Burger with kimchi at Mint and Liberty in Sonoma. Courtesy photo.
Mint & Liberty Open: Exploring regional favorites from across the country, Mint & Liberty Modern Diner is already gathering buzz. On the extensive menu, Executive Chef Michael Siegel (Bix, Betelnut, Shorty Goldstein’s) brings together pierogi and baked beans (North) with enchiladas (Southwest), sprouted lentil salad (West), Shrimp Gumbo (South), matzoh ball soup and egg salad on Challah (East). There’s also an all-day breakfast menu, burgers (we’ll take the one with pork belly and kim chi slaw immediately) and family-style entrees (whole roasted chicken, clambake, SF-style cioppino) after 5p.m. Owners James Hahn and Mila Chaname also own Sunflower Caffe, Honey & The Moon Bakery and Chename wines in Sonoma. 19101 Hwy. 12, Sonoma, mintandliberty.com. Open daily from 8a.m. to 9p.m.
Bibi’s Becomes Mercato: Bye, bye Bibi’s Burger Bar; hello Mercato Pasta and Produce. Pivoting away from their downtown Santa Rosa burger concept, Chandi Hospitality Group has hired Chef Nevin Patel (who a couple weeks ago opened Indian concept restaurant, Bollywood, in downtown Santa Rosa) to spin up a sort of Eataly-light. Based around freshly-made pastas and sauce, along with a market selling local produce and other goodies, Mercato soft-opened on Nov. 9. Also on the menu, vanilla gelato, garlic bread, salads and arancini. We’ll have more details next week. 630 Third St., Santa Rosa, mercatopastaandproduce.com.
Also on the radar, The Farmer’s Wife (6760 McKinley St., Sebastopol) which opened in early October and serves up owner Kendra Kolling’s gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches along with soup and pastries. Kolling, who has been a farm-market and festival staple for years, lost her Kenwood home in last year’s wildfires, but bounced back with the new cafe. She’s also eyeing some bigger projects in the future, but for now her little spot in the sunlight of the Barlow seems just about right for a farm-fresh sandwich melt and warming tomato soup.
Chances are, if you’re a dog-owner, you’re taking hundreds of photos of your furry friend (trust us, we do the same). Now, in addition to posting those photos all over Instagram, you can submit your favorite shots of your pup to Sonoma Magazine’s Cutest Dog Contest!
This year, attend Pets Lifeline’s event Santa Paws and get your pooch’s picture taken professionally to submit into the contest. How cute is that?!
A full-page photo in Sonoma Magazine with dog’s name and bio.
A professional Sonoma Magazine photo shoot (and you will get to keep the photos!).
All applicants will get:
A digital faux Sonoma Magazine “Cutest Dog” cover with their dog’s image and name.
A photo in the “Cutest Dog” gallery on the contest page on sonomamag.com.
A complimentary 1 year (6 issue) subscription to Sonoma Magazine valued at $14.99. (If you are already a subscriber, your subscription will renew at the term of 1 year at the end of your current subscription.)
The top 10 cutest dogs will be voted on by the public during the voting period (Dec. 7 – 17). A winner will be chosen from among the top 10 vote earners by a panel of judges from Sonoma Magazine and our beneficiary, Pets Lifeline.
Deadline to enter the Cutest Dog Contest is December 5 at 11:59pm.
The fee for each submission is $30, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit Pets Lifeline.
Voting for the top 10 entries will be open December 7 – December 17.
Garlock Tree Farm in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
For those of us who dread the mid-December mall experience, Holidays Along the Farm Trails seems the perfect antidote to seasonal panic attacks. Starting on November 14, this utterly wholesome old-school event allows Sonoma County residents and visitors to get into the holiday spirit by visiting local farms, creameries, and cideries. Special holiday activities, taking place on weekends through January 1, 2019, include DIY workshops, artisan cheese, cider and honey tastings, as well as plenty of farm animals to pet. Visitors are also able to buy local gifts (often in the form of delicious artisan foods) or try their hand at making their own. Click through the above gallery for some of the highlights at this year’s Holidays Along the Farm Trails.
Holiday Along the Farm Trails is November 14 to January 1 and is free. Guests must RSVP to receive an interactive online map of participating destinations with all the details. Learn more and RSVP at farmtrails.org.
In wine country, there’s certainly no shortage of extraordinary places to rest your head. From local hotels and inns with perks like Japanese-inspired rooms with deep soaking tubs to luxury resorts with lawn butlers that put together the perfect picnic, choosing where to make your home away from home can sometimes be a tough decision. But if you dream of snoozing in the very thick of wine country hospitality, there’s no better place to wake up than at a winery. An added perk: you can sample wines, even take a nap afterwards, sans worries about who will be the designated driver. If this sounds like a dream come true, click through the above gallery for eight local wineries where you can spend the night.
Sipping vodka cocktails in the Hanson Distillery tasting room in Sonoma, one thing is clear: Wine tasting rooms have never been this fun. Don’t get us wrong, because the hundreds of wineries from Petaluma to Cloverdale have a good thing going, and this is, after all, Wine Country. But a handful of enthusiastic local spirt-makers are creating artisan vodka, gin, whiskey and liqueurs that are putting something other than wine on the local tourist maps. And my tasty cucumber vodka gimlet with edible flowers is (literally) proof of that.
Walking past huge copper stills at the heart of the family-run distillery, it’s hard to figure out where the myriad pots, towering condenser columns and spiraling metal pipes start and end. Inside one kettle, patriarch Scott Hanson points to a half-way point where wine is slowly heated and sent into columns as steam. In fact, Hanson’s vodka is — appropriately — made of grapes, giving it a different flavor profile than traditional potatoes or wheat. It also makes the finished vodka gluten-free (though there’s some debate as to the fact that all distilled spirits undergo a process that makes them gluten-free).
Inside two blue barrels, Scott’s son, Brandon shows how they naturally flavor their lineup of mandarin, ginger, cucumber and yes, habanero vodkas with actual fruit and produce. Permeable bags of fragrant Hawaiian ginger are pulled out of one barrel, trailing the unmistakably peppery sweet smell. It’s hard not to just dive in and swim around inside for a little while.
It’s all in the family, with brothers Chris, Darren and sister Alanna all taking a role in the production. “The boys got me into it,” says Scott Hanson. “The vodka space is dominated by ’nightclub’ vodkas. We wanted to do the opposite of that. We were looking for something more creative.” The Hansons also share space with the multi-generational Ceja family, who help them with the winemaking process that precedes the distilling.
“We cater more to the culinary world, to chefs and mixologists,” said the senior Hanson. Each of the flavors, including limited seasonal releases like boysenberry and espresso, are designed to complement cocktails. The habanero vodka, for instance, adds a spicy-but-not-too-spicy kick to bloody Marys, featured at Disney resorts and a reputed favorite of Walt himself.
In the tasting room, visitors can choose from a tasting of the complete Hanson vodka line in addition to craft cocktails like a Moscow Mule with a kick, spinning the traditional ginger beer and lime drink on its head with the aforementioned habanero vodka; dirty martini or strawberry lemonade infused with their original vodka. Cheers to that.
Want to visit? The tasting room is at 22985 Burndale Rd., Sonoma, tours and tastings available daily by reservation at hansonofsonoma.com. Prices range from $15 for a sample of their organic vodkas, $20 for tasting and a craft cocktail, and $35 for a VIP tour and tasting. A caviar and vodka tasting is in the works.
In addition to Hanson, here are some other great distilleries with tasting rooms you’ll want to check out.
HEALDSBURG
Alley 6 in Healdsburg. Courtesy Photo.
Alley 6 Craft Distillery: This tiny tasting room is worth seeking out if you’re a whiskey fan. Their Rye Whiskey is gaining serious traction on the awards-circuit, made with malted barley from Germany, and makes for a pretty spectacular Old Fashioned. We’re also pretty taken with their single malt whiskey, made in traditional copper alembic pots, aged in American White Oak barrels and available in the tasting room only. Their Harvest Gin, made with viognier wine pomace from local wineries results in a complex and tasty gin. Want something a little different? Owners Krystle and Jason Jorgensen (a longtime Stark’s bartender) love foraging around Healdsburg, and make a distinctive and delish candy cap mushroom bitters as well as a spiced peach liqueur made with peaches from Dry Creek Peach farm. Walk-ins welcome Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment Monday through Friday. 1401 Grove St., Unit D, Healdsburg, 707-484-3593, alley6.com.
Young and Yonder Tasting Room.
Young & Yonder Spirits: One of the sleekest tasting rooms, Young and Yonder recently moved their operations to tony Healdsburg, offering an alternative to wine tasting rooms around the square. Run by Josh and Sarah Opatz, their H.O.B.S Gin is a seriously hot commodity at local craft cocktail spots, made with Russian River water and a number of local botanicals. Fans of foraging, they’ve also released Fellows & Foragers Absinthe, made with classic herbs like anise and wormwood, ginger and tarragon. You can also taste their small-batch Stave Robber Bourbon, aged in oak for less than a year, and Persian lime vodka. Thursday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., 449 Allan Court, Healdsburg, 707-483-8077, youngandyonder.com.
PETALUMA Sonoma Coast Spirits: Citrus Basil and Jalapeno Lime flavored vodkas were named Oprah’s “Favorite Things” for July 2018. Based in Petaluma, Jill Olsen teams with her husband, Doug, to recreated family recipes for tasty infused vodkas, which also include sweet ginger and espresso, along with ready-to-drink craft cocktails and Zinfandel grappa from Howell Mountain. Tasting room open by appointment,1333 N. McDowell Blvd., F, Petaluma. sonomacoastspirits.com, 707-331-0718.
Griffo Gin
Griffo Distillery: Master Distiller (and Physics Ph.D.) Michael Griffo doesn’t leave anything to chance when he crafts his small-batch gins and whiskeys. According to Griffo, he uses “formal analysis and fabrication of innovative still-controls” for his distilling process, which means this ain’t moonshine, but balanced spirits. Michael and wife Jenny run the Petaluma distillery with “Betty” the 250-gallon copper pot still. The tasting bar is open Thursday and Friday from 4-8p.m. and Saturday, Sunday from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Tours are also available. 1320 Scott St., Suite A, Petaluma, 707-879-8755, griffodistillery.com.
SONOMA
Prohibition Spirits. Press Democrat
HelloCello/Prohibition Spirits: The first of a wave of bonded distilleries in Sonoma County, Prohibition Spirits’ Fred and Amy Groth paved the way with the most unlikely of spirits — Hello Cello Limoncello di Sonoma. Their sunny citrus liqueur is made with thousands of lemons at community “peeling parties” each year, an ode to the summery Italian spirit. They’ve expanded their repertoire to include Hooker’s House whiskey, Sugar Daddy Rum, Jack’s Gin, Chauvet Brandy and a handful of specialty bottles including Nocino Black Walnut Liqueur and Grappa. The tasting room is open daily at Cornerstone Sonoma daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with 3 tastes for $10. 23570 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, 707-933-7507, prohibition-spirits.com.
SEBASTOPOL
Spirit Works
SpiritWorks: It’s all about going sloe at this Sebastopol distillery. Made with owner Timo Ashby’s family recipe their signature Sloe Gin has a stunning ruby color, infused with a relative of the plum (sloe berries) that adds just a hint of sweetness. SpiritWorks barrel-aged Sloe Gin gets a rest in white oak barrels, adding depth and layers to the liqueur, available in limited quantities. Tours include plenty of licks from their Boston Terrier, Bandit. Tasting room open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., no reservation required, $18 for six tastes. Tours are Friday through Sunday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., $20 per person and require a reservation at spiritworksdistillery.com, or 707-634-4793. 6790 McKinley St. No. 100, Sebastopol (at the Barlow).
WINDSOR
Sonoma Brothers
Sonoma Brothers: First-responder twin brothers Christopher (a firefighter and paramedic) and Brandon Matthies (a police officer) have created some of the county’s most-loved small-batch bourbon as a side-hustle. You’ll see their distinctive bottles at better bars, including gin, vodka rye whiskey, and apple brandy, all made at their small Windsor distillery. Located in the aptly-named Artisan Alley, you can do double or triple duty by visiting the tasting rooms of several breweries and cideries nearby. Tasting room hours are daily by appointment, 7759 Bell Road, Windsor, 707-888-2120 or sonomabrothersdistilling.com.
Condra Easley of Patisserie Angelica makes salted caramel macarons in her bakery in Sebastopol, on Thursday, May 1, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)
Patisserie Angelica, the iconic Sebastopol bakery headed by sisters Condra Easley and Debbie Morris has been sold. Chief Baker Condra said last spring she was ready to retire and will be heading abroad. Whispers of the sale were rampant at the recent Heirloom Turkey Sunday Supper where Easley was featured as the dessert chef.
The great news: Sonoma County’s Jennifer Bice (formerly of Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery) and Gergana Karabelov of Mommy’s Yummy’s will be taking over.
It’s a win-win for the 24-year old bakery that was founded in Santa Rosa and moved to Sebastopol more than a decade ago. With a focus on local, sustainable and organic ingredients, it’s been a go-to for wedding cakes and pastries for years.
Jennifer Bice sold Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery in Dec. 2015 to Swiss company Emmi. More details to come.
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.
