Guests seating near open windows at Beer Baron Whiskey Bar & Kitchen in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Thursday, July 2, 2020. (Erik Castro)
(Photo: Erik Castro/for The Press Democrat)
One spot where you can find some great crowd-sourced info on local restaurants doing things right? Save Sonoma County Restaurants on Facebook. I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll continue to sing the praises of this organically-grown community of foodies sussing out favorites, calling out great restaurant safety measures and up-to-the-minute details on food trucks and off-the-beaten-path cafes. Hats off to Daniel Martin for creating this amazing local resource.
Also check out the restaurant section of the new Inside Out There site launched by the City of Santa Rosa. It lists a handful of Santa Rosa restaurants like Naked Pig and Rosso Pizzeria + Wine Bar with information on take-out and delivery, hours and links to restaurant websites.
When things heat up, we have a few go-to frozen treats that never fail to impress. And while ice cream is awesome, these cool, fruity treats are refreshingly different. Click through the above gallery for details.
A plate of three tacos; shrimp, right, oyster, and calamari, served at the Charro Negro food truck in the Roseland area of Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
If you’re not a devotee of quesabirria yet, you’re about to be. With a holy trinity of fall-apart shredded beef cooked in a rich roasted chile stew, gooey melted cheese and crispy red-tinged corn tortillas, there’s a reason people are lining up at Mexican food trucks like Sebastopol’s Jalapeno Mexican Grill, frequent tap room regular El Paisa and others serving this Tijuana-born snack.
But that’s not the only delicious dish ramping up the popularity of the often-underappreciated street food of Mexico. Throughout the county, a new generation of Mexican food truck owners are making Instagram-worthy dishes with fresh, authentic ingredients that appeal to a broadening audience of eaters.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: If the line is long, you know the food is good.
From aguachiles to hongos and tlayuda, we’ve been on a delicious chase for the up-and-coming taco trucks of Sonoma County.
Ceviche de Camaron, served at the Charro Negro food truck in the Roseland area of Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung)
Charro Negro
Rodrigo Mendoza is a former Willi’s Seafood chef who made the leap to a mobile kitchen several months ago. He runs El Charro Negro with business partner Ricardo Ibarra in a brilliantly colored, hashtagged and social media-ready truck that’s impossible to miss at its usual Roseland spot, the new Mitote Food Park slated to officially open this fall (665 Sebastopol Rd., Santa Rosa).
The food truck also happens to be home of the best ocean-to-table tacos and tostadas in Sonoma County. Hands down. No question.
At Charro Negro, Mendoza has leveraged his passion for seafood into a menu filled with impeccably fresh shrimp, fish, calamari, oyster and octopus. His fried oyster and calamari tacos are piled so high with sauce, meat, pickled onions, fresh avocado and tart crema that the corn tortillas are buried underneath.
“It’s what you would eat on the beaches of Mexico,” he said.
Aguachiles are another specialty of the mobile kitchen, a juicy ceviche made with raw shrimp marinated in lime. Mendoza does three versions — mango; “verde” with green serrano chile and “negro” with roasted chiles, garlic and onions. The mix is served in a tall cup, complemented with fresh cilantro, jicama, pickled onions, avocados and cucumbers rimmed with hibiscus and mole salt. They’re a ridiculously refreshing summer treat.
Mendoza hopes to expand his offerings in the future to include seafood dishes from Brazil, Italy and other regions.
Weekend hongos and al pastor tacos at Lucha Sabina. (Lucha Sabina / Facebook)
Lucha Sabina, Antojitos Victoria
Usually parked near Charro Negro is Lucha Sabina (635 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa), serving Oaxacan street food with a focus on mushrooms and incredible tlayuda (Mexican pizza) along with more traditional fare and Antojitos Victoria, where you can watch fresh huaraches (a sort of fat tortilla shaped like a shoe) being pressed inside the truck and get hard-to-find snacks like huitlacoche (corn smut that’s similar to the earthy flavor of mushrooms) and beef tortas for a song.
One of the busiest trucks in Sonoma County is Jalapeno Mexican Grill, which typically parks at a gas station on south Gravenstein Highway (1080 Gravenstein Hwy S, Sebastopol). On the weekend, fans line up for their spicy quesabirria tacos and “pizza-dillas,” large flour tortillas dipped in meat sauce (hence their bright orange color) and stuffed with meat and cheese. Grab a cooling mango agua fresca while you wait.
There’s a running debate about whether the quesabirria from the wandering Tacos El Paisa truck are better than Jalapeno’s. We tried both, and while Jalapeno’s were more flavorful, there was more cheese in those from Tacos El Paisa. You’ll have to try both, but make sure you order a side of consomme, a rich red broth for dipping your crispy tacos.
Know that sometimes the trucks aren’t where they’re supposed to be and information about times and locations can be a little confusing. Facebook seems to have the most updated information, but your best bet is to just take your chances and head out. There’s no doubt you’ll find something delicious on your journey to taste and explore the comfort cuisine of Mexico.
If you go, bring cash, because many trucks don’t accept credit cards. If you’re unsure what a menu item is, just ask. You will need to wear a mask when ordering and picking up your food. Some trucks have phone-in ordering to speed things up.
Don’t you need a break? We couldn’t be more ready for summer this year. Lucky for us, we’re easing into a boatload of ideas that keep us cool
and close to home.
Headed anywhere far this summer? Yeah, neither are we. But living here in Sonoma we’ve got plenty of perks, from our prime foodie culture, to our unparalleled access to trails and beaches, to the riches in our own gardens. We may not be hopping on a plane, or even driving to the Sierra in large numbers as we normally would, but this is an excellent time to remember the dozens of ways to find that breezy summer spirit right where we are.
One thing we’ve learned putting this package together: It’s the people of Sonoma who are making this summer a good one, no matter what the pandemic has in store. It’s our local baseball team, our river outfitters and bike mechanics, our chefs and ice-cream makers — even a 12-year-old monster truck driver — who make summer what it is in this terrific place. We’re glad to call these folks our neighbors and our friends.
By the team of Heather Irwin, Michele Anna Jordan, Maci Martell, Megan McCrea, Derek Moore, Linda Murphy, Abigail Peterson, Nate Seltenrich, and Dan Taylor.
Bruce Mentzer, right, and his husband Anthony Solar, left, founded Farm to Fight Hunger. (John Burgess)
Good News
Healdsburg’s five-acre Farm to Fight Hunger, started by two locals who simply wanted to make a difference by feeding others, is growing strong, with tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and dozens of farm eggs all donated to area nonprofits. To help: farmtofighthunger.org.
Baseball Days
Zack Pace, 35, is the field manager for the Sonoma Stompers, an independent professional baseball team that typically plays a 78-game schedule from June to August.
“Summer’s my favorite time of year,” he says. “I feel like I hibernate all winter and wait for summer to pop out so we can play baseball again.” Plans for a revised season are yet to fully take shape, but Pace is taking it all in stride: “When you coach, you can only control what you can control.” Until he’s back at Arnold Field, he’s keeping his Forestville backyard in tip-top shape. “My yard is nice and groomed. I have to find some way to get that fix in.” stompersbaseball.com.
Zack Pace. (Courtesy of Sonoma Stompers)Tiddle E. Winks. (Courtesy photo)
Old-School Five-and-Dimes
Retro is fresh! Three favorites complete with that cheery, you-never-know-what-you’ll-find spirit:
• Tiddle E. Winks, 115 E. Napa St., Sonoma
• Sunnyside Cottage, 599 Montecito Center, Rincon Valley
• Guerneville 5 & 10, 16252 Main St., Guerneville
Cast Away
Fly fishing is having a moment in our socially distant times. The whole point is to seek out your own waters, finding a solitary zen in the whip of line and fly. Develop skills at the little-known fly-casting pond at Galvin Park in Bennett Valley, where the Russian River Fly Fishers hope to offer their free casting clinics again soon. rrflyfisher.org
Creek Retreat
Cool, dappled light. Bugs and birds and trickling water. The feeling of being away from it all. Sonoma’s smaller waterways are oases of calm and likely less crowded than most Russian River beaches. Wade in one near you.
Sonoma Creek: Glen Ellen, Kenwood
Dry Creek: Healdsburg
Mark West Creek: Windsor, Santa Rosa
Austin Creek: Cazadero
Green Valley Creek: Forestville
Crane Creek: Rohnert Park
Hunter Creek: Santa Rosa
Laguna de Santa Rosa: Santa Rosa
Adobe Creek: Petaluma
Brush Creek: Santa Rosa
Blucher Creek: Sebastopol
Lichau Creek: Penngrove
Fly fishing in the Russian River. (Alvin Jornada)
Laguna de Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter)
Ultimate Tastes of Summer
Halo Halo at Tambayan
This traditional Filipino dessert is a hodgepodge of crushed ice, evaporated milk, coconut strips, sweet beans, gelatin and a scoop of purple yam ice. Dive in and stay cool.
The Big BBQ Dinner at Sweet T’s
A whole lotta Southern yum that includes a rack and a half of ribs, a pound of brisket, chicken or pork, two sides, and eight biscuits.
Lagunitas beer float
Not a root beer float, but a beer beer float — because in a county loaded with craft breweries, that’s how we roll. Just float a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a pint of Lagunitas Imperial Stout for a dense, chocolatey, boozy hit. Bonus points for serving in a frosty glass straight from the freezer.
Fresh Mozzarella and Salumi Platter at Rustic, Francis Ford Coppola Winery
Partially just for the amazing view of the valley with a nice bottle of vino, partially because what’s better in the summer than a light picnic of meat and cheese?
Halo halo at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield. (Heather Irwin)Mixed BBQ plate at Sweet T’s in Windsor. (Heather Irwin)
Fireworks of Fennel
The golden bursts of wild fennel are a welcome sight when so many other wildflower blooms have withered away. Make like the fancy chefs do and collect the plant’s pollen to sprinkle over grilled veggies or mix into spice rubs for a delicate, licoricelemon crunch.
Among fennel and blackberries at Steelhead Beach Regional Park in Forestville. (Alvin Jornada)
Drink a Different Rosé
All due respect to Pinot Noir and Grenache—but winemakers can make rosé from any red grape, and Sonoma has other interesting options for these once-in-a-lifetime times. Try Pedroncelli Winery’s juicy Zinfandel-based 2019 Signature Selection Dry Creek Valley Rosé ($17), or Three Sticks Winery’s 2019 Castenada Sonoma Coast Rosé ($45), from Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Syrah, and Grenache Noir. And the Cyndi Lauper “She’s So Unusual’ award goes to the rose-petal aromas and cherry-raspberry deliciousness of Imagery Estate Winery 2019 Serres Ranch Sonoma Valley Aleatico Rosé ($27).
Pasta with nasturtium leaves and flowers.
Nasturtium Pesto Pasta
The leaves’ peppery tang makes for an excellent version of this favorite summer pasta.
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons roasted pistachios
2 packed cups nasturtium greens
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Vella Dry Jack or Estero Gold cheese
8 ounces cooked spaghetti or linguine Kosher salt to taste Fresh nasturtium flowers and small leaves for garnish Put garlic and pistachios in a blender or food processor and pulse to combine.
Add the packed nasturtium leaves and grated cheese and process. While processing, add the olive oil in a steady stream just until a coarse puree forms.
Season to taste with salt. Toss pesto with cooked pasta and garnish with nasturtium leaves and flowers.
Beer Gardens
These favorite outdoor watering holes are a safer choice this summer when temps are soaring.
• Brewsters Beer Garden, Petaluma
• Hopmonk Tavern, Sonoma and Sebastopol
• The Wurst, Healdsburg
Brewster’s Beer Garden in Petaluma. (Heather Irwin)Hopmonk Sebastopol. (Courtesy photo)
Hawaii Spirit
Strum a summer tune on a ukulele from Petaluma’s Kala Brand Music Co. It’s one of the best-known producers of the happy instrument, with over 50 different ukes to choose from. The website even has a tutorial for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” kalabrand.com
Kala Brand Music ukulele. (Courtesy photo)
Farm Stands Worth the Drive
The pull of fresh produce is even stronger this summer, when so many of our social activities center around our vehicles. Here are three favorite farm stands that make the journey part of the destination. farmtrails.org
Philo Apple Farm, Philo: A twisting Alexander Valley road leads to heirloom apples.
Green String Farm, Petaluma: After excellent produce, explore the Petaluma Adobe.
The Red Barn, Glen Ellen: Wind past valley vineyards to load up on organic veggies.
Artichokes at Green String Farm in Petaluma. (Erin Scott)
Take Better Photos
For professional photographers like Sonoma’s Jason Tinacci, summer is one of the best times of the year for capturing life through a lens. Longer days mean more light to work with. Tinacci recommends getting out in early morning or evening for the softest light. It’s generally best to keep the sun at your back, but don’t be afraid to experiment. “I love sun flare,” he says. A portable tripod, such as one of the styles made by Joby, can come in handy for self-portraits, especially when handing a phone or camera to someone else isn’t an option. Tinacci prefers smaller, mirrorless cameras to packing his big guns for casual summer shoots. And, he says, he only has to walk outside his door for a world of potential subjects.
Hops were once a staple crop in Sonoma, and they’re making a comeback thanks to the NorCal Hop Growers Alliance, which works to increase the market and develop farming best practices. Craft breweries clamor for the product, saying fresh hops give the beer a different flavor than ones that have been dried in kilns to use year-round. The hop season runs late July through August; try fresh hop beers at Fogbelt Brewing Company. norcalhopgrowersalliance.org
Beer from Fogbelt Brewing Company. (Courtesy photo)
Screen Sensations
There’s no doubt about it: Hollywood loves Sonoma County. Spend an afternoon spoofing a favorite flick on your phone, or simply reacquaint yourself with a classic.
Polish your faux-British accent with the 2008 dramedy Bottle Shock, a semi-fictionalized look at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. Draw straws for who gets Alan Rickman’s scene-stealing role.
Step into Hitchcock’s shoes with your version of The Birds. Call in your art team (that’s you, kids!) for bird puppets or a painted backdrop of the moody Bodega coast.
Shoot long, lingering takes of your dog running through a field with the only ’70s film in the Lassie oeuvre, The Magic of Lassie.
Pedal On
Shane Bresnyan, 44, is the lead bike mechanic for Santa Rosa’s Trail House, a combination bike shop, bar, and café that’s a popular meeting spot for mountain bikers coming off connecting trails in nearby Trione-Annadel and Howarth parks. He says more people are riding bikes this summer than ever before because of what’s happening with the coronavirus. “You know it’s summer when our service schedule is booked out a week to two weeks in advance. You’re replacing tires, chains, brakes, and cables as fast as you can.”
Bresnyan’s favorite ride is the Lawndale Trail at Trione-Annadel State Park. “It’s a really dynamic trail that goes through all the woodlands we have in Sonoma County. It’s also kind of a hidden gem. It’s on the backside of the park so it takes some effort to get there.”
Shane Bresnyan. (Roman Cho)
Good News
Sonoma County is home to the nation’s youngest professional monster truck driver. 12-year-old Cloverdale resident Shane Plato says he’s bummed about the cancellation of the county fair, where he first performed at the age of 5, but is staying busy with schoolwork, friends, and a little Fortnite. “He’s a high-energy kid, always on the go,” says dad Lee Plato. Shane drives Skull Krusher, a custom, half-scale 700 horsepower monster truck with 44-inch wheels, huge shocks, and an impressively aggressive red-and-yellow paint job. Go Shane!
Local Reads
Grab a blanket and a spot under a tree. It’s a good thing if you doze off a bit — it is summer, after all. Follow Jack London’s Billy and Saxon Roberts on their quest to find rural paradise in The Valley of the Moon. Enjoy breezy chick-lit drama in a family winery setting with Laura Dave’s Eight Hundred Grapes. Or learn a little Boontling from the zany Anderson Valley characters in Robert Mailer Anderson’s Boonville.
Meteor Showers
Astronomer George Loyer, cofounder of the Robert Ferguson Observatory, thinks there’s nothing more magical than lying outside on a summer night, gazing at the stars. You can observe the night sky from wherever you are. Looking up, he says,“you’ll start to figure out where you are in the universe, and how the sky changes over time.” If you want to see constellations, avoid the week before and after a full moon, where the moon’s light washes out all but the brightest stars. An astronomy app like Exoplanet can help you get your bearings. “Eventually, you’ll start to recognize constellations, you can point them out to others, and you have a sense of knowing where you are in the universe. That you’re a part of this.”
Loyer says the summer’s best show happens August 12-13, when hundreds of meteors will streak through the sky, leaving colorful trails in their wake. You can print a star map and draw their paths. “You’ll find that they come in all directions,” says Loyer, “but they all end up pointing to one place, in Perseus. That’s why they’re called the Perseids.”
The Perseid meteor shower above Geysers Road in Geyserville, (Kent Porter)
The Coast Opens Up
We’ve been waiting to get back to our favorite sandy shores.
Blind Beach, South of Jenner: Pebbly and uncrowded
Shoolhouse Beach, North of Bodega Bay: Tidepools and anemones
Doran Beach, Bodega Bay: Awesome for dogs and even horses, get there early
Black Point Beach, Sea Ranch: Romance aplenty, climb down the steep wooden staircase.
Salmon Creek Beach, North of Bodega Bay: Popular with surfers but watch out for rip currents
Goat Rock Beach, Jenner: Where harbor seal moms raise their pups
Portuguese Beach, North of Bodega Bay: One of the best sunset spots along the Sonoma coast
A shrub is a simple blend of good vinegar and ripe fruit, left to macerate over days or weeks for a slow extraction of the fruit’s natural sweetness. It’s easy to make a shrub at home — our own Santa Rosa plums, which arrive in abundance in July, are a great choice.
Santa Rosa Plum Shrub
• 2 ½ to 3 pounds ripe Santa Rosa plums, rinsed and dried
• 4 cups best-quality red wine vinegar, plus more as needed
• Simple syrup, as needed Put the plums into a 2-quart glass jar and use a vegetable masher or wooden pestle to split them open. Pour in the vinegar, leaving about an inch of room at the top of the jar. Set a piece of parchment paper over the jar’s opening and add the lid and ring to hold it in place. Set in the refrigerator or in a cool, dark pantry for at least 7 days or as long as several weeks. The longer the plums steep in the vinegar, the more natural flavors they will release. To finish, strain the contents through a fine sieve or a strainer lined with cheesecloth and discard the fruit. Sweeten the liquid to taste with simple syrup, then refrigerate in a glass jar.
For summer cocktails anytime, try a generous splash or two of plum shrub in sparkling water or in still or sparkling white wine.
The Slushie Queen
Amy Covin has found near-instant success with her Boston-style Italian ices at Amy’s Wicked Slush in Healdsburg and Petaluma.
“For me,’ she says, ‘summer is the time of good times — of dancing on the deck to the music you love and feeling like you’re on vacation.”
Covin has adapted and thrived in the challenge of recent months. “At the beginning of this, I wondered if I was gonna fold before summer. Then I painted a drive-through in the parking lot. The sun came out, and people showed up!”
Her favorite slush flavor varies by the day. “I make a raspberry-lemonade that’s to die for. Black cherry with chocolate ice cream is one of life’s true pleasures. And cotton candy is fantastic. It actually smells like cotton candy; you can almost get that feathery texture from it!” wickedslush.com
Wicked Slush. (Christopher Chung)
Paddleboard Up
Stand-up paddleboarding is an adventure for these times — out on the water, it’s solitary by design and meditative to boot. Lake Sonoma, Spring Lake, and the Russian River are top launch spots, and Guerneville’s Russian River Paddle Boards can get you going with routes and gear. In Petaluma, Clavey Paddlesports is open with a full line of paddleboards.
Gourmet Picnics
We’re a county that loves a good sandwich, with at least two master charcutiers meeting all our picnic needs. Marc-Henri Jean-Baptiste of Maison Porcella produces a fantastic Liberty Farms duck pâté with green peppercorns and sells cured organic Lake County ham in a special brine. maisonporcella.com
And Michelin-starred chef Andrea Marino, originally from Italy, opened Ovello Salumeria in Sonoma to offer over a dozen different cured meats (coppa, prosciutto, lonzino) plus an epic roasted porchetta. ovellosonoma.com
Help Pollinators
Native insect pollinators can have trouble finding food during late summer because many seasonal wildflowers — dandelion, clover, and thistle — don’t suit gardeners’ fancy. Friends of the bees say leave the weeds when you can, and plant late bloomers like crape myrtle and goldenrod.
Be kind to the bees. (Crista Jeremiason)
More Good News
The Alexander Valley Film Society has met the moment with a new drive-in movie series, and is partnering with Corazon Healdsburg to offer some films in Spanish. avfilmsociety.org.
Best Hikes in Town
Santa Rosa
The easy 2.3-mile paved path around Spring Lake is an urban gem, connecting with both Howarth Park and Trione-Annadel State Park.
Cloverdale
The paved, 1-mile trail at Cloverdale River Park winds through a riparian forest along the Russian River and connects to city trails near downtown.
Kenwood
Up in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, the Canyon-Pony Gate Loop is a moderately challenging 2-mile unpaved path shaded by oaks and redwoods.
Guerneville
Get lost, and find yourself, along the trails at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Adjacent Austin Creek State Recreation Area offers more wild adventure.
Jenner
The 4-mile Kortum Trail at Sonoma Coast State Park skirts the blufftop between Wright’s Beach and Blind Beach for stunning views of the Pacific Ocean.
Glen Ellen
Take a steady climb up the 3.8-mile North Sonoma Mountain Ridge Trail for 180-degree views of Sonoma Valley and the Santa Rosa Plain.
Petaluma
Step back to a time when grazing lands were the dominant feature of the North Bay landscape on the 8-mile round-trip West Ridge Trail at Tolay Lake Regional Park.
Sonoma
The paved 1.3-mile Valley of the Moon Trail at Sonoma Valley Regional Park offers plenty of shade, plus it’s wide enough to keep your distance from other visitors.
Windsor
Take Riverfront Regional Park’s 2-mile Lake Trail for an easy lakeside jaunt along a forested path.
Sebastopol
Find calm in the beauty of the pristine watershed on the 2.4-mile Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail.
Kortum Trail. (Shutterstock)Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. (Shutterstock)
Bows and Arrows
If you’ve tried your hand at archery and been disappointed with the results, it’s probably because you lacked the right equipment and training, says Adrienne Olufs, who runs Petaluma’s West Coast Archery Shop with husband Hans. “The right way to do it is to have a mentor or person who knows what they are talking about, so you can be safe and do it the right way.” The store partners with Sonoma County Bowmen on the public archery range at Lake Sonoma. westcoastarcheryshop.com
Late-Season Veggies
Yes, you can plant, even in July and August. Keep the bounty coming in fall with varieties that will take off now: bush beans, carrots, beets, green onions, lettuce, even peas (Wando is bred to be heat tolerant). New seedlings or delicate lettuces will need extra water and maybe a temporary shade cloth when the heat really spikes, but it’ll be worth it.
Rainbow carrots, Tokyo turnips, baby beets, green garlic from Tucker Taylor’s vegetable garden at Kendall-Jackson vineyard. (Chris Hardy)
Up Your BBQ Game
Sure, your father’s charcoal briquettes are fine for summer grilling. But to truly up your barbecue game, you’re gonna have to branch out, so to speak. Wood chips — or even better, chunks — impart flavors you just can’t get from charcoal alone.
Brad Barmore, co-owner of Healdsburg’s KINsmoke and member of the Metallicue BBQ team, prefers using white oak or cherry for grilling brisket or pork. For chicken, pork, lamb, or fish, he recommends trying cherry, apple, or other fruitwood.
Harvest your own if you can or find chips in the grilling section at home improvement stores. Make sure the wood is seasoned, Barmore says, and keep air circulating over the flame. Because there is such a thing as too much smoke.
Try spinning your new expertise into a family grill-off. Whose ribs melt off the bone? Whose chops have the right char? Barmore says professional judges typically score on taste, appearance, and texture. Or, make it easy with a people’s choice award.
The Constant Gardener
For competition gardener and landscaper Daniel Gibbs, the county fair is a chance to create a head-turning botanical display. A past favorite: Fossil Falls, for which he created a manmade 12-foot waterfall inside the Hall of Flowers, surrounded by real fossils he borrowed from the Petrified Forest in Calistoga.
“We had two dinosaurs — the fair gave us a really big one, and one of my customers loaned me his velociraptor. That was outrageous.”
The virus has changed his summer plans in a big way. “ We’ve been allowed to continue on the fire rebuilds we’re working on, but we had to pull off our other projects.” With fairs on hiatus, Gibbs is expanding his plant nursery, building a botanical garden — and fitting in some fishing on Lake Sonoma.
Soaring over the Jenner Headlands. (John Burgess)
The Bird of Summer
Let’s make an argument for the red-tailed hawk as Sonoma’s bird of summer. Its familiar arching presence circles over our vineyards and open spaces, signaling balance in nature as it keeps a check on problematic rodents. Know it by its broad 4-foot wingspan, pale belly, ruddy tail feathers, and loud, drawn-out call of “kee-eee-arr.”
Your Own Mint Tea
In our favorable climate, mint has an annoying tendency to take over the garden. But before you hack it back, harvest a few extra bundles, and hang in a cool place. When they’re fully dry, crumble the leaves into a glass jar or make packets to give to friends: a nod to summer any time of year.
Gravenstein apple pie. (John Burgess)
Pie Society
Five years ago, Michele Wimborough of Occidental’s Hazel restaurant inaugurated Friday Pie-day; she’s baked pie weekly ever since, and her apple pie won first prize at last year’s Gravenstein Apple Fair.
To nail the texture of a winning pie crust, Wimborough recommends mixing with a light hand (“as soon as it comes together, that’s enough”); refrigerating the dough before rolling it out; and, once the crust is the pan, freezing it for about 30 minutes to ensure the crust won’t melt in the oven.
The chef gravitates to Gravensteins and other crisp, tart apples for fillings because they hold up well to baking. And to achieve that coveted golden-brown hue? “If I’m doing double crust” she says, “I’ll do an egg wash on it, and top it with sanding sugar to give it that golden, sparkly look.”
Bliss in a Hammock
Settle in for a relaxing snooze, even if you don’t have trees in exactly the right spots. Hammock chairs can hang from a rope looped around a sturdy porch beam or tree branch, or with a few feet of space, you can string a full-size hammock from 4×4 posts. We love the colorful, sustainable South American designs at Worldly Goods in Duncan’s Mills.’
Andrew Wesman relaxes in the shade of an oak tree. ( Christopher Chung)
One of the pools at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. (Fairmont Sonoma)
Cooling off on warm summer days while staying socially distanced can be tricky. The beach is of course an option, but what if you dream of lazy descents into cool turquoise waters or a few laps in a pool? Outdoor public and hotel pools are now allowed to be open in Sonoma County and are deemed safe by the CDC as long as you stay at least 6 feet away from people you don’t live with — in and out of the water. But spending the day poolside requires a little more planning in these pandemic times. Cleaning routines are more strict and rigorous than ever, hotels only allow guests at their pools, and there are other things you need to think about before you go.
Click through the above gallery to find out about new pool safety protocols and where you can take a dip this summer.
The Black Lives Matter protests and national discussion about systemic racism have led to a surge of interest in books and films about race relations and the Black experience in America.
We asked Sonoma State University professors Dr. Kimberly Hester Williams and Dr. Christina Baker for their advice on books to read and movies to watch right now. Many titles are available in local bookstores and from the Sonoma County Library.
‘Good books can help foster empathy’
Dr. Kimberly Hester Williams, Professor of English literature and American multicultural studies, has received many requests for her reading recommendations in the past few weeks, including from K-12 teachers.
“As a professor of literature, that’s a hard one because, frankly, antiracist scholarship and fiction has been in play and circulating since the 17th century, at least in the ‘Americas’ context,” said Dr. Williams.
In response to the many requests she gets, her reading list continues to expand. High on it are the works of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison.
“Her facility with language is extraordinary and provokes the deepest empathy in students that I have seen in the classroom,” she said.
Other books high on the professor’s list are Ibram X. Kendi’s “How To Be An Antiracist,” which Hester Williams calls a “phenomenal and crucial work;” Michael Eric Dyson’s “Tears We Cannot Stop;” Octavia Butler’s “Kindred” and James Baldwin’s essays.
Dr. Kimberly Hester Williams (Courtesy photo)
Hester Williams decided to become a literature professor in part because she believes reading good books can help foster empathy in the reader and that empathy is crucial to our survival.
To help people understand how racism and environmental issues overlap, she co-edited “Racial Ecologies” with University of Washington professor Leilani Nishime. The book of essays examines how “environmental threats and degradation disproportionately affect communities of color” and covers the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy.
Hester Williams wants Americans to learn about the history of racism. For that, she suggests works by activists and writers from Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs to the Grimké sisters and Henry David Thoreau.
“We need to know how much force has been levied against racism so that we can have the strength to continue that work,” she said.
‘Viewing works of marginalized voices is crucial for change’
If books can engender the empathy needed to bring about progress toward ending racism, film also has an important role to play.
As a film lover, Christina Baker, said she knew she needed to create a book on Black women filmmakers when, year after year, her film students couldn’t name Black film directors other than Spike Lee, Tyler Perry and John Singleton. With that in mind, she authored “Contemporary Black Women Filmmakers and The Art of Resistance.”
Baker believes the most effective way to combat racism is to fight on two fronts: the cultural and the structural.
“If we focus only on our laws and policies, we’re neglecting the power of our ideas, beliefs, and creativity … Our ideas, words, and art can change people’s minds and hearts in ways that no law can ever do,” she said.
Dr. Christina Baker. (Courtesy photo)
Baker’s book is an in-depth look at the work of five Black women filmmakers and their influence on the art form. These films present authentic, nuanced Black female characters unlike the distorted Black female mischaracterizations prevalent in Hollywood, even in widely praised films, from “Gone with the Wind” to “Monster’s Ball” to “Precious.”
While most people know the movie “Selma,” fewer know it was written and directed by prolific Black cinematic artist Ava DuVernay. One chapter of Baker’s book is called “Unicorns,” a metaphor DuVernay used to describe the perception of women or people of color in Hollywood.
Baker believes films should not only address racism head-on, as in DuVernay’s “Selma” and “13th,” but that there is also a need to see the nuanced portrayals of relationships and social connections depicted in, for example, Stella Meghie’s films “The Photograph” and “Everything, Everything.”
“We need both of these — social justice and social connection — as we attempt to create a more positive future, and DuVernay and Meghie convey this beautifully through their films,” Baker said.
Viewing works of marginalized and excluded voices, like those represented by DuVernay’s independent film company Array, is crucial for cultural change, she added.
Below is Dr. Williams’ anti-racist reading recommendations, followed by Dr. Bakers’ viewing recommendations.
Books to Read
Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Dying Of Whiteness by Jonathan M. Metzl
Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Race Matters by Cornel West
If They Come In The Morning by Angela Davis
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
Letter From a Region in My Mind by James Baldwin in The New Yorker (read here)
A Talk to Teachers by James Baldwin
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
White Like Me by Tim Wise
The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by George Lipsitz
How Racism Takes Place by George Lipsitz
Racial Ecologies co-edited by LeiLani Nishime and Kim D. Hester Williams
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Me And White Supremacy by Layla Saad
Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out by Ruth King
Movies to Watch
13th by Ava DuVernay
A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde by Michelle Parkerson and Ada Gay Griffin
Beyond the Lights by Gina Prince Bythewood
Everything Everything by Stella Meghie
Eve’s Bayou by Kasi Lemmons
Harriet by Kasi Lemmons
Losing Ground by Kathleen Collins
Love & Basketball by Gina Prince Bythewood
Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay
Night CatchesUs by Tanya Hamilton
Pariah by Dee Rees
Selma by Ava DuVernay
Something New by Sanaa Hamri
The Photograph by Stella Meghie
The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye
When They See Us (miniseries) by Ava DuVernay
Whose Streets? by Sabaah Folayan
More Movie Resources
ARRAY, also known as ARRAY Now, is an independent distribution company launched by film maker Ava DuVernay. The company is dedicated to “the amplification of independent films by people of color and and women filmmakers.” arraynow.com.
Contemporary Black Women Filmmakers and the Art of Resistanceby Christina Baker
Kasi Lemmons Interviews edited by Christina Baker (due out in January 2021)
After staying indoors for months to slow the spread of COVID-19, many of us are longing for a change of scenery. And while that does not mean a return to “normal” is near and we still need to take every precaution to keep ourselves and others safe, a day trip could be an opportunity to get outside in the fresh air without putting anyone at risk. We have rounded up four day trips with outdoor activities that allow for plenty of social distancing. And remember: wear that mask! Click through the above gallery for details.
Remember when masks were new, and we weren’t even sure if were supposed to wear them? Patterns popped up on Youtube and we fumbled our way through them, using stashes of unused fabric—loud plaids, puppies and outdated holiday prints. The result: not so pretty.
How we’ve changed since March!
Now that masks are required nearly everywhere, they’ve become the stand-in for your favorite lipstick or, well, your nose and mouth. They definitely give a sense of mystery to one’s appearance, some even think they make us look better. Local designers have got the mask engineering down and are perfecting their styles — so mask up and check out the latest in pretty protective essentials in the gallery above.
Sonoma County may be a mecca for lovers of wine, beer, cider and spirits, but there’s plenty more local craft beverages to enjoy — minus the hangover. According to those in the know, no- and low-alcohol drinks are having a moment right now. In Sonoma County, more and more restaurants and bars are staying on trend with mocktails and no-booze beer. In addition to these alternatives, there are also the classics: like herbal tea and plain ol’ milk; drinks that stand out in their own right, without trying to be something that they’re not. Click through the above gallery for some of our favorite Sonoma-made, non-alcoholic beverages.
Windsor resident Mac McDonald founded the Association of African American Vintners in 2002, not long after he launched his Vision Cellars wine brand, proudly displaying an African mask on the label. Cultivating African Americans’ appreciation of wine and proving to all that Black winemakers can be as talented and skilled as others were AAAV’s chief goals. Encouraging people of color to seek careers in wine’s very white world was another.
Eighteen years later, McDonald is still mistaken for a hospitality employee at wine events at which he’s pouring. He’s often ignored when attempting to show his wines to retailers and challenged on his wine knowledge.
Nearly two decades after the creation of AAAV, fewer than 60 wineries in the country are operated by African Americans, according to Statista. A handful are in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, but one has had to look long and hard to find them.
Until now.
The U.S. wine industry is as white (and often wealthy) as they come, with Black faces rarely seen among producers, sommeliers, distributors, retailers and marketers. Yet the recent Black Lives Matter protests and national discussion about systemic racism have empowered African Americans to speak out about the disparity and demand inclusion, and their efforts are drawing trade and media attention.
Theodora Lee, owner and winemaker at Theopolis Vineyards in the Yorkville Highlands of Mendocino County, has seen sales of her 800-case-production petite sirah and symphony wines soar.
For the first time, being a Black vintner is a benefit.
“Since June 1, I’ve had more than 800 orders,” said the self-titled Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyards, who is also a partner in a San Francisco law firm (Littler Mendelson) and a trial attorney focused on employment law. “It’s what’s in the bottle, but also media coverage. The burden of the Black vintner is real, but the focus is now on supporting Blacks. Finally, it’s less of a burden. I’m getting calls from retailers and restaurants (instead of me calling them). For the first time, being a Black vintner is a benefit.”
Dan Glover, a Santa Rosa-based winemaker, said sales of his L’Objet Noir wines jumped 200% in June. Chris Christensen, owner/winemaker of Bodkin Wines, also in Santa Rosa and with the wines produced at custom-crush facilities in Russian River Valley, said, “The response from the public has been overwhelming and humbling about what I’m doing. Our social media following doubled, and wine club and online orders increased.”
Like his African American winemaking colleagues, Christensen is not happy about the reason for this newfound attention on his wines. “I want to be known for my work, my wines,” he said. “I want to be viewed outside the context of my race. But with all that’s happened, a force is ignited in me in how I can give back to the community, how I can help more people, to get African Americans into the wine business.”
As a start, he has a wine project in the works, in which profits from the sales of the wines will go to the United Negro College Fund. A recent Instagram post: “The BEST Way to support a Black-Owned Winery is to JOIN THE WINE CLUB. Support on that level helps us keep our presence and wines flowing vintage after vintage.”
Locally, most Black-owned wineries have lacked visibility to consumers because they are small in production quantity, don’t own vineyards or winemaking facilities and don’t have tasting rooms. Lloyd Davis is an exception, as a partner in a New York hedge fund company who came to Sonoma to pull Viansa Winery out of bankruptcy in 2008.
“Within six months of moving to Sonoma, I’d fallen in love with the place and the wine business,” Davis said. “The cooperation of people in the industry is a beautiful thing. I haven’t experienced any obstacles (as an African American); it’s a very open, accepting community.”
Granted, Davis had the financial means to found Corner 103: A Sonoma Tasting Experience in 2015, after Viansa was sold to Vintage Wine Estates. He and his staff pour the Corner 103 wines and, until the pandemic shutdowns, made matching the wines with food a priority (pairings will resume in the future).
Davis, an AAAV member, said he’s found very little expressed discrimination toward him as an African American winery owner.
“I experienced more racial issues in finance than I have in wine,” he said with a chuckle. “Black, Hispanic, female, male, people come to Corner 103 to taste wine and have a great experience. They don’t know if I’m the owner or the janitor, and most don’t care.
“We’re 100% direct to consumer. In the tasting room environment, if a person doesn’t like Blacks, they don’t come in. I don’t have to deal with distributors or retailers, and that’s a different perspective.”
McDonald, Lee and others have seen the discriminatory side of that perspective, the exclusionary one, and welcome the day when the color of the winemaker is far less important than the hue of the wine.
Here are six local Black-owned wine businesses worth a look and taste:
Bodkin Wines
Native Iowan Chris Christensen moved west to study at Stanford University, where he was introduced to wine. He learned to make vino from the ground up at Sonoma wineries including Mauritson, Meeker and Medlock Ames. He went out on his own in 2011, starting Bodkin Wines and gaining instant attention with his sparkling sauvignon blanc, Cuvée Agincourt, the name referencing a battle during the Hundred Years’ War. Most of his grapes came from Lake County back then, as they were more affordable than those from Sonoma. Christensen has increasingly added more Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley fruit for his various other sparkling wines, sauvignon blancs, gewürztraminers, zinfandels and white and red dessert wines.
Lloyd Davis took what he learned from retooling nearby Viansa Winery and opened Corner 103, an intimate, stylish tasting room in downtown Sonoma. There, he and his staff pour wines Davis began making as he positioned Viansa for sale to Vintage Wine Estates. Wine and food matching has been the strong suit of Corner 103, and while coronavirus health measures have put the pairings program on hold for now, visitors (by appointment) can taste five wines for $20 per person. Winemaker Ron Goss, who Davis brought over from Viansa, excels at producing wines from throughout Sonoma County: Carneros chardonnay and pinot noir, Alexander Valley grenache, Sonoma Mountain zinfandel and more.
103 W. Napa Street, Sonoma, 707-931-6141, corner103.com
Fog Crest Vineyard
African American Rosalind Manoogian and her husband, James Manoogian, own this Russian River Valley vineyard, winery and tasting room, where former Saintsbury (Napa Valley) winemaker Jerome Chery produces their chardonnays, pinot noirs and rosés. Rosalind, the vice president of marketing, is often the host for visitors to this winery. Call ahead for appointments.
Danny Glover (no relation to the actor) was a songwriter and producer in Los Angeles when the wine bug bit him – specifically, the pinot noir bug. He moved to Sonoma, worked at wineries including Armida, Clos du Bois and Dutcher Crossing, then launched L’Objet Wines a decade ago, selling most bottles to his wine club. Glover’s current-release L’Objet Noir is a pinot noir from Russian River Valley’s Oehlman Vineyard; a Comstock Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from Dry Creek Valley is also in the fold. Glover produces 600 cases or so a year of wine. Bodkin’s Chris Christensen calls him “Lethal Weapon;” Glover’s Twitter handle is #pinotnoirdude.
No tasting room; order wines by phone or online, 707-235-3153, lobjetwines.com
Theodora Lee of Theopolis Vineyards. (Courtesy photo)
Theopolis Vineyards
Labor law attorney Theodora Lee planted her 5-acre Yorkville Highland vineyard in 2003, selling the grapes to others, including Carlisle Winery & Vineyards in Santa Rosa. She made her first commercial vintage in 2014, and ever since, her petite sirah, symphony (a white wine made from a grape variety bred at UC Davis of muscat of Alexandria and grenache gris) and petite sirah rosé have won fans – and competition gold medals, with two golds won at the 2019 North Coast Wine Challenge in Santa Rosa.
“My idea is to help others appreciate wine,” said Edward Lee “Mac” McDonald. “It’s all about education.” McDonald, the son of an East Texas moonshiner and retired PG&E supervisor, founded Vision Cellars with his wife, Lil, after trying his hand at homemade wines. He’d made friends with Caymus Vineyards owner Charlie Wagner in Napa Valley and spent a lot of time there sampling the wines. Charlie and his son, Chuck, convinced McDonald that he was suited for the wine business, and they provided space in their cellar for Mac to make his wines. A gift bottle of Burgundy he received back in Texas stuck in his mind, and McDonald, now living in Windsor, decided to make pinot noir from top vineyards in California. The first vintage was 1997, and the couple has crisscrossed the country multiple times since, pouring at events and showing wines to the trade. McDonald continues to produce his wines at Caymus, though the grape sourcing is now focused on Sonoma County and the North Coast.
No tasting room; order at 707-836-4002 or online at visioncellars.com
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