Warning to drivers on Highway 101 near Rohnert Park — you may be severely distracted on Nov. 6 as the scent of freshly baked glazed Krispy Kreme donuts fills the air once more. That, or trying to figure out why hundreds of people are wrapped around the former El Torito on Election Day. Hint: They’re waiting for a chance to win a year of free donuts.
At precisely 6 a.m., Sonoma County’s newest donut shop throws open the doors. The first 25 guests in line get 365 days of glazed, chocolate-covered, strawberry-filled goodness gratis. The next 75 get a mug. Past that, you’ll have to settle for the satisfaction of buying fresh donuts for your grateful co-workers.
A former Krispy Kreme on Santa Rosa Ave. closed several years ago without much explanation, dimming its “Hot Now” sign to the consternation of fans. Replaced by a Starbucks, most were mollified, if not thrilled. Krispy Kreme has been satisfying the national sweet tooth since 1937, and fans know that when the red neon sign is on, that means warm donuts are ready for eating.
If you’re headed over on Tuesday, the location is 5090 Redwood Dr., Rohnert Park.
Election Day is right around the corner, and a handful of Sonoma and Mendocino county hotels are offering registered voters the incentive of deep discounts to drive traffic to area ballot boxes and, subsequently, to their premises.
Specifically, voters in the midterm elections can piece together a multi-night Mendocino vacation at various hotels for an average of 20 percent off regular rates.
Hoteliers aren’t tying discounts to how people vote; they just want to encourage voting.
“My eighth-grade government teacher had a poster on her wall that read, ‘Bad politicians are elected by good citizens that do not vote,’” says Cally Dym, owner of Little River Inn, a 66-room hotel on the Mendocino County coast. “That has always stuck with me and I don’t think any of us has a right to complain if we don’t take action ourselves.”
Dym and her husband Marc are leading the discount charge, offering 25 percent off new reservations at the highest rack rates through the end of the year.
To obtain this rate, guests must book online at the inn’s website directly (and not through an online travel agent), they must type “IVOTED” into the notes section at the end of the booking process, and they must show proof of voting at the time of check-in.
Further up the coast, in Mendocino proper, the 11-room Brewery Gulch Inn is offering a discount of 15 percent on new bookings through Feb. 28 if guests show a voting stub at check-in.
Owner Guy Pacurar says “anything to get people more involved in democracy” is a good idea.
“When you look at numbers for voter turnout, it’s pretty embarrassing,” he says, referring to the 20-year low in nationwide voter turnout during the 2016 election. “If the promise of saving some money on a room at our inn for the weekend will inspire someone to get out and take 30 minutes to vote, we’ll gladly extend the offer to anyone and everyone who goes and makes it happen.”
Hotels in Sonoma County are getting in on the voting discount game, too.
The Astro Motel in Santa Rosa is offering 15 percent off reservations between Election Day and April 30, 2019, for guests who post selfies to Instagram with their “I voted” stickers and tag the Astro’s Instagram handle, @theastromotel. Guests seeking the discounted rate must also book on the hotel’s website, use the promo code VOTED2018, and show their selfies at check-in.
At the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, voters will get 10 percent off bookings through the end of the year, as well as 10 percent off meals at the inn’s Michelin-starred restaurant.
“Now more than ever it’s critically important to vote,” says Managing Partner Joe Bartolomei, who notes that the restaurant discounts apply to food only and are valid on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights. “We can’t be complacent. We have to stand up for what we believe in.”
Bartolomei noted that the discounts also apply to snacks and meals from FARMSTAND, a more casual, farm-to-fork dining option that opened at the inn this summer and rolled out a new winter menu this week.
Back on the coast, John Dixon, owner of the Glendeven Inn and Inn at Cobblers Walk in Mendocino, says he believes in the “power of participation.”
“Midterm elections often have a low turnout, and our current political discourse has done nothing if not raise the awareness of our civic responsibilities,” he says. “This little discount will hopefully be a small carrot to someone who may not otherwise vote. Voting is our best way to get involved, and I support anyone who takes the time to get involved.”
Dixon is offering voters 20 percent off the highest rack rates at both properties through the end of 2018.
For a former New Yorker, it’s always easy to identify a recent Big Apple transplant still adapting to life in the Golden State.
First off, they tend to pepper conversations with phrases like “when I summered in the Hamptons” with alarming regularity. They shudder at the idea that Vans and jeans are perfectly acceptable upscale dining attire, as is eating before 8 p.m., and they believe that Brooklynites invented the farm-to-table dining concept.
Perhaps most ubiquitous, however, is the incessant complaining about the fact that it’s impossible to find a decent deli west of Philadelphia.
On that count, they have a solid point.
Enter the Manhattan Pickle from Sonoma Brinery, which more than a few of our Manhattan friends say takes them right back to Katz’s Deli. New Yorkers, suffice it to say, know their brined cucumbers, and don’t suffer California’s penchant for screwing them up with stuff like onions, lemon verbena, or god forbid, sugar.
Alexander Valley Gourmet owner David Ehreth says his Sonoma Brinery Manhattans were inspired by his dad, a native New Yorker.
“My passion for kosher pickles began as a kid when my father introduced me to real, barrel-fermented kosher pickles, the kind he remembered from his childhood,” says Ehreth, noting that the brinery’s Manhattan-Style Whole Koshers are made with fresh cucumbers, premium spices, and the same traditional barrel fermenting process that made this New York specialty so delicious.
That means whole spears (not pickle chips) that Ehreth refers to as “The King of Pickles.” They are salt-brined and barrel-fermented with nine different spices, fresh garlic, and sea salt — and without a trace of vinegar, a typical short-cut to pickling verboten to these koshers.
“For years after my initial introduction, I made kosher pickles as a hobby from my summer garden because you couldn’t find a real kosher half-sour pickle in stores west of the Hudson River,” adds Ehreth, who compares his pickles to those grabbed out of a New York deli barrel.
So, he started his own Sonoma County-based pickle company in 2004, now featuring everything from tangy bread and butter pickles to probiotic curtido, escabeche, sauerkraut, and of course the whole koshers — which are a best-seller.
Consider these garlic- and dill-spiced spears a taste of home for East Coasters, and a taste of the Lower East Side for us Left Coasters. Ess Gezunt (eat in good health)!
Sonoma Brinery products are available at Sonoma County stores, including Oliver’s Market, Whole Foods Market, Lazzini’s Market and Raley’s. More information here. sonomabrinery.com
Five piece nigiri at Sake 107 in Petaluma. Heather Irwin/PD
Sushi is the one food I think I could eat every single day and never get tired of. Raw fish atop vinegared rice is the pinnacle of simplicity, but one of the most difficult things to make well. I tend to be fairly forgiving, however. Click through the above gallery for 10 of my favorite sushi haunts — some upscale, some moderate, some very affordable. Because you never know when a sushi craving will hit! (Click here for zen gardens and places to stay in Sonoma County).
What are some of your favorite sushi spots? Let me know in the comments below.
Tyler Florence at a neighborhood gathering after the fires. Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
Capturing the most intimate moments of despair and heroism during the 2017 wildfires, celebrity chef Tyler Florence’s ‘Uncrushable’ looks unflinchingly at a cross-section of Sonoma and Napa disaster survivors bonded by loss.
Shot over three weeks as Wine Country still smoldered, it’s a time capsule of the shock and grief that was just beginning for so many. It’s a movie we all wish never had to be made, but a year later, it’s a poignant memoir of survival that Wine Country, and specifically Sonoma County, can be proud of.
Grateful Table setup Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
Though most of us are more familiar with Florence’s upbeat persona on Food Network shows like “The Great Food Truck Race” and “How to Boil Water, the one-time “sexiest chef alive” was able to pull off a film with gravitas, courage and hope.
Financially backed by Visit California, the state’s tourism publicity machine, Florence was tapped to direct and shoot the entire documentary in late October and early November while simultaneously coordinating a fundraiser dinner for 300 on the Napa-Sonoma county line. No sweat.
“I wanted to tell the story about what was happening while it was still going on,” said Florence, who screened the film for several hundred Sonoma County residents Oct. 19.
Tyler Florence at a neighborhood gathering after the fires. Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
A Marin resident for the past decade, Florence was deeply moved at the situation affecting so many of his neighbors. The movie culminates in Florence’s Grateful Table dinner.
“I made this movie for our neighbors here in California. I wanted to tell a story about the community, about hope, and those that rose above it and pulled themselves up from the ashes,” Florence said.
“Everyone loves Sonoma. Everyone loves Napa. I wanted to tell a beautiful story.”
At the screening earlier this month, muffled sniffles and sobs from the audience spoke to the rawness still felt by so many.
“Uncrushable” is being screened in various cities, and has already shown in New York and Toronto to sold-out audiences according to Florence. The documentary will be shown twice during the Napa Valley Film Festival (Nov. 7-12), and Florence will host a VIP dinner and screening at Robert Mondavi Winery on Nov. 9 with proceeds going to ongoing rebuilding charities.
Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
“As someone who talks for a living, I got a chance to just listen. It was harrowing and breathtaking at the same time. Now, 365 of days of putting that disaster in the rearview mirror, hopefully, we’re in the position where we’re healing,” he said.
Among those Florence interviewed for the movie was Peter Lang, owner of Safari West. Lang is credited with saving more than a thousand animals at the preserve with little more than garden hoses.
With flames encircling him, and his own home burning, Lang, 76, is a natural storyteller and steals the show with his unbelievable tale.
“Bravery was the biggest takeaway. You realize how difficult it is, what’s important when you have nothing left. I just wish we could have interviewed more people,” said Florence.
Note: The trailer to ‘Uncrushable’ may be extremely triggering. California Hope and many other agencies provide free counseling to anyone affected by the wildfires.
Fancy Fast Food story Gerard’s Paella Senorita Rosa, El Pescador,
Fine dining goes fast-casual at Sonoma County’s best order-at-the-counter joints. Click through the above gallery for the (drool-inducing) details.
You’ve been dreaming of your sophisticated supper all day. And now, it’s before you, in all its locally sourced, handcrafted glory. First is a platter laden with Sonoma Rosso Old World-style dry salame flecked with red wine, pepper, and fennel; black and white truffle salame; and heritage breed pork sausage laced with creamy ribbons of Sonoma County cheeses. The polished wood board is finished with assorted homemade pickles, boutique cheeses, and a just-picked rosemary sprig from the eatery’s own bushes.
Next up is a wood-fired, bubbly crust pizza smothered in roasted leeks, handcrafted honey-chile bacon, and farm egg. That’s followed by a juicy steak presented on a fancy wood plate with peppery arugula, Parmigano-Reggiano, grilled bread, and oven-roasted organic vegetables plucked from the garden that morning. The estate Angus beef, the menu explains, was open-pasture-raised on a Sonoma County family farm.
Wow, wonderful, you tell the cashier. Then you hand over your credit card and take your food to a low-slung, stone and metal table — because you’re dining at Journeyman Meat Company, a tiny meat shop, cafe, and wine tasting bar in downtown Healdsburg.
It may seem surprising, but increasingly in Wine Country, fine dining is no longer restricted to white-tablecloth, posh-service restaurants. Instead, we’re flocking to order-at-the-counter destinations like Journeyman where every ingredient is meticulously sourced and the decor is chic — with rich wood walls, white marble counters, and just a handful of tables in the charcoal-paint and animal-print-accented lounge.
And why not? Most of us know the difference between artisanal and mass-produced foods, and we expect the best whenever we eat out. Yet time-pressed, especially during the holiday season, we’re not able — or willing — to spend three hours on a meal. For that, we’ve become happy giving up luxuries like table service.
The trend first sprouted in 2010, when Karen Taylor Waikiki opened her El Molino Central in Boyes Hot Springs near downtown Sonoma. We immediately converged on the teal-tin-and-red-tile-trimmed taqueria, for top chef-caliber signatures like tortillas made from hand-ground organic heirloom corn masa, local halibut ceviche, and Mary’s chicken enchiladas with homemade Oaxacan red mole and Rancho Gordo heritage beans. We happily marched our plates through the kitchen to the parking lot picnic tables, grabbing beer or wine from the fridge on the way.
The same year welcomed the French-themed and still enormously popular fine-casual Water Street Bistro in Petaluma, followed the next year by Healdsburg’s The Wurst artisanal sausage bar. The Italian-themed counter-service Pizzando debuted in Hotel Healdsburg in 2012, and then we welcomed the Cal-Med-themed Franchetti’s in Santa Rosa in 2016, from classically European trained chefs John and Gesine Franchetti.
The list has boomed over the past year or so, as talented chefs look for greater simplicity in their operations. The common thread among all the successes are top-notch ingredients, chef-driven menus with seasonal salutes, food-savvy staff behind the counter, striking decor, and, in most cases, boutique wine and beer offerings.
Affordable prices make the equation even more attractive. So let’s dig in.
Mt. Lassen trout, cucumber, garlic aioli, arugula, radish,
pickled onion, Revolution country bread at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
When Peter Lowell’s opened 11 years ago it was something of a novelty. Chef Daniel Kedan (of Backyard) and owner Lowell Sheldon brought a farm-to-plate ethic to Sebastopol that far surpassed the lip service of many restaurants and took seriously its vegan and vegetarian menu … and it was excellent.
Over the years, several chefs came and went, putting their own stamps on the menu. Some good, some not as good, but the restaurant (now simply named Lowell’s) settled in as a solid neighborhood spot.
Baked cheese with Revolution Bread at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
As a destination, however, the restaurant has recently been overshadowed by Sheldon’s newer project, Handline, which opened in 2016. With a budget-friendly price point, quick walk-up service, soft-serve ice cream and one of the best restaurant patios in Wine Country, there’s a lot to love.
So, on the cusp of Sheldon’s opening of a third Sebastopol business, Fernbar, in the Barlow, it seemed like a good time to get back to basics and see exactly where Lowell’s stands today. The answer: It’s better than ever.
Cauliflower with raisins at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Ten years is a magical number for restaurants and one that few ever see. The fact that it’s impossible to even find accurate figures for the percentage of restaurants that survive a decade is proof enough. Roughly 30 percent of restaurants fail in a year (not the much-quoted 90 percent). Of those, about 60 percent will fail within five years, and 70 percent will be gone by 10 years, according to a joint study from Cornell and Michigan State University. That’s some pretty rarified air.
Eggs Benedict with roasted potatoes at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Sheldon and his collaborators, however, have bucked trends seen as impervious to success — like buying higher-cost, farm-driven local ingredients and charging customers what they feel is a fair amount for their food costs. They work tirelessly on the restaurant’s farm, Two Belly Acres, which provides unparalleled seasonal ingredients to the restaurant.
King salmon with ‘Farrotto’, beet, fennel, cucumber, herbed yogurt at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Perhaps most controversially, Sheldon has instituted a 20 percent automatic gratuity policy, something that has failed miserably for some restaurateurs, but helps pay staff a higher wage and offer health care.
“We enter our second decade with a more subtle understanding of our purpose,” says Sheldon. Sitting at the bar of Lowell’s on a Monday morning, he’s clearly proud of what the little Sebastopol space has accomplished and looking forward to what comes next. With a bit of gray now showing in his beard, Sheldon has weathered many storms over the last 10 years, now looking at life through the lens of a father and partner to Handline (and life) collaborator Natalie Goble. With Fernbar just months from opening, a collaboration between Sheldon and Chef Joe Zobel and Sam Levy of The Restaurant at Meadowood, he’s also become reflective of the restaurant that started the whole adventure.
Lowell Sheldon with partner Natalie Goble.
“We at Lowell’s have always been forward-looking. As change becomes the norm in our town, we look to embrace and influence that change by keeping true to our agrarian roots,” said Sheldon. “We are a farming town. We dedicate ourselves to an awareness of the value that farms bring and to a continued commitment to support their existence. We are humbled by our history and inspired by our future.”
Best Bets
Lowell’s is a laboratory of seasonality, so things change frequently. What remains are the staples — a mushroom pasta may become a butternut squash pasta. Braised greens may get the addition of squash, and tomatoes may all but disappear as winter advances.
Also, Lowell’s has recently moved to an all-day brunch menu with favorites from breakfast and lunch along with a few newcomers, like a scone plate and ricotta pancakes.
Currently, chef Tim Payne and sous chef Jillian Druzgala head the kitchen at Lowell’s, and we’ll be seeing some additional menu changes coming soon.
Antipasti platter at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Antipasti Platter, $18: Yep, we almost choked, too, at the price for some seasonal veggies and cheese. Until a heavily laden board of roasted corn, spicy greens, a whole roasted garlic, potatoes, farro salad, farm cheese, beets and goat cheese, a slice of frittata, Revolution bread and lush bean dip was placed in front of us. Oh. Yeah, worth every penny. Easily a small meal or large appetizer for two or three.
Smoked Trout Tartine, $16: If you’re not a . Mt. Lassen trout fan, you will be. Mild pink fish atop an open-faced sandwich with cucumber, garlic aioli, arugula, radish and pickled onion on Revolution country bread. Fork and knife required, but its a fresh, light luncheon dish that’s not easily forgotten.
Pizza Mela, $18: Woodfired pizzas are a signature, lacking the bitter carbonization of other crusts. Chewy and light, we love the apple, bacon, caramelized onion pie with pungent Gruyere, prickly arugula and Parmesan.
Mt. Lassen trout, cucumber, garlic aioli, arugula, radish, pickled onion, Revolution country bread at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Bruschetta Uovo, $16: Lemony Hollandaise, Revolution toast, poached organic eggs and roasted tomato. Getting hungry thinking about this bad boy, with roasted potatoes and homemade ketchup.
Macrobowl, $17: Since opening, this vegan(ish) bowl has been on the menu. For what it is — red rice, heirloom beans, braised greens, root and fermented veggies — it’s good.
You can top it with an egg or short ribs, along with miso ginger sauce. Frankly, there are so many things I like better on the menu, but the rippingly hot stone bowl filled with such healthy goodies is pretty persuasive.
Scone plate at Lowell’s in Sebastopol. Heather Irwin/PD
Tagliatelle, $20: Depending on the night, you’ll get a variety of ingredients, but diving into little “boats” of pasta with roasted tomatoes, duck confit, herbs and breadcrumbs is intensely satisfying.
King Salmon, $32: Farrotto with beet, fennel, cucumber and herbed yogurt.
Overall: This longtime Sebastopol favorite is worth a return, having spent a decade perfecting their farm-to-plate classics that rarely fail to impress.
Lowell’s is located at 7385 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol, 707-829-1077, lowellssebastopol.com.
On the anniversary of the firestorm, Sonoma Magazine shines a light on those who fought through our region’s darkest hours. During the month of October, we’ll introduce you to some of our neighbors who sought to make a positive difference.
Out of the ashes, heroes emerged: firefighters, paramedics and police officers; friends and strangers. Chefs cooked and distributed food. Neighbors took us into their homes and shared clothes, housewares and compassion. Caped crusaders entertained children in shelters. Mental health professionals gave counseling. Artists sought to make sense of the catastrophe, console and inspire.
Piece by piece, kindness by kindness, shingle by shingle, we came together to help our community on that long road back to normalcy. This is a part of the story we should remember as vividly as the fires themselves—the sense of hope borne out of acts of compassion.
John Roney, 56, Santa Rosa, Park Manager, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
“The night of the fires I was home, preparing for a trip to the East Coast the next day. I got a call from the park around 10 p.m. saying there was a tree down in the canyon with power lines in it. When I called dispatch, they said they were dealing with fires and didn’t know when they could get to the tree. I realized I needed to take care of the tree myself. As I was driving to the park, I got a notification on my phone that there were fires in Kenwood. By the time I got to Adobe Canyon Road [to get up to the park], there were fires on either side. It was a full-on evacuation by then. Nobody had any idea there were houses up Adobe Canyon so I went up there and knocked door-to-door to wake people up and get them out. I had a bullhorn. I stopped at each house honking. I must have hit at least 20 houses. Some places there was fire all around. I finally evacuated around 5 a.m. Months later, in December, we started with trail rehab. We finished the last major rehab project—a large bridge—on the fire anniversary. We still have three small bridges left, but for the most part reconstruction is done. We literally couldn’t have done all that work without volunteers. For me that’s the lasting impression: the community coming together to support the park. As part of the rehab, we had to carry three 20-foot redwoods a half-mile by hand. They weighed 650 pounds each. Four people on each side carrying them along. We’re still coordinating volunteers to help with rehab at sugarloafpark.org. Without these people I’m not sure where we’d be right now.”
Sonia Byck-Barwick, 50, Healdsburg, Co-Owner Paradise Ridge Winery
“We heard about the fire from our facilities manager, who lived in Fountaingrove. My husband, who is our winemaker, left our house in Healdsburg and went to the winery. By the time he got close, the fire was jumping the freeway. There was nothing we could do. We finally got up there on the morning of Oct. 10, 2017—two days after the fire. It was total devastation. Everything was a disaster. You looked around and it was chaos. I was really upset. Feeling very down. Then we talked to my Dad, who said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to rebuild.’ He didn’t even hesitate. There was no question for him—that’s what we were doing. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I needed to hear that. The place was his dream. He was determined to bring it back. In the days that followed, the story of the LOVE sign was one of the things that kept me going. It was not destroyed in the fire and became such a symbol of strength. My brother had taken a picture of it and shared it and unbeknownst to me that picture was everywhere. People shared it. People made it their profile picture. I got a text from someone I went to high school with; she lost her home in the fire but the picture of the LOVE sign was on her kids’ Facebook page. The fact that it was a sign of hope for so many people was moving. Art will continue to be a huge part of what we do at Paradise Ridge. We broke ground on rebuilding earlier this month and that project means a lot to us and the community. I feel lucky knowing how many people are behind us and cheering us on.”
James Gore, 40, Healdsburg, Supervisor, 4th District, Sonoma County
“When we had those bad floods a few years ago, I was doing video updates, and people were interested in that. When this disaster happened, I knew the messaging was something I needed to do even better. I also was frustrated with sitting in county’s center with a bunch of elected officials when I knew that videos were what people wanted. So I went out into the field, found the right people to interview for the latest information and presented that information to people on my Facebook page. I shot the videos guerilla-style. These interviews weren’t about me; they were about people I was interviewing. I have access and I have an ability to communicate with people. That was all I needed to get this done. The process was interactive; people were commenting on the videos and asking me to do updates on certain areas. I would read them and go and bird-dog what they asked. I became an investigator more than anything. I’d take questions, ask the questions, and incorporate the answers into my videos. About three days in, I realized I wasn’t doing anything in Spanish. So I started doing that at night. The responses were amazing. My normal posts get a few hundred likes. These started around 1,000 likes and the next day they would jump to 10,000. The comments jumped from 100 to 450. Some were shared tens of thousands of times, in cases far beyond our community. It was inspiring to use social media for real news in a time when it’s so often affiliated with hate and trolls. The whole experience proves that it’s not really about the tool you use, but how you use it.”
Caitlin Childs, 34, Santa Rosa, Director of Communications, Community Foundation Sonoma County
“I’m from Santa Rosa but was living in Oakland last year on the day of the fires. I was there for graduate school. I woke up that morning to about 15 text messages asking if my parents were OK. I immediately texted them and called and texted all my friends. My great uncle lived at Varenna [near Fountaingrove], and we didn’t know where he was for 24 hours but found him at an evacuation site. I ended up coming back to Santa Rosa the next day and volunteered at the Community Foundation. They were starting to put together the resilience fund. I helped them start thinking through how they might want to talk about what they’re fundraising for. Officially, I joined the organization in January. A lot of what we’ve been doing over this last year is continuing to fundraise for long-term fire recovery. We’re looking at creating fundraising and grantmaking programs that will last for at least the next five years. We’ve raised $14.5 million dollars. We’ve granted $1.8 million so far. We’re looking at making another round of grants at the end of this year in December. We have come up with three core areas to focus our giving: helping individuals impacted by fires, healing the longterm effects of trauma, and housing. We’ve done grants for the first two. Housing is our next round of grants. It’s really exciting to be able to help the recovery by awarding this money. I quit grad school to do this. It felt like the right thing to do and I don’t regret the decision. It’s not often you get a call to action as clear as this was for me.”
Greg Sarris, 66, Penngrove, Chairman, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
“I live up on Sonoma Mountain and got a call from a neighbor around 2 a.m. The neighbor told me Santa Rosa was on fire and the mountain was, too. To be honest, I panicked, thought only of the manuscript I was working on, grabbed it and three pairs of underwear, and ran out the door. I live facing west toward the casino and Rohnert Park, and as I came down the hill, I saw Santa Rosa ablaze. I knew then: I had to get the casino. The place was packed with people who had evacuated. More were coming. Our goal became making them feel comfortable. By 4 or 5 a.m., we got a bunch of coffee machines and things to eat and put them in the marketplace for people who would be coming in. They were totally free. By 8 a.m., the hotel lobby started filling up with people who were displaced. One of the sights I’ll never forget was a group of elderly people who were evacuated from a convalescent home nearby. There were 20 to 30 hospice-care patients on oxygen camped out in our lobby. They had nowhere to go. We let them stay a while. As we learned how many of our employees were affected, we opened up as many hotel rooms as we could, freeing about 120 of them and providing accommodations for 104 team members and their families. Most of them stayed the whole week. Some ended up staying three weeks. The last big thing we did on the day of the fires was donate $1 million to the Redwood Credit Union fund. That was our way of giving to everybody we couldn’t reach or help. We just wanted to do whatever we could to help.”
Grateful Table setup Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
Capturing the most intimate moments of despair and heroism during the 2017 wildfires, celebrity chef Tyler Florence’s ‘Uncrushable’ looks unflinchingly at a cross-section of Sonoma and Napa disaster survivors bonded by loss.
Shot over three weeks as Wine Country still smoldered, it’s a time capsule of the shock and grief that was just beginning for so many. It’s a movie we all wish never had to be made, but a year later, it’s a poignant memoir of survival that Wine Country, and specifically Sonoma County, can be proud of.
Grateful Table setup Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
Though most of us are more familiar with Florence’s upbeat persona on Food Network shows like “The Great Food Truck Race” and “How to Boil Water, the one-time “sexiest chef alive” was able to pull off a film with gravitas, courage and hope.
Financially backed by Visit California, the state’s tourism publicity machine, Florence was tapped to direct and shoot the entire documentary in late October and early November while simultaneously coordinating a fundraiser dinner for 300 on the Napa-Sonoma county line. No sweat.
“I wanted to tell the story about what was happening while it was still going on,” said Florence, who screened the film for several hundred Sonoma County residents Oct. 19.
Tyler Florence at a neighborhood gathering after the fires. Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
A Marin resident for the past decade, Florence was deeply moved at the situation affecting so many of his neighbors. The movie culminates in Florence’s Grateful Table dinner.
“I made this movie for our neighbors here in California. I wanted to tell a story about the community, about hope, and those that rose above it and pulled themselves up from the ashes,” Florence said.
“Everyone loves Sonoma. Everyone loves Napa. I wanted to tell a beautiful story.”
At the screening earlier this month, muffled sniffles and sobs from the audience spoke to the rawness still felt by so many.
“Uncrushable” is being screened in various cities, and has already shown in New York and Toronto to sold-out audiences according to Florence. The documentary will be shown twice during the Napa Valley Film Festival (Nov. 7-12), and Florence will host a VIP dinner and screening at Robert Mondavi Winery on Nov. 9 with proceeds going to ongoing rebuilding charities.
Still from ‘Uncrushable’ by Tyler Florence.
“As someone who talks for a living, I got a chance to just listen. It was harrowing and breathtaking at the same time. Now, 365 of days of putting that disaster in the rearview mirror, hopefully, we’re in the position where we’re healing,” he said.
Among those Florence interviewed for the movie was Peter Lang, owner of Safari West. Lang is credited with saving more than a thousand animals at the preserve with little more than garden hoses.
With flames encircling him, and his own home burning, Lang, 76, is a natural storyteller and steals the show with his unbelievable tale.
“Bravery was the biggest takeaway. You realize how difficult it is, what’s important when you have nothing left. I just wish we could have interviewed more people,” said Florence.
Note: The trailer to ‘Uncrushable’ may be extremely triggering. California Hope and many other agencies provide free counseling to anyone affected by the wildfires.
