Scott Beattie Spices Up Ramen Gaijin’s Cocktail Menu

Written by Heather Irwin for BiteClubEats. Cocktail-whisperer Scott Beattie has created a drink menu for Ramen Gaijin inspired by his passion for Japan and, well, booze. Tea-infused whiskeys, along with cocktails that showcase pickled plums and even mushrooms are beyond incredible. Also look for shrub cocktails with seasonal fruit from Bar Manager Gillian Tyrnauaer. We’re a […]
Bread from Trading Post in Cloverdale. This secret little bake shop is doing some of the best bread in the Bay. Just follow your nose. 102 S Cloverdale Blvd, Cloverdale, CA, 707-894-6483, thepostcloverdale.com (Courtesy Photo)

Trading Post Bakery Enters Cloverdale’s New Food Scene

Written by Heather Irwin for BiteClubEats. There’s a whole lot more to Cloverdale than the Hamburger Ranch these days. A burgeoning food scene is rapidly making this small, north county town a destination for adventurous eaters. While playing hooky (I mean working really hard) last Friday afternoon, BiteClub stopped into the eagerly-anticipated Trading Post Market and […]

Healdsburg, Napa and San Francisco Named Best Food Cities of 2016

Written by Heather Irwin for BiteClubEats. I rarely get too excited when random magazines and websites celebrate Sonoma County as a best foodie destination. I mean, duh, we all know that. But its a little more interesting when Condé Nast Traveler readers pin Healdsburg (12), Napa(8) and San Francisco (9) among the 15 Best Food Cities […]

Trail of the Week: Bartholomew Memorial Park Trail

Some days all you need is a little walk through the woods, with enough ups and downs to make the blood pump and enough shade to keep you cool. If it comes with a little refreshment at the end, who could complain? That’s the formula for this “only in Sonoma” hike, the 2.4-mile Bartholomew Memorial […]

Quivira’s Hugh Chappelle Makes a Rock Star Rosé

Hugh Chappelle had a precocious palate. While just a kid he was an everyday wine drinker, thanks to his German mother who gave him a taste of the finest rieslings. Chappelle is the winegrower behind our wine-of the-week winner — Quivira, 2015 Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Rosé at $22. The Quivira is a striking […]
The "Raw Fish of the Day" is the chef's selection. This day it included cucumbers and blood oranges at Oso restaurant in Sonoma. (Photo by Charlie Gesell)

Sebastopol’s Ramen Gaijin Leads Sonoma County’s Passion for Japanese Restaurants

Written by Heather Irwin for BiteClubEats. Don’t know an izakaya from an omakase? Don’t worry, you will. Although nearly a third of Americans included in a 2015 National Restaurant Association survey said they regularly eat sushi or “Japanese” food, the lion’s share of that is Americanized sushi, strip mall teriyaki and Top Ramen. But homestyle […]

Trail of the Week: Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail

Written by Diane Peterson for The Press Democrat. The Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail is a popular destination for dog lovers such as Genevieve Jago of Sebastopol, who hooked up her energetic, 8-month-old English Cocker Spaniel in the Highway 12 parking lot and embarked on a restorative walk on a warm, spring day in early […]

Glen Ellen’s Gaige House: A Most Romantic Retreat

In the spring, when the roses and wisteria are in gorgeous bloom, the Gaige House inn welcomes a steady stream of guests. Nestled off the main road in Glen Ellen, Gaige House is one of the oldest homes in the area, designated a historic landmark by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in 1980. The […]
Briana Marie Photography

Pairing Sonoma Wine with Waterfowl

The birds are back — ducks, geese, egrets, avocets, grackles, pelicans, herons, hawks and sparrows — at the wetlands at Viansa Sonoma winery, and there’s no better place from which to view them than a wood-framed outlook equipped with binoculars, telescope, bird identification guide and blankets for chilly days. Not into focusing on fowl? The […]
Writer Dana Gioia served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and was appointed California State Poet Laureate by Jerry Brown in 2015. (JOHN BURGESS / The Press Democrat)

California Poet Laureate Returns to Santa Rosa

Santa Rosan Dana Gioia is the new California Poet Laureate, appointed to the post by Gov. Jerry Brown in December 2015. During his two-year term, Gioia will spread the art of poetry and inspire a new generation of writers while visiting schools and libraries in many of the state’s rural counties. He picks up where […]