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Sharon Zezima and Kal Deutsch created this craft cocktail, Dos Posos. Photos Susie Iventosch
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For some craft cocktail fun, put the "Art of Mixology" contest on your calendar! The Orinda Arts Council is partnering with Orinda Theatre Square to host the first annual craft cocktail competition and tasting on Oct. 25.
The event will be held in the plaza at Theatre Square, from 4:30 to 7 p.m., and will feature 20 or so different craft cocktails. Table 24 and Barbacoa will be selling sliders and tacos in the plaza during the event. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the various arts programs that the Orinda Arts Council supports.
The contest is open to local area bartenders, who will be competing in the professional division, but there is an amateur division as well, so those of you who have a special drink you'd like to try out on the crowd can do so. The entry deadline is Sept. 25, so you'd better hurry!
There will be cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100 for the professional division, which will be judged by a panel of judges, and trophies for the amateur division. The amateurs will be judged by attendees via mobile app, and there will be an Audience Choice for the professional entries, also selected via mobile app by the crowd.
"Craft cocktails are all the rage right now in restaurants and bars, but they are really expensive at $15 per drink," said Kal Deutsch, vice president of communications for the Orinda Arts Council. "This event will give people an opportunity to taste a wide variety of craft cocktail samples all for $45!"
Deutsch said attendees will also receive an e-book recipe collection from the event within a week or so of the competition date.
Deutsch and his wife, Sharon Zezima, created a special cocktail called Dos Posos. It's made with Pimm's No. 1, cucumber slices, hard cider, lemon juice and agave syrup.
"If I weren't on the Arts Council, this is one I'd enter into the contest," he said.
He was kind enough to share their recipe with the rest of us, so we can try it at home. His sister-in-law, Carolyn Zezima, who is a California Culinary Academy graduate and president of NYC Foodscape, a food systems and urban agriculture consulting business, gave him her recipe for Pakora (Indian vegetable fritters) with Apple Mint Chutney and Yogurt Raita, as the perfect accompaniment to Dos Posos.
We made Dos Posos and Pakora at home for dinner guests, and they complemented each other well. The Pakora were absolutely delicious served with the homemade chutney and yogurt sauce.
Deutsch said the event will have a taxi station for anyone wanting to take a taxi home, and is a very short walking distance to BART.
For more information about purchasing tickets or entering the contest, please visit: http://OrindaArts.org/Mixology
For more information about Carolyn Zezima, please visit her blog at: http://blog.nycfoodscape.com/?p=255
Also, remember the Moraga Pear & Wine Festival is coming up on Sept. 27! There is a recipe contest as part of the festivities.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA