Category: BiteClub

I am ashamed–very ashamed–to admit that after living in Sonoma County for more than three years, I have never been to Hank’s Creekside. Call me a brunch snob. I simply refuse to stand in an hour-long line for pancakes*. No matter how many Food Network stars rave about them**. I stand corrected. Well, sort of. […]

Is Santa Rosa becoming Sonoma County’s gastropub capital? We realize beer and brew spots are the hottest new trend in restaurants, but two new pubs are set to open downtown this summer. Get ready to grab a pint at Toad in the Hole (which has been taunting passersby in its Railroad Square location for months) […]

In celebration of the opening day of Santa Rosa’s Evening Market-Top 10 reasons to hit the farm market 10. Fava beans. With Chianti or without.9. Zucchini blossoms. Put them in your hair, or stuff them with cheese and fry ’em up.8. Sweet pea blossoms. She’ll think you picked them yourself.7. Carrying a market basket is […]

What’s the best meal you’ve ever had? Don’t think too hard about it or try to impress me–just let whatever comes to mind pop in there. Was it at Chez Panisse or Cyrus? The French Laundry, Syrah or maybe Spago? Or was it that awful Thanksgiving that mom burned the turkey and the whole family […]

My family laughs hysterically when I talk about California barbeque spots. In their neck of the uh-holler-ribs are a religion. Pulled pork gets smoked with as much gusto as a pack of Virginia Slims. And their sauce don’t taste like vinegar, ya’ll. From Memphis to Mobile, how you sauce your barbeque is part of a […]

Pleasure is not an ‘extra’ in life. It’s not something to be doled out in a miserly fashion. It’s not something to be avoided, made to feel guilty about, or worst of all, ashamed of. Pleasure is what makes life worth living. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the thing is, most of us don’t get that […]

David Arnold can’t just leave things well enough alone. He has to make them better. More bubbly. More, well, gin and tonic-y. With a carbon dioxide tank, a bottle of gin, and dozens of bags of powdered acids, and lime extract that he’s processed through some sort of jerry-rigged distillation machine, he’s demonstrating to us […]

There’s a whole part of Napa most of us never see. Hidden in the hills are incredible works of art, architecture and sculpture that stretch the limits of imagination. Trust me, I’ve seen some of them. On Sunday, I’ll be heading to Quixote winery–a structure of mind-bending lines, brilliant colors and cartoonish proportions that has […]

Not like you need an excuse to hang out on the patio and drink margaritas all day, but hey, thanks to the victory of the Mexican army over the French some 150 or so years ago, you’ve got one. So grab a glass, some chips, a Cerveza or two and tap into the salsa and […]