Cook Like a Pro at Home: 4 Sonoma Kitchen Stores

By Karen Kizer
Stephen and Laura Havlek, proprietors of the Sign of the Bear kitchenware and tableware shop, in front of their First Street West location. (Photo by Robbi Pengelly/Index-Tribune)

It makes sense that a place as foodie-riffic as Sonoma would have the tools to make magic out of the region’s well-farmed foods. And because man cannot live on boutique eatery meals alone, the home cook can find the supplies to become a master in his or her own right (and home). We’ve picked out a few favorite kitchen stores that stock pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.

Family and Food Traditions: I Leoni, Petaluma

Nancy Leoni, owner of I Leoni in Petaluma, fondly remembers her grandmother cooking “a pot of sauce on Sundays.” Leoni developed a passion for food and cooking as a child, while joining her grandmother to select and buy produce at Sacramento farmers markets.

Opening her kitchen and housewares store 14 years ago on Kentucky Street in Petaluma was the realization of “a lifelong dream” that Leoni “finally had time for” when her youngest of four children was in high school, says Regina Leoni, Nancy’s daughter.

Regina, a licensed attorney who helps out with her mother’s business, says “(Nancy) loves to gather and nourish people” and can make a flower arrangement that looks like “a still life.”  

Nancy, who majored in Home Economics at Sacramento State, has stocked her store to reflect her skills and interests: fine linens and serveware in the front and kitchen supplies in the back. 

Leoni believes Sonoma County is “lucky to have such wonderful resources for our food,” and that a good meal can be made with basic tools and just “a few good ingredients,” a sentiment she tries to convey to customers, especially young couples beginning to stock their kitchens.

Nancy says she cherishes the smells and flavors of her childhood and that when she needs to “step back,” cooking a meal from scratch helps “reboot” her. “The house smells so good,” she says.

120 Kentucky St, Petaluma, 707-762-9611, ileoni.com

Sonoma Pride: Sign of the Bear, Sonoma

The Sign of the Bear kitchen store has been in the Sonoma Square since 1972, a time with “more cows and less grapes” according to current owner and longtime Sonoma resident Stephen Havlek. Havlek has owned the store since 1992 with his wife, Laura, a lifelong Sonoma resident herself, who says, “we are so grateful for this valley,” citing the heroic acts of fellow Sonomans during the fires.

The 2000 square feet Sign of the Bear retail space is heavily stocked with kitchen necessities (about 16,000 skus worth) that range from All-Clad and quality knives to novelty items like dish towels and mugs printed with “oddball sayings that make you laugh,” says Stephen. Fun is a focus for the couple, whose aim is to meet the kitchen needs of their Sonoma Valley customers, many of whom they know by name.

“We try not to leave the kitchen,” says Stephen about the store’s inventory, which is less focused on linens and the accoutrements of fine dining than it is on top notch cookware, utensils and tools. He describes the Sonoma style of entertaining as “opening a bottle of wine and putting out cheese and crackers.”

“How lucky we are,” says Laura of what she calls “a very ordinary career” that gives her great satisfaction. “You get to help people delight the people they love.”

Laura adds that “the company (they) keep” is a big part of their success. Sonoma’s beauty, “the remarkable food and unfussy daily life are the gems here,” along with “the open heartedness of the people in our town.”

435 1st St W, Sonoma, 707-996-3722, signofthebear.com

Local Institution: Plaza Gourmet Healdsburg

Plaza Gourmet Healdsburg has become something of an institution at its Healdsburg Square storefront, where it’s been open for business for nearly 40 years according to current owner Darlene Powell. The full service kitchen shop has everything from linens to appliances to The Cheese Knife. This “drafted”-blade, non-sharp knife cuts anything from soft cheese, fudge and cheesecake and is the top seller of all 6000 items stocked.

The store sells top lines like All-Clad and Le Creuset to locals, including chefs, and to tourists who often decide on wine barrel lazy susans or “Healdsburg”-inscribed aprons and totes, logical keepsakes from a wine, food and boutique mecca like Healdsburg – without souvenir shops. 

108 Matheson St, Healdsburg, 707-433-7116, healdsburgkitchenstore.com

Historic Kitchen Store: Hardisty’s, Santa Rosa

A visit to Haridisty’s, with its rows of the latest kitchen appliances, wouldn’t make you think that the store has its roots deep in Santa Rosa’s history. But the modern-looking store on Farmer’s Lane had its beginnings in Santa Rosa as far back as 1898, when it was known as the Continental Tea & Crockery Company.

Fourth generation owner, Steve Hardisty, attributes the store’s longevity to “good old fashioned customer service.” The store is not only stocked with big name appliances, but also has a factory authorized service department for Kitchen Aid, Braun and Oral B, and can service food processors and espresso machines.

Well-stocked shelves of old standby and new kitchen gadgets, and a sales staff with an enthusiasm for their products, give Hardisty’s a toy store vibe – that is for people who love to cook.

1513 Farmers Ln, Santa Rosa, 707-867-0827, hardistys.com

Crushing on Wedding Shopping: 8 Buys for the Bride and Groom

By Karen Kizer

Wedding season is kicking into a high gear, so we’ve picked out some Sonoma finds for the bride- or groom-to-be. “To have and to hold from this day forward,” goes the ceremony, and here those words have inspired some must-haves for the time before, during and after the wedding – click through the gallery above for details.

9 Events to Celebrate Earth Day in Sonoma County

By Sarah Stierch

From environmentalists to activists, school children to gardeners, scientists to winemakers, millions of people around the world will celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 22. 

Founded in 1970 in response to a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Earth Day started as a series of demonstrations promoting a sustainable, healthy environment. Today, it is celebrated in 192 countries. In Sonoma County, celebrations range from wildflower hikes, to family fun, wine tasting, and farm-to-table meals. Click through the gallery above to discover 9 events to celebrate Earth Day in Sonoma County. 

Willi’s Wine Bar Return Was a Hard Decision

By biteclub
Sign from Willi’s Wine Bar taken down from its original location. Photo: Terri Stark
Before the ashes of Willi’s Wine Bar had cooled last October, restaurateurs Mark and Terri Stark knew they faced a difficult decision — whether or not to rebuild their iconic Santa Rosa restaurant. 
 
In the six months since the fires, it’s been an unrelenting question posed to the couple by friends, family, employees and loyal fans of the 16-year-old restaurant. Until two weeks ago, Stark said she wasn’t sure what the answer would be. But in late March, Terri posted a cryptic picture of the scorched Willi’s Wine Bar sign disassembled on the ground to her personal Facebook page. “What goes up, must come down, and go up again. Right?” 
 
A flood of responses to the post overwhelmed the couple. “It was just huge, I don’t know how many hundreds of messages I got. People were calling our home phone and leaving voicemails,” she said.
 
Though she remained mum on the exact details of the post for more than a week, Stark has now confirmed that a new Willi’s Wine Bar will open in Santa Rosa next fall. They hope to open on Oct. 8, exactly one year since the wildfires began. The decision to reopen wasn’t an easy or quick one, she said.
 
“For a while it was ‘Oh poor us, Willi’s is gone’. I couldn’t envision a location that would be right for Willi’s to reopen, and we knew it would never be the same, but then Mark and I got kind of angry and decided we really weren’t done with Willi’s,” she said. 
 
“We went through all the stages of death with the restaurant,” she said of the shock, denial, anger and finally acceptance that the first restaurant the couple had opened was really gone. “There was such an outpouring of support from people all over. People were sending checks, and it’s unbelievable the number of people who hand wrote letters about how special the restaurant was to them. I could only take so much of that. I said, ‘We have to bring it back’.”   
 
Stark would not say where the new location would be, but confirmed that it would not be in their former Old Redwood Highway property and that they would be renovating an existing space. “Opportunities presented themselves,” she said.
 
It’s still hard for Stark to think about the quirky wine bar where she and Mark spent every day together when they opened in 2002. “It was our dream, me in the front of the house and him in the kitchen. That was the only one of our six restaurants where we were able to do that. We got money to open it from anyone who would answer the phone. It was kind of like a breakout role for an actor, a foundation that allowed us to continue forward and open six places,” she said. The Starks opened Willi’s Seafood in Healdsburg fifteen months later, then Monti’s, Stark’s Steak and Seafood, Bravas Bar de Tapas and most recently Bird and Bottle, which Terri said would be their last restaurant when it opened in 2015.
 
Staff displaced by the closure have been absorbed into the Stark’s other restaurants, but Terri said that many of the Willi’s staff had been at the restaurant for more than a decade and are ready to reunite. She also said that the restaurant was insured and the money they received after the fire will cover the cost of  rebuilding. Nothing, however, from Willi’s survived the fire aside from two propane tanks from outdoor patio heaters, the sign and a special horseshoe that once hung over the back door.
 
“It was there when we moved into the space. it was never even really attached to the building,” said Stark. “We went over after the fire, and we were just walking through the debris. I didn’t know Mark was looking for it. But he picked it up and said, ‘Okay we can go now.’
 
“Willi’s was the perfect little nugget of a restaurant,” said Stark. “A new restaurant will never be the same, be we’re excited for Willi’s Part 2,” she said.
 
The Starks have also announced plans to open a Jewish-style deli called Grossmans Jewish Noshery in early 2019. The name pays homage to Terri’s heritage and maiden name, Gross. The couple have long wanted to create a delicatessen in the region inspired by those in New York that serve everything from chicken liver to bagels and schmears. They’ll make their own challah, rye bread, and bagels, but Stark calls it Jewish, since it won’t be strictly kosher. “I want to be able to have bacon and not get in trouble,” she said.

Stay in a Tree in Sonoma County: 5 Treehouse Vacation Rentals

By Christina Molcillo
Located on the 400-acre Salmon Creek Ranch in Bodega, Eagle’s Nest Treehouse features a wraparound deck, queen bed, bathroom and modern amenities. (Salmon Creek Ranch)

With miles of redwood forests, there are plenty of camping spots in Sonoma County that make for fantastic weekend getaways for fans of foliage. But you don’t have to settle for a tent in the woods. For an overnight experience – high above the hard ground – click through the gallery above for custom treehouses, available for rent.

There’s No Place Like West County: 12 Ideas for a Russian River Getaway

By Shana Bull
A lazy summer day on the Russian River in Monte Rio, Thursday Aug. 27, 2015. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2015

Redwoods, river-beach vibes, and Russian River Valley wines. West Sonoma County can sometimes feel like a different world to the rest of the county – and this makes it a perfect staycation spot for locals looking to get away from it all. Spend a weekend exploring the river towns of Guerneville, Monte Rio and Duncans Mills, just miles away from the Pacific Ocean. When you live in Sonoma County, there’s no need to travel far – click through the above gallery for some getaway ideas in your own backyard. 

Cocktail Classic: Best Bars for a Martini in Sonoma

By Sarah Stierch

The Martini is an iconic American cocktail. The origin of the coveted drink is unclear and remains debated, but one theory, supported by many in the Bay Area, is that it was invented by a bartender in Martinez in Contra Costa County. Whether you like yours with gin or vodka, shaken or stirred, check out the gallery above to discover the best bars to sip Martinis in Sonoma County.

Author Daniel Mallory Ortberg to Read from New Book at The Astro in Santa Rosa

By Sofia Englund

Author Daniel Mallory Ortberg’s career is a tale of internet stardom – not in the viral, clickbait, Kardashian sense, but in the smarter-than-thou, tongue-in-cheek kind of way; a millennial take on Oscar Wilde, some might say. Described as “a multi-faceted, spinning-top type of genius — flexible, lightning-quick, complicated, unfathomable,” by New York Magazine’s The Cut, Ortberg has made a mark with a writing style and persona that is hard to pin down. With razor sharp wit and idiosyncrasy, he has engendered the kind of loyal following that is rare in a time of short attention spans and fleeting interests.

Ortberg began honing his writing chops at websites and blogs like The Hairpin, where he served up acerbic pieces on offbeat topics. In 2013, he founded feminist website The Toast together with Canadian author Nicole Cliffe. The site soon reached cult status for its parodic reworkings of classic literature and art; Ortberg once drolly described the target audience as “librarians.” He then released his first book, Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters,” in 2014, in which he reimagined characters of classic literature communicating with cellphones. In 2015, Ortberg was included in Forbes’ “30 under 30″ list in the media category while, in the same year, Slate announced he would take over the magazine’s “Dear Prudence” advice column from Emily Yoffe.

Ortberg’s latest book, The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horrors, is one of the most anticipated books this spring, according to NPR. The book recasts classic folk and fairy tales, like The Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, “to make them resonate with new takes on romantic love, property rights, abusive relationships, gender roles and the stuffed animals we hold dear – and their unsparing lack of sentimentality.” As in Texts from Jane Eyre, the adaptations are boisterous and playful, but this time the writing shades toward the darker. In Ortberg’s version, Cinderella is named Paul, Belle’s mother is a “high-powered executive with investment woes,” and The Little Mermaid, after morphing into a girl, discovers the disadvantages of being human by experiencing “a sudden and profound sense of isolation.”

On Friday, April 20, at 8 p.m., Ortberg will be reading from The Merry Spinster in Santa Rosa. The reading will be held at an intimate event space within The Astro, the newly reborn midcentury motor lodge just south of downtown Santa Rosa. The event is hosted and organized by local resident Chelsea Rose Kurnick in partnership with The Astro. Visiting poet Nicole Connolly will open the reading and a Q&A with Ortberg will follow.

“I’m thrilled to bring Ortberg to Santa Rosa and equally excited to be working with The Astro, whose commitment to Santa Rosa’s Arts District is inspiring,” says Kurnick. “There’s space to create more arts events in Sonoma County; I am particularly eager to plan more programming that will welcome and appeal to young folks and LGBTQ-identified people in our community.”

Tickets are free and required, as the event is expected to reach capacity. To redeem your ticket, click here. Anyone who wishes to book a room at The Astro on April 20 and/or 21 will receive a 15% discount if they call the front desk to reserve (707-200-4655) and mention the name “Ortberg.” For more information about The Merry Spinster, please visit us.macmillan.com. Books will be available onsite for purchase through Copperfield’s Books.

What: Daniel Mallory Ortberg reads from The Merry Spinster
When: Friday, April 20, 2018 at 8:00 p.m.
Where: The Astro Lounge at The Astro Motel, 323 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa 95404
Cost: Free
Tickets: ortbergattheastro.bpt.me

About The Merry Spinster: A collection of darkly playful stories based on classic folk and fairy tales (but with a feminist spin) that find the sinister in the familiar and the familiar in the alien—from Daniel Mallory Ortberg.

Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Ortberg’s boisterous good humor and uber-nerd swagger: those new to Ortberg’s oeuvre will delight in this collection’s unique spin on fiction, where something a bit mischievous and unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.

Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night. Bedtime will never be the same.

 

Style Movers, Shakers and Makers: Four Sonoma Women Entrepreneurs Thriving in Retail

By Karen Kizer

Sonoma County is known for its many sipping and supping options. But in between tasting rooms and bistros, there are some very fine boutiques with fashionable buys available.

At a closer look, one can see that much of that style originates right here in Sonoma through keen-eyed curation and sometimes actual product creation to get “the look” of wine country. Some stores sell that wine country style to a wide customer base via their online presences.

But the best story is the people making the magic through sheer drive, passion and quest for expression through style. Sonoma’s own entrepreneurs are making their small business mark in a big box world. Here are four women, all who grew up in Sonoma County, who run thriving businesses, that are, really, anything but small.

Small Business Success, Punch Clothing

When Punch Clothing owner Ru Scott is asked about the secret of her 20-year success in the retail business, she says, “I’ve never stopped working. I never took it for granted.” Scott, a FIDM graduate and longtime Sonoma resident, says she puts in hard, consistent work as well as care and passion in bringing fashion to Sonoma County.

When Scott moved back to Sonoma County after living in New York City for a few years she was struck by the lack of small retail businesses in the area. Having adopted a steady diet of boutique shopping in New York, Scott says, “I wasn’t about to go to a mall.” So in 1997, she opened Punch on Main Street in Sebastopol.

Punch Clothing, which has high fashion finds for all ages -“the store has grown up with me,” Scott says – has three locations, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and online, which sells to customers internationally.

Her place on Instagram gives her stock a showing to 11,000 followers, fueling Punch’s online sales. But her staff of twelve women in Punch’s two stores create “an honest, up-to-date” and “truly personal shopping experience” for her regular customers as well as tourists, says Scott. 

Punch Clothing, 711 4th St. Santa Rosa, 707-526-4766, 387 Healdsburg Ave. Healdsburg, CA 707-395-0022, shoppunchclothing.com

Local Big Time, Ooh La Luxe

A boutique with a hundred-thousand plus followers on Instagram. “Collabs” with follower-rich celebrities. A booming online business and three “Cali” stores. Sounds like details of an L.A. fashion success story. But these are the accomplishments of Ooh La Luxe, the retailer selling easy, feminine and often va-va-voom looks, based in lil ol’ wine country.

Owned by longtime Sonoma County residents – twin sister design and entrepreneurial duo, Cristina Wilson Hudlin and Michelle Wilson Bien – Ooh La Luxe offers California inspired fashion in three storefronts: Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Petaluma. The store has their own line of in-house designed and L.A.-manufactured items, and they curate the rest of the their BOHO-funky-feminine finds from small batch makers within the U.S.

Celebrity endorsers like Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher, Brittney Aldean and Stella Hudgens select Ooh La Luxe looks and Instagram them to their bajillion followers. Ooh La Luxe partner Michelle Wilson said the store has enjoyed a yearly doubling of their business since they opened.

Among Wilson Hudlin’s and Wilson Bien’s designs are graphic tees, which are made in partnership with a Sonoma-based graphic designer and printed in Sonoma. Ooh La Luxe features a festival line, and they will be present and blogging at Coachella this year to glean design and curation inspiration from the funky festival style being sported under the blistering California desert sun.

Oohlaluxe, 326 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, 109 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma,  707-769-7787, 1019 Santa Rosa Plaza in Santa Rosa, 707-566-4735, oohlaluxe.com

On Target in Cotati, Bow N Arrow Clothing

Bow N Arrow Clothing boutique has lots wonderful about it: It’s the only fashion boutique in an otherwise sleepy retail scene in Cotati. It’s got an inspiring start-up story by remarkably young stylist and entrepreneur Mercedes Hernandez, age 23. Prices are affordable. And the style which Hernandez calls “Bohemian modern” is stocked in all sizes.

Hernandez says the clothing ranges from “conservative to Coachella” and she purposely keeps the prices low. Having worked in the mall since age 14, Hernandez really sought to offer unique boutique finds, but the young women who flock to her line can’t afford boutique prices.

When asked about her ability to keep prices low, she says, “I just don’t mark it up.”

“The thing about being an entrepreneur,” Hernandez says, “is you don’t know what to expect, but you just go for it.” Her thriving business with an “overwhelming response” in Cotati led to the opening of a second location in San Rafael. Four months after opening in November, she decided to close it in favor of finding a location in Santa Rosa where her product is better known.

Hernandez has been “itching” to design pieces herself and recently began selling her own embellished vintage finds she calls the Gramps Collection after her grandfather: band shirts that she buys second hand which she “re-distresses” and adds patches, fringes or flannel to. These sell out within the first hour of them appearing on the sales floor so she struggles to keep with up with demand.

Bow N Arrow Clothing, 8200 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 707-242-3027, bownarrowclothing.com

4 Favorite Menswear Boutiques in Sonoma County

By Karen Kizer

There’s plenty of high style guy style in Sonoma County menswear boutiques. Well-made is the the theme here, with details like quality textures, turned seams and stylistic spins on classics. Think knit blazers, small batch makers, and San Francisco-sewn jeans.

Of course, the quality lines of menswear boutiques can’t compete with the price on mass-produced, big box clothes. But the sentiment behind boutique shopping is not quantity, but quality, as articulated by Bleacher Critic store owner Matt Sharkey, “We want people to buy fewer things, but to buy with intention to quality. The way that we stay in business is that we hope our customers will educate their friends on the type of products we carry and spread the word.”

Click through the gallery above for more details on four of our favorite menswear boutiques in Sonoma County.