Category: Towns

Discover Sonoma County destinations

Sonoma Film Fest Puts on a Show

Who doesn’t adore a rich bit of parody, bawdy comedy and a magic trick or two — particularly when it’s in the middle of gracious downtown Sonoma? The 19th annual Sonoma International Film Festival will be even more glamorous this year (March 30-April 3), thanks to a new entertainment village anchored by Le Tigre, a […]

Nice to Meat You: Legendary Butcher at Sonoma Broadway Market

By Ariana Reguzzoni Tom Geney arrives at Sonoma’s Broadway Market at 4 a.m. each day, flips on the lights and prepares for the steady stream of customers seeking steaks, chops, ribs and fowl prepared the old-fashioned way: by hand and to order. Geney, 75, is one of the longest-serving butchers in the county, having plied […]
Boston Terriers by Tim Shorten. (Courtesy of The Alchemia Gallery)

The Alchemia Gallery is Fostering Creative Gifts in Petaluma

For the artists who show at The Alchemia Gallery in Petaluma, art is not only good for the soul, it’s a pathway to independence and self-empowerment. Opened in 2010, the Kentucky Street storefront showcases the work of a unique collective: adults with a wide range of developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, autism and cerebral […]

BohLux: A Tradition of Luxury in Santa Rosa

Gail Fivis recently shopped in New York City, but not for herself. Instead, she searched for the perfect Cognac-colored ostrich leather for a client’s handbag. It was all part of a day’s work for the co-owner of BohLux, a custom leather goods shop in downtown Santa Rosa. After years of study, Fivis, 64, and business […]
Bob Pullum, the owner of Guerneville Bank Club, stands next to the old vault inside the building. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)

Guerneville Bank Club: A Hip Sense of History

FOR 30 YEARS, the old bank building on Guerneville’s downtown strip stood vacant. After a meticulous renovation by Bob Pullum, who purchased it in 2014 without having seen the interior, the 1921 Carl I. Warnecke-designed building debuted in spring 2015 as the Guerneville Bank Club, a collective retail and art gallery space. “I wanted to […]

Sonoma Chef Getting Back to Cheese

Sheana Davis has been a fixture in the Sonoma Valley culinary community for more than 20 years. She cooked for and with legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher, learned to make cheese from Ig Vella, founded The Epicurean Connection cheese shop and cafe, and introduced cheese education to Sonoma. Yet despite all her energy, Davis, a […]

A Grandmother’s Guidance: The Roots of Healdsburg Shed Owner

As a youngster, he helped in the kitchen of what would evolve into one of the most famous restaurants in the world, The French Laundry in Yountville. At 20, he was the sous chef at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, by 22 in charge of the kitchen at étoile restaurant in Yountville. At 25, he […]

Shady Oak Barrel House Concocting Unique Sour Beers

Steve Doty of Shady Oak Barrel House is one of the most highly regarded newcomers to the local craft beer scene. But it wouldn’t be right to call Doty a brewer. Pulling from his experience in the wine industry, he’s more of a blender, with a little bit of mad scientist thrown in. Since December, […]
Sonoma Cider founders Robert Cordtz, left, and his father, David, at their production facility in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

Healdsburg’s Sonoma Cider a Bubbly Success

The challenge with making apple cider in Sonoma County is an ironic one: it can be hard to find apples. Especially when you’re shopping strictly for certified organic kinds. But the team at Sonoma Cider in Healdsburg is working to change that, one juicy piece of fruit at a time. In 1940, the county reached […]

Bella Rosa Coffee Company: Building Santa Rosa’s Perfect Cuppa Joe

Four years ago, Jon Bixler and Cynthia Buck didn’t know a thing about coffee, but they did know David Greenfield. A bear of a guy with a shaggy gray goatee, piercing hazel eyes and a penchant for welding together brilliant contraptions for roasting coffee, Greenfield had a million-dollar idea without a home. With more than […]