events

Take exceptional artisan cheeses and pair them with a cadre of chefs from prominent local restaurants, and the results are bound to be exciting, enticing, and all-around enjoyable, as we learned at California's Artisan Cheese Festival's Grand Tasting and Best in Cheese Competition. Click through to get inspired by our favorite cheese-packed bites from the event.

Rejoice, Top Chef: Just Desserts fans! Season one winner Yigit Pura has a new San Francisco patisserie, Tout Sweet, opening this Saturday, Sept. 8. Billed as a French patisserie inspired by Northern California produce, this très chic pastry shop is sure to tempt all but the most stalwart sweets-averse. For those of you living outside the SF Bay Area, don't fret: chef Pura is currently penning a cookbook titled Sweet Alchemy, due out next Fall, and has plans for eventual nationwide expansion.

Vegans beware! Cochon Heritage Fire is a celebration of mouth-watering, carnivore-friendly fare. Last Saturday, prominent local and visiting chefs (including Jason Vincent from Chicago's Nightwood, the 2012 Grand Cochon winner) convened at the River Terrace Inn in Napa to dish up a variety of enticing bites, highlighting heritage breed goats, lamb, pigs, rabbits, foraged mushrooms, and wild birds.

Imagine burrowing your feet underneath warm sand while breathing in a swirl of fresh sea breeze and smoked salmon. You're surrounded by interesting new friends, engaged in intimate conversations that that seem as bottomless as the wine refills. There's no distractions, no place to be, and nothing to think about other than passing around the heavy ceramic bowls full of the freshest produce, picked literally hours before dinner service.

Yes, this event is real. It's called Outstanding in the Field. The organization connects diners with the food on their plate. Founded in 1998 by Jim Denevan, the dinners are organized all around the United States to bring diners, local farmers, and sustainable chefs together. Each event is located on or near a farm in stunning outdoor locations.

I was lucky enough to attend one of these dinners, hosted by Freewheelin' Farm in Santa Cruz, CA. The rustic, family-style dinner was prepared by Kim Alter, the executive chef of Haven restaurant in Oakland, CA. Enter my version of culinary heaven by taking a look at the photos of the food and scenery from this truly outstanding dining experience.

The 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards went down at LA's Shrine Auditorium last night — be sure to catch who wore what on FabSugar. While it's fun to see what celebs wore to the red-carpet affair, their over-the-top gowns aren't always the most translatable to our everyday life. That's why we've taken the top looks from the SAGs and created inspired ensembles that you can wear everywhere from a birthday soiree to dinner or a hot nightclub. Click through to find out which dazzling looks made the cut and to shop our glitzy, glamorous recommendations.

Food artisans from around the country were honored at the second annual Good Food Awards, which celebrate American food producers, who enhance the country's agricultural landscape and help to build community. On Friday, we hit up the awards ceremony, where a veritable who's who of the food industry, from Alice Waters to Ruth Reichl, spoke to the importance of heirloom products, and where we had a chance to taste some of the best heirloom products being made in this country right now. For a few snapshots from the event, keep reading.