Top LA Chefs Descend on Napa for One Night Dinner

Don’t bring your grandmother’s casserole to this potluck

The Charter Oak’s guest chef series is going strong for the second year, bringing in chefs from different cities for dinners benefitting St. Helena Preschool For All, a local non-profit providing scholarships to three- and four-year-olds in need. March’s dinner was all about Portland; next up is LA on May 19, bringing chefs Kris Yenbamroong of Night + Market, Dahlia Narvaez of Osteria Mozza, Jon Yao of Kato, and Evan Funke of Felix Trattoria. Future dinners are New York on September 8 (chefs from Momofuku Ssam Bar, Estela, and Untitled at the Whitney), and Austin (Carpenter Hall, Emmer & Rye, and Dai Due) on November 17. Tickets are $95 per person and can be booked here.

Alice Waters’s yard sale was totally nuts

Alice Waters and daughter Fanny Singer hosted their yard sale at Chez Panisse over the weekend, which drew lines around the block of fans from all over the Bay Area hoping to purchase a piece of the legendary restaurant’s memorabilia (and possibly one of Alice Waters’s old hats). Waters was on hand to sign books and posters for the throngs at the sale, which she says will be both a first and last time occurrence. “I guess I was a little naive about it. I thought I could casually do this,” Waters told KQED. “But my daughter put it on Instagram, and that was the end of that.”

Russian Hill bar Tonic is now in the Tenderloin

The bar known for its raucous, fratty vibes closed last April to make way for a seismic retrofit. Now, it’s found a new home at 895 Post Street, previously the San Francisco Coin Laundry Co. According to co-owner Ben Bleiman, Tonic’s new location is in a “much more urban/cosmopolitan community, surrounded by relatively high-rise apartments and fast-moving vehicles,” which has resulted in a clientele that is “ a little more ‘mature’ in their tastes, and extremely knowledgable about what they’re drinking.” That said, there’s still trivia night, happy hour, shot-skis on Saturday nights, and two-for-one espresso martinis on Thursday nights.

Top Chef + Media Noche

In more delicious philanthropic news, Media Noche’s monthly guest chef Cubano is available starting today. This month, it’s from Michelle Minori, a finalist on Top Chef and former executive chef of Barzotto; staying true to her Italian-leaning cooking style, Minori’s “Not Your Momma Mia” features braised chicken thigh, roasted maitake mushrooms, melted sharp white cheddar, “dressed” kale and Calabrian chile aioli for $13.50. Ten percent of the proceeds benefit La Cocina, the non-profit that provides resources to woman entrepreneurs from communities of color and immigrant communities as they grow their food businesses.