Category: BiteClub

Willi's Wine Bar tacos

Willi’s Wine Bar | Santa Rosa

Cozy Santa Rosa bistro continues to create crowd pleasers and small plates with Wine Country flair

From the super secret BiteClub tip line

Former Lisa Hemenway collaborator Suzan Fleissner is preparing to open a new restaurant and bar in downtown Santa Rosa at the former Worth Our Weight space on Third Street. Following up on a tip from a BiteClubber, I hear that Fleissner (a vegetarian) plans to focus the menu around earth and sea — local seafood, […]

Green Grocer

Surrounded on all sides by dairies, farms, sea and orchards, the newish idea of only eating foods produced within 150 miles of where we live seems like a gimme. It’s an experiment popularized a few years ago by a group called “Locavores” and is gaining steam with the carbon-footprint set. So, okay, 150 miles from […]

Green Grocer

Two former Napa chefs are stocking their new eatery, Green Grocer in Windsor, almost exclusively with food caught or harvested within 150 miles. Joe and Susanna Rueter opened the gourmet market in late July 2008 with 95% of their inventory coming from local sources. Currently they're working with folks like Gary Blasi, Sayre, Amstrong, Golden Nectar and Bernier Farms. Joe almost apologies for the fact that some of his pork is from 167 miles away. And the coffee (duh) isn't local, but its fair-trade. You get the idea.

News and gossip

Lots of buzz going on about the new French bistro under construction in downtown Santa Rosa. The restaurant is taking over the former Wolf’s coffee and Cafe Japan spots. At the helm is General Manager Justin Werth, who’s worked at Mirepoix, Monti’s and Tra Vigne. It’s a family affair, Werth tells BiteClub, with his family […]

The $661 dinner

It was a dinner that cost as much as a flat screen television. A single meal for two at the Michelin-rated Meadowood Restaurant cost more than my monthly car payment, more than I spend on clothes, as much as a flight to New York City and more than many people earn in a week. Let’s […]

Narsi’s Hof Brau fights on

Narsi’s Hof-Brau still fightingIf you’ve been following the ongoing saga of Coddingtown’s Narsi Samii, you’ve probably got an opinion one way or the other. If not, let me sum it up for you: The long-time mall eatery is facing eviction by new co-owners to make way for a Cheesecake Factory. The move is in line […]

French Garden: Closed

If you know anything about Dan Smith, the owner of Sebastopol's French Garden Restaurant & Brasserie, you know that local boy-turned-entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist-
turned-restauranteur doesn't go down without a fight. Though he's struggled to attain his ambitious vision of a Michelin-starred farm-to-table eatery after two chef departures and mixed reviews of the cuisine since opening in 2006, he's far from throwing in the towel. In fact, he seems more excited about the restaurant than ever