We’re bonkers for a new delivery-only pizza pop-up that’s supernaturally awesome. And we’re not the only ones. The 9-inch-by-9-inch Roman-style al taglio pizzas are a side gig for longtime Bay Area baker Nicholi Ludlo and his wife, Leith Leiser. Leiser’s groovy hand-drawn pastry boxes had us smitten even before we turned on the oven (and frankly we kept it on the counter long after the pizza was gone because it was so cute).
Available Friday and Saturday only, Psychic Pie’s square sourdough pie comes par-baked with Bianco di Napoli tomato sauce and a blend of mozzarella cheese. Meant to be twice-baked for the perfect crispy crust and bubbly interior, our special BLT pie was topped with Zoe’s Meats bacon and included cold arugula and house-made ranch for a post-bake topping. Exacting instructions get it pizzeria perfect with bubbly, caramelized crusts.
The BLT Psychic special will soon be changing up to a mortadella, tomato, Estero Gold Reserve and basil pie, but pepperoni and vegan pies will be regulars.
“Our goal is hyper-local pizza that puts a big emphasis on naturally fermented dough. A truly Bay Area pizza,” Ludlo said.
It’s one of our new favorite pizzas, but the real endorsement came from PizzaLeah owner and award-winning pizzaiolo Leah Scurto, who gave props to Psychic Pie on Instagram, calling it “pretty f-ing good.”
The couple also send their Instant Karma pies ($13) to The Living Room, a nonprofit program that helps women and children in need. More details at psychicpie.com or @psychic_pie.
More dining news
Speaking of Zoe’s Meats: A shout out to the local artisan meat company that provides cured meats and bacon to restaurateurs (as well as grocers) for donating products to make approximately 15,000 meals for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurants represent more than half their business, and as restaurants closed, Zoe’s ended up with extra inventory. Although their retail sales were increasing, restaurant products needed a home. The organization donated to Redwood Empire Food Bank, which in turn donated that food to Catholic Charities, COTS, the Living Room, Council on Aging and other agencies serving those with food insecurity during the pandemic.
Would you like to visit one of the best small towns in California? If you live in Sonoma County, you don’t have to travel far. Travel + Leisure magazine has just named the town of Sonoma among the top 10 towns in the Golden State with under 15,000 residents.
Published on March 30, Travel + Leisure’s list includes towns across California — from Avalon to Tahoe City — that “make for some of the most memorable vacations.” Sonoma, “cheaper and larger than Napa,” retains its “small-town appeal,” says the magazine. “It’s an affordable home base to explore nearby wineries, and it stands on its own for colonial architecture, fascinating statehood history, and a picturesque town center.”
The New York based travel magazine recommends that visitors to Sonoma make their way to the Sonoma Overlook Trail for its “breathtaking views … you might think you walked all the way to Italy.”
This is not the first time that Sonoma has been tapped for it small-town charm by a national publication or media company. In 2017, U.S. News & World Report, best known for its influential best colleges and hospitals rankings, listed the “best small towns to visit in the USA” — and the town of Sonoma came in on #1. In 2018, Budget Travel released their annual top 10 list of the “coolest small towns in America.” Sonoma snagged the second spot on that list. Travel + Leisure has also named Sonoma one of “America’s best towns for July 4th” (in 2016).
The Bay Area towns of Calistoga, St. Helena and Sausalito also made the Travel + Leisure list of best small towns in California. See the full list here.
What are some of your favorite spots in the town of Sonoma? See a few hidden gems in the gallery above.
Landscape painter Alex Cole at her home studio in Sonoma, California. January 12, 2021.
(Photo: Erik Castro/for Sonoma Magazine)
Where were you last spring when you realized that the world was about to turn upside-down? What were you doing? Ask an artist, and they’ll tell you what they were working on — and what they lost. The shows that got canceled. The CD release that got delayed. The photo shoots and gallery visits that suddenly couldn’t be scheduled.
But, in the next breath, they’ll tell you how they took a moment, analyzed the new circumstances, and survived — even thrived — despite, or perhaps even because of, those constraints. Artists and creatives are adaptive, after all, and they know how badly in this darkness, we need their light.
“I ask a stone to work with me and perform, and what comes out of there sometimes surprises me, because it’s so cool, so beautiful,” says sculptor T Barny (Erik Castro)
T Barny — Sculptor
There are artists’ studios, and then there is T Barny’s studio. Everything about it is extraordinary. The soaring glass roof. The din of the fans, blowing full blast. The swirling marble dust. And, of course, the tools: forklift, chisels, and saws, a 5-ton diamond core drill. And, in the midst of it all, the artist himself, clad in boots, goggles, ear protection, and weight belt. Catch him when he isn’t mid-carve, and Barny, 64, will wax rhapsodic about chainsaws — “you gotta have three” — and his preferred medium: stone.
“Geology has made this, over millions and millions of years, combining all these different ingredients and all these different minerals, and then I carve it into something that’s more than just a rock you see in the field. It comes from the earth, and I give it life.”
In 2020, Barny, who lives in Alexander Valley with this wife and dogs, had big plans to celebrate his 40th year of sculpture: “We had a show planned every month for the whole year, and they all went away.”
Sculptor T Barny touches a block of Carrara statuario marble at his workshop in Healdsburg. (Erik Castro)
A piece titled ERIT made of Utah calcite by T Barny. (Erik Castro)
With shows canceled, the sculptor pivoted to virtual events, participating in open studios and working with his staff to create an online retrospective. He also remains something of a jokester; last March, when demand for toilet paper crescendoed, he took cylindrical cores he had drilled while working stones and made marble “toilet rolls.” “It became pretty popular,” he recalls. “The first roll I made sold in about seven minutes.”
In a chaotic year, Barny has felt a renewed commitment to his art. “I really wanted to keep making things that were beautiful, because of all of the trauma and tragedy that’s been going on. That’s my whole point, to make something that gives you a good feeling.” tbarny.com
PANDEMIC COMFORT FOOD: Spaghetti with meatballs from Catelli’s restaurant in Geyserville
BINGE-WATCHING: “Game of Thrones”
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like M.C. Escher stuck in one of my artworks.
Muralist MJ Lindo-Lawyer relishes the sense of possibility in a blank wall. “Imagine what you can do with it. Imagine the impact. It’s so powerful!” (Erik Castro)
MJ Lindo-Lawyer — Muralist
“I think the scariest thing as an artist is the idea that art isn’t ‘essential,’ you know?” MJ Lindo-Lawyer pauses. “But a world without art? It’s almost, in my opinion, this unlivable space.”
For her part, Lindo-Lawyer, 32, has been working to make the world more livable for some 15 years. In fact, the Roseland-based painter, who was born in Miami to Nicaraguan parents who fled the civil war, can’t ever remember not painting.
“My parents bought me an easel when I was, like, two.”
Lindo-Lawyer progressed into a style that mingles fantasy with reality in vivid-hued images. About a decade ago, in the ultimate art world meet-cute, Lindo-Lawyer met her future husband at a San Francisco gallery, where she couldn’t take her eyes off his work. With more time now for art (both MJ and her husband were laid off from their day jobs during the pandemic), the couple has taken the year to “hyper-focus”: painting a half-dozen murals; adding merchandise in their shops; and sketching and planning new work. Still, the year hasn’t been without challenges. The artists create their pieces based on reference photos with models, but with the pandemic, it’s been impossible to arrange their usual shoots in Los Angeles. Instead, they’ve adapted.
“We did a shoot outside, in our backyard. And we kinda told our neighbor, ’Hey, heads up, we’re gonna have a naked lady in our backyard!’”
Artwork by painter and muralist MJ Lindo-Lawyer at her home in Santa Rosa. (Erik Castro)MJ Lindo-Lawyer has some of her artwork on a label for Cooperage Brewing Company. (Erik Castro)
Last November, Lindo-Lawyer had her first solo show, at Stone Sparrow NYC. For that show, she created five pieces in different colors, exploring the theme of how we cope. She named the show “Seasons” in a nod to this surreal year.
“I feel like so many of us have felt stuck during Covid,” explains Lindo-Lawyer, “like, it still feels like March 2020, because that’s when everything kind of stopped. But regardless of what’s happening, time is moving forward, and seasons are changing. The world is still moving forward.” mjlindoart.com
PANDEMIC COMFORT FOOD: Homemade sourdough bread
INSPIRATION: Fuco Ueda
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like No-Face from the movie “Spirited Away” in my shelter- in-place home.
Furniture designer Paul Benson uses tools that have been in his family for generations. ‘It’s a reminder of that connection to people who have created in the past.’ (Erik Castro)
Paul Benson — Furniture Designer
Paul Benson came into 2020 with momentum. Coming off fresh collaborations with interior-design world heavyweights, he exhibited his work at contemporary design fairs in Miami and San Francisco and was accepted at a gallery in New York. But now, with things “more localized and slowed-down,” Benson says, “I feel like we’re having that intimate experience of exploring, ’Well, what’s our place in the world?’”
The pandemic has brought Benson, 51, back to his roots, both geographically — he’s Sonoma County born and raised — and creatively. His exquisite walnut tables and enameled metal cabinets are created with antique chisels and custom metal lathes and other machinery handed down from his father and grandfather. It’s an artistic tradition Benson now carries forward with his wife and two sons, who often help in his Sonoma studio.
Hand-drawn ideas for handles for a piece of furniture along with a variety of tools at Paul Benson’s workshop in Sonoma. (Erik Castro)
Furniture designer Paul Benson shapes a piece of naval brass on a machine called a power hammer that his father made for him. (Erik Castro)
For the walnut tables he’s working on — all thoughtful rhythms, organic lines, and finely lacquered surfaces — Benson has been seeking new inspiration and thinking through new approaches to create the energy and texture he’s looking for. “I make small samples that I carry with me, chunks of laminated wood or pieces of textured bronze or whatever — and I take them when I go to the beach and think about it. It’s a process.”
And, in this quieter moment, Benson has been doing a lot of processing. “What is the real purpose of my creativity? For me, the end result is, it’s about community. I think we’re at a time in history where we have to create some new beginnings and reckon with the past. We have to start understanding each other and seeing each other as valuable and important. And I think creative people can help with that.” paulbenson.us
PANDEMIC PLAYLIST: Dave Brubeck; jazz; hip-hop
INSPIRATION: Artists Wendell Castle, Ruth Asawa
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like Dustin Hoffman gardening in the later scenes of “Papillon.”
C.K. Itamura says she spends a lot of time thinking about the things in our world that don’t always make sense. “So it’s been really easy to stay creative this year.” (Erik Castro)
C.K. Itamura — Artist
“I think of my studio as — literally — a physical extension of my brain, says C.K. Itamura. “When I walk in, I feel like, ’I’m in my brain! I’m gonna do some thinking!’”
When the pandemic struck, the artist was working on a long-term project focused on building community by getting people off their screens and into a space together, to chat, drink tea, and paint paper teacups that she had made by hand. With that work on hold — and other large-scale exhibitions impossible — Itamura took a moment to pause, and as she puts it, “be still and distill.” Into that stillness came a note from the Imaginists, a Santa Rosa experimental theater group, asking to collaborate.
Itamura arrived at a unique solution for the Imaginists commission, an at-home theater experience to be performed by the recipient — a play in a box, with hand-painted props.
Lately, the artist has also been teaching virtual classes on bookmaking and distilling some bigger ideas down “into snack-sized tidbits of art.” She made two zines: a graphic celebration of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and an outer space– themed meditation on fear.
Artist C.K. Itamura with a dress titled “Behavior” that she made out of paper found in shoeboxes. (Erik Castro)
Artist C.K. Itamura’s “12 Steps to Free” is a self-contained play for one actor, in five acts which includes a script, artist notes and props. The project was commissioned by The Imaginists theater company. (Erik Castro)Artist C.K. Itamura with her mini zines at her home studio in Santa Rosa. (Erik Castro)
Working across different media feels natural for Itamura, thanks to wide-ranging explorations as a child growing up in San Francisco and Sacramento. “My mom had this worldview that you should learn as much as you can about as much as you can,” remembers Itamura, 57, who lives in Santa Rosa with her partner, musician Conrad Praetzel. And, while this year has had challenges, Itamura takes comfort in the instances of light. “When there’s that little interval between disasters, it’s almost like, just hold onto that moment, and remember, ’This is what it feels like for everything to be okay.’” peachfarmstudio.net
BINGE-WATCHING: All eleven “Star Wars” movies in chronological order; “The Mandalorian”
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like the crew of the starship Enterprise standing on the bridge observing planet Earth, and going, “What is wrong with these aliens?”
Alex Cole, painter. “Even in difficult times, I try to think, ’Where’s the beauty? And how do you find the beauty in the moment of something really dark?’’ (Erik Castro)
Alex Cole — Painter
“When I paint, the world just kind of falls away,” Alex Cole explains. “I forget that I have worries. I forget that I have kids. I forget that I have dishes. I feel like I’m at a dance party. It’s just like, ’Ahhh!’ It’s so good!” The 47-year-old artist, who lives in Sonoma with her husband, daughter, son, and dog, discovered the joy of creativity early, growing up with a jazz piano–playing father and a mother with an eye for interiors. Now, Cole creates vibrant abstract landscape paintings, posts insights on Instagram, and teaches. “I teach my students how to just play and let go, get back to their 5-year-old selves!”
When Covid hit, Cole wasn’t sure how she felt about going about business as usual, selling her art. “So, I said, ’What’s the other thing I do for people? I bring joy.’” To that end, she decided to create one 5 x 7 piece each day and post it on Instagram. The first person to choose that painting would get to name their price. She continued the project for a month, shipping her art as far as the Netherlands. Cole also spread joy in the form of free virtual painting classes and through the mural she painted in downtown Santa Rosa.
Landscape painter Alex Cole with some works in progress at her home studio in Sonoma. (Erik Castro)A collage of old family photos hangs in Alex Cole’s home studio in Sonoma. (Erik Castro)
Looking ahead, the artist hopes to create additional collections and to offer skillshare classes online. She loves teaching painting, of course, but more than that, she loves sharing her philosophy of life. “I think all of us, in our lives, get wrapped up in, ’What’s it going to look like?’ before we even start. And it just stops us in our tracks,” Cole says. “Why are we doing that to ourselves? Like, just take one step and see how it feels. You don’t have to take a hundred steps all at the same time. You’re just taking one. The word is, ’ Yes!’” alexcolestudio.com
BINGE-WATCHING: “Bridgerton” “The Crown” “The Queen’s Gambit”
INSPIRATION: Rufus Wainwright; Tracee Ellis Ross
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde riding on a rollercoaster.
Singer-songwriter Eki Shola says she often feels the strongest urge to create in the wake of loss. ‘I mean, really, creating my own medicine, right?’ (Erik Castro)
Eki Shola — Musician
Eki Shola will never forget the moment that led her back into music. It was 2012; she had just lost her mother; and she and her dad and siblings had gathered to plan the memorial. The mood was tense; someone suggested a break. “And so,” recalls the London-born physician, “we went up into my old bedroom, and I found my old keyboard.” Her father, sister, and brother picked up their old instruments, “and we just jammed for several hours. And it was incredible! And I remember saying, ’I need to do music.’”
The past four years have been intense. She and her family lost their home in the Tubbs fire, a tragedy which prompted Shola, 44, into making even more music — as she puts it, “creating my own medicine.” Her latest album was slated for release in February 2020. “Then Covid hits, Black Lives Matter begins, and I had more things to say. I had to stop because I actually ran out of physical space on the CD!” Naturally, recording in her Santa Rosa home studio during the pandemic — with husband, kids, and a dog at home — has presented its own set of challenges. “I remember doing a song, and I had to hide in the laundry room to record the vocals,” Shola recalls.
Singer-Songwriter Eki Shola has written and recorded four albums. (Erik Castro)
Singer-songwriter Eki Shola at her home studio in Santa Rosa. (Erik Castro)Singer-songwriter Eki Shola at her home studio in Santa Rosa. (Erik Castro)
It’s a lot to balance, but when she’s able to see the way her music touches people, it makes everything worth it. “I just see that, despite whatever differences we have — culture, gender, ethnicity, political beliefs, geography — music, because it’s frequency, it’s energy, it supersedes all those perceived differences, and just connects us on a feelings level. And that is so powerful.” ekishola.com
PANDEMIC COMFORT FOOD: Peanut butter–chocolate chip cookies; sweet potatoes chopped up with black rice, avocado, cilantro and lime
PLAYLIST: “Grounding” (off her third album, “Drift”); “Can I Believe You?” by Fleet Foxes
MAD LIB: During the pandemic, I have felt like a bear hunkering down in a cozy den.
Easter is almost here. And though things are still a little different, hope is on the horizon. This year, restaurants are offering outdoor dining, pickup meals and some limited indoor dining. We hope you’ll get out and support local restaurants and enjoy the warm weather as we look forward to being together as families, friends and neighbors.
Barndiva: Three course brunch includes asparagus with morel mushrooms, avocado toast with sunflower sprouts, salad Lyonnaise with bacon lardons, French toast with strawberry compote and Chantilly cream, Dungeness crab Benedict, black truffle Croque Madame, omelet with caviar, S’mores bar. $68 per person, reservations required, 231 Center St, Healdsburg, 707-431-0100, barndiva.com.
Cattlemens: Pre-order meals available for pickup in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Prime rib dinners for 2 or 4 includes baked potatoes, garden salad, bread, beans. Call to order. Santa Rosa: 707- 546-1446, Petaluma: 707-763-4114. cattlemens.com.
Charlie’s Restaurant at Windsor Golf Club: Easter brunch Saturday and Sunday. Regular menu plus Florentine scramble, bacon and mushroom quiche, eggs Benedict, biscuits and gravy, Belgian waffles, French toast. Reserve in advance, 707-838-8802, 1320 19th Hole Dr, Windsor, windsorgolf.com/charlies-restaurant.
Dinucci’s: Minestrone soup with warm sourdough, green salad, pasta with Bolognese, Easter ham with honey cranberry glaze, roasted potatoes, sautéed green beans with bacon, $30 per person. Plus boozy adult Easter baskets with five “boozy bunny” shots with mixers, chocolate bunnies and shaker, $45. Call for reservations or pre-orders, 707-876-3260.
Down to Earth Cafe and Deli: A la carte family-style meals for pickup include short ribs with mashed potatoes, fried chicken, smoked pulled pork, stuffed portabellas with choice of sides including shells and cheese, coleslaw, salads, deviled eggs, pulled pork sundae, butterscotch pudding. Order by calling 707-753-4925. 8204 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati.
Estero Cafe: Full menu plus Easter specials. 14450 CA-1, Valley Ford, facebook.com/esterocafe.
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn will host a Children’s Easter Egg Hunt from 9:30 a.m. for ages 7 and younger, and 10:30 a.m. for ages 8 and up. (Courtesy of Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn)
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn: Family-style brunch includes mini smoked salmon bagels, avocado toast, truffle asparagus, butter poached lobster Benedict with saffron Hollandaise, fried chicken and waffle with candied bacon, caramelized brioche french toast, braised short rib hash, grilled lamb lollipops, mini carrot cupcakes, milk chocolate tart. $75 per person. Reservations required, 939-2410. 100 Boyes Blvd., Sonoma, fairmont.com/sonoma.
Pasta King: Take and bake try of lasagna in marinara, meat sauce or pesto. Serves 9 to 12 people. Call 707-792-2712 to order. 1492 Lowell Ave, Cotati, pastaking.com.
Preferred Sonoma Caterers: Pickup a la carte or complete meal. Menu includes spiral ham with apricot bourbon glaze, salmon with dijon maple glaze, cheesy hash brown potatoes, roasted asparagus and rainbow carrots, leek and Gruyere quiche, spinach salad with goat cheese and poppy seed dressing, lemon raspberry bundt cake. Order at 707-769-7208, 416 East D Street, Petaluma, sonomacaterers.com.
Ricky’s Eastbound: Takeout Easter dinner available for pickup or delivery. Honey glazed smoked pork loin chop with grilled pineapple, vegetable frittata, roasted sweet potatoes with orange, spring asparagus with feta and lemon dressing, baby greens. Dessert add-ons: Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, butterscotch pots de creme. $70 to $225 (depending on serving size). Order at 707-536-6606, 5755 Mountain Hawk Dr, Santa Rosa, rickyseastbound.com.
Rio Nido Roadhouse: Brunch includes quiche Benedict, breakfast potatoes, buttermilk popovers, sliced ham, spring pea salad, bottomless Mimosas. 14540 Canyon 2 Rd, Rio Nido, rionidoroadhouse.com.
Seared: A la carte brunch includes housemade doughnut holes, buttermilk waffles, Dungeness crab Benedict, prime rib sash, avocado toast, buttermilk fried chicken, grits and spring vegetable succotash and plenty of libations. 170 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma. Reservations at petalumaseared.com or 707-762-5997.
Spinster Sisters: Easter pickup meal serve a la carte with smoked pate, buttermilk biscuits with honey butter, slab of frittata, strawberry salad kit, apple crumb cake, kimchi bacon deviled eggs, seasonal jam, strawberry shortcake kit. Order by calling 707-528-7100, 401 South A. Street, Santa Rosa, thespinstersisters.com.
Spoonbar: Bottomless bellinis, and al la carte menu with Dungeness crab and apple salad, yellowfin tuna sashimi, warm mushroom and goat cheese quiche, lobster eggs Benny, Niman Ranch kobe smash burger, crispy duck leg hash, herb roasted king salmon, filet mignon. Book at spoonbar.com or 707-433-7222. 219 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg.
Sweet Pea Bakeshop: Easter cupcakes come in cute gift boxes. Order yours today for pick up April 3. Call or email info@sweetpeanapa.com. 720 W Napa St, Sonoma, 707-934-8797.
Tips Roadside: Bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys plus family-style options include grilled tri-tip, smoked brisket, fried chicken, shrimp and grits, scrambled eggs, Brussels and root vegetable hash, bacon and beignets. $55 per person, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Advance tickets required at tipsroadside.com. 8445 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood.
Volo Chocolate: Chocolate Bunny Season has arrived at this Windsor chocolate factory. This year, a special 2021 edition of Volo’s bunny is available: The Essential ‘Bean to Bunny’ is made from 62 % dark milk chocolate and comes with face mask and vaccination band aid, hand painted with white chocolate. Order online to get shipped to your home or pick up in Windsor. Bunny pick up is Wednesday, March 31st, Thursday April 1st and Friday, April 2nd between 2-5:30 p.m. A line will form outside. 399 Business Park Ct, Windsor, volochocolate.com.
Wing Man: Skip the ham and pick up crispy chicken wings with special sauces and sides along with more than 70 kinds of beer and growlers available. Open noon to 8 p.m. Order online at wingmanfoodtruck.com, 101 E Cotati Ave, Cotati.
We are so chomping at the bit for Burdock, a new food and cocktail spot about to open in Healdsburg. Headed by the Duke’s Spirited Cocktails team, the restaurant will featuring a tasty lineup of small plates from around the globe and 10 rotating specialty drinks.
The opening menu will focus on Cuba, with dishes like baked oysters with roasted Serrano ham, Gruyere and mustard butter; wild scallop crudo with passion fruit and black mint and Ropa Vieja, a flat sausage with beef short rib, Calabrian chili, plantains and orange, from Chef Sean Kelley (formerly of Underwood Bar & Bistro).
Expect Havana-inspired cocktails like Grita de Yara with pisco, bell pepper, mango, vermouth, saffron and lemon; a new-school Daiquiri with rum, key lime, bergamot and coconut tincture or a power-packed rum and gin drink with honeysuckle, chamomile, wildflower honey and lemon called the Canchachara.
“The team designed the menu as an evolving sensory journey, rotating each season to evoke a specific world region or time period which has influenced how we eat and drink today,” said the news release.
Duke’s Spirited Cocktails has become a popular local watering hole but attracts a well-heeled crowd from the Bay Area and beyond. It was founded by four friends and Sonoma County industry veterans Tara Heffernon, Laura Sanfilippo, Cappy Sorentino and Steven Maduro. The restaurant is slated to open in April, but check the website at burdockbar.com for latest details. 109A Plaza St., Healsdburg, @burdockhealdsburg
Boozy Cans: Duke’s Cappy Sorrentino recently launched a line of canned cocktails called Cappy Shakes. Trust us, they’re not like anything like those sickly sweet, headache-inducers you’ve had before. We tried the Cucumber Cooler made with vodka, cucumber, yuzu and seltzer that was crisp, light and refreshing with a gentle buzz (each can has two servings). Other flavors include Gin + Tonic with lemongrass, lemon, lime and tonic or Fool’s Paradise, a dangerously delicious-sounding sipper with tequila, clarified passion fruit, eucalyptus and blanc vermouth. Available at Wilibees, 700 Third St., Santa Rosa, 707-978-3779 or Duke’s Spirited Cocktails, 111 Plaza St., Healdsburg.
Additional Sonoma County luxury establishments that were recommended by Forbes include Farmhouse Inn (pictured) and Farmhouse Inn Restaurant in Forestville and Hotel Les Mars in Healdsburg. (Farmhouse Inn)
Valentine’s Day 2021—the Farmhouse Inn’s 20th anniversary—found the Forestville boutique hotel long ranked among the best in the world. Its restaurant had maintained its Michelin star for 14 consecutive years, since first receiving it in 2007.
When siblings Catherine and Joe Bartolomei first came upon the 1873 vintage farmhouse and its early-20th-century adjoining cottages—then a B&B, it had seen better days. Located in “Apple Country,” where apple orchards far outnumbered vineyards, it seemed an unlikely place to open a luxury “Wine Country Hotel.” But Catherine and Joe, fifth-generation Sonomans, saw potential—and possibly the future. They bought the property and got to work.
“We’ve had the tremendous opportunity to take this little bed and breakfast to something that really has achieved international recognition,” said Catherine Bartolomei.
It has taken creativity, perseverance and more than a few coats of paint for the sister and brother entrepreneurs to get here.
“It was a lot of paint in those early days,” said Joe Bartolomei, who recalls painting every room on the property at least once. In support of his sister’s quest for just the right shade of blue for Cottage 8, he painted it four times.
Grandmas at work peeling potatoes. (Courtesy of Farmhouse Inn)
As the years passed, the sister-and-brother team checked off their list of upgrades and to-dos, one by one. The avocado green and peacock blue bath tubs have been replaced with jetted tubs and steam showers. The original card tables are a thing of the past and family members no longer need to peel potatoes for the restaurant, but chef Steve Litke’s acclaimed “Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit” dish remains a popular menu item. In 2015, the inn added an onsite spa. A few years later, a fancy food truck — Farmstand — was installed, offering casual outdoor dining in the courtyard and by the pool.
Never content to rest on their laurels, the Bartolomeis have continued to raise the bar of the Farmhouse Inn experience. Guests can now reserve luxury cars for complimentary drives, book a Wine Country adventure with a driver, or splurge on a sommelier-led wine tour. This program picked up speed last year with the acquisition of three new Volvo XC90 SUVs equipped with T6 engines.
A changing landscape
Over the past two decades, the landscape surrounding Farmhouse Inn has continued to change. Some two dozen wineries now dot the countryside and the Russian River Valley attracts wine enthusiasts from around the world.
“The destination has grown up around us in a way that we didn’t really anticipate. We kind of hoped that would happen but we had no crystal ball,” said Joe Bartolomei. “I’d like to think that we had a part in that; that maybe we helped put this region on the map. But it wasn’t anything that we had planned for.”
Sister-and-brother team, Catherine and Joe Bartolomei, owners of Farmhouse Inn in Forestville. (Charlie Gesell)
Through the years, as Catherine and Joe Bartolomei have watched the area change and grow, they have adapted to changes—and to challenges.
In recent years, fire, flood and pandemic have presented the Farmhouse Inn and the Sonoma County tourism industry with a trifecta of unprecedented challenges. In February 2019, the Russian River overflowed its banks and brought its waters to the door of the Farmhouse Inn’s restaurant. Before the waters subsided, three guest cottages and two offices stood waist deep in water.
In 2020, the sister and brother entrepreneurs faced fire and pandemic. The Walbridge fire, the third major wildfire incident in Sonoma County in three years, burned across the hills north of Guerneville and westward toward Healdsburg in August. The Farmhouse Inn was included in the evacuation order. Fortunately, the flames did not cross the Russian River.
Visitors remained sparse for weeks after Farmhouse Inn weathered floods and fires. Then, as the pandemic began and stretched on, the inn was forced to furlough employees and close temporarily, in compliance with stay-at-home orders.
“The last few years have been really challenging,” said Joe Bartolomei. “In some ways it’s like, ‘Oh my god, how did we get to 20 years?’ In other ways, I feel like I can’t believe it’s only been 20 years.”
A lemon tree grows at Farmhouse Inn in Forestville. (Courtesy photo)
Embracing change
Despite the trials of the last few years, Catherine and Joe Bartolomei remain optimistic. Farmhouse Inn, like other Sonoma County hospitality businesses, has creatively adapted to meet the pandemic’s challenges.
“I think we’re better and stronger than we’ve ever been,” said Catherine Bartolomei. “Things are looking good. Things are looking up.”
The inn now serves Michelin-starred dining alfresco and also offers exclusive outdoor spa treatments. As activities have relocated to the outdoors, the Bartolomeis have found new innovative uses for the property’s beautiful grounds, including morning yoga sessions and evening wine tours hosted by the siblings’ favorite local wineries. Guests, excited to be out and about and eager to test out new experiences, seem happy to provide positive feedback to the inn’s staff.
Catherine and Joe continue to discover new ways to fine-tune guest offerings and evolve their business. New pool and patio furnishings are in the works, along with further enhanced in-room amenities. Next month, the property’s reimagined spa (with a new manager at the helm) will launch new programming, including a wellness-focused dining menu. Twenty years after opening, the Bartolomeis are hard at work innovating, creating and augmenting the Farmhouse Inn experience.
“We have so many ideas, so many things we want to do,” said Joe Bartolomei. “We’re still nowhere near completed with this thing.”
Sonoma Beef Burger with onion rings, fried chicken burger, chili fries and Cajun fries at Acme Burger in Cotati. (Heather Irwin / Sonoma Magazine)
Adios Taco Tuesday, it’s Takeout Wednesday! But today’s meal is extra special, because it’s the annual Great American Takeout Day, an annual event that benefits CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees) and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. So get your online ordering or dialing fingers ready and order a takeout or delivery meal from a restaurant you’d like to support. Take a picture of your meal and post it on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #TheGreatAmericanTakeout and event sponsors will donate $10 to CORE and the NRAEF.
Seniors are returning to dining in and out… (Shutterstock)
Vaccinated and raring to return to life, a tsunami of seniors are dining out — and in — at restaurants throughout Sonoma County.
“I am finding a lot of excitement from our regulars who feel a sense of relief from being vaccinated,” said Sarah Piccolo of Fork restaurant in Sebastopol.
After more than a year of takeout and limited outdoor dining, the county lifted its most restrictive regulations in mid-March, allowing indoor dining at 25% capacity. That, along with a drop in COVID-19 cases and increasingly mild weather, has seniors cautiously venturing out.
“They are sitting on the patio, excited to be back in our seats! Some of them have either done takeout or just cooked since March. It feels great to have them back,” Piccolo said.
With more than 82% of the over-65 age group vaccinated in Sonoma County, according to the California Immunization Registry, and a long year of missing family, friends and favorite restaurants, elders are ready to get out.
“One thing I’m really enjoying is seeing our older generation back out again … and celebrating with family,” said Guerneville restaurateur Crista Luedtke of Boon Eat + Drink. “It makes me realize we’re on the right path.”
Even anecdotally, the senior boom in restaurant patronage has been obvious throughout the county. On a recent visit to Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, we couldn’t get a reservation for the limited indoor dining, and elders were noticeably en masse at the few tables. Our server confirmed that they were seeing a trend of recently vaccinated seniors coming out to eat after a long absence. It was the same at Taub Family Outpost, where long-absent elders were enjoying brunch.
It’s a national trend, apparently. The New York Times recently reported that those 70 and older are drinking cocktails, meeting up with grandchildren and “filling restaurants” since receiving their full vaccination.
Even my own parents, who’ve been hibernating for nearly a year, are now a month past their second vaccination and cautiously eager to get back to life beyond limited grocery store visits and essential appointments. They dined outdoors at Blue Ridge Kitchen last weekend, thrilled to finally be eating with family somewhere other than at home.
Welcome back! Now if the rest of us could just get vaccinated…
Opening a retail business can be a daunting experience under normal circumstances. Imagine adding a pandemic into the mix. Jorge Martinez, a Lake County woodworker and furniture maker, decided to take a leap of faith after he noticed an empty storefront on Sonoma Highway.
Martinez had previously sold his rustic furniture pieces in a Napa Valley consignment store. After fires and pandemic shutdowns, the store had closed permanently and he had moved his furniture into storage. As he kept passing by the empty storefront on his way to a construction job, he thought to himself, “I think God is trying to show me something.” He decided to give it a try, signed the lease, fixed up the storefront and, in February, opened Wine Country Decor.
In between customer visits, Martinez can now be found on the patio outside his store where he cuts wood with the help of an assistant and works on new furniture pieces, which can be customized using different materials — a wood vanity in the store, for example, is topped with a stunning double sink made out of copper. Martinez uses mostly recycled wood for his furniture (98 percent of the wood is recycled) and slabs of wide and wavy-grained wood are finished with wax instead of shellac for outdoor use.
Running a new retail store while also creating its inventory is hard work, but Martinez doesn’t complain. “My life is working hard,” he said. “This is my passion.”
Martinez grew up in Mexico in a family of artists. His mother was a painter, his father made furniture and when Martinez was around 7, he began learning painting, pottery and woodcraft together with his 11 siblings. He’s been wanting to bring the furniture designs of Mexico to the United States for some time. In addition to his own furniture pieces, he now imports oversized terra cotta pots that he embellishes with paint, metal-framed mirrors which he paints to create a patinated look, as well as paintings, sculptures and other decor.
Customers are starting to take notice of Martinez’ meticulously crafted furniture and unique decor offerings and he’s enjoying seeing the momentum build.
“It makes me so happy,” he said of opening the store. “(It’s) opening my eyes. It makes me feel stable, like a rock.”
Wine Country Decor, 6001 Sonoma Highway, Santa Rosa, 707-843-7619, 707-495-8487, winecountry-decor.com
We tend to think of our dining tables as simply utilitarian pieces of furniture. But the dining table is often the focal point of the room so it’s a good spot to infuse some extra style to your home. While we may not be entertaining guests for a while yet, it can still be nice to elevate your dining experience. Click through the above gallery for a few fantastic pieces for the tabletop. All are available in Sonoma County stores.
