Page 441 – Sonoma Magazine

Walter Schug – Sonoma’s Subtle Superstar

October 2015

By Linda Murphy

Walter Schug smelling one of his wines. (Photo by Chris Hardy)

Walter Schug recently gave up driving. His once-efficient, purposeful stride is a bit slower, his hearing a tad less acute, his German-engineered mind not as precise as it once was. It’s what can happen on the cusp of turning 80.

Yet on a hot morning before the start of the 2015 wine grape harvest — Schug’s 60th, 55th in California and 35th in Sonoma — his driver steers his car up the driveway to Schug Carneros Estate, past the flapping flags of the United States, Germany, California and the San Francisco Giants. As he exits the vehicle, Schug dons a jacket and straw fedora, cinches his lavender necktie tight, and heads for the winery he began building in 1989, south of the town of Sonoma. Carneros was a young winegrowing region at the time, yet Schug and his wife, Gertrud, recognized its potential for growing Pinot Noir — and staked their claim.

The exterior of Schug Carneros Estate, with its straight lines, peaked roof and timber framing, looks very much like the winery where Schug grew up, Staatsweingut Assmannshausen, in Germany’s Rhine Valley. It was managed by his father, Ewald, and young Walter romped among the vines, played in the cellar, helped out during harvest when he got older, and absorbed the winemaking dedication imparted by Ewald.

Once inside his own cellar and its cooling aging caves, Schug’s step has extra bounce, his clear blue eyes a twinkle. This is where he is most at home, as he has been for three-fourths of his long, successful life. In a winery, making wine.

“All this equipment, it comes from Germany,” Schug explains with a sweep of his hand. The presses, the pumps, the fermentation tanks, the 669-gallon wood oval casks for the aging of wine — all were manufactured in Germany and shipped to Schug when he began building the winery and planting grapes. “The equipment used in California back then was shit.”

“Back then” includes Schug’s 11 years working for wineries in California’s Central Valley and as a grower relations representative for Modesto’s E. & J. Gallo. In the following years (1972-79), Schug selected the site and helped plant Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St. Helena, where he and his family lived at the time. As the Phelps winemaker, Schug bottled the first varietally labeled Syrah in California and Napa Valley’s first ice wine. In 1974, he produced what was to become one of the most prized and highest-rated Bordeaux-style red blends in America, Insignia, which today commands $225 a bottle. Producing single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons from Phelps’ Eisele and Backus vineyards was years ahead of the trend.

Schug’s own Carneros wines, which come from 42 acres of estate grapes and purchased fruit, are made in a firm, crisp, elegant European style. They’re neither super-ripe nor heavy, instead compact and refined, and include Sonoma-grown Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, a full-bodied yet dry sparkling Rouge de Noirs, and a late-harvest Riesling from Lake County grapes. All are superb, yet it’s Pinot Noir that commands Schug’s keenest attention and accounts for 60 percent of his winery’s annual production. You can take the man out of Germany, but not Germany out of the man.

The first wine Schug made for Phelps was Riesling, even though Staatsweingut Assmannshausen was a Pinot Noir specialist, surrounded by Riesling producers. Phelps soon allowed Schug to add Pinot Noir, but the U.S. market wasn’t yet ready for it, and Joseph Phelps Vineyards abandoned the varietal after the
1979 vintage.

“Joe couldn’t sell the Pinot, so I said, ‘Let me see what I can do,’” Schug recalled. “He said yes and didn’t charge me a cent. So in 1980, I began purchasing the same Pinot Noir grapes that had gone into the Phelps wines.”

Schug would work at Phelps through the 1983 harvest, moonlighting as the maker of his family’s wine brand, which launched in 1980.

“I never planned to leave Phelps, but the winery needed the cellar space I was using for my own wines,” he explained. He moved production to an alternate location, then another, and realized there was opportunity on the Sonoma side of Carneros to buy land, plant grapes and build his own facility.

“You get a certain feeling in your body of what Pinot Noir needs, where it wants to grow, where it needs more fog,” he said. “I felt that in Carneros.”

Even at Phelps, owned by Colorado architect Joe Phelps (who died in April at 87), German-made equipment was Schug’s choice, a guarantee, he said, that things would work as expected.

“But Insignia wasn’t intended,” he said. “Once a month, we had a staff tasting of blends of various red-wine components, and someone said of a particular blend, ‘Doesn’t this smell French-y?’ We laughed at the joke. But it happened again the next month. We had Joe taste the wine on one of his visits, and he liked French wine. He said, ‘It’s actually pretty darn good.’ So we bottled it but didn’t know what to call it. I was a proponent of varietal labeling, not blends of varieties, but Joe said, ‘We will call it Insignia.’ He priced it at $20, outrageous at the time.”

It sold like crazy and has ever since.

Steven Spurrier, the British Master of Wine who conducted the now-famous 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting, at which a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon beat France’s Bordeaux wines at their own game, was so intrigued by Insignia, Schug said, “he contacted me to find out how it was done. The 1974 vintage was mostly Cabernet, the 1975 mostly Merlot. We weren’t committed to the same blend each year.”

chug never formally worked at his father’s winery. After six years working in viticulture and winemaking in Germany and England, and earning a diploma from the prestigious Geisenheim institute in the Rheingau region of Germany in 1954, he was invited to serve an internship in Delano, south of Fresno. He rushed home to marry Gertrud in Germany in 1961, and a month later, they put themselves and their Volkswagen Beetle — skis attached — on a boat to New York. From there, they drove to California, where Walter had been offered full-time work by winemakers who had visited him and his father in Germany. He worked for five years for a bulk wine processor in the Central Valley, then was hired by E. & J. Gallo in 1966. With his wife and three children now based in St. Helena, Schug was responsible for managing Gallo’s numerous North Coast grapegrowers. The late Julio Gallo is widely credited with sussing out great North Coast grapes for Gallo’s wines, but Schug was his man on the ground, day to day, wheeling and dealing, and always looking for new fruit sources.

In the six years Schug worked with Gallo, “He learned all the good spots to plant grapes, and the not so good,” said his son, Axel, now Schug Carneros Estate’s managing partner. “Joe Phelps wanted that knowledge when he hired Dad. Dad would check out the land or vines, tell Joe he wanted it, and Mr. Phelps would write the check. They trusted each other.”

“We never had an argument,” Walter added. “I knew who had what. For example, we were buying Riesling from the Stanton Vineyard (in Yountville, Napa Valley) and it had 12 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon that sold to another winery. I told John Stanton, ‘I want it all.’ ‘They’ll kick your ass,’ he replied. I said, ‘Let ’em kick.’ And I got it all.”

David Graves, who worked for Schug at Phelps in 1979 before co-founding Saintsbury winery in Carneros, has watched the man work for years.

“There is a very sweet side to Walter, an analytical side, a serious side and a knee-slapping sense of humor. He is very proud of his children and grandchildren,” Graves said. “He was well-trained at Geisenheim, and that European perspective informed his entire American winemaking career.”

Despite his achievements, Schug has not sought the spotlight. It doesn’t seem to be in his nature, though he is obviously proud of his work. Perhaps if he’d stayed in Napa Valley, he would be considered more of a superstar than he already is, considering the cachet Napa wines and their makers have. Or maybe if his wines, priced $20 to $50, were as expensive as Insignia now is, he would be seen in a brighter light by those who don’t know his history. No matter.

“I’m just happy we have everything we have,” he said simply.

Can he think of a particularly challenging vintage he’s experienced in California? “No. They’re all fine.”

A particularly great year? “They’ve all been good.”

Schug comes to the winery most days and participates in the blending trials with his right-hand winemaking man, Michael Cox, who has been with Schug Carneros Estate since 1995. Schug’s title is now Winemaster Emeritus.

Gertrud died of cancer in 2007. Axel runs the business side, his sister, Claudia Schuetz, sells Schug wines in Germany, and her twin, Andrea Vonk, is a San Diego CPA who keeps an eye on the financials. When asked if he’d ever consider selling the winery and vineyards, Walter’s quick response is: “Never.”

At an Oct. 17 dinner at his winery, family, friends and wine club members will help Walter Schug celebrate his many milestones. But he’s not calling it quits.

“Retirement?” he asked. “I don’t know what that is.”

Schug Carneros Estate, 602 Bonneau Road, Sonoma, 707-939-9363, schugwinery.com

Haunted Wineries

October 2015

By Virginie Boone

Korbel Winery. (Courtesy Scott Manchester)

In the original “Ghostbusters” movie, Dr. Peter Venkman, the character played by Bill Murray, tells the mayor of New York City that the metropolis is “headed for a disaster of biblical proportions … human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.”

All because of a bunch of ghosts.

Sonoma is probably safe: Who could be bothered to go running around in circles, screaming, when there’s so much good food and wine around?

But that doesn’t mean Sonoma doesn’t have ghost sightings. Current and former winery sites have reported apparitions from time to time, enough to spawn a mini-industry of “ghost tours” led by “experts.”

Bartholomew Park Winery. ((Photo by Clay McLachlan)

The patron saint of Sonoma haunts is Carla Heine, who wrote a guide on the subject, “Sonoma Ghosts: True Stories of Sonoma’s Haunted History,” and devised a self-guided tour around town for those looking for ghosts. (A haunted winery is not the same as a ghost winery. The latter is a winery built in the late 1800s and abandoned before or during Prohibition, reduced mostly to rubble over time.)

Sonoma ghostbusters should check out these reportedly haunted places:

Sonoma

Bartholomew Park Winery

Planted to vines in the 1830s and later purchased by Agoston Haraszthy (also the founder of neighboring Buena Vista Winery), Bartholomew Park was many things, including a women’s prison, a hospital and a morgue, before becoming the winery it is today.

In the 1940s, journalist Frank Bartholomew purchased Buena Vista. He sold the winery in 1968 but kept most of the vineyards, turning the old hospital into the Hacienda Cellars winery. It became the Sonoma Valley Wine Museum and Bartholomew Park Winery in 1992.

The museum tells the tale of the site’s meandering history, which includes a spooky side. Ghosts are said to congregate in the winery’s main building and its basement, which was once a morgue. The story goes that remains of one of the incarcerated women were found in the basement walls during a 1970s earthquake retrofit. Heine says there are at least three resident ghosts. Jeff Dwyer, author of the book “Ghost Hunter’s Guide to California’s Wine Country,” wrote: “A short time after the winery opened, employees heard voices singing in the cellar that once housed prisoners. The choir is heard in the afternoon and again late at night. Hymns are the usual choice.”

1000 Vineyard Lane, Sonoma, 707-939-3026,
bartpark.com

Sonoma

Buena Vista Winery

The recently refurbished and spectacular Buena Vista embraces its past of ghostly activity with vigor, hosting haunted cellar parties in its stone-walled Champagne Cellar.

Agoston Haraszthy, “The Count of Buena Vista,” founded the winery in 1857 and planted grapevines from cuttings brought in from Europe. He later moved to Nicaragua, where he is said to have met a grisly demise in the maw of an alligator. Haraszthy’s remains were never found; might his ghost have returned to roam here?

18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, 800-926-1266, buenavistawinery.com

Kenwood

Chateau St. Jean

In Kenwood, the picturesque, picnic-friendly Chateau St. Jean is known for a wide selection of wines, perhaps none more famous than its red Bordeaux blend, Cinq Cepages.

Also somewhat famous is the property’s ghost. Michigan residents Ernest and Maude Goff built a summer home on the site of what is now the winery and vineyards, taking residence in 1920. Their daughter, Camilla, died in her teen years, and St. Jean employees say her spirit looks after the house (now the Chateau, which is used for administrative purposes, with the visitor center and winery building behind it). The Goffs owned the stately home until 1970; Chateau St. Jean winery was born in 1973.

8555 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, 877-478-5326, chateaustjean.com

Healdsburg

Dry Creek Vineyard

No less than the California Wine Institute has reported this winery’s ghost, a Native American man said to be there because the site was once a Pomo reservation. There’s also something fishy going in DCV6, also called Bullock House Vineyard, where a guesthouse is reportedly haunted.

“We used the Bullock House to host trade visitors until 10 years ago or so,” said Dry Creek Vineyard’s director of marketing and communications, Bill Smart. “Several of those guests reported hearing creaking, footsteps and door-slamming at night. I haven’t experienced it, but enough people have that I believe there is paranormal activity there.”

The winery no longer puts up guests at Bullock House.

3770 Lambert Bridge Road, Healdsburg,
707-433-1000, drycreekvineyard.com

Guerneville

Korbel Champagne Cellars

In the 2014 horror film “Altergeist,” King’s Ransom Winery is portrayed as the most haunted place in North America, the site of murders, suicides, fires and odd sightings. Six paranormal investigators search for evidence of ghosts that have haunted the estate for generations.

Filmed on location at Korbel Champagne Cellars, the movie — “based on true events,” according to the movie’s website — was produced by Aaron Heck and written and directed by Tedi Sarafian. They said Korbel was their inspiration, as Heck grew up on the property his family has owned since 1954.

Heck, son of Korbel owner and president Gary Heck, tells of a cook taking her own life in the 1880s, in the attic of the home of the founding Korbel brothers. Their Korbel House still stands and is surrounded by gorgeous gardens that attract visitors from far and wide. Groundskeepers have reported strange happenings in and around the house, including orbs of light moving through the redwoods at night.

“The sightings are hearsay,” said Margie Healy, Korbel’s vice president of communications. “But one night, as I was saying goodbye to our guests by the pool, I saw a light on upstairs in the Korbel House. A colleague who was with me said, ‘There is no lighting up there.’ Others have told us that things in the house are moved, and that they feel a presence there.”

13250 River Road, Guerneville, 707-824-7316, korbel.com

Healdsburg

Madrona Manor

The beautifully manicured grounds of this estate belie a haunted past and a ghost, an older woman dressed in black who some believe to be the manor’s original owner. Built in the early 1880s as Madrona Knoll Rancho, the manor had 17 rooms, four bathrooms and seven fireplaces. The Paxton family paid $10,500 for its 240 acres in 1879 and another $12,000 to construct the buildings.

With vineyards already planted on the hillsides of the property, patriarch John Paxton purchased another 40 acres in 1881 to build a winery, but he never saw its completion, as he died aboard a steamer ship on the way to England. His widow, Hannah Paxton, remained at the manor until her death in 1902, at which time one of her sons, Blitz, moved in. The manor remained a private residence until 1981.

In his book, ghost hunter Dwyer claims to have seen Hannah’s ghost moving about the house, which is now the Madrona Manor inn with a Michelin-starred restaurant. Room 101 is said to be a common location for apparitional activity, although owners Trudi and Bill Konrad say that’s hooey.

1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, 800-258-4003, madronamanor.com

Pinot and Pooches – Sonoma County for Pets

October 2015

By Carey Sweet

Jeff Kunde, far right, leads a hike for dogs and their humans at his Kunde Family Winery in Kenwood. (Courtesy Kunde Family Winery)

There’s terrific beer at HopMonk Tavern in Sonoma and Sebastopol, and top-notch wines at Kunde Family Winery in Kenwood. There are plush beds at Dry Creek Inn of Healdsburg, and delicious food served at Garden Court Café & Bakery in Glen Ellen. All the things anyone could want for a great time in Wine Country.

Pooches can ride along to many winery, hotel and restaurant venues in Sonoma’s Wine Country, where they are made as welcome as their humans. (Photo by Jeremy Portje)

Yet each of these destinations caters to a special kind of visitor: the furry, tail-wagging, wiggling canine kind. Sure, humans are welcome, too, yet no feelings should be hurt if a pup gets a bit more cooing over than its person.

How important are our animal friends? From 2010 to 2015, pet ownership in the United States increased by about 3 percent. Yet during that time, spending on pet items increased nearly 25 percent, to what is expected to be $60.5 billion this year, according to the American Pet Products Association. It should be little surprise, then, that as pets are increasingly being treated as children, their “parents” have become more demanding, expecting establishments to pamper both them and their pooches.

Sonoma businesses get it. It’s so easy to bring Fido along for drinks, dinner and hotel stays here that a 2014 Sonoma County Tourism report found that visitors ranked “pet friendly” as one of the top 10 draws of the region.

“The old model where you hire a pet sitter or board your pets every time you go on a trip is outdated,” said Aaron Krug, president and general manager at Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Inn. “We love spending time with our pets, so why wouldn’t we want them with us on vacation? That’s especially true in Sonoma, where there are so many walking paths, hiking trails and pet-friendly wineries. The numbers of guests checking in with pets has increased to about 15 to 20 percent.”

Add breweries to that list, too. At HopMonk Tavern, owner Dean Biersch gladly welcomes cuddly companions to his beer gardens. While the pubs are better known for their boisterous atmosphere fueled by what he jokes is “live beer and fresh music,” the goal is to be family-flexible. “Your well-trained dog is welcome with us,” Biersch said, but they must be on a leashes and never allowed on tables.

At Kunde Family Winery, grower Jeff Kunde has seen such a love of dogs among his customers that he leads four-hour, dedicated dog and people hikes on his 1,850-acre estate, on paths winding through vineyards, oak woodlands, native grasslands and chaparral. At the mountain peak, he spreads out a picnic, dog treats and wine, and reminds guests that a portion of their $60 fee is donated to Canine Companions and the Sonoma Humane Society.

“We started with people hikes, and felt it was a great way to get people to taste, touch and smell the vineyards firsthand, and to understand what it takes to operate a sustainable vineyard and winery,” said Kunde, who brings his three dogs on the excursions: Labrador retrievers Riley and Marley, and Australian shepherd Cooper. “The extension to a dog hike just seemed a natural progression of the experience.”

The next Kunde hike is Oct. 17, though dogs and their handlers are welcome at the winery anytime, to bask in the sun at a pond-side table or on the patio, and share a cheese plate with a slobbery best friend.

Way atop another mountain, soaring 2,000 feet above Alexander Valley in Cloverdale, Tim and Kandy Ward so adore canines that they named their winery after their first dog, a Rottweiler named Bob. Now BobDog Wines is ruled by a McNab shepherd named Cabernet, who joyfully welcomes human guests and fellow fur balls to her gorgeous home. After the dogs complete their meet-and-greet, the Wards lead everyone on a vineyard hike to say hello to the winery’s miniature horses and miniature mule.

It can get to be quite the show, Tim Ward said, recalling one couple who brought five dogs along on their camping trip up the coast.

“But Jonathan was one of our most memorable canine visitors,” Ward said with a laugh. “A beagle-black Lab mix. What a dapper fellow, with a regal personality, and dressed in this black and white coat, which made him appear to be wearing a tuxedo.

“Jonathan’s owner, a luxury condo resident from San Francisco, came up for a tasting in his new Range Rover,” Ward added. “This guy’s whole life appeared to revolve around Jonathan. Well, you can take the dog out of the country,” Ward continued, “but you can’t take the country out of the dog. Jonathan found that doggie treasure of horse manure in which to roll and frolic, much to the horror of his owner. Let’s just say that Jonathan needed some major cleanup on the crush pad before being allowed back into the SUV.”

Many of Sonoma’s restaurants were dog-friendly even before California Gov. Jerry Brown officially made it legal on Jan. 1 for eateries to host pooches in outside dining areas. Technically, it was illegal before then, but the law was rarely enforced. Who could turn away a chocolate-eyed puppy?

Some local restaurants are so canine-crazy, though, that they offer dog-specific menus for their discriminating diners. Garden Court Café & Bakery in Glen Ellen sets out cookie plates and water bowls on the patio, making for a nice appetizer while Fido peruses offerings made just for him, such as eggs scrambled with ground beef, garlic and zucchini, and a pizza of biscuit crust smothered in Monterey Jack cheese, ketchup and fresh herbs.

At the Village Inn & Restaurant of Monte Rio, meanwhile, the property is so Fifi-friendly that both the boutique hotel and upscale California-Mediterranean restaurant cater to canines. There’s posh dining on the deck overlooking the Russian River, with complimentary treats, water, food bowls and toys available, plus an expansive riverfront lawn to put your pup in playtime paradise.

For even more luxury, the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Boyes Hot Springs provides a butler for your dog, delivering custom beds, bowls, food treats and toys, plus room-service dinner if doggie wishes (and he does).

Canine guests at Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg, too, are sure to be over the moon with their very own Wag Bag, a nifty reusable sack packed with a collapsible pet bowl, a toss-and-chew disc, tennis ball and bone-shaped waste bag dispenser. The hotel has offered the amenity for a year in Healdsburg as well as at its sister property, Sonoma Valley Inn.

With so many fancy outings, a well-dressed dog might need a new collar and leash, or even a comfy pillow basket with air conditioning and heat. Debbie’s Pet Boutique locations in Windsor and Healdsburg stock all the covetable stuff, from rhinestones to leather.

“The well-dressed, pampered dog gets more attention when it’s out and about,” she said. “The owners like that and the dogs love it.”

Family values thrive in Asti

October 2015

By Virginie Boone

Paul Dolan at Villa Buon Irtivo in Asti, built in 1905 by his great-grandfather Pietro C. Rossi, a founder of the Italian Swiss Colony. (Photo by Kent Porter)

The Italian Swiss Colony provided good jobs and a welcoming, vibrant community for immigrant workers, their families and generations of their descendants. (Courtesy Paul Dolan)

Paul Dolan was the winemaker at Mendocino County’s Fetzer Vineyards in its heyday, wrote a manifesto on organic farming, joined his two sons in Dolan Family Vineyards, and is a partner in Truett Hurst winery in Healdsburg.

But his most evocative memories are of his summers as a boy at Villa Buon Irtivo (Home of Good Rest). A grand, old-growth-redwood home, it was built in Asti in 1905 by Dolan’s great-grandfather Pietro C. (“P.C.”) Rossi, one of the founders of the Italian Swiss Colony, a historically important California wine producer.

Asti is east of Highway 101 between Geyserville and Cloverdale, hugging the Russian River. Under Rossi’s leadership, Italian Swiss Colony became a vital springboard for Italian-immigrant-led winemaking.

Dolan, 64, remembers going to the villa as a child from his family’s Oakland home, traveling by ferry and then along what used to be a winding Highway 101 to join in multigenerational gatherings of the Rossi clan. He later took his own children to Asti for summer sojourns, creating fresh memories while extending a hand to the past. Dolan is a fourth-generation Rossi on his mother’s side, continuing the family legacy of winemaking while passing it along to his sons, Heath and Jason.

“Most of our time at the house was simple activities with family and friends,” Paul Dolan recalled. “The most fun was when we were about 13 and would go down to the winery and join a tour, only to slip away from the group looking for any adventure. We’d climb up an old wooden ladder to the top of the old redwood tanks and jump from top to top of the 20- to 24-foot-tall tanks as we spied on the tour. The fun was abruptly ended when they hired a guard, which created a whole new thrill.”

The original house still stands, with many of its artifacts and original details intact. The butler’s pantry and basement kitchen are snapshots of a bygone era, lovingly preserved for family gatherings. An immense Rumford fireplace anchors the sprawling, spacious living room, which also has an exquisite and rare antique square grand piano.

P.C. Rossi conceived of the home with his large family in mind; he and his wife, Amélie, would have 14 children, though only 10 would live to adulthood. The second-eldest, twins Robert (Bob) and Edmund A. (Ed), would carry on the wine business at Italian Swiss Colony, within walking distance of the grand house.

The twins each eventually had two children of their own, including Ed’s daughter, Yvonne, Dolan’s mother. The house is now cared for by the four families descended from that third generation.

The Italian Swiss Agricultural Colony was incorporated in San Francisco in 1881 by a handful of men, among them P.C. Rossi, who had arrived in California from Piemonte, Italy, in 1875. A druggist and chemist by education and training, he had also studied winemaking in Italy.

The colony was formed originally to provide employment for Italian and Swiss immigrants lured to California with promises of work and a better life. From the beginning, the agricultural intent was to grow wine grapes, capitalizing on the fact that many of the immigrants had worked in vineyards back home. The location was chosen because the countryside reminded the founders of Northern Italy, so much so that the 1,500-acre parcel was named for Asti, an Italian town. Grape cuttings came from Italy, France, Hungary and Germany.

A stone winery was built in 1887 and P.C. Rossi took charge as winemaker in 1888. The colony established offices and wine vaults in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans and New York, to market the wines directly to the trade.

Soon enough, Asti had its own railroad station, post office, school and church, and tracts of homes were built by the laborers for their families. In short order the wines gained worldwide recognition, winning competitions across Europe as early as 1892.

When Rossi was alive, the offices for Italian Swiss Colony were based in San Francisco. He would move his family to Asti for the summer, traveling north to join them on weekends. It was a ritual he followed through the years. His journey would begin with a ferry ride from San Francisco to Tiburon or Sausalito, where he would catch a train on the Northwestern Pacific line, a four-hour trip one way.

Among Rossi’s innovations, he is credited with introducing the use of pure yeast cultures and sulfur dioxide to better stabilize wines. By 1909, he introduced a sparkling wine, Golden State Extra Dry. It, too, won awards and global respect.

“In many ways, he set the California wine industry on the path of the pursuit of quality it is on today,” Dolan said.

After Rossi died in a horseback-riding accident in 1911, the twins were tasked with taking on the winemaking at Italian Swiss Colony.

“My grandfather, Edmund, was focused on carrying on the tradition and commitment his father had started,” Dolan said. “At 21, he found himself with the responsibility of heading up a family of nine brothers and sisters and supporting a very overwhelmed mother. He was overseeing a large winery operation with little experience and within a few short years he was dealing with Prohibition and the realization and pressure of many employees and families counting on him to hold the business together. He did just that, through a very challenging period.”

Italian Swiss Colony was sold in 1942 to National Distillers Corp., which sold it in 1953 to United Vintners. Allied Grape Growers, an association of some 1,300 farmers, took over in 1959. United Vintners eventually morphed into Heublein, which also at the time owned Beaulieu Vineyard and Inglenook in Napa Valley.

The Italian Swiss Colony brand is now owned by Constellation, while the 536-acre Asti land is in the process of changing hands, from Treasury Wine Estates to E. & J. Gallo.

“The Gallos have been such great leaders and contributors to the growth of the California wine industry,” Dolan said. “I can’t think of a better company and family to carry on the original tradition of quality winemaking started by my great-grandfather.”

Pietro Rossi’s descendants met at the Asti home for a family reunion in April. Some 200 attended, from babies to third-generation grandparents in their 90s.

“My grandparents saw wine as part of a balanced life,” Dolan said. “Balanced in terms of health, shared family time and wine as a contribution to the meal. My dream for the family home in Asti is that it continue to be enjoyed by future generations, and that we remind ourselves of the importance and impact of strong family values.”

Local Guerneville restaurateur grows his own ingredients

October 2015

By Diane Peterson

Jorge Saldana holds greens grown in his Guerneville garden that will be used at one of his three Bay Area restaurants. (Photo by John Burgess)

From leafy lettuces to corn to garlic, there’s a cornucopia of fresh produce growing at Jorge Saldana’s farm.

Most diners at Mexican restaurants don’t think about whether the tortillas are made from GMO-free corn, or if the rice and beans are grown locally and organically. But Jorge Saldana does. The chef and farmer grows most of the ingredients himself for his Bay Area restaurants at his organic farm next to Guerneville’s Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

Fed by a natural spring and traversed by Fife Creek, his 130-acre Sabor Mexicano Farm boasts 10 bounteous acres of vegetables, herbs and fruits, plus a small herd of goats and 200 free-range chickens that provide eggs for Saldana’s restaurants: Cancun in Berkeley, Tlaloc in San Francisco and the soon-to-open Cinco in The Barlow center in Sebastopol.

“Everything grows here,” said Saldana, gesturing toward the fields of peppers, corn, tomatoes and onions ripening in the summer sun. “The forest captures the rain and brings all the nutrients down here to the garden.”

The rustic farm, tucked neatly among towering redwoods, also includes the 1890s Colonel Armstrong home and a commercial kitchen where Saldana cooks for schoolkids and adults visiting with Berkeley-based Bay Area Green Tours.

“I’ve watched (the Saldanas) renovate the house over the last three years,” said Marissa LaMagna, executive director of Bay Area Green Tours. “They took the reclaimed redwood from the siding and brought it inside. They’ve put in so much hard work.”

LaMagna, who has dined at Cancun for a dozen years, is also impressed with the third-generation farmer’s dedication to his plots.

“I’ll see Jorge in Cancun that day, and then I’ll see him coming back to the farm and he’ll be in the field, pulling onions,” she said. “He told me, ‘This is where I find peace of mind.’”

Growing food and harvesting it by hand is in Saldana’s blood. He grew up in southern Jalisco, Mexico, where his father and grandfather followed sustainable growing practices.

“The soils are very fertile there,” he said. “When we were little, we got involved in the farming. … My dad (Pedro) was growing old heirlooms and using no sprays or herbicides.”

He farms his own food to control the quality and the flavor, but most importantly, he said, “Farming organically is a good way to contribute to healthy food and to prove that it is possible to eat healthy. I truly believe that bad food is the cause of many health problems that humans are going through today. My philosophy is that good food is medicine and life.”

Saldana purchased the Guerneville farm in 2005 and moved his wife and two children there four years ago from San Mateo. They live in a modest cottage perched above the garden.

“The idea was to grow for the restaurants,” he said. “I had been in San Francisco for 25 years, and I needed to sink my hands in some soil.”

At his Guerneville garden, there is plenty of soil for those hands, plus ample sun and water. However, Saldana found it difficult to ripen all the varieties of peppers he wanted to grow. So he came up with an idea to start the seedlings in containers placed high on the ridgetop during the winter, where they get more sun. He brings them down to the main garden in the spring.

With the help of a drip-irrigation system he designed, Saldana also grows cilantro, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, squash, tomatillos and tomatoes, plus herbs such as epazote, yerba santa and yerba buena (spearmint).

“All these herbs are used in (our) cocktails,” he said. “All the drinks have some kind of medicinal herb in them.”

Saldana opened his first restaurant 24 years ago in Berkeley, and his second, in the Financial District of San Francisco, 14 years ago. Both serve classic Mexican cuisine enhanced by the farm’s organic ingredients.

“We’ve never used a can or prepackaged food,” he said. “We do organic beans and rice, and source good, safe fish from farms.”

Sebastopol’s Cinco (the word suggests the five fingers of the hand) will specialize in farm-to-table tacos made from tortillas cooked on a comal (a big, flat griddle) and meat or fish seared on a large, round Mongolian grill. Customers will be able to choose their own custom cut of meat, Saldana said, such as filet mignon, New York and ribeye steak. Seafood options will reflect what’s fresh, from prawns and squid to halibut.

“Tacos have been here forever,” Saldana said. “For some reason, we all go back to the taco.”

In addition to vegetables, herbs and fruit, Jorge Saldana raises goats and chickens at his Sabor Mexicana Farm in Guerneville.

The side dishes at Cinco, expected to open later this fall, will include whole grilled corn, salads and guacamole, plus the indomitable duo of rice and beans. Saldana also grills a healthy chile relleno stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and white corn, serving it on a bed of black beans with salsa crudo.

“That’s a chile relleno to die for,” he said. “It’s our signature vegetarian dish, with everything grown at the farm.”

Saldana’s wife, Carmina, oversees the six-bedroom Colonel Armstrong home, which can be rented for weddings and retreats. After being remodeled, the home now has multiple decks and patios overlooking the gardens.

Saldana, who produces his own line of Sabor Mexicano tortilla chips and salsas, enjoys giving tours of his farm, hidden amid the famous redwood forests of Guerneville.

“We like to explain why we’re doing everything organic,” he said. “At the end, we spoil people with an outdoor barbecue made from everything on the farm.”

After his success growing peppers, Saldana hopes to launch another farming project soon: an orchard of about 200 avocado trees and 100 citrus trees, planted high on the ridge.

Fat, Hairy and Adorable: Mangalitsa Pigs Come to America

October 2015

By Heather Irwin

A herd in the woods at Winkler Wooly Pigs in Windsor. (Photo by Chris Hardy)

The pigs are vigorous weeders who love water and can clear an overgrown pond in no time.

There are two things one immediately notices about Mangalitsa pigs: They’re really, really hairy, and they’re really, really fat. Even for pigs.

But fat is making a comeback, and in the last few years this ancient Eastern European breed has become the “it” pig of the food world, coveted by chefs and salumists worldwide for its creamy white lard and heavily marbled, beef-like meat.

And being on the menus of restaurants such as Healdsburg’s Valette, The French Laundry in Yountville, Meadowood Napa Valley in St. Helena and other luxe dining destinations may be the very thing that saves Mangalitsas from extinction.

To eat them is to love them, according to local farmer Tim Winkler of Winkler Wooly Pigs in Windsor. Because of his passion for these plump porkers, his growing herd is one of the largest and most respected in the country, making Sonoma one of the breed’s strongest footholds.

On his small farm — a sort of nursery for toddler and ornery teen pigs — Winkler steps over a low electrified fence, the only thing keeping a few dozen of his prized herd from wandering into trouble. Winkler is one of the few large-scale breeders in the U.S. and the only one in Sonoma.

“They’re really smart,” he says as a band of youngsters in a muddy field wander toward him, then become preoccupied with tumbling over each other and rooting for bugs. They’ve just begun growing their signature wooly coat, a thick covering of curly, bristly hair that comes in red, blonde, black and swallow-bellied (black with a white belly). Nearby adolescents weigh in at several hundred pounds and will soon be moved to live oak forests near Forestville and Calistoga to mature. They’ll top out at around 350 pounds each after 12 to 18 months, a relatively ripe old age for meat pigs.

Native to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, these lard pigs were once a delicacy reserved for Roman aristocrats, kings and courts. They’ve continued to survive because of their preponderance of fat: A single pig could provide valuable nourishment in an age before fast food and grocery stores.

But the triple threat of Communism, factory farming and the diet industry made the desire for these slow-growing, fatty pigs almost nil. By the early 1990s, fewer than 200 Mangalitsas remained in the world and nearly half of them were slated for slaughter.

It was pure chance that the pigs escaped demise. Hungarian geneticist Peter Toth found the pigs in the remote Hungarian countryside, and, with a sense of national pride, decided to try to save the breed. He scoured remote areas to find as much diverse genetic stock as possible and, as the breed made a fragile rebound, introduced chefs to their unctuous meat.

As word got out, the cured hams began being compared to Spain’s legendary Ibericos, and demand grew. And grew and grew.

But it wasn’t the meat that first turned Winkler onto Mangalitsas. In addition to tasting delicious, the pigs are also vigorous weeders who love water. As an aquascapist (his original and now secondary career), Winkler figured he’d found an inexpensive and effective way of clearing out his clients’ overgrown ponds. Securing a few pigs from the first herd brought to the U.S. from Hungary, Winkler set them loose on the ponds and voila, problem solved.

But word was also getting out among chefs and diners, and demand for the meat grew. So did Winkler’s fascination with the seemingly contradictory nutritional information about the Mangalitsa’s flesh, which has been shown to include high amounts of linoleic acid (an antioxidant), vitamins and minerals, as well as less saturated fat and more unsaturated fat than other pig breeds. Suddenly Winkler had a whole new demand for his herd and Winkler Wooly Pigs became his primary business.

At a recent dinner devoted to the Mangalitsa, Santa Rosa chef Matthew Paille of Epicurean Escape Catering served guests course after course of the pig, from lush charcuterie and chilled dishes of whipped lard (yes lard), to chicharrones and steak-like cuts of loin.

“Mangalitsa is a charcuterie god among chefs,” said chef Dustin Valette, who uses the meat and fat in his house-made charcuterie at his namesake restaurant. “When it cures, it retains its silky texture and delicate flavor.”

Sonoma’s Joshua Schwartz, the resident chef at Del Dotto Vineyards in Napa Valley, is also a fan, and one of Winkler’s most loyal customers. Schwartz uses several pigs each month for the winery’s tasting menus, special events and burgeoning salumi program.

But the only way high-end clients would keep ordering Winkler’s super-premium pigs (about double the price per pound of factory-farmed pork, which sells for $3 a pound) was to raise the animals on good food and open pastures, in social herds, and allow each to reach adulthood.

Fed a diet that eschews waste carbohydrates (like tortillas and bread) that are common hog feed, Winkler spends up to $10,000 a month on a special mix of high-quality proteins and grains for his 400-pig herd — the second largest in the U.S. Perhaps more importantly, he maintains a living genetic repository for the breed that will help ensure its continued growth.

To grow and diversify his herd, Winkler needed a direct line to the Hungarian exporters. Hungary isn’t a European Union country, so it wasn’t an easy task. Regulations, quarantines and other international laws just weren’t in the pig farmer’s favor.

Over a recent breakfast at the Naked Pig Cafe in Santa Rosa, Mangalitsa enthusiast Wilhelm Kohl and the breed’s unofficial ambassador and chief cheerleader, Barbara Meyer zu Altenschildesche, breathlessly advocated for their hairy porcine friends.

They’re on a whirlwind tour to meet with pig farmers like Winkler, and chefs who want to bring more of the animals into the States. Demand far outstrips supply.

“I would like to see them in every state and American pork become more flavorful again. I’m also a safety net in case something happens,” Kohl said, pointing to the nearly complete genetic roster of Mangalitsa that now reside in the U.S., should disease ravage European pigs.

The yin to Kohl’s business-like yang, zu Altenschildesche is a bubbly blonde known to her 2,500 Facebook fans as “the lady who wears the ball gown” because she’s often photographed wearing a gown and heels while taking care of her hand-raised herd of Mangalitsas.

To say she lives and breathes for these pigs is an understatement, and she tears up when she talks about the necessity of slaughtering the animals. “You can only maintain a food animal by eating it,” she said. “To withhold love for them is sad, and I try to give them the best while they are alive.”

Zu Altenschildesche and Kohl, inspired by their Sonoma stop, will send more genetic stock to increase Winkler’s herd. They also captured the interest of other Bay Area chefs who want the pigs on their menus.

So the herd grows in the heart of Sonoma, one delicious Mangalitsa at a time.

Michele Jordan book events

October 2015

By biteclub

Here are some great cookbook author events coming up:

Michele Anna Jordan, author of Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings and More Than Meatballs.

Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Sebastopol Copperfield’s
Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at The Spinster Sisters in Santa Rosa. This event is a meal and presentation for $95 a person. For reservations call (800) 999-7909 or register online

Best Cheap Eats for Sonoma State Students

October 2015

By biteclub

Amy's Burger prepared for the forthcoming Amy's Drive Thru from Amy's Kitchen — The Amy Burger, Amys Drive-Thru: Double veggie patties, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, secret sauce, $5.59. 58 Golf Course Drive West, Rohnert Park, amysdrivethru.com.

By Jenna Fischer, SSU Student

Just because you’re on a student budget full doesn’t mean you can’t eat well — really well — around the campus of Sonoma State University. Here are some of our favorite “cheap eats” for any night of the week. Did we miss your favorite spot? Let us know in the comments.

Boathouse Sushi in Rohnert Park is a best for date night for Sonoma State students.

Best place in town for a date night: Boathouse Sushi
The atmosphere is casual but still classy. The sushi is good quality and the prices are college friendly. Best dinner deal: 2 item combo: $15.25 for your pick between sushi, teriyaki, tempura, and more. It comes with rice, miso soup, and salad. This combo fills you up while impressing your date with upscale, healthy, cultural food. 6278 Redwood Dr, Rohnert Park (707) 588-9440.

Tiny Thai in Rohnert Park is a best for take out.

Best Take-out: Tiny Thai
Tiny Thai really is just that: the smallest shop I’ve ever seen. Don’t let the size fool you: this family run Thai place has the best Pumpkin Curry I’ve ever eaten. Cold Autumn nights call for some Tiny Thai take-out; there’s everything from pad thai to curries to combo meals. Best deal: The Cotati Combo. The Cotati Combo has the chicken curry of the day, jasmine rice, pad thai, and an eggroll. For $8.99 during lunch or $10.99 during dinner, this combo fills you up and leaves enough for late night leftovers! 8238 Old Redwood Hwy Cotati, 794-9404.

Extreme Pizza in Rohnert Park is a best for Sonoma State Students.

Best Pizza: Extreme Pizza
Not only is this unique pizza joint right across the street from SSU in the Wolf Den shopping center, but it has the wildest pizza options Rohnert Park has ever seen. You can order everything from the Asian inspired Hanoi Fever to the vegetarian Green with Envy to the chicken wing inspired Wingin’ It. The best deal is the Big Slice. The price varies between $3.50 to $6 depending on your toppings, but the Big Slice is about the equivalent to 3 slices of pizza, and is as filling as a full meal. 1728 East Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park, 707-795-8100.

Fou Zhou restaurant is a best bet for delivery to Sonoma State Students. — Fu Zhou restaurant is a best bet for delivery to Sonoma State Students.

Best Delivery: Fu Zhou Chinese
This little Chinese place is a gold mine tucked away next to Oliver’s Market. They have all your typical Chinese dishes, but the best deal is the $6.95 dinner deals. Instead of paying close to $20 for giant cartons of food you won’t finish, get a portion of an entree worth about 3 Panda Express size entrees, and a full side of rice, fried rice, or chow mein. But if you are feeling like a Chinese feast with your roommates, the delivery is quick and free for orders over $18. Rancho Cotati Shopping Center, 572 E Cotati Ave # A, Cotati, (707) 795-7680.

Sol Azteca has best burritos for Sonoma State Students.

Best Burrito: Sol Azeteca.
Forget Chipotle, your days of over priced burritos are over. Sol Azeteca is a small taqueria bringing the authentic taste of Mexico straight into Rohnert Park. While they have everything from tortas to nachos to enchiladas, the burritos are the amazing. The burritos come in varying degrees, from mini (a small rice, beans, meat, and cheese) to La Burrita (The regular beans, cheese, meat, and rice topped with onion, jalapenos, sour cream and special sauce). Prices vary from $5.50 to $7.75 depending on how decked out your burrito is. I got the Super Burrito with Carne Asada, which was beans, cheese, rice, steak, guacamole, and sour cream for $7.50. Not only was it tasty, but it was big enough that I cut it in half and ate half for lunch and half for dinner! On top of that, they give students who show their ID 10% off their order. 1435 E Cotati Ave # C, Rohnert Park, (707) 792-1859.

Tea Rex has the best boba drinks for Sonoma State Students

Best Boba: Tea Rex. This hidden gem is tucked behind Popeye’s and Q-Zar, and well worth finding. This family-run shop provides all sorts of goodies from dozens of flavors of milk tea and a wide choice of boba and jelly flavors to taro and coconut waffles and various Asian snacks. The whole shop is whimsical, with a t-rex painted on the door and cherry blossom trees painted on the bright green walls of the interior. I’ll warn you: once you get hooked on boba, a trip to Tea Rex becomes a daily occurrence. 1 Padre Pkwy, Rohnert Park.

New York Bagel has the best bagels for Sonoma State Students

Best Bagel: New York Bagel.
My go-to breakfast, lunch, and post-workout snack. They’ve got a huge selection of bagels, including the ever-popular pizza bagel. My favorite is a bacon, egg, and cheddar cheese breakfast sandwich (served all day!) on either a spinach parmesan bagel or an asiago cheese bagel. The staff is incredibly friendly and will not judge you if the post-workout look is a little sloppy. There isn’t one particular best deal; they make anything and everything for under $10 a pop. 6400 Commerce Blvd, Rohnert Park, (707) 588-0414.

Mi Ranchito is a best Happy Hour for Sonoma State Students. Photo courtesy of Mi Ranchito.

Best Happy Hour: Mi Ranchito
Voted by students as the best happy hour in SSU’s student run paper, the STAR, for the Best of 2015. From Monday to Friday, 3-7 p.m., Mi Ranchito’s happy hour gives the best deal for 21+ students. Not only are margaritas as cheap as $3.50, and draft beers as cheap as $2.75, but you can get a giant plate of nachos, taquitos, and quesadillas for anywhere from $4 to $7. This is the best spot to grab a couple of buddies and have a good time after a grueling midterm. 7600 Commerce Blvd, Cotati (707) 795-7600.

Best late night munchies: In-N-Out
Let’s be honest: nothing sounds better at 12 a.m. than a heaping plate of animal style fries. This California company spans from San Diego to Redding, delivering quality late night snacks to college students across the state. Open until 1 a.m. every night, this fast-food joint is the obvious go to. As a plus, their whole deal is the fresh (never frozen) meats and fresh cut fries. Delicious, morally sound, and open late into the munchies hours? Yes please. 5145 Redwood Dr., Rohnert Park, (800) 786-1000.

Best Drive-Thru: Amy’s Drive Thru
This Sonoma County company is in their 15 seconds of fame with this awesome drive-thru. Not only are all their items vegetarian (and some vegan) but they are absolutely delicious. I’m sorry In-N-Out, but if it is before 10 p.m., I’ll be going to Amy’s. They have a bountiful selection from mac n cheese to burritos to veggie burgers to chili cheese fries. My first veggie burger I was a bit hesitant, usually I’m all for beef with bacon and all the fixings, but I was blown away by how good, and filling, their veggie burger is. This drive-thru gives students the opportunity to get healthy, fresh, and delicious food for under $10. 58 Golf Course Drive West, Rohnert Park, (707) 755-3629.

Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill | Santa Rosa

September 2015

By biteclub

Fish and Chips at Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill Photo: heather Irwin

Mike Svedise has some pretty big fish to fry.

Inside the walk-in refrigerator of his retail seafood operation in Santa Rosa, there’s a cod the size of Alabama . The fisherman who brought it from the Bay that morning is still standing outside, next to the fish smokers, watching the rest of his catch come off the truck.

By lunchtime, that giant cod and the rest of the morning’s haul will be on someone’s plate at Svedise’s restaurant next door. Fried or otherwise.

The longtime owner of Santa Rosa Seafood and the recently-opened Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill, Svedise has salt water in his veins and sourdough in his soul. Born and raised in San Francisco’s North Beach to an extended family of Italian fishermen, he knows his way around fish, oysters, clams, squid and pretty much anything else that swims or crawls in the sea.

And with his expanding seafood store and long-awaited restaurant occupying the same building, the trip from ocean to your fork doesn’t get much shorter.

Fish On!

Best Fish Tacos Ever. Ever. Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill Photo: Heather Irwin

The life of a fishmonger moves fast, because seafood waits for no man.

Starting at 3 a.m., Svedise starts taking orders, managing a small fleet of fishing boats, checking the catch of the day along the North Coast, sending a truckload of crushed ice and seafood to farm markets, and opening his Santa Rosa fish market and restaurant with the help of wife, Trudy, and kids Anna, Salvatore, Joe, and Nicholas.

You don’t sell nearly 100 kinds of fish and shellfish five days a week without a whole lot of support, he said.

By 10 a.m., with his cellphone ringing incessantly, Svedise has already had a fairly full day. But in a self-imposed moment of quiet, he pulls up a chair to the stainless steel table at the restaurant and points to the family photos lining the walls of the Santa Rosa Avenue eatery, all of which include some kind of fishing boat.

You kind of expect him to whip out a pipe and a yellow fishing cap and spin a salty yarn about his uncles’ long-ago seafood operation. Interestingly enough, that operation was at Fisherman’s Wharf, at what is now Scoma’s restaurant along the pier.

“I’ve been fishing all my life,” Svedise said. “I used to hide in my uncles’ boat and cut school to go fishing, and I haven’t stopped going out on boats for crab and salmon since 1976.”

Then the phone rings again, prep chefs need his credit card, the restaurant manager begins the process of opening the restaurant, and someone walks in the front door asking a question. It’s time to get back to work.

Catch of the Day

Cioppino at Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill. Heather Irwin

Svedise is no stranger to the restaurant business , having owned the popular Baby Sal’s Seafood Grill in Marin for years.

“We had lines out the door,” he said.

Less than a month into service, Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill also has been packed, despite a hushed opening after more than a year of permitting delays.

It’s open for lunch and dinner, with a menu that is impressive but not overly flashy, the focus firmly on the catch of the moment. Chef Jeremy Utterback (formerly of K&L Bistro) put together a menu that includes everything from classic cioppino to scallops with a plum reduction, all of them showcasing the seafood rather than the technique.

And while you can’t go wrong with whatever the special of the day is, here are some favorites you won’t want to miss:

Fish Tacos ($10): You haven’t had fish tacos until you’ve had these. The fish changes up based on the catch, but instead of being fried within an inch of its life, the delicate whitefish is adorned only with pico de gallo, cabbage and a chipotle aioli.

Fish and Chips (2 pieces, $14; 3 pieces, $17): These are the fish and chips you wish you got at the coast, but rarely do. Beer batter dipped and fried, you can actually taste the cod rather than just the breading. Crunchy outside, moist inside and a kid-pleaser atop a mound of Kennebec fries.

Ahi tuna poke from Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill. Photo: Heather Irwin

Ahi tuna poke ($14): Raw sushi-grade tuna, rice, avocado, sesame oil. Mix, eat and cry a little as you think of Hawaiian beaches. Treat yourself to a side of wakame (seasoned seaweed, $7) for the full experience.

Blackened Ahi ($22): Ruby red tuna gets a quick sear, a side of carrot, cucumber and scallion with ginger vinaigrette, and a light paint of creamy sriracha across the plate.

Seafood Cioppino ($24): Seasonal fish, shrimp, mussels and calamari in a rich red sauce is the essence of Little Italy. Add-ons like lobster depend on what’s in season.

Petrale Sole Piccata ($24): One of the most popular dishes on the menu, this simple sole dish is sautéed with a tangy lemon, butter and wine sauce and is perfection on a plate.

Other dishes include grilled swordfish ($20), miso halibut ($26), North Beach style Linguine with clams ($17) and scallops with butternut squash risotto ($22). A locally-focused beer and wine list is well-matched to the dishes. And if you’re not a seafood fan? Grilled cheese and fries are available.

We know you’ll be hooked at first bite.

Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar and Grill, 946 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, (707) 579-2085. CLOSED MONDAY AND TUESDAY, open for lunch and dinner Wed-Sunday.

Bird and The Bottle Restaurant Opens in Santa Rosa

September 2015

By biteclub

Open kitchen at Bird and The Bottle, a new Stark Reality Restaurant in Santa Rosa, CA

In case you haven’t heard the shrieks of joy from your food-obsessed friends, Mark and Terri Stark have finally (finally) opened their sixth restaurant in Sonoma County, Bird and The Bottle. It wasn’t without some labor pains, which included everything from permitting and ABC challenges to managing the $1.5 million renovation. But like any parent, the pain is soon forgotten when that bouncing baby turns out to be pretty perfect. I’ll be writing more about the menu and the whole story behind what Mark is lovingly calling his “Jew-rean” menu in the coming weeks, but here’s the 411 on what you need to know if you go:

– The menu is a mashup of Jewish comfort food, Southern classics (fried chicken, Gulf shrimp, buttermilk biscuits with pimento cheese) and a punch of Korean on the side. That means dishes like cheesy grits with maitake mushrooms, cured egg and spicy schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), $10, kimchee latkes ($10) or matzoh ball ramen ($10). Somehow it all works.
– The cocktail menu is equally inspired, with hard teas, drinking vinegars paired with vodka, bourbon and tequila, or giant cocktail shakers with drinks for the table
– Schmears are a great snack or lunch item, with chicken liver mousse, smoked black cod or barbecued bone marrow served with pumpernickel rye ($10-14)
– The name refers to a saucy double entendre describing late-night pleasures of pre-World War I young men about town—“hot bird and a cold bottle”. We’ll let you guess which was the saucy dish and which was the champagne.
– A $20,000 indoor wood-fired grill is the kitchen centerpiece, with live fire grilling of fish, breads, veggies and of course heartier meats. A commercial smoker gives duck and fish perfect flavor.

Bird and The Bottle, open daily for lunch and dinner, 1055 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-568-4000.

Please note: Not all of these dishes may be available, and prices may vary. Click to see the full menu