Get Your Meat Locally, With Pickup or Delivery

By Heather Irwin
at Thistle Meats in Petaluma.

It’s more important to “meat” local than ever before. As grocery store shelves get leaner and national meat manufacturers close, many are looking more closely at Sonoma County butchers and ranchers offering beef, chicken, pork and other tasty morsels from closer to home.

“We’re a lot safer,” said Jenine Rinn of Sonoma County Meat Co.

The USDA-inspected facility does daily wash downs of their processing plant and has had stringent sanitation policies since opening in 2014.

Their meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscriptions and butcher shop has a loyal following, but like other food providers, they’re pivoting to a simpler, no-contact online ordering system to reach even more customers.

We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite local butchers so you can throw something on the grill from right here in Sonoma County.

Sonoma County Meat Co.: Order a la carte or join their meat subscription program to get additional discounts. We especially love their bacon, pork roasts and meat sticks. Order online for curbside pickup. 35 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa, sonomacountymeatco.com.

Journeyman Meat Co: Shop beef, housemade sausage, bacon and meatballs, chicken, pork, salumi pantry packs and dry-aged beef via phone or email. Find order form online. Also offering seven-day supply “Meat Up” boxes. 404 Center St., 707-395-MEAT. 404 Center St., Healdsburg, journeymanmeat.com.

Panizzera Meat Co.: Founded in 1914, this Occidental butchery was recently taken over by two young butchers who are rethinking the products while holding onto tradition. Monthly boxes, beef, chicken, grass-fed beef, sausage and salumi, lamb and goat. Curbside pickup, phone orders only, 707-874-9770, panizzerameatco.com.

Victorian Farmstead Meat Co.: Meat home delivery! Owner Adam Parks operates out of Sebastopol, selling sustainably raised chicken, beef, veal, pork and more. Check out their online store at vicfarmmeats.com.

Thistle Meats: Petaluma’s neighborhood butcher. Delivery for purchases of $50 or more. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Phone or email orders only, 707-772-5442 or email solicia@thistlemeats.com for delivery information. More details online at instagram.com/thistlemeats.com.

Bud’s Custom Meats: Longtime meat purveyor is open, with curbside pickup for their beef, pork, lamb, poultry, wild game and jerky. Phone orders only at 707-795-8402, budscustommeat.com.

Lepe’s Butcher Shop: Home delivery (within 15 miles of Santa Rosa) and curbside pickup. You can order beef, lamb, seafood and poultry from this popular restaurant food service distributor. 3659 Standish Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-585-6388, Facebook.com/lepesbutchershop.

Willowside Meats: Curbside pickup or limited customers inside the store. Dry aged meats, jerky, sausage, smoked meats and more. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 3421 Guerneville Road, Santa Rosa, 546-8404, willowsidemeatsllc.com.

Cattlemens Steakhouse: Custom-cut raw signature steaks for home grilling — New York strip, filet mignon, ribeye, t-bone, sirloin and more — are available for take-out. 5012 Petaluma Blvd. N., 707-763-4114, cattlemens.com/restaurants/petaluma.

Guy Fieri Launches New Series Highlighting Local Restaurants

By Heather Irwin
1/19/2013: A1: PC: Guy Fieri Announces First Ever Rock N’ Roll Culinary Tour. (PRNewsFoto/Knuckle Sandwich)

The Mayor of Flavortown is teaming up with the Mayor of Windsor for a tasty video series highlighting local restaurants open for takeout and delivery.

Meals With the Mayor(s) is a light-hearted video series that brings together celebrity chef Guy Fieri, Mayor Dominic Foppoli and Windsor restaurateurs for a tasty deep-dive into what’s on takeout and delivery menus throughout the small town of Windsor.

 

“We’re shining a light on restaurants that need it most right now,” said Foppoli in an introductory video released Friday.

“It’s genius,” said Fieri, who moved to Windsor in August. Though the Food Network chef has been busy fundraising millions for his Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, he said he was glad to help his friends in the local restaurant industry.

Related: Guy Fieri's Favorite Sonoma County Restaurants

The first video features Brad Barmore and JC Adams of Kin Restaurant speaking to the Mayors about more than just food.

“I’ve known these two characters since they were washing dishes, bussing tables (and) cooking on the line,” said Fieri, introducing the longtime restaurant owners who worked for him in the days before his Food Network fame.

Watchers get a bit of insight about a curiously named pizza special, the Shinebox (spoiler alert, it’s a reference to the movie Goodfellas) while Foppoli snacks on the polenta and shortrib special delivered to his home by Barmore and Adams.

Upcoming virtual visits will include nearby Lupe’s Diner, Tisza Bistro, Flavor Burger, El Gallo Negro, Mountain Mike’s and distillery Barrel Brothers.

It’s a fun, relaxed riff that Foppoli hopes other city mayors around the country will follow. “Find whoever the most famous local celebrity in your town is,” he says.

Luckily, Windsor already did.

Shelter in Place Order Spurs Increase in Local Pet Adoptions

By Dana Rebmann

Toilet paper is not the only thing that’s in high demand right now. Pets are, too. Since the coronavirus outbreak, animal shelters and rescue groups have seen an increase in the number of animals they’ve been able to adopt or place in foster homes.

At the Green Dog Rescue Project in Windsor, they’ve taken our obsession with toilet paper to the next level. A litter of seven puppies were recently named for brands of the in-demand product: Northern, Scott, Seven, Angel Soft, Charmin, Cottonelle, and Presto.

“That litter was spoken for pretty quickly,” said Colleen Combs, co-founder of the Green Dog Rescue Project. Adoptions at the dog rescue in Windsor are up by at least 50% following the coronavirus outbreak. According to Combs, many dogs are gone even before their picture is taken.

The uptick in dog adoption is similar at Compassion Without Borders in Santa Rosa.

“We have had upwards of 27 applications for one dog,” said Jordan Gilliland, U.S. Programs Manager at the non-profit animal rescue group.

In the age of coronavirus, Sonoma County residents—families, couples and singles—have at least one thing in common: they’re spending a lot of time at home. Many are filling that time by hunkering down with a new pet.

“That’s what swayed our decision; we knew we would have time at home with the animal and our busy lives would slow down for a while,” said Healdsburg resident Christin Perrill.

Perrill, a high school biology teacher and mother of three school-age children, and her husband adopted a puppy named Zeke from The Green Dog Rescue Project a day or two after the shelter-in-place order went into effect.

“This isn’t going away anytime soon. That seemed pretty clear, especially as the schools started to talk about longer term closures. It just felt like we’re going to be home for quite a while,” said Perrill.

Along with the expected cuddle sessions, Zeke has provided a bit of structure to days at home, said Perrill. The need to get out for a walk around the neighborhood a couple times a day is a bonus. In addition, the new pet seems to have given a sense of responsibility and purpose to her kids, especially her 13-year-old son.

Zeke is getting lots of attention and settling in nicely in his new home. (Courtesy of Christin Perrill)

When the shelter-in-place order went into effect, the Humane Society of Sonoma County halted all animal adoptions. But when the organization learned that orders to hunker down would continue into May, staff began developing plans to resume adoptions–by appointment only–in order to keep potential adopters, staff, and animals as safe as possible.

“It’s really unfair to hold the animals, but the other thing people just don’t realize is that it actually takes a space for another animal in need,” said Wendy Welling, Executive Director of the Humane Society of Sonoma County. “The longer we hold an animal, the less animals we can bring in from other places that might need us.”

Because would-be adopters can no longer visit shelters or rescue centers for introductions, they are turning to their phones, laptops and tablets to look at pictures, read profiles and even take virtual tours of cat habitats.

Oscar, a six-month old lab mix was adopted by Kimberly and Jason Luck. (Courtesy of Kimberly and Jason Luck)

Santa Rosa residents Kimberly and Jason Luck had been looking to adopt for several months.

“We were looking on Petfinder for an animal to adopt or rescue but had little luck,” said Kimberly Luck. “We applied to rescue organizations but kept getting discouraged as more shelters were closing for adoptions.”

When the Humane Society contacted them about Oscar, a six-month old lab mix, they jumped at the chance to schedule an appointment to meet him. Two days later, with social distancing observed, masks and gloves in place, they met Oscar in a yard outside of the Humane Society. They took him home that day; the adoption paperwork was processed without entering the building.

Last week, Stephanie Morgan of Rohnert Park adopted a two-year old mutt from the Humane Society.

“It wasn’t necessarily awkward or difficult, but definitely different than what an adoption would be under typical circumstances,” said Morgan. “Because I am now working from home, I felt this was the perfect time to get a dog since I’ll be able be home with him all day.”

Morgan named her new pet Jude — at the shelter, he was called Fancy Man.

“I am a big Beatles fan and Jude was very timid when I got him, so I thought of the line ‘Hey Jude, don’t be afraid.’ That’s where I got the name,” said Morgan.

“His name at the shelter was Fancy Man, but when I adopted him I changed it to Jude,” said Rohnert Park resident, Stephanie Morgan. (Courtesy of Stephanie Morgan)

But what happens when the pandemic passes and life as we once knew it resumes?

The Humane Society’s Wendy Welling commented,“I don’t think we’re going to see an increase in returns. I think that the time they have with the animals, the bond, and routines, is going to prevent more returns.”

And for those who are not ready to take the leap into pet ownership, there are other valuable options worth considering.

“Just because you’re home and bored doesn’t mean you have to adopt. You can foster,” said Colleen Combs of the Green Dog Rescue Project. Another way to help animal rescue groups is to donate.

As we hit the one month anniversary of sheltering-in-place, the Perrill family has no regrets about their decision to adopt a pet.

“It was a good idea. There were a few moments when I was like, oh my gosh, did I just add more stress to our life?” said Perrill. “But the reality is that having an animal in the house that you’re bonding with, it infuses some joy and purpose into your otherwise monotonous day.”

Bistro 29 in Santa Rosa Closing Permanently

By Heather Irwin
Brian Anderson has announced that he will be closing his Bistro 29 restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa on April 25. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

It’s been weeks since Brian Anderson, owner and chef of Santa Rosa’s Bistro 29, had a good night’s sleep. His cozy French bistro on Fifth Street has been doing brisk nightly business serving takeout orders of smoked salmon crepes, gourmet mushroom-stuffed sole and lemon rhubarb bars. The $22 to-go menu was keeping the doors open during the county’s mandatory shelter-in-place order, but Anderson knew it wasn’t going to be enough.

That realization came after years of drawn-out challenges with the city’s downtown parking policies and the issues posed by its homeless population, along with multiple wildfires biting into his bottom line. Anderson had weathered it all, building along with his wife a business where his children had grown up bussing tables and where he had retained some staff for more than a decade.

Now, in the fourth week of the county’s shelter order, he said he is walking away from it all.

“I’m just officially done. Looking at the last two to three years, we’re just not making it,” Anderson said Thursday, hours after he announced in a Facebook post that the restaurant would permanently roll up its iconic striped awnings on April 25.

Bistro 29 is the first high-profile restaurant in Sonoma County to officially close since dining rooms were shuttered statewide in mid-March. It won’t be the last.

In what may be a harbinger of things to come, Anderson’s decision was the culmination of years of constant struggle in an already taxing industry. The nagging thought of having to reopen his restaurant to an uncertain future, he said, was more than he could fathom.

“Our kids are now 21 and 19 and they’re going off to school and need help now. At some point, you have to look at this all a little selfishly. I have to try to go find a job so I can make some money,” he said.

Many family-owned restaurants in Sonoma County like Anderson’s are simply throwing darts these days at anything that might bring in revenue. Though many, like Bistro 29 were seeing limited success with creative takeout options, delivery, and minimal staffing, altering longterm business models to the new reality isn’t a sure-fire recipe for survival. With SBA loans and other economic relief efforts now flagging, riding out the storm is becoming more of a long shot for many.

“We opened in 2008, during the recession,” Anderson said. A three-year lawsuit over disabled access to an existing restroom followed, and then two massive wildfires.

“And coronavirus has just taken us to the breaking point,” Anderson said.

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom recently discussed the possibility of reopening dining rooms with reduced seating when shelter-in-place restrictions loosen, Anderson says it’s too little, too late. With just 16 tables in his restaurant, social distancing would cut that to seven tables. With tight margins already, the downsizing would make any profit nearly impossible.

When another restaurant owner expressed interest in buying the business, the deal was sealed for Anderson. “We knew closing or reopening wasn’t gonna be easy. But someone approaching us helped us make our decision. It’s a daunting task to close and a daunting task to think about reopening,” he said.

Telling his staff goodbye has been heartbreaking.

“As much as we’re moving on, it’s a super hard thing to go through. I go to work 60 to 70 hours per week, and our staff is like family. Saying goodbye to those people and those relationships…” he trails off. “When I wrote that email to say goodbye to all of our clients and talking to my sous chef for an hour last night, that was more emotional than anything.”

Anderson said that he remains in discussions with a local restaurateur to purchase the business for use as another eatery, but has not finalized the deal.

Until Bistro 29 closes, Anderson said he hopes friends will come by for a final meal, even if it has to be to-go. Then, he’s going to take a few weeks off.

“Going on vacation when you own a restaurant, you’re never fully on vacation. We’ll be able to have a little time off and relax for a couple of weeks. I hope this will give me time to figure out what I want to do next. I just need to see what is best for my family now,” he said.

He’s hoping that includes a decent night’s sleep.

These Local Designers Are Selling Stylish Face Masks Online

By Karen Kizer

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, face mask-related directives and the culture surrounding them are changing fast. We’ve gone from “don’t you dare wear one” to “okay, wear a homemade one” to “now you have to wear one” in only a few weeks time. This puts many of us firmly in the zone of  “good luck finding one” and scrambling to create our own.

Thankfully, for those of us less skilled in the art of sewing, major fashion houses and local artisans are lending a helping hand by putting a stylish spin on face masks for the public while also producing protective clothing for front line workers.

Click through the above gallery to see some of our favorite face masks from Sonoma County, the Bay Area and beyond.

Whether you make your own mask or buy one, it’s important to follow CDC has guidelines and keep it clean. Here’s how. 

10 Things We Can’t Wait to Eat Again in Sonoma County

By Heather Irwin
Dungeness Crab Sandwich at The Marshall Store. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

As we spend weeks on end at home, with many of our favorite restaurants closed or offering limited menus, the cravings kick in. When will we be able to sit down to a huge plate of sushi at Hana Japanese? When will the Starks reopen their restaurants so we can get our thrice-fried potatoes at Bird and Bottle or a giant steak at Stark’s Steak and Seafood? When, oh when, can we actually get a pizza from Rosso right out of the oven?

Biteclub asked Facebook friends their top Sonoma County food fantasies and got nearly 100 responses. Click through the above gallery for some of the best as we wait for life to restart, dining patios to reopen and friends to join us once again at the table.

Sonoma County and Beyond: See Wildlife and Nature Through Live Streams and Videos

By Dana Rebmann

As spring kicks into full gear and temperatures rise, so does our desire to head outside. While sheltering-in-place has never been easy, days filled with sunshine seem to increase our vitamin D cravings. Fortunately, a combination of videos, live streams, and webcams in Wine Country and beyond make virtually escaping our living rooms a little easier. Click through the above gallery for details and ideas on places to visit when the threat of coronavirus has passed.

Have a favorite virtual view? Let us know in the comment section below.

These Local Bakeries Are Offering Freshly Baked Bread via Pickup and Delivery

By Grace Yarrow
Rye flour and a stencil creates a beautiful pattern on breads at Goguette Bread in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

Longing for the comfort of a freshly baked loaf of bread but running out of flour or yeast for your quarantine baking projects? We’ve compiled a list of local bakeries that are still offering pickup, takeout or delivery. Grab a sliced sourdough, artisanal focaccia or sandwich rolls and treat yourself. Click through the above gallery for details.

Did we miss one of your favorite bakeries? Let us know in the comments. 

Local Wineries Step Up to Help Restaurants and Community

By Linda Murphy

Sonoma County’s wineries and restaurants are inextricably entwined, and never more so than now. The food, wine and lodging businesses and the tax revenue and jobs that come with them are the foundation of the local economy.

Local vintners and restaurateurs have a history of giving their time and their products in good times and bad, and these are particularly bad times. Charity auctions have been postponed or canceled. Tastings, dinners and events that raise funds for nonprofits are scratched from calendars. Employees have been laid off or furloughed, as winery tasting rooms are closed. Eateries have been reduced to takeout and delivery meals only, with no end in sight to the global measures to slow the spread of coronavirus and save lives.

So it’s no surprise Sonoma winemakers are doing what they can to support their restaurant colleagues, while suffering hardships themselves. Laws regulating the sale, transport and even donations of wine are archaic and complicated, so it takes ingenuity to create fundraising schemes that are legal and beneficial. These five wineries have done that, with their dining contemporaries in mind. It’s putting their money where their mouths are.

Spring vegetables cooked by Colleen McGlynn of DaVero Farm and Winery With her husband Ridgely Evers
Ridgely Evers and Colleen McGlynn of DaVero Farm and Winery.

DaVero Farms & Winery

Ridgely Evers was a corporate guy, creator of the QuickBooks accounting software program. Colleen McGlynn was chef/owner of the late, great Samba Java restaurant on Healdsburg’s Plaza. For years, they have grown produce, olive trees for oil and grapevines for their DaVero wine brand. Their second wine label, Avivo, is priced at $16-18 and is produced from bio-dynamically farmed grapes in Lodi. It demonstrates how Mediterranean varietals can be grown economically and leave a small carbon footprint.

The couple teamed with Big John’s Market owners John and Kim Lloyd to sell Avivo Vermentino and Avivo Sangiovese at the Healdsburg store, with proceeds helping supply Healdsburg District Hospital with equipment and protective clothing it will need if the coronavirus outbreak elevates.

707-431-8000, Healdsburg, davero.com

Donelan Family Wines

Owner Joe Donelan and his two sons, Cushing and Tripp Donelan, produce remarkably good pinot noirs, chardonnays and Rhone varietals in their no-frills winery in Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park. They have close connections with restaurants across the country, where their bottlings are more likely to be found than on grocery store shelves.

With their tasting room closed and restaurants shuttered across the country, the Donelans came up with a novel way to put a bit of money in restaurant coffers. In addition to offering shipping specials to online buyers of their wines, Cushing Donelan throws in a gift card for a restaurant of the buyer’s choosing, in an amount equal to 10% of the order. The cards will presumably be redeemed when the restaurants resume seated service.

“Wine and restaurants are tied together,” he said. “This helps restaurants pay the bills and their employees.”

707-591-0782, Santa Rosa, donelanwines.com

Donum Estate

This Sonoma Carneros estate is a marvelous melding of sweeping vistas, bold pinot noirs made by Dan Fishman and owner Allan Warburg’s jaw-dropping collection of outdoor artwork.

While estate visits aren’t possible right now, the wines can be ordered online. Donum will donate $10 for each wine order to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Response Fund. Also, wine club members will be offered, for a fee, boxes of produce for curbside pickup or delivery.

Donum’s Kicking Bull Farm will continue to supply Northern California restaurants with vegetables, fruits and herbs, but with demand from restaurants down now, they’ll make the excess produce available to wine club members.

707-939-2290, Sonoma, thedonumestate.com

Jordan Vineyard & Winery

In addition to operating this Alexander Valley winery, John Jordan also created the John Jordan Foundation in 2010. “The owners of successful businesses have a responsibility to help those less fortunate throughout the years,” he said. “But during times of crisis, we have to lean in and find ways to do even more.”

Jordan’s foundation awarded $150,000 to the Sonoma Family Meal Disaster Relief Fund. Sonoma Family Meal — founded by Heather Irwin, the dining editor at Sonoma Media Investments, which owns The Press Democrat and Sonoma Magazine — will use the money to keep as many as 20 restaurants and caterers afloat. Participating restaurants will be reimbursed for the ingredient and labor costs of preparing meals for those in need, with an estimated 100 employees keeping their jobs. SingleThread Farms, Mateo’s Cocina Latina and PizZando in Healdsburg have already catered meals, and others are to follow.

707-431-5250, Healdsburg, jordanwinery.com

3 Badge Beverage Corp.

August Sebastiani, a member of the fourth generation of Sonoma Sebastianis to produce wine here, has made a name of his own with 3 Badge, which operates in a restored firehouse in Sonoma. He will donate $1 for each bottle sold of his Gehricke Wines selections (chardonnay, zinfandel, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon) to CORE (Children of Restaurant Workers).

The same contribution will be made on sales of 3 Badge’s spirits products, which include Bozal Mezcal, Uncle Val’s Handcrafted Gin, Benjamin Chapman Whiskey, La Pivón Vermouth and Kirk & Sweeney Rum.

707-996-8463, Sonoma, 3badge.com

New Initiatives Provide Free ‘Grab and Go’ Groceries and Meals in Napa Valley

By Dana Rebmann

Napa Valley has a long history of doing good and, as the coronavirus crisis expands, the Wine Country region’s response to COVID-19 is taking shape in inspirational ways.

OLE Health, for example, has expanded its outreach services in the past few weeks. The Napa Valley health care provider is organizing a series of free grocery pickups with the next one scheduled for this Saturday, April 11. Bagged food will be available for drive-through pickup at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley at 1515 Pueblo Avenue in Napa. The event starts at noon and will run until supplies last. Pet food will also be available for those who need it.

Saturday’s event is the third of its kind. Two previous grocery pickups held in late March and early April reportedly served a combined 9,000 community members.

The outreach is being led by OLE Health but support is coming from a number of local organizations and donors, including Grocery Outlet, Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, and Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza. The Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley has provided their location and volunteers for the grocery pickup events.

Founded in 1972 by a small group of volunteers to provide healthcare services to vineyard workers, OLE Health now serves more than 39,000 patients in Napa and Solano Counties each year.

“Our patients represent the most vulnerable in our communities – often un- or under-insured, living below the poverty line and met with many barriers to accessing health care,” said Alicia Hardy, OLE Health CEO. “Our number one priority is continuing to serve our patients while minimizing direct patient contact and adhering to social distancing.”

There’s no confirmation yet on whether the free grocery pickups will become a regular event, but OLE Health also holds a monthly Fruits & Veggies Day on the third Friday of every month. It provides free fruits and vegetables to patients and the local community. The next event is scheduled for April 17 at 2 p.m. at Ole Health, 1141 Pear Tree Lane, in Napa. (Follow OLE Health’s Facebook page for the latest information; specifics can change quickly.)

The organization’s annual ¡SALUD! Celebration and fundraiser, originally scheduled to take place Saturday, March 28, was cancelled so online donations are more appreciated than ever.

When schools are closed, the Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley would typically be open to welcome and feed young people. Although the pandemic has kept the organization’s clubhouses and school sites closed, many employees have stayed busy. On March 23, for example, the Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley started offering a grab-and-go afternoon snack and hot supper.

Served Monday through Friday, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the free meals are offered to all youth, up to 18 years old. No paperwork is being checked, kids just need to be present.

Pickups take place at two locations: The Napa Clubhouse, at 1515 Pueblo Avenue in Napa, and the American Canyon Clubhouse, at 60 Benton Avenue in American Canyon.

Walkup pickup, with social distancing precautions is available, but a majority of pickups are drive through. Between the two sites, The Boys & Girls Club estimates it is feeding 200 to 250 kids every weekday.

“In our experience the kids are in the car with windows rolled up,” said Anya Elidi-Stubbs, Area Director at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley. “It’s a family outing that’s safe within their car.”

It’s also allowed for staff and kids to wave and smile to one another, offering a welcome moment of connection for everyone.

Support for the snack and hot supper service is coming from a federally funded, state administered program, but the Boys & Girls Club is looking to expand the service to include activity packs and school supplies, so online monetary donations are welcome.

Full details can be found on The Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley’s Facebook page.