Adam Mali wins NYC Lamb Jam: Former Nick’s Cove Chef (now Exec Chef at SF’s MarketBar) was named Lamb Jam Master on Sept. 25 in the Big Apple. Four regional winners came together for the event, but SoCo’s Mali took top awards wtih his braised Fallon Hills Ranch lamb shank with lemon-stewed cannelini beans and a lavender mint gremolata.  “From San Francisco to New York, Chef Mali’s dish took home top honors and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Lamb Jam Hall of Fame,” said Megan Wortman, Executive Director of the American Lamb Board.

Sheana Davis of Epicurean Connection in Sonoma will be featured in a pilot show for Food Network with Top Chef All Star winner Richard Blais. During the show, Blais will be making cheese at Davis’ new Sonoma location, slated for an Oct. 15 opening.

Guy Fieri will be getting into the burger biz. The local food personality has joined with Carnival Cruise lines as part of a $500 million investment with familiar celebrities and brands. The on-board restaurants will be called “Guys Burger Joint” and feature hand-crafted burgers and fresh-cut fries with original recipes created for Carnival. Condiments and sauces will be a main attraction, allowing eaters to create DIY burgers at self-serve stations. Decor will be California-centric with surfboards and coastal maps embedded in the tabletops.

Nearly 200 people packed in Catelli’s Restaurant in Geyserville last night as the Italian eatery made it’s television debut on The Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

“We had a random person who saw the show call within 10 minutes and make a reservation. We’re excited to see what happens,” said Domenica Catelli, who is both chef and owner.

How did it come about? Co-owner (and brother)Nicholas worked for host Guy Fieri for more than a decade as cook, bartender and eventually manager of Johnny Garlic’s and Tex Wasabi’s. “It was really nice of him to consider us, considering we’re neither a diner, drive-in or dive,” Catelli said.

Fieri, who filmed in December, called the Catelli’s family ravioli’s some of the best he’d ever eaten. Rolled paper-thin, Chef Domenica showed viewers that you could even read the paper (which happened to be a Press Democrat) through the dough.  Other family recipes on the menu include made to order meatballs sliders, Nonnie’s minestrone, local lamb, burgers and the family’s secret sauce.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the Catelli’s have a long Sonoma County history, having debuted in it’s current home in the 1936. Known as “The Rex”, the homestyle Italian eatery endured until the mid-1980s (the family was not involved in a namesake restaurant in Healdsburg). Santi, which relocated to Santa Rosa in 2010. Shortly after the move, Domenica and brother Nicholas re-opened the restaurant after buying the building from their father.

Well-known in the food world for her expertise on healthy and organic cooking, the Catelli’s source locally and organically

“We always dreamed of coming back,” said Domenica.

Catelli’s, 21047 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville, (707) 857-3471

“It will be well worth the wait,” said Hutchison. With the kitchen finished and new employees hired, Fieri’s crew are shooting for an ambitious early May debut — possibly just weeks away.

Keeping the “Far East meets Wild West” theme, familiar dishes are expected to stay on the menu, but with a bit more reserve. Hutchison said the layout and slightly consolidated menu will be more family-friendly to compete with other nearby restaurants. “The bar won’t be the first thing you see when you walk in,” he added. An upstairs mezzanine will have seating for 50, along with it’s own bar and the restaurant recently got final approval for limited outdoor seating.

So why the wait? The restaurant closed in after a faulty sewer pipe ruptured, causing severe water damage. As crews began renovations on the old building, more damage surfaced and more repairs were needed. “When you start pulling things away, we found out how bad it was, and we wanted to do this the right way,” Hutchison said.

The restaurant is one of five operated by Fieri’s restaurant group, including a Sacramento Tex Wasabi’s and three Johnny Garlic’s restaurants in Santa Rosa, Windsor and Roseville. A new Johnny Garlic’s is slated to open in Dublin in June. Rumors of a flashy Las Vegas restaurant for Fieri continue to make the rounds, but Hutchison brushes them off as purely speculation as Fieri ramps up for an upcoming book tour for Guy Fieri Food: More Than 150 Off-the-Hook Recipes (out in early May).

It’s the second major reopening in downtown Santa Rosa this spring as La Rosa Tequileria and Grille debuted in late April.

The future of a $63 billion dollar industry is decided each winter in San Francisco.

That’s when literally thousands of food purveyors from around the world converge on San Francisco’s Fancy Food Show for three days of schmoozing, eating and crystal ball gazing. At stake: The gourmet “specialty” foods you’ll be craving and buying at your local supermarkets in the next twelve months.

It’s a whirlwind event for onlookers to witness trends, newcomers and great ideas bubbling up to the food forefront. Each year, we watch as  enterprising entrepreneurs make their way from home kitchens and tiny storefronts into national stores like Whole Foods and Safeway and reach for Holy Grail recognition on Oprah’s Favorite Things List or the Food Network. Some will win. Many will lose. But the game is darn fun to watch.

It’s not surprising to know that the Bay Area is well represented, with hometown foodies percolating up through the ranks.

Here are some local favorites, national contenders and trends to watch  in 2011…

Alterna-Wine: Wine is great. Except when it isn’t. For a growing contingency of serious foodies (along with designated drivers and business diners) alcohol isn’t always a perfect pairing for food — especially when facing down bottles with bloated alcohol content and palate-killing astringency. Straddling the line between soda pop and cocktails are a category of grown-up non-alcoholic sparklers with delicate herbal, fruit and floral bouquets. Low in sugar and with adult-friendly flavors like ginger, fennel, pomegranate and black currant they’re respectable and delicious.

Packaged in wine bottles, chef-created bubblies, Twelve To Midnight beverage comes in “original” and “rouge”, meant to mimic white and red wine pairings. Bright, clean flavors, muted spices, floral notes and soft bubbles make intoxicating…without actually being intoxicating. twelvebeverage.com. Related sodas include: GuS sodas in flavors like extra dry ginger ale or ruby grapefruit; Vignette Wine Country soda in pinot noir, chardonnay and rose. Need to clear you palate? A specialized “palate cleansing” water, SanTasti is a bit more than sparkling water, but far less than soda.

Yuba @Hodo Soy Beanery: The only American company to produce fresh yuba — the “skins” of tofu — Hodo Soy is an Oakland-based soybeanery with some serious star-power behind it. Cranking out freshly made organic, artisan tofu since 2004, the company recently named John Scharffenberger (of chocolate and sparkling wine fame) as CEO. Available at Whole Foods.

BR Cohn Ginger Balsamic Vinegar: Matured in oak barrels from the winery, BR Cohn vinegars are processed over months, rather than days. New to the lineup is Ginger White Balsamic, a piquant vinegar warmed by the fiery root. A natch for Chinese cooking, Asian-inspired salads or mixed with sugar, cranberry juice and sparkling soda for an old fashioned shrub — a kind of vinegar cordial. Related: Terra Sonoma Verjus: Made with the juice of unripe wine grapes, this gentler cousin to vinegar is great as a pan deglazer or salad topper.

Spicy pepper jam and Romesco sauce from the Jimtown Store: Continuing their dip domination, Carrie Brown and the Jimtown crew are taking their spicy pepper jam and Romesco sauce national. What’s Romesco? It’s a tasty topping of garlic, peppers, onions and almonds suited for pasta, veggies or bread.

Glop: A breath-singeing mix of Parmesan garlic, olive oil, herbs and spices, this Napa-inspired spread is addictive despite its less-than-delicious-sounding moniker. Spread on crackers, burgers or pasta, its a pesto-ish relative minus the basil and double the cheese and garlic. The minds behind it: Cookbook author and kitchen whiz Susie Heller and chef/food biz expert Michael Laukert who clearly know their way around a kitchen.

Yuzu Marmalade: Chefs love Japanese citrus fruit is often described as the lovechild of a grapefruit and Mandarin orange. Imported from Japan, yuzu marmalade, as well as yuzu-infused sauces are making their way to retail shelves.

Sir Kensington’s Gourmet Scooping Ketchup: One of my favorite items from last year’s show was Dulcet’s mild indian curry ketchup, and this newcomer is similarly intriguing. Clever pseudo-Edwardian packaging aside, the taste is sweet, spicy sultry and luxuriously tomato-ey: Exactly what you expect ketchup to be on it’s very best day. www.sirkensingtons.com

Guy Fieri’s BBQ Sauce: The Great Spiky One lends his considerable star power to a line of barbecue sauces and salsas from Italian food manufacturer Gia Russa. The sauces come in Kansas City, Bourbon Brown Sugar, Pacific Rim and Carolina #6. Usually celeb-shilled foods are a reason to run screaming in another direction, but these saucy little kickers are pretty smoking. We’re fairly sure the line of flushed middle-aged women lined up to get the Kulinary King’s autograph at the Fancy Food Show will agree. Money, baby!

Happy Goat Scotch caramel sauce: Another hot pick from last year’s FFS was under-the-radar Bay Area caramels made with goat milk. The lineup has expanded to caramels with winter spices and lime/coconut, but the talker was the caramel sauce made with 15-year-old Scotch.

Bubbie’s peppermint mochi: You either love mochi or you hate it. The chewy rice paste warpper filled with ice cream happens to fulfill my dual dessert requirements of being both minty and chewy.

TCHO Chocolate: Wired magazine founders Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe put their tech and trend-savviness into sustainable dark chocolate-making. The SF-based luxe sweets and baking chocolates are focused around a flavor wheel with terms like “nutty”, “fruity” or “earthy”. New milk chocolates are in “beta” testing.

Caviar for Kids: Who says caviar is just for the silver spoon set? Importer California Caviar has a line of domestically farmed caviars and roes (fish eggs not from sturgeons) with everyday price tags under $10 and ounce. Want to introduce your little nibbler to the luxe life? The company has introduced Caviar Kid, a line of snackable caviar kits with whale-shaped chips or fish-shaped puff pastry, their own caviar spoon, an ounce of caviar and creme fraiche. At $48 to $62 a set, these aren’t a substitute for Lunchables, but can get your tiny gastronaut off to a solid start.

Here’s the backstory: After shuttering Russell Ramsay’s Chop House, which failed to have the draw of nightspot Tex Wasabi’s, the space was briefly closed. In January, a flurry of television ads featuring Fieri and his mom hailed the return of Johnny Garlic’s to its original spot on Farmer’s Lane as a ‘You asked for it, you got it’ kind of thing.

A nice spin, if nothing else.

On Feb. 1 2007 , the doors reopened with many of Garlic’s tried-and-true favorites–Caesar salad, Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and garlic fries. Added into the mix, a few Chop House favorites–big steaks, French onion soup and the sweet beet salad.

But Fieri’s trademark energy seems lacking in the retro-fitted space.

It’s the little things–clumpy pasta, crumpled paper table coverings, a sort of empty feeling all around. The salad was wilted, and had exactly two croutons on top. The soup of the day, clam chowder, felt hopelessly boring. Not even the toothy smiles and speedy service could cut through the gloom. On subsequent visits, the food was exactly the same — sounding great on paper but ending up flat, flabby and lifeless.

Hard to imagine a firebrand like Guy tolerating such mediocrity with his name attached to it. None of us are expecting Cyrus, but we’d like it to be better than, say, Applebees. But insiders say the current momentum is more about franchising the restaurant (now in Windsor, Dublin and Roseville) as Fieri brand at this point. A former manager tells BiteClub that the local chef actually does spend time in the restaurants, but when he leaves, things tend to go back to, well, mediocrity.

If you go: Best bets are the Cajun chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, an all-time Johnny Garlic’s top-seller. Garlic chips with garlic sour cream are a fun appetizer (if you’re not planning on doing a lot of kissing later) and the complementary focaccia-style bread is nice (just please, bring the balsamic without us having to plead for it.) Lunch specials include one of several specialty entrees (like the Cajun chicken) with their signature Caesar for under $10.

Johnny Garlic’s, 1460 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa, 707.571.1800. Open daily for lunch and dinner.