There’s a new reason to feel good about raising a glass of Napa Valley cabernet. One Hope Wine, which recently opened a flagship winery in Rutherford, is on a mission to make a positive impact in the world, one bottle at a time.
One Hope may be one of many Napa wineries producing cabernet sauvignon, but it’s doing things a little differently than its neighboring wineries. The company is set up as a social enterprise, with part of the proceeds from wine sales going toward charitable causes. It launched in 2007 and started off producing three varietals.
“Chardonnay supported breast cancer research and awareness, cabernet sauvignon supported children with autism and merlot supported AIDS treatment and prevention,” said co-founder Brandon Hall in an interview with Forbes.
Since 2007, One Hope has donated more than $7 million to local and international nonprofits, the company stated. A sampling of donations for 2020 include $50,000 to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization, $22,000 to Napa County-based Ole Health and more than $300,000 raised at the winery’s harvest party for Charity Water, a nonprofit that brings clean drinking water to people in developing countries.
In addition to purchasing One Hope wines, wine-lovers can support a good cause by hosting private wine tastings (One Hope donates 10% of event purchases to “the host’s cause of choice”) and by becoming a “Cause Entrepreneur” (cause entrepreneurs sell One Hope wines and earn a 20-25% commission on all personal sales; like with all One Hope wines, part of the proceeds go toward charitable causes).
“Our product is hope. It’s more than just wine,” said CEO and co-founder Jake Kloberdanz.
2021 marked a major milestone for One Hope with the recent opening of its new winery. Designed by renowned architect Howard Backen, it is situated on St. Helena Highway, opposite Cakebread Cellars and next to Robert Mondavi Winery.
The new facility is striking and invites visitors to explore the winemaking process, with some games added in for extra fun. The crush pad boasts views of Mount Saint John in the Mayacamas Mountains, with the paved area doing double duty as two pickleball courts. Large, sliding barn-style doors lead the way into a bright and airy fermentation room where a monitor displays a time lapse (with some 50,000 photos) detailing the winery’s construction. The neighboring barrel room has a ping pong table and there are plans to add a virtual golf simulator to this space.
“Having fun and letting people experience the places of winemaking is really, really important,” said Kloberdanz.
One Hope wines cover a range of varietals and price points. There’s Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon, of course, but there’s also Russian River pinot noir and Sonoma Coast chardonnay, as well as a Malbec from Argentina and more than a dozen sparkling wines. Many of the wines have 90-plus point ratings from an assortment of wine competitions and critics; prices range from $25 to more than $100 for a bottle.
Winemaker Mari Wells Coyle honed her skills at wineries such as Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards in Sonoma, Merry Edwards Winery in Sebastopol and Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga before joining One Hope in 2017.
“What drew me to One Hope was really wines that were going to make an impact,” she said.
Seated tastings paired with seasonal bites ($150 per person) are limited and by reservation only. Priority is given to the winery’s Collective Members, so plan well in advance to secure a tasting. The tasting experience lasts about 90 minutes. 8301 St. Helena Highway, Napa, onehopewine.com
Click through the above gallery for a peek at the new One Hope winery in Napa Valley.
The Tacos Tijuana food truck is in the back parking lot at Shady Oak Barrel House in Santa Rosa on Friday, October 22, 2021. (Photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Push aside, for now, the hoppy and hazy India pale ales and refreshingly crisp pilsner lagers and imbibe seasonally. In November through January, local beers are spiced, flavored and aged in barrels to chase away the chill when consumed. They’re winter warmers that comfort like a fleece jacket and have aromas and flavors that suit the holidays and spread good cheer throughout the body, given their typical high alcoholic strength.
We’re talking dark, low-carbonation porters and stouts with chocolate, vanilla and coffee aromas and flavors, and beers aged in bourbon barrels and infused with wintery enhancers such as spruce tips and pumpkin pie spices. Don’t forget barleywines, complex ales with robust caramel and malt characteristics and the alcoholic potency of wine (12 – 13%), thus the category name.
Most of Sonoma’s seasonal suds are made in limited quantities, so enjoy them now. Some of the recommended brews here are poured only in the taprooms. Others are sold, in cans and bottles, in the tasting rooms and at select retail stores. Your best bet for November and December holiday celebrations is to buy crowlers — 32-ounce cans filled with fresh beer at the taprooms and machine-sealed to remove oxygen and preserve freshness.
For those steadfastly loyal to IPAs, Belgian sours or traditional lagers, you’ll still find them at the following Sonoma breweries. To the more adventurous, and those in need of a warm liquid blankie and aroma therapy, these local taprooms are for you.
*abv = alcohol by volume.
Barrel Brothers Brewing Co.
Brothers-in-law Wesley Deal and Daniel Weber and their father-in-law, Tom Sather, founded their Windsor brewery in 2015 and had great success with their sour beers. Over time, they’ve expanded into hard seltzers, nonalcoholic brews, ready-to-drink cocktails and T.R.E.N.D.S, alcoholic smoothies and slushies loaded with fruit (the first T.R.E.N.D.S. slushy, Pineapple Guava, returned in late October).
Frivolity aside, the brothers are serious about their more traditional beers, among them Dark Sarcasm, a porter they describe as the “dark beer for people who don’t like dark beers.” Madagascar vanilla and fudge flavors join malted barley in this 7% abv ale. For chilly days, the Leatherbound Books is a brown sour that has been aged in used pinot noir wine barrels, which lends cherry and berry notes to the brew. It packs a wallop at 9.5% abv. Bet you can drink just one.
The Leatherbound Books is a brown sour that has been aged in used pinot noir wine barrels, which lends cherry and berry notes to the brew. (Courtesy of Barrel Brothers Brewing Co.)
Regulars Gary Covey, left, and Andy Adams talk over a beer at Barrel Brothers Brewing Co. in Windsor. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Healdsburgers still mourn the closure of the Norgrove family’s downtown brewpub, which followed their relocation of brewing to a larger production and bottling/canning facility in Cloverdale. Yet the flagship, year-round Racer 5 IPA and seasonal beers can be enjoyed in the Rohnert Park pub, indoors and out, and with pub grub and views of Roberts Lake and its resident waterfowl.
IPAs of various strengths and summertime wheat ales are founding brewmaster Rich “Ricardo” Norgrove’s most recognized beers, which he began producing in 1995. Selections, just like consumer tastes, have evolved over time, and while hoppy, hazy IPAs remain a strong suit, the Bear has stayed true to porter.
The Brewmaster Series Porter (6.3% abv) is chestnut brown in color, mildly bitter from Centennial and Cascade hops and rich in caramel and chocolate malt and brown sugar notes. Baba Yaga Chocolate Imperial Stout (a potent 12% abv) is sure to warm the belly, so sip slowly to fully appreciate its dark chocolate, black molasses, caramel and anise spice layers. (Baba Yaga is a nasty witch from Russian folklore and a likely nod to Russian Imperial Stout.)
5000 Roberts Lake Road, Rohnert Park, 707-585-2722, bearrepublic.com
Crooked Goat Brewing Co.
Visit this popular taproom in The Barlow marketplace in Sebastopol for a glass of Silver Lining, an American dark-brown stout with a nuanced aroma and flavor of vanilla. Silver Lining (6% abv) combines dark roasted malts and scrapings from vanilla beans for a smooth, creamy brew.
Or put on Sweater Weather Pumpkin Brown Ale (6.7% abv), brewed with fresh pumpkin that’s roasted and sprinkled with holiday spices. Pumpkin beers have been brewed long before Starbucks and Trader Joe’s turned the squash into a marketing scheme. Crooked Goat’s version is seriously made; a tasty brown ale rich in malt and spice personality. The sugars derived from the pumpkin flesh, when fermented, boost the alcohol content for a warming palate pleaser.
This decade-old brewer, which began on a small scale in Petaluma and expanded to a larger facility in downtown Santa Rosa, is mostly known for its hoppy IPAs and very original Oyster Stout (4.5% abv), a brown ale brewed with whole oysters from Marin’s Hog Island Oyster Co., with the bivalves providing calcium that lifts the espresso and chocolate notes from the roasted barley.
HenHouse’s seasonal menu also includes the Great Life Peanut Butter Cup Porter, the can festooned with a jack o’ lantern and chicken in mummy wrapping. It’s not just for Halloween, though a treat nonetheless. At just 4.7% abv, it’s an easy-drinking English brown porter style, brewed with peanut butter powder, salt and lactose for a creamy, chocolate-y texture and medium maltiness. Not potent enough? Try Witchcraft and the Occult III: Devil’s Night 2021, a dark, black saison aged in wine barrels with cherries, brettanomyces yeast and lactobacillus. At 7.3% abv, it’s serious stuff, spicy and malty, with a fruity finish.
HenHouse recently announced it has purchased the Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax, in Marin County. According to co-founder and CEO Collin McDonell, HenHouse will begin converting Iron Springs into HenHouse in mid-November yet retain Iron Springs’ live music program and commercial kitchen.
Tasting rooms: 322 Bellevue Ave., Santa Rosa and 1333 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, 707-978-4577, henhousebrewing.com
Lagunitas’ Mr. Nice Guy (aka brand ambassador) Don Chartier, right, talks with visitors before a special tasting in the Lagunitas Loft at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma. (Alvin Jornada/The Press Democrat)
Lagunitas Brewing Co.
Tony Magee built such a huge business at his Petaluma brewery — global distribution, a branch brewery in Chicago and plans for more, and a rousing local pub scene (and the annual Beer Circus) — that he sold the brand to Heineken International in 2017. Corporate ownership hasn’t altered the Petaluma fun (often enveloped in a cannabis haze) and like most Sonoma breweries, the truly special stuff stays at the Lagunitas TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary.
Lagunitas has never met a hops variety it didn’t like, and the IPA lineup is dizzying and ever-changing. Alas, the dark-roasted coffee-like Cappucino Stout isn’t currently in production, but brewmaster Jeremy Marshall offers a handful of limited-release beers to fill that void.
The Unrefined Shugga’ Strong Ale is part of the brewery’s One Hitter Series. Brewed with raw cane sugar, the fermentation gobbles up most of the sweetness, leaving behind molasses, smoke, vanilla and spice notes. Released on Nov. 1, it’s a big boy (9% abv) in amber clothing.
For those who mark their calendars for the February release of Russian River Brewing Co.’s Pliny the Younger, circle Jan. 10 to get your mitts on Lagunitas’ Willettized Coffee Stout, aged in toasted rye whiskey barrels from Kentucky. Think pleasantly bitter chocolate and coffee character, but beware: it has 12.9% alcohol by volume. Designated drivers can refuel with a nonalcoholic Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher or the seasonal IPNA, a malt beverage with lots of hops but no alcohol.
1280 N. McDowell Ave., Petaluma, 707-778-8776, lagunitas.com
Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer buffs know all about Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo’s Belgian-style brews and their crazily sought-after Pliny the Younger, a triple IPA released every February (Feb. 4 in 2022). Younger definitely creates warm, happy thoughts in the heads of those fortunate enough to acquire it. Its sibling (or uncle), Pliny the Elder, a double IPA made year-round, also generates hand-rubbing excitement. It’s the Belgian-inspired ales, however, that really sing in fall and winter.
There’s Consecration (10% abv), a sour dark ale aged in cabernet sauvignon barrels with blackcurrants and boasting chocolate, pipe tobacco and red-wine notes. It’s a sipper, not a slammer. Shadow of a Doubt (9.9% abv), named for the Arthur Hitchcock movie filmed in Santa Rosa in 1943, is an Imperial Porter that is malty and chocolate-y, and with a supple mouthfeel. Less alcoholic yet not shy is Russian River Porter (5.7% abv), which smells and tastes of fall: roasty, malty and with a distinct clove character.
On visits to RRBC’s taproom/restaurants in Santa Rosa and Windsor, look for Black is Beautiful, a 10% abv Imperial Stout. Sales proceeds go to local nonprofits “who support police reform and provide legal defense funds and assistance to those in need,” the website explains. It’s an effort by the Cilurzos and other U.S. brewers to “promote equality and inclusivity within the craft beer community and beyond.”
The Russian River Brewing Company brewpub in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Seismic Brewing Co.
Christopher Jackson, scion of Jackson Family Wines proprietor/chairwoman Barbara Banke and her late husband, Jess Jackson, branched out from grapevines to hop vines, founding Seismic to produce excellent beers in the most sustainable, earth-friendly ways. It should come as no shock to Sonoma beer fans that Seismic’s focus is on IPAs and lagers, among the region’s staples. However, a visit to the taproom in Sebastopol’s The Barlow just might lead you to two seasonal brews that put bourbon into play — perfect for winter.
The Starkiller Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Irish Export Stout (10% abv) features dark malts but, unusually, no roasted barley. Aging for one year in bourbon barrels adds a subtle boozy note to the espresso and bittersweet chocolate foundation. Served on tap only, its nitrogenation creates a yin-yang balance of carbonation and creamy texture. The Bourbon Barrel-Aged Oatmeal Stout takes wood aging another step, to two years. At 5.6% abv, this stout has half the potency of the Irish Export Stout, yet with a similar whiskey note, plus vanilla and English toffee flavors.
The Barlow, 6700 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, 707-544-5996, seismicbrewingco.com
Steve Doty is the one-man show producing beer for his Shady Oak Barrel House in Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Shady Oak Barrel House
As the name suggests, Steve Douty’s beers are typically aged in wood barrels. He started his one-man business near downtown Santa Rosa with a focus on what are known as sour beers, which are tart and refreshing. Their complexity comes from the use of wild yeasts and (non-harmful) bacteria that add spice, fruitiness, crisp acidity and a hint of funk.
Brewers can’t help but experiment, create new beer styles and expand their offerings to meet the seasons and consumer palates, and Douty did just that with his Velvet Couch Oatmeal Stout (5.1 abv.). Very easy-drinking and with a creamy foam head that will leave a mustache on your upper lip, it reminds of an Irish stout, with oatmeal and toasted grains lending the roasty aromas and adult-coffee flavors. Check the website for visiting days and hours of the Shady Oak beer garden.
Melissa Yanc and Sean McGaughey, chefs and owners of Quail and Condor Bakery in Healdsburg. (Emma K Creative)
The owners of Quail and Condor bakery in Healdsburg (149 Healdsburg Ave.) have announced they will open a new bread and sandwich shop called Troubadour at the former location of Moustache Baked Goods (381 Healdsburg Ave.) in late November.
Chefs-owners Melissa Yanc and Sean McGaughey (formerly of Single Thread) describe their second venture as “naturally fermented bread, chef-inspired and locally sourced wizardry.” Since opening Quail and Condor earlier this year, the couple has garnered praise for their lacquered pastries, breads and sweets. They’ve continued to intrigue people with the county’s coolest pop-ups, typically featuring chef friends riffing on favorite themes. We recently visited one and tried bao-style steamed pork buns, hot and spicy Biang Biang cauliflower, silken tofu with ginger soy sauce and a tres leches cake we’re still dreaming about.
Sandwich from Quail and Condor Bakery in Healdsburg. (Emma K. Morris)Bread from Quail and Condor Bakery in Healdsburg. (Emma K. Morris)
Quail and Condor’s pop-ups ended Nov. 2 with a Smashburger tailgate, but look for plenty of tasty new ideas, including at their new sandwich shop. Want to become a real “sandwich artist?” They’re currently hiring at troubadourhbg.com.
Speaking of hiring, the SRJC Culinary Arts Department is recruiting chef instructor candidates for its adjunct pool. The part-time teaching positions are for spring, summer or fall of 2022. The community college recently resumed about a third of its classes for in-person learning but continues to hold most classes online. That’s expected to change gradually until spring 2022, when the campus is expected to fully reopen. For job description and qualifications, go to schooljobs.com/careers/santarosajc.
A selection of breads from Nightingale Breads in Forestville. (Courtesy of Nightingale Breads)
A power generator isn’t typically at the top of the wish list for an artisan bakery. But after suffering through the consequences of electricity outages during floods, fires and public safety power shut-offs, Nightingale Breads owner Jessie Frost is asking for help to keep the lights on, literally.
Frost recently set up a Go Fund Me page seeking $50,000 in donations to upgrade her tiny Forestville bakery. A large chunk of that money would buy a generator to keep the ovens on, the water hot and the refrigerators running to preserve valuable ingredients during power outages. Like many local restaurants and businesses, Nightingale Breads lost power for more than 12 hours during the recent rain storms, hampering their ability to bake.
“As it’s become clear that these sorts of interruptions in business will continue to happen, we’ve decided this purchase will be a great asset for us,” Frost said about the generator on the Go Fund Me page.
Frost took over Nightingale Breads in 2018 after founder Beth Thorp retired. Since then, she’s slowly grown the business to include more grab-and-go items, including sandwiches and an expanded lineup of sweets and breads.
Many area restaurateurs are looking into alternative power sources after losing thousands of dollars’ worth of ingredients and prepared products in their commercial refrigerators and freezers during power outages and shut-offs. Events like these also shutter restaurants for days, further hurting revenue. Many can’t afford external generators, and it’s likely we’ll see more local fundraising efforts to keep doors open during the ongoing natural disasters that have become business as usual in Sonoma County.
To make a donation and learn more about Nightingale Breads’ vision for the future, visit nightingalebreads.com. The bakery is located at 6665 Front St., Forestville.
Most of us dream of the “perfect home:” Spacious but cozy, functional but beautiful; the list goes on. We all have our individual preferences but there are a few common home features prospective buyers tend to be looking for.
Sonoma-based realtor Regina Clyde is familiar with the desires of prospective home buyers. Over the years, she’s taken note of their likes, dislikes and deal breakers. Now, she’s designed a home based on their preferences.
The result is an impressive property on Pueblo Avenue in Sonoma. Located just off the plaza, the 4,000-square-foot, one-story structure is a modern take on a ranch-style home, complete with a pool, plenty of outdoor lounging areas and an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), popular right now due to increasing demands for expanded living space. The home, which was listed for $5,495,000, sold in just three days.
Clyde, a realtor with 14 years of experience selling and updating homes in Sonoma County, was new to home design when she started working on the blueprint for the Pueblo Avenue home. “I went to it with crayons, basically, with my two contractors,” she said.
She may have been new to the home design game, but Clyde had a clear idea of what she wanted — and what she didn’t want. For one, she wasn’t going to design a typical farmhouse property. In her opinion, the now ubiquitous farmhouse trend, with its white board-and-batten siding, was ready for an update. So she flipped the aesthetic on its head and decided to paint the building black.
“That’s why I call it the Black Fox,” she said of the home. (Black Fox also is the name of the dark charcoal gray paint Clyde selected for the home’s exterior.)
With the assistance of Mickey Greer of Mickey Greer & Associates in Sonoma, Clyde made design choices that make the subtly-styled interior sing. Beautiful bamboo cabinets throughout the home provide storage and add warmth to the space; the cabinets are stained or bleached to create different shades. A roughly textured backsplash wall, sleek wooden cabinets and modern light fixtures in simple angular shapes stand out in the kitchen. The great room and the kitchen share an arched ceiling that is lower than the roofline to create a greater sense of intimacy. Greer recommended this particular design, said Clyde, as most people love an airy space but also want to feel cozy.
The Black Fox home has multiple covered outdoor spaces — at the top of home buyers’ wish lists in these pandemic times. The roof extends over an outdoor lounging area with a large sectional sofa next to an electric fireplace built into the wall. The ADU comes with a white kitchen with wooden countertops and textured backsplash, a bright-looking bedroom and an adjacent covered outdoor dining space with a kitchen. All rooms can be accessed from the pool area, as the house and ADU surround it on three sides. Click through the above gallery for a peek inside.
The highly anticipated Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley officially opened its doors Monday. That’s big news in Wine Country and what makes it even more special — at least to wine-lovers — is the fact that the resort is located within a working winery property.
“We could not be more excited to welcome guests,” said General Manager Mehdi Eftekari, who’s been overseeing the construction of the property during the past three years. “It’s been a long time coming, giving us the luxury of time to build a team of truly talented people and put together thoughtful programming that embodies the best of the Napa lifestyle.”
Also referred to as The Resort at 400 Silverado Trail, the Calistoga property has 85 guest rooms and suites located within Elusa Winery. The resort also is home to TRUSS Restaurant + Bar from renowned Chef Erik Anderson, along with Spa Talisa, two pools and a supervised kids club that caters to traveling families. Rates start at $1,200 a night.
TRUSS cheeseburger. (Courtesy of Bonjwing Lee)
Chef Erik Anderson’s menu highlights ingredients from local purveyors, as well as caviar from his private label with Sausalito-based California Caviar Company. (Courtesy of Bonjwing Lee)
Opened in mid-September, Elusa Winery features hand-crafted wines by Thomas Rivers Brown, a Calistoga resident and former Food & Wine magazine “Winemaker of the Year.” Elusa’s inaugural release includes cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. The wines are available exclusively to members and as a part of tastings at the winery.
TRUSS Restaurant + Bar is led by Michelin-starred Executive Chef Erik Anderson, previously at San Francisco restaurant COI and The Catbird Seat in Nashville. Boasting vineyard and mountain views, the TRUSS Living Room offers a seasonally focused all-day dining menu along with bar bites, signature cocktails and wine. (TRUSS Living Room reservations are available now via OpenTable.)
The resort’s more formal dining space, TRUSS Restaurant, is expected to begin lunch and dinner service in the coming weeks. The restaurant’s wine list includes approximately 250 labels, with a nod to the Calistoga area.
Spa Talisa offers its own take on the Calistoga mud experience, along with a wide range of treatments, including a Vineyard Scrub that utilizes grape seeds. Along with indoor spa treatments in eight rooms, al fresco experiences include the Spa Garden with a whirlpool that is heated in winter and cooled in summer.
“Uniquely situated amid the vineyards with endless opportunities to use native ingredients and draw upon the natural environment, I’m thrilled to act as a guide to our guests as they seek to strengthen both their body and mind at Spa Talisa,” said Spa Director Natalie Posner.
Click through the above gallery for a peek at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley.
Homeware designer and Airbnb owner Anya Dinovich creates vacation rentals for “design-minded travelers.” She draws inspiration for her Sonoma properties — one in Kenwood and one in Cazadero — from the cozy vibe of Sundays and a quote from dancer and choreographer Mark Morris: “The goal of Sunday is to leave my home as little as possible.”
Dinovich is also a fan of lazy Sundays at home; of doing nothing or spending time with family and friends. “For me, that means being cozy,” she says. She creates pom pom pillows, sheepskin rugs and wool wall hangings to enhance that Sunday feeling; she even named her online boutique Seven Sundays. “I believe that being surrounded by beautiful things affects our mood and sense of well-being,” she adds.
Dinovich wants to create a cozy environment in which people can relax and enjoy themselves, while having a rich sensory experience.
“When designing an Airbnb you don’t have to worry about the functionality as much as you do when it’s (a) home you live in everyday,” she says. “It becomes a bit of a fantasy; a dreamy place where you can lounge by the fire, enjoy another’s company, read, relax, daydream.”
Homeware designer Anya Dinovich rests her head on one of her fiber creations. (Seven Sundays Studio)Shower at Casa Anush. (Seven Sundays Studio)
The homeware designer’s Kenwood Airbnb, a three-bedroom home named Casa Anush with an adjacent geo-dome, showcases her approach to interior design. Large pom pom pillows add a soft and playful look. The bathroom shower has black hexagonal tiles that create a dramatic backdrop for plants. Woven lampshades and leather vases add interesting textures. A giant geo-dome provides an unusual space for sleeping. A pool area has a covered sofa with wispy drapes for sheltered lounging.
Her Cazadero Airbnb, the Sequoia House, is a 1970’s marvel of a cabin nestled among redwoods along Austin Creek. Dinovich has used the particular geometry of the cabin to enhance each space.
Upstairs, an a-frame ceiling creates a cozy, tent-like sleeping area with a patterned wool blanket and fluffy pillows. The richness of the wood-paneled walls is brought out by a white fiber wall hanging and a sofa with sheepskin blankets in front of it. A fireplace in the center of the room does double duty as a source of heat and a decorative design piece while floor-to-ceiling windows connect the indoors and the outdoors. (The Sequoia House was featured on Netflix’s “The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals.”)
In addition to selling her textiles through her online store Seven Sundays, Dinovich also sells the pillows, wall hangings and blankets in her vacation rentals directly to clients who stay at her properties. Products from her second company, Hooga Hooga (inspired by the Danish practice of “hygge,” or “cultivating coziness”) are also displayed and sold at the properties.
“I hope that by sharing my creations with people who want to have unique, handmade items in their home, I also get to share the sense of calmness and joy that we all need now more than ever,” she says.
A variety of pizzas, including the Old Grey Beard, left, featuring Italian sausage, Calabrian peppers, hot honey and orange zest, the Spayde, center, a square pan pizza with red sauce, mozzarella, pecorino, olive oil and fresh basil, and the Chingona, top, featuring olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, ricotta and fresh basil at PizzaLeah in Windsor, Calif., on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
Everyone loves a list, and Yelp is no exception. This week, the crowd-sourced review site that chefs love to hate released its Top 50 Places to Eat in the North Bay. Curated by Yelp “data scientists” using “a variety of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews”, the result is an eclectic and somewhat unexpected mix of local restaurants.
To be fair, the multitudes have spoken, and most of these restaurants are quite delightful — some even destination-worthy. But hot dog and breakfast sandwich spots making the region’s “Top 50”? The sound of local foodies scratching their heads in bewilderment is pretty deafening. Click through the gallery to see which Sonoma County restaurants made the list (including their spot on the list).
Co-owner Gal Ginzburg will take your order among the antique radios at the Lightwave Cafe at Creekside Park in Monte Rio. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Avocado toast from The Pharmacy cafe in Santa Rosa. (Courtesy of The Pharmacy)
Branch Line, a new plant-based eatery, is expected to open later this year in the former Flying Goat Coffee space in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square.
Owner Kim Bourdet of The Pharmacy cafe (990 Sonoma Ave., No. 1, Santa Rosa) says the space will be transformed into a fast-casual dining restaurant and mercantile with local products. No meat or dairy food will be available at Branch Line. Instead, the restaurant will make its own nut-based milks and vegan “cheeses” and focus on local produce.
Meyer lemon curd pot from The Pharmacy in Santa Rosa. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine)
Psychic Pie, the funky pizza pop-up from Bay Area baker Nicholi Ludlow and his wife, Leith Leiser-Miller, has found a permanent home at the former Food Mechanic in Sebastopol (980 Gravenstein Highway S.). Aiming for an early 2022 opening, the couple plan to continue serving their Roman-style square pizzas by the pound at the new location, along with salads, wine, beer and sweets.
Ludlow and Leiser-Miller launched their Psychic Pie pop-up in April 2021 as a pandemic side hustle, making only 30 pizzas each week at a commercial kitchen in Santa Rosa’s Skyhawk Village. With nothing quite like their chewy, crunchy, locally sourced pies in the North Bay, eaters went wild for the couple’s par-cooked 9-inch-by-9-inch pizzas that could finish baking at home for a better-than-delivery experience.
The pizzas sold out swiftly each week. Seasonal produce and well-sourced ingredients, including Central Milling flour, Bellwether Farms ricotta, local water buffalo mozzarella and Zoe’s Meats bacon, made them all the more coveted.
“Our goal is hyper-local pizza that puts a big emphasis on naturally fermented dough — a truly Bay Area pizza,” Ludlow said in an interview with BiteClub in April. Both Ludlow and Leiser-Miller previously worked at San Francisco pizzeria Del Popolo.
Sadly, you won’t be able to get your hands on a Psychic Pie for a few more months, as Ludlow and Leiser-Miller build out the former Food Mechanic space. But like anything great, it’ll be worth the wait. Follow their progress on Instagram @psychic_pie.
