Long summer days and warm nights are here – cue the urge to escape the office! Here are some unique Sonoma-made or Sonoma-based items to keep you feeling comfortable and stylish during your summer travels. Click through the gallery for details.
Interior designer and Olive + Rose proprietress Chelsea Miller takes a holistic approach to home design. Miller, who grew up in Petaluma and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise in San Francisco, believes a home’s decor should be focused on individuality and comfort, reflect the history of the building, and create a welcoming spot for guests to gather.
Her most recent home design project involved a challenging structure: a rundown fixer upper she and her husband, Andrew Miller, purchased in the Montgomery Village area of Santa Rosa.
“We couldn’t believe that nobody wanted this house. It was the summer of 2016 and everything was flying off the market,” says Miller of the 1950’s ranch home. The renovation process revealed a worse-than-expected condition, but the couple was able to unearth and accentuate the home’s unique attributes.
The yard was full of treasures planted long ago that had become obscured by a mass of overgrown ivy. The Millers removed the ivy to reveal roses, jasmine, tulip magnolias and an olive tree. The home’s interior redwood siding, painted white, really beckoned during the house-hunting process, and Miller’s design (mostly modern and natural elements) played off the ordered look of the horizontally-lined backdrop. Pine vaulted ceilings were kept as they were, striking a warm and pleasing contrast to the white walls.
Miller says her husband felt an obligation to be “good stewards of the house,” which they estimate fell into disrepair in the mid ’80s. Miller said she wanted to “listen to the house,” and design to honor its original character.
Miller’s use of white makes for a crisp and quiet canvas for surprise spots of pattern and color from carefully chosen elements: ceramics, original artwork, blankets and more.
“Instant gratification and emotional buys are my jam. I love buying things I’m not supposed to. I’ll always find art, pottery and textiles,” says Miller who opened her own retail space—Olive + Rose on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa and online—to offer unique finds to enhance a home or to give as gifts.
Miller believes individual expression is essential in design, and she recommends her clients fill their places with meaningful pieces like original art and well-made objects. She encourages clients to buy the best pieces they can afford, even if they have to go slowly.
Decorating slowly is the key, which is the inverse of Miller’s biggest design dislike: the fast design and “homogenized look of real estate flippers.” Miller says designing a house for profit results in “the cleanest aesthetic at the lowest price point,” a look that’s “so thoughtless.”
Miller’s design sense was also informed by her years in retail, some of which were spent working in Tennessee and North Carolina, a major buying and manufacturing hub for the home decor industry.
In addition to the home decor scene, Southern hospitality made a big impact on Miller, and she sees it as an important dimension of a well-designed home. Even for a gathering to watch a football game, southerners freshen their homes and hosting is done “with intention,” Miller says. “No one eats on paper plates. Something is always made from scratch.”
Miller likes to “freshen” her house naturally by opening windows and then adding handmade soaps and candles. Her criteria in choosing these items is, again, scrutinizing. Smells must be subtle and natural and ingredients must be biodegradable. The packaging of the candle matters, too, as the look impacts the visual space.
Miller says these additional efforts make guests feel important. She adds that it’s great to give a thoughtful gift when visiting someone. “Practicing thoughtfulness, which impacts others, is good for you, too.”
Miller paraphrases a popular quote that further illustrates her approach to design and living, “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. If you’re generous in one way, you’re generous in all ways.”
Making cheap hamburgers comes at a high cost, according to Garrett Sathre, the owner of the recently opened West Handmade Burgers in Sonoma (technically Boyes Hot Springs).
A born and bred Sonoman, he’s a passionate advocate for grass-fed, sustainably-sourced organic beef. He also understands that $20 for a burger, fries and a milkshake is out of touch for everyday eaters.
That’s why he spent two years working with nearby Stemple Creek Ranch to source a great burger and try to keep surging costs at bay. It wasn’t an easy process, but he’s done it.
Instead of just buying ground beef, Sathre and his wife, Nicole Benjamin, purchase a whole cow each week from Stemple Creek. They flip patties for lunch and dinner daily and sell high-quality cuts of beef from a small refrigerator at the front of the restaurant. It’s your one-stop beef shop.
“It’s a one-cow philosophy,” says Sathre of his purchasing, “and this is the best meat on the planet. To get the best meat on the planet, you have to pay a premium. Look, this is the same meat that Chez Panisse is using.”
The restaurant offers five plays on their grass-fed burger — plain ($9 includes homemade sauce, onions, tomatoes, butter lettuce and homemade pickles and ketchup), cheeseburger ($10.50), a Point Reyes Blue cheese burger ($14), a smoked cheddar and fried onions West Burger ($13.50) and the luxurious Truffle Burger ($15).
“It was a light-bulb moment for me,” he says of selling the meat as well as making burgers.
Similar to Bel Campo Meat Co. in Marin and San Francisco, West Handmade Burgers is both butcher shop and a restaurant. They sell at least 50 pounds of ribeye, New York strip, coulotte, tri-tip and filets a week.
“It really does take people to change their shopping habits to think about where they get their meat, fish and bread,” he says, promoting the idea of specialty stores rather than supermarkets.
What’s the Difference?
Grass-fed/grain-finished means the animals eat grains at the end of their lives to produce more fat in the meat. Grain-fed cows typically eat soy and corn in concentrated feed lots. Most people are used to grain-fed meat’s fattier taste, and it can be a learning curve to get used to the leaner, more intense flavor of grass-fed meat.
“I get so bummed out seeing conscious eaters eating junk.” said Sathre, referring to other burger spots that don’t use grass-fed meat. “This should be important to everyone.”
He claims there are so many “shades” of grass-fed beef, organic and antibiotic meat that most consumers don’t know what they’re eating. He believes that local cows allowed to graze on grasses are the pinnacle of both sustainability and a good product. Grass-fed beef contains less fat and is typically considered healthier.
“I just want people to get a taste of this,” he says.
As for the first month of business, Sathre says, it’s been a whirlwind. In addition to the usual learning curves, the restaurant’s front windows were vandalized. “We’re finally catching our breath. The first week and a half is just a blur. You ask if everyone is OK,” he said. “Now we’re making the restaurant into a living, breathing thing.”
Best Bets: Uh, the burger?
The menu is really simple. They have hamburgers. You can get them plain or fancy. You can get a vegan patty. You can get a double patty. You can add bacon. We asked for ours medium rare, because grass-fed tends to get dry.
Ours was just a shade past medium rare, but still juicy and flavorful. Tomatoes are still a little green, and it seems a shame to even offer them up, since ours got tossed. The most perfectly crisp lettuce. Sweet ketchup. Splurge on the Truffle Burger with mushrooms and truffle cheese.
Sathre said he’s going to be adding some new specialty things to the menu in the coming weeks, including a lamb and harissa burger, salmon burger, bison burger and salads.
Fries: Regular ($2.50) or Truffle Parm ($3.50). Excellent fries, not too greasy, need seasoning. They’re still working to get the truffle fries perfected, using truffle salt and truffle cheese along with a hint of truffle oil. I’d like them more truffly, but the cheese is really good.
Thirsty? Shakes are made with real ice cream, real chocolate. Hard not to finish one. Beer and wine available along with sodas.
Overall: A great burger with a great conscience.
West Handmade Burgers is at 18375 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 707-343-1479, facebook.com/WestHandmadeBurgers
Sunshine, checkered blankets and wicker baskets full of freshly prepared grub — yes, it’s picnic season and you’re ready to nosh on your favorite sandwich under a shady tree. But instead of going to your usual crowded public park, why not add some wine to your basket and dine by the vineyards?
Among Wine Country’s hundreds of wineries, there are several offering gourmet food experiences that go beyond the typical wine tasting. Elevate your dining alfresco game and check out our list of the best Sonoma County wineries for picnics – bring your own food, or let some of these wineries provide it for you. Click through the gallery for details.
Living in a place that just about everyone wants to visit has its pros and cons. For some reason, it’s easy to forget to take advantage of the benefits – especially when it comes to local hotel offerings.
In Sonoma County, staycation options range from dreamy spas and ryokan-style suites with granite soaking tubs to charming vineyard B&Bs and breathtaking coastal getaways.
Sonoma’s MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa has long been a favorite among locals and visitors. The historic wine country property recently received a facelift and now boasts updated rooms and common areas, a new restaurant, bar and coffeeshop. Click through the gallery for a peek inside plus tips on what to see and do in the surrounding area.
29 E. MacArthur Street, Sonoma, 707-938-2929.
Wine Country roots run deep. There’s a fascinating story to be told about how this area became one of the premier wine growing regions in the world. But the hows and whys have a knack for getting lost when you’re happily sipping and swirling away — few are those who can remember the details the sommelier or tasting room server shared.
Prolific Napa Valley entrepreneur and vintner Jean-Charles Boisset is on a mission to make wine lovers a little more savvy. His latest business venture, 1881 Napa – the first wine history museum in Napa Valley – invites visitors to explore the history of the region through a self-guided tour.
“Napa Valley has a powerful place in American wine history and 1881 Napa puts the region in perspective on the world stage,” said Boisset in a press release.
As to be expected from a man known for his flamboyant style, Boisset’s new museum is equal parts informative, entertaining and extravagant. And there’s wine tasting, too. Click through the gallery for a peek inside.
1881 Napa, 7856 St. Helena Highway, Oakville, 1881napa.com. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reservations are recommended and can be made here.
Just in time for prime patio dining season (and for us to enjoy these unusually warm pre-summer nights), online reservation service Open Table has released its annual roundup of the 100 best al fresco dining restaurants in America. This year, one Sonoma County restaurant – The Girl and the Fig in Sonoma – and two Napa Valley spots made the list. Click through the gallery for more details and check out our list of the top Sonoma County restaurants for outdoor dining.
The Open Table list, which highlights restaurants that offer “stunning views, delicious menus and incredible outdoor dining experiences worth the trip,” is generated by diners using the reservation service. Honorees are determined after analyzing more than 12,000,000 reviews of more than 30,000 restaurants across the nation.
In what is maybe the best example of service journalism we’ve seen in a while, the brilliant staff of The Washington Post’s Food and Weekend sections decided to answer one of the summer’s most important questions: Which low-calorie beer is the best?
Turns out, it’s none other than Petaluma’s own Lagunitas DayTime IPA, which took home top honors from a highly competitive field.
Lagunitas DayTime IPA, clocking in at 4 percent ABV and 98 calories, was praised for its drinkability, crispness and fresh taste. The Post called the beer the clear preference among its panel of taste-testers, who sampled five beers in all.
To qualify for the taste test, the brews had to follow a set of guidelines put in place by the Post team: No light lagers (they weren’t interested in tasting beers trying to compete with Miller Lite, they explained), wide availability and close to 100 calories.
Lagunitas DayTime IPA beat out Kona Kanaha Blonde Ale (4.2 percent ABV, 99 calories), Boulevard Easy Sport Ale (4.1 percent ABV, 99 calories), Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty Lo-Cal IPA (4 percent ABV, 95 calories) and Harpoon Rec. League (3.8 percent ABV, 120 calories).
Tough competition, to be sure. Makes us wonder how they’d fare compared to some of our favorite Sonoma County summertime sippers. Click through the gallery to see what beers we can’t wait to bring to barbecues all summer long.
Singer-songwriter Star Amerasu, a.k.a. Ah Mer Ah Su, is an artist that defies classification. Her voice has a unique timbre—Paper Magazine calls it “a hybrid of Nina Simone meets Anohni meets Britney Spears.” Her music, sometimes labeled “poptronic,” transcends genres—it blends “a message of activism and self-love” with electronic beats and “catchy-yet-hypnotic pop sounds.” But there’s one thing about Amerasu that remains simple and clear: she stays true to her first name.
A rapidly rising star on the music scene, the Oakland artist’s EP Rebecca was named one of KQED’s best Bay Area albums of 2017. A year later, Billboard picked her debut album, Star, as one of the top 20 albums by LGBTQ artists in 2018. This Father’s Day Sunday, June 16, she will headline new queer music festival “Father’s Gay” at Santa Rosa’s Whiskey Tip. Amerasu will be joined on stage by a lineup of local performers celebrating young LGBTQ+ artists and activists—Oakland-based foursome Copyslut, electro-acoustic artist Tyler Holmes, mixed media visual artist and multi instrumentalist El Primo Inocente, and lo-fi experimental pop project Kohinoorgasm are some of the featured acts.
“This lineup is my dream lineup,” exclaims event organizer Chelsea Rose Kurnick, who is also Vice Chair of Positive Images, a local nonprofit organization that provides support and advocacy to Sonoma County’s LGBTQ+ youth and young adults (20 percent of Father’s Gay ticket proceeds will benefit Positive Images).
Kurnick believes in the power of music as a tool for activism, mentioning the liberating role of dance music in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. She hopes to amplify this energy with a festival that brings together the LGBTQ+ community while also showcasing local performers who are “loud in their multiple identities.”
“Ah Mer Ah Su’s music has an emotional core and pop hooks that will reach anyone with a pulse, but she’s explicitly writing from her experience as a Black transgender woman,” says Kurnick and adds “Copyslut play raucous cabaret rock dressed in lingerie, and sex worker justice is at the heart of their message.”
In addition to musical performances on an outdoor stage, the Father’s Gay festival will also feature a DJ, art-making and drink specials created in partnership with spirits brand Diageo (proceeds from drink sales will benefit Positive Images).
Tickets to the festival are $25, a relatively low price compared to similar music events. Kurnick says her intent is to create an affordable experience that “isn’t pressuring people to buy something, to look any certain way or be any certain way,” instead, she wants the festival to be “a space for queer people to feel safe just being.” She hopes that the musical lineup and the inclusive nature of the event will attract Sonoma County locals as well as LGBTQ+ people from across the Bay Area.
Bronwyn Simmons contributed to this article.
What: Father’s Gay queer music festival
When: Sunday, June 16, 2019, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Whiskey Tip, 1910 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa
Tickets: $25, 20 percent benefits Positive Images, purchase online at fathersgay.bpt.me.
More information: Iridescence Events was founded in 2019 by local event producer Chelsea Rose Kurnick. She hopes to make Father’s Gay an annual event. Kurnick is also the Vice Chair of Positive Images.
Dining outside is delightful. But what about when you’re more focused on a few Bloody Mary’s, a cold beer or a tasty glass of rosé with a few nibbles? That’s our idea of summer fun in the sun. Click through the gallery for a few of our favorite family-friendly, sometimes dog-friendly, spots to cool off.
