Catching an outdoor movie beneath the stars is a favorite summer pastime in Sonoma County. After a long pandemic year, great films are finally returning to the big screen. In downtown Santa Rosa, the Metro Chamber and Sonoma Clean Power will present “Movies on the Square” every Wednesday in July, featuring a lineup of family-friendly classics.
Kicking off the event series tonight is “The Princess Bride,” a fairy-tale adventure for all ages. Movies are free to attend and before each movie starts, visitors will be able to enjoy fun activities tailored to each film. A live fencing demonstration will warm up the crowd before “The Princess Bride.” On July 14, there will be an inflatable baseball game before a screening of the 1993 comedy “The Sandlot.” Then, on July 21, an 80s cover band will set the mood before “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and, on July 28, giant inflatables will make moviegoers feel very small before viewing “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!”
The Movies on the Square event series is part of Santa Rosa’s Open and Out initiative, which aims to welcome visitors back to the downtown area. Other events include live music every Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m., various art installations, makers markets, a bartending competition on July 29 and other fun events to come.
“We’ve gotten a great response from the community,” said Cadance Hinkle Allinson, Executive Director of the Santa Rosa Downtown District, about the initiative. “We are happy to be providing a nice fun place for people to come together again.”
Moviegoers can bring their own lawn chair and blankets to Courthouse Square. Takeout food can be ordered from one of the many surrounding restaurants and the event’s main sponsor, Sonoma Clean Power, will be handing out free popcorn to moviegoers. Bayside Church will also be selling popcorn, lemonade and other refreshments.
Movies on the Square is a free event series. Parking is also free after 5 p.m. in all city garages. Music will kick off the event around 5:30 p.m., followed by the pre-movie activities at 6:30 p.m. The film begins at sunset.
If walls could talk, Napa’s Milliken Creek Inn would have fascinating stories to tell.
Tucked along a bank of the Napa River, the main house of the inn served as a stagecoach stop in the 1850s, welcoming weary travelers during the California Gold Rush. Then, at the turn of the century, horticulturist Ira McKenzie took up residence at the property and planted Japanese maples, live oaks, magnolias and other trees that still remain on the three-acre grounds. This summer, Milliken Creek Inn is adding yet another chapter to its rich history as it unveils a sophisticated redesign that makes the modern traveler feel as though they’ve struck gold.
The new lobby, furnished with sofas and armchairs and adorned with green plants and blooming orchids, feels more like a friend’s home than the entrance of an inn or hotel. The front desk — a small counter — is tucked away behind a set of French doors, and guests can enjoy some complimentary fruit cordial upon arrival. Shady paths, flanked by redwoods, bamboo, Japanese maples and magnolia trees, then lead the way to the guest rooms. The verdant surroundings inspired the inn’s redesign, and the exteriors’ neutral, earthy hues combine with natural light to create a peaceful environment in which to sit back and relax in an Adirondack chair by a bubbling fountain or a fire pit.
Napa’s Milliken Creek Inn. (Courtesy of Milliken Creek Inn)Cedar guestroom at Milliken Creek Inn. (Courtesy of Milliken Creek Inn)
The eleven guest rooms at Milliken Creek Inn have been updated with modern decor and soothing color schemes, and each room has its own configuration; many have river views, decks or patios, soaking tubs and fireplaces. Four rooms now come with their own fire pit, which ignites with the turn of a dial. S’mores kits are available in each room, next to the Nespresso machine. After a day of wine tasting, guests can sink into comfortable beds, watch a movie on Apple TV, and read a magazine or order in-room dining on an iPad.
There is no restaurant on the property but guests receive a breakfast spread every morning, which can be enjoyed at one of the inn’s secluded outdoor spaces or in the room. Breakfast options include a mushroom, spinach and feta frittata; breakfast sandwiches with eggs, bacon and cheese on an English muffin or croissant; a Belgian waffle; steel cut oatmeal; and yogurt with house-made granola. Freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee and tea is also included.
Before the pandemic, the inn hosted a nightly wine and cheese reception with a local vintner. Now, guests receive a cheese plate and fresh-baked cookies that can be enjoyed with a glass of wine on the property. The pandemic also has changed the check-in process. Before arrival, guests receive an email that walks them through the process: keycards will be waiting as they arrive at the property, but guests can also access their rooms by using their own cellphones. Guests can now communicate with staff through text messages and, once it’s time to check out, this can also be done via text.
Click through the above gallery for a peek at the redesigned Milliken Creek Inn, part of the Four Sisters Inns collection.
1815 Silverado Trail, Napa,707-255-1197, millikencreekinn.com. Rates start at $495.
Dos Tacos with two yellow tortillas, your choice of meat, topped with chipotle aioli, pico de gallo, arugula and micro greens from Barrio Fresca Cocina Mexicana in Sebastopol’s The Barlow. (Photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
What goes best with a cold Sonoma-brewed beer? Baby beets with goat cheese is not out of the question. Fish and chips? Yes, please. But a carne asada taco and a brew are truly the Donny and Marie of pairing in our book. A little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll and a lot delish. That’s why we’re so excited about the matchup between Old Possum brewery and the Barrio, an elevated taqueria at Sebastopol’s Barlow.
Barrio will serve ridiculously tasty food at the brewery (357 Sutton Place, Santa Rosa) that includes harissa potatoes, baby beets with goat cheese, ahi tuna tostadas, red snapper ceviche, rice with barbecue carnitas and a host of other tasty nibbles.
Torta el Chavo served on torpedo bread with pork belly, chipotle aioli, pico de gallo and arugula from Barrio Fresca Cocina Mexicana in Sebastopol’s The Barlow. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)Pouring beer at Old Possum Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
More dining news
Before you huff at slow service, let me share a recent interview with Lucas Martin of K&L Bistro in Sebastopol.
Though most of us have heard about the struggle for staff in the hospitality industry, the reality is far worse. Martin has had to close — often unexpectedly — on nights when a staff member fails to show up.
“It’s collateral damage from COVID. At least one day a week someone calls in sick. They’ve got daycare issues because the kids are at home,” he said. Before the pandemic, K&L had a roster of nearly 35 employees, both part- and full-time. Now they’re working with five, including Martin and his wife, Karen.
“I could hire a bunch of kids on summer break, but we need people who can multitask,” he said. After years of building a brand, sloppy service is worse than closing. “It’s a coin toss, but that’s our philosophy,” he said. “But it’s never going to be the exact same place it was, because it’s just not the same world we live in.”
Part of his plan going forward is to re-evaluate his business, at least when he figures out what the “new normal” is. Clearly it won’t be 35 employees, he said.
“I just don’t know if that will be a financial possibility for the future,” Martin said.
Nigiri plate at Sushirosa in Santa Rosa. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine)
Robot replaces Guy Fieri. OK, sort of. But hey, robot!
At the former Tex Wasabi’s in downtown Santa Rosa, Flavortown’s Mayor Guy Fieri has left the building and he’s been replaced by a sushibot.
That’s the extra set of hands, er, chargable wait-tron, helping out at the new Sushi Rosa restaurant on Fourth Street. Excuse us for the childish glee in getting a plate of nigiri deftly rolled to us from the sushi bar by a friendly roving robot that guides itself right to our table. Plus, in a time of staffing difficulties, a robot isn’t a bad way for an extra hand, er, chargeable wait-tron, to help out.
The sushi is solid, if not Hana-Japanese level. What we love is the menu with page after page of rolls and nigiri, including a vegetarian “nigiri” plate as well as more traditional dishes like dried squid with vegetables (ika sansai), Japanese pickles (tsukemono), a whole mackerel with fried bone and pickled vegetable maki. Entrees like chicken teriyaki, pork with katsu sauce and udon are also available, as well as a small sake menu.
Plus, there’s the robot. Cute! (Kawaii!) Sushi Rosa is open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 515 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, sushirosa.com
Not since celebrity bombshell Jayne Mansfield’s 1960 visit to the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa has there been so much buzz about the iconic midcentury modern hotel.
With a refreshed look and a spanking-new restaurant as hipster-slick as a pompadour with a mid-fade, it’s finally ready for prime-time lounging, people watching and, of course, eating. Possibly all three if you’re lucky.
Headed by Santa Rosa-based Point Group (who also did the Sandman hotel in Santa Rosa), the Flamingo makes us feel like we finally have a true destination resort for the under-60 crowd.
The public and private parts of the hotel are now clearly distinguishable, with the entrance’s move to the side of the resort and soaring windows framing a revamped pool area and restaurant with lanai seating at the new Lazeaway Club.
Trio of cocktails at Lazeaway Club. (Courtesy of Flamingo Resort)
Veer to the left, then through the lobby/lounge to what used to be the old restaurant entrance. Though not much seems to have changed inside, outside on the patio you’ll feel like your’re on a mini journey to Palm Beach. Comfy chairs and loungers are the top choice if you want that laid-back experience, but four-top tables are perfectly lovely, too.
The pool area is bounded by clear glass panels, keeping dripping-wet kids from traipsing through the dining room and restaurant guests from taking up residence in the luxurious lounge chairs around the pool. It’s a fair exchange. It also makes for remarkably entertaining viewing from your dinner table as tots cannonball into the pool with nary a drop hitting you.
The restaurant had all but fallen off the map before the pandemic, though Chef Annie Hongkham did a great job with Wild Bird, a fried chicken takeout option during the pandemic. Now it’s re-envisioned through renovations made in collaboration with restaurateurs Anderson Pugash and Benson Wang of Palm House Hospitality, founders of Palm House and The Dorian, in San Francisco. Chef Sergio Morales, formerly of Sam’s Social Club in Calistoga, now leads the kitchen, serving up tropically inspired food with a strong California connection.
Though the restaurant is still getting up to speed with staffing and consistency, the food is certainly buzz-worthy, and several of our first-look dishes were impressive winners. The cocktail list is extensive, with plenty of tiki tipplers and slushy sips for hot days.
Overall, it’s a wildly fun culinary vacation by the pool with fresh, well-prepared island-inspired dishes that aren’t overly complicated, but perfectly enjoyable. Plan to grab a rum drink and stay awhile. Caftans encouraged.
Smashburger at the Lazeaway Cafe at the Flamingo Resort. (Courtesy of Flamingo Resort)Spring onion pancakes with dips at the Lazeaway Cafe at the Flamingo Resort. (Heather Irwin / Sonoma Magazine)
Outstanding dishes
Scallion Pancake with Trio of Dips, $14: A high point on the menu where everything just works in snacky perfection. Crisp scallion pancakes with homemade avocado sesame, soy chili and pimento kim-cheese (kimchee cheese!). We fought over this one.
Shaking Steak Frites, $36: Excellent grass-fed beef cooked medium-rare with a piquant soy lime sauce is a great pick. The cost of beef is skyrocketing everywhere, so I don’t begrudge the price. The twice-baked Texas fries were especially good dipped in the leftover sauce.
Chocolate Lava Cake with Caramelized Pineapple, $8: A lovely dish for sharing. I’m not usually a chocolate super fan, but the sweet pineapple was an excellent foil.
Quite good
Coconut Green Curry, $21: Fresh, tasty and well-made with crispy tofu and makrut lime leaf. Seasonal vegetables make this a lovely vegetarian dish. But charging $3 for steamed rice on the side seems a bit excessive.
Lazeaway Smash Burger, $12: Two griddled patties of grass-fed beef with American cheeses, shredded lettuce, Korean chile barbeque sauce and a milk bun. Nicely done.
Ahi Tuna Poke, $18: The flavor of this dish, with tart ponzu sauce, macadamia nuts, pea shoots and nori, was spot-on. What weirded us out a little was the color of the fish, a dull pink that lacked the bright jewel-red color we’d like to see from sushi-grade ahi. Flavor-wise, it wasn’t problematic, though. Maybe an off day from the seafood market?
Lazeaway Club at the Flamingo Resort is open starting at 5 p.m. for dinner, Wednesday through Sunday. Extended hours coming in mid-July. 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, flamingoresort.com
Table Culture Provisions owner/chefs Stéphane Saint Louis, left, and Steven Vargas. (John Burgess/For Sonoma Magazine)
Executive chef Armando G. Navarro of Sonoma’s El Dorado Kitchen will never forget the moment three decades ago when he applied for one of his first restaurant jobs. He was working his way through a top Bay Area culinary school when he and a classmate applied to a Napa Valley restaurant they’d heard was hiring.
“I went in first and they said, ‘No, we don’t need people. We’re not hiring.’ And then my friend from the same classroom went the next day, and they hired him,” says Navarro.
At the time, he was frustrated and confused. Looking back, he believes he knows exactly what was goingon: Navarro, who grew up in Mexico, was brown, and his friend was “a white boy from Wisconsin.”
Chef Armando Navarro makes a Duck Confit and Foie Gras Terrine at the El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma.
It’s no secret that the restaurant industry can be a toxic soup behind the scenes — something most diners never see.
Over the past year, calls to correct biased hiring practices, harassment, and unequal pay have grown more urgent.
Inequities once ignored are now being magnified — and the fallout has prompted a sea change across the industry.
The needs are clear. Last year, a Michelin Guide survey of its more than 1,500 recommended restaurants throughout North America found that just a fraction of Michelin-recommended restaurants boast a person of color as the head or executive chef. When the selections are narrowed down to restaurants that are owned by people of color, the figures drop even further. And a joint study by UC Berkeley and the nonprofit Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found widespread economic and racial segregation between front of the house servers and bartenders and back of the house kitchen workers in Bay Area restaurants.
But here in Sonoma County, a new wave of young chefs of color are at the forefront of a paradigm shift that aims to create a more enlightened and forward-thinking kitchen environment. Here, young, highly trained chefs are striking out on their own to open new establishments, while also working to increase equity in local fine-dining kitchens and advocating for better pay.
Chef Jevon Martin of Street Social with longtime partner Marjorie Pier, who also manages the restaurant. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)
“Sometimes when you’re doing what you love and you’re paying your dues, you allow things to happen that should not happen,” says chef Jevon Martin, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu and co-owner of Street Social in Petaluma. “The culture of the restaurant industry is abusive for everyone. You go into it thinking, well, everyone is getting abused. So when things happen, you go, ‘Is that because I’m Black?’” Martin says the answer too often was, yes.
So if there’s a glass ceiling in Sonoma County, where many executive chef positions at fine-dining institutions are held by white men, sometimes the best way to change the game is to open your own restaurant. That’s what Martin did at Street Social, and that’s what fellow chefs Stéphane Saint Louis and Steven Vargas made happen when they launched Table Culture Provisions last year, also in Petaluma.
“For us, it’s really a melting pot. Everybody simmers at the same level,” Saint Louis says. “It is very important, now that we’re in charge, that we create a space where everyone has a voice, and everyone is treated equally.”
“And with respect,” Vargas adds.
Born in Haiti, Saint Louis has cooked all over the world, from Shanghai to Copenhagen, and more recently at Della Fattoria and The Shuckery in Petaluma. He’ll never forget a weekly recap session with a French culinary school instructor who years ago told him, “If I’m harsh, it’s not because you’re Black.” Reflecting back, Saint Louis says, “For me, that immediately triggered, ‘What? Is it not, though?’ Because now you have that in my head, I’m thinking, ‘Why would you even say that if it wasn’t the case?’”
Stephane Saint Louis, chef/owner of Table Culture Provisions in Petaluma. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)Steven Vargas, chef/owner of Table Culture Provisions in Petaluma. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)
Bridging gaps in pay is at the top of the list for many in the restaurant industry.
“I would love to see all women in the kitchen get paid as much as the men,” says Yemi Salgado, a rising star at the Farmhouse Inn and part-time server at Hotel Healdsburg. “Men don’t want to be seen as equal with a short little brown girl that’s 5-foot-2.”
A few years back, Salgado, a single mom, discovered that in one of her roles, a male peer who had been on the job less than a year was making more money than she was. “He told me, ‘I should clock out first, because I get paid more than you,’” she remembers. “To have the audacity
to say that, it was enraging.”
Chef Yemi Salgado of the Farmhouse Inn restaurant near Forestville. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)
In addition to the pay gap between men and women, there’s also a divide between what is earned by servers in the front of the house and kitchen workers in less customer-facing roles. At Terrapin Creek Cafe in Bodega Bay, chef/owner Andrew Truong won’t allow his servers to count their tips in front of the kitchen crew at the end of the night.
“This whole discrepancy between the front of the house and the back of the house has been so ingrained in the industry for so long, that I, as an owner, find it hard to get out of it,” says Truong, who grew up outside Atlanta, Georgia, where his parents owned a Chinese restaurant.
Truong says he is currently exploring three options to lower the pay gap: creating a new system where his servers tip out at least 5% to the kitchen, waiting tables himself (something he did while working his way through culinary school) and giving his tips to the kitchen staff, or having his cooks personally deliver plates to guests, which would entitle them to tips as a result.
Terrapin Creek Cafe chef/owners Liya Lin and Andrew Truong.
At Michelin-starred SingleThread in Healdsburg, management adopted a new pay model last summer that included the culinary staff in the tip pool, says sous-chef Andrew Hori.
When he found out he would be getting a percentage of nightly gratuities, “It was a nice surprise, because I’ve never experienced that before,” says junior sous-chef Osmel Gonzalez, who grew up in Havana, Cuba, making sandwiches and pastries that his parents sold from a small cafeteria on their back patio. When Gonzalez first started cooking in Miami restaurants, he was shocked to learn servers working directly with guests could take home thousands of dollars in a single night, while he was working 15 hours a day in the kitchen and “burning my hands” for $14 an hour.
“I think if more restaurants were to do the same [with sharing gratuities], it would be a game changer in terms of culinary staff getting paid a living wage,” says Hori, who got into the restaurant business after working for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to victims of natural disasters around the world.
At SingleThread, an interesting thing happened once everyone began sharing in tips, Hori says. No servers left in retaliation. No guests objected. And the culinary staff was able to log fewer hours and make more money.
“Everybody was on board with it and realized this has always been a ridiculous thing in our industry. It was a situation where everyone wins.” SingleThread executive chef and owner Kyle Connaughton took it a step further, sharing details with staff about how exactly the new model would work for the restaurant. “It was important to him to have financial discussions with every cook,” Hori says. “Not just to tell them, ‘This is how much you’ll be making.’ But that maybe if you open your own restaurant one day, and you want to institute this model, this is exactly how you do it.”
Supporting Chefs of Color in Sonoma County
These five fine-dining restaurants are owned or run by chefs of color. And fortunately for us, there are many more examples — both at high-end, special-occasion spots and among our favorite neighborhood weeknight destinations.
Outdoor tasting area at Abbot’s Passage in Glen Ellen. (Abbot’s Passage)
Just as with restaurants, the launch of a new wine tasting room can take weeks, even months, longer than the owners had projected. Construction delays, furnishings trapped on cargo ships waiting for docking space, a shallow employee pool, backups in permit approvals and alcohol sales licenses awarded only after intense scrutiny — any of these can stall a grand opening.
Add the repercussions of COVID-19, and it’s happily shocking when a new tasting room comes close to meeting its initially announced opening date.
One that should “come close” this year is Bacchus Landing on the western outskirts of Healdsburg. Arguably the most anticipated Sonoma tasting venue set to open in the past year, the owners had expected to unlock the gate in time for Independence Day weekend, but a licensing delay moved the opening to mid-July. Bacchus Landing, home to small, family-run wineries pouring their bottlings in five separate tasting rooms, also includes the Market coffee, deli and artisanal food shop; event spaces; picnic areas; and bocce courts on a 3-acre property.
Another almost-on-time venue, Marine Layer Wines in downtown Healdsburg, originally set June 1 for its debut and now appears ready to open in late July. Once it opens, Marine Layer, owned by former Banshee Wines partner Baron Ziegler, promises flights of high-end, single-vineyard Sonoma Coast chardonnays and pinot noirs accompanied by enticing small bites beyond cheese and charcuterie.
For the impatient, three other local tasting rooms have recently opened, post-pandemic pressure, and are poised to add depth and complexity to the Sonoma wine tasting scene: Abbot’s Passage Winery & Mercantile in Glen Ellen, Orsi Family Vineyards in Healdsburg and Sosie Wines in downtown Sonoma.
Visit these bright, shiny-new tasting venues now and in the near future:
Abbot’s Passage Winery & Mercantile
On a property originally home to Valley of the Moon Winery (vines planted in 1863, cellar built in 1887), Katie Bundschu has put a modern twist on this historic Glen Ellen winery estate.
Set to open with full services July 1, Abbot’s Passage is Katie Bundschu’s baby, an extension of her family’s Gundlach Bundschu wine business. The venue offers tastings and bottle service at picnic tables in the Olive Grove; food-and-wine experiences among old zinfandel vines; and plates of crackers, cheeses, charcuterie, dried fruits and pickled vegetables, many of them housemade.
The wine stars are Rhone-style, field-blend reds and the bracing, perfect-for-summer Sunblink, a mix of roussanne, marsanne and grenache blanc. The Mercantile sells glassware, jewelry, hats, totes and other goods chosen by Bundschu, who embraces women-owned businesses and locally sourced crafts.
777 Madrone Road, Glen Ellen, 707-939-3017, abbotspassage.com
Bacchus Landing
Siblings Monica and Francisco Lopez, along with their parents, Al and Dina Lopez, began work on Bacchus Landing in 2015. It includes a tasting space for their Aldina Vineyards wines and those of other small producers, with a family-friendly vibe, food components and hospitality spaces. It’s preparing for a mid-July opening.
Bacchus Landing sports a large central piazza; multiple seating options; the Market for coffee, wine-friendly bites and gourmet food items; and Frank’s Place, an area devoted to bocce courts, picnic tables, lawn games, music, herb gardens and fruit trees. Aldina, Montagne Russe Wines and 13th & Third Wines are the opening tasting room tenants; AldenAlli and Dot Wine will join them later this summer and other wineries are in the process of leasing space.
Marine Layer Wines. (Courtesy of Marine Layer Wines)
Marine Layer Wines
Baron Ziegler and Rob Fischer, teammates when they created Banshee Wines and opened a hip tasting room in downtown Healdsburg in 2012, are at it again, yet with a much different business model.
Banshee’s partners sold a majority share of the business to Foley Family Wines in 2018. For Marine Layer, owner Ziegler and winemaker Fischer focus on single-vineyard chardonnays and pinot noirs from cool-climate Sonoma Coast vineyards ($30-$65) rather than Banshee’s regional blends that enticed younger drinkers with good-value pricing and vinyl records playing in the laid-back tasting room.
Coincidentally, the Marine Layer tasting room is just a few steps from Banshee, and Ziegler is leasing the former Flight Deck Tasting Lounge, Vintage Wine Estates’ multibrand tasting room. Initially scheduled to open July 1, the extensively remodeled Marine Layer now targets late July for its debut. The 3,200-square-foot space will offer wine flights and bites from local purveyors.
308 B Center St., Healdsburg, 707-473-8214, marinelayerwines.com
Orsi Family Vineyards
Schioppettino, anyone? How about a taste of fiano, barbera, Montepulciano or sangiovese? Winery and vineyard proprietor Bernie Orsi offers these Italian varietals and more at the tasting room he opened recently in the former Geyser Peak Winery (and before that, Alderbrook Winery) west of Healdsburg off Westside Road (it’s also a neighbor of Bacchus Landing).
Orsi, whose roots trace to Italy’s Lucca region, is a multilevel businessman successful in beer sales and marketing (he’s known by some as the “Father of Pabst Blue Ribbon”), real estate and grapegrowing. He purchased a cattle ranch in Healdsburg in 1990, planted wine grapes to sell to wineries and eventually added Italian varietals.
Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon are still grown on this Dry Creek Valley property and sold in the Orsi tasting room. Yet it’s the unusual Italian-style bottlings that are nearest and dearest to Bernie’s heart and make this a worthwhile stop.
Their new tasting room in downtown Sonoma is an energizing lift for Sosie owners Scott MacFiggen and Regina Bustamante. They lost the grapes for their 2020 vintage wines to smoke taint from wildfires, and the pandemic stalled their efforts to build their business.
“Prior to the pandemic, (we) had an aggressive growth strategy which included expanding our distribution network and doing events around California such as West Coast Craft and Outside Lands,” the couple said via email. “Unfortunately, COVID put all of these plans on hold, causing us to quickly shift gears to a direct-to-consumer strategy. The shift was difficult, but the success gave us the confidence to invest in a tasting room in downtown Sonoma months before COVID restrictions were set to be lifted.”
MacFiggen makes the wines at Sugarloaf Crush in Sonoma Valley, where he and Bustamante also host tastings, sometimes out of a barrel. Yet the tasting room is now the most convenient way for fans of organically and sustainably farmed wines, produced with as little intervention as possible, to taste them. The sparkling wines, roussanne, pinot noir and red blends are generous in flavor and texture, yet elegant and crisp.
25 E. Napa St., Suite C, Sonoma, 707-721-1405, sosiewines.com
Leslie Wiser, right with partner Sarah Deragon and their children at Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Inside a hoop house at Sebastopol’s Radical Family Farms, potted seeds warmed by the morning sun are sprouting. The tiny starts of heritage Asian and German vegetables would be unfamiliar on many food tables in this west Sonoma County enclave. But for farm owner Leslie Wiser, the sticky heat enveloping the plastic-wrapped tunnel evokes warm memories of family.
Farm owner Leslie Wiser, a child of Taiwanese-Chinese and Polish-German immigrants, recalls the sensory pleasures of family meals she enjoyed growing up, especially those dinners when her grandparents’ favorite dishes were on the menu. For her Chinese grandmother, popo, it was lion’s head meatballs; for her German oma, kohlrabi (German turnip) in her signature white roux.
For the last two years, Wiser, with her partner Sarah Deragon, has drawn on her heritage to develop Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol, a groundbreaking operation growing specialty Asian and German vegetables, many of which would be unfamiliar on dinner tables in this west Sonoma County enclave.
Anemone, Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Chrysanthemum, Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
With their wide variety of sustainably harvested produce — from bitter melon to Chinese mustard to Taiwanese eggplants — the couple has found their niche, selling to chefs and restaurants and, increasingly, through their CSA. But their mission is about more than profit. For Wiser, it’s also about finding herself in the land and passing her cultural inheritance to her children.
“The main focus of the farm has always been to grow vegetables as a way to explore my and my children’s multiracial heritage,” said Wiser, a mom of two.
Her aim also is to celebrate the cultural background of the larger community of Asian and Asian Americans here.
“I am interested in working with chefs and families and restaurants who are on a similar path that I am on,” she said, “using culturally relevant foods and produce and herbs to explore their Asian heritage.”
The elemental contributions Asians and Asian American people have made in Sonoma County is part of that heritage, though it’s often overlooked. More now than ever, with recent instances of harassment and flat-out violence against Asian people, it’s important to acknowledge those contributions, Wiser said.
“There has always been anti-Asian sentiment in this country,” notably with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. “It’s time for us in Sonoma County to really see that and not minimize that, especially with the contributions that the Chinese laborers made in the community … building Sonoma County into the Wine Country destination that it is today.”
Food traditions
After a career in the corporate world in the Midwest, Wiser made the bold decision to move to California and buy a 3-acre property in Sebastopol to stake her claim as a farmer. Her overarching ambition is to reestablish and preserve her family’s traditions that in the past had seemed lost to the tides of war and dislocation.
Before the first planting, in spring 2019, Wiser asked her older relatives to identify foods they missed most from their native countries.
“That was basically the market research, and then I found the seeds and started growing them,” she said. “When I planted everything, I didn’t really have any customers.”
She soon found takers, however, including Asian and Asian American chefs in several well-known San Francisco and Oakland restaurant kitchens. She and Deragon started a CSA, too. They began with 15 members as they built out their farm; now their CSA has 150 members and a waiting list. Like other farmers, the couple saw interest in their CSA jump with the pandemic. They also began a flower CSA last year, with cut flowers Wiser originally planted to attract pollinators and manage garden pests.
“The pandemic changed the landscape, and everybody saw the collapse of the supply chain,” Wiser said. “Grocery stores were overrun and people really wanted to get their produce as directly as possible.”
Sarah Deragon grabs a tray of Napa cabbage hardening off for planting at Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Leslie Wiser and Sarah Deragon’s daughter shows off the bouquets she arranged from the flowers at Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Deragon, a professional photographer, teases each week’s sumptuous offerings on Instagram for produce-hungry consumers. The variety is vast, and a typical summer harvest might include Napa cabbage, kohlrabi, Chinese mustard, Chinese stem lettuce, Taiwanese eggplants, bitter melon, daikon radish, Japanese and Chinese cucumbers, Korean old cucumbers, Tokyo salad turnips, kabocha, winter melons, several varieties of bok choy, flat Taiwanese cabbage and Taiwanese carrots.
Wiser extols what she calls “identity farming,” loosely based on the idea that what nourishes us frames who we are.
“The soil, the plants, the work — all of it relates and is tied to a long chain of events and places that help us to locate ourselves in the vast universe,” she said. “Lose those connections and we are lost.”
After World War II, Wiser’s maternal grandparents fled China for Taiwan to escape Communist rule. On her father’s side, her grandfather, a German soldier, married her grandmother, a Jewish woman who had lived through the war in Germany and Poland. They later emigrated to America. Wiser’s parents confronted their own challenges living in the conservative Midwest as an interracial couple. Wiser said Radical Family Farms is a nod to these “radical ancestors” and to her current relationship with Deragon in a “queer, blended, multiracial” family.
“I think I would have turned to farming sooner if I had seen more farmers like me. Visibility and representation matter … especially to folks who are ambiguous in race and gender,” she said.
Still, she is disturbed by the anti-Asian persecution and violence she sees and reads about today, from Asian-owned restaurants tagged with racial slurs to attacks on elderly Asians on the street. The incidents themselves, but also the apathy of bystanders, has been difficult to see, she said.
“I know the power of bystander intervention, because I’ve done it on behalf of my mother,” Wiser said. She’s witnessed her mother being harassed and insulted and has stepped in. She encourages others to do the same.
People can help also by supporting Asian-owned businesses, she said, supporting those people who go into work every day fearful of threats or worse.
Building a home
Wiser first fell in love with the outdoors during backcountry summer camps in Minnesota, and with family farming on an internship in Alaska. After moving to Sonoma County in 2013 with her two children in tow, Wiser took courses in sustainable agriculture at Santa Rosa Junior College while she searched for a suitable location to farm. The idea came to her one night while she was reading Margaret Wise Brown’s children’s classic, “The Little Red Barn,” to her daughter.
“That just jogged my memory,” she said. “I had completely forgotten about that whole internship, and then I was just thinking about how I wanted to raise my children.”
The scenic farm, at the end of a gravel road bordered by vineyards and horse pastures, is a place for Wiser and Deragon to find purchase. A happy chorus of barking greets visitors. (When they met, Wiser and Deragon were delighted to discover they each had a dog named Bear.) The farm adheres to environmentally-friendly practices such as minimal tillage and a strict ban on spraying. The work is labor-intensive as well as “therapeutic,” according to Deragon, who finds solace in pulling weeds.
The family is learning as they go, contending with the perennial challenges of working the land. Birds devoured the seeds of their first cover crop. Undeterred, they threw down more seeds. There are unexpected disruptions as well, which in Sonoma County include the threat of wildfires. In 2019, the family was forced to evacuate the farm due to mandatory power outages, finding shelter in Sonoma with Wiser’s parents.
“Nothing’s getting watered for like six days,” Wiser said of the forced time away. “With farming,” Deragon added, “it’s life or death. It takes it to the next level in terms of worry and time-management.”
But they said they were pleasantly surprised by the amount of income the farm generated in its first year, 2019. More than money, however, is the realization that a dream has taken root.
Strolling the rows of heritage crops during a family reunion on the farm one summer, Wiser’s elderly aunties were brought back to a time in their lives they thought had vanished. They delighted in varieties of veggies they hadn’t seen or cooked with in years, varieties Wiser had cultivated based on their picks.
At that moment, things came full circle, Wiser said. “It’s just like everything I’ve always wanted to do and learn and explore was right here in Sonoma County.”
To buy Radical Family Farms heritage Asian and German veggies or subscribe to produce deliveries via their CSA farm box, visit the farm’s Instagram @radicalfamilyfarms or their website, radicalfamilyfarms.com.
Picnickers enjoy a glass of wine in Adirondack chairs at Truett Hurst Winery in Healdsburg. (Photo: Kim Carroll)
Haven’t made plans for the long weekend ahead? Enjoy three days of work-free bliss with our list of things to do in Sonoma County this holiday weekend. Click through the above gallery for details and don’t forget to tag us on Instagram (@sonomamag) when you share your weekend highlights.
Philly sandwich with fried chicken breast, provolone, oven roasted tomatoes and broccoli rable. Heather Irwin/PD
Wow, are we really having to think about office lunches again? Yep, at least some of us are. Welcome back to a little bit of normal and some of our favorite lunchtime spots to keep you motivated at least until happy hour. Where do you love spending your lunch hour? Click through the above gallery for details.
