Willi's Wine Bar Santa Rosa/Kendall-Jackson

We found ourselves in the Santa Rosa area the other day, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to finally eat at Willi's Wine Bar. Willi's Wine Bar delivered everything promised. The food was outstanding, the wine flights intriguing-the pairing and the wineries. Willi's Wine Bar offers small international plates, and we started off with a Soda Rock Farms Heirloom Tomato Salad, with whipped ricotta cheese & verjus vinaigrette which was on the Local menu. Our next plates were from the Mediterranean menu: Seared Scallops, with roasted Corn Sauce & Tomato Escabeche and Moroccan Style Lamb Chops with preserved Lemon Couscous. Of course, we needed to have Willi's Truffled French Fries from the French menu. Each 'small' plate was ample for two, and although we were stuffed, we couldn't pass up the dessert plates. We had an incredible banana chocolate croissant bread pudding and a lovely creme brulee with raspberries. We did flights of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Each dish was perfectly prepared and presented.

So if you find yourself in the North Bay for lunch or dinner, be sure and stop by.
Planning a special event: Willi's Wine Bar has patio seating for parties of 25 and inside the restaurant for buy-outs.

Kendall-Jackson Wine Center is just a bit north on Fulton Road, and it's always worth a visit. Not only can you taste fabulous wines, but there is a wonderful Food & Wine Pairing created by Kendall-Jackson's Executive Chef Justin Wangler. This is a seated tasting experience in which you sample from a plate of delectable food paired with the day's featured wines. No appointment necessary, and this pairing is offered throughout the year. Kendall-Jackson has a lovely culinary garden from which many of the ingredients are harvested.

Kendall-Jackson has accommodate large and small groups for weddings, meetings and special events. Murder on the Menu will be producing a mystery for the Wine Club on October 25. Open to the public. Reservations necessary.

Charity Challenge: Trikes for Tots

I wrote about our big Charity Challenge: Bikes for Kids event in at AT& T Park last week, but I thought I'd post a photo from one of our Charity Challenge: Trikes for Tots events. 25 meeting planners from CSUS met for a FAM organized by Toddy Isham, hosted by Krug Hotels and Conference Centers in beautiful Sonoma County. After being wined and dined and shown all the wonderful opportunities for meetings in Sonoma county, Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited were brought in to showcase our services. We did a series of short Wacky Games, Chocolate Tasting and Trikes for Tots. Rick Uribe from Catholic Charities took the trikes for the Family Support Center in Santa Rosa. Some trikes were given to children with birthdays and some will be used by all the children at the center. Before we even returned to our office that day, Rick had sent us a photo of some of the children riding the trikes. Very moving.

The Charity Challenge is a great event for companies who want to do teambuilding while at the same time want to give back to the community.

ZS Associates Build Bikes for Kids at the Giants AT&T Park

Thursday dawned foggy and damp, but even the cool Bay area fog couldn't dampen the energy of 100 ZS Associates participants as they put together 26 bicycles at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The Charity Challenge: Bikes for Kids yielded 26 bikes for needy kids. Rick Uribe of Catholic Charities received the bicycles for Family Support Services in Santa Rosa. Some bikes will be given to children now, and some will be held for holiday gifts. But the day for ZS Associates didn't end there. Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited had also created some fun teambuilding games before the Game. It was a great day and the group was certainly up for the Charity Challenge!