[sh-slideshow-post id=”28842″]

You know a restaurant’s under-the-radar when you can’t find it, even with Google Maps.

But four miles west of Petaluma, where goats scamper in fields and signs for “lost family pig” aren’t at all unusual, is The Secret Kitchen.

Tucked behind an unassuming convenience store, Brenda Anderson, Janice Clement and their tiny staff of friends and neighbors are running a walk-up, take-out kitchen with dishes like Korean BBQ chicken rice bowls with kim chee, “Hog in a Blanket” (pork brat with Lagunitas IPA mustard, cheddar cheese sauce and caramelized onions), caramel rum cake and fresh peach strawberry galettes.

“These are just dishes I’ve pickup up from around the world. Everything is just something I love,” says Anderson, whose Asian/Latin/American dishes harken from cooking gigs in Thailand, teaching at the Culinary Institute of America and running a restaurant at Google.

The secret’s already leaked out to locals, who line up at the split door to order and often grab a seat at one of the wooden picnic benches near the parking lot. But this is only the opening act for the Secret Kitchen gals, who weren’t really planning to be a restaurant at all.

Their commercial kitchen accidentally became a walk-up when a batch of tamales sold out with just a homemade sign out from. A truck (the original idea) is still in the works, but for now, the team is operating at full capacity.

Best bets include the bahn mi with slow roasted pork, pickled carrots and daikon, peanuts and secret sauce ($9); Korean BBQ tacos ($3), Korean BBQ chicken rice bowls with kimchee and pickled onions ($9), The American Hog in a Blanket ($9), Khao Soi (a Thai curried noodle bowl, $9.50) and desserts of the day. Just keep our little secret, okay?

Open 11a.m. to 7:30p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 4701 Bodega Ave., Petaluma (707) 787-8243.

Having the legendary bladesmith Bob Kramer teach a knife skills class at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa is sort of like having Meryl Streep teach a beginning acting class in your backyard.

The Olympia-based master bladesmith is so revered by chefs that his hand-forged knives command up to $10,000 a piece, with a waiting list more than three years long. But there’s still hope for the home chef.

Kramer has partnered with German knife-company Zwilling J.A. Henckels and Sur La Table to create a more-affordable line of stainless and carbon steel knives costing between $130 and $250 a pop, depending on the quality and size. Which may sounds like a lot to the average Joe, but knife junkies know its a steal for some serious steel. Without the wait.

Bob Kramer Knife Essentials, noon to 2:30p.m., June 22, 2014 Sur La Table, 2323 Magowan Dr., Santa Rosa, (707) 566-9823. Registration required, $69 per person.

Five Dot Ranch Cookhouse will open at the Oxbow Public Market in Napa this June, making it one of a dozen food stalls and restaurants in the ever-expanding space.

Five Dot Ranch’s butcher shop has been a mainstay at the market, but the new Cookhouse restaurant (along with a smokehouse and to-go menu) will give non-local visitors a chance to experience Five Dot’s sustainable beef on-site. Coming soon: Breakfast rib sandwiches on a pecan waffle, corned beef hash, Reuben sandwiches with house made pastrami or corned beef, tri-tip sandwiches with tomato salsa, a “you pick it, we grill it” steak with bone marrow butter, burgers, barbecue..and the list goes on.

The Cookhouse will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

644 First Street, Napa, (707) 224-5550.

BiteClub got a first bite of The Naked Pig’s opening menu, and was an unabashed oinker in polishing just about everything on the plate.

There are just three tables inside (plus several more outside), making the experience quite intimate (you can also get take out).

Here’s what to get: Tip-top billing goes to the cheddar, chive and ham savory bread pudding ($12) a super-collider smash-up of flavors worthy of a Nobel prize ($12). We’re also huge fans of the green onion biscuit with honey, poached eggs, perfectly cooked bacon and tartly-dressed salad ($13).

Artisanal whisky caramel waffles ($11) are fluffy and moist with a boozy punch ($11). Lunch sandwiches are takes on lunchbox favorites like meatloaf ($13)and egg salad ($11), but with gourmet twists like Raymond bakery ciabatta, pastured eggs and homemade pickles and ketchup.

We won’t deny a bit of sticker shock on a few items, but foodists will appreciate owner Jason and Dalia’s curated list of purveyors that include small sustainable farmers and bakers. We’re always willing to pay a little more to support our friends.

Open 8a.m. to 3p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 435 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa.

[sh-slideshow-post id=”28822″]

Press St. Helena steakhouse and restaurant (587 St. Helena Hwy, St. Helean, 967-0550)has named Chef Trevor Kunk as its new exec chef.

What’s especially notable about the appointment? Kunk hails most recently from Blue Hill New York, one of the top restaurants in NYC, sourcing directly from Dan Barber’s legendary Blue Hill Farm in the Hudson Valley.

So, uh, he’ll be pretty familiar with the whole farm-to-table thing we do out here. Welcome to Wine Country.

With all the recent bad news about local meat processing, its heartening to know that a new generation of local butchers and processors are coming up the ranks. Sonoma County Meat Co., which opened in late May, 2014 (35 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa) is a small USDA and state-­approved processor, butcher shop and meat CSA run by meat and culinary rock stars Rian Rinn and Jenine Alexander.

Unlike most commercial butcher shops, the couple can take in beef, chicken, rabbit, goat, lamb, pork and game for processing as well as cut-­and-­wrap (breaking down USDA-­approved animals slaughtered at places like Marin Sun Farms) and package it for sale at their store or for farmer’s markets and commercial sales.

Suffice to say, it’s a pretty big deal. They will also offer a meat CSA.

Check out their stuff at sonomacountymeatco.com.

While most of us were watching the former John and Zeke’s bar in Healdsburg for some signs of life from new owner Sam Young (Scout was supposed to open in March), he quietly opened Kozy Kar Bar in Santa Rosa. Now, that was a surprise. If you haven’t been to the sibling Kozy Kar Bar in SF, you’re in for a, well, new experience.

It’s a 70s and early 80s-themed nightclub, complete with waterbeds, shag rugs, bad lighting, pinball machines, 8-tracks and Penthouse pinup “wallpaper” from that freewheeling, all-natural era.

BiteClub hasn’t been inside the new North Bay Kozy Kar, but folks who have say it’s got more than a few adults-only features (we’ll leave it to your imagination).

The SF version has been both cheered and chided for its tastelessness.

We’ll see what Santa Rosa thinks.

Located in the former Epic, 404 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa.

On June 7, July 5, August 2 and September 6 2014, head to Cotati’s Suchernova Farm for a series of unforgettable outdoor summer dinners.

Each month, local chefs will prepare unforgettable multi-course meals from the day’s bounty, spotlighting the strong links between community farming and the pleasures of eating.

During the dinners, you learn about the 10-acre farms menagerie of animals, including Berkshire and Red wattle pigs; Scottish Highland cattle; cashmere, alpine and nubian goats; Navajo-Churro sheep along with laying hens, broilers (meat chickens breeds) and bees.

Organic  vegetables are grown using permaculture and biodynamic methods–taking cues from the earth and seasons–as well as creating an experimental aquaponics system that uses fish to provide nutrients to growing vegetables.

Want to get in on the action?

• $100/person. Space is limited & payment is required to reserve a space.

• Call to reserve tickets 707.992.0056

• All major credit cards accepted.

• BYOB alcoholic beverages not included

• Dress is casual

Farm tour & Dinner, 5:30-8pm, Suchernova Farm, 909 West Sierra Ave., Cotati, CA 94931

(PS. I can’t believe how badly I screwed up the first version of this. PC’s are such evil machines.)

Okay, so the news came out last week that Mark and Terri Stark’s Stark Reality Restaurants (Stark’s Steak and Seafood, Willi’s Wine Bar, Monti’s, Bravas, etc) had purchased the former Italian Affair restaurant in Santa Rosa.

BiteClub can confirm its been in the works for a long, long time, but the deal only became final in early April.

So here’s the rest of the story…

There’s been speculation for months that the Starks would be closing Monti’s in Montgomery Village and moving it to the space at 1055 Fourth St.

Wrong-O.

According to Terri Stark, they will be opening a NEW restaurant in the space (if you’re keeping count, that’s number six for them). Opening is slated for November. The couple are remaining tight-lipped about the menu concept, but are naming it Bird & Bottle.

Monti’s will be undergoing some renovation in “the near future” Stark said, but not closing or moving.