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 seven top picks for Sunday, April 20, 2014. AKA Easter Sunday.

Naked Pig: It’s opening day for this much-anticipated Santa Rosa cafe. On the menu from 8a.m. to 3p.m.: asparagus and goat cheese omelet, butter and egg sandwich, pulled pork waffles and bone broth gravy on green onion biscuits. Prices range from $10-$13. 435 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa.

Viola Pastry Cafe: Poutine, top shelf Benedicts and beignets. This is my personal pick for Sunday brunch, where I’ll be dining al fresco. $10-$15, 709 Village Court, Santa Rosa, 544-8830.

Rocker Oysterfellers: Chicken and waffles, gin punch, lamb burgers, gin punch. An Easter egg hunt keeps the kids occupied. Outdoor dining, $29 per person, two courses. 14415 Highway One, Valley Ford, 876-1983.

Mateo’s Cocina Latina: Preston spring lamb hash with Laguna Farm potatoes, Le Bonne Terre Farm carrots, favas, spring garlic, puma spring hen egg, ice cream float dessert. Outdoor seating. 214 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg, (707) 433-1520.

SHED: Herb-roasted lamb shoulder with Meyer lemon gremolata and a ragout of spring onions, peas, Fava beans, and fennel, citrus almond cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, Ramos soju fizz and a Roderer Champagne cocktail. 25 North St, Healdsburg,
431-7433.

Canneti Roadhouse: Tuscan Easter tasting menu includes deviled quail eggs, roast goat with fried artichokes, $55 per person. 6675 Front St., Forestville, 887-2232.

Zazu Restaurant and Farm: Sticky bun French toast, artichoke bruschetta with burrata, corned beef hash, fried green tomatoes, amarena cherry bellini. $39 per person, 6770 McKinley St., Sebastopol (at the Barlow).

For Slow Foodists, this dinner at SRJC’s Shone Farm is the event of the year.

Louis Maldonado (Spoonbar, Pizzando) has created a menu featuring rare Ark of Taste ingredients—foods and food traditions considered endangered and worth preserving—for the $85 per person dinner.

It’s a gastro-exploration centered around an Ossbaw Island Hog (originating on a small island in Georgia and thought to be descended from foundation stock brought by Spanish explorers) that includes crispy pig head and trotter terrine with Tupelo honey; country ham; geoduck clams, smoked daikon and Carolina gold rice; crushed potatoes in pork fat, pork shoulder, smoked ribs with cranberry bean cassoulet and peach leaf meringue.

Ark of Taste Dinner with Louis Maldonado, Sunday April 27, 5-8pm, Shone Farm, info at 894-2815.

Roughly 93% of Northern California Vineyard acreage is planted to eight grape varieties. The remaining 7% of acreage is home to an impressive aggregation of lesser known varieties. A small but growing force of winemakers champion these grapes, tending terroir and making juice that is swiftly shifting the global perception of California winemaking.

This tasting is a showcase of twenty outstanding Northern California wineries and their ‘Seven %’ Solutions.

Participating Wineries: *Arnot Roberts *Bedrock Wine Co. *Broc Cellars *Dirty and Rowdy *Donkey and Goat *Edmunds Saint John *Forlorn Hope *Idlewild Wines *Jolie-Laide *Leo Steen *Matthiasson *RPM *Ryme Cellars *Sandlands *Stark Wine *The Scholium Project *Two Shepherds *Unti Vineyards *Wind Gap *Nico Wines

$65 per person. Tickets available online.

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014 / 1pm-4pm
BERGAMOT ALLEY, 328A Healdsburg Avenue bergamotalley.com / 707-433-8720

Support the SRJC Culinary students during a Dine and Donate event at Rosso Pizzeria + Wine Bar on  Wednesday April 30, 2014 from 4-10pm. Ten percent of sales will be donated to the program.

Ever wanted a restaurant-sized stock pot? Plastic menu covers for a chic party, the most durable food storage containers known to human-kind or your own 30,00 BTU Wolf range with 8 open burners?

Welcome to the world of restaurant supplies. 

For the uninitiated, this week’s three-day sale at Santa Rosa’s Myers Restaurant Supply  (1599 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa) is a great primer. Even if you’re not in the restaurant biz.

April 10-12, 2014, the locally-owned supply store will have live cooking demos, food, drinks, raffle prizes and their best prices of the year on everything from walk-in refrigerators and sneeze guards to more consumer-friendly stainless steel shelving, storage containers (BiteClub swears by the Camwear containers that can survive sailing across the kitchen, microwaves, dishwashers and small dog attacks).

If you’re looking for some even better deals, check out the used equipment department, where previously-loved restaurant items can be picked up for a song. And perhaps a dance. Depending on your talents.

Who knows, you may even see a celebrity chef or two.

Amy’s Kitchen, Bella Rosa Coffee Company, Caggiano Sausages, Clover Stornetta Farms, Costeaux French Bakery, Kozlowski Farms, Laura Chenel’s Chevre/Marin French Cheese, Petaluma Creamery, Petaluma Poultry, Sola Bee Farms and Sonoma Gourmet are among the 30+ Sonoma County growers and vendors participating in the Fourth Annual Taste of Sonoma hosted by Oliver’s Markets.

The event happens this year from noon to 4p.m. April 26, 2014, at the Cotati location (546 E Cotati Ave, Cotati).  Activities include food and wine tasting, live music and livestock viewing as well as face painting, hula-hoops, and arts and crafts for children.

BiteClub’s always been a huge fan of the locally-focused markets (my fave is the newest, at Stony Point/West Third in Santa Rosa) because of its dedication to featuring both established producers and start-ups from throughout the North Bay — more than 5,000 items, to be specific.

Beer and wine tastings from Clos du Bois, Folie a Deux Winery, Hook and Ladder Winery, Kenwood Vineyards, Mill Creek Winery and Lagunitas Brewing Company are $5 for three tickets, held in an enclosed, 21+ area.

Artists from Oliver’s series of CD compilations, “Real Music: A Taste of Sonoma County Music,” will provide live entertainment, including Farallons, Doug Jayne & Clusterfolk, and Kevin Russell & Friends, Solid Air and Danny Sorentino. Oliver’s own Neal Barbosa (aka “Live Painter”) from the Montecito store will be exhibiting his thespian style of painting in conjunction with the bands.

Redwood Empire Food Bank will be collecting donations of non-perishable foods while Daily Acts and the Sonoma County GO LOCAL Co-op will provide information about their programs.

As a sometimes designer, I’m an infographic addict. Because pictures are often truly worth 1,000 words (even though I’m known to tell a tale or two).

BiteClub will start sharing some favorite food infographics as I find them. We’ll start with this fascinating look at coffees around the world.

From http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/news/around-world-31-coffees/

Okay, so BiteClub’s a sucker for new promotions, especially when they involve bacon and waffles and guys named Ronald McDonald.

But the widely touted new “Waffle Tacos” at Taco Bell given the thumbs up by Ronald McDonalds nationwide?

Epic disappointment. Epic!

How a waffle can manage to be soggy and tough at the same time is a mind-bender. Mostly, but not quite melted cheese. Ultra-greasy bits of bacon and eggs. Or sausage and eggs. We couldn’t really tell the difference between the two. And no damn syrup.

Blech. Pass.

I’ll stick with my sausage breakfast burrito at the golden arches. Or better yet, the dreamy (locally made) sticky buns and ginger scones at my fave coffee haunt, SoCo Coffee (1015 4th St, Santa Rosa, (707) 527-6434, closed Sunday).

http://youtu.be/k7o6AVGgM4g

Chef David Bush, who propelled St. Francis Winery to be named “Best Restaurant in America”  has left to open his own restaurant, Oso, on the Sonoma Square.

Bush says the restaurant will have two parts: The front lounge with small plates (around $6-$18) and wine by the glass–a casual drop-in spot that feels like an extension of the plaza. The rear part of the restaurant will be reserved for a prix fixe five-course tasting menu (around $65 per person) with a $35 wine pairing addition.

“The goal is to execute a tasting menu in the main dining room with a strong emphasis on pairing my food with local wines,” Bush said, making the fit a natural for the winery chef. With local sommelier Brian Kulich on board, the list is certain to have some stellar off-the-radar boutique gems on the list. The menu is still in development, but Bush calls it “New California: local, seasonal and eclectic, but not esoteric.” Because really, who needs esoteric on their plate?

“Opening a restaurant has been my goal since I started cooking at age fourteen,” said Bush. “Stuffy doesn’t work in Sonoma, (but) what does is excellent food and hospitality. We want to…give people an experience that has been absent for too long on Sonoma’s Plaza.”

Opening is slated for late May at 9 East Napa St.on the Sonoma Plaza. Oso will begin with dinner service, with lunch and brunch down the line.