the festival) epitomizes the farm to table theory,\u201d he shares. \u201cAs a chef, creating a menu based on these great local ingredients is almost effortless. There are so many combinations.\u201d
\nFor these special September dishes, Chef Scott is exclusively using tomatoes from Rose Lane Farm in Oakley. \u201cWe receive a tomato delivery four times a week. Each delivery includes tomatoes that were just picked.\u201d\u00a0 He says the farmer assures that each box is of the highest quality and sweetness.<\/p>\n

I went to Lark Creek Walnut Creek for lunch in August, and really enjoyed the experience. I was with two other adults plus my three-year-old daughter, and the enclosed outdoor patio provided a comfortable atmosphere. We received extremely gracious, attentive service, and food standouts included fresh corn soup with pumpkin seed pesto, moist and delicious meatloaf, a savory Reuben, and a kids\u2019 peanut-butter-and-jelly that already had the crusts removed!
\nLark Creek Blue Chef de Cuisine Chad T. Ferry shares that he\u2019s excited about this month\u2019s festival because of \u201c\u2026the simple versatility of the tomato. Some take the tomato for granted, not knowing the difference between a roma and a beefsteak tomato. Heirlooms have a better, fuller flavor and we need to celebrate such a product when its at it’s peak.\u201d Ferry encourages diners to \u201cenjoy its simplicity and marvel at its complexity in flavors and textures.\u201d I have dined at Lark Creek Blue twice, once for dinner and once for lunch, and each time it exceeded my expectations.<\/p>\n

Special heirloom tomato selections will be available through the end of September 2014.<\/p>\n

Highlights are below; see Lark Creek\u2019s news site<\/a> for links to all restaurants (including one in Southern California, in Newport Beach) and specific menus.<\/p>\n

Food highlights<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Heirloom Tomato Salad with house-made mozzarella, balsamic dressing (see photo, which features the salad with an optional grilled shrimp addition)\u00a0 from Chef Scott Wall at Lark Creek Walnut Creek (www.larkcreek.com\/walnutcreek) 925.256.1234
\n\u2022 Grilled Swordfish- heirloom tomato and basil risotto from Chef de Cuisine Chad Ferry at Lark Creek Blue (www.larkcreekblue.com)\u00a0 408.244.1244
\n\u2022 Pan-Seared Day Boat Scallops- tomatoes, artichokes, olive oil mashed potatoes, lobster emulsion from Chef Mark Dommen at One Market Restaurant (www.onemarket.com) 415.777.5577
\n\u2022 Calabrese Pizza- heirloom tomatoes, ricotta, Calabrese peppers from Chef Marc Tennison at Cupola Pizzeria (www.cupolasf.com) 415.896.5600
\n\u2022 Brown Butter-Poached Maine Lobster- Brentwood corn, grilled romaine, Copia garden cherry tomatoes, lavender, lobster coral emulsion from Chef Scott Ekstrom at Fish Story (www.fishstorynapa.com) 707.251.5600
\n\u2022 Heirloom Tomato Salad- Italian peppers, cucumber, torpedo onions, green goddess dressing\u00a0 from Chef Aaron Wright at Lark Creek Steak (www.larkcreeksteak.com) 415.593.4100
\n\u2022 P.E.I Mussels served with an heirloom tomato concasse, chipotle lime butter, from Chef Michael Dunn at Yankee Pier Lafayette (www.yankeepier.com\/lafayette) 925.283.4100
\n\u2022 Grilled King Salmon & Heirloom Tomato Panzanella- pickled red onions, rocolla, torn sweet batard croutons, basil, watermelon from Chef Alex Marsh, Yankee Pier Larkspur (www.yankeepier.com\/larkspur) 415.924.7676
\n\u2022 Heirloom Tomato B.L.T.- crisp Zoe\u2019s bacon, butter lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, herb mayonnaise, toasted focaccia from Chef Heidi DiPippo at Lark Creek Grill\u00a0 SFO (www.larkcreekgrill.com)\u00a0 650.821.9315
\n\u2022 House-Made Cheese Tortellini- sweet 100\u2019s tomatoes, smoked tomato ragout, toy-box eggplant from Chef Jonathan Hall at Parcel 104 www.parcel104.com) 408-970-6104
\n\u2022 Heirloom Tomato Soup- basil oil, parmesan, olive oil croutons from Chef Heidi DiPippo at Yankee Pier SFO (www.yankeepier.com\/sfoairport) 650.821.8938<\/p>\n

Selected Heirloom Tomato Cocktails<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cTomato Haze\u201d- smoked heirloom tomato bloody Mary- house-infused peppar vodka, pickled carrot at Lark Creek Steak (www.larkcreeksteak.com)
\n\u2022 \u201cNew Morning\u201d – roasted tomato water, Hanson Brothers cucumber vodka, mezcal, simple syrup, blistered tomato garnish at One Market Restaurant (www.onemarket.com)
\n\u2022 \u201cItalian Garden\u201d- heirloom tomato juice, watermelon juice, Carpano Antica at Cupola Pizzeria (www.cupolasf.com)
\n\u2022 \u201cSummer\u2019s Bounty\u201d- Gin, fresh watermelon juice, cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, simple syrup, lemon juice at Yankee Pier Lafayette (www.yankeepier.com\/lafayette)<\/p>\n

CONTEST<\/strong>
\nPrize: A $100 gift card to Lark Creek Restaurants
\nTo enter, email your name to tfatemiwalker@yahoo.com and include the words \u201cLark Creek tomato festival.\u201d Deadline to enter is Wednesday, Sept. 17 2014 at 8 p.m.<\/strong>
\nThis contest is open to readers of Tara Fatemi Walker\u2019s Examiner.com and Santacruzfoodie.com sites. Employees of Examiner.com are not eligible for this promotion.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good news for heirloom tomato fans: September is the Heirloom Tomato Festival hosted by Lark Creek Restaurant Group and all the LCRG restaurants \u2013 including Lark Creek Blue on San Jose\u2019s Santana Row, and Lark Creek Walnut Creek \u2013 are … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,315,3],"tags":[460,841,386,844,457,413,459,170,119,842,843,845],"class_list":["post-1665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-restaurant-news-2","category-restaurants","tag-cupola-pizzeria","tag-fish-story","tag-lark-creek-blue","tag-lark-creek-grill-sfo","tag-lark-creek-restaurant-group","tag-lark-creek-steak","tag-lark-creek-walnut-creek","tag-one-market-restaurant","tag-restaurant-news","tag-yankee-pier-lafayette","tag-yankee-pier-larkspur","tag-yankee-pier-sfo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}