The spotlight falls on some of the greatest female jazz singers, comparing the personal touches that each brought to her performance. Featured artists include Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Anita O’Day, June Christy, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Anne Ross and Jo Stafford. The names might be familiar, but most of the footage shared this evening is new to audiences.

The last of three events in a series.

Standard: $25 | Members $20 | Students $12

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Saturday, May 4, 2013
Starts at: 8:00PM
JCCSF
3200 California Street
San Francisco

The sf|noir Wine & Food Event

The festivities started off with a fresh twist on the Mixology narrative called Remixology on Thursday night with our hosts Damon White and Phil Shell at Otis, keeping all the guests pleasantly thrilled as they crafted unique cocktails made specifically for that evening.

Remixology was followed on Friday with an insightful educational seminar on the layered approaches to wine tasting at the Mission’s 18 Reasons with Wine Tasting: An Introduction with Omar White.

Saturday night brought the main event, The Wine & Food Gala! which featured premiere Bay Area chefs taking 250 guests on a culinary ride from chefs and restaurants that included Michele Wilson of Gussie’s Chicken & Waffles, Sophina Uong of Oakland’s Pican, Nigel Jones of Kingston 11, Jon Reitz of Cedar Hill in the Marina district of San Francisco, Chef Eddie Blyden among others. Jaynelle St. Jean brought her delectable pies of PieTisserie and Kassandra Santiago introduced us to the world of the Brown Sugar Lady. Close to 20 amazing wine producers were in the house pouring their many varietals including several African American winemakers whom guests had a chance to meet including Stephen Sterling of Esterlina Vineyards and Everett Ridge Wines, Raymond Smith of Indiginé Cellars and John Moss of J. Moss Wines. The San Francisco Chronicle was present at the event also and published this review in the Sunday Chronicle.

We closed the festival on a high note on Sunday February 24th by visiting one of Oakland’s newest contributions to its culinary renaissance, Chef Sarah Kirnon’s Miss Ollie’s, and hosting the Oakland Jazz Brunch which featured the Marcus Shelby Trio.

If you didn’t get to make it this time around, mark your calendars now for Black History Month 2014! In the meantime, join our mailing list and join us at one of our upcoming events.

artMRKT San Francisco

sf|noir is proud to be a Cultural Partner for the 3rd year in a row with artMRKT San Francisco as the visual arts offerings and the opportunities to flirt with a potential collectible is unmatched with any other festival of its kind in San Francisco. Join the sf|noir community by signing up for our e-newsletter and receive complimentary tickets to the Opening Night Party and tickets for single-day access to artMRKT San Francisco!

The second of three events in a series.

Standard: $25 | JCCSF Members $20 | Students $12

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Saturday, March 23, 2013
Starts at: 8:00PM
JCCSF
3200 California Street
San Francisco

After attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and graduating with High Honors, Jon cooked at the Palm (Dallas, TX) and Restaurant August (New Orleans, LA). Jon also managed two restaurants in New York City’s MoMa for the acclaimed Union Square Hospitality Group. Most recently, Jon presided over the kitchen at Memphis Minnie’s BBQ in San Francisco and started a catering company, Covered Dish Productions, with his current General Manager & Co-Owner, Emily Lai.

Nigel named his pop-up restaurant after Jamaica’s Kingston 11th district, where he was born and raised until he was sixteen, whereupon he joined his mother in New York City. He made his way to the Bay Area in 1989 via Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended college and majored in business and sociology, minored in art. For twelve years he worked at Levi Strauss in their production department, and his last role there was director of productions for the Dockers brand. He left Levi Strauss to open his own manufacturing company that he still operates along with Kingston 11.

Being aware that we live in a special foodie area of the country, where it’s almost a hobby for people to actively search out the best of the best in all cultural food categories, Nigel focused on his passion to deliver the highest quality Jamaican food. Through Kingston 11, he wants to share his joyful experience as a child, where “food was always a big part of my life and socialization.” Kingston 11 is easy-going and fun with Jamaican tunes and flavorfully executed food.

“In Jamaica,” he says, “you can put together a meal just from the food in your yard,” and he brings that same commitment to fresh, local and organic ingredients to Kingston 11. Nigel and his business partners, Adrian Henderson and Andre King, are close to locking down a permanent space for Kingston 11 in the burgeoning culinary mecca of Oakland. Keep an eye out for this anticipated addition to Oakland’s culinary renaissance!

In 1993 Damon moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career and continue building his social network on the West Coast. He worked enough in films, TV and commercials to stay in the game for 10 years, and he was fortunate to produce a feature film in Europe (The Americans Are Coming) in 1999, and start a fashion design company (Kate O’Connor Designs) in 2001.

In 2003 Damon moved to San Francisco looking for a fresh start and by 2005 he opened Otis Lounge on Maiden Lane. Otis has enjoyed a 7-year run and remains easily one of SF’s coolest, most well known and respected night life destinations. He is developing other hospitality and lifestyle ventures in SF, LA and NYC. He sits on the Board of Directors of SF CAMERWORK and is the head coach for the Riptide U11A Boy’s Lacrosse Club.

Phil Shell has been involved in the nightlife entertainment business since he was seventeen years old hosting house parties as a business venture with his high school friends in San Diego, California. He went on to graduate college from San Diego State, a university mostly recognized for its socially charged and interactive climate with a degree in Communications. Immediately following college he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in the music business and that is where he was formally / corporately trained in promotions and marketing at Geffen Records. He currently spends most of his time connecting the dots @ Otis Lounge!

sf|noir is pleased to have Marcus provide his unmistakable sound and grace us with his presence at The Oakland Jazz Brunch!

Today, Kirnon’s new restaurant, located at Swan’s Market in Old Oakland, deliciously serves up both Caribbean-style cooking and community.

“It is not just a restaurant; it’s a meeting place,” Kirnon said on a recent Thursday at Miss Ollie’s, as she deftly mixed flour into dumplings in preparation for the day’s lunch menu. “Everyday was like that at my grandmother’s house. If you couldn’t eat at home, you knew you could eat at Miss Ollie’s.”

Since opening its doors on December 4, Miss Ollie’s has quickly become a popular standout in Oakland’s restaurant scene, with customers lining up for a taste of Caribbean comfort food in a casual format. Currently open for lunch Tuesday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the menu features mouth-watering flavors inspired by Kirnon’s childhood: Curry goat with buttered collards and roasted mixed potatoes. Grits, Smithfield ham and red-eye gravy. Oxtail pepperpot, cornbread, turnips and black-eyed peas. Escoveitch fish with cassava cake. And of course, Kirnon’s legendary fried chicken, a recipe handed down from her grandmother.

“The menu reflects the Caribbean and reflects my background,” Kirnon said. “My father was born in Montserrat and raised in Antigua. My mother’s family is spread out from Barbados to <read more at the original posting of this article>

–reposted from “A Taste of Community at Miss Ollie’s” by Damon Packwood and Bilen Mesfin Packwood on Oakland Local

Our father believes wine making is all about the land and vineyard cultivation. Esterlina’s careful vineyard selection is the start of exceptional wines. Special attention is paid to the climate, soil conditions and geography of each vineyard site. We prefer the “small quantity, high quality” style of winemaking, and we use fruit from premier appellations—appellations well-suited for growing the various wines we offer.

Unique to Esterlina Vineyards is our 253-acre Cole Ranch appellation – the smallest appellation in America. There, we grow Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. Our vineyard is the sole vineyard in this unique appellation.

The gravelly soils of the Esterlina Alexander Valley Ranch produce some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon in the region. One taste of this luscious cab with an up front cherry flavor and a silky finish verifies that the vines chosen for this soil are a perfect match.

Our Sterling Family vineyard, in the cool Russian River Valley was chosen to produce a classic Burgundian-style Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Many of you have enjoyed our award-winning Estate Pinot Noir from our Anderson Valley property. We also grow a bit of Chardonnay on the Esterlina Estate property.

We appreciate the loyalty our customers have shown us over the years. We are particularly heartened that Esterlina’s growth has come from word-of-mouth marketing.  We hope you–our customers–will continue to enjoy our California wines.

Learn more at esterlinavineyards.com