Restaurants wait with bated breath each year for the royal conferring of Michelin stars by the French guidebook company. Literally it can change a restaurant’s status overnight — either for better or worse. The precursor, however, are the Bib Gourmand awards, which are the pathway to stars, and a recognition of good value, excellent food and top-notch service.
This year’s Bib winners for Wine Country include Biteclub faves Backyard (Forestvilles ), Bistro Jeanty (Yountville), Bistro 29 (Santa Rosa), Boon Eat + Drink (Guerneville), C Casa )Napa), newcomer Chalkboard (Healdsburg), Cook (St. Helena), Cucina Paradiso (Petaluma), Glen Ellen Star(Glen Ellen), Hot Box Grill (Sonoma), La Salette (Sonoma), Monti’s Rotisserie (Santa Rosa), Oenotri (Napa), Redd Wood (Yountville), Risibisi (Petaluma), Sazon (Santa Rosa), Scopa (Healdsburg), The Girl and The Fig (Sonoma), and Willi’s Wine Bar (Santa Rosa). There are a number of restaurants we assume were too new to include (or about to get starred), but Spinster Sisters (Santa Rosa) is clearly missing from the list. Hmmmm…
Black Plum Supper Club in Occidental happens each Thursday.
Supper Clubs are the new underground dinners. Similar in concept, they’re one-off food and wine events in intimate settings with just a handful of invitees. The difference: No super secret handshakes to get in. One of the most intriguing is the Black Plum Supper Club in Occidental. it pops up each Thursday night at Howard Station Cafe, billing itself as “refined West County cuisine”. And refined it is. Chefs Emma Uribe and Jeremy Whitcomb, both alums of Peter Lowell’s Restaurant in Sebastopol, serve up $35 prix fixe, seasonal menus that include dishes like leeks with salmon roe, pears with hazelnuts and chicory, octopus with cecci beans and quince with creme anglaise. You can secure your spot with a call to 889-6729 or go to blackplumsupperclub.com.
Can’t get enough of pop-up supper clubs? Suite D, a private room run by the folks at Sonoma’s ragingly popular Girl and the Fig are featuring a series of dinners at the event space including a Harvest Dinner on Nov. 8 and 9, an all lobster dinner on Dec. 19 and a Southern Supper on Nov. 14 and 15. For details and tickets go to figsuited.com.
Robert Mondavi, the iconic Napa winery, is now offering its signature tour in Mandarin Chinese each Friday and Saturday at 10:30a.m. Visitors see the famed To Kalon Vineyard, tour the winemaking cellars and enjoy a seated tasting of three wines with a Mandarin-speaking wine educator. Curious about other translations? Private tours are also available in Cantonese, Japanese and French by appointment. Admission in $30 per guest and reservations can be made online at robertmondaviwinery.com or 800-228-1395.
Chef Erik Johnson is the new top toque at J Vineyards in Healdsburg
Chef Erik Johnson is the new top toque at the J Vineyards property in Healdsburg, which includes the popular J Bubble Room. The former executive sous chef at Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen, he replaces Jason La Bue. A frequent teacher at Relish Culinary Adventures (and Bohemian Club chef alum), he’s gearing up for his first J Vineyards class, “Get Ready for Thanksgiving) from 6:30 to 9:30p.m. on Nov. 2. It’s a great chance to brush up on your holiday cooking skills and get a tasty three-course meal in the process. Details on this and other classes, as well as Bubble Room appointments at jwine.com/events. The cost of the Thanksgiving class is $110 per person.
Halloween is a perfect time for masked balls, and two we’re preparing our gowns for: The Diavola Supper Club Hunter’s Ball and Costume Party, on Saturday October 26th and Coppola Winery’s Masquerade Ball, also on the 26th (oh, our glass slippers will have to run fast!). The Hunter’s Ball, held at the Odd Fellow’s Hall in Geyserville features a family-style seasonal menu (we smell game) by Chef Dino Bugica and music by former Dire Straits guitarist Jack Sonni. Tickets are $85 per person, with tickets available online.
Coppola’s event bills itself as “Sleepy Hollow meets Great Gatsby” and will include a live DJ, fortune teller, costume contest and themed lounge. Tickets are $125 available online. The following day, a family-friendly event at the winery is always a major draw: The Harvest and Halloween Carnival from 11am to 2pm. Its just $10 per child and includes pumpkin decorating and costumed fun.
Cindy Daniel, owner of the Shed, draws some draft wine from the fermentation bar. (photo by Chris Hardy)
New in Sonoma County since last spring are two food and drink centers – one in Sebastopol, the other in Healdsburg – offering delicious one-stop intrigue for locals and visitors alike. Haven’t been to either yet? Here’s a visual feast of what you’ve been missing.
The Barlow
Zazu Kitchen and Farm owner Duskie Estes, right, with chef Doug Richey at the new restaurant location at The Barlow in Sebastopol. (photo by Christopher Chung)
Sebastopol, the town best known for its once-bountiful apple orchards, is now ground zero for food-and-wine purveyors, with the launch of the ambitious Barlow Center on 12 acres and just a stone’s throw from downtown.
The center has been welcoming tenants to its 18 buildings in spring, creating a new “maker hood” where Highway 12 meets Morris Street.
Barlow developer Barney Aldridge created the food-and-wine center to provide a deeper connection between consumers and some of their favorite products, from beer and wine to ice cream and bacon. The current mix of 30-some businesses also includes a clothing boutique and bookstore, two art galleries and a yoga-Pilates-dance studio.
The half-dozen original buildings of the former apple cannery underwent major renovations and structural upgrades; the rest of the complex was constructed from the ground up in a hip, industrial style with high ceilings and lots of metal and glass.
– Guayaki Yerba Mate – Fair Trade beverage company that sources the herbal energy-boosting drink yerba mate (with the “strength of coffee, health benefits of tea and euphoria of chocolate”) from South America
– Kosta Browne Winery – among the most sought-after producers of Sonoma County Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
– Spirits Works Distillery – a microdistillery producing its own gin and whiskey from organic grain
– Taylor Maid Farms – for the coffee and tea-obsessed, this roaster offers tours, barista training classes, community-driven events and an espresso bar
– Village Bakery – a longtime Sonoma County favorite for pastries and sandwiches
– Woodfour Brewing Company – bistro and brewery with an ever-changing menu of beers on tap
– Zazu Kitchen + Farm – where chefs Duskie Estes and John Stewart create whimsical food and their own line of bacon and salumi
Healdsburg Shed
Cups and saucers at The Shed cafe and store (photo by Chris Hardy)
Healdsburg’s Shed, which opened in spring, provides farmers and foodies with everything they need to live the Sonoma lifestyle: a market and cafe, a kitchen and garden shop, and a grange-hall-like gathering space.
Cindy Daniel, who owns the Shed with her husband, Doug Lipton, said the pair grew the concept over some 15 years. Their goal? To create a lively venue inspired by good farming, good cooking and good eating, to celebrate the land and the people who grow things.
– Cafe – serving fresh, vegetable-driven cuisine for breakfast and lunch with a less-is-more philosophy, from waffles and pizza to meze plates, to be enjoyed indoors or on one of the outdoor decks
– Fermentation bar – the place to sip wine and beer on tap, plus locally made kefir and kombucha
– Front patio – where picnic tables provide a casual spot for friends to share a meal with wine.
– Garden shop – to the rear of Shed, stocked with pitchforks and organic seeds, reminiscent of a well-thumbed Smith & Hawken catalog
– Market and take-out larder – stocked with smoked fish and foods in various stages of preparation, along with produce from local farmers
The cooking store at The Shed cafe and store (photo by Chris Hardy)
– Modern grange space – upstairs, designed for the community to gather for workshops, films and concerts, and dinners on the last Sunday of every month
– Retail kitchen store – stocked with everything from clay pots to fresh spices, evoking the meticulous retailing sensibility of Williams-Sonoma
– Wooden mill – imported from Austria, it grinds locally grown grains for artisan breads and polentas
Now open in the former Wappo Wine Bar location in downtown Calistoga is 1226 Washington, a gastropub and Sunday brunch spot.
The new chef for 1226 Washington is Cathy Harbour, who has been a chef on luxury yachts and boutique restaurants throughout the world. Her menu will be seasonally driven and inspired by her globe-trotting travels. Lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday, with a three-course Sunday supper. 1226 Washington St., Calistoga, 799-5889.
Have you had your first pumpkin latte of the season? Given serious thought to buying a few cans of cranberry sauce or secretly stashed a few bags of Halloween candy in the pantry (which we all know can’t possibly last until the end of October)?
It’s the most delicious time of year, when comfort foods make their return, pumpkin is king, and all things cinnamon and clove come back to the shelves.
BiteClub’s sussed out a few of the early entrants to the fall culinary lineup.
– Local bakery Sift Cupcake and Dessert Bar (siftcupcakes.com) is offering Pumpkin Bourbon macarons through Nov. 30.
– At Target, you can find candy corn flavored Oreos, candy corn pretzels, and candy corn and apple caramel flavored Jones Sodas.
– We found the much-lauded Crunchy Cookie Butter, a smooth spread made with crushed gingerbread and, well, a whole lot of other yumminess. It’s delish right out of the jar, but you can also add it to cookie or cheesecake recipes, make a killer milkshake with a little Nutella. Grab it while it lasts at Trader Joe’s.
– Want the smell of Thanksgiving without all that pesky cooking? Yankee Candle (recently opened at the downtown Santa Rosa Plaza) is offering up a feast of scents with a holiday collection that includes Turkey and Stuffing (think sage, butter and roasting meat), cranberry sauce, pumpkin and sweet potato pie. On the plus side, no calories! On the minus, no leftovers.
We’ve been mentioning over the last few weeks a benefit for cheesemaker and Epicurean Connection owner Sheana Davis, which happens Sunday, Oct. 13 from 1 to 4p.m. at the Maysonnave House, 291 First St. in Sonoma. The lineup, not surprisingly for such a high profile foodie, is stellar, and includes food from Wild Thyme Catering, Depot Hotel, Uncommon Brewers, Eric Ross Winery, and of course plenty of cheese from her friends.
Donations for the silent auction and raffle are from Treme writer and cookbook author Lolis Eric Elie, Bob Kantor of Memphis Minnie’s, and local restaurants Crisp, Hot Box, the Red Grape and Davis’ friends at the French Laundry.
The fundraising goal is $45,000 to help Davis get critical treatments and pay off bills for multiple surgeries that have left her struggling. Tickets for the event are $50 per person at the door. To make a donation online, go to sheanadavisfund.com.
SpaghettiO cupcakes with Velveeta frosting. They’re actually pretty tasty.
SpaghettiO cupcakes with Velveeta frosting. They’re actually pretty tasty.
Leave it to the Internet to come up with the wackiest food combinations that, well, actually usually taste pretty good. Case in point: The SpaghettiO cupcake with Velveeta buttercream frosting.
Now, like you my first reaction was, “Nasty!” But think about it: Tomato soup cake is a classic. Cream cheese frosting, another classic. Now just up the salt quotient by like a thousand. Add some noodles for structure, and you’ve got something pretty okay.
BiteClub’s ready to haul these puppies out for Halloween, because Snickers Minis and Dum-Dums are so ten years ago. And really, what’s more fun that horrifying small children with a good food prank? (In the spirit of fun, of course. And mostly my own children, who are my culinary lab rats anyway.)
The test batch turned out pretty tasty, and children, co-workers and unsuspecting radio hosts all agreed they tasted pretty good, if a bit curious.
The looks on their faces when I revealed the “secret” ingredients, however? Priceless.
