Great news! In my March newsletter, I said I was keeping my fingers crossed that we would be selected as one of six national finalists for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur. It worked! The winner will be announced on May 5 in New York. I am crossing my fingers on both hands this time!        

A favorite day trip is to drive to Berkeley for eating and food shopping. It's about a 75-minute drive from Saint Helena. On a recent Friday, I took Michael and Jim, the executive chefs at Mustards and Cindy's Backstreet, on a tour of the "gourmet ghetto." I hope you'll have an opportunity to experience our itinerary yourselves someday.

It's "ABC" at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen this month. "Anything but Chicken!" will highlight game birds like duck, partridge, guinea hen, and my personal favorite, squab. Jim and the gang will be preparing terrines, and cooking in the wood oven and wood grill with all the great other-than-chicken-poultry available. Don't worry...our famous Pollo Loco will still be available!

Viva Sweet Spring at Mustards Grill! Our Thursday night  Pour-Off Pair-Off will feature delectable spring dishes from the wine-making regions of the world, paired with great wines selected by Patrick and James. Get in there!

Jason, our assistant GM at Mustards, is having a blast creating "shrubs," an American colonial era method of mixing water, flavorings and liquors, before the invention of sodas and prepared mixers. His rhubarb shrub is one of my favorites.

Cindy's Shout-out: Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, by Gordon Edgar, partly about cheese and a highly-readable narrative about the writer's life as a cheesemonger and member of San Francisco's Rainbow Grocery Cooperative.

This month's recipe is Charcoal-Grilled Marinated Squid, taken from my Cindy's Supper Club cookbook. It is particularly fitting because on April 12, "Tentacles: The Astounding Lives of Octopuses, Squid, and

Cuttlefishes" exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It will feature the largest and most diverse living exhibit ever created to showcase these amazing animals.

I will be a host at the Aquarium's annual Cooking for Solutions in mid-May. This fabulous food and wine event sells out early so get your tickets now! It's a great way to see the aquarium, eat at Cindy's Waterfront restaurant, and visit the gorgeous Monterey Peninsula.

See you soon!