Joe McDonald and his tree house Airbnb rental in Petaluma on Tuesday March 15, 2016. (SCOTT MANCESTER / ARGUS-COURIER STAFF)
As short-term rentals gain popularity across Sonoma County, some zany options for accommodations have emerged in Petaluma, including one that’s nestled about 30 feet up in a tree in Cherry Valley.
The treehouse, owned by Petaluman Joe McDonald, can be booked through Airbnb, a website offering nightly accommodations from hosts in more than 190 countries. McDonald said he’d originally enlarged and remodeled the existing treehouse as a guest bedroom, but ultimately decided to offer the airy space as an option for travelers.
“The original treehouse was there when I bought the house about five years ago,” he said. “It was small and I couldn’t even stand up in it. It just sat there for a few years in this majestic cork oak tree, empty and forlorn, until I decided to make it larger and more comfortable.”
The 63-year-old photographer hired local contractor Ray Todt, who collaborated with McDonald to create a space with 12-foot ceilings, a sleeping loft, a metal circular staircase and “all the amenities that one would want or need,” he said.
The entire treehouse, which has room for two adults with a bed and a bathroom, as well as a TV and wireless internet, can be booked for $155 nightly.
McDonald, who said he’s been a member of Airbnb for less than a year, joined as a way to recover some of the expenses from updating the treehouse, and as an opportunity to showcase the space.
“I felt it was so unique that I wanted to share it with others,” he said, adding that treehouses have been close to his heart since his parents built a treehouse 40 feet above ground at his childhood home in Iowa, and the structure was immortalized _on the cover of Picture magazine.
Gale Hayman, an artist in Ojai, was the first person to stay in the treehouse last May. Originally a New Yorker, Hayman grew up sailing in Martha’s Vineyard and compared her experience in the treehouse to that of being on the water while sailing.
“I felt like I was in a boat,” she said. “When you’re in a boat you are in your own pod out in the water alone. That’s what it’s like in the treehouse. … I thought it was fantastic. It’s a good little travel spot to get away.”
Since Hayman’s inaugural visit, between 70 and 100 people have stayed at the treehouse, with about 70 percent of guests coming from California, while the rest have come from out of state or from far-flung locations such as France, Germany, England and South America, McDonald said.
“Petaluma is a pretty desirable town right now and it seems to be more of a destination than it’s ever been,” McDonald said.
Last July, Petaluma’s City Council adopted rules on short-term rentals, including a 90-day cumulative annual limit on short-term rentals for properties where the owner is not present, but no limit on those rentals in cases when the owner lives on the property. Those offering short-term rentals are required to obtain a business license, and are subject to existing business taxes and the transient occupancy tax paid by the city’s existing hotels, along with other occupancy and parking requirements.
McDonald’s rental is one of many off-the-wall options listed on Airbnb in Petaluma, with others including a second treehouse hoisted in a eucalyptus grove in Chileno Valley on a property that housed the Swallowtail Studios glass blowers collective.
Other listings include an Airstream travel trailer with maid service, complimentary organic coffee and homemade crepes parked at the boutique Metro Hotel & Cafe near downtown, or a “Spartan Imperial Mansion” 1950s era-trailer on a quarter acre near Tomales.
For those looking to soak in Petaluma’s sprawling vistas, there’s a luxury custom-built cabin located on a 43-acre Petaluma vineyard, or a cottage on a 28-acre working farm, among other accommodations.
As a youngster, he helped in the kitchen of what would evolve into one of the most famous restaurants in the world, The French Laundry in Yountville. At 20, he was the sous chef at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, by 22 in charge of the kitchen at étoile restaurant in Yountville. At 25, he became the youngest U.S. chef to earn a Michelin star.
Perry Hoffman, now 32, crossed the Mayacamas in September 2015 to become the executive chef at Healdsburg SHED, which offers an eclectic mix of housewares, garden tools, pantry items, coffee bar and cafe — all housed in a modern barn of gleaming glass, steel and wood. Since his arrival, he has added dinner service to SHED’s offerings, creating dishes that have critics’ tongues wagging with approval and local farmers knocking down the back door to sell him their goods.
For all his success in so short a life, Hoffman has never taken a cooking class. But he had great teachers.
Barndiva executive chef Ryan Fancher and his crew went all out to create food for Perry Hoffman’s wedding fit for a Michelin-starred chef, including the hors d’oeurves platter.
From an early age, Hoffman was surrounded by the enticing smells and tastes that his grandmother, Sally Schmitt, created at her The French Laundry restaurant. Hoffman got his culinary start at age 4, in Sally’s sunny Napa Valley kitchen, where three generations of his family also launched their careers. The exposure proved to be priceless for the future chef.
“My grandmother always had flowers at the end of the kitchen and a pile of artichokes in a casuela,” Hoffman recalled while sitting at a picnic table outside SHED, located just off the Healdsburg plaza. “There was always a pot of really good chicken stock on the stove, and that comforting smell I will always remember.”
While his mother, Kathy Hoffman, arranged flowers and hand-printed menus for The French Laundry, a 5-year-old Hoffman would work on a list of chores from his grandmother, which included vacuuming the dining room, roasting peppers and making breadcrumbs. He was paid minimum wage (which in 1989 amounted to $3 to $4 an hour) and still has one of his check stubs imprinted with The French Laundry.
“I would never be cooking, or I wouldn’t be as good as I am, if I didn’t have that family and hadn’t learned about the importance of peppercorns and not salting the beans until the end,” Hoffman said. “It’s almost embarrassing that I’ve never taken any cooking classes. … I just worked my entire life. I started in a kitchen and never left.”
Just like his talented family, Hoffman has a deep passion for food and wine and a hands-on ethic that encompasses all that he does, from his microgreens farm in Carneros to the mushroom foraging he pursues in his spare time.
“We’re close to the coast and the Russian River and the real forest,” he said. “You start cooking, and then think, ‘Why would I ever move away from the North Bay?’” Also deeply rooted here are the various branches of the Schmitt-Bates-Hoffman family, some of whom migrated from Napa Valley to Mendocino’s Anderson Valley in the early 1990s. Hoffman’s relatives carved out interesting careers that span the worlds of custom furniture and construction, landscape gardening and hospitality, retail merchandising and apple farming.
“Everyone has a story and everyone has a story to tell,” he said
In a family photo taken at The Apple Farm in Philo, Perry Hoffman, left, stands with his uncle Johnny Schmitt, grandfather Don Schmitt, aunt Karen Bates and grandmother Sally Schmitt.
“My brothers, uncles, aunts and cousins all work for themselves. Everything is done with their hands, and it’s all about artistry and the aesthetic.”
Sally and her husband, Don, sold The French Laundry in 1994 to Thomas Keller, who brought the restaurant to new heights. Sally and Don, as pioneers who helped put Napa on the culinary map, moved north to Philo to operate The Apple Farm, which evolved from a working apple orchard to include a cooking school and cabins where students could stay. They joined their daughter and her husband, Karen and Tim Bates (Hoffman’s aunt and uncle) to bring the farm back to life.
During his frequent visits to Philo, Hoffman ran through dusty paths on the farm with his two brothers, Byron (a graphic artist) and Troyce (a photographer). They are helping Sally write a memoir about her life in food, with family recipes from her first restaurant, the Chutney Kitchen in Yountville (now Michael Chiarello’s Bottega), The French Laundry and The Apple Farm.
Hoffman took his first formal restaurant position at age 15, as a pantry chef at his neighborhood eatery, Zinsvalley, in downtown Napa. After working as a sous chef at the Boonville Hotel in Boonville, owned by his uncle, Johnny Schmitt, he became sous chef at Santé Restaurant at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.
In 2005, when he was 20, Hoffman was recruited by Robert Curry to work as his sous chef at Auberge du Soleil. The restaurant snagged its first Michelin star during Hoffman’s time there, yet he grew restless.
“It was time for me to move on and be a chef, not just a sous,” he said.
Hoffman was hired as chef at Domaine Chandon’s étoile restaurant in 2007. He won his first Michelin star in 2010 and was a repeat winner the following two years. In 2012, Hoffman was named one of Zagat’s “30 under 30” innovative young chefs; in 2013, Food & Wine magazine crowned him “The People’s Best New Chef” in California.
At Domaine Chandon, Hoffman fell in love with Kristen Brott, a wine ambassador for Estates & Wines, a branch of Möet Hennessy, which owns Chandon. He popped the question during a trip to the British Isles in December 2014, which included a romantic getaway to the Scottish island of Islay, where they stayed in a seaside cottage next to a whisky distillery owned by Möet Hennessy.
A little over six months later, the couple exchanged vows during an understated ceremony under the mulberry trees behind Barndiva in Healdsburg.
“We both plan in our career, and we didn’t want to plan our own wedding,” he said. “We wanted it to be easy, fun and simple. My mom did the flowers. There were live herbs and 100 terra cotta plants of microgreens. … They are all beautiful perennials that are now planted in our families’ gardens and will be there for years to come.”
Ellen Flora, who officiated the wedding, said Hoffman “has a smile that won’t quit. He had a passion and a focus even at an early age, and a commitment to quality. He is a quiet and warm leader.”
The feast was centered on a whole Cinta Senese pig from Acorn Ranch in Yorkville, which Hoffman’s cousin, Sophia Bates, manages with her boyfriend, Tommy Otey. Barndiva executive chef Ryan Fancher and his crew worked on the fat-marbled pig four days before the meal, cooking each part of the animal with a different technique — all of this for just the appetizers course.
“We wanted to do something different than porchetta (a boned, whole pig stuffed and cooked into a pork roast),” Fancher said. “We glazed the trotters, braised the belly, confitted the shoulder in duck fat and glazed the head, trying to keep it whole. We Frenched (exposed the bones) on the racks, added a sriracha rub, then roasted and sliced them. Our mission is to impress. We’re cooking for a Michelinstarred chef.”
Barndiva sous chef Andrew Wycoff lays out a whole Cinta Senese pig for Hoffman’s wedding feast.
After this hearty appetizer, guests tucked into a three-course dinner of lemon cucumber salad, panroasted day boat scallops or red-wine-glazed short ribs, and an array of desserts.
“It’s what we do,” Hoffman said of his wedding feast. “Our family eats.”
The morning after, the bride and groom headed to Healdsburg SHED for breakfast, where they were met by 35 members of Hoffman’s family sitting at one, long table. It was a sign.
“I thought, God, this would be a great place to work,” said Hoffman, who had been casting about for a new challenge since étoile closed in late 2014. SHED seemed to be another heavenly match.
“I really share their same passion,” he said of owners Cindy Daniel and Doug Lipton. “I walked in and they had my favorite barbecue sauce.”
The James Beard Award-winning SHED building reminds him of his grandmother’s kitchen at The French Laundry, filled with fresh flowers and beautiful produce, illuminated by large windows and natural light.
“I’ve come back to an amazing, light-filled building,” he said. “I would love to have my own place. If I did, I would want to have a place that was true, authentic and real. And that’s SHED. I could grow old here.”
Healdsburg SHED, 25 North St., Healdsburg, 707-4317433, healdsburgSHED.com
Auberge du Soleil. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
Auberge du Soleil (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
The holidays are a special time of year, but they can also get pretty stressful. Shopping, decorating, entertaining – all while trying to stay on top of regular household chores and working full time – can easily get overwhelming. To help you hit the reset button post-holidays, we’ve rounded up three local luxury spa hotels. Add them to your wish list or gift them to yourself – you know, and we know, you’re worth it…
Sonoma Coast Villa – Bodega
Sonoma Coast Villa. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
Located 5 miles from Bodega Bay, the Sonoma Coast Villa features a Courtyard Spa with everything you’d need to decompress; from a couples massage to anti-aging facials.
Premium Villa King room. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
If you feel like you’ve really deserved a splurge, the Premium King room at Sonoma Coast Villa has a private deck, a double-sized jetted tub, and radiant heated floors.
Complimentary wine tasting. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
Enjoy a Sonoma Scrub and Wrap in the early afternoon, and then make an appearance at the afternoon wine tasting, feeling like a new person.
Couples massage at the Courtyard Spa. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
If you’ve brought your significant other along for your getaway, now’s the time to unwind together. The Courtyard Spa offers a couples’ massage with relaxing music, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.
Pool. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
Relaxation isn’t just about getting massages – exercise in the fresh air helps clear the mind, and a few laps in the outdoor pool can do wonders. If the weather isn’t cooperating with your swim plans, there’s an indoor pool just steps away.
Mixed green salad with persimmon, candied pecans, and feta cheese. (Photo Courtesy of Sonoma Coast Villa)
Good meals should round out any Wine Country vacation, and the dishes at Sonoma Coast Villa do not disappoint. The hotel restaurant features a prix fixe menu that showcases true farm-to-table dining, with many ingredients from the on-site organic garden.
Horseback riding.
Before heading back home, take a short drive to Bodega Bay and try a forest trail and beach tour by horseback. There are a number of local stables, and the staff at Sonoma Coast Villa will be happy to assist you finding the closest one.
Auberge du Soleil. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
For a truly decadent escape, the Auberge du Soleil full-service resort offers all the luxury amenities you could possibly imagine, from Michelin-starred dining to signature purifying spa rituals with hammam steam and temperate soaking pools.
The champagne maison. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
If you’d like to totally immerse yourself in opulence, the Auberge de Soleil offers a 1,800 square foot private maison with two bedrooms, California king beds, a soaking tub with a separate shower, and an outdoor sculptural tub and rain shower.
Spa. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
But staying in your room isn’t why you’re here, the Auberge Spa is. Their goal is to help you become more Zen – offering rejuvenating treatments such as the “Auberge Attunement,” which includes having warm herbal compresses, infused with muscle-soothing essential oils, applied to key pressure points to help “relieve pain and inflammation common in today’s active lifestyle.”
Courtyard. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
They’re not kidding when they say they want to create a Zen space for you: the courtyard has three stone fountains that were acquired from a centuries-old French monastery.
Heated soaking tub. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
But sometimes Zen may strike when you have a chance to relax in a heated soaking tub, overlooking the stunning beauty of the Napa Valley.
Nantucket Bay Scallops, Pork Belly, Apples, Dashi Tapioca. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil has 10 consecutive Michelin Stars, and the Mediterranean-inspired cuisine is created with locally sourced, fresh produce and can be complemented by your choice of wine from one of most extensive wine cellars in the Napa Valley. If you weren’t relaxed after a soak in the bath, you will be after a meal here.
Hot air ballooning over Napa Valley. (Photo courtesy of Auberge du Soleil)
Now that the tension has been worked out of every muscle in your body, take advantage of that lighter than air feeling with a hot air balloon ride over the valley. Napa Valley Balloons provides transportation to and from the resort, and a champagne breakfast after the flight.
MacArthur Place. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
Though MacArthur Place is a mere four blocks away from Sonoma Plaza, it successfully creates a sanctuary feel – all within walking distance to boutique shopping, wineries, and art galleries. That is, if you have the time or inclination to do any of that after you see what their award-winning spa has in store for you.
Garden Spa Suite. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
Starting with your room; if you decide to stay in the Garden Spa Suite, your room is a spa. It has the amenities you’re expecting at any hotel suite, such as a fireplace and big screen TV, but that’s where the similarities end. Each suite also includes a private garden, outdoor rain shower, and a teak wine soaking tub housed in a teahouse, which, of course, looks out over a waterfall. With amenities like this, you may find yourself spending a lot of time inside.
Teak wine soaking tub. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
The teahouse that houses the teak soaking tub is outside, but still completely private.
Aromatherapy Massage. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
When you do decide to emerge from your room, you may want to treat yourself to an aromatherapy massage, with your choice of chamomile, clary sage, eucalyptus, jasmine, lavender, orange, peppermint, rose, rosemary, sandalwood, ylang ylang or grapeseed. You’ll come away feeling refreshed and smelling amazing.
Rose bath. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
If you just can’t decide, you can’t go wrong with roses. You can choose to take advantage of the spa’s Rose Garden treatment, which includes a rose petal bath, rose petal body polish, and rose essential oil massage.
Heated pool. (Photo courtesy of macarthurplace.com)
After your massage, now would be a good time to try out your muscles, since all the kinks, knots, and strain has been worked out of them. A swim in the heated pool will make sure they stay supple, even as you work on your backstroke.
Red-tailed hawk. (Photo courtesy of Tom Vezo/Vireo)
Before you head back to the real world, you can head out to Sonoma Overlook Trail and go bird watching. Sonoma is regarded as one of the best places to see an array of different birds, and the hike along the trail is gorgeous.
MacArthur Place, 29 East MacArthur Street, Sonoma, CA 95476. (707) 938-2929. macarthurplace.com
Spring Maxfield is a curator, event planner and supporter of all things art. Hyperconnected yet not at all into self-promotion, she would rather tout an emerging Sonoma artist than her own work.
Her degree in art history and art practice and master’s in museum studies attest to her abiding interest in art. The Santa Rosan, who is married to ceramic artist Todd Baricklow, has added vibrancy and creativity to the Sonoma arts scene, staging underground gallery shows, co-founding the Great Handcar Regatta festival in 2008 (which at its peak drew 20,000 participants), and serving on numerous art foundation committees.
In late 2015, Maxfield joined two other Sonomans in working for three weeks at Syrian refugee camps on the Greek island of Lesbos. She hugged kids, delivered supplies, handed out shoes and made 1,200 cheese sandwiches on one day — anything to offer relief to those who fled the furious fighting in Syria. So it’s not surprising that Maxfield, when asked about who she would invite to dinner, said: “While dining with people is lovely, what I really want to do is see people in action. What makes them tick, what motivates their work? It is incredibly hard to narrow the list down to just three Sonoma crushes, as there are so many hidden gems and people who are following their passion with such intensity that they radiate creative energy.”
When pressed, she chose these women.
“I would definitely have dinner with Amanda Janik. Watching a writer work is probably not as interesting as talking to one. But judging by her writing, she would definitely be hilarious. I’ve seen her stand-up comedy at the Mortified North Bay show in 2015 and other venues, and have never laughed so hard.”
Janik lives in Santa Rosa and has two kids. At 11, she began writing in a diary, and in her early 30s reread those words and found them “hilarious.” She joined Mortified Nation (getmortified.com), which encourages people to share their embarrassing moments of childhood in blogs, podcasts, Facebook and live performance. “Share the Shame” is its motto. Janik turned her early-life diary angst into a comedy routine and has performed at dozens of shows. Get to know her better at amandajanik.com.
“Catherine Sieck is an amazing artist whose work enthralls me. Her delicate paper cuts must take hours upon hours of painstaking labor. I have spent way too much time trying to decipher the narratives that play out in each piece.”
Sieck’s work can be seen at catherinesieck.com. Using only her imagination and a sharp blade, the Santa Rosan cuts out remarkably layered portraits and folk-tale depictions far more complex than the technique would suggest. Each one is an original. She also creates shadow puppetry and murals that can be seen throughout Sonoma.
“Theresa Hughes of Dorothea Couture (would be an) interesting dining partner. Her handmade wedding dresses and accessories are mind-blowing. I would love to be a fly on the wall at her studio as she hand-stitches each pleat and tuck.” Hughes’ custom wedding dresses and restored and restyled pre-owned gowns have made her a much-soughtafter buddy of brides to be. Working in a small Santa Rosa shop, she and her team do everything by hand, from dresses to veils to headpieces. She also has a line of silk cover-ups intended for wearing at chilly evening receptions. Her own wedding, to David Farish, “was an all day and night affair,” Hughes said. “We had a blast, but I was exhausted and went to bed long before my guests.”
Steve Doty of Shady Oak Barrel House is one of the most highly regarded newcomers to the local craft beer scene.
But it wouldn’t be right to call Doty a brewer.
Pulling from his experience in the wine industry, he’s more of a blender, with a little bit of mad scientist thrown in.
Since December, 2013, Doty has been producing sour and farmhouse ales that are brewed elsewhere, then aged at his nondescript Santa Rosa warehouse in wine and spirits barrels.
Some of them contain exotic wild yeasts such as Brettanomyces that produce the trademark tart or acidic taste of sour beer.
It’s an acquired taste that some love and others do not, residing on a much different part of the spectrum from the hop-heavy India pale ales that dominate the North Coast beer scene.
“There is a reason I’m not called Shady Oak Brewing,” said Doty, 34. “It is a barrel house.”
His one-man operation is beginning to attract a wider audience, even though his beer — made in small 1,000-gallon batches — is available only in California at grocers and retailers such as Whole Foods and Rincon Valley Taproom and Bottle Shop.
Steve Doty is the one-man show producing beer for his Shady Oak Barrel House in Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
High honor
In January, Doty was ranked as the world’s third best new brewer and California’s best new brewer by RateBeer.com, an industry forum for craft beer enthusiasts. The honors should create a bigger buzz in the region that is already the home to some of the country’s best brewers.
But unlike some that have expanded outside the state, such as Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma and Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Cloverdale, Doty would like to stay small, especially because his process is much more complicated than traditional brewers.
He takes the wort, or the unfermented extract from the mashing process at another local brewer’s, and then selects different strains of yeast to add to the mix.
Doty typically tinkers with cultures from his kitchen at home, using the expertise he garnered during seven years as a laboratory assistant at Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga.
Next come the barrels that have been used to age bourbon or local pinot noirs and chardonnays.
When the wild Brettanomyces yeast in wine barrels grows to a sufficient level, it can carry a pungent aroma often referred to as “barnyard” that makes wine undrinkable.
When that happens, wineries get rid of their barrels, but they are perfect for creating Doty’s sour beers.
Fruit, too
If he is feeling adventurous, Doty throws fruit such as peaches, grapes or cherries into the mix.
“What happens with the cultures afterward is unpredictable,” he said.
“I can’t make a definitive decision about any beer until it’s done, and that could be months. I have one batch that has been in there 18 months.”
Doty has produced six different types of beers so far. His most well-known, Funkatronic, is a Belgian style beer that features a lot of hops and a dose of Brettanomyces. One RateBeer reviewer described its taste as “funky, peppery and citrusy. Hints of green grape and melon, too … maybe a hint tropical.”
Doty’s current favorite, Sonomatastic, has been called a rustic farmhouse ale fermented with Brettanomyces, with one reviewer describing its aroma as “pineapple juice, buttery spicy french oak and light clove.”
While most brewers aim for consistency in the taste of their beers, Doty’s wild yeasts make each batch different to some extent. At times, he may throw some away because the cultures have made them undrinkable.
“You just don’t know until it’s done,” he said. “You’re not going to get the perfect beer every single time.”
For now, Doty is content to be the mad scientist, producing one experimental 1,000-gallon batch at a time.
His future growth plans are equally modest, perhaps doubling his production and opening a tasting room in a new location.
You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.
As if a day off from kitchen duty isn’t enough for mom (or dad), bottomless mimosas, grilled lamb and chicken and waffles should pretty much seal the deal. Here are our top brunch picks for Easter Brunch in Sonoma County for March 27, 2016.
Jimtown Store: Take a trip out to the Alexander Valley to pick up your Easter brunch at the Jimtown Store. Menu includes Green Goddess salad kit, smoked salmon rillettes, ham, Swiss and caramelized onion quiche; white veggie lasagna, hot cross buns, roasted beet salad, lemon bars and more. Order by March 24, pick up on March 26th.
Mark West Lodge:The newly reopened Mark West Lodge is offering a champagne brunch from 11a.m. to 3p.m. including a prime rib carving station, raw oyster bar, waffles, country potatoes, biscuits and gravy, mac and cheese and plenty of kid-friendly additions. Indoor and outdoor seating with bocce ball, $35 adults, $17 kids 5-11. 2520 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa.
Della Fattoria:Special orders for hot cross buns, coconut egg cakes, lemon olive oil coffee cake, cookies and tarts, along with custom-made chocolate eggs are taken until March 24.
French Garden:Easter Brunch Buffet from 10a.m. to 3p.m. with deviled eggs, applewood smoked salmon, eggs Benedict, grilled prawns, baked honey mustard ham, leg of lamb and more. $42 adults, $21 kids 12 and under, 8050 Bodega Highway, Sebastopol.
Easter Bunny Camp: Crafts, egg hunt, face painting and an Easter egg hunt in the garden for kids 3-7, $10, reservations required. Bunny Brunch in the main dining room includes breakfast bunny pancake, egg and cocoa for kids, and plenty of goodies for adults too. 7751 CA-1, Little River.
Sante at Sonoma Mission Inn: Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it can buy you access to a brunch whose sheer magnitude and luxury will at least put a smile of contentment on your face for a few days. The Michelin-starred resort restaurant gilds every lily with an all-you-can-eat spread that includes Liberty duck foie gras, Loch Duart salmon, charcuterie, artisan cheeses and four salads to start. Chefs carving stations wield six kinds of smoked fish with caviar; filet mignon, leg of lamb. Entrees include eggs Benedict, artisan breakfast meats, quiche Lorraine, mushroom ravioli with black truffle in addition to grilled vegetable platters, a bread station and nearly 20 desserts (passion fruit creme brulee, Meyer lemon custard, honey caramel and pistachio eclairs, carrot cake torte, chocolate truffles, white and dark chocolate dipped strawberries). A hefty $99pp, $49 for children keeps it classy, but even high rollers may need to loosen their belts a few notches to accommodate the bounty of good eats. Live entertainment, 10a.m. to 2p.m. Reservations required. 100 Boyes Blvd, Sonoma.
Mateo’s Cocina Latina: With a new bar area and one of the best outdoor eating areas in Healdsburg, Mateo’s is a great Easter Brunch choice. The casual a la carte menu from 11:30a.m. to 4p.m. includes ceviche, Huevos Rancheros, braised pork in black beans, yellow corn pancakes, and Conchita Pibil (marinated pork wrapped in banana leaves and slow roasted). 14 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg.
John Ash and Co.: One of the most popular spots, reservations are highly recommended. Easter brunch a la carte menu includes rock shrimp omelette, steelhead salmon gratinee, grilled lamb chops, chicken fried steak, crayfish tail and spinach crepes. 10a.m. to 3p.m., 4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.
Ramkins: Family-friendly Easter buffet brunch with homemade waffles, dijon marinated pork loin, rosemary potatoes, muffins, scones and an Easter egg decorating station for kids. Two seatings at 10a.m. and 12:30p.m., reservations required.
El Dorado Kitchen: Three course prix fixe, $45 per person, includes Dungeness crab cake, carrot soup, Wagyu beef carpaccio, eggs Benedict, rack of lamb, lemon pudding cake. 405 First St., West, Sonoma, eldoradosonoma.com.
Zazu Restaurant and Farm:Sour cream pancakes with strawberries, fava and mushroom risotto, shrimp and grits with bacon fat collard greens, maple glazed donuts, $29 per person. 6770 McKinley St., Sebastopol (at the Barlow).
Sonoma Cider founders Robert Cordtz, left, and his father, David, at their production facility in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
Freshly filled bottles of cider make their way down the production line at Sonoma Cider in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
The challenge with making apple cider in Sonoma County is an ironic one: it can be hard to find apples. Especially when you’re shopping strictly for certified organic kinds. But the team at Sonoma Cider in Healdsburg is working to change that, one juicy piece of fruit at a time.
In 1940, the county reached its peak of 14,000 acres in apple orchards, many producing the region’s signature Gravenstein heirlooms. Now grape vines rule, and there are just 2,320 acres in apples, according to the 2014 Sonoma County Crop Report.
“We started buying local apples right off the bat, but quickly found out there are not as many certified organic apples locally as we would like to see,” said Sonoma Cider co-owner Robert Cordtz.
Yet since 2013, when Cordtz and his father, David Cordtz, opened the 16,000-square-foot distillery and warehouse in a former auto parts store on Mill Street, the craft cidery has been building up a reliable network of growers in Healdsburg, Sebastopol and other Sonoma County towns.
Apple juice flows into a stainless steel tank at Sonoma Cider in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
About 10 percent of the fruit now comes from local trees, rounding out the vast majority shipped from Washington.
As the business grows — cider production has more than doubled each year from the first year’s 65,000 cases — so has the company’s buying power. Asking his 30 employees to keep their eyes peeled for available hometown fruit is working, too.
“As time has gone on, we have been able to align ourselves with more area orchards,” Cordtz said, noting that he recently secured fruit from a winery orchard just down the street from his Golden Delicious small batch release.
“I particularly want all of the Gravenstein apples.”
And soon, Sonoma Cider Co. is going to need a lot more of the precious fruit. A 5,000-square-foot fermentation, event and tasting room space is slated to open this summer behind the distillery.
Rachelle Sindle performs quality control as bottles exit a pasteurizing machine on the bottling line at Sonoma Cider, in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
With seating for 60, it will have a kitchen serving pub food and extras like live music and comedy. But the primary function will be showcasing the eight base ciders, seasonal ciders and new products like an 85-proof apple brandy.
The Cordtz clan can count on plenty of competition for their harvest, though.
Apple cider, and particularly the company’s alcohol-kissed hard cider, is increasingly popular in Wine Country.
Hard cider was a $500 million U.S. industry last year, according to Impact Databank Cider Report, and more companies keep popping up, capitalizing on the craze for the bittersweet-bittersharp quaff that can burst with a near endless array of flavors, an easy drinking alcohol level of 5 to 7 percent, and a crisp, clean finish.
There are 56 large and small commercial cider producers in California alone, notes the Cyder Market online database, with a dozen in Sonoma County.
To stand out from the crowd, Cordtz focuses on inventive recipes like his Crowbar, made with organic apples, organic habanero peppers and organic limes.
The Pulley is spiked with fennel for an absinthe-style black licorice hint, while the Bananaweiss is fermented with hefeweizen yeast and bananas for an aroma like banana cream pie.
Mike West grabs bottles off the production line to pack into boxes at Sonoma Cider in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
Cordtz imports sarsaparilla roots from India for a vanilla-spiked Washboard label that is so reminiscent of root beer that Noble Folk Ice Cream & Pie Bar on the Healdsburg Plaza makes an ice cream with it.
He also crafts a Jax cider goosed with honey, toasted buckwheat and cinnamon that tastes remarkably like Apple Jacks breakfast cereal. For another twist, he makes an intriguing German gose beer-style cider kicked up with rhubarb and a whisper of sea salt.
“Our sarsaparilla tea is the most complicated, because we brew some of the ingredients, which is fun,” Cordtz said.
“It’s like halfway between the beer world and the wine world.”
Then there are the pear-, peach- and plum-based ciders, using local fruit and resulting in drinks like The Pitchfork, a blend of pear, apple and a touch of vanilla that begins crisp, then softens to creamy without too much sweetness.
“Ciders are huge now because they’re gluten free, and so different,” Cordtz said.
“Sometimes I just float down the river and play mad scientist in my head with all kinds of ingredients. Craft drinkers want to try everything, even if it’s weird.”
The Sonoma Cider production facility in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
Those apples are the crux of the concoctions, though, critical to bottlings like The Hatchet, where Cordtz looks for small fruit, preferring its bigger, more concentrated flavor.
Different apples must then be blended for a balance of sweet and tart varietals, fruit maturity and color.
There’s nowhere to hide, either, since recipes are startling simple. The Hatchet, for example, is nothing but U.S. grown organic apples and organic apple juice, fermented 30 days for the masterful result that must be all at once sweet, tart, crisp, dry, tangy, smooth and refreshing.
When it works, it works. The first Sonoma Cider batch was bottled the week before Thanksgiving three years ago, with the first batch going to Big John’s Market in Healdsburg the day before the holiday.
“The store was so busy, and I was so new, I hadn’t even figured prices,” Cordtz recalled. “So we had no contract. I just stacked cases on the floor, and told them to charge what they wanted. It sold out fast.”
Sonoma Cider founders Robert Cordtz, left, and his father, David, at their production facility in Healdsburg, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)
Ultimately, Cordtz hopes to have his warehouse stocked wall-to-wall with Sonoma County apple crates.
Apples can be cold stored about a year, and there’s this advantage, too: they’re a kinder, gentler fruit than some of his other fresh, local ingredients.
“For the Crowbar, I juiced 200 pounds of habaneros,” Cordtz said. “I wore goggles, a respirator mask, two pairs of gloves and a fan blowing fumes away. It could have killed me.
“But whatever, it’s worth it. The cider is great with tacos.”
The owners of Santa Rosa’s popular Naked Pig Cafe have a new project in the works called Flower and Bone, slated to open in Santa Rosa in summer 2016.
Partners Dalia Martinez and Jason Sokach are converting an early 20th century mercantile building at 5th St. and Humbolt into unique restaurant that’s going to feature a “preserve-centric menu”, according to Martinez. That means expanding out the couple’s passion for canning, pickling and fermenting, much of which is already on the Naked Pig’s breakfast, brunch and lunch menus.
“There are only a handful of restaurants in the world that are doing what we are with food preservation and we are happy to give Santa Rosa that edge,” said Martinez, who is an avid forager and gardner.
The menu concept, according to the couple, will be international; inspired by ancient traditions and techniques and feature clay oven cooked, local pasture-raised meat, handmade dumplings, bone broths, dainty starters with house made spiked sodas & punch, farm fermented ciders and low-proof vegetable juice cocktails. The restaurant launch with a series of dinners.
A collection of preserved products will be featured in a large utilitarian library-esque cabinet complete with a wooden ladder, she said. The expanded commercial kitchen at the restaurant (the kitchen at Naked Pig is impossibly tiny) will allow them to increase production of certain preserves for sale, with the rest reserved for the restaurants.
“Our intention is to continue providing Sonoma County and all it’s visitors with pure food—handmade, small batch and unique,” said Martinez.
Beer, chocolate, cheese, kvass and more fermented foods than you can shake a mason jar at. Farm to Fermentation Festival 2015.
Get ready to eat your way through Wine Country. Here are some of the top upcoming food events in Sonoma County.
March 28: An Encounter with “Dr. Chocolate” – An Informative Tasting of Wine and Chocolate. Moshin Vineyars presents Kristy Leissle, aka: “Dr. Chocolate,” as she guides us through a tasting of single origin chocolates. Sip a selection of single vineyard and chocolate-friendly wines while learning about chocolate ‘terrior’. 6:00pm -7:30pm, $20 includes tasting and lecture. Space is limited to 15 attendees. RSVP to Jessica at 707-433-5499. More details
GM David Sisler and Sommelier Evan Hufford have been hired for the forthcoming Single Thread Farm Restaurant in Healdsburg. (courtesy photo)
The lineup at the upcoming Single Thread Farm Restaurantin Healdsburg just keeps getting more extraordinary. Chef Kyle Connaughton and his wife/head farmer Katina have added restaurant heavyweights David Sisler,Evan Hufford and Matthew Siciliano to their team.
Sisler is the former general manager of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Saison. Sommelier Evan Hufford also is a Saison alum and has worked at Michael Mina in San Francisco and Joë l Robuchon in Las Vegas. Siciliano will lead the pastry program, working with Connaughton and chef de cuisine Aaron Koseba. Koseba, most recently from Aubergine restaurant at L’Auberge Carmel, was tapped in early 2016.
Chef Kyle Connaughton and his wife, Katina Connaughton, will open Single Thread Farms and Inn in Healdsburg. Photo courtesy of Sally Egan.
If you’ve been sleeping through all the excitement about this Healdsburg restaurant on the horizon (called the most important opening of 2016 by Eater), the plan is for a 54-seat fine dining restaurant with a “bespoke hospitality experience” in the center of Sonoma Wine Country. Eleven-course meals will be created around of-the-moment seasonal ingredients, including items from the rooftop garden, greenhouse and Healdsburg farm, and will include wine pairings and tours of the garden and greenhouse. Five luxury hotel suites also will be included in the Single Thread building, designed by the New York firm AvroKO.
The restaurant will issue tickets for each evening’s dinner, with a limited number of seats and an expected tab of $225 per person. This high profile undertaking won’t be for every wallet but it is aimed at diners looking for a one-of-a-kind luxury experience. Leading up to Single Thread’s early summer opening, Connaughton and his team will be guest chefs at several dinners, including a series with Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn on April 12 and 13. Each meal will cost nearly $400 per person and will include a multi-course menu featuring live sea urchin, gin-smoked steelhead and a dessert tasting co-created by Siciliano.
P .S. Reservations for the restaurant’s opening go online in the coming weeks through the Tock, an online reservation site.
