The Curious Case of the Healdsburg Hammer Theft

By Austin Murphy
The 800-pound hammer that was stolen from the front lawn of Healdsburg’s community center. (COURTESY OF SCOTT KENEALLY)

It was the heist heard ’round the world. News of the theft of a giant hammer from the lawn of the Healdsburg Community Center last October spread swiftly, with TV stations from Boise to Boston running the story, as well as the New York Times and London’s Daily Mail. One couple told Healdsburg police officer Darryl Erkel they’d read about the (literally) grand theft in a local newspaper in Italy.

“It’s not a big story, but it has a sort of amusement factor,” muses Doug Unkrey, the ponytailed, 60-something artist/machinist/welder who created the 6-foot-tall, 21-foot-long objet.

In addition to spawning a series of hardware-themed puns (“Tools Steal Giant Hammer”; Unkrey “is offering a $1,000 reward to nail the thieves”), the incident raised awareness of, and appreciation for, the concentration of contemporary sculpture in the county. Unkrey’s “Hammer” was installed by the Voigt Family Sculpture Foundation, the nonprofit responsible for placing many such oversized, provocative, and whimsical pieces throughout the region.

“You go to a museum, you pay a fee to get in, you wander around, the guards say ‘Don’t touch,’” notes Judy Voigt, one of the foundation’s founders. “What we’ve done is put the art out where people are, so it becomes part of their daily lives.”

Until it disappears. In a commendable but futile attempt to lure “Hammer” back, anonymous locals drove a 3-foot-long nail into the grass at the community center. Onto the head of the nail was inscribed the word “Bait.”

At press time, alas, the hammer’s whereabouts remained unknown. “It’s essentially a cold case,” lamented Officer Erkel. Amused though he was by that attempt to “bait” the thieves, he would rather have the hammer than the nail.

Doug Unkrey is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the hammer’s recovery. Anyone with information can contact Healdsburg Police Officer Darryl Erkel at 707-431-3377 or police@ci.healdsburg.ca.us.

Sonoma Restaurants: Where to Eat Right Now

By Heather Irwin
Cavatelli with Duck confit, delicata squash, roasted onion, taleggio, breadcrumb, parmigiano at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD

Comfort food speaks every language. Familiar, warm, and inviting, it’s what we crave in the darkness of winter. Whether your indulgence of choice is a Japanese pancake filled with mushrooms, fried chicken and biscuits, a bowl of roasted squash, or a cup of matcha, we’ve got you covered with four Sonoma County spots where you can relax and meditate about the coming year. Click through the above gallery for details and best bets.

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Sonoma County Serves Up Crawfish, Clam Chowder and Schnitzel in January

By biteclub
Schnitzel served on a bed of fries at Franchetti’s for Oktoberfest. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

HAUS PARTY

Schnitzel is back for good at Franchetti’s (1229 N. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa). They’ll be serving up schnitzel sandwiches on pretzel bread and other great German dishes like short rib sauerbraten with bread dumplings and weisswurst throughout January, er Germanuary.

Beginning in February, they’ll change up the entire wood-fired menu and rename the restaurant Franchetti’s Schnitzel and Pizza Haus, featuring all-day service throughout the week and featuring German dishes throughout the day.

Word is they’ll be serving the rarely found flammkuchen come February — a thin German pizza topped with creme fraiche, cheese and bacon. Stay tuned for more details.

IT’S CRAWFISH TIME

Tips Roadside (8445 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood) will host a traditional Louisiana crawfish boil on January 9 at their Sonoma Valley restaurant. All you can eat crawfish, shrimp, corn on the cob and potatoes is on the menu. Seating is limited. Tickets are $35 per person with seatings at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m.

Details online at exploretock.com/tipsroadside

CHOWDAH DAY AT THE BAY 

If you’re a clam chowder fan, Bodega Bay is the spot to be on January 26. Throughout the day, local restaurants and businesses ladle up their best chowder recipes and you get to vote for your favorite. It’s a fun way to drive around the area, check out menus and decide — once and for all — who has the best clam chowder in Bodega Bay.

Last year I picked Blue Water Bistro as the “Critic’s Choice” winner with the Birds Cafe in second and Spud Point Crab Company in third. Your opinions may vary, and that’s the fun of the event, which is a value-priced $12 per person.

Details and tickets at bodegabaychowder2019.brownpapertickets.com.

 

Stone Brewing and More: Best Napa Breweries to Visit Right Now

By Jess Lander

Hops have long been a staple of Sonoma County, but Napa is playing catch-up. In just the last three years, a renaissance has been brewing here as both local and national breweries have been popping up amidst the vines at a rapid rate. Click through the gallery above for our guide to the best breweries to visit in Napa Valley.

We Love These Heart-Shaped Items and Gifts from Sonoma Stores

By Karen Kizer

With February appearing at the next turn of the calendar page, you might want to deck your home in hearts or start thinking about a special gift for someone you love. Here are some exquisite heart-shaped finds, all available in Sonoma County. It could be called Valentine’s Day shopping but, really, love is always in season. Click through the above gallery for details.

Forever Wild: The Stewards of Glen Oaks Ranch Honor Its History with an Eye on Its Future

By Jill Koenigsdorf

Glen Oaks Ranch may seem a quiet place in winter, but closer inspection might reveal two wild turkeys wrestling for dominance in a meadow by Stuart Creek, or an owl nesting in the centuries-old Eucalyptus trees in front of one of the oldest houses in Sonoma Valley. Preservation, both of the historic house and of the wildlife habitat on the ranch’s 234-acre property, is paramount here. And 2019 finds the Sonoma Land Trust busy managing the many projects begun in recent years, both inside and out.

The stalwart 1860s homestead, tucked away off Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen, was the creation of Colonel Charles Stuart, who had arrived in California from Pennsylvania via a difficult crossing on a mule pack train. After he made his money in real estate, Stuart began planting vines on his “Glen Ellen Vineyard,” named for his wife, Ellen. With the aid of Chinese labor, Stuart built the Glen Oaks house from a local volcanic white stone called rhyolite. Although the house has survived multiple earthquakes and wildfires in the years since its construction, other structures on the property — including a barn that had recently undergone an extensive renovation — were destroyed in the 2017 Nuns fire.

The 3,150-square-foot house went through a series of private owners after Stuart, notably advertising wizard Roswell Cochran, who bought it in 1952 and raised cattle and cultivated fruit trees there with his wife, Camille. When their daughter, Joan Cochran, inherited the Glen Oaks property in 1988, she became its true guardian and advocate. Glen Oaks earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and upon Joan’s death in 2002, it was bequeathed to the Sonoma Land Trust with her instructions that the land should remain “forever wild.” The house itself remains a wonderful mashup of various eras and inhabitants, with much of the original furniture still under its eaves, first editions sharing bookshelves with Readers Digest, midcentury modern rubbing elbows with Victorian mahogany.

Reta Lockert, donor relations director at the Land Trust, is full of lively tales about the house. “I had the fun of knowing the eccentric Joan Cochran from the 1990s until she died,” says Lockert. “She always instructed first-time guests to ‘Say hello to the General’ when they entered the room.” The general in question is of course General Mariano Vallejo, who owned the then-3,100-acre property during the land grant days of 1843. Vallejo soon traded the land to a German musician for five years’ worth of piano lessons for his children.

Cochran’s reverence for the general is also evident in a sign she placed in a chair, both of which remain in the house today, reading Reserved for General Vallejo.

Her desire to honor Vallejo’s legacy was matched by her passion for preserving the property’s natural beauty and its role as a vital habitat. A crucial wildlife corridor, 5 miles long and less than a mile wide at its narrowest point, traverses the ranch, allowing animals to move safely between Sonoma Mountain and the Mayacamas range.

“Riparian zones are critical for animals because they need cover to feel safe to move freely,” says Tony Nelson, Sonoma Valley program manager for the Land Trust. “We’ve been working to widen this habitat by planting native trees, buckeye, elderberry, and native rose. Glen Oaks Ranch is at a strategic point of the corridor, and this has changed the way we look at properties.”

The Land Trust’s efforts have been rewarded with an increase of commuting wildlife: cameras have recorded mountain lions, bobcats, coyote, deer, gray fox, skunk, and opossum making their way between the two mountain ranges. Nelson has also been involved in an ongoing project to reestablish Stuart Creek’s historic steelhead trout run, over 2 miles of spawning and rearing ground for the beleaguered fish. Culverts, dams, and bridges have all been modified recently to ease the transit from ocean to creek. Says Nelson, “Steelhead come with the winter rains, when the flow to the ocean is highest. I’ve seen quite a few young steelheads, but we’ll know we’ve succeeded when we see more of the mature fish.”

In addition to his work for the trout and other wildlife, Nelson is brainstorming with other conservation organizations about ways to moderate future wildfire conditions on a critical 18,000-acre swath of land, because “fire doesn’t recognize one person’s property line, and neither does wildlife.”

Glen Oaks Ranch exemplifies a place where the rhythms of the past and visions for the future are nurtured equally. The sun sets early in the winter, and the patio of the old stone house remains the best spot to see it. Just don’t block General Vallejo’s view.

6 Eco-Friendly Finds for Your Home from Sonoma County Stores

By Karen Kizer

It’s not always easy being green, but it’s not impossible either. Here are a few Sonoma-based items that will help you minimize your waste and be a little kinder to the planet. It doesn’t hurt that they’re stylish, too. Click though the above gallery for details.

8 Fun New Year’s Resolutions and Items That Will Help You Stick to Them

By Karen Kizer

To make your life a bit more awesome in 2019, we’ve put together a list of fun and easy to achieve resolutions, paired with items to help you stay on course. Buckle down and commit to some change in the guilt-free zone—click through the above gallery for details.

Biggest Sonoma County Restaurant Openings and Closings 2018

By biteclub
Owner Susie Pryfogle with beignets at Tips Roadside in Kenwood. Heather Irwin/PD

Resilience may be the key phrase for Sonoma County’s restaurant scene in 2018, as dozens of restaurants sprang to life in the aftermath of the wildfires. At times, it was almost too much to keep up with, and frankly, I’ve stumbled more than once in the rush to cover them all. Trust me when I say I packed on a few more pounds this year in the attempt.

What tied together my favorite openings this year were the fearless risks and bold flavors that came out of this freshman class. Authentic flavors of the Middle East, India, Spain and Japan found their moment in our consciousness, as did regional American cooking from the South. Latin cuisine went back to its roots, using native ingredients and recipes. Another trend: Comfort cuisine endures, and many highly trained chefs are bringing their menus back down to earth with more approachable price-points and fast-casual service — something we’ll see more of as the dearth of trained restaurant staff continues.

Notably, two restaurants lost in the fires — Willi’s Wine Bar and Sweet T’s — are still in development despite hopes that they would open before the end of 2018. Sweet T’s, which moved to Windsor, is hiring and expected to open in early 2019. Willi’s is still moving forward as well, but it may be spring or early summer before that much-anticipated opening.

As we slide toward 2019, there are already a handful of restaurants poised for opening, and we’ll bring you those soon. But for now, click through the above gallery for the biggest restaurant openings (and a handful of closings) for 2018.  

Winter Getaway: How to Spend a Weekend On the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast

By Jess Lander

Need a reset? If you’re not a fan of snow, traffic, and crowds, skip the trip to Tahoe this winter and try a restorative weekend by the Pacific Ocean. My husband and I recently spent two nights split between the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. It was everything we needed: a chance to unplug, relax, and spend quality time together. Here’s how we spent our weekend – click through the above gallery for photos. 

DAY 1: SONOMA COAST

Friday afternoon

We called ahead and requested an early check-in at Timber Cove Resort in order to maximize daylight time. The weather couldn’t have been better: high 60s without a cloud in the December sky. 

[Enter our contest to win a weekend at Timber Cove Resort]

The oceanside resort, located in Jenner, was originally built in 1963 as a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired A-frame with redwood beams. In the early days, it was a shagadelic party pad that attracted all sorts of characters—including Hugh Hefner and his bunnies—but the place lost its luster over the years. In 2016, renovations were completed and the new Timber Cove has a cozy, modern hippy vibe with chic, mid-century accents.

After quickly settling into our suite, making note of the fireplace and soaking tub, we hurried out to catch the day’s remaining rays. The resort has roughly two miles of coastal trails to stroll, just steps from the lobby. During our excursion, we discovered a lover’s cove, where dozens of couples had carved their initials inside hearts in the bluff. I imagine at least a few proposals going down here. Back at home base, we hopped on the outdoor ping pong table (they also have billiards and foosball), battling back and forth until it was time to catch the sunset.

Our suite’s private deck looked straight out at the ocean, providing a perfect sunset viewing spot. Not all of Timber Cove’s rooms have an ocean view but, even though it will cost you more, I highly recommend splurging on booking one. After all, the view is the amenity here; it’s the reason for your visit. 

To set the sunset mood, we put some vinyl on the Crosley LP record player (every room has one) and picked a bottle of wine from our stash (the best part about a local getaway is that you can pack as much wine as you want in the car). Once the sun had disappeared into the ocean, we brought the rest of the bottle to the communal fire pit, a great place for chatting with resort guests and making new friends.

Friday evening

Unlike the coastal towns of Bodega Bay or Mendocino, there are no restaurants or bars or markets nearby Timber Cove. And that’s why I love it here. This is the ultimate staycation; a place that encourages you to sit back, relax, connect, and unplug.

Around 6 p.m., the once-empty lobby (officially named the Great Room) began to fill up, transforming into a lively gathering place for resort guests – a mix of families, couples, even a few well-behaved pups. Wanting to keep things casual, we opted for a seat at the bar instead of a table at the onsite restaurant Coast Kitchen. We were still able to pick from the full menu and we both ordered a burger and cocktail.

The Great Room has a myriad of small lounge areas, so after finishing our dinner we posted up for some old-fashioned fun with classic board games. From Backgammon to Chess to Battleship, everyone around us was busy playing games and it was truly refreshing to see people engaged in such a simple pleasure, instead of being attached to their phones.

Saturday morning

I woke up just in time to catch the 9 a.m. yoga class. Every Saturday through January 26 (it’s possible they will extend it), local company Unbeaten Yoga comes to teach a free class to resort guests. This wasn’t your average flow class: the instructor announced that we’d be doing Kundalini Yoga, which combines mantras, flow movements, intense breathing exercises, and sound therapy. I left feeling incredibly refreshed and energized.

Coast Kitchen serves breakfast, which you can order to your room, but we settled for a coffee on the deck after my yoga session and sadly bid adieu to our view.

Timber Cove offseason rates start at $239 mid-week and $299 on weekends. 

[Enter our contest to win a weekend at Timber Cove Resort]

DAY 2: MENDOCINO COAST

Saturday afternoon

Back on the road and headed north to the Mendocino Coast, we were eager to reach our next destination: Harbor House Inn in Elk.

Harbor House was built in 1916. Once owned by the Goodyear company, who used the home to showcase their lumber, the inn has changed hands many times over the years. It was recently remodeled under current ownership and reopened last spring. Like Timber Cove, Harbor House is situated right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. As a centerpiece of their panoramic view is a unique sea stack formation named Wharf Rock.

Our suite, the Oceansong, certainly lived up to its name. We could see the ocean from every room: the sitting room, the bedroom, even the bathroom, which had a window over the clawfoot tub. A pair of french doors opened onto a private terrace.

There was one thing noticeably missing from our room – a TV – and we had to dig through the welcome manual to locate the WiFi password. But that’s all part of what makes Harbor House a place for romance. 

Once again, we wanted to make the most of the daylight and so we set about exploring the inn’s grounds, which features gardens where the chef grows fresh produce, chickens, a hammock, and Adirondacks for taking in the view. My favorite feature, by far, was the private cove. Walking down several steep flights of steps, we reached a beach that was ours alone. We climbed through caves, hunted for abalone shells, and wrote our names in the sand.

Saturday evening

We took in another perfect sunset from another ocean-view deck. Afterwards, we got ready for dinner at the inn, which was the main reason we chose to stay here.

Mendocino County isn’t known for its fine dining. Most places are so casual you could wear sweatpants to dinner and no one would blink an eye. But Harbor House is changing that, and I’ll call it right now: I think they could nab Mendocino County’s first Michelin star.

I counted just eight tables in the ocean-view dining room and the first thing I noticed when we sat down was that there were chopsticks in place of traditional flatware. Before us was a 10-course tasting menu and we opted for the wine pairings, delighted to find that three of those pairings would be sake. We even got to pick our own locally-made ceramic cup to sip it from.  

The majority of courses featured seafood and rightly so (we’re on the coast, after all), running the gamut from albacore and Dungeness crab three ways—including a Dungeness crab tea—to sea urchin, abalone stew, and a toasted seaweed ice cream for dessert. There was one red meat course, Potter Valley lamb and lamb belly (one of my favorites), and several vegetarian dishes. It was not only one of the best meals we’ve ever had, but also the most creative.

Sunday morning

I was still full when I woke up on Sunday morning, but when the breakfast tray arrived to our room, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. We enjoyed our coffee with a colorful spread of pastries, a thick slice of prosciutto with cheese, and a phenomenal hot egg dish before another sad goodbye to a million-dollar ocean view. 

After two perfectly clear days, the drive home was gloomy and gray, matching how we felt about leaving the coast.

Harbor House offseason rates start at $339 mid-week and range up to $709 on weekends.