Passover: Where to Find Jewish Comfort Food in Sonoma County

By Peg Melnik

My Matzoh Ball Soup recipe is worn and yellowed with a scrawl of notes penned in the margins, delectable adaptations, and that curious scent of lingering schmaltz is telling me it’s time.

This tattered recipe is nudging me to make my 48-hour soup in time for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Friday.

Over the years Wine Country chefs have weighed in so the recipe has gone through countless iterations. I now make Matzoh Balls with fresh ginger in the mix, and I sauté onions, scallions and carrots to give the soup a hint of caramel. What’s more, I make a broth with schmaltz, that impossibly rich and textured chicken fat that makes this soup a pot of comfort, a steam bath of aromas; it completely soothes that part of you that needs a respite from the race, the howling deadlines of life.

I’m well aware that a 48-hour soup is not cost effective, from boiling the chicken to making artisan Matzoh Balls, but that doesn’t stop me from searching for the best Jewish comfort food on the market. I did a little research in Sonoma County, and if you’re hungry for comfort, here are some tasty dishes not-to-be missed. One caveat. Observant Jews wouldn’t consider some of these dishes suitable for Passover, but they are within reach and can be enjoyed throughout the year.

Matzoh Ball Soup at Bird & the Bottle

The Matzoh Ball Soup at this restaurant is exotic comfort with barbecue chicken and a Ramen broth.

“With Ramen being a big craze we combined those flavors with a traditional Matzoh Ball, made with homemade schmaltz and Korean grilled chicken,” said executive chef Mark Stark. “Chef Eric (Foster) loves Korean food, and I am intrigued by the underappreciated Jewish cuisine. Makes perfect sense.”

The $10 soup has become a signature dish, one you can always find on the menu, popular with Millennials and boomers and everyone in-between.

“I’m a big fan of food memories,” Stark said. “My first great steak, eating Tapas with my wife in Spain, sitting in a crab shack on the Chesapeake Bay eating Bluepoint Oysters and crisp soft shell crab sandwiches. Our daily goal is to recreate those memories for our guests. That’s comfort food.”

(www.birdandthebottle.com, 707-568-4000; 1055 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404)

Hot Pastrami Sandwich at Mac’s Deli & Cafe

At this casual deli in downtown Santa Rosa, a hot pastrami and Swiss cheese on grilled Rye is a regular on the menu. And owner Toraj Soltani knows just how to dish up comfort.

“We slice the pastrami thin and hold it in a steam box, so the fat generally melts and it gets juicy,” he said. “We get our corned beef and pastrami from Chicago and we feel it’s the best in town.”

The sandwich, priced at $9.95, is a hit with a generous slab of hot pastrami stacked high and a kosher pickle on the side.

(www.macsdeliandcafe.com, (707) 545-3785, 630 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404.

Latke at Forestville’s Backyard

You can step inside this Forestville restaurant and taste a latke with a Sonoma County twist, a unique creation that sidesteps that traditional starchy potato.

“Sometimes we do an heirloom carrot and celery root latke,” said chef Daniel Kedan. “But other times, like in the summertime when there’s an abundance of summer squash, we have a summer squash latke.”

The Backyard version of latkes, at $12, supports the local farms of Sonoma County, Kedan said. The chef sources local vegetables, and instead of serving the dish with a traditional dollop of sour cream, he opts for preserved fruit like Gravenstein apples.

“I don’t always have brisket or Matzoh Ball soup on the menu but I always have latkes on it every day,” he said.

The chef said latkes are a favorite because these scrumptious pucks of flavor bring back great memories from his childhood in Trumbull, Conn.

“When I was in elementary school, my mom would make latkes for my first and second grade class, and that was always fun,” he said.

Crafting latkes from a revolving door of ingredients – carrots, squash, etc. –  is a great way to highlight a vegetable in a unique way, he said.

“It allows us to hold true to where we came from,” Kedan said, “and also highlight where we are now — Sonoma County.”

(www.backyardforestville.com, 707-820-8445, 6566 Front St, Forestville, CA 95436)

Babka at Pop Up at Farmers Markets

For the past few years Les Goodman has been a POP UP artist, one who occasionally showed up at Farmers Markets in Sonoma County, wowing the crowd with his rendition of Chocolate Babka.

“Babka is made from a dough similar to brioche, an eggy sweet dough, rolled and braided,” Goodman said.

The chef said he fancies Jewish comfort food even when it’s unfussy like his mother’s version of brisket made with a packet of French onion soup.

“Brisket goes back to Eastern Europe,” he said. “It was an inexpensive cut of meat, but that’s not the case anymore … my version is with dried cranberries and caramelized onions.”

Goodman is now the chef/manager of the food program for Sonoma Academy, but he said he may do another POP UP at a Farmers Market this summer.

“I had a good mix, a lot of regulars, a lot who were Jewish,” Goodman said. “I think Jewish comfort food is made with love … it reminds people of how they grew up.”

Peg’s Matzoh Ball Soup recipe from the California Kosher cookbook, with tweaks from Wine Country chefs.

Ingredients:

Whole chicken

3 ½ quarts water

1 onion

2 shallots

1 leek

2 carrots

2 parsnips

2 whole celery stocks

Small bunch of parsley

A crisp, New Zealand-styled sauvignon blanc with bright acidity.

Matzoh Balls

2 tablespoon schmaltz or chicken fat

3 eggs lightly beaten

½ cup matzoh meal

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons kosher club soda

1 tablespoon parsley, finely minced.

2 tablespoons shredded ginger

Matzoh Balls

Mix the schmaltz and the eggs. Add Matzoh meal, ginger and salt. Blend well. Then add kosher club soda and parsley. Put mixture in a Tupperware container and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Soup

Put chicken in pot with cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming off the foam. After the chicken is cooked thoroughly (about an hour), pull out the chicken and cut it into short strips to add to the soup later.

Keep the schmaltz in the pot for now and set aside. Then sauté the carrots, shallots, onion, leek and parsnips to give the soup rich texture and hint of caramel.

Put the pot back on the stove to boil after adding 2 quarts of water and that bottle of sauvignon blanc with bright acidity. After 30 minutes, add in the sautéed ingredients.

Matzoh Balls — the final magic

Pull the matzoh ball mixture out of the refrigerator, and bring a three-quart pot of salted water to rapid boil. Make walnut-sized balls by rolling batter in your hands, using water to moisten your palms. Drop them into boiling water. Lower heat and cover pot, tilting cover slightly, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.

 

We Found the Impossible Burger!

By biteclub
The Impossible Burger at Gaia’s Garden in Santa Rosa looks, tastes and eats like a beef burger. Mostly. Heather Irwin/PD
The Impossible Burger at Gaia’s Garden in Santa Rosa looks, tastes and eats like a beef burger. Mostly. (Photo by Heather Irwin)

A vegan burger that even the staunchest carnivores can sink their teeth into has arrived in Santa Rosa.

Gaia’s Garden (1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa) is featuring the much-hullabalooed Impossible Burger, an engineered faux-beef patty years in the making as scientists studied what exactly made a great burger, well, a great burger.

Embraced by some of the highest-end Bay Area chefs including Traci des Jardins (Jardiniere), meat-evangelist Chris Cosentino (Napa’s Acacia House) and St. Helena’s Harvest Table and even Gott’s Roadside in Napa, this isn’t your usual veggie burger. 

Inside of the Impossible Burger. Heather Irwin/PD


What’s the big deal? First off, there’s no dry, gritty flavor of beans, mushrooms, grains, and nuts that have made most of us run screaming from the mere thought of a “vegan” burger. If we’re getting down to brass tacks, what makes the Impossible Burger unique is that it actually “bleeds” like cooked ground beef.  Sounds yucky, but that’s the truth. More importantly, it also tastes and chews like the meaty version. Mostly. 

The science behind the Impossible Burger is the result of a relentless search for a better burger that was more sustainable for the planet but would be appealing to carnivores. Funded by millions from venture capitalists like Bill Gates, the breakthrough was the connection between“heme”, an iron-containing molecule found in plants and animals. It’s what makes meat taste like meat, but the compound isn’t limited to animal products.

In the case of the Impossible Burger, soy leghemoglobin is the catalyst, which when cooked becomes “heme”, giving this vegan patty the flavor, look and mouthfeel of beef. Weird, right?

The taste test: We’re sold, especially since Gaia’s Garden does the Impossible up fancy with a load of mix and match toppings including caramelized onions, mushrooms, avocado, vegetarian mayo, dairy or non-dairy cheese, lettuce, tomato and all the usual toppings on a soft, herbed whole wheat bun. On a whim we opted for coconut “bacon”, which is nothing like bacon, but gives a delightfully smoky crunch. 

Impossible Burger with avocado and coconut bacon. Heather Irwin/PD
Impossible Burger with avocado and coconut bacon. Heather Irwin/PD

It’s a beast, and ours was overcooked a titch, but, unlike a beef burger, we were full but not full of regret an hour later. Easier on the gut. Easier on the planet. Win-win.

There are competitors to the Impossible Burger already entering the meatless burger market, notably the Beyond Burger, made with pea proteins and beets (for the “bleed”) which we also sampled at a food show and found entirely delicious as well.

We’re a long way from moving away from ground beef as an American food staple, but with vegetable-based products that can satisfy our heme-tooth in a sustainable and delicious way, it’s a huge step in the right direction.

Gaia’s Garden is at 1899 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, 707-544-2491, gaiasgardenonline.com.

So Close: Sonoma County Restaurants Opening This Spring

By biteclub

We’ve had a few big openings in the last few months, from Zoftig and Perch and Plow in Santa Rosa to Duke’s Commons in Healdsburg. But that doesn’t mean we’re not still obsessively following the construction and permitting of several others throwing open their doors in the coming months. Here are some updates on what’s coming (photos in the gallery above). 

Les Pascals, Mid-March OPEN!
This French pastry cafe in Glen Ellen brings together husband and wife team Pascal and Pascale Merle’s patisserie skills with Sean Perry’s bread baking finesse. The cherished “Yellow Building” at 13758 Arnold Drive is slated to open in the next week or so, depending on final inspections, according to building owner Christine Hansson.

Parish Cafe, March OPEN!
Robb Lippincott’s wildly popular New Orleans restaurant is close to opening in downtown Santa Rosa, featuring all the po’ boys, beignets and cafe au lait you can shake a Louisiana gater at. The exterior looks fantastic, and fingers are crossed that they’ll get the final go-ahead to open in the coming weeks. 703 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.

Stockhome: Estimated End of April: Oh, we are so excited about this one. The owners of SF Swedish restaurant Plaj will soon open a more casual street food restaurant in Petaluma. They’re doing some pop-up preview dinners in San Francisco, teasing our taste buds with dishes like chicken shwarma with falafel, saffron basmati rice and garlic yogurt, Greek salad with halloumi cheese and Swedish kabob. Why so much Middle Eastern-inspired food? The many cultural influences in the Nordic country include large populations of Greek, Turkish, Israeli, Syrian and Lebanese immigrants whose food has become integrated into the country’s gastro fabric. Stockhome will also offer Lordagsgodis — Saturday candy — which is also a tradition in Sweden where kids load up on sugar for the week. 220 Western Ave., Petaluma.

Jade Room: May
Sift Dessert Bar founder Andrea Ballus is planning a bubbly and small plate spot at 643 Fourth St. in downtown Santa Rosa. Permitting has come through, but they’re a bit behind their much-hoped-for February launch. We say, worth the wait.

Look Up: Astronomical Events in 2018 and How to See Them in Sonoma County

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Sonoma residents got moony over this winter’s big celestial event, the “super blue blood moon” that graced the skies in the wee hours of January 31. This kind of eclipse — of the second full moon of the month while on its closest approach of orbit to Earth — last occurred in 1982, and won’t happen again until 2037. But there’s plenty of reason to keep your eyes peeled between now and then.

Two local astronomers — SSU professor Scott Severson and SRJC instructor Keith Waxman — shared the night sky events visible from Sonoma County they’re looking forward to most in 2018. Click through the gallery above for dates and details.

Fine Spot for Pinot: Visit Sonoma’s Newest Wine Appellation in Petaluma

By Bill Swindell
2/5/2014: D1: Adam Gaines, second from left, pours Keller Estate wines for, from left, Casey Burke, Lisa Nourse and Stephanie Simunovich of San Francisco. Keller Estate is one of the vineyards in the Petaluma Gap, an area where the Pacific winds blow through a break in the coastal range southeast to the San Francisco Bay. It is known for producing grapes with powerful flavors. PC: Adam Gaines, second from the left, pours samples of wine from the Keller Estate Winery for, starting from left, Casey Burke, Lisa Nourse and Stephanie Simunovich of San Francisco in Petaluma on Sunday, January 26, 2014. (Conner Jay/The Press Democrat)

This past November, the federal government recognized the Petaluma Gap as the newest American Viticultural Area (AVA), giving Sonoma County its 18th such wine appellation and providing another reminder or its vast diversity of grape growing throughout the region.

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s ruling allows wineries that use grapes from the area to put the “Petaluma Gap” designation on their bottle labels in an effort to differentiate themselves in the competitive $34 billion marketplace for California wines.

The Gap covers 4,000 acres of vineyards in an overall 200,000-acre region in southern Sonoma County and northern Marin County. About 75 percent of the acreage is planted to Pinot Noir, which is the most expensive wine grape in the county. The rest is mostly composed of Chardonnay and Syrah.

Much of the new AVA is already covered under the enormous Sonoma Coast appellation, but Petaluma Gap proponents noted their area was different because of the afternoon wind and fog that come from Bodega Bay and pass through the hills and into San Pablo Bay, cooling the fruit and allowing a longer hang time to give it more flavor.

“It (the wind) helps cool down the grape and slow down the ripening,” says Rickey Trombetta, who chairs the Petaluma Winegrowers Alliance and is owner of Trombetta Family Wines in Forestville, which sources grapes from the area. “When the wine is part of a meal, it doesn’t overshadow and it doesn’t disappear.”

The region already has some advantages, especially its winegrowers alliance, which was founded in 2005. In addition, notable vintners such as David Ramey and Ana Keller source fruit from Petaluma Gap, and Bill Price’s Gap’s Crown vineyard has received tremendous accolades for the Pinot Noir grapes it produces for such wineries as Sebastopol’s Kosta Browne and Sonoma’s Walt Wines.

Long-Shuttered Sonoma Winery is Back in Business

By Julie Fadda Powers
12/11/2013:D1: An old sign for Kohler and Frohling winery above the sherry-making building that was later converted into a barn at the park. PC: An old sign for Kohler and Frohling winery remains above the sherry-making building that was later converted into a barn at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen on Tuesday, November 26, 2013. (Conner Jay/The Press Democrat)

One of California’s oldest and most successful wineries — that you’ve likely never heard of — is back. And its rich historical roots lie mostly in Sonoma County.

Established in 1854, Kohler & Frohling sourced some of its earliest grapes from Glen Ellen’s Tokay vineyard and in 1874 bought that vineyard and built a winemaking facility in what is now Jack London State Historic Park. Notably, the ruins of that winery have been home to Transcendence Theatre Company’s “Broadway Under the Stars” shows since 2011.

At its peak, Kohler & Frohling had a 400,000-gallon facility in San Francisco (established in 1857) and a tasting room at the Transamerica Pyramid’s current location. It was a household name nationwide. Then Prohibition closed its doors.

Today, a passion for family and history has inspired Bert Sandman, the great-great-grandson of Charles Kohler (partner with John Frohling), to recreate the business. And he hopes his grandchildren will someday choose to carry it on.

Sandman’s goals are to slowly regrow the label and to preserve Kohler’s legacy. “He brought quality to California wines,” says Sandman, who has partnered with winemaker Jim Mirowski, co-founder and winemaker at Treasure Island Wines. “I’m making the Kohler & Frohling wine with a nod to its original practices, but updated for modern tastes,” says Mirowski.

Its first release, 50 cases of 2011 Sonoma Mountain Zinfandel, was in March 2017. It’s currently expanding to 300 to 400 cases, with a 2017 Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Sauvignon Blanc to be released this March.

In 2019, releases will include Pinot Noir sourced from Balletto Vineyards, Chalk Hill Zinfandel and possibly a claret blend. “We hope to grow to about 3,000 to 4,000 cases within a few years,” says Mirowski. And both he and Sandman are convinced it’s happening in the right place and for the right reasons. “It’s all coming full circle now,” says Mirowski.

kohlerfrohlingwines.com, tiwines.net

Things to Do in Sonoma County, March – April

By Dan Taylor
Rialto Cinemas offers a selection of beer and wine and menu items such as bruschetta, paninis and other shareable dishes that can be ordered along side the usual movie fare of popcorn and candy at Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol, California on Thursday, February 25, 2016. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Film festivals and spring parades, food and wine events and the best of Broadway – there’s no shortage of things to do in Sonoma County in March and April. Click through the gallery above for some of our favorite picks.

Healdsburg’s Bergamot Alley To Close and Move Business Online

By Karen Kizer

Just when you’ve found the perfect Sonoma County spot for tasting champagne and Italian wines (yes, Euro pours in Sonoma), they announce they’re closing. One of Healdsburg’s most popular wine bars, Bergamot Alley is taking its zany-vintage charm (school chairs-turned-bar stools and fabric pattern-piece art on the bathroom wall), packing up its impressive vinyl record collection, and moving its cool vibes and Old World wines online on March 31.

Bergamot Alley has been a favorite among winemakers and oenophiles eager to explore wines that aren’t made from the eight grapes that make up 93 percent of the wine produced in Northern California. If you haven’t been already, we suggest you check it out between its brick and mortar walls before the business moves to a laptop near you. Following the transition online, Bergamot Alley will continue to offer wine education and bottles celebrating lesser known (at least to Sonomans) grapes.

More information to follow.

Bergamot Alley, 328 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-8720, bergamotalley.com

Sonoma County Restaurants to Try Right Now

By Heather Irwin
Tuna tartare at Salt and Stone Restaurant in Sonoma County, Kenwood. Heather Irwin/PD

As we hit the six-month mark after the fires, Sonoma is awash in green. Renewal is everywhere, and like hibernating bears, we’re ready to get down to some serious eating after a long winter. Here are some spots Heather Irwin encourages you try right now. Click through the gallery above for more info and dishes to order at each restaurant.

Salt & Stone, Kenwood 

Tuna tartare at Salt and Stone Restaurant in Sonoma County, Kenwood. Heather Irwin/PD
Tuna tartare at Salt and Stone Restaurant in Sonoma County, Kenwood. Photo by Heather Irwin

Since opening in December in the former Kenwood Restaurant, Salt & Stone has been packing them in at the iconic Highway 12 roadhouse. The bar is once again a gathering spot for the Valley and the restaurant is doing such a brisk business that owners David and Diane LaMonica are hustling in the kitchen and dining room as hard as any of their staff.

“I’ve been here every day since we opened,” chirped Diane, as she fluttered about seating guests, filling water glasses, expediting bar food and creating a generous warmth as inviting as the restaurant’s crackling fireplace.

For more than a decade, LaMonica and her husband owned Mendocino’s Cafe Beaujolais, also known for its combination of charm and destination- worthy food. As residents of Santa Rosa, they’d long dreamed of opening a restaurant here, so when the former Kenwood spot shuttered and then floundered between potential new owners, they decided to jump in with both feet.

Why have they succeeded so spectacularly right out of the gate? One theory is their welcoming attitude to nearby Oakmonters. With more than 4,500 residents, the over-55 Oakmont Village crowd is something local restaurateurs ignore at their own peril. Failing to court the disposable incomes, passion for food and weekday patronage of these seniors has been the death knell for several restaurants.

The LaMonicas have wisely created an atmosphere, price point and menu the community is embracing. Not that Oakmonters are the only patrons, but on one visit, a single young couple sat by a window as the dining room filled with mostly mature diners. A second Thursday night visit found both the bar and dining room full by 5:30 p.m., with jovial retirees gathered around the bar fireplace, filling tables in couples and foursomes, opening expensive wines and relishing the food.

It’s also a homecoming for many. For decades, chef and owner Max Schacher had served simple French-California cuisine in the space, with approachable dishes like Caesar salad and Dungeness crab cakes and salmon. Schacher sold the restaurant in 2013 to internet entrepreneurturned- restaurateur Bill Foss, who brought a high-concept vibe and frequently changing seasonal menu to the space — something that didn’t always fly with Schacher’s longtime regulars.

The LaMonicas, who hired Meadowood and French Garden alum Arturo Guzman to head the kitchen, have taken a more moderate approach, with an extensive menu of classics, including Caesar salad, onion soup, steak and roasted chicken. With a full oyster selection, specialty cocktails and classics, charcuterie and cheese boards, 11 appetizers, 11 entrées, three-course bistro night selections (beef bourguignon, coq au vin, braised lamb shank), nine desserts and a happy hour menu, it’s more a matter of narrowing choices after perusing both the daily menu, dinner menu and wine list. Eager staff are more than happy to guide your choices, should things get overwhelming.

Best bets are the Marinated Grilled Octopus ($18), incredibly flavorful and so tender you can cut it with a single stroke of a butter knife, and the Ahi Tuna Poke ($18), which so many chefs phone in but which Guzman jazzes up with seaweed salad, wasabi cream and shiso oil, along with plenty of sesame oil. We also loved the Steak Tartare ($19), with 25-year-old Sherry vinegar, a raw quail egg and crispy crostini. The perfectly prepared Crispy Skin Salmon ($25) — just cooked in the center, flakey throughout, served on a bed of lemon couscous — is a solid choice for lighter eaters.

“Everyone will come once,” said Diane of the restaurant’s initial frenzied pace of patrons, “but our job is to keep them coming back.” If the packed parking lot is any indication, they’re coming back in droves to Kenwood’s gathering spot.

Salt & Stone is open daily from 5 to 9 p.m., with a happy hour from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. 9900 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, 707-833-6326, saltstonekenwood.com

Bibi’s Burger Bar, Secret Indian Menu, Santa Rosa

Samosas from the Indian Street Food Menu at Bibi's Burger Bar in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
Samosas from the Indian Street Food Menu at Bibi’s Burger Bar in Santa Rosa. Photo by Heather Irwin

So, Bibi’s “secret” menu isn’t all that secret — they offer it Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, tucked into their regular menus. What’s on the down-low is that it’s the only place we know of that serves dosa — the big-as-your-forearm savory Indian crepes — along with crunchy bhel puri, pani puri and an Indian rose syrup dessert called falooda kulfi.

This is real-deal Indian street food, things that can be found in the hawker stalls of Mumbai or Delhi. Our favorite dish is the bhel puri ($6.50), a tasty mix of sweet, spicy, sour flavors and crunch. Think rice crispies covered with tamarind and mint sauce with chickpea noodles, cilantro and onions. The vegetable samosas ($5.50) — fried pastry dough filled with curried green peas and potatoes, served with tamarind sauce and mint chutney — are so tasty, you’ll want to gobble them up. But the inside is roughly the temperature of molten lava, so don’t pull a Hot Pocket moment.

For the chicken tikka dosa ($10.50), savory Indian crepes made with rice and lentils the size of a small bicycle wheel are stuffed and folded with seasoned potatoes and other goodies including fresh Indian cheese (paneer) or tandoori chicken tikka masala. There’s also a vegan option, as well as Cheddar cheese-filled dosa for people who like ruining perfectly good dosa with Cheddar cheese.

Finding a version of the creamy frozen dessert falooda kulfi ($7.50) in the North Bay was a triumph. Kulfi (an eggless ice cream) is mixed with cold noodles, rose water and basil seeds. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely for us. Meanwhile, warm gulab jamun ($4.50) is a pretty standard Indian dessert of sweet donuts soaked in a cardamom-infused sugar syrup so sweet just thinking about it will give you a cavity.

Sunday – Thursday, 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Friday Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m., 630 Third St., Santa Rosa, 707-523-1400, bibisburgerbar.com

2 Tread Brewing Company, Santa Rosa

The 2 Tread Burger at at 2 Tread Brewing Company in downtown Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
The 2 Tread Burger at at 2 Tread Brewing Company in downtown Santa Rosa. Photo by Heather Irwin

With more than 6,000 square feet of space, 2 Tread Brewing Company is now one of the largest restaurants in downtown Santa Rosa. The food is approachable and intriguing: sweet potato tots served alongside locally grown citrus- and herb-marinated beets with whipped chèvre; hot wings and burgers beside Caprese salad with house-made mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes; or wild mushroom flatbread.

We suggest trying the fried shishito peppers ($6) — although if you aren’t willing to play roulette with the chance you’ll get a hot pepper in the mix (about 1 in 10 are usually super-spicy), steer clear. But creamy tarragon aioli helps temper any rogues.

The 2 Tread Burger ($14) is a beauty, though our medium-rare turned out well-done. With lots of fresh produce and tasty Niman Ranch grass-fed beef, it’s a burger we’ll go back for. The spice-rubbed prime hangar steak ($30) was perfectly cooked and seasoned, with a light chimichurri sauce, green beans and roasted garlic. Delightfully simple.

Over all, 2 Tread is a crowd-pleaser across the board — for families, first dates, comfort food, cocktails, small plates, under $10 dishes, burgers and large groups.

Open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., 1018 Santa Rosa Plaza, Santa Rosa, 707-327-2822, 2treadbrewing.com

Smokin’ Bowls, Rohnert Park

The S’mores bowl at Smokin’ Bowls in Rohnert Park. Photo by Heather Irwin

It’s hard to resist making puns about our high expectations for the new Rohnert Park restaurant Smokin’ Bowls. Kidding aside though, the bowls at this student- and family-friendly restaurant have nothing to do with THC, though one might get a serious craving for their ice cream and French fry bowl after an afternoon smoke sesh.

Here, “bowl” is shorthand for piling a whole bunch of tasty comfort food into a portable container wherein you can easily stuff it all into your mouth with nothing more than a spork. We should call out something unique: the fries, hand-cut and fried in beef fat, tossed with their own seasoning. There’s a reason this used to be the standard. So. Beefy. Good. Not for vegetarians or vegans, however.

No bowl is over $8.25, with a selection of items under $5, plus everything on the menu is gluten-free, and no dishes include peanuts or soy proteins. Smokin’.

Try the Bowl Named Sue ($7.25), a downhome combination of homemade mashed potatoes, corn, bacon, chicken (it would have been better fried) and gravy. The portions are ridiculously huge, but this little bit of Southern comfort didn’t last 10 minutes before disappearing. The Rohnert Pork ($6.75) includes fries, BBQ pulled pork, cheese sauce and bacon, and we’d say this was the most ridiculously indulgent bowl, but that would be far from the truth, because … S’mores Fries ($5.50)! This dish was so crazy, even we were gobsmacked: French fries smothered in cinnamon, topped with ice cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

295 Southwest Blvd., Rohnert Park, 707-665-5265, smokinbowls.net

Relax and Eat Bread, Sonoma

A loaf of sourdough rye bread freshly baked by Ian Conover, an owner of Relax and Eat Bread, in his kitchen on Thursday, February 15, 2018 in Sonoma, California . (BETH SCHLANKER/The Press Democrat)
A loaf of sourdough rye bread freshly baked by Ian Conover, owner of Relax and Eat Bread, in his kitchen in Sonoma. (Photo by Beth Schlanker)

With a mission to deliver fresh, homemade bread to Wine Country, Ian Conover and his fiancée, Tara Williams, make just 60 loaves of artisan bread per week, mostly using pedal power for their deliveries. The Sonoma-based couple started out by making loaves for schoolteacher Tara’s classroom families, but word got out to the small Sonoma community, and now they have standing orders from Sonoma, Santa Rosa and even Petaluma for their crisp, hearty sourdough. Loaves are $6 each, and you’ll have to get on their list to get a loaf each week. relaxandeatbread.com