October is traditionally the craziest of the busy months for us at BLC. Not only are private client bookings at a high water mark due to Northern California’s Indian Summertime, our calendar is filled with gigs at wineries and concert venues. The fact that this all comes on the heels of August and September only adds to the insanity. Luckily we thrive on the adrenaline rush. We plan meticulously, we schedule everyone we have to be everywhere they are needed, we let the market dictate our menus and we accept help from a team of very talented individuals to make it through. One thing that usually falls by the wayside is the blog. We try to post at least two posts every month, one somewhere around the beginning and one sometime at the end. It is 10-25 and this is our first post of the month. Lets call it a highlight reel.

We discovered this month that we could go farther with La Croix. Probably the best flavored water we have ever tasted. We may find out in a month or two that this is a dangerous poison but for now it is nectar of the Gods.

Early in the month we thought Pan-Bagnat would make a suitable way to use our oven cured tomatoes and killer Albacore tuna for a backstage hors d’oeuvre at the Greek Theatre.

Speaking of the Greek, Neil Young stopped by for an epic night of rock and roll with Promise of the Real. A few of the road cases had a very familiar logo attached…

In the spirit of things we served the band and crew Chicken Pozole with Guajillo Chilies and all the traditional garnishes.

And Ropa Vieja Tacos with Pico de Gallo.

BLC also made our annual pilgrimage to the Treasure Island Music Festival.

Where we served our usual spread of farmers market goodies including Smoked Eggplant Salad, Olive Oil Fried Padron Peppers with Sea Salt, Olives, Cheese and Fruit.

Speaking of eggplants…October is the last time we see our favorite baby eggplants at the market for another year. Above they are being grilled over mesquite with olive oil and salt. Later to be served al fresco with basil, tomato and mozzarella cheese as a snack.

We were proud to close our beloved UC Berkeley Greek season with Hozier this year on October 23. What better way to greet an Irish outfit than with proper ham Biscuits with butter and salt!

And with just a few days left in the month we were proud to be part of the inaugural Alexander Valley Film festival where we took our Hors d’oeuvre inspiration form one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Grilled Chicken Salad anyone?