The 4 Best Things to Do in Santa Rosa According to ABC News

By Sonoma Magazine Staff
The Love sculpture in the hills near Paradise Ridge Winery, in Santa Rosa, Calif Tuesday, February 14, 2017. (Jeremy Portje / For The Press Democrat)
The Love sculpture in the hills near Paradise Ridge Winery, in Santa Rosa, Calif Tuesday, February 14, 2017. (Jeremy Portje / For The Press Democrat)
The Love sculpture in the hills near Paradise Ridge Winery, in Santa Rosa. (Jeremy Portje)

Santa Rosa is getting a lot of love this month. First, it was ranked one of the “best value towns in the West” by Sunset and one of the “best places to live” by U.S. News. Then, personal finance website WalletHub named the Sonoma County town “one of the healthiest places to live.” As if that wasn’t enough to make us pop a bottle of bubbly, on Sunday, ABC7 made Santa Rosa the destination for the latest episode of their travel show “Bay Area LIFE.” We recently called Santa Rosa the “hidden gem” of Sonoma County (here’s why) – but with all this recent media attention we might just need to remove the “hidden” part of that statement… 

Curious to see what ABC7’s Bay Area LIFE had to say about Santa Rosa, we tuned into the show. The host, Lizzie Bermudez, seemed pretty excited about Santa Rosa – to say the least! “Beautiful,” “vibrant” and “blessed to be home to dozens of gorgeous wineries and breweries,” were some of the words she used to describe Santa Rosa in the first part of the show.

Giraffe family at Safari West in Santa Rosa (John Burgess)
Giraffe family at Safari West in Santa Rosa (John Burgess)

During her “perfect getaway to Santa Rosa,” Bermudez first visited Safari West Wildlife Preserve where she met with safari guide Alex Coburn. “It’s sensory overload, it’s beauuuutiful out here” said Bermudez to describe her first experience of the “Sonoma Serengeti.” Couburn mentioned that the giraffes are the most popular animals among visitors to the wildlife preserve – but added that they can be “kind of gross” as they regurgitate food they are fed. Bermudez remained enthusiastic (possibly because the next image showed a couple sipping red wine while watching the giraffes from the “spit-safe” distance of a safari vehicle – and Couburn changed topic to talk about the “glamping” options at Safari West.)

Then, from the savannah to Sonoma County suds, Bermudez made a pit stop at Plow Brewing Co. after mentioning that Santa Rosa is “a mecca for craft beer.” Bermudez chatted with Plow owner Kevin Robinson, who explained some of the similarities and differences between wine and beer (that both beverages are naturally fermented, the difference being that instead of two ingredients for wine, beer has four: water, barley, hops and yeast, making beer almost “overwhelmingly complex.”)

Paradise Ridge Winery. (Photo Courtesy of Paradise Ridge Winery)
Paradise Ridge Winery. (Photo Courtesy of Paradise Ridge Winery)

In the intersection between “wine country” and “beer city,” Bermudez continued to Paradise Ridge Winery where she met with proprietor Rene Byck, whose family has been growing grapes for some 35 years. Byck talked about the development of the Santa Rosa winery and its iconic sculptures.

Bermudez ended her getaway at Belly Left Coast Kitchen in downtown Santa Rosa where she talked to Gray Rollin, owner and executive chef at Belly and “rock star chef” (as in having been the Tour Chef for real rock stars and bands like Mötley Crüe, KISS, Black Eyed Peas, Sarah McLachlan, Katy Perry, Blink 182, Godsmack, and Tori Amos). Being on the road for years, Rollin has picked up culinary ideas from all over the world.

Did ABC7 get it right, is this the “perfect Santa Rosa getaway” and the best things to do on a visit to Santa Rosa? Let us know in the comments. 

Three Pulled Pork Sliders from chef from chef Gray Rollin at Belly Left Coast Kitchen & Taproom in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess)
Three Pulled Pork Sliders from chef from chef Gray Rollin at Belly Left Coast Kitchen & Taproom in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess)

9 Best Brewery Patios in Sonoma County

By Jess Poshepny Vallery
Guests enjoying cold drinks on the patio overlooking the Russian River at Stumptown Brewery in Guerneville. (Alvin Jornada)

As the long hot Sonoma summer begins, have a cold one in the shade. Click through the gallery for nine of the best brewery patios around.

Fine Art Tapestries Featured in Contemporary Exhibit in Geyserville

By Karen Kizer

Geyserville, located in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, has a main street and a handful of businesses (not a gas station among them). Although surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Wine Country commerce, there’s not a lot going on in this quaint tiny town. But, just off main street, there’s a concrete and glass building, two stories high, that houses the studio of textiles designer Dallas A. Saunders.

The modern building stands in stark contrast to the leafy vines that surround it in early summer, creating an interesting showcase for the natural fiber pillows, blankets, and bedding Saunders displays and sells to designers and the public.

Recently, Saunders added a rotating collection of one-of-a-kind fine art tapestries, featuring the works of renowned artists, including photorealist artist Chuck Close, who has exhibited his installations at museums of modern art in New York, San Francisco, and around the world.

Saunders moved her business to Geyserville one year ago, in hopes that she’d attract “a few people wandering down the beautiful driveway.” Saunders says her location helps her connect with designers who frequent Geyserville on their weekend wine-tasting trips.

Saunders’ inclusion of tapestries came from her familiarity with Magnolia Editions in Oakland, a fine art print studio. The studios were inspired to help create technology for large scale tapestries after artist John Nava was commissioned to do artwork for the Cathedral of Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles when it was built in 1999.

The church had initially envisioned etchings for the walls, but plans were switched to tapestries, due to a problem with acoustics. The challenge was in how to put large-scale artwork on tapestries to be hung on the contemporary church’s massive walls.

Thus a collaboration was put into action: a blend of Magnolia’s computerized large-scale printmaking and traditional Jacquard tapestry weaving techniques by artisans in Belgium. 

A series of other artists later participated in this new medium, putting their detailed artwork into intricately woven replicas involving hundreds of colored strings. Among them are April Gornik, Gus Heinze, Ed Moses and Kiki Smith, whose works are currently hanging in Saunders’ studio.

In addition to the spectacular fine art pieces are samples of Saunders’ own work: printed Belgian linen pillow covers produced in collaboration with various artists, and prints of reinterpreted designs by Julia Morgan and 16th century watercolors from the Huntington Library.

Saunders’ studio also showcases finely woven tweeds and wools, available in exquisite leather trimmed throws and bedspreads that are cleverly designed by Saunders to achieve an optimal draped fit.

The current rotation of must-see tapestries will remain on exhibit until August 20. These original fine art tapestries are for sale – be sure to bring your friends with 18-foot walls.

Add a fine art gallery to the list of few, but extraordinary, things Geyserville has to offer. Who needs a gas station?

Dallas A. Saunders studio is open to public Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM-6 PM and during the week by appointment only, 275 Highway 128, Geyserville, CA 95441, 707-708-9065, dallasasaunders.com

Modern Sonoma Farmhouse, a Dream Home for New York Family

By Carole Kelleher

Memories of sweltering summers in Manhattan slowly fade as Simon and Heidi Williams slip into their Sonoma lifestyle, sitting out by a pool surrounded by a Pinot Noir vineyard and ancient olive trees.

They left Greenwich Village behind because they wanted their daughter Gemma to grow up in a small community where she could enjoy a rural life and ride her bike to school. Sonoma beckoned, and four years ago they moved into what was once the 2009 HGTV Dream Home, a mock Victorian that didn’t quite suit their style. So when Simon saw the perfect property near downtown Sonoma hit the market, they scooped it up, eventually razing a 1930s four-room cottage near famous wineries to make way for the one-story abode taking shape in their imaginations.

They chose George Bevan, an architect whose reputation for luxury-living homes is fast rising. Bevan+Associates, his Sonoma architectural studio, has seven new constructions and a remodel currently in the works.

Bevan designed a 3,300-square-foot modern farmhouse featuring a massive great room with a 21-foot-high ceiling and a wall-width Fleetwood door that completely opens the living area to the outdoors. High dormer windows wash the mostly white room with even more light. The kitchen at one end is defined by an island so substantial Heidi admits they once danced on it. “Only for a few minutes,” she laughs. It’s the touchstone of the family and where Gemma loves doing her third-grade homework. The Dornbracht Maro faucet at its center is one of the couple’s favorite finishes.

Fronting the island is a walnut dining table made by Simon’s son Johnny Williams. Above it hangs the focal point of the room, a stunning hand-blown sculpted glass chandelier designed by John Pomp.

The L-shaped main house has a private wing with a family room and three bedrooms. Gemma’s room is decked out in pink and includes her only request upon moving into the home, a hanging bubble chair. The master suitebath opens to a private patio, and is pristinely tiled in Zen-like gray and white with a freestanding tub. There are two windows in the shower. “This is my favorite room in the house,” Heidi says.

Simon believes one of the best decisions they made was doing the home construction, by Landers Curry, Inc., and the landscaping, by Magrane Associates, simultaneously. The family moved in a year and a half ago and the grounds are already lush and maturing. The Riptide infinity pool is flanked by a guest suite and changing room. There’s an outdoor kitchen, gas fire pit surrounded by chairs and additional outside seating areas with Tuuci umbrellas. Under the 160-year-old transplanted olive trees sits an old-fashioned picnic table custom-made of reclaimed redwood.

“We are both keen on Pinot Noir,” Simon says, and he can hardly wait for their first harvest next year. Meanwhile they rely on the stash in the 800-bottle capacity wine room off the kitchen. Heidi can’t get over the floating-shelved pantry, where she keeps among other things her collection of Nambé ware and her late aunt’s Wedgewood Old Vine china she’s had for 30 years. “I have had bedrooms smaller than this,” she says, thrilled to be living in a home so different from their urban past.

Simon is the CEO of SterlingBrands, a branding strategy and design firm he founded, with offices in New York and San Francisco. Heidi, a marketing expert, also works for the company, although these days it’s only part time from her home office. Simon still goes to New York frequently and sometimes Heidi and Gemma join him. Much as they appreciate that their little girl is growing up in the country, they are proud that she easily adapts to the Big Apple. “She can read a subway map and likes us to let her hail the cabs when we’re there,” Heidi says.

Gemma is an 8-year-old who already understands the meaning of “the best of both worlds.”

30 Best Sonoma & Napa Restaurants for Wine Lovers, Wine Spectator 2017 Winners

By Sarah Stierch

The 2017 Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards winners have been announced, and we’ve got the scoop on which Sonoma and Napa restaurants made the cut. Click through the gallery above for all the details, and read about the awards below. 

Created in 1981, the Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards is the Michelin for wine lists. Every year, thousands of restaurants submit their particular wine selection for a chance to be bestowed the prestigious accolade, and the competition is fierce: the internationally renowned restaurants’ wine lists are scrutinized by wine experts who examine the quality and quantity of wines, how the wine list complements the cuisine, who manages the wine – even the spelling and grammar! The lucky restaurants that make the final selection are then divided into three levels: Best of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence, and Grand Awards, the latter being the most prestigious.

5 Sonoma Breweries Wine Lovers Should Visit

By Jess Poshepny Vallery

For as long as people have been drinking beer and wine, beer has been regarded the inferior beverage. Wine is “classy,” it takes time to craft and age, a refined palate to appreciate, and is often paired with fine food. Beer is less expensive, often comes in a can, and you can find it anywhere. But, with craft beer now taking the center stage – even in Wine Country – many connoisseurs are heading out to explore hoppy drinks. However, there are still a few wine lovers who aren’t quite ready to make the leap to beer – it’s not fruity or oaky enough, it’s too bitter. If you happen to be one of those people, we’re here to change your mind. Click through the gallery above for five Sonoma breweries that will leave wine lovers begging for more. 

 

 

 

The Hottest Restaurants in Sonoma Right Now

By Heather Irwin

Dining Editor Heather Irwin dives into summer with a celebration of cuisine as community — plus where to go crepe-crazy and how community-supported kitchens can help us all eat healthy. Click through the gallery above for photos. 

REVIBE CAFÉ, Sebastopol
Amidst women in flower-print dresses, the gently scented breeze of a Southern Pride smoker and the lilting patois of Caribbean music, the patio of Revibe Café and Scoop Shop in Sebastopol is about as close to Jamaica as you can get in Sonoma County. Aside from, perhaps, a backstage pass to a Marley concert.

Though the tiny island nation is still 3,000 miles away, it’s not a stretch to say that Sonoma County shares the Caribbean passion for laidback lifestyles, dreadlocks, herb and embracing diverse culinary traditions in a literal melting pot of flavors. And at that intersection
of NorCal and Kingston is a restaurant that brings the best of both to the table.

Revibe Café is a longtime project of its owner, Bronx transplant Will Abrams, and executive chef Anthony Walters, of Kingston, Jamaica. Serving up authentic “beanie” or tapas-style plates of curried goat, jerk chicken, rice and peas, and yam cookup, along with their own exotic ice creams, the restaurant showcases the mashup of Spanish, African, British, Chinese, East Indian and Rastafarian cuisine.

Why Jamaican? It certainly wasn’t a lifetime spent on balmy West Indies shores that led Abrams, his Jamaican-American wife, and their two kids to spend three years rehabbing the former Quonset hut on Healdsburg Avenue into an irie (translation: cool, nice) eatery. Instead, it was simply that Abrams missed the ubiquitous Jamaican cafes found in the Bronx, where he lived for many years.

“I could leave a busy day at work and then get into a packed subway with a thousand people and then finally find respite from the city grind in a local Jamaican cafe,” says Abrams, who used to make his living in the nonprofit world. “As soon as you walk in, you can feel the vibe … reggae music pulling you into a groove and taking away that city edginess.”

That and the cultural blend of a big city. “Here in Sonoma County we are spoiled with the natural and diverse beauty of our surroundings, but it is the cultural diversity of the people and their feelings and food that we have to seek out here among the picturesque landscapes,” Abrams adds. “I hope folks can find some of those good feelings and diverse influences here.”

Abrams had a list of culinary ideas he was considering when he first began pondering a restaurant, including a Jewish deli. But it was Jamaican that stuck when he met Walters, who worked for several years to create a menu that would capture the traditional flavors of the island in refined presentations. Abrams gives Walters, a CIA alum who has cooked for dignitaries including former President Barack Obama, complete credit for the food.

“The only thing he lets me make is the tea,” he says — a bright-red Jamaican hibiscus drink you’ll definitely want to try.

Abrams has decided to bring his expertise in the nonprofit world to his new role, donating 50 percent of all profits from the restaurant to local community-based organizations. After asking the community for suggestions, he’s currently supporting the Teen Work Program at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center and Teen Leadership Project at the Ceres Project.

“As a new restaurant venture, we have limited dollars and limited time to offer so we wanted to make sure we were putting these efforts in programs where they could really make a difference,” says Abrams. Bringing the community together is what the word “revibe” means, he explains — creating a contagious effect of good feelings and healing in a community.

As for the food, one common misconception about Jamaican cuisine is that it’s always excessively spicy. But at Revibe, there’s actually very little heat in any of the dishes. Instead, herbs and spices provide a big flavor boost. If you’re concerned about specific ingredients, ask your server. All of the tapas plates are $8.26, and $3.67 for sides. Notable dishes include Saba’s Signature Curried Goat, the jerk chicken kabob, the vegan ital stew, and for dessert, Sudanese tamarind ice cream. Irieshun, bredda.

7365 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol, 707-827-8188, revibecafe.com

BISTRO 29, Santa Rosa
You have not had a crepe until you have had a French crepe. And you have not had a French crepe until you have had a buckwheat crepe. Fortunately, both are now available at lunchtime in downtown Santa Rosa at Bistro 29. The longtime French cafe has reopened for lunch featuring both sweet and savory crepes (along with a duck burger, frisée salad, and Croque Madame).

Bistro 29’s crepes are dairy- and gluten- free, stuffed with things like Gruyère, figs, lox and crème fraîche, pears or bacon. We’re partial to the sweet crepes, as well. Made with regular flour, they’re the light brown discs some of us remember from the 1970s, when the Magic Pan crepe restaurants were all the rage, and flambéed crepes Suzette seemed the height of culture. Here, simpler ingredients fill these gently folded pillows, stuffed with lemon curd, caramelized apples, butter, sugar and about 10 other goodies.

620 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 707-546-2929, bistro29.com

THE REEL FISH SHOP & GRILL, Sonoma
Each morning, Chef Aiki Terashima butchers whole fish for his Sonoma seafood restaurant, some of them weighing as much as 500 pounds. A former sous chef at Napa’s Morimoto, Terashima spends up to 15 hours a day, six days a week at the restaurant, which serves up coastal fare from ahi poke and New England clam chowder to cioppino, fish tacos and lobster rolls — a rarity on the West Coast.

Make sure to try their signature two-day Japanese curry, chowder-covered fries, lobster with drawn butter or sizzling sweet soy catch, often made with fresh rock cod from the Bay. Housed in a former dance hall that’s more than 100 years old, the space has been refreshed, with weekly live music and a bar that’s seen generations of Sonomans belly up after a hard day’s work in the vineyards.

401 Grove St., Sonoma, 707-343-0044, thereelfishshop.com

LUNCHETTE, Petaluma
Featuring simple, plant-based carryout lunches for on-the-go downtown workers and shoppers, this tiny walk-up has already become a quick-bite favorite. The owners of the mobile pizzeria Pizza Politana have a selection of premade vegan salads that can be upgraded with smoked trout, chicken salad or a soft-boiled egg. For bigger appetites, consider hearty focaccia slices with organic whole wheat and spelt flours, topped with seasonal ingredients.

For dessert, almond flour cakelettes and vegan/ gluten-free cookies are sweets without all the guilt. Salads range from $8 to $12, slices $5 to $7 and desserts $2 to $4. There won’t be any seats at the storefront, so you’ll literally have to grab your food and go, though they’ll offer blankets for folks who want to picnic across the street at the city’s Historical Library & Museum.

25 Fourth St., Petaluma, 707-241-7443, lunchettepetaluma.com

THREE LEAVES, Santa Rosa
Former Ceres chef Rob Hogencamp has taken over Sonoma County’s first CSK (community- supported kitchen), introducing many of his own recipes for weekly “shares” picked up at the Santa Rosa store that include soup, a large entrée, salads and dessert. He’s also got several freezers and refrigerators, however, for a la carte offerings ranging from bone broth and burgers to vegan desserts, probiotic drinks, nut butters and dressings.

Each “share” is $80, and is roughly two to three meals, depending. (For comparison, we tried Blue Apron, which is about $60 for three meals and requires prep and cooking). We use the salads as supplements to our usual dinners, soups for two to four lunches, and the entrée for, well, an entrée with some leftovers. It’s the perfect solution to the never-ending quest for a healthy diet.

Big Oak Shopping Center, 2484 W. Third St., Santa Rosa, 707-595-0316, threeleavesfoods.com

A Napa option…THE RESTAURANT AT CIA COPIA, Napa
The Culinary Institute of America recently acquired the long-fallow Copia, which boasts a theater, classrooms and an impressive restaurant space (along with a destination-worthy bookstore and culinary lifestyle shop). Food and wine classes are offered several times a week, but one of the most engaging activities is a lunch or dinner at their staff-run restaurant. More than a meal, it’s an experience that includes a cheese cart shaped like a cow, a wandering cocktail cart and a lineup of rotating small plates eaters can pick and choose from, then have delivered to the table by a chef.

Call it interactive eating, where dishes like duck fat potatoes with Spanish chorizo and crema, fire-roasted cauliflower with raisins and caper chips, pork belly with lentils and shiso, or bruléed oysters with verjus can be ordered a la carte, most for under $15. As you see something that strikes your fancy, it’s added to your bill and brought to you. Larger entrées are available for the table, like a 34-ounce ribeye, whole roasted chicken or seared rack of lamb. Carts with the day’s cocktail special and various wines by the glass roll through the room, as does the signature cheese cart, affectionately named “Bessie” and filled with all manner of local artisan cheeses you won’t be able to resist.

500 First St., Napa, 707-967-2555, ciarestaurantgroup.com

Girls Getaway to Sonoma, Millennial-Style

By Susannah Shaye

On a recent balmy Friday, four freshly minted college graduates played hooky from new jobs and new lives in Berkeley; Flagstaff, Arizona; New York City; and Washington, D.C., to take in all the sights, sounds and sips that Sonoma has to offer. Click through the gallery above to read their story (and see some of their favorite photos).