First it was tequila and now it’s beer – it seems the Napa Wine Train keeps getting sidetracked. On June 18, it diverts from its regular wine route as it turns into The Hop Train, taking passengers on a beer-infused trip through Napa Valley. The two-hour experience, hosted by local craft brewery Napa Palisades Beer Company, includes a two-hour “rail tour,” small bites and Palisades brews.
“We’re putting beer before Bordeaux and cans before corks,” says the Hop Train website. Napa Valley Wine Train managing editor Rich Evans says they are “excited to showcase the region’s incredible beer offerings and provide an alternative experience for those interested in trying something new.”
And something new it is. This is the first beer-centric experience offered by the Napa Valley Wine Train and it also features a new addition to the train: an open air car with 360-degree views. The two-hour trip includes tastings of three Napa Palisades beers: Loco IPA (7.5% ABV), 1849 Gold Rush Red Ale (5.7% ABV), and Little Loco Session IPA (4.9% ABV). Pub grub bites, prepared by the train’s culinary crew, will include chipotle chicken tacos, caprese salad, buffalo wings, mushroom toast, and smoked duck sliders.
The Hop Train starts June 18 and runs through October. Tickets start at $75 per person and $50 for locals. napavalleywinetrain.com.
America has its fair share of blockbuster restaurants and Michelin stars but, like everywhere else, the best way to dine out (for those of us with average bank accounts) is to eat like a local. While the hotspot du jour might be appealing, the neighborhood restaurant is where you really get a sense of the local culture and cuisine. The food may not be buzzworthy, but you can count on getting a decent meal.
To help hungry travelers and food enthusiasts navigate to the best neighborhood restaurants in the country, Bon Appétit magazine asked some of the most interesting people they know—chefs, novelists, activists, comedians, NBA players, and more—to let them in on their “most-trusted haunts;” places that “make no claim to be the newest or the trendiest.” Among the top picks is Napa’s Butter Cream Bakery. Although we were a little surprised not to find any Sonoma County restaurants on this list, we were also relieved that our favorite hidden gems were not revealed to the masses.
Click through the gallery above to see some of the best Sonoma County bakeries, and let us know in the comments about your favorite neighborhood restaurants (criteria: where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came…).
My phone started blowing up at 8:30 this morning. Chefs aren’t known for their early morning tweets, but when Anthony Bourdain, the patron saint of offal and raconteur of all things edible is found dead in a French hotel room, news travels fast in Sonoma County.
Bourdain, 61, died after an apparent suicide. Best recognized for his CNN travelogue, “Parts Unknown” and groundbreaking kitchen tell-all, “Kitchen Confidential” the news of his passing reverberated through the culinary world, eliciting farewells from former President Barack Obama, close friend, Chef Eric Ripert, food writer Ruth Reichl and thousands of others in the food world who extolled his rogue approach to eating.
Ari Weisswasser of Glen Ellen Star, who once served Bourdain at Restaurant Daniel in New York, was one of the first in Sonoma County to post his thoughts on Instagram, saying “You told me that when they ban foie gras, you would make sure we always had a source. Rest In Peace brother.”
Ari Weisswasser’s Instagram post
“I got a text from my brother in New York this morning about Bourdain, and I thought it was a prank,” said Weisswasser. He recounts the dinner where he served Bourdain–one filled with exotic ingredients that included wild doves, boar, hare, doves and the legendary ortolan. The tiny bird is eaten whole with a napkin placed on the diner’s head so God won’t see the shameful and decadent thing you’re doing. “They did the whole napkin thing,” said Weisswasser. Seriously.
“After dinner, he came to the kitchen and asked to bum a cigarette. Obviously, he chain-smoked and he had cigarettes with him, but I think it was just a way for him to break the ice and meet the cooks,” said Weisswasser, who was just 23 years old at the time. “We spent a good 30 minutes with him and I think he felt more comfortable with us than all the big names in the room.” With all the fuss about the foie gras ban in California at the time, Bourdain told the cooks that he would always find a supply for the delicacy for them, should they need it. It made an impression on the young cook.
“I think we can all relate to him in some form. On your way up in the kitchen, it’s a grind, it’s never-ending. His books described it perfectly, and I think anyone who has worked in a kitchen like that can relate to the pressure, the heat, the relief after dinner service,” he said. “No one does this for the money, and you need that immediate gratification that puts a smile on your face and brings you back the next day,” Weisswasser said.
Known for his bad boy persona and proud middle finger to anything he found sycophantic, Bourdain rose to the public consciousness in 1999 with a New Yorker essay about the horrors and wonders of a restaurant kitchen. Bourdain was the first back-of-house cook to tell the world what really happened behind the swinging doors with gut-churning descriptions of his time at New York’s Brasserie Les Halles and other restaurants, and trust us, it wasn’t pretty.
Following up with the seamy, un-put-downable Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly in 2000, Bourdain chastised diners who ordered fish on Monday (it’s been sitting around since Friday, he claimed) or bellied up to a steam table brunch buffet, like rubes (grossing us all out that it was mostly leftovers).
But his candor and punk-rock attitude also inspired a generation of chefs. “Reading Kitchen Confidential as a line cook was a game changer,” said Chef Heather Ames, a longtime chef at Skywalker Ranch who currently works at Cardinal Newman High School.
Bourdain was always the anti-celebrity chef, poking fun at anyone he thought lacked the real chops to be telling the rest of us how to cook. The Food Network’s Guy Fieri and Sandra Lee were favorite targets, though any misstep in the food world was fodder for his sharp wit. Emerging at a kinder, gentler moment when clean-cut faces like Emeril Lagasse, Alton Brown, Rachel Ray and Paula Deen ruled the Food Network, Bourdain ripped open the curtain to show us the bloody entrails behind the scenes.
For Jesse Mallgren, executive chef at the Michelin-starred Madrona Manor in Healdsburg, the news of Bourdain’s death hit especially hard. Bourdain has an 11-year-old daughter who he doted on, but now leaves behind. Mallgren himself lost his father at a similarly young age.
“You never know what demons other people have. As someone who lost his father to suicide, this one hits close to home. So sad…” said Mallgren on his Twitter feed on Friday. Mallgren was a fourth-grader when his father took his own life, causing him years of pain and confusion. “I still don’t understand it,” he said.
“I’m a chef, too, and I can see how someone would want to escape from everything, but being on the other side of it, and seeing personally, I can’t imagine doing that to your kid, to the people you love. It was pretty difficult as a kid to understand why your dad would do that,” he added.
Mallgren’s son, who is the same age he was when his father died, was top of mind Friday morning, “I feel so responsible for my kids I can’t imagine doing that to them. How miserable are you that you would do that?”
Mallgren acknowledged that the kitchen can be a mecca for people who aren’t always comfortable in traditional jobs. “People who don’t always like talking to people gravitate toward the kitchen. You can hide behind the pans and put your head down in the back of the house. Those kinds of likeminded people work with you. There’s a great camaraderie among cooks and they understand each other,” Mallgren said.
“It doesn’t matter how famous you are, we’re all basically the same. We all have our problems,” he added.
Others in Sonoma County recounted inspiration from his books and travelogues. “He was funny, irreverent, roguishly handsome, a great storyteller…I loved his series as it evolved into being more about the people and country with food as the connection,” said Condra Easley, co-owner of Sebastopol’s Patisserie Angelica
In 2010 when Bourdain came to Santa Rosa at the (then) Wells Fargo Center with Eric Ripert, I felt a mix of awe and the impish desire to poke the tobacco-stained, boozy bear, writing:
“I just can’t quit Anthony Bourdain. He’s a smug, foul-mouthed, boozy nihilist. He’s a poster boy for the schticky celebrity chefs he routinely skewers. His kitchen-cred is admittedly questionable, he’s not shy about where women belong, and the whole Quentin Tarantino channeling Hunter S. Thompson gets a little grating after 40 episodes or so.
Yet we, his brooding followers, can never get enough of King Tony’s bad boy antics and alcohol-fueled adventures. As the Patron Saint of Egoist Chefs, Dean of Maliciously Delicious Tweets and Railer Against Food D-Baggery, we eagerly dissect every episode of No Reservations and now, The Layover. We cheer as countless Kitchen Dimwits, Culinary Poseurs, food writers, and, well, most of the Food Network fall upon his sword. Huzzah!”
During public questions at the event, I challenged Bourdain to explain his feelings on the then-foie gras ban in California, a sticky wicket in the food world if there ever was one. What shocked me was his answer. Instead of throwing out some thoughtless quip studded with f-bombs, Bourdain seemed actually frightened about the whole subject. He said that after numerous run-ins with animal activists, some of whom had threatened his family, he felt that maybe it just wasn’t worth fighting about. I nearly fainted with surprise — but honestly, I think that behind the bravado, Bourdain had the same weaknesses and worries as the rest of us.
“The shock is like a punch to the gut. His work was like a rare jewel, Treasured and coveted. His simple style of questioning his hosts about their lives, their joys, their foods is something I share with the culinary classes. Could watch him interview a blank slate and it would interest me. His daughter is the one to be considered in this situation.” – Marie Ganister, instructor and academic coordinator, Windsor High School.
As someone who has worked closely with many folks in the restaurant industry, I know also first-hand the addictions and mental illness that are rife in creative professions. Bourdain made no secret about his mercurial ways and proclivity for hedonism.
“I’m still here — on my third life, or maybe fourth. Who knows? I should’ve died in my 20s. I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s. I feel like I’ve stolen a car – a really nice car – and I keep looking in the rearview mirror for flashing lights. But there’s been nothing yet,” he told Biography in 2016.
It’s sad and horrible all around, and the man who cut through all the bullshit of celebrity chef-dom and gave us a window into the steamy life of a kitchen drone is gone. No doubt he’d think all the love letters, back-patting and smarmy goodbyes are ridiculous. But somehow deep down, I think he’d also appreciate how many of us he inspired while running from the lights.
Need help? Reach out. Please.
North Bay Suicide Prevention 24-hour hotline: 855-587-6373
NAMI Sonoma County warmline: 707-527-6655
Sonoma County Psychiatric Emergency Services: 707-576-8181
For information on Sonoma County support groups, call 707-527-6655 or go to namisonomacounty.org
7/7/2013: D1:
PC: The meditation garden at Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, in Freestone, on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
Feeling like you need to get away from it all? Or maybe you’re just looking for a getaway that’s different from the wine country norm. An easy drive is all it takes to feel a world away at Sonoma Valley favorite Gaige House in Glen Ellen. Recently renamed Gaige House + Ryokan, the inn now offers zen seekers a Japanese-inspired experience in a Sonoma County setting.
Built in the 1800s, the historic property (once a butcher shop and country home) featured some Asian inspired touches before the latest redo, but with the official name change comes a new level of Japanese aesthetic, and a number of new amenities inspired by traditional Japanese inns called ryokans.
The property features 23 guestrooms, nine of which have been turned into ryokan-style suites. The suites include the types of things guests have come to expect from high-end hotels, like comfy king beds dressed in soft linens, fireplaces, and private, outdoor patios. But it’s the Japanese touch that makes Gaige House + Ryokan stand out in the crowded field of wine country lodging. In addition to those much-loved Coyuchi robes, guests staying in the inn’s “Ryokan Zen Suites” can don classic yukata kimonos, and geta or zōri slippers while sipping sake and indulging in ice cream mochi, both found in the suite’s refrigerator.
Every Ryokan Zen Suite features a private karesansui rock garden and gurgling fountain that can be viewed from the bed, or while relaxing in a deep granite soaking tub. Traditional Japanese hinoki wood bathing accessories like mats, stools and ladles are within arm’s reach.
A Meditation Deck, tucked into a secluded corner of the property, overlooks Calabazas Creek. Steps away, a large oak tree, decked out with swinging chairs and glowing lanterns, screams zen in an Instagram-worthy kind of way. Pack your swimsuit, there’s also a pool and hot tub.
Gaige House fans can rest easy knowing that many of the things they’ve long loved about the property remain. Fresh baked cookies still appear, like magic, every afternoon. Now, in addition to the likes of chocolate-chocolate chip, you’ll find matcha cookies in the mix. Wine and cheese is served daily from 5pm to 6pm in the sitting room of the main house, and each morning a complimentary breakfast buffet is served, with selections like oatmeal banana pancakes, granola, and fresh orange juice.
Room rates for Ryokan Zen Suites, Creekside, range from $549 to $699 in low season; to $699 to $739 in high. 13540 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen, 707-935-0237, thegaigehouse.com
Nearby Zen Sonoma County Spots
Chances are, you won’t want to leave those swinging chairs, but there are nearby spots worth a visit to keep the zen-filled getaway momentum flowing.
Quarryhill Botanical Garden features 25-acres of rare and beautiful plants from Asia. Along with Magnolias, dogwoods, and maples, you can see other blooming beauties like roses, lilies, and rhododendrons. Open daily from 9am to 4pm. 12841 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen, 707-996-3166.
Ever been forest bathing? The practice of shinrin-yoku, which originated in Japan, is all about unplugging and letting nature help you feel good. (There’s no bathing, by the way, just typically very slow walking.) Sugarloaf Ridge State Park hosts a Forest Therapy Series as part of its Parks RX for Health program the 4th Saturday of each month. The next session is set for June 23, 9:30am to 12:30 pm. 2605 Adobe Canyon Road, Kenwood, 707-833-5712.
When hunger strikes head to Shiso Modern Asian Kitchen in Sonoma for noodles, sushi, and sashimi. 19161 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 707-933-9331.
Venture a little further to the west for a meditative spa experience at Osmosis. The Freestone day spa and sanctuary features zen gardens and a series of Japanese treatments, including a signature Cedar Enzyme Bath. 209 Bohemian Hwy, Freestone, 707-823-8231.
There’s no shortage of topnotch places to eat in Sonoma County (here’s our roundup of the 50 best restaurants in 2018). From Sonoma to Sebastopol, Healdsburg to Petaluma, there are so many great restaurants here it is sometimes hard to decide where to have your next meal – especially on an empty stomach. To help hungry people navigate the Santa Rosa dining scene, Yelp has published a collection of top 10 restaurants – based on recent reviews – that updates weekly. Click through the above gallery for the latest picks.
The World Cup may be over and the French have their trophy, but for Nigerian-American Forestville resident Julius Ujeh, soccer is not just a seasonal affair. It is a way of approaching life.
Known as “Chief” to friends and family, the perennial soccer coach and former professional player was initiated to the sport as a young boy, kicking a ball barefoot in his Western Nigerian neighborhood.
In his early teens, a nearby mission school took notice of Ujeh’s athletic talent and granted him a high school scholarship. But on his very first day at school, he was sent home—it was required that all students wear shoes.
“We were poor, most of my friends had no shoes,” said Ujeh. “I remember the only time I got shoes was at Christmas. Every year, I would grow taller and outgrow the shoes, but my dad would say, ‘That’s it. You wait until next Christmas.’ That was the way it was.”
At the mission school, Ujeh remembers being a bit overwhelmed—it was an institution populated by mostly better off students.
“I just brought a sack of rice with me to the boarding house. There were these kids with milk, with sugar, coming with beverages!”
But Ujeh found a way to fit in: he played soccer, volleyball and handball; he joined the track and field team. He soon became known as one of the best athletes in the school.
When a fellow student gave him a pair of soccer shoes, everything changed for Ujeh. Sports became his life. He trained day in and day out. He played soccer professionally from 1980-84. The sixth fastest man in Nigeria, he qualified for the Nigerian track team for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Unfortunately, his dreams of Olympic competition were not realized: Nigeria was able to take only its top four runners to the United States.
Undeterred by this reversal of fortune, Ujeh gathered every last penny that he and his family could collect and, with his visa already approved, he set out to visit the United States. In America, while sleeping on friends’ couches to get by, he was lucky enough to meet the head soccer coach of Boston University who offered him a full scholarship.
But his transition to the United States and college life proved more difficult than Ujeh anticipated. He failed out of school.
Again, undeterred by misfortune and with “luck and God’s help,” he was offered a fresh start on the soccer team at Salem State University in Massachusetts.
After graduating from college, Ujeh played pro football (soccer) in Denmark for a few years before starting work at Gillette.
When he was offered a job in California, he was confident that the move would be a great fit for him — “I asked the [recruitment] woman, ‘Do they play football [soccer] there?’ and when she said yes, I said ‘I’m good then.”
Ujeh moved to Rohnert Park in 1994 and soon found himself on the soccer field once again, playing with strangers. “That is how I started making a life in California,” said Ujeh.
Monica Rowley, then owner of Sports City, was one of the people he met while playing soccer. Rowley, now one of the owners of the Epicenter sports complex in Santa Rosa, was quick to recognize Ujeh’s kind spirit and work ethic both on and off the field.
“He’s tireless, talented, and he cares so much about others,” she said.
Ujeh grew to love Sonoma County. He moved into a low-income housing project in Forestville in 2006.
“People may look at my house and think it is no big deal. Looking at my background and where I come from, this is my castle,” said Ujeh. “America gave me an education, showed me that if you are worthy, if you are honest, and if you can work, the sky is the limit.”
Ujeh is not a rich man, but he feels strongly about the need to give back. In Healdsburg, he worked to get kids out of gangs through soccer. Over the years, he’s coached numerous soccer teams throughout Sonoma County, and has found fulfillment working with the homeless.
“I would go to homeless shelters, and I would see if any of them could play. Then we train, and we work to move through the obstacles,” said Ujeh.
At the Redwood Gospel Mission in 2006, he discovered a young and struggling Cornelius Bracy Jr, who later went on, with Ujeh’s help, to represent the United States in The Homeless World Cup. (Read the full story here)
In 2013, Ujeh decided to do something for the children of his home country.
“A lot of people who are from impoverished countries, they come here and get comfortable. They don’t want to go back. At first I was fighting it. I thought, ‘God, why are you putting this burden on me? I don’t have money, I don’t have this, I don’t have that.’ But you always have excuses to not do a lot of things.”
How did he plan on giving back? Through soccer, of course.
Ujeh had founded Spitfire Leadership & Sports Academy in 1992 in the US. He returned to his home country to establish a Nigerian version of the program in 2013, and began working with young children. He rented a tractor and with the help of a few friends set about fixing a giant crack which ran through the center of the soccer pitch. He started the first girls soccer teams in his Western Nigerian neighborhood when his wife, whom he’d met upon his return to Nigeria, asked what he was going to do for the future of his two little girls, Lydia and Sophia.
His latest goal? To create a real soccer field for the local youth and build turf fields able to survive the annual floods.
In addition to raising funds, Ujeh spends much of his yearly disposable income on the Spitfire soccer program. Because he doesn’t make enough in Nigeria to finance the entire operation, he returns to his Forestville home during harvest season to work as a weighmaster for Clos Du Bois Winery.
He spends summers in Sonoma County volunteering after work and picking up used jerseys, shoes, and trophies at Salvation Army to bring back to Nigeria.
Monica Rowley, his friend from the soccer field, has donated hundreds of jerseys and shoes over the years through her non-profit, The Goals Foundation. Santa Rosa’s Atletico soccer club donates trophies and medals they’ve won so that Ujeh can bring them back for Spitfire tournaments in Nigeria.
“Football is such a powerful tool that changes people’s lives. When I came here, I saw people playing in Rohnert Park. I didn’t know who they were, and they were speaking Spanish. I didn’t speak Spanish, but we started playing soccer and we understood each other. The language: one ball and we know what it’s for. That is why it’s such a universal game. That is why I want to bring it home,” said Ujeh.
Monica Rowley has set up a fund through The Goals Foundation to support Spitfire in Nigeria. If you are interested in learning more about the program, or contributing to the fund, it can be found here.
The motto of the Laugh Cellar, the only comedy club in wine country, is “macerate in comedy!” Come July 19, comedy fans will be able to do just that when the Wine Country Comedy Fest returns to the Santa Rosa club.
Now in its third year, the festival has been expanded from three to four days due to its popularity, said Lisa Pidge, festival promoter and co-owner of the Laugh Cellar. This year’s lineup includes an interesting blend of stand-up comedians performing at the Laugh Cellar stage over the course of four fun-filled days.
The Laugh Cellar is known for its efforts to promote diversity on the comedy scene, something that is evident in this year’s festival, which includes performances by trans woman Jeena Bloom, Cheri Hardman, who began her comedy career at the tender age of 54, Native American comedian Brian Bahe, and Shanti Charan, who was voted Best Bay Area Comedian 2016 by the Guardian and hosts a podcast celebrating South Asian food and comedy, called Mixing Masala.
“Our mission at the club is to work with talent that are professional, admired by their peers and present meaningful, relatable – and hilarious – content,” said Pidge. “We truly believe that each comic in the line-up this year is a ‘one and only’ talent.”
One of those comics is Jenny Yang, a labor organizer-turned-comedian, writer, and actor. In 2016, she was named a White House Champion of Change for her leadership in Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling and she’s been featured in the New York Times, LA Times, and on the BBC.
Yang has an infectious personality filled with wit and wisdom, and channels her intellectual pursuits into a no holds barred comedy style of “equal parts happy and angry.” “I’m the opinionated friend who will always tell you the truth about her personal life and about the world,” said Yang.
Yang has performed several times in Sonoma County, at shows organized by Pidge, and is a big fan of the Wine Country Comedy Fest.
“One of my favorite places to play is Sonoma and wine country,” said Yang, “Pidge puts together a festival full of soul and love and we can all feel it. Everyone is excited to be at the shows and that makes the night super fun.”
In addition to serving up a whole lot of laughs, and witty commentaries on topics like sexuality, gender and race, the Wine Country Comedy Fest will also be pouring plenty of wine – as is customary in this region. Laugh and wine pairings include “Spit AND Swallow: A Wine Tasting Comedy Show,” during which a sommelier and three comedians “teach” the audience about wine. The audience sips alongside those on stage, while the sommelier offers their learned approach to wine and the comedians offer their own unique, “notes of hilarity.”
The Wine Country Comedy Fest takes place at the Laugh Cellar (5755 Mountain Hawk, Santa Rosa) July 19-22, with package and individual show tickets available starting at $28. crushersofcomedy.com.
Country Summer is coming up next weekend (June 15-17). The three-day Santa Rosa event draws country music fans from near and far — with headliners like Florida Georgia Line, Little Big Town, and Toby Keith, it’s one of the hottest happenings in Sonoma County this summer. And it can get really hot, too. Last year, temperatures reached triple digits. To help you stay cool and make the most of your festival experience — before, during and after the shows — we’ve listed a few suggestions in the gallery above. Don’t forget to pack the sunblock!
If you are attending Country Summer, let us know which country act you are most excited to see!
There’s something about Americana style that evokes a sense of nostalgia. In the fashion world, it’s a trend that ebbs and flows. In the ‘90s, brands like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger brought back star spangled style with bold prints in red, white and blue. Now it’s making another return – at least according to the style gurus. Click through the above gallery for some Sonoma based finds to help you feel Betsy Ross chic.
The guest is greeted with an array of dishes presented on a bed of wood, moss and ferns at SingleThread Farms Restaurant in Healdsburg. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
WHAT’S MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN A MICHELIN STAR? Having the team of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants take notice of your restaurant after just 18 months.
SingleThread restaurant and farm has received theMiele One to Watch award for 2018, usually a precursor to a spot in the top 50 in subsequent years. According to organizers, the award “celebrates emerging global talent and recognizes a restaurant that is outside the main 50 Best list, with strong potential to rise up the ranking in the near future.” The fledgling restaurant received two Michelin stars in 2018.
Husband and wife team Kyle and Katina Connaughton (he’s the chef, she’s the farmer) opened in late 2016 and is a bespoke dining experience (emphasis on “experience”) located just off the Healdsburg Square.
Focused on micro-seasonal ingredients with strong Japanese influences, the restaurant’s attention to detail, precision cooking techniques and commitment to using products from their small farm at just the moment of peak perfection has attracted the attention of both critics and serious gastronomes. The 52-seat dining room has an open kitchen that’s nearly silent during service, with at least 11 courses that are both culinary and artistic masterpieces.
Other recent winners of the One to Watch Award include restaurants in Barcelona, Sydney and Cape Town, along with San Francisco’s Saison in 2014.
“We are so proud to bring this recognition to Sonoma Wine Country and to continue to share what we love about this beautiful place with our guests,” said Kyle, who is a strong advocate for the county and recently raised more than $500,000 for Sonoma County fire survivors.
