The former K&L Bistro in Sebastopol. (Courtesy of K&L Bistro)
Goldfinch restaurant will be the successor to the recently closed K&L Bistro, according to the owners of The Livery on Main, a forthcoming food hall, coworking and event space in downtown Sebastopol that is operated by the “public benefit corporation” Farm to Coast Collective, a subsidiary of local company The Beale Group.
Farm to Coast Collective purchased K&L Bistro from longtime owners Karen and Lucas Martin in March. The Martins opened their French bistro in 2007 and won a Michelin star the same year for their French staples, like onion soup, Steak au Poivre and Mussels Mariniere.
Despite the restaurant’s ongoing success, the Martins struggled to keep the doors open during the pandemic, often operating with minimal staff. After selling their restaurant, they announced that they plan to retire in Oregon.
Goldfinch will be headed by Nick Izzarelli, formerly with Stark Reality Restaurants and currently the food and beverage director at The Livery on Main.
“Wood-fired, locally sourced and sustainable fare” will be the focus at the new restaurant, which will offer “creative plant-based dishes with seafood and meats as sides,” as well as an “excellent selection of both new and old-world wines,” according to the website. A summer opening is anticipated.
Located at 119 S. Main St., the former K&L Bistro space is just a stone’s throw away from The Livery at 135 S. Main St., but not attached to the 22,000-square-foot multi-use space. The Livery’s food hall will include several micro-restaurants, including El Charro Negro, Taverna Lithi, Cozy Plum Kitchen and Village Bakery. The owners are hoping for a 2022 launch.
A Pita Bar with (clockwise from top left) herbs and salad, pita bread, farmer’s market pickles, mint yogurt sauce, chicken and beef shawarma and tomatoes from Cristina Topham, owner of Spread Kitchen in Sonoma. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
From Balinese Babi guling to Toum on za’atar fries in Sonoma, here’s what our dining editor has been enjoying lately.
Eating in Bali isn’t so far from home
Standing in the middle of a rice paddy outside of Ubud, Bali, Chef Putu Ambara of Nusantara restaurant pulls a yellow button flower from the verdant overgrowth. “Taste it; it makes your tongue numb,” he says. A tiny nibble from the plant, also known as Szechuan buttons, instantly creates a tingling sensation that lasts for several minutes. It’s just one of the many, many edible herbs and flowers that have been used in Indonesia as both tonic and flavoring for thousands of years.
Bali is an edible wonderland and a forager’s dream, filled with edible greenery, seafood, fruits, vegetables, meat and native wildlife like no other place on earth, and I came to taste it all.
More than 8,300 miles from San Francisco, Bali is part of the Indonesian archipelago that straddles the Indian and Pacific oceans. More like its Southeast Asian neighbors than Pacific Islanders, Bali is an island jungle just 8 degrees south of the equator. The town of Ubud is a cultural center of dance, art and food that rose to fame as a destination in Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 travel memoir “Eat, Pray, Love.”
On a seven-day whirlwind trip this month, I ate at as many restaurants, warungs (the Balinese name for casual cafes), high-end spots and food markets as I could. My takeaway is how similar the culinary philosophies of Sonoma County and Bali are — making use of organic, local ingredients; eliminating food waste whenever possible; foraging for unique flavors; “nose-to-tail” eating that uses every part of the animal and plant; and honoring culinary traditions while adding new twists.
And while a week is barely time to scratch the surface of the fascinating food culture of just one small corner of Bali, here are a few favorite restaurants in and around Ubud, Bali, should you get the chance to go.
Locavore: Named the best restaurant in Indonesia and one of the 50 best restaurants in Asia multiple times, this sustainability-focused fine dining spot is as much a philosophy as a meal. Chefs Eelke Plasmeijer (a Dutchman who moved to Indonesia in 2008) and Ray Adriansyah set playful culinary scenes with unexpected ingredients like overripe bananas, nutmeg tree fruit and bok choy stems to demonstrate how food “waste” can be turned into Michelin-worthy dishes. It’s best to experience the nine-course menu with a sense of wonder and intrigue rather than expecting a traditional meal. And don’t flinch when raw goat meat is served in a leaf. It’s delicious. Jl. Dewisita No. 10, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia, locavore.co.id
Nusantara: This sister restaurant to Locavore focuses more on traditional home cooking inspired by local ingredients. Chef Putu’s Saturday cooking class includes a traditional food market tour, breakfast at a street-side warung for roast pig (Babi guling), a foraging tour through a local rice patty and a restaurant kitchen cooking class using local herbs, spices and meats prepared for a private lunch. Jl. Dewisita No. 09C, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia, locavore.co.id/nusantara
Room 4 Dessert: Dessert is the main event at Chef Will Goldfarb’s groundbreaking cafe. Enter through a culinary garden where many of the evening’s dishes find their inspiration. The full 21-course tasting menu with small savory dishes, cocktail pairings and 14 dessert bites can be a bit of a slog, especially if you’re jet-lagged. We recommend a light dinner and the seven-course dessert menu. Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Kedewatan, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80561, Indonesia, room4dessert.com
Hanging Gardens: Hidden deep in the jungle just north of Ubud, this uber-luxury resort is built on a 45-degree angle overlooking the Ayung River and ancient Dalem Segara temple. Embraced by a wild green landscape, the restaurant, pool and villas seem to hang in the air with an uninterrupted view of the plunging hillside. For a minimum of 300,000 rupiah (about $20) per person, you can ride the two-person funicular from the open-air lobby to the restaurant overlooking a double infinity pool. It is truly one of the most spectacular sights in the world (and awarded by travel magazines accordingly). Grab a few drinks on the patio and a snack while basking in the sun like a mogul. Buahan, Payangan, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80571, Indonesia, hanginggardensofbali.com
Ibu Susu: In the heart of downtown Ubud, it can be hard to find restaurants that don’t pander entirely to Western tastes. This small cafe is clearly frequented by foreigners but serves authentic Balinese and Pan-Asian dishes along with great cocktails. Hit up happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. for drink deals. Favorite dishes include beef rendang (a slow-cooked beef in coconut milk), fresh betel leaf with salmon and tuna tartare or lemongrass chicken with papaya salad. Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia, ibususu.com
Hotel Alila: The training ground for many local chefs, this hotel and resort typically offers high-end evening dining, but it has yet to reopen after the pandemic. Guests are treated to authentic breakfast dishes — rice porridge, nasi goring and gado gado and jamu (a tonic of herbs and spices). The poolside cafe also serves both Western and Balinese dishes. Desa, Melinggih Kelod, Payangan, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80572, Indonesia, alilahotels.com/ubud
Pyramids of Chi: Cleanse your soul and your stomach at this vegan wellness retreat and mystical energy garden. Centered around two soaring pyramids built to a one-sixteenth scale of the Pyramids of Giza, this place offers visitors sound and light healing classes inside the energy-channeling buildings. Though it’s easy to be skeptical, it’s hard to deny the feeling of body and mind renewal after an hour of meditating to ancient gongs and drums, especially for around $18 per person. The cafe offers plant-based, organic Western cuisine with fresh juices, baked goods, salads and even cocktails and wine. Jalan Kelebang Moding No. 22 Banjar Bentuyung Ubud, Tegallalang, Kec. Tegallalang, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia, pyramidsofchi.com
One note: Bali’s tourism has been ravaged by the pandemic. The country was closed to outside visitors for nearly two and a half years, collapsing much of the economy and closing many great restaurants and tourism spots. If you go, check to see if businesses have reopened.
Lebanese kitchen opens in Sonoma
There’s some hummus among us with the opening of Spread Kitchen in Boyes Hot Springs.
The former Sonoma Eats (18375 Sonoma Highway) is the first brick-and-mortar restaurant for chef/owner Cristina Topham, best known for her catering and farm market offerings. Chef de Cuisine Nick Urban heads up the kitchen, serving fresh pita with hummus, beef and chicken shawarma, chickpea and black bean falafel and beef and lamb kofta.
All proteins (including the vegetarian jackfruit shawarma) are available with pita, in a bowl with tabouleh and a fresh “grain of the day,” as a salad or as “dirty fries” with pickled onion, herbs and yogurt sauce.
Don’t miss the Toum, a creamy whipped garlic sauce that’s irresistible on za’atar fries (and available for takeout). A large outdoor patio is perfect for summer dining.
As we head toward Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial start of summer — the Napa Valley Wine Train wants folks to get excited for the holiday. The Christmas holiday, that is.
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the one-of-a-kind Wine Country tourist attraction recently announced the beloved Santa Train is making a comeback.
Santa Claus is coming back to town aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train in December. (Courtesy of the Napa Valley Wine Train)
“The Santa Train brings so much joy and excitement and with years missed due to Covid, this will be the best year yet,” said Nathan Davis, general manager of the Napa Valley Wine Train.
The Santa Train will run from December 1 to December 23. Tickets for the seasonal adventure are being sold exclusively to Napa residents through June 30. Locals must make bookings over the phone, as tickets can’t be purchased online. General ticket sales begin July 1.
Guests who hop aboard in 2022 can choose from a variety of new experiences and price points. Santa’s Cookie Car includes hot cocoa, a cookie and a photo with Santa. Tickets start at $50.
Guests who purchase the Gourmet Holiday Express are invited to arrive early to the train station in downtown Napa for hot cider, caroling and photo ops with Santa in his workshop. Once onboard, they will enjoy a three-course kid-friendly meal that includes a tableside visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Tickets start at $75.
The Very Merry Vista Dome includes the same pre-journey festivities and visits with Santa as the Gourmet Holiday Express, along with a three-course holiday inspired dinner served in the train’s observation-style dining car. Guests will also receive a box of homemade sweets to enjoy at home. Tickets start at $95.
The Napa Valley Wine Train is partnering with Napa-based foster youth organization Expressions of Hope for the holiday season. Donations of holiday socks, holiday-themed coloring workbooks and backpacks or suitcases are encouraged.
Napa Valley Wine Train, 1275 Mckinstry St., Napa, 707-253-2111, winetrain.com
Wine Country is a popular destination not only for its wineries but also for its charming inns and luxury hotels. Local properties offer a long list of amenities and special perks — from onsite spas and farm-to-table restaurants to customized tours and pools with vineyard views. Some also offer guests a chance to travel back in time.
Click through the above gallery for six historic Sonoma County hotels to check into this summer.
Clockwise from top left, Cajun Spiced Catch of the Day, Shrimp and Grits, Bacon + Cheddar Hushpuppies, Collards + Mac and Cheese, Southern Fried Chicken Dinner, Smoked Trout + Baby Lettuces from Easy Rider in Petaluma. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Who wants to meet for a drink? Who’s ready to stay up late on a warm June night? We all are! Fingers crossed, it seems like we’re in a very different place than we were two years ago. This coming summer, it’s time (beyond time, really) to jump back into the scene in a big way. And Sonoma’s food community is stepping up, with a whole new crop of restaurants ready to welcome us back.
Click through the above gallery for our 50 favorite Sonoma County restaurants right now. First up, Sonoma Valley, followed by Santa Rosa/central county, Healdsburg/north county, Petaluma, Sebastopol/west county and the coast.
Below, you’ll find some thoughts about each destination from local food ambassadors.
Sonoma Valley
Kina Chavez, Kina’s Kitchen & Bar
Kina Chavez, proprietor of Kina’s Kitchen and Bar, formerly known as Picazo Kitchen and Bar. (Robbi Pengelly/Sonoma Index-Tribune)
What sets Sonoma apart
With just 26 seats, Kina’s Kitchen & Bar (known for many years as Picazo Cafe) has been a family operation for Kina Chavez and her husband, Sal Jr., since it opened in 2008. Aunts, uncles, cousins, kids, and parents are all part of the multigenerational machine that has made Picazo into a well-trodden community destination.
Chavez says the large immigrant population in Sonoma Valley means there are plenty of diverse menus— from birria and naan to Portuguese tapas, burgers, and pasta. “It would be nice, though, to have a place to eat great Greek seafood dishes, especially with a nice baklava as a dessert,” she laughs.
Full stomach, happy heart
“My personal motto is ‘panza llena, corazón contento,’ which means ‘full stomach, happy heart.’ These are words echoed in my Mexican household, and I am sure almost everyone else’s, also. Food is what brings smiles to people’s faces and joy to a table. And food matters a lot to me and my family; it feeds the soul and the tummy.”
Diverse cuisine
“There is coverage on all sides of the Valley, with different styles of cuisine. Downtown Sonoma clearly is a gem of a plaza, with great establishments from corner to corner, but you could drive north on Highway 12 to find great food on Arnold Drive.”
Family-focused
“You are bound to run into one of the owners at most establishments, one of the team members that has seen your children grow up. The Sonoma food scene is very accommodating and warm. It is a special community to live in.”
Santa Rosa/Central County
Cheyenne Simpkins, Wine Country Feasts
What sets Santa Rosa apart
Cheyenne Simpkins is a Dry Creek Kitchen alum who later launched a local catering company, Wine Country Feasts, with his wife, Amber, a pastry chef. As events dried up during the pandemic, he pivoted to offering boxes of charcuterie and cheese for wineries looking for a food component with their tastings.
A longtime Santa Rosa resident, he has immersed himself in the region’s food culture. So what does he think of Santa Rosa’s dining scene? It’s a bit, well, complicated.
Downtown dining
“There aren’t too many places here to dine, but there are a lot of great places to get good stuff to eat. The way our current situation is with homelessness, and the parking situation, really hurt restaurants.”
Mom-and-pop favorites
“There are some Peruvian restaurants that are spot-on. I love the food truck court in Roseland, and the Charro Negro truck. It’s vibrant, fresh, and really unique. And Abyssinia is also a classic, one of the most underrated restaurants. I love to go support local chefs and other people’s businesses. It inspires me to do better. My absolute favorite takeout is Taqueria Las Palmas. It’s a chef’s paradise. I just wish it could be open at 2 a.m.”
What Santa Rosa needs
“Food halls are kinda like the new wave of things. They’re low risk, and we have no place like that. High rent prices deter potential restaurateurs from taking the leap. A small shipping container-sized food hall—that would be what we need.”
Healdsburg/North County
Ozzy Jimenez, Healdsburg Mayor, Owner Noble Folk
Noble Folk owner and Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat)
What sets Healdsburg apart
Growing up in Sonoma County, Ozzy Jimenez has always had a deep connection with food and tradition. A child of immigrants, he watched his parents’ hard work and entrepreneurship pay off.
In his early 20s, he and his partner, Christian Sullberg, opened Moustache Baked Goods, a wildly successful bakery that eventually evolved into the couple’s current business, Noble Folk Ice Cream & Pie Bar. “I wanted to create a space for families and our whole community to enjoy and foster a love for locally made ice creams,” he says.
Through several recent wildfires, Jimenez has been a voice for Latinos in need of information and evacuation services. He is also active in supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals, serves on the city council, and was made the town’s mayor in 2021. He’s seen the challenges and opportunities of a growing Healdsburg firsthand.
Giving back
“We are a small, tight-knit community. We value good food, supporting farmers, and giving back like nowhere I’ve seen before. This was especially telling during the pandemic.”
Something for everyone
“Healdsburg has it all, whether it’s hanging out at Summer’s Market on a Sunday and running into your neighbors, or treating yourself to a night out at Ken Tominaga’s nigiri at The Matheson on the square.”
Empowering youth
“There’s work to be done on making the food industry work on an entrepreneurial level for young, small BIPOC-owned business. As leaders in the industry, it’s important to give back, but also, more importantly, to pave the way for young people to build their dreams, too.”
Petaluma
Naomi Crawford, Lunchette
Naomi Crawford, owner of Lunchette in downtown Petaluma. (Crissy Pascual/Petaluma Argus-Courier)
What sets Petaluma apart
For more than a decade, Naomi Crawford and her partner, Joel Baeker, hauled a portable wood-fired oven to 14 markets a week with their business, Pizza Politana. Now with a brick-and-mortar business in Petaluma, Lunchette, Crawford offers Roman-style slices of pizza, hearty grain bowls, and excellent soups and salads, as well as a marketplace for local and eco-friendly products.
Crawford uses sustainable products from local farmers and ranchers, and advocates for this approach with other local restauranteurs. As a member of Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit organization mobilizing the food community around agricultural climate solutions, Lunchette charges a 1% fee that’s invested into regenerative farming practices. She says Petaluma’s strength is its sense of community.
Taking care
“We look out for one another, for our customers, our employees, our vendors, and our farmers. We talk each other up, whether it’s on social media or to our customers, and support each other, so it doesn’t feel competitive.”
Farming green
“I think at our core, we all want what’s best for each other, for our town, and for our area. It doesn’t hurt that we are surrounded by amazing farms offering the best from the sea and the land, but also who do the good work of farming regeneratively.”
Neighbors and friends
“Since our town is so small, we end up getting to know our customers from the schools our kids attend, the gyms we work out in, the grocery stores. We get to know each other in a more connected way. And during the pandemic, this town showed up in a way that saved all our asses. This community cares. It makes us want to do the best we can for everyone.”
Sebastopol/West County
Jamilah Nixon, Jam’s Joy Bungalow
Jamilah Nixon at the Jam’s Joy Bungalow food truck at BottleRock Napa Valley 2019. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine
What sets West County apart
Literally born in a Freestone barn, chef/owner Jamilah Nixon of the Jam’s Joy Bungalow cafés in Sebastopol and Cotati spent childhood summers in Louisiana with her Mexican grandmother and Creole grandfather, and later fell in love with Asian cooking after working on a shrimp farm in Thailand.
“Everything was big, spicy, sweet, and acidic,” she recalls. “The intensity of flavors was mind-blowing.”
Customers clamor for her “vibrant food for spirited people,” snapping up authentic BBQ pork banh mi with pickled carrots. And yes, that is a real, Down South spicy shrimp po’ boy on the daily specials menu.
Evolving West County culture
“I actually worked at the Inn of the Beginning 20-plus years ago (a former rock ‘n’ roll bar in Cotati). And I am raising a child here now, so it’s important to me that we have an interesting and diverse food scene. I especially wanted to create something delicious and accessibly priced for everyone in my own community.”
Flashback flavors
“Sebastopol’s The Farmer’s Wife has gorgeous, organic salads and sandwiches. Honestly, though, I miss the old comfort places like Lucy’s Café, that nod to Chez Panisse-style farmto- table that had thick-cut brined pork chops and mashed potatoes, bowls of soup with crusty bread and good butter, and warm fruit crisps.”
Keep calm and carry on
“There’s a lot of stress in the world now. But my daughter and I got a kitten recently, and just being able to watch it and laugh at something so ridiculously happy and unaware of the turmoil around it is amazing. I hope we can all strive to bring a little joy of our own like that to people every day.”
The Coast
Merlin Kolb, Fisherman
What sets the Coast apart
Merlin Kolb uprooted his family more than a decade ago, moving everyone from Lodi to Bodega Bay for a very specific reason: fishing. “My dad taught me to fish as soon as I was big enough to hold a pole,” he says, fondly recalling their time catching trout, salmon, sturgeon, and stripers on the Mokelumne River.
At 21, Kolb moved to Alaska to work on a commercial salmon boat, later earning enough ocean hours to secure a U.S. Coast Guard 50-ton Master Captain’s license and start his own private sports fishing charter and vessel-piloting business.
Now, Kolb operates “Reel Magic,” a 34-foot catamaran, on guided excursions to catch king salmon, lingcod, rock cod, halibut, Dungeness crab, white sea bass, and albacore. “My childhood nickname was ‘worm,” he says with a laugh. “I guess you could say I really got gut-hooked on fishing early on.”
Sustaining a culture
“The ocean and river currents are always in flux, and fish have always naturally adapted to water temperature changes. So climate change really isn’t affecting them, it’s devastating water supplies and their habitat. Too many dams, too much commercial water diversion, so the waters warm up and cook the eggs before they can hatch.”
“We need better official habitat management to protect our resources. Naturalists and small fisherpeople like me are struggling to lead the way and keep things sustainable for future generations.”
Local versus import
“There’s absolutely no reason we should have farm-raised fish on the West Coast or bring it in from other countries. It’s no good — you only have to taste the excellent, wild fresh catch at our local restaurants to understand the difference. It comes straight from the water at family-owned joints like Spud Point Crab Co., Gourmet Au Bay, Fisherman’s Cove and more.”
Kevin Witham, center, waves a pride flag as and other Sutter Health Santa Rosa employees participate in the Sonoma County Pride Parade in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
The most colorful time of the year is here. With the arrival of Pride Month, Sonoma County residents are getting ready to don their rainbow garb and spread the love at events and festivals.
Sparked by the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Manhattan and the first Pride march in New York City in June the following year, LGBTQ+ pride celebrations have long been held in June across the United States to recognize the impact of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and the intolerance they often face.
Sonoma County has its own unique LGBTQ+ history. While there has long been a prominent LGBTQ+ community in the county, it took years — and several failed attempts — for activists to get supervisors to recognize Pride Week in May 1992.
Today, pride flags fly high and LGBTQ+ life is celebrated year-round in Sonoma County, not just in June. But there are also special events planned to honor the month this year. Here’s what the county has in store for this year’s Pride Month.
June 1-5: Sonoma County Pride Parade and Festival
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Sonoma County Pride will hold its 35th annual Sonoma County Pride Parade and Festival in downtown Santa Rosa on June 4, with other special Pride events happening throughout the week. The theme of this year’s celebration is “We Are Family,” to salute bonds in the community.
The organization will kick off Pride Month with a pride flag raising on top of the Rosenberg Building at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, on the corner of Mendocino Avenue and Fourth Street in Santa Rosa.
Sonoma County Pride and sponsors will host a Pride Movie Night with a free showing of the romantic comedy-drama “Love, Simon” starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 2, in Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square.
From 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 3, there will be a Pride Happy Hour in Old Courthouse Square, featuring DJ Rotten Robbie and performances by singer-songwriter-guitarist Melissa Levi and modern jazz singer Spencer Day.
The Pride Parade will run along Fourth Street in Santa Rosa from 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 4, with the festival kicking off at noon and continuing until 5 p.m. in Old Courthouse Square. Brent Farris and Debbie Abrams of KZST will be the parade’s masters of ceremonies and “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider will be the grand marshal. Honorees include Sonoma County LGBTQ+ historian Tina Dungan, owner of the LGBTQ+ tour and event company Out In The Vineyard Gary Saperstein, Healdsburg Mayor Osvaldo “Ozzy” Jimenez and Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers. Parade floats and performances will be judged by a panel, and awards will be presented on the Festival Stage at 2 p.m.
Local LGBTQ+ social networking group Santa Rosa GayDar will host a Reunion Queer Dance Party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, June 4, at La Rosa Tequileria & Grille on Fourth Street. A drag show will begin at 10:30 p.m. featuring hosts and drag queens Lolita Hernandez, Maria Twampson and Shania Twampson, with DJ Ron Reeser. The party and show is for adults age 21 and older. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
A Wigs & Waffles Drag Brunch will be held starting at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 5, in the 630 Park steakhouse at Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park. A drag show will begin at 11:30 a.m. with DJ host Juanita MORE! and performances by Rahni NothingMore, Mary Vice and Princess Panocha. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Rock M. Sakura will host a Pink Pool Party from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, at Graton Resort & Casino. Entertainment will be provided by DJs Lady Char, Hector Fonseca and Jimmy Hits, with special guest Natascha Bessez. General admission is $30, with other ticket options for poolside daybeds and cabanas with Champagne, fruit plates and amenities packages. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
Healdsburg’s Cāpo Creek Winery will host a pride celebration on its estate with wine, food and special drag performances from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 4. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here.
North Bay Business Journal will host an awards show honoring LGBTQ+ business leaders in the North Bay from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15, at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Road, Santa Rosa, 707-546-3600
June 25: Windsor Pride Festival
People4Parks, the Windsor Parks and Recreation Foundation, will present Windsor’s first Pride Festival from 2-9 p.m. on Saturday, June 25 on the Town Green. The family-friendly festivities will include a designated kid zone, a street fair with plenty of food and drink, a community fair with resources featuring over 20 Bay Area nonprofits and live performances with headliners Wonderbread 5 and The Purple Ones. The festival is free and open to all. Find more info at lovewinsinwindsor.com.
Windsor Town Green, 701 McClelland Drive, Windsor
Throughout June: Pride Month at Sonoma County Library
In addition to having its BiblioBus stationed at the Sonoma County Pride Festival from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, the Sonoma County Library will celebrate Pride Month with a handful of events and book clubs dedicated to LGBTQ+ history throughout the month.
The library has been hosting a Virtual Pride Club for Teens all year from 5 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. Through June, it will continue to provide queer teens and allies with a virtual space to discuss books and other media showcasing LGBTQ+ voices. Register for the free Virtual Pride Club for Teens meetings here.
The library also hosts a Queer Book Club for adults from 6 to 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month. June’s book club meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 8, and cover the romance novel “One Last Stop” by author Casey McQuiston. Register for the free Queer Book Club meeting here.
As part of its weekly Create Teen! crafting program for ages 12 and up, the Roseland Regional Library will celebrate Pride Month by hosting a Pride keychains and rainbow wall hangers workshop from 4 to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 10, and Friday, June 17. Snacks and all crafting materials will be provided for attendees. Register for the keychain-making event here and the wall hanger-making event here.
The library will close out Pride Month with an in-person presentation on the Sonoma County LGBTQI+ History Timeline. Local LGBTQ+ historians Tina Dungan and Shad Reinstein will hold an in-depth presentation on LGBTQ+ history in the North Bay, followed by questions and discussion. The event is for teens and adults and will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, at the Central Santa Rosa Library. Registration is not required, though encouraged. Register for the event at sonomalibrary.org.
A row of rare and restricted use books about wine and grape growing at the Sonoma County Wine Library in Healdsburg. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)
Millie Howie blamed the moon for convincing her to move to Sonoma County.
It was the mid-1970s, and the publicist and wine writer was about to head home after an event at Geyser Peak Winery. As she made her way across the parking lot, her gaze lingered on the expansive view of Alexander Valley at dusk.
“I stopped and turned to get into my car, and the moon came up like a jack-in-the-box,” Howie recalled in an oral history recorded by the Sonoma County Wine Library in 2004. “It was the golden harvest moon … and it was perfectly round and enormous. I said, ‘Yup, this is where I’ve got to live.’”
Over the next 30 years, Howie became one of the most passionate promoters of the Sonoma County wine industry: the region’s first wine publicist, co-founder of the Wine Road, creator of the first Sonoma County wine map, curator of wine history and prolific wine writer.
But perhaps Howie’s greatest achievement was the Sonoma County Wine Library, which she envisioned and fundraised for over the span of 20 years.
Millie Howie, pictured at home. (Sonoma County Wine Library Collection)
“Millie was the spark plug and the driver of the wine library,” said Jan Mettler, Howie’s former mentee and retired co-founder of Boss Dog Marketing. “She loved the rich history of Sonoma County’s farm families and wanted to preserve the region’s agricultural roots. She wanted to create something for the greater community.”
What is the Sonoma County Wine Library?
Dedicated in 1989, the Sonoma County Wine Library doesn’t serve wine. But don’t let that stop you from a detour to this fascinating archive of wine history.
Located at the Healdsburg branch of the Sonoma County Library, the wine library’s collection features 5,000 wine books, including 1,000 that are rare, and one astonishing tome dating to 1514.
You’ll also find a generous collection of historical wine ephemera, local wine artifacts and a glut of historic photos, maps and posters. The library carries current subscriptions to 40 wine periodicals and trade publications and plenty of current research material.
A bottle of 1935 zinfandel from Simi Winery in a collection of vintage wine bottles at the Sonoma County Wine Library in Healdsburg. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)
However, perhaps the library’s most valuable collection is Howie’s brainchild: a compendium of 26 oral histories with Sonoma wine industry pioneers like Davis Bynum, Merry Edwards, Saralee and Richard Kunde, Mike Tedeschi and Howie herself. (You can find physical copies of the transcribed interviews in the library and digital copies online at digital.sonomalibrary.org.)
“All it takes is one generation to lose historical information about your family or an industry,” said Jeff Davis, the Sonoma County Wine Library Association’s oral history chair. “These oral histories are important to preserving Sonoma County’s wine history and making the information available to the public.”
In 2018, Davis began producing “visual oral histories,” or video interviews, for added engagement and insight. So far he’s captured interviews with wine industry icons Helen Bacigalupi, Jim Pedroncelli, Joe and Tom Rochioli, Gary Heck and others.
Premiere screenings of the interviews serve as fundraisers for the wine library association and include a Q&A with the guest. The next event is scheduled for June 9 with Hank and Linda Wetzel of Alexander Valley Vineyards. (Tickets are available online at sonomawinelibraryassn.org/events.)
“The 30- to 45-minute visual oral histories appeal to a younger generation who wants information quickly,” said Julie Pedroncelli, board president of the Sonoma County Wine Library Association. “Video is a format they understand, and that’s one of the main reasons we’re doing this.”
Bookplate for Libri de rustica. Dating to 1514, Libri de re rustica is the oldest book at the Sonoma County Wine Library. Author is Cato, Marcus Porcius, 234 B.C.-149 B.C. (Sonoma County Wine Library Collection)
A new generation
Compelling a young adult audience to visit and use a brick-and-mortar library is not a new challenge. So Peg Champion, the Sonoma County Wine Library Association’s media manager, is turning to local colleges and universities for help.
“We’re lucky there are so many wine studies programs in our area,” Champion said. “An internship program would be a great way for the library to connect with a younger audience who can carry on our work.”
But the legacy of the Sonoma County Wine Library doesn’t rest solely on the shoulders of younger generations.
“We have a vision for the future of the library and need the community’s support,” Champion said. “The library is a key component of wine history overall, not just in Sonoma County. We have an incredible resource in our community, and we want to expand our reach, educate students and continue to grow our treasure trove of information.”
Howie’s legacy
Howie, who died in 2011, remains an integral part of the Sonoma County wine history she fought to preserve.
This June, on the 100th anniversary of Howie’s birth, the Sonoma County Wine Library Association will celebrate her legacy by launching the Millie Howie Century Fund, a campaign to enlist new members and gain financial support for library services.
“Many people don’t even know there is a Sonoma County Wine Library, and our biggest challenge comes down to spreading that information,” Champion said. “There is history embedded in every rock and every brick in Sonoma County. We just want to share that with the greater community.”
The Green Green Salad, featuring butter lettuces, spring greens, bacon lardons, sieved egg, sliced carrots and radish, croutons, My Father’s Favorite Vinaigrette, preserved lemon crema at Marla Bakery pop-up at The Spinster Sisters in Santa Rosa. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)
“Winning over your audience” and “finding your voice” are phrases Sonoma County chefs return to often when talking about the spread of pop-ups and shared kitchens. It sounds like something a musician or a playwright might say. And just like an open mic or a staged reading, restaurant pop-ups are a chance for chefs to experiment and connect with new audiences.
It’s also a chance for the restaurant community to show its true colors. “It can be a cutthroat business when you’re in the kitchen, but on the outside, we’re all a community of chefs trying to help each other, and that’s a beautiful thing,” says Ploypailin Sakornsin, the Bangkok native who dreamed up Sangsan, a Thai pop-up that serves a popular fried Thai omelet on Saturdays and Sundays at Miracle Plum.
There’s nothing new about pop-ups and shared or commissary kitchens. They’ve been around for a while. But, kicked into high gear by pandemic ingenuity and escalating local real estate prices, these spaces are popping up more often, thanks to the spirit of cooperation in Sonoma County’s resilient restaurant culture.
“When we started this business, in our very first meeting, the key word we used was ‘collaborate.’ Let’s throw out the word ‘competition’ and focus on ‘collaboration,’ ” says Sallie Miller, who, along with Gwen Gunheim, owns Santa Rosa’s Miracle Plum, a hybrid gourmet cookware shop and wine bar, with a commissary kitchen down the street.
Lee Magner of Sonoma Mountain Breads, which pops up at Miracle Plum. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine)Mississippi native Kris Austin’s BBQ nachos with pulled pork at Old Possum Brewing Co. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine)
Lee Magner is one member sharing the Miracle Plum commissary with several other food operations. Magner started Sonoma Mountain Breads in 2020 with 10 loaves he baked in his apartment. He now serves breakfast sandwiches, pierogis, and Middle Eastern flatbreads on Saturday and Sunday mornings at Miracle Plum. “I feel very grateful to be where we are and have this sense of community – a community that thankfully supports what we do,” says Magner.
A few miles south in Santa Rosa, the kitchen at Old Possum Brewing Co. has been resurrected by the spirit of Southern hospitality, rotating between Texas barbecue and Louisiana Cajun pop-ups. Mississippi native Kris Austin serves up Austin’s Southern Smoke BBQ brisket and ribs one day. The next day, the crew from Bayou On The Bay cooks gumbo ramen and curry jambalaya the next (see p. 51). “Either I’m prepping and they’re serving or vice versa. It might seem weird, but it all works,” says Austin, who worked as personal trainer in Sebastopol until the pandemic hit. “Being in one place really helps us build an audience, rather than having people chase us around trying to find us.”
In Petaluma, collaboration is also at the heart of the new Sonoma Family Meal community kitchen.
The nonprofit jumped into action during the 2017 Tubbs fire, with chefs providing meals for the displaced and hungry. After bouncing around eight kitchens in the past five years, the group recently settled into a new 3,100 square-foot kitchen, where they will prepare weekly meals for people experiencing food insecurity and offer a home to aspiring chefs and caterers in need of affordable space. “We know there’s a tremendous lack of rentable kitchen space in this county, and you don’t necessarily need to be low-income to lack the resources for a brick-and-mortar space,” says executive director Whitney Reuling.
If karma exists in the restaurant industry, Marla Bakery has plenty to spare. When owners Joe Wolf and Amy Brown ran their popular brickand- mortar bakery in San Francisco, they hosted regular dinner pop-ups for friends in the industry who wanted to experiment and tap into a new audience. Now, after moving to Sonoma County just as the pandemic hit in 2020, the couple has found a new home, serving their custardy challah french toast for brunch at The Spinster Sisters in Santa Rosa, where chef-owner Liza Hinman no longer cooks breakfast (or as she puts it, “We realized we no longer find joy in poaching eggs”).
Challah French toast topped with clementine marmalade and sweeter creme fraiche at Marla Bakery, a pop-up weekend brunch spot at the Spinster Sisters restaurant in Santa Rosa. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)
In many ways, looking for a pop-up partner can feel a lot like dating. “There is a level of courtship when it comes to being in someone else’s space,” Wolf says. “You’re likeminded, but you don’t have to be completely like-minded. You don’t have to have someone who fits the exact same mold as you.”
Brown, his wife and partner at Marla Bakery, agrees. “There is a little bit of a dance there – you’re a guest in their kitchen, so you’re respectful and you ask a lot of questions about how not to get in their way. You have to figure out – what’s the vibe? How does it feel? What are we stepping into?”
After working in restaurants in San Francisco for over a decade, Brown has returned to Sonoma with a new appreciation for the community where she grew up. “It can feel a little bit like a zero-sum game in the city, because everybody’s always trying to get the clicks and the Instagram likes and get people in the door. And here, in Sonoma County, it really does feel like a rising tide lifts all boats. It just feels like everybody is trying to bring their dream forward and support those around them doing the same thing.”
Find the pop-ups
Marla Bakery at The Spinster Sisters: 401 South A St., Santa Rosa. Saturday and Sunday brunch. marlabakery.com
Sangsan at Miracle Plum Kitchen: 600 Wilson St., Santa Rosa. Saturdays and Sundays. sangsanhealdsburg.com
Executive Chef Fiorella Butron of EDGE restaurant in Sonoma. (Courtesy. of EDGE Sonoma)
Growing up in Arequipa, Peru, chef Fiorella Butron knew her life was unusual. Her mother was Peruvian, with a French great-greatgrandmother. Her grandpa on her father’s side was Italian, and her grandma was Palestinian – they met in Peru after the grandma escaped during the Israeli—Palestinian war in 1948. “I have a blend in my blood,” Butron explains.
The different cultures in her childhood household always came together in the kitchen, Butron says.
That experience would come to shape her world, as she embarked on a career that spanned continents, finally taking her to her current position as executive chef at EDGE in downtown Sonoma, a spot making waves after morphing from private supper club to full-fledged restaurant last year.
“Peruvian cuisine is already so unique,” Butron says. “But going to school, I would see that whatever my family did for the holidays or parties was so different than what my friends did. My grandma was the cook, and she would make Middle Eastern food, and also Italian, and also some Peruvian, with so many spices everywhere, and the dishes were all mixed up.”
Buttermilk ice cream with plums, candied hazelnuts served with champagne, the fourth course of the ever changing Prix-fixe menu from EDGE restaurant in Sonoma. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)A peach tree blossoms at the culinary garden at Stone Edge Farm in Sonoma. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
The only rule was every recipe had to be based on only the finest seasonal ingredients and meticulously prepared from scratch. “I have a very early memory of seeing this cheesecloth stuffed with some kind of curd, hanging in the outside stairway, and I was like, what is this?” she muses. It was labneh, a soft Middle Eastern cheese made from strained yogurt that her grandma tweaked with fresh herbs. “My friends didn’t have to spend all day wrapping cabbage leaves with lamb and rice and all these spices, either, or making Palestinian couscous by hand. But I loved it.”
Today, it’s little surprise that Butron’s own cooking is difficult to define. At EDGE, it’s California cuisine, but also French. And Peruvian —and Asian, Spanish, Mexican, Hawaiian. Expectations are high for the 42-seat restaurant, which offers a seven-course, prix fixe meal for $250, including wine pairings. It’s demanding work for Butron, 40, who is also a certified sommelier, and who changes the menu weekly, treating every element like a work of art, down to the sea salt-finished cultured butter that takes five days to make. Even her intermezzo is a study in style: Rather than simple shaved ice, she crafts a much more complex note, such as a smoky, fermented plum-mezcal sorbet sprinkled with Hawaiian sea salt that sparkles on the tongue.
“I tap into my memory banks,” she explains. “Incorporating so many different ingredients and flavors that I just know are going to work.”
Initially, Butron didn’t even plan on being a professional chef. For her first three years of college, she studied medicine. Later, she enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Lima, and for the next decade, she fed her other passion: travel, taking culinary jobs in in Florida, Hawaii, and California, as well as across Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subontinent.
That’s how her far-reaching dishes are born: silky kanpachi and crisp calamari with dollops of avocado puree, shaved tomatillo, and scallions, and a spoonful of Mendocino sea urchin on a pond of tomatillo sauce. The sauce is stunning, bright with the tomatillo’s bracing acidity and complex with sorrel and leche de tigre, the spicy citrus-and-chile marinade used to cure fish in classic Peruvian ceviche.
That global experience is why someone peeking into the EDGE kitchen might see Butron using a mortar and pestle to hand hand-press Peruvian huacatay (black mint), chiles, and peanuts into a spicy dressing to drizzle over baby lettuce tumbled with new potatoes and cucumbers.
And that’s why Butron spends so much time in the fields at the restaurant’s sister property, 16-acre Stone Edge Farm in Glen Ellen. The farm and restaurant’s owners, Mac and Leslie McQuown, allow Butron free rein to cultivate what she craves, including rare plantings like marshmallow root, clary sage, candy-striped figs so beautiful they’re impossible not to eat straight from the branch, and aji amarillo chiles grown from seeds that came home from Peru one year in the chef’s suitcase.
Butron oversees a spring harvest in the fields at Stone Edge Farm in Glen Ellen. The ingredients go straight from the farm to the prep table. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
“Yacón,” she exclaims on a walk through the garden, her eyes lighting up as she plucks up a slender, golden-skinned tuber, its leaves and roots dripping rich soil. “I was so excited when I saw the bed going in,” she says. She loves the South American vegetable, which is often eaten raw and tastes of apple, watermelon, and celery — but not just for its flavor. It’s medicine, too. “Yacón is made into a sweetener syrup for people who struggle with sugar levels, since it has a low glycemic index,” she explains. “Or I love fermenting it. It ends up transparent and citrus-y, so it’s a really fun accent.”
The sorrel used in her tomatillo sauce, she notes, is another gem. The herb is high in oxalic acid, vitamin C, and iron; it lowers inflammation; and it has antibacterial and antiparasitic properties. “Its acidic notes give soups, salads, and sauces an enticing flavor, or you can simply stir some in with olive oil for vegetables and fish,” she suggests.
So now, in her free time — and she stops to laugh at that fanciful notion — she is pursuing a certification as a holistic nutritionist and herbalist. “I’m fascinated by plants and the healing properties of nature,” she says.
Finding peace is a priority these days. The war in Ukraine has weighed heavy on Butron’s mind, even as she soothes her soul cooking in the pristine EDGE kitchen with shelf after shelf of seasonings, spices, herbs, and grains. “In the ‘’80s in Peru, we went through the terrorism war, and there were bombs, and that was really scary,” she recalls. “It is so hard to understand, but it is something we have all gone through in my family for so long, that we have generational PTSD. It’s sad that it is still happening, and people are still having to leave their countries.”
“Somehow, the world goes on, and we need to see the good. Food is so important to share with each other, because it nurtures all our senses, and puts us back to what we’re tasting, smelling, touching… enjoying. It keeps things positive and together, no matter where we come from or what we are going through.”
“And that’s all we have at the end, right?”
EDGE, the restaurant of Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery. Prix fixe dinners Weds.-Sat. 139 E. Napa St., Sonoma, 707-935-6520, edgesonoma.com
At Compline restaurant and wine shop in Napa. (Compline)
Napa is one of the most popular destinations for wine tasting in the world. But with hundreds of wineries to choose from, deciding where to start sipping can be difficult.
Downtown Napa offers a great introduction to the area with a variety of tastings rooms that allow visitors to sample a selection of wines from the same winemaker or even different wineries. Many of the tasting rooms here are family-owned and operated, which gives visitors an opportunity to meet the people behind the wines. And, as an added bonus, downtown Napa also is home to several breweries and distilleries. The best part: Whether you prefer wine, beer or spirits, all tasting rooms are within walking distance, so you can park your car and get your steps in.
From old-school to modern and sleek, from the classics to new favorites, click through the above gallery for some of the best spots for tasting wine, beer and spirits in downtown Napa.
