MICHAEL ZISLIS - SHADE HOTELMichael Zislis, owner of Shade Hotel talks about a must-attend for foodies and L.A. Kings fans is Shade Hotel’s fifth annual Taste of the South Bay on Wednesday, April 3, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Only 250 tickets are being sold for this exclusive dining and fundraising affair, presented by Hush Hush and Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, which will showcase top local restaurants sampling their food and drink.
JAMES CUNNINGHAM - EAT STREET
Eat Street is back on the Cooking Channel with its Premiere, Monday April 8th! And here’s the book presented by host and stand-up comedian James Cunningham, host of the hit Cooking Channel TV show Eat St. He has been featured on Last Comic Standing, Just For Laughs, and Comedy Inc., and is the creator of the award-winning show Funny Money. He has headlined across the Canadian comedy circuit for over fifteen years as a stand-up comedian and has performed with Howie Mandel, Craig Ferguson, Steven Wright, Demetri Martin, Jeff Foxworthy, and John Pine.The popularity of street food has exploded in the last few years. Across American cities, the largest demographic of food truck customers is 24-34, with customers spending an average of $44 a month on food truck cuisine. One particular food truck – Kogi BBQ in Los Angeles – has 28,000 Twitter followers and 45-minute line-ups. Coinciding with the premiere of Season 4, EAT ST. is packed with recipes from the best food vendors on wheels, from on-the-go snacks to burgers, street sandwiches, tacos, and curbside meals to mobile sweet treats, like:
• Portland: EuroTrash’s Trashy Chorizo and Chips with Foie Gras
• San Francisco: Babaloo Cuban Food Truck’s Fred & Ethel Fish Sliders
• Washington, DC: S.M.O.G. Pie from the Dangerously Delicious Truck
• New York City: NYC favorite Biryani Cart’s Chicken Tikka
• Los Angeles: The Notorious R.I.B. from Truck Norris
• Seattle: Skillet Street Food’s Sockeye Salmon with Succotash
Plus recipes from trucks in other cities such as: Miami, Houston, Orlando, San Diego, New Orleans, San Jose, Orange County, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Irvine, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Charleston, Denver, Providence, Tampa, Baton Rouge, Santa Monica, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Lansing, Hoboken, Boston!
John Graziano - Winemaker and Vice President of Millbrook Vineyards & Winery
John Graziano is the Vice President and Winemaker at Millbrook Vineyards & Winery. Millbrook Winery has earned recognition for Graziano’s wines in consumer and industry publications such as Wine Spectator, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Encyclopedia of Wine, Kevin Zraly's Windows on the World-Complete Wine Course and Bon Appetit Magazine. Graziano is responsible for the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery education program, which is highly regarded among all New York wineries for its approach to educating visitors about wine during their on-site experience. He produced more than 14,000 cases of wine annually. Graziano has been the sole winemaker at Millbrook Vineyards & Winery since he joined John
Dyson and David Bova in 1983. At the time, there were only a few small wineries on the west
and east side of the Hudson River and none of them dedicated to vinifera based wines.
Graziano graduted from Cornell University where he studied Fruit Crop production, including
courses in viticulture - an educational experience complemented by the campus’ proximity to
the Finger Lakes wine region. After receiving his Cornell degrees in Plant Pathology and
Entomology, Graziano worked as manager and winemaker at another Hudson Valley vineyard
where he gained experience as a winemaker and with the local terroir. Being able to work with
John Dyson growing vinifera grapes and using innovative viticultural techniques was a rare and
priceless opportunity for the young and aspiring winemaker. In 1985, Millbrook released their
first commercial vintage with Graziano as its winemaker. In 1987, Graziano toured France
where he had the opportunity to study with winemakers in Bordeaux and Burgundy.
Graziano produces wine from fruit across New York State and California. Millbrook Vineyards & Winery now consists of 32 acres of vines include plantings of Tocai Friulano, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Riesling. He hopes to continue to improve and make a mark on the New York wine trail with the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery Hudson River Region Estate bottled wines. Graziano sees evergreen potential in Millbrook Vineyards and after more than 25 years of producing wine on the grounds, he still loves the view.