Wine tasting in Sonoma is practically perfect, complete with food pairings and rolling vineyard views. But for those who like to shop, here’s an upgrade to a day of sipping. These four wineries offer mini-to-mighty sized boutiques and an opportunity to take home a token of Sonoma style—from barrel stave art to picnic backpacks. Click through the above gallery for details.
Aquavit, the national spirit of Scandinavia, will be the guest of honor at a special spirit-pairing dinner on March 2 at Whisper Sisters in Petaluma.
The vodka-like tippler is typically infused with caraway, dill, cardamom and other spices and will sync up with a Swedish tasting menu from Stockhome’s Roberth Sundell.
Multiple Nordic aquavits will be partnered with dishes like Tomales Bay oysters with lingonberry mignonette; Icelandic yogurt with caviar; “gubbröra,” an egg and anchovy dish on Swedish bread; aged herring with brown butter, pomegranate and horseradish; cold smoked king salmon; beet tartare with huckleberries; and aquavit sorbet with citrus salad.
Tickets are $95 per person. wspetaluma.com/groups-events.
A Rohnert Park gas station is now home to authentic Argentinian empanadas.
Vinoma opened last week in a former Subway restaurant, featuring the original grab-and-go meal — meat, cheese and veggie-filled pockets of pastry dough.
Start with the traditional beef “carne suave” with scallions, red onions, olives, chopped eggs and spices, then move on to steak and cheese, ham and cheese, al pastor with caramelized pineapple or less traditional plum and bacon, creamy corn, spinach artichoke or Buffalo chicken.
Early birds can try breakfast empanadas with sausage and cheese, and for dessert, grab a blueberry cobbler or apple crisp “open” empanada.
Each empanada is just $3.19, or you can get a dozen for $32.99. It’s a perfect fill-up while you fill up. 5085 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, vinoma.net.
Travel + Leisure magazine just released its 15th annual “It List,” a selection of the top new and renovated hotels in the world. Among the more than 70 properties to be recognized this year is Sonoma’s MacArthur Place Hotel and Spa, which recently received a $25 million upgrade.
“For a long time, the town of Sonoma has been the sleepy spot you visit on your way to or from Healdsburg, which several years back managed to become Sonoma County’s premier destination for wine travelers. But the multimillion dollar restoration of MacArthur Place, four blocks off the Sonoma town square, may disrupt that situation,” said Travel + Leisure about the property.
The new MacArthur Place, unveiled in August 2019, features a blend between its mid-19th-century origin and contemporary comforts and style. The Victorian-style manor’s historic structures have been modernized and transformed into bright and airy spaces and the Western-themed Saddles Steakhouse has been replaced by the Mediterranean-focused Layla Restaurant.
“Order wild Pacific black cod with harissa cauliflower and Greek yogurt together with a side of patatas bravas (crisp-fried perfect potato cubes drizzled with whipped garlic aioli — basically tater tots that have gone to heaven) and you will be a happy person indeed,” recommended Travel + Leisure.
The boutique hotel also has a new bar and coffee shop/marketplace, The Porch, and its 64 rooms have been upgraded with original art, custom-designed furniture in light and serene tones and large bathrooms with walk-in showers, soaking tubs and natural light filtering in through the windows.
You can find the Travel + Leisure list of best new hotels here. The list features more than 70 properties around the world, including 19 hotels across the United States, four in California, three in New York, and two in Hawaii, as well as in places such as Asbury Park, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.
Bocce ball anyone? Showing off your impeccable form seems to get easier by the day, as more Sonoma County wineries add bocce courts to the mix. Fun for any age, it’s a great way to take in the scenery while sipping and swirling. You’ll even get a little exercise while you’re at it. So gather some friends and get a date on the calendar. Click through the gallery above for some of our favorite Sonoma County winery spots to have a ball. Please note that reservations are required at most wineries.
Twenty dollars is the new $10 when it comes to purchasing interesting, well-made wines from Sonoma and Mendocino counties (Napa is a whole other story). So where can thrifty wine lovers find great bottles, outside of winery tasting rooms? There are several stores in the region that offer good deals. We picked Oliver’s Market for this article.
Why Oliver’s? Because it has four stores that are accessible to shoppers in Santa Rosa, Windsor and Cotati. It’s locally owned and focuses on local products and makers. The first store opened in 1972 and the company isn’t going anywhere soon. And Oliver’s offers smartly chosen, well-made wines that are affordable by today’s Wine Country standards.
To corporate wine and spirits buyer Richard Williams, an 11-year Oliver’s veteran and the one responsible for selecting the bottles and cans for the adult beverage aisles, “Local at Oliver’s means Sonoma County. We have products from elsewhere, of course, but if a wine is labeled as ‘local,’ it’s from Sonoma.”
Williams and his team taste every wine presented to them before they stock it, and value is always top of mind. This doesn’t mean all wines are inexpensive (check out the Champagne section), but they are appropriately priced for the interest and satisfaction they deliver.
According to Williams, all the Oliver’s Market stores stock the same wines, allowing him to place large orders and receive volume discounts. His current wine and liquor inventory is worth $1.4 million, he said, warehoused off-site and delivered to the stores to keep shelves and coolers stocked.
Some of those wines are made specifically for Oliver’s, by a Sonoma County winery Williams won’t name. “Oliver’s Own” wines — merlot, pinot noir and sangiovese are current fan favorites — cut out the middle men (and middle pricing) and give Williams the opportunity to dial up wines he thinks his customers will like.
Recent reports of California being awash in unsold wine in tanks and barrels, and of grapevines being pulled because there are no buyers for the fruit, are certainly discouraging to the wine industry. But it could be a boon for consumers, who might see a lowering of prices, albeit at the expense of growers and winemakers.
“There will be a lot of reasonably priced wines coming up in the next year or two,” Williams said. “A lot of discounts will be offered, and we’ll see new labels from the people who work the bulk market (buying finished wine and bottling it under their own labels).”
It’s a grape-glut cycle that comes along every decade or so, and there will be years of shortage, too. It’s how the wine business works, and it will be to shoppers’ benefit in the near future.
For now, here are 12 excellent-value wines from Oliver’s shelves, priced under $25.
Pech Merle Winery 2018 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($12.99). This any-day sipper offers ripe white peach, mango and citrus aromas and flavors, balanced by bright acidity and with a wet-stone flintiness on the finish.
Leo Steen Wines 2017 Saini Farms Dry Creek Valley Chenin Blanc ($17.99). Vines planted more than 40 years ago produced this generously flavored wine with apple, pear, citrus and honeysuckle notes and a crisp finish. Few chenin vines remain in Sonoma County. Here is an opportunity to taste a fine example of the variety.
LIOCO 2016 Sonoma County Chardonnay ($19.99). This winery founded by sommeliers is trendy with, yes, other sommeliers and fans of subtle, elegant wines. This one is a fine and affordable introduction to LIOCO, coming mostly from Russian River Valley vineyards and showing racy Meyer lemon, golden apple and high-acid character. It’s a great mate with seafood.
MacRostie Winery 2017 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($21.99). This classy, cool-climate chardonnay from multiple vineyards comes at a remarkable price for the quality. It smacks of clean lemon meringue, pineapple and baked apple flavors, with hint of caramel and spice.
Paradise Ridge 2018 Brides Blush Russian River Valley Rosé ($14.99). Winemaker Dan Barwick produced this wine that’s simply a joy to drink. The wild strawberry, red raspberry and watermelon character comes out in a juicy, full-flavored way, finishing crisp and refreshing.
Balletto Vineyards 2018 Russian River Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir ($16.99). The longtime, family-owned company grows its own grapes and makes a beautiful pink wine that’s elegant, bone dry on the palate and brisk. The mouthwatering finish goes on and on.
Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards Carneros Blanc de Noirs Brut ($16.99). This moderately rich yet racy wine is predominantly pinot noir, with a delicate pink color and vibrant red berry, cherry and strawberry personality. The price is right for this level of quality.
Cline Cellars 2018 Sonoma Coast Syrah ($12.99). The Cline family’s Diamond Pile Estate in the Petaluma Gap AVA produced this wine that balances savory notes of black pepper, espresso and pleasant earthiness, with sweet, ripe blackberry and dark cherry fruit. Syrah skeptics, give it a try.
Highway 12 Vineyards and Winery 2016 Merlot Sonoma County ($14.99). Supple and juicy, as most expect merlot to be, it’s filled with black cherry and plum aromas and flavors and a lushness that invites another sip.
Gundlach Bundschu 2017 Mountain Cuvée Sonoma County ($18.99). This merlot- and cabernet sauvignon-based wine is a perennial crowd pleaser. Medium-full-bodied and with supple tannins, it‘s ready to drink now, without the challenging tannins of many Bordeaux-style reds this young.
L’Oliveto 2017 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley ($16.98). This mouthful of black cherry and blackberry juiciness and vibrant texture has a pleasant earthy edge and a hint of spice. It’s produced by Brack Mountain Wine Co. in Sebastopol and is a real find in the increasingly pricey world of Sonoma pinot noir.
Elizabeth Spencer Wines 2017 Proprietor Selection Special Cuvee Grenache Mendocino ($24.99, sale price $19.99). This winery produces high-end cabernet sauvignons in Napa Valley. Wanting to offer an affordable extension of its business, it looked to Mendocino for this crisp, red-fruit-loaded grenache that’s spicy and mouthwatering with hints of cranberry and pomegranate.
Vintages and prices were current as of Feb. 12.
9230 Old Redwood Highway, Windsor, 707-687-2050
546 E. Cotati Ave., Cotati, 707-795-9501
560 Montecito Center, Santa Rosa, 707-537-7123
461 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, 707-284-3530
oliversmarket.com
Nearly 140 restaurants from Petaluma to Geyserville (and everywhere in between) are rolling out the red carpet Feb. 21 to March 1 for Sonoma County Restaurant Week.
The annual celebration of gastronomy allows for some serious exploration of the local culinary culture at approachable price points ($19, $29 or $39 per person for dinner, and $10 or $15 for lunch) as well as “Sweet Perks” ($5) at local bakeries.
Now firmly entrenched as a Sonoma County tradition, the event is designed to bring locals out of hibernation (come on, your diet is toast by now) and give restaurants a much-needed winter boost. This year’s lineup looks especially good.
Click through the above gallery for a few of our favorite menus for Sonoma County Restaurant Week 2020.
Roseland’s iconic La Fondita restaurant is expanding to downtown Santa Rosa this summer, taking over the former Mercato restaurant at 630 Third Street from Chandi Hospitality Group. Known for more than 20 years for authentic, affordable Mexican cuisine, the downtown location will be the third for owner Maria Elena Reyes.
“We’re really nervous (about moving downtown) with so many restaurants closing,” said Maria Elena’s son, Ivan Reyes, who has worked in the restaurant most of his life, and now serves as spokesman for the family. Several downtown restaurants, including Chandi Hospitality’s Stout Brothers and Mercato along with Jade Room, Gerard’s Paella, 2 Tread Brewing and Tex Wasabi’s have closed in recent months.
Despite the trend, Sonu Chandi, president of Chandi Hospitality Group and co-owner of downtown restaurants, Beer Baron and Bollywood, says he plans to help shepherd the family to succeed in the new space.
“They have a strong commitment to their core product, and they make it affordable. They can be a driving factor for what downtown Santa Rosa needs,” he said. Chandi Hospitality Group also owns several Mountain Mike’s franchises, including a new pizzeria on Cleveland Ave. that replaced one they lost in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. The family took over the Third St. space in 2015 from downtown developer Nino Rabbaa, reopening it first at Bibi’s Burger Bar and later as a pasta concept called Mercato. The restaurant closed in late 2018.
The Reyes family says affordable Mexican with a proven track record seems to be a good fit for the downtown demographic.
“We think that downtown deserves a half-time show of authentic, reasonably priced food. We’re known for that. You’ll be able to have a meal without breaking your wallet,” said Ivan Reyes. The new restaurant will offer family and business-friendly lunch and dinners, along with late-night dining for downtown revelers, and will offer a full bar.
Elena Maria Reyes started her food business in 1996 with an old food truck she and her husband financed by selling their cars and asking her grandmother for a few thousand dollars in start-up money.
That same truck — which became the unmistakable orange Delicias Elenitas mobile kitchen — remains permanently parked outside the 816 Sebastopol Road restaurant. Open until 3 a.m., it remains one of the most popular stops on Sebastopol Road.
Reyes was approached by Graton Rancheria in 2015 to open a casual food court eatery at the new casino, which is one of the few remaining original restaurants.
Though no official date has been set, the restaurant is aiming for a mid-June date with a possible pop-up for Cinco de Mayo.
Here in Sonoma County, our nights and sometimes our days stay chilly through February and even into March. When you want to get cozy with a drink that matches your wintry mood, check out these season-inspired drinks from three of Sonoma County’s finest cocktail bars. Though these drinks are served cold, their flavors complement brisk, late winter nights and will carry your spirit into spring.
The Tea Service: This twist on an old fashioned is made from rye whiskey, lapsang souchong and Monarch cherry bitters made in Petaluma.
Why it’s good for winter: Spirit-forward, stirred cocktails are for sipping slowly; they’re meant to fortify you, not quench thirst. Even though it’s chilled, the high proof has a warming effect as you drink it. This cocktail’s key is the lapsang souchong, and the flavors of whiskey and smoky pine immediately conjure coziness.
The Oakland: This pale-pink drink is a zesty blend of tequila, mezcal, cinnamon, port wine, grapefruit and banana.
Why it’s good for winter: Grapefruit is a mouthwatering winter citrus that adds character to any drink. Intense flavors in cocktails often need other bold ingredients to stand up to their strength. Here, grapefruit is a good match for smoky mezcal and sweet-spicy cinnamon. Port wine and banana add surprising richness for a complex and balanced drink.
Whisper Sisters Cocktails & Provisions, 190 Kentucky St, Petaluma, 707-774-6689, wspetaluma.com.
The Rendezvous: This not-too-sweet treat of a drink features vanilla-infused vodka, thyme, huckleberry and egg whites shaken and strained into a chilled martini glass and garnished with bitters and baking spices.
Why it’s good for winter: Fresh huckleberry is a summer fruit, but the spice profile on this jammy cocktail calls to mind a winter cobbler a la mode. Because the creaminess comes from the vanilla-infused vodka and the velvety feel of the egg white rather than from heavy cream, the drink feels decadent and delicate at the same time.
Cantina Candy Apple: Apple cinnamon-infused Heradura tequila meets maple syrup and lemon in a Collins glass topped with cinnamon foam.
Why it’s good for winter: Spiced apple makes my shortlist of most comforting flavors and the distinctive nuttiness of maple syrup makes it my favorite way to sweeten almost anything. Perch & Plow emphasizes freshness and balance, so they do a great job of making fruit-forward drinks that never feel cloying. A dollop of cinnamon foam is the delicious finish that brings this all together and makes for a lovely presentation.
Perch + Plow, 90 Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, 707-541-6896, perchandplow.com.
Suburban Bourbon: Another apple delight, this one’s got bourbon, ginger gomme syrup, apple butter, Cardamaro and lemon. It also has a cute origin story.
Why it’s good for winter: For many of the same reasons the Cantina Candy Apple is a yummy, homey cocktail, so is Suburban Bourbon. Here, ginger and cardamom contribute the spice profile and everything’s a little sweeter, from the roundness of the base spirit to the pool of apple butter that sits atop a dehydrated apple slice floating in your glass.
Fern Bar bartender Kiki Fabian once developed a drink called Urban Bourbon that was a riff on the classic Manhattan. A friend then challenged Fabian to come up with a Suburban Bourbon, a whiskey drink that would take its inspiration from country neighborhoods rather than the Big Apple. With this in mind, Fabian got to work, and with a little apple butter borrowed from the kitchen, found a recipe worthy of the name.
Masala Balla: This drink features a dazzling array of tropical fruits and spices. Chai tea-infused pisco, guava, coconut watet, lemon, pineapple and St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram are shaken with frothy egg white and served in a large coupe with a spiced sugar rim.
Why it’s good for winter: Masala chai is a warming mix of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and peppercorns. Allspice is also warming.
Though it’s used in savory dishes like jerk chicken, it’s also common in sweet holiday pastries like gingerbread, so adding a touch of Allspice Dram to a drink immediately has me feeling festive.
This winter drink can warm you up physically while also sending your taste buds to the tropics.
Fern Bar, 6780 Depot St #120, Sebastopol, 707-861-9603, fernbar.com.
Chelsea Rose Kurnick is a wine and spirits professional and a cocktail enthusiast. She is a Level 2 certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Down a dark and narrow alley that seemingly leads nowhere — especially if you’ve never ventured into the bowels of the century-old Lan Mart Building in Petaluma — is one of the most exciting new restaurants in Sonoma County.
With just six tables and 300 feet of dining space, Street Social feels like the most logical extension of the buzzy underground pop-ups that owners Jevon Martin and Marjorie Pier have hosted up and down the California coast for years. With just over a dozen diners in the restaurant at its busiest, it’s unavoidably intimate and makes you feel like you’ve stumbled across a secret culinary hideout. You have. But with a reservation, anyone’s welcome.
Taking over the former Twisted 2 space in downtown Petaluma, Street Social is every bit as quirky as that restaurant, with a labyrinthine kitchen where Martin bustles between a glass-enclosed mise en place area in the dining room and a larger kitchen tucked in back, down several stairs he climbs hundreds of times a day. It’s not a kitchen many chefs would dream of, but it somehow works.
Patrons of Glen Ellen Star may know Chef Martin from his three-year stretch at Sonoma Valley’s most obsessively farm-to-table restaurant, though the couple met and made their way north from Los Angeles via a brief stint in Santa Cruz. Cultivating relationships from the Star, along with many of his own, Martin has put together a menu that’s both simple and exceedingly specific, with ingredients like ashitaba powder (a Japanese superfood veggie he sources from Mike Benziger of Glentucky Farm), homemade chorizo marmalade and caramel corn made with duck fat.
Though it seems tiresome to repeat the hazy adage about local sourcing, it’s part of the couple’s way of creating community through food. Using top-tier purveyors like Green String Farm, Stemple Creek Ranch and Anna’s Seafood isn’t just lip service but a pillar of their business. The clean, unadulterated flavors reflect that.
“We really believe in creating community at the restaurant by using meat, seafood, wine. … The idea is all sustainable,” Pier said.
Pier is manager, server and host, along with sommelier, busser and sometime dishwasher. She easily walks guests through the dishes, though Martin is usually within earshot if there are questions. Mostly it’s the two of them running the entirety of the operation, though Pier said they’ve recently had to hire a couple of extra hands on busy weekends.
Though the space is, in total, just over 600 feet, Pier said they moved to Sonoma County intentionally to “root down” and find a brick and mortar space of their own. If the food and ambiance are any indication of early success, chances are they’ll grow out of their tiny space quickly.
Then again, maybe it’s enough to have a secret culinary club of one’s own.
It’s almost unfair to recommend specific dishes because chances are they’ll change up by the time you get there, and that’s the very delicious nature of the beast. The menu is brief and focused on a handful of well-created dishes rather than a laundry list catering to myriad food allergies, preferences and lifestyle choices. You are here to be surprised and delighted with this food, and altering it in any way misses the point. (Though, yes, they are willing to accommodate you whenever possible).
Ricotta Toast, $12: A thick slice of toasted Della Fattoria is an edible raft for piles of homemade ricotta, salmon caviar and dill pickle powder. So exceedingly simple, but brilliant with unexpected pops of briny caviar, vinegary pickle and dill and creamy homemade cheese.
Charred Brassicas with Miso Caesar, $13: No, you’re not the only person who has no idea what brassicas are. I thought it was a fish (that’s branzino). Brassicas are an entire genus of cruciferous vegetables in the turnip, kale, cauliflower and mustard green family. Here, however, the sulfury flavor is replaced by a kicky miso Caesar dressing, making for a chewy umami-bomb of a salad. Every bite is a surprise.
Kohlrabi and Scallop Chowder, $25: Not all scallops are created equal. The other night, at a highly rated Santa Rosa restaurant, I had a dish of scallops that was not only full of sand, but fishy and off. Just two nights before, at Street Social, the sweet, perfectly cooked scallops in this hearty chowder set the bar high for what a scallop should be. Kohlrabi, a hearty winter vegetable, is tempered by bits of Yukon gold potatoes, bits of scallop and a single seared scallop swimming in a creamy kohlrabi stock. Topped by fried potatoes and chorizo marmalade and microgreens, it’s a wintery warmer you’ll wish you could recreate at home.
Slow Braised Beef, $29: Fall-apart short rib is great, but hand-milled red flint polenta (from GreenString Farm) with all of the cheese and butter make this extra special. With sautéed mustard greens and buttermilk shallot rings just because.
Duck Fat Carmel Corn, $6: Instead of cream or butter, this uses duck fat in the actual caramel. So yeah, it’s deluxe.
Beet Tartare, $11: Pierpointed out very clearly that this is not beef tartare, but beet, since there has been some confusion. There is no confusion that this takes beet salad to a new level, with ruby jewels of roasted red beets cut into a perfect brunoise, then studded with salty capers, herbs and microgreens with a tiny dollop of Dijon mustard on top. Homemade sweet potato chips are the perfect carriers for all the veggie goodness.
Chicken Liver Mousse, $13: Offal can be divisive, but with enough butter, cognac and cream, chicken liver becomes a silky spread for deeply pocketed, savory Cassava waffles. Sweet, caramelized onion jam, pickled onions and “gribenes” (crispy crumbs of chicken skin) round out everything. I dare you not to love this.
A brief, but well-sourced wine and beer list with bottles and by-the-glass offerings is made to compliment the food and easily does.
Ready to join the club? You’re invited.
Street Social is at 29F Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, 707-774-6185, streetsocial.social. Reservations strongly suggested.
