Page 428 – Sonoma Magazine

The Times of Jack London

January 2016

By Meg McConahey

“He wrote books kids used to read and still have to read. That’s how many people get exposed to Jack London, and it’s pretty much all most people know about him. He wrote dog books.”

She spent just 13 years with Jack London, yet the wife of one of America’s most beloved writers, bravest adventurers, earliest environmentalists and infatuated lover of Sonoma Valley, devoted nearly 40 years, until her death in 1955, to protecting and polishing his legacy. This year marks a century since London’s 1916 death, at the young age of 40, and Charmian London would likely be pleased that so much of his Glen Ellen ranch, his accomplishments and his memory have been maintained.

“Mate-Woman,” as London called her, spent decades tending to his copyrights and writings, a prolific output of more than 50 works of fiction and nonfiction, and hundreds of short stories, essays, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches and letters, translated into as many as 70 languages. And with London’s stepsister, Eliza Shepard, she struggled, sometimes mightily, through the Depression and World War II to pre- serve the mountainside he venerated and keep his Beauty Ranch going.

“Jack London loved Sonoma and in an important way, he was one of the first people to put Sonoma on the map and in the international imagination,” said former state librarian Kevin Starr, author of the book series “Americans and the California Dream.” “He sought the redemptive life on the land in Glen Ellen and as a rancher. Collectively, within the 50-plus books he wrote, are guide maps of Sonoma places that later became famous.”

This is a watershed year for Jack London State Historic Park, which occupies a portion of the original Beauty Ranch. The Jack London Park Partners group plans to spend 2016 celebrating London’s enduring legacy. Special events and activities kick off with the Klondike Challenge, encouraging people to pledge to walk 500 miles throughout the year, the distance London hiked from the Yukon to the Klondike in Canada. The kickoff coincides with London’s 140th birthday on Jan. 12. The commemorative year culminates with a memorial at his grave site, on the centennial of his death, Nov. 22. Fittingly, London died on his ranch and is buried there.

To honor her husband, Charmian London built a sturdy stone lodge, the House of Happy Walls, a smaller version of the magnificent Wolf House that mysteriously burned to the ground on a hot August night in 1913, two weeks before the couple were to have moved in. Like Wolf House, Happy Walls was designed by eminent Bay Area architect Albert Farr, to eventually serve as a Jack London museum; the first public visitors streamed under the portico in 1960, finally fulfilling Charmian’s wishes; nearly 100,000 people a year now come to Jack London State Historic Park, and he is remembered by readers around the world.

As a writer, London’s creative fire was stoked by social revolution. Far more than a manly writer of popular adventure stories such as “The Call of the Wild” (1903) and “White Fang” (1906), he also exposed the plight of the underclass and the working poor. His dystopian “The Iron Heel” described the rise of a tyrannical oligarchy that some observers find relevant today. He dressed in rags and lived among the destitute in the streets of London’s East End to research “The People of the Abyss.” His unfettered range took in everything from astral projection to prize fighting to penal reform.

London scholar Earle Labor, an emeritus professor at Centenary College in Louisiana and author of the recently published “Jack London: An American Life,” recalled meeting a young man from the Congo at a seminar. The man confided that his father had been killed in a jungle village, yet the son later learned to read French and discovered “The Call of the Wild,” which has been in continuous print since it was published in 1903. The story of Buck, a tenacious sled dog, inspired the young man’s own survival.

On a recent day in the state park, Tony Holroyde, visiting from England, paused on the porch outside London’s restored cottage and reflected that the rugged American writer lit a fire under him when he was a youth.

“He brought adventure alive in my imagination,” he said. “I don’t think I otherwise would have left the U.K. and spent two years running around the world. But I didn’t do it on horseback and I didn’t do it on a leaky ship.”

And yet in the last years of his short life, the 1,000 words a day London claimed to produce were largely in service to his 1,400 acres overlooking what he romantically referred to as the Valley of the Moon. The most highly-paid writer of his day, London pumped out the prose to pay for Beauty Ranch, his “biggest dream,” which started out as a refuge from urban grime and became a grand experiment in sustainable agriculture. Ridiculed in his time, he’s now regarded by many as a visionary.

Mike Benziger, who planted his family vineyard within the same well drained volcanic soil nearby on the mountain, said London was struck by the overgrazed and degraded condition of the Hill Ranch when he purchased the first 130 acres in 1905 and set out to make “the dead soil live again.”

“He felt he was in a position to save it. That was his life-altering experience the day he set foot on Beauty Ranch,” Benziger said. “That became literally this mission for the rest of his life, to find respite in this place and make it healthier and make it an example for future generations.”

Credit for London’s enduring legacy goes to the early efforts of his widow and several generations of heirs, including members of the Shepard family, who inherited the ranch from Charmian and made most of it available to the state for parkland, and the offspring of Jack London’s two daughters, Joan and Becky, many of whom carry on his commitment to social equality and justice in their own ways.

But London’s spirit has also been taken up by a multitude of other acolytes and academics who approach him from a kaleidoscope of perspectives. They include literary scholars, historians, agriculturists, preservationists, naturalists, teachers and outdoor enthusiasts who roam the 26 miles of trails that crisscross what is now Jack London State Historic Park.

“He wrote books kids used to read and still have to read. That’s how many people get exposed to Jack London, and it’s pretty much all most people know about him. He wrote dog books,” said Chuck Levine, a director of Jack London Park Partners, which has greatly expanded the park’s visibility and use since taking over management three years ago after the state threatened to close it due to budget constraints.

“The reason we should care about Jack London is that he was deeply concerned about the human condition,” Levine continued. “And the fact he was a writer allowed him to express that concern and his views about how the world could be changed to help the state of mankind.”

A meadow and a screen of trees but no fencing separate his property from the park. He lives on a piece of land sold off decades ago to help keep the ranch going. Levine crosses over almost daily. Since moving to Glen Ellen in 2002, the former CEO of Sprint has spent more than 300 hours exploring the park on horseback, just as London did a century earlier. He declares himself a pragmatist but admits, almost apologetically, that when he first crossed a wooden bridge onto what was once London’s land, “In my heart it felt magical.”

Levine is typical of the passionate volunteers who lead nature and historic hikes, give tours, work in the cottage and Happy Walls museum, patrol and maintain the trails, help with special events and man the parking kiosk.

At the same time, the partners are launching a $1 million capital campaign to modernize the museum in the House of Happy Walls with more high tech and multimedia presentations; the exhibit has changed little in decades.

If London were to return today, he would have no trouble finding his way around Beauty Ranch and the park. Aside from the 160 acres that London’s heirs, the Shepards, held back in a family trust when they turned the remainder of the property over to the state in the late 1970s, it has remained largely the same for over 100 years.

Some 700 feet up the slope of Sonoma Mountain, the ranch still has the old fieldstone barns, the elaborate piggery dubbed the Pig Palace by scornful observers, the concrete-block silos that were cutting-edge at the time, the picturesque ruins of the Kohler and Frohling winery destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and now the backdrop for the Transcendence Theater Co., and the mid-19th century cottage where Jack lived with Charmian and wrote in a study outfitted with a Dictaphone, Gramophone and Remington typewriter — high-tech at the time.

Above the working farm is wild land thick with oaks, broad-leaf maples, manzanitas and madrones, as well as Douglas fir and redwoods — the eldest a sapling at the birth of Christ. The mountain is etched with canyons and creeks, and the year-round Graham Creek (Wild Water Creek in London’s day) is a spawning ground for steelhead trout. High meadows break out with golden poppies in spring and offer unbroken views of Sonoma Valley and beyond. Bobcats, mountain lions, gray foxes, hawks and falcons scour the mountainside for prey.

At the center of any mention of London is his larger-than-life persona that makes him a magnetic character even now. He was a dashing man’s man with a face for the camera, and courted danger in exotic places, from the Klondike to the South Seas. He was, among many things, a prospector, oyster poacher, seaman and hobo riding the rails to Washington, D.C., as an idealistic member of the Industrial Army of the Unemployed in the 1890s.

“The greatest story Jack London ever wrote was the story he lived,” said Matt Atkinson, who led tours for years as a ranger at the state park. He is now the fire chief of Glen Ellen, where the name of its favorite son carries on with a hotel, saloon and rustic retail center across from what for years was the World of Jack London Bookstore; it’s now a wine tasting room.

London crammed far more living into 40 years, said Atkinson, than most people would or could in 80 years.

At the same time, he was a bundle of contradictions. His writing ran from pedantic to brilliant. He was a Socialist who was partially raised by an African American wet nurse, yet many of his most memorable characters are rugged individualists. Threaded through his writings are racist tones that make the modern reader wince. He was the highest-paid writer of his day, the first to earn $1 million, which he spent as fast as he made it. He lived well while serving as a voice of the proletariat, and like John F. Kennedy, projected a charismatic virility, yet privately suffered from health problems exacerbated by a reckless lifestyle of hard-drinking, smoking and a poor diet. It all caught up with him at 40.

In his day, London was an international celebrity, as famous as a movie star. His death of reported uremic poisoning brought on by kidney failure — still a subject of speculation and debate along with the burning of Wolf House — rated front-page notice in the New York Times.

As one journalist wrote in the days after his death, “No writer, unless it were Mark Twain, had a more romantic life than Jack London.”

“I like to say that if Jack London were alive today he would probably have a reality show, because he really organized his life that way. He knew the value of publicity. Once he became a famous writer and had developed a persona, he exploited that persona for all it was worth, and in particular, to help boost his book sales,” said Bay Area filmmaker Chris Mullion, who is working on a documentary called “Jack London, 20th Century Man.”

Among London’s most audacious stunts was to promote his book, “Cruise of the Snark.” He and Charmian set sail on the South Seas with crew members who had never sailed before. It resulted in some memorable writing and boosted his star. But London contracted yaws, a hideous tropical infection, along the way, and scholars believe his self-treatment with a mercury-based ointment led to the kidney problems that contributed to his death.

That London was even born is a sort of miracle. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in June 1875 that a pregnant Flora Wellman tried to shoot herself after astrologer William Chaney, with whom she was living, disavowed the baby and tried to force Wellman to have an abortion. She gave birth to Jack six months later. Wellman married Civil War veteran John London when Jack was an infant and gave him her new husband’s name. London was a young man when he discovered that Chaney was his biological father and sought him out, only to be rejected again.

The facts of his life provide endless fodder for researchers and enthusiasts, who comb over writings that were often a mixture of truth and fiction. “Martin Eden” and “John Barleycorn,” an anti-alcohol tract exploited by Prohibitionists, were semi-autobiographical. London had periods on the wagon but he never gave up the drink for good.

“He’s a very complicated person. He’s got a lot of layers to him. I take him not always at his word,” said Tarnel Abbott, 62, London’s great-granddaughter. A social activist in Richmond, her father, Bohemian longshoreman Bart Abbott, was the only son of Joan London. The eldest of Jack’s two daughters, Joan was a radical in her own right who wrote about the plight of farm workers, fought for labor and aligned herself with Trotsky, activities that brought her under the scrutiny of the FBI. Joan had a complicated relationship with her father, stuck in the middle between two warring parents. Her mother, Bess, embittered that London left her for Charmian, kept her daughters away from Beauty Ranch.

But parsing fact from fiction misses the broader message, Abbott said. “There are things he has said or written that have meaning for me, that make me feel like I do try to carry on the way he might approve.”

Of London’s seven great-grandchildren

Abbott has emerged as the most outspoken keeper of the London legacy, and last summer presented an adaption of London’s “The Iron Heel” with music and giant puppets at the state park. Older sister Chaney Delaire — named for her great-grandfather’s absent father — lives in a modest house in Santa Rosa and worked 15 years in planning and community development for the nonprofit Burbank Housing. If there is any common thread through the generations, she said, it’s a deep appreciation of “the earth, the land and how important it is.”

But it fell to the offspring of London’s stepsister, Eliza, to steward the land London declared the most beautiful in California. When Charmian died, she left Beauty Ranch to Irving Shepard, Eliza’s only son. He tried to make a go of it as a guest ranch and dairy farm, but when Irving’s children, Milo, Jill and Joy, inherited the property, it came with a $1 million tax debt. Milo, who died in 2010, adapted by planting wine grapes and selling all but 160 acres of Beauty Ranch to the state in 1979.

His son, Brian Shepard, and Shepard’s cousin, Steve Shaffer, oversee the Jack London vineyards for a family trust. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah grapes have been sold exclusively to Kenwood Vineyards for 40 years. Brian’s brother, Neil, is the owner and driver of the Jack London Ranch Clydesdales and lives on the ranch, as does Shaffer.

They are committed to the same ethos of sustainability set by their great-uncle 100 years ago. Inspired by the farming practices he saw in the Far East, where farmers managed to keep land productive for centuries, London became an agricultural innovator. He terraced the land to protect the topsoil from washing down the mountain in rainstorms. He made his own compost, running a cable car from his mare barn to a manure pit outfitted with a concrete floor to keep in the nutrients. He tilled by horse, not tractor.

“I just came to wonder at how London landed here, on this truly great piece of property. The soils are really deep and varied,” said Brian Shepard, a laconic, 6-foot-4 man with the weathered hands of a farmer. “I appreciate the foresight, the good luck, whatever, that London realized this was a special place.”

“I’m blessed,” added Shaffer, almost sheepishly. “I didn’t do anything to deserve any of this. I just want to do my best to preserve it.”

London is experiencing a bit of revival, with a new generation of scholars examining his life and his work, shining a light on a writer who has not always been taken seriously. Readers may overlook London, some say, because they miss the underlying layers of what appear to be simple adventure stories. But that was a good measure of his genius: He was able to write stories that were page-turners and also had complexity for those who read deeper. Sonoma Valley educators are trying to engage young readers in Jack London, whose legend is still alive in the Valley of the Moon.

“Students are often surprised he had such modern ideas for being a guy who was ‘back in the day,’” said Alison Manchester, an English teacher atdren, Abbott has emerged as the most outspoken keeper of the London legacy, and last summer presented an adaption of London’s “The Iron Heel” with music and giant puppets at the state park. Older sister Chaney Delaire — named for her great-grandfather’s absent father — lives in a modest house in Santa Rosa and worked 15 years in planning and community development for the nonprofit Burbank Housing. If there is any common thread through the generations, she said, it’s a deep appreciation of “the earth, the land and how important it is.”

But it fell to the offspring of London’s stepsister, Eliza, to steward the land London declared the most beautiful in Sonoma Valley High School and a board member of the Jack London Foundation, which sponsors an annual writing contest that draws submissions from young authors from around the world.

“I would call him America’s storyteller,” said Jay Williams, who is at work on the second of a three-volume biography of London while on break from his work at the Huntington Library in San Marino (where most of London’s papers are stored). “That was how he was regarded in his time. We’ve lost that sense of Jack because we’ve been pigeon-holing him as a socialist or a traveler or an adventurer. When you look at him as a storyteller, it encompasses everything he did and that ultimately will be his legacy.”

Big Love: Adam and Scott’s Perfect Sonoma Wedding

January 2016

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Scott and Adam’s perfect Sonoma county wedding

In July of 2008, Adam Brinkman was just beginning his residency training in general surgery at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and was settling into his new home in Madison, Wisconsin. Little did he know, those first few weeks in Madison would lead him to the love of his life: a fellow resident doing his training in otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) surgery at the same hospital.

Adam and Scott Chaiet went out for a cocktail shortly after meeting, and over the next few weeks they spent every free moment together. Through sharing meals, attending outdoor concerts, studying for work, and taking quick coffee breaks at the hospital, Adam and Scott knew they had found what they were both looking for. Over the next few years, they grew closer as a couple. They moved in together and celebrated the Jewish holidays with each other’s families, and the idea of a life together became more and more clear.

Four years into their relationship, Scott was scheduled to graduate from his otolaryngology residency and move to Albany, New York, to begin a one-year fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. Adam asked Scott to help him with a presentation he had been working on, and as the presentation began, Scott knew their lives were about to change forever. Adam had created a slideshow of pho tographs of their relationship over the years, including a picture of the receipt from their first date. Once it had finished, what happened next seemed effortless. “Adam placed a ring on my hand,” Scott says, “and asked if I would make him the happiest man in the world and be his partner for life.”

At the time they began planning their wedding, each of their home states, Michigan and Texas, did not recognize same-sex marriage. They began their search for the perfect location that would recognize their marriage, and the two wine lovers happily settled on Sonoma. With great organization and advice from many family members and friends, Scott and Adam were able to plan their wedding with only two visits to Sonoma.

After speaking with Suzy Montes of the Sonoma County Tourism Board, they settled on the beautiful Paradise Ridge Winery for their venue. Martha Marquez of Paradise Ridge suggested a wedding planner who knew the venue well: Ali DiLuvio. “Ali went above and beyond as a wedding planner to help coordinate our special event and provide last-minute love and support for us as we exchanged heartfelt vows,” Adam recalls.

Paradise Ridge Winery provided the perfect venue for 70 wedding guests to celebrate while taking in the view of the vineyards. Vows were exchanged under a chuppah that was beautifully crafted from natural elements including succulents and colorful blooms. Hanging above the grooms’ heads, attached to the chuppah, was the tallis belonging to Scott’s beloved grandfather, who had passed away just two months before Adam and Scott met.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Rabbi Meredith Cahn asked the guests to raise their hands if they had been to a same-sex wedding before. She then asked them to raise their hands if they had been to a Jewish wedding before. Finally, she asked them to raise their hands if they had been to a same-sex Jewish wedding before. “By the lack of hands in the air at this point, everyone knew they were about to be a part of something truly amazing,” Scott says. After a joyous night of delicious food, amazing desserts, dancing, hugs, and kisses, the couple headed back to Madison to begin a new chapter of their lives together.

Adam and Scott hope to come back to Sonoma to celebrate many anniversaries. They envision sitting at a table outside of Paradise Ridge Winery overlooking the vineyards, sipping sublime California wine, and reliving every special moment of the day.

Venue: Paradise Ridge Winery, Santa Rosa

Wedding planner: Ali DiLuvio of Ali DiLuvio Events

Florals: Wine Country Flowers

Catering: Park Avenue Catering

DJ: AMS Entertainment

Officiant: Rabbi Meredith Cahn

Photography: Suzanne Karp

Dreamy Sonoma Wedding Dresses

January 2016

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Designer: Anna Romysh Haute Couture for Faragé Price: $$$ Boutique: A Touch of Class Bridal 707- 545- 5008 atouchofclassbridal.com

Click through our gallery to see stunning dresses from our Sonoma Weddings issue.

Our key to dress prices $ = $600-$999 $$ = $1,000-$1,999 $$$ = $2,000-$2,999.

Photography: Rebecca Gosslin Hair: Danika Lamb of Artistry by Danika Makeup: Amy Carter Florals: Jaclyn K. Nesbitt Design and The Bluebird Studio Models: Madison and Diana, Scout Model Agency shot on location at Jack London State Historic Park.

Piecing Together the History of Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery

January 2016

By John Beck

A few hours past dawn in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, John Dennison stood beneath a cluster of oak trees with the rest of the Tombstone Trio — fellow retirees Scott Minnis and Henry Katz — as they surveyed the site of their latest graveyard excavation.

“You can hardly describe what it feels like when you go in there and hit something solid,” Dennison said. “Then you start digging like a little gopher.”

John Dennison, left, and Henry Katz wash away the algae and dirt after Katz finished scrubbing the headstones of the Carrillo family at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. (Photos by John Beck) — John Dennison and Henry Katz wash away the algae and dirt after Katz finished scrubbing the headstones of the Carrillo family at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. (Photos by John Burgess)

Almost glum and dank with dew, the scattered grave markers seemed ill prepared for a radiant sunny morning after decades of hibernation beneath brush and dirt.

Several weeks before, a distant relative of May Sumner, who was buried in 1912, contacted cemetery archivist Sandy Frary through the website findagrave.com, looking for Sumner’s marker. Frary checked the grave registry and map of 5,250 plots and told the trio to look in the overgrown outer edge of Stanley Cemetery, one of several adjoining graveyards, along with Moke and Fulkerson, which make up the 17-acre Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery — just a short block from McDonald Avenue, Santa Rosa’s stateliest street.

Hitting pay dirt, the men unearthed four graves buried beneath several feet of ivy, bramble and soil. “And here is May Sumner,” said Dennison as he leaned down to wipe off her faded headstone, the engraved letters barely visible.

“Finding graves is about as exciting as this place gets,” Minnis added. “It’s like detective work.”

Over the past several decades, a small army of volunteers has transformed the once-neglected, city-owned cemetery from an overgrown vandal’s playground littered with trash and the occasional marijuana plot, to a sanctuary where neighbors walk and run their dogs and volunteers and thespians hold candlelit tours and period re-enactments.

There’s been no shortage of drama since the cemetery welcomed its first body in 1854. Back then, it was an old cow pasture handed down through Mexican land grants, before Missouri settler Thompson Mize “got drunk and drowned in a puddle,” Dennison said. Other versions call it a pond or a creek, but either way, Mize left behind a family of four to fend for themselves.

Headstones damaged by passing time or vandalism have been pieced back together by volunteers over the past 20 years.

Others soon followed suit: The granddaughter of frontiersman Daniel Boone, Jack London’s cook, a popular black barber who ran a way station for freed slaves before the Civil War, still life painter Edward Edmondson and a rifle-twirling vaudeville performer whose body was left behind by her French troupe.

Countless veterans spanning the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War, are buried here. Civil War hero Thomas Morton Goodman, the lone survivor of the Centralia (Missouri) Massacre of 1864, rests here.

There’s also former Santa Rosa mayor, judge and attorney Thomas Rutledge, who once defended the notorious Younger brothers outlaws of Missouri. Hundreds turned out when Santa Rosa’s first female physician, Annabel McGaughey Stuart, “Dr. Dear,” died in 1914. Members of the Grace family that once owned Grace Brothers Brewery are laid to rest beneath a recently vandalized monument (since carefully restored by the Tombstone Trio). And a mass grave from the 1906 earthquake includes several Press Democrat news carriers caught in the mayhem.

A cadre of volunteers uses elbow grease and detective work to locate old tombstones.

Making national news, the cemetery was the site of a famous lynching in 1920. After three hoodlums killed the local sheri and a detective, a mob busted them out of the Santa Rosa jail and hung the trio from the branch of a black locust tree.

Frary is compiling all this priceless history in one massive tome, with the help of co-writer Ray Owen, to be titled “Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery: Burial Listings.” There’s a chance it may be published later this year, but “more realistically” in 2017, she said.

“It’s basically a database, but you can sit down and read it like a book,” said Frary, now retired after more than 25 years as payroll clerk in the Sonoma County sheri’s oce. “It’s going to have all the stories. All of Santa Rosa is going to finally know who is buried here.”

It turns out that Frary’s grandfather was also buried in the rural cemetery. But like more than a thousand other gravesites, she still can’t find his marker, which was likely covered or lost over the years.

“I’ve tried everything,” she said. “I have his inquest, his death certificate, all the stu in the newspaper, but they never say exactly where.”

Her book will also include a few of the lingering ghost stories, including that of Sarah “Neva” Duffin, whose husband apparently tried to kill her, before she died in 1909 of kidney failure.

“It’s been said that she’s tapped people on the shoulder while they’re standing there (in the cemetery),” Frary said.

Volunteers dig carefully through leaves, weeds and undergrowth to uncover old burial sites and their grave markers.

Former newspaperman Alan Lemmon, who died in 1919, likes to haunt those who come too close to his grave. “One of our volunteers has a photo of her grandson standing by his grave and you can see some kind of ghostlike presence in the photograph,” Frary explained.

She also gathered more than 1,000 wax rubbings of every epitaph in the cemetery for a previous book, “Tombstones and Tales Vol. III: Epitaphs.”

Meanwhile, every Tuesday and Thursday, the Tombstone Trio gathers around 9 a.m. to piece together the puzzle of broken headstones, clean up graffiti and vandalism, and mow under weeds and brush.

At 76, Dennison, a former furniture warehouse manager, is the soft-spoken leader. Minnis, 53, is the designated truck driver and hauler, and also the relative hipster in an Eagles concert T-shirt wrapped in flannel. And the more reserved Katz, 63, has a knack for mixing epoxy, cement and mortar.

Together, they wear the same tattered Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery baseball hats, bearing the logo on the back: “Where History Comes to Life.”

Henry Katz clears leaves from a work site.

After more than five years working the graveyard beat, Minnis knows how he’s going out when the time comes: “It’s definitely reinforced my notion that I’m going to be cremated,” he said. “I don’t want to give vandals something to tag.”

Said Dennison: “I’m gonna be cremated. I just can’t bring myself to be put in the ground.”

Things to Do in Sonoma County This Week

January 2016

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Friday, Jan. 15
Ice Cream and Magic: Not only does Shuffle’s Magical Ice Cream Shoppe have many delicious ways you can enjoy their ice cream, you can also pair it with a magical show. This Friday at 8 p.m., watch a live magic performance for $10. Find out more at www.shufflesicecream.com.

Friday, Jan. 15
Murder Mystery Dinner: Enjoy a 3-course meal with a side of murder at Charlie’s Restaurant in Windsor this Friday night. Starting at 7 p.m., find out whodunnit with a production of “The Spy Who Killed Me.” Tickets are $68 per person. Find out more at www.getaclueproductions.com.

Jan. 15-24
Love, Loss and What I Wore: This Friday is the opening night of a mesmerizing play written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. The tale is said to be for women and the men who want to understand them, and will feature a cast of amazing local talent. Opening night is sold out, but tickets are available all the way through Jan. 24 from $15-$40. Find out all the details at www.sonomaartslive.org.

Saturday, Jan. 16
SCHBC Winning Brew Launch Party: The winning brew of the 2015 Sonoma County Home Brewers competition will be available for first tastes this Saturday at Taps Beer Co. & Kitchen. Starting at 1 p.m., come chat with winning brewers from 101 North Brewing Company and enjoy live music from the Dirty Red Barn Band. Plus, taste some award-winning brew. Find out all the details at the Facebook events page.

Saturday, Jan. 16
Comedy Improv: The fine folks of Imagine Improv Factory will be making their debut performance this Saturday at Shuffle’s Magical Ice Cream Shoppe for a free show. The evening starts at 7:30 p.m., and promises to be family-friendly. Find out all the details at facebook.com/ImagineImprovFactory.

Saturday, Jan. 16
Kathy Griffin: The two-time Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian is performing live this Saturday at Uptown Theatre in Napa, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $75. Find out all the details at uptowntheatrenapa.com.

Saturday, Jan. 16
Movie & Wine Night: Pop on over to Gloria Ferrer for a glass of bubbly and a movie this Saturday night. The winery has partnered with the Sonoma Valley Film Festival to feature “Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story.” Tickets to the 7 p.m. showing are $15, and include a glass of Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine and movie snacks. Find out more at www.gloriaferrer.com/event/movie-and-wine-night.

Jan. 16-17
Winter WINEland: Participating wineries, including some private venues, will open their doors for the 24th annual wine festival this weekend. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., expect to enjoy food pairing, music, entertainment and tours at various locations. New this year is Breakfast with a Winemaker on Saturday from 9-10:30 a.m. For all the details, visit www.wineroad.com.

Jan. 16-17
Santa Rosa Salsa Festival: Add some heat to your weekend when the Santa Rosa Salsa Festival comes to the Flamingo Resort and Spa. Both days will be seasoned by Latin dance workshops, salsa performances, food and wine tastings and more. Tickets range from $20-$89. Find out more information at www.santarosasalsafestival.com.

Sunday, Jan. 17
Children’s Art Show Reception: Through Jan. 24, amazing art by young artists is on display at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum. This Sunday, the museum will host a free artist’s reception from 2-14 p.m., celebrating these talented youth. The event will include music by the Petaluma Children’s Chorus. More details at www.petalumamuseum.com.

Sunday, Jan. 17
Folk Music in Sebastopol: This Sunday, kick back for a night of folk-country music when Grammy-nominated Steve Seskin and Craig Carothers, and Grammy award winner Don Henry perform live at the Sebastopol Community Center. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and will include these amazing musicians and a few others. Tickets are $20-$25. Find out more at seb.org.

Sunday, Jan. 17
MLK Birthday Celebration: Celebrate history this Sunday with a free family event to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. for his birthday. From 7-8:30 p.m., the event will include music, awards, a children’s program and art, as well as Keynote Speaker actress Donzaleigh Abernathy. Doors at the Santa Rosa High School auditorium open at 6:30 p.m. Find out all the details at www.pjcsonoma.org.

Other upcoming events:

Friday, Jan. 16

‘Other Peoples’ Money’: Live drama by North Bay Stage Company. Opens 8 tonight; closes Jan. 31. East Auditorium, Wells Fargo Center. $26. 546-3600, wellsfargocenterarts.org.

John Courage: Singer- songwriter, plus Rags, Owl Paws. 8:30 tonight. HopMonk Tavern, Sebastopol. $10. 829-7300, hopmonk.com.

Kool Jam: San Francisco hip-hop artist, plus SF rapper p-lo. 8 tonight. $25. Phoenix Theater, Petaluma. 762-3565, thephoenixtheater.com.

‘One Man, Two Guvnors’: Out-of-work musician falls in with two small-time rival gangsters. Opens 8 tonight; closes Feb. 7. 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa. $15-$32. 523-4185, 6thstreetplayhouse.com.

Saturday, Jan. 16

Monte Schulz: Cartoonist Charles Schulz’s son reads from newest novel, ‘Crossing Eden,’ and performs live music, backed by a trio. 2 p.m. Saturday. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa. $5-$10. 579-4452, schulzmuseum.org.

‘Songcatcher’s Tour’: Jim Kweskin, Meredith Axelrod & Suzy Thompson. 8 p.m. Saturday.. Occidental Center for the Arts. $25. occidentalcenterforthearts.org.

Kahane-Swensen-Brey Trio: Pianist Jeffrey Kahane, violinist Joseph Swensen, cellist Carter Brey. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Weill Hall, Green Music Center. $35 & up. gmc.sonoma.edu, 866-955-6040.

‘Olive to Laugh’: As part of the ongoing Sonoma Valley Olive Season celebration, the Crushers of Comedy perform at 6 p.m. Saturday. Krug Center Sonoma Valley Inn, Sonoma. $25-$35, crushersofcomedy.com.

Sunday, Jan. 17

Garrison Keillor: Author and former longtime ‘Prairie Home Companion’ radio show host. 4 p.m. Sunday. Nourse Theater, San Francisco. $29. cityarts.net.

Cantiamo Sonoma: Choral group performs at Epiphany Evensong Series at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Church of the Incarnation, Santa Rosa. cantiamosonoma.org.

Soulshine Blues Band: ‘Blues & BBQ’ series. 5-8 p.m. Sunday. Twin Oaks Tavern, Penngrove. twinoakstavernpenngrove.com, 795-5118.

Nicholas Phan: Opera tenor. 3 p.m. Sunday. Schroeder Hall, Green Music Center. $30. gmc.sonoma.edu, 866-955-6040.

Monday, Jan. 18

‘Museum Monday for Little Ones’: Stories, arts, crafts and games for kids ages 1-5 and their grownups. 10 a.m.-noon Monday. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa. $5 per child; 2 adults per child free until 11 a.m. 579-4452, schulzmuseum.org.

Tuesday, Jan. 19

‘Journey to Fountaingrove’: Saga of immigrant leader Kanaye Nagasawa and utopian commune founded by Thomas Lake Harris near Santa Rosa in 1875. Daily except Mondays through Feb. 21. Sonoma County Museum of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa. $7-$10l 12 & under free. 579-1500, sonomacountymuseum.org.

Wednesday, Jan. 20

‘Harlem Globetrotters’: Clown Princes of the basketball court. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Haehl Pavilion, Santa Rosa Junior College. $31 & up. harlemglobetrotters.com

‘Les Pecheurs de Perles’: ‘Met Opera Live’ screening stars Diana Damrau in Bizet’s classic. 1 & 7 p.m. Wednesday.. Rialto, Sebastopol. $18-$25. 525-4840, rialtocinemas.com.

‘Cat in the Hat’: Live stage production of Dr. Seuss favorite. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa. $5-$17. 546-3600, wellsfargocenterarts.org.

Thursday, Jan. 21

‘Songwriters in the Round’: Four singer-songwriters perform. 8 p.m. Thursday. HopMonk Tavern, 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. $8. 829-7300, hopmonk.com.

Friday, Jan. 22

Marc-Andre Hamlin: Canadian pianist and composer. 7: 30 p.m. Jan. 22. Weill Hall, Green Music Center. $35 & up. gmc.sonoma.edu, 866-955-6040.

‘A Steady Rain’: Opens Jan. 22; closes Feb. 6. Left Edge Theatre, Carston Cabaret, Wells Fargo Center. $30-$40. 546-3600, wellsfargocenterarts.org.

Saturday, Jan. 23

Latin Jazz: Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23. Weill Hall, Green Music Center. $40-$70. gmc.sonoma.edu. 866-965-6040.

‘Arrows into Infinity’: Documentary on jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd. 8 p.m. Jan. 23. SHED Grange, Healdsburg. $12. healdsburgshed.com.

Jake Shimabukuro: Ukulele master. 8 p.m. Jan. 23. Uptown Theatre, Napa. $25-$65. 259-0123, uptowntheatrenapa.com.

Sonoma County Philharmonic: Conducted by Norman Gambona, with feature trombonist Bruce Chrisp. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23; 2 p.m. Jan. 24. Santa Rosa High School auditorium. $10-$15; 18 & under free. socophil.org.

Sunday, Jan. 24

‘Peter and the Wolf’: Santa Rosa Symphony performs Prokofiev’s classic, acted out onstage by the Platypus Theatre. 3 p.m. Jan. 24. Weill Hall, Green Music Center. $12-$127. gmc.sonoma.edu, 866-955-6040.

Charles Lloyd & Bill Frisell: Live jazz saxophone and guitar concert. First stop in a new tour. 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24. SHED Grange, Healdsburg. $75. healdsburgshed.com.

Wood Brothers: Brothers Chris and Oliver Wood, plus Jano Rix, play the blues and more. Liz Vice opens at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 24. Mystic Theatre, Petaluma. $26-$31. 765-2121, mystictheatre.com.

‘Hick in the Hood’: One-man play written and performed by San Francisco film & TV actor Michael Sommers. 3 p.m. Jan. 24. Occidental Center for the Arts. $15. 874-9392, occidentalcenterthearts.org.

See original post at the Press Democrat website.

Ca’Momi Osteria and other Napa Newcomers

January 2016

By biteclub

The interior of Ca'Momi Osteria in Napa. — The interior of Ca’Momi Osteria in Napa.

short ribs from Ca'Momi are served at the new Osteria in Napa. Photo: Heather Irwin. — short ribs from Ca’Momi are served at the new Osteria in Napa. Photo: Heather Irwin.

Napa chefs and restaurateurs had a banner year in 2015, opening venues that included second or third locations for several of them. The predominant themes were rustic Italian and comforting pub grub. As downtown Napa continues to rebuild and reinvent itself, more restaurants and hotels are on their way, popping up like mushrooms in January.

Here are some of the biggest openings of 2015.

The mosiac oven at Ca'Momi Osteria in January 2016. Heather Irwin/PD — The mosiac oven at Ca’Momi Osteria in January 2016. Heather Irwin/PD

Ca’Momi Osteria: Calling itself “Obsessively Italian,” this Napa newcomer actually backs it up with a menu focused on authentic regional specialties and traditions. Travel north to south, east to west through the foodways of Italy with dishes like grilled rock octopus with lemon vinaigrette inspired by Venice’s seafood bounty ($16); imported burrata from Puglia (the boot heel of Italy) a with roasted vegetables and olive oil ($14); or a hearty oxtail stew with tomato, rigatoni, soffritto, pinenuts and raisins ($28) from the pastoral Lazio region surrounding Rome.

Spaghetti ala Bottarga at Ca'Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD — Spaghetti ala Bottarga at Ca’Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD

The only spaghetti on the menu is “alla bottarga,” a briny, slightly funky dish that gets a shaving of cured fish roe, a Sardinian specialty that’s well-worth a try if you’re a seafood fan ($20).

Creamy porcini pizza at Ca'Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD — Creamy porcini pizza at Ca’Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD

Pizza is the heart of the Osteria, however. Not just pizza, but certified-authentic pizza Napoletana that’s cooked for exactly 90 seconds in a 900-degree wood-burning oven. Exactly. Don’t ask for Parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes or pepperoni on your pizza, because that’s not how things are done here, and they’ll be glad to tell you.

Beef tartare with quail egg at Ca'Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD — Beef tartare with quail egg at Ca’Momi Osteria in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD

Instead, experience pizza as it is meant to be, with simple toppings of San Marzano tomatoes, garlic and oregano ($16), or more luxurious toppings of porcini mushrooms with white truffle cream and basil ($22). They come uncut, ready to slice and dice any way you please. In true Italian style, sharing here is not only acceptable, but expected, so mangia with gusto, and toast to the good life with friends and family.

Octopus with lemons and potatoes at Ca'Momi Osteria in Napa, California. Heather Irwin/PD — Octopus with lemons and potatoes at Ca’Momi Osteria in Napa, California. Heather Irwin/PD

Open daily for lunch and dinner, 1141 First St., Napa, camomi.com.

Tacos at Heritage Eats in Napa. Heather Irwin/PD

Heritage Eats: Slow fast-food is having its moment. Convenient, walk-up meals with sustainable principles and local connections are what Napa’s Heritage Eats is all about.

Think Jamaican jerk chicken on steamed bao buns with Asian pickles and habanero sauce, or an Indian tikka masala with grilled veggies stuffed into a flour tortilla (both $9.95).

Co-founders Ben Koenig and Jason Kupper (both former The Thomas Restaurant alums), insist on using only heritage breed meats and maintaining the relationships with local farmers forged earlier in their fine-dining careers.

We think they’ve captured the idea of how we’re eating now, but also how we’ll be eating in the future — with international flavors, conscious sourcing, and a menu that allows for plenty of personalization. Open daily for lunch and dinner. 3824 Bel Aire Plaza, Napa, heritageeats.com.

Carrots at Atlas Social in Napa, which opened in 2015. Courtesy photo

Atlas Social: The third Napa restaurant for co-owners Michael Gyetvan and Christina Rivera (Norman Rose Tavern, Azzurro Pizzeria), this is a vibrant gastro-hub for mixing, mingling and plate-sharing, and when we say social, we mean you’re destined to run into at least four people you know on the way to your communal table, where you’ll meet six more people you don’t. The idea behind it is small plates/big flavors that are meant to be shared.

Atlas Social Restaurant in Napa opened in January 2015

If you can’t find something from the globally-inspired menu, it’s on you : Tempura veggies, twice fried Brussels sprouts and tuna crudo are available, along with rabbit pot pie, masala spiced chicken skewers, pork belly tacos and chicken-fried quail.

Beef Tartare. Atlas Social Club Restaurant in Napa opened in January 2015 — Beef Tartare. Atlas Social Restaurant in Napa opened in January 2015

Dishes range from $5 to $10, making this a popular after-work meet-up spot. Lunch and dinner daily, 1124 First St., Napa, atlassocialnapa.com.

Napa Palisades Saloon: This downtown spot is for beer fans, with more than 20 regional beers on tap and Napa-style pub grub that ranges from shrimp and grits with smoked chili butter to lamb burgers, Shrimp Louie salad, pot roast and pimento cheese fondue. For the local beerati, it should come as no surprise that Santa Rosa’s Kevin Sprenger (Sprenger’s Tap Room) is a co-owner of the saloon and brewery project. Napa Palisades recently released its first beer, 24/7 Session IPA. Open daily, 1000 Main St., Suite 100, Napa, napapalisades.com.

aj0107_Ninebark_06.JPG More Like This Printer Friendly Download 2319794 bytes; 4200 x 2799; Grilled Mt. Lassen trout with wild mushrooms and eggplant, at Ninebark, in Napa, California on Thurs Grilled Mt. Lassen trout with wild mushrooms and eggplant, at Ninebark, in Napa, California on Thursday, January 7, 2016. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat) — Grilled Mt. Lassen trout with wild mushrooms and eggplant, at Ninebark, in Napa, California on Thursday, January 7, 2016. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Ninebark: Foodies are abuzz over the reincarnation of The Thomas, and more specifically Chef Matthew Lightner. The two-star Michelin chef calls the menu California-inspired and market-driven, but he has a firm grasp on the latest culinary trends, like charcoal grilling, smoked everything, pickling, new takes on old favorites (black garlic ranch dressing, salt cod beignets) and global inspirations like poke with kombu and brown butter dashi. A more casual bar menu includes many of the dishes and sides, and the recently-added brunch menu may be one of the most tempting we’ve seen. Stellar cocktails to boot. Closed Monday, dinner Tuesday through Sunday, brunch Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 813 Main St., Napa, ninebark-napa.com.

Coming Soon: One of the most anticipated openings of 2016 is former Oenotri chef Curtis Di Fede’s izakaya restaurant, Miminashi. The Japanese pub-style restaurant will feature grilled yakitori, Japanese pancakes, raw and smoked local fish, rice bowls, porridges (a hot trend for 2016) and plenty of beverage choices from Napa and Japan. 821 Coombs St., Napa, miminashi.com.

We Make Teens Try Starbucks New V-Day Secret Menu Frappuccinos

January 2016

By biteclub

Valentine Frappuccino test subjects "L" and "E". No teens were harmed during this experiment. But they're going to kill me for putting their pictures online. — Valentine Frappuccino test subjects “L” and “E”. No teens were harmed during this experiment. But they’re going to kill me for putting their pictures online.

The "Valentine" frappuccino trio at Starbucks. The baristas did a really good job with our horrid directions. — The “Valentine” frappuccino trio at Starbucks. The baristas did a really good job with our horrid directions.

Guess what? It’s time for food writers to gush about horrible things you can put in your body in the name of holiday fun, AKA Valentine Secret Menu Frappuccinos at Starbucks. Yay!

However, I’m on a diet, so as a crappy parent, I actually made my teenage daughter and her friend try these, because 13-year-old girls seem to live on these and have developed a tolerance. I mostly laughed and stole the whipped cream off the top because my body would explode if I actually drank one. (Whipped cream is on my diet, I’m pretty sure.)

(Note, no children were actually harmed here. I made them run around the block 8 times afterwards and eat broccoli and tofu dinner. Which is a lie because they had In-N-Out, but I did say before I was a crappy parent.)

The Back Story: A barista in Tucson, Arizona came up with a trio of ridiculous frozen concoctions so adorable you might just forget the jiggle they’re putting on your middle. With pumps of raspberry syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream and chocolate chips, they say to the world, “I honestly don’t care about my body, so I’ll drown my sorrows in unnecessary sugar!”

Why They’re Newsworthy: They’re not, and I’m sorry, I just can’t write about these with a clear conscience, but I do think they’re hilariously awful and probably something you’ll want to talk about around the water cooler. And maybe even split with five of your friends. But please, don’t actually drink one of these yourself. I mean, I’m not judging, but whenever I see people sucking down a giant whipped-cream topped frappu-mocha-whatever I kind of die a little inside for the future of humanity.

How to Get ‘Em: Silly bean, these Valentine Frappuccinos aren’t actually on the menu, but you can hold up the line for hours trying to explain the ingredients at the counter. The nice baristas will probably get most of it sort-of right, because they’re nice like that, but your results may vary.

A vanilla bean raspberry Valentine frappuccino at Starbucks.

The Love Bean (aka, “You Can’t See My Belly Button Anymore”)
Ingredients: Vanilla bean frappuccino + 2 raspberry pumps + blackberry + whipped cream + chocolate curls.

A strawberries and creme frappuccino at Starbucks. They didn't have raspberry whipped creme, and they put caramel drizzle and some sort of dessicated blackberry on top. — A strawberries and creme Valentine frappuccino at Starbucks. They didn’t have raspberry whipped creme, and they put caramel drizzle and some sort of dessicated blackberry on top.

The Valentine (aka “I Wish I Had A Date Tonight”)
Ingredients: Strawberries and creme frappuccino + raspberry syrup + blackberry + whipped cream

A java chip Valentine frappuccino at Starbucks. They didn't have raspberry whipped creme, and they put caramel drizzle on top. Not sure if there was any raspberry. — A java chip Valentine frappuccino at Starbucks. They didn’t have raspberry whipped cream, and they put caramel drizzle on top. Not sure if there was any raspberry.

Java Berry Frappuccino (aka: “There’s Nothing Natural Here”)
Ingredients: Java chip frappuccino + raspberry infused whipped cream

The results of the taste test: Come on they’re teenagers. They don’t actually talk to me. But they seemed to drink the strawberry and java chip the fastest. I’m sure they’ve typed something to their friends about it on SnapChat.

Sonoma County Trails: Gualala Point Regional Park to Sea Ranch

January 2016

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

When The Sea Ranch was first developed along the Sonoma Coast in the 1970s, view spots along its 10-mile coastline were reserved for residents of the exclusive community. All that changed in 1981 when the California Coastal Conservancy granted a 15-foot-wide pedestrian easement along the headlands.

Today, that bluff-top easement is part of a 7.5-mile coastal trail that stretches south from Gualala Point Regional Park, with five shorter trails that lead down to the ocean from Highway 1. The first piece — from Salal Creek to Walk On Beach — is a relatively easy six-mile round trip, with the option of a stopover at Walk On Beach, one of The Sea Ranch’s most popular beaches. Until August, visitors were banned from the quarter-mile trail that descends from a bluff-top staircase through a large Monterey cypress grove.

In 2003, the battering waves that are nibbling away at many sections of the Sonoma Coast took several large bits out of the bluff near Walk On Beach and caused some of the trail to fall into the sea. Outsiders, prohibited from using roads and trails in The Sea Ranch beyond those specifically designated for public use, could not reach the beach unless they trespassed.

Adding to the complexity was that the failed section of bluff top brought the continent’s edge ever closer to two houses at the end of a cul de sac called Sea Pine Reach. Homeowners reportedly welcomed the trail closure and the absence of strangers traipsing by and even onto their property.

After 11 years of study and negotiation, the realigned public trail was reopened and beach access was restored.

Visitors with more time and energy can return to their cars and, from Highway 1, stop at access points for:

Shell Beach Trail, 1.3 miles further south, which runs through pines and meadow to a wide, sandy beach with sea rocks, tide pools and small boat access via a beach ramp;

Stengel Beach Trail, 1.25 miles further south, with a wooden staircase, a small beach and seasonal waterfalls on the cliffs;

Pebble Beach Trail, 1.6 miles further south, which weaves through pines and meadow to a sandy cove reached by stairs; and,

Black Point Trail, 1.45 miles further south, which crosses the bluffs to a curving, quarter-mile beach reached by a steep, wooden staircase. Known to surfers, this beach is just north of Black Point, a cape that juts out about 250 yards from the shore.

Hours for the North Coast Access Trails are 8 a.m.-sunset in winter, 6 a.m.-sunset in summer. Bicycles are not allowed, nor are RVs and trailers in the parking lot.

Parking is $7. 785-2377, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov.

Boba Cafes Trending in Sonoma County

January 2016

By Heather Irwin

Vanilla Milk Tea from TeaRex. (Photo by Jenna Fischer)

From our food blogger, Heather Irwin of BiteClubEats.

Boba, also known as bubble tea, is having its 15 minutes. But we think it’s a trend that’s here to stay.

Though its been around for several years in the US, and a rage in Asia since the 1990s, the chewy, sweet, drink/snack/entertainment is becoming a millennial passion the rest of us are finally figuring out.

If you haven’t tried one yet, here’s the skinny: Take one part milk tea, green tea or black tea; add a fruit flavoring, then add the boba — small chewy balls of tapioca at the bottom of the drink, usually made out of honey, gelatin or tapioca with roughly the consistency of a gummy bear. There are infinite combinations, though many spots will have a recommendation of milk/tea/fruit/boba mixtures that work well.

Your drink combination is mixed with ice and sealed with a thin plastic lid (so you don’t spill it). A wide straw is poked through the lid, and you suck up both the tea and the boba through the straw (note: take it slow, or you could choke, which is a true sign of a newbie).

Once you’ve got the hang of it, expand your horizons to more exotic Asian flavors like (we kid you not) red bean, taro, sour plum, rose or litchi nut. Some are sweeter, others, less so, and most spots will allow you to control how sweet you like your drink. Most boba shops also offer a variety of small snacks, from waffles and fried octopus to simple sandwiches and candy.

Boba fanatic and Sonoma State student/journalist Jenna Fischer gives her reviews of several local boba spots in Sonoma County (with a few notes from me, a fellow boba fanatic).

TeaRex, 1 Padre Pkwy, Rohnert Park
Drink: Vanilla Milk Tea with regular boba
Price: $3.75
Review: Tucked away in the Padre shopping center in Rohnert Park, TeaRex is a little hard to find but delicious once you do. TeaRex has a wide varieties of flavors for both the drinks and the boba additions, as well as a great selection of snacks. The boba itself is good-sized with a good amount of chew, and the milk tea has a great balance of tea flavor, milk, and sweetness. There is only one size available, but it is well worth the price. Their regular size is 2 to 4 ounces larger than their competitors for about the same price. The cafe also has Asian snacks, candy and banh-mi available.
Rating: 4.5/5

Vanilla Milk Tea from Sunny's Boba. (Photo by Jenna Fischer) — Vanilla Milk Tea from Sunny’s Boba. (Photo by Jenna Fischer)

Sunny’s Boba and More, 519 4th St., Santa Rosa
Drink: Vanilla Milk Tea with honey boba
Price: $4.25
Review: Sunny’s just celebrated their grand opening in Santa Rosa. The shop itself is adorable, and fits right in on Fourth street. The customer service was wonderful and the employees were incredibly sweet. The drink had a good helping of boba and you could taste it was fresh. It was just the right size with a perfect chewiness level. The tea flavor was strong, but you could still taste the milk and flavor. This shop had a good selection of flavors and add-ons, but the unique thing about Sunny’s is the customer gets to choose their sweetness preference. Some milk tea drinks can be overly sweet, but with this shop you can tell them exactly how sweet you want it. One of the only spots we know to get slices of J.M. Rosen Cheesecake. Noms.
Rating: 4/5

Taro Milk Tea from ThirsTea. (Photo by Jenna Fischer)

ThirsTea, 6585 Commerce Blvd, Rohnert Park
Drink: Taro Milk Tea with regular boba
Price: $3.45
Review: ThirsTea is a brand new boba shop in Rohnert Park that has only been open for about a month. It’s small, but cute. The menu is a bit limited at the moment, only offering a handful of flavors, but it looks like there are more items, like shaved ice, to be added soon. The employees were helpful, kind and gave good customer service. The boba had a great consistency, and you could tell it was freshly made. The taro flavor was good, but I couldn’t taste much of the milk and it was a tad watery. Otherwise, this shop had the lowest price for a good drink.
Rating: 3.5/5

Thai Milk Tea from Quickly. (Photo by Jenna Fischer)

Quickly, 1880 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa
Drink: Thai Milk Tea with boba
Price: $3.49
Review: Quickly is one of the best known boba franchises in the world, started in Taiwan with now over 2,000 locations on 4 continents. That is quite a bit of hype to live up to, and I would put this shop at pretty average. The menu is far too large, it’s extremely overwhelming. The menu nearly takes up the whole wall and takes at least 2 minutes to read from beginning to end. That being said, the drink I had was pretty good. The Thai Milk Tea had the right Thai flavor I was looking for and didn’t taste artificial. However, I could barely taste any milk. The boba themselves were a little on the small side and a little too chewy, but I was still satisfied.
Rating: 3/5
(Heather: I love the huge menu of odd/interesting snacks, but this location is frequently jammed with SRJC students. Service can be brusque, but the rainbow jellies are my favorite, and the slushies are a top pick).

Thai Blended Milk Tea from Surf City Squeeze. (Photo by Jenna Fischer)

Surf City Squeeze, Santa Rosa Plaza, Santa Rosa
Drink: Thai blended tea with boba
Price: $4.95 (for 12 oz)
Review: While this shop is very convenient for shoppers because it is located in the middle of the Plaza, it wouldn’t be the first choice for someone looking for a classic milk tea with boba. All of the drinks are blended, and primarily smoothies, with 5 tea flavors. The smoothies are delicious, but are more like dessert smoothies because they are incredibly sweet. The blended thai tea I had with boba vaguely tasted like thai tea but had a very strong sweet, artificial flavor. Because of the price and the sweetness level, I have to give it a little below average rating for boba drinks. But if you want a tasty smoothie on your shopping trip, I would suggest Surf City.
Rating: 2.5/5

sharetea-heather — Kiwi boba with ice jelly at Simply Vietnam Express in Santa Rosa. (Photo by Heather Irwin)

Heather’s Favorite: Share Tea at Simply Vietnam Express, 3881 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa
Drink: Kiwi with ice jelly
It’s a little embarrassing how often I stop by this Cleveland Ave. spot for Vietnamese iced coffee and/or bubble tea. ShareTea, which is a large Taiwanese chain, has a presence in this locally-owned Vietnamese restaurant. Here, you can pick your sweetness, flavorings and boba — ranging from super sweet kiwi to a more Americanized coffee and ice cream version. This is the most assembly lined process, though it can be time-consuming for the staff behind the counter during busy lunch and dinner hours.

See original post on BiteClubEats.com.

Diet Resolutions Stink: Healthy Eating Tips

January 2016

By biteclub

Everywhere around me, folks are vowing to give up sugar, gluten, white flour, coffee, meat…and the list goes on, as their New Year’s Resolutions. I feel absolutely terrible for them, because it won’t work. When you go on a diet that takes away things you love, or delicious foods that modern humans eat, it simply isn’t sustainable.

Now that I’ve burst that bubble for you, let me say that my resolution (actually I prefer “intention” but that’s just semantics) is to take care of my body and soul. That means eating what I love, but in reasonable amounts. It means walking, doing yoga, getting my heart rate up a couple times a day, and not over-indulging on a frequent basis.

I’m not skinny, or perfect but I’m happy with who I am after losing 40 pounds the hard way and I’d like to keep it that way. So after 2.5 years of weight management here’s what I’ve learned and some intentions I think anyone can stick to.

No, they’re not revolutionary, but they’re what works for me. (Also, these are just my personal recommendations based on trial and error. I am not officially endorsing, nor have I been paid to endorse any specific product).

Homemade tofu curd that I made by my very own self.

– Eating at least one vegan meal a week, and focusing more on plant-based foods: For me, this is more about experimentation and learning (ie: how to cook a decent pot of beans and making my own tofu for fun) than punishment. I recently substituted diced cauliflower for white rice in a dish of baked peanut tofu, and it was delicious! Action Item: Here’s the recipe. I also love Mark Bittman’s cookbooks for vegan cooking.

– Making Red Meat a Treat: A few weeks ago, I promised my family I’d make steaks. I’d never cooked a steak in my life. I bought two small grain-fed rib eyes that cost a small fortune, carefully seared and then baked them in cast iron, and divided them among four people. They were the best steaks I’ve ever eaten. If you’re going to eat beef, my intention is to make it special, and as local as possible. Action Item: SoCo Meat Co. or Victorian Farmstead are two choices I like, but Oliver’s and Pacific market also have excellent selections.

– Learning portion control: I received a nice Amazon gift card this Christmas that I promptly spent on the 21 Day Fix. Hey, easy come, easy go. I’m not saying you should buy any specific weight control program, but I liked the idea of putting my portions in little containers — which is what the “fix” is about. (Here are just the portion containers) It’s shocking how little a reasonable portion is, and its also shocking to see how out of proportion my carbohydrate intake is. I also happen to really like the workouts with it. I’m not really planning to use the diet as anything but a suggestion. We’ll see how it works. Action Item: Here are some goofy portion control gadgets. Make it fun. I also think Weight Watchers is a good way to learn portion control.

– Noticing my gluten and sugar intake: When you start looking at labels, it is scary how much food includes lots of sugar. In fact, its hard to eat a meal without hidden sugars somewhere. I’m noticing, and trying to make adaptations when I can, and really watching my candy intake. I’m also looking at ways to use white flour and gluten alternatives when I can. Once you really start paying attention, it’s easier to slowly make changes that are sustainable and good. If you want to eat a baguette, eat a freaking baguette. Don’t make food your enemy. Action Item: Try some alternative flours for fun. I LOVE Bob’s Red Mill and they have some great options that aren’t too expensive.

– Eating What I Love, Not Eating What I Don’t Love: As a restaurant writer, I’m confronted with fattening, delicious food on an almost daily basis. Guess what? I eat it. When its really, really good, I eat it all. When it’s just okay, I only eat a bite or two. When it’s not worth it, I don’t eat it. When I’m not eating for work, I try to (“try” is the key word) eat as healthy as possible. That means after a huge feast of 8-courses of meat and pasta one night, I may fast for a day, or just eat very healthy, cleansing foods. I also try to just eat a few bites of each dish and savor them rather than mindlessly eating. It’s a give and take that works for me. Action Item: I really enjoyed this article about Mindful Eating.

– Stop Snacking: Donuts at work, candy in a co-worker’s drawer, chips in the pantry are all my kyptonite. I’m learning to walk by, or try to eat some veggies instead. This is the time for real self-control, and reminding myself that the calories just aren’t worth it. As hard as it is, tell yourself how good you’ll feel later without that jelly donut gurgling in your gut. It really does feel good to be able to walk away. When I just can’t, I try hard to take a little longer walk later. Action Item: Journal what you eat. I’ve tried a lot of different ways, and I like MyFitnessPal.

– Lunches at home (or packed): I’m fortunate to live near my work, so I go home for lunch most days and walk my dog. I eat very little, and spend the time walking. Lunch is a killer, and a waste of calories and money if you’re just buying a sandwich or fast food because you’re too lazy to do anything else. Action Item: Get a really fun bento box to make your lunch pretty.

– Be Kind and Forgiving to Me: Stop beating yourself up about what you eat. I’ve learned that all the guilt and pain of overeating just made me want to eat more to drown my sorrows. Have you ever done the “I’m gonna pig out now and I’ll start my diet tomorrow” thing? Me too. When I pig out on something totally not worth it (I ate an entire box of Snackwell Devil’s Food Cookies the other day), I tell myself I’ll do better tomorrow. I make a plan to drink more water, and try to write down how I’ll nourish myself with love. I don’t just starve myself for no reason. When you want to pig out, think about what’s really bugging you, and try to do something to actually make yourself feel better (call a friend, take a walk, listen to a really cool book on tape). Inspire yourself. Failing is okay, but success feels so much better. Action Item: Forgive yourself and spend some time with Michael Pollan.

What are you resolutions?