Page 514 – Sonoma Magazine

Boutique Bonbons for All

December 2013

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Chelsea Bloom decorates the truffles at Recherche du Plaisir in Santa Rosa. (photo by Conner Jay)

First, there’s the bright snap as a thin cloak of tempered chocolate gives way to rich chocolate ganache (simply, chocolate and cream) that spreads over the palate in dark, delicious glory.

The confections from Gandolf’s Fine Chocolate in Santa Rosa are among the best and most satisfying you’ll find this side of Paris.

Guy Daniels with Gandolf's Fine Chocolates prepares his boutique truffles in Santa Rosa. (photo by Conner Jay) — Guy Daniels with Gandolf’s Fine Chocolates prepares his boutique truffles in Santa Rosa. (photo by Conner Jay)

Guy Daniels, who founded the company (named after his beloved cat) in 1999, explained that tempering, the biggest challenge a chocolatier faces, is what sets his chocolate apart. To temper it, couverture chocolate (a very high-quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter, made specifically for this process) is first heated to 114 degrees, then cooled to 82 to 83 degrees, and then heated again to 89 degrees.

“When this is done correctly,” said Daniels, a full-time chocolatier, “the molecules realign themselves. This is essential for enrobing a truffle with snap.”

Tempering gives chocolates their texture and sheen, increasing their visual appeal and improving the way they feel in the mouth. (Untempered, chocolate may taste good but have a spongy texture, look dull or blotchy, or show streaks of fats.) Not all chocolate behaves the same, and procuring couverture chocolate that is consistent is an equally important task.

“I use Guittard,” Daniels explained. “I am very careful, very cautious about this. I cannot afford inconsistency.”

For the ganache, Daniels has more options. He’s a fan of Hawaiian chocolate, in part because of its quality and in part because it is easy to verify claims made about it — for example, that it is organic. When he can get Hawaiian chocolate (very little is produced), he features it in a classic truffle. He also uses other chocolates that pique his interest.

When it comes to flavorings, Daniels is a traditionalist. A delicate restraint is part of his artistic signature.

“From my perspective,” he said, “nothing is better than pure cream and the finest chocolate.”

The best flavorings are, he believes, the tried-and-true classic combinations that have endured for decades. Hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, dried fruit, espresso, Kahlua and amaretto have long been praised for their affinity with chocolate.

Gandolf's Fine Chocolates get ready to be shipped out in Santa Rosa. (photo by Conner Jay) — Gandolf’s Fine Chocolates get ready to be shipped out in Santa Rosa. (photo by Conner Jay)

Yet Gandolf’s biggest seller is a salted caramel truffle, a simple combination of caramel-chocolate ganache topped with a bit of flaky salt.

“People who buy this one buy a lot, not one or two truffles, but boxes of truffles, and they don’t typically buy other flavors,” Daniels said.

Come Valentine’s Day, Nipple of Venus, popular year-round, garners even more attention, thanks to both its name and its suggestive slash of tempered white chocolate atop a classic dark chocolate truffle. Fans of the 2000 movie “Chocolat,” starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, will recognize the name.

Gandolf’s chocolates are available at gandolfsfinechocolate.com. Contact Guy Daniels at 707-861-0489. Prices range from $2 per truffle to $48 for a box of 24.

When More is More

A chocolate purist might be satisfied with a single Gandolf’s truffle. But for many, more is always more when it comes to chocolate, and truer than ever on Valentine’s Day. And it’s not just in quantity, but also in flavor combinations that push the boundaries of tradition.

For such delicacies, look no further than Recherche du Plaisir, a sweet little sweet shop in Santa Rosa where chocolatier Lucy Gustafson crafts truffles and other bonbons, French macarons and more. Flavors range from classic dark chocolate and salted caramel to red-hot ganache; dark chocolate spiked with ancho chile and other spices; strawberry preserves with white chocolate; dark chocolate hearts filled with white chocolate and peppermint; and the Violet Beauregard, made of white chocolate and blueberry preserves.

The shop has beautiful containers, too, including a gorgeous heart-shaped box crowned with circular swirls of thin red ribbons that holds nearly three dozen morsels.

Recherche du Plaisir is at 3401 Cleveland Ave., Suite 9, in Santa Rosa. For more information, call 707-843-3551 or visit www.rdpsweets.com. Prices range from $2 for a single bonbon to $74 for a heart-shaped box of 33.

Wines for every occasion

December 2013

By Virginie Boone

Whether fancy or casual, there’s a wine for every occasion.

Sometimes the occasion calls for something fancy; other times, all that’s needed is a good, honest wine. Here are some recommendations to suit a range of wintertime moods and events, from a romantic, fireside Valentine’s Day to a Super Bowl party.

Sauvignon Blanc for Chinese New Year

If you like:

Merry Edwards 2012 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($32)
Edwards has built her substantial reputation on producing silky, voluptuous Pinot Noirs from the Russian River Valley, but she’s also a master of this white varietal, expertly crafting a wine that’s equally textural and hedonistic. Hearty in fig and lychee fruit, it also has a floral component. It’s an ideal wine for spicy Chinese noodles and salads, and rich and creamy enough to stand up to fish dishes and stir-fried garlic scallops.

Then try:

Casey Flat Ranch 2012 Open Range California Sauvignon Blanc ($15)
Made by up-and-coming Napa-based winemaker Laura Barrett, the wine is a steal for its high quality. Grapes were sourced from throughout the North Coast, including the Casey Flat Ranch in Capay Valley, as well as Lake and Mendocino counties. Slightly herbal with balanced layers of grapefruit, tropical fruit and lemon, it has acidity and structure to spare. Pair it with fresh oysters, or long noodles and leafy greens, two good-luck foods.

Brut Rosé for Valentine’s Day

If you like:

Inman Family 2009 Russian River Valley Brut Rosé Nature Sparkling “Endless Crush” ($68)
Disgorged in September 2012, Kathleen Inman’s sparkling brut rosé is made from her estate OGV Pinot Noir grapes. It makes for a romantic sharing à deux, inspired by Inman’s own 25th wedding anniversary. A wine of great depth, brightness and personality, it tastes of fresh-picked strawberries and cherries, with a streak of citrus and brioche right out of the oven.

Then try:

J Vineyards & Winery Russian River Valley Brut Rosé ($38)
A salmon-hued bubbly resplendent in strawberry and brioche flavors, this is another wonderful wine for Valentine’s Day: soft and dry, with Meyer lemon and lime tones from the small amount of Chardonnay blended with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Crisp acidity provides a steady backbone and superb refreshment.

Rhone White Blends for Groundhog Day

If you like:

Sheldon 2012 Sonoma Coast Vinolocity Blanc ($30)
Grenache Blanc with smaller percentages of Viognier and Roussanne, Vinolocity is flinty with lime and green apple, a streak of spice and ripe peach and pear notes peeking through. Fermented in stainless steel, it’s dry, layered and made in very small quantities; get yours now.

Then try:

Bump 2011 Fortune Sonoma Valley White Wine ($20)
Bump’s first bottling of a white Rhone-inspired blend is comprised of Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul Blanc, grown in a vineyard near the town of Sonoma. The wine is very floral in aroma; in the glass, there are hints of Meyer lemon and honey.

Zinfandel for Cozy Meals, Super Bowl Parties

If you like:

Beltane Ranch 2012 Sonoma Valley Estate Zinfandel ($44)
The family behind the Glen Ellen bed-and-breakfast broke into the wine business a few years ago with an estate-grown Sauvignon Blanc, using grapes it once sold to the likes of Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley. In late 2013, Beltane released its first Zinfandel, with spicy blackberry and leathery tannins. It’s still a baby, showing tremendous potential to age.

Then try:

Quivira 2011 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel ($22)
Quivira’s “starter” Zinfandel tastes deliciously of its appellation, accessible in its soft layers of spice and brambly plum and blackberry fruit. With plenty of balancing acidity, especially from a cool vintage, it’s ready to be paired with a wide range of dishes, including pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, and Super Bowl barbecue.

Syrah for Slow-Braised Meats

If you like:

Failla 2011 Estate Vineyard Fort Ross-Seaview Syrah ($62)
A classic, cool-climate Northern Rhone-style Syrah, this wine is a savory study in pepper and tobacco personality, with the notion of fruit a mere suggestion. Smelling and tasting much like roasted meat itself, it will happily accompany more, whether it’s slow-braised or roasted beef, pork, venison, lamb or duck. No matter the meal, what you’ll remember most is this bottle.

Then try:

People’s Wine Revolution 2011 Moon & Sun Massa Ranch Yountville Syrah ($18)
Made from organically grown grapes by Matt Reid, the former custom-crush winemaker at Failla, this Syrah generously imparts a grind of black pepper and briary black and blue fruit, making it a good wine to pair with hearty wintertime meats slathered in mushrooms and bacon, or midweek slow-cooker pork tenderloin.

The Train is Coming

December 2013

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

John and Pat Rich ride along the multi-use trail next to the SMART tracks, between 8th Street and College Avenue in Santa Rosa November 1, 2013. The trail is being extended alongside the tracks, allowing cyclists and walkers to move from Cloverdale to Larkspur. (photo by Christopher Chung)

Someday you’ll be able to travel from Cloverdale to Larkspur and back without driving your car.

Thinking of the train on the new Sonoma Marin Rail Transit (SMART) system? Well yes, that too. After years of debate, its first phase is expected to connect Santa Rosa and San Rafael by early 2016.

But just as significant — some might say more so — is the 71-mile pathway being created parallel to the train tracks that will allow walkers and cyclists to move from Cloverdale all the way down to Larkspur, where they can find the San Francisco ferry. The trail, 54 miles of off-road path and 17 miles on city streets, may be part of the larger rail project but it is on a separate construction track.

Already there are parts of it you can enjoy.

Ultimately the trail will connect 10 cities, 14 SMART stations and thousands of people in Sonoma and Marin counties. Of course, it’s not as simple as it might sound. With two counties, 10 cities and Caltrans involved, you knew it wouldn’t be.

Of the 47 segments along the length of the trail, a whopping 22 of them are currently the stuff of dreams. The latest government analysis pushes them off into a vague future, kept on the drawing board by cost or technical complexity.

Sections of the trail already exist in stretches previously built by counties or cities, and will be folded into the larger pathway from Cloverdale to Larkspur. That includes a stretch of the Joe Rodota Trail in Sonoma County and several segments in southern Marin County.

Just last fall, a short section opened in Santa Rosa, running from Eighth Street to West College Avenue, just north of Railroad Square. It’s already popular with cyclists and walkers.

The rest won’t exactly be built in order, from one end of the line to the other. Some of the cities will create their pieces of the trail in a kind of patchwork as staffing, weather and funding allow. Most of the trail will be built by SMART.

In the meantime, follow our map, at least with your eyes. Covering that ground on foot will come later. Seven new sections are ready to be assigned to contractors, and should be finished in late 2014 or early 2015.

As for a date when the very last stretch of pathway will be finished? We wouldn’t even venture a guess.

Hard Cider Soars

December 2013

By Virginie Boone

Jolie Devoto Wade, and her husband, Hunter Wade, gather the last of the fallen apples from their Devoto Gardens west of Sebastopol. (photo by John Burgess)

The country is going mad for hard cider, traditionally made from apples that have been fermented and aged, sometimes in oak, much like a wine.

Fresh squeezed apple juice at Tilted Shed Ciderworks near Forestville. (photo by Kent Porter)

An American mainstay since Colonial times, cider lost much of its fan base during and after Prohibition. But now it’s roaring back, with consumption up 50 percent in the last decade, according to the Beverage Trade Network (statistics show cider drinkers to be overwhelmingly young and female).

In Sonoma, the charge is being led by artisans eager to replant and rediscover the heirloom apple varieties once grown in abundance for cider — apples that tend to be tarter than the ones we like to eat.

Versatile and relatively low in alcohol and price, ciders make for a fun new way to test theories on pairing drinks with food. Here are two local cider producers to know.

Devoto Orchards Cider

Jolie Devoto-Wade of Devoto Gardens & Orchards is a second-generation farmer whose family has grown more than 55 varieties of organic, dry-farmed apples just west of Sebastopol for close to 40 years. With her husband, Hunter Wade, she oversees 15 acres of apples among a few other crops, including flowers and Pinot Noir grapes.

Jolie Devoto Wade, and her husband, Hunter Wade, have launched Apple Sauced Cider, using the family’s Gravenstein apples for the cider. (photo by John Burgess)

A few years ago, the couple decided to return to the family farm after studying cider-making in the north of Spain. They soon launched a line of hard ciders made from organic Gravensteins. The first, Save the Gravenstein, was produced from 15 tons of organic apples with the goal of ramping up production substantially year to year, all in an effort to, as the name says, save more Gravenstein trees from being replaced by other crops, including vineyards.

At 6.9-percent alcohol, Save the Gravenstein ($12.99 a bottle) is a food-friendly cider that’s also enjoyable on its own. The most recently released vintage, from apples harvested in August 2013, has 5 percent Akane, Burgundy, Hubbardston Nonesuch, Pink Blush and Pink Pearl apples added to the Gravensteins. It’s a fine partner for sharp cheeses and seafood.

Devoto Orchards’ Backyard ($12.99 a bottle), released in October 2013, is made from Gravensteins grown in neighbors’ backyards, a project in partnership with Slow Food Russian River. Sales proceeds benefit the nonprofit group.

Tilted Shed Ciderworks

Another husband-and-wife operation, Tilted Shed gets many of its specialty apple varieties from Devoto and is planting its own trees on a 5-acre property near Forestville.

Scott Heath and Ellen Cavalli first experimented with making cider in New Mexico, but their journey eventually led them here, where they knew they could “elevate the apple to greatness,” as Cavalli said.

They have approximately 2 acres planted to heirloom cider varieties, including the traditional Muscat de Bernay, a bittersweet variety native to Normandy, France, and the slightly sweeter Roxbury Russet, bred in America as far back as the 1700s. Cavalli and Heath ferment their ciders to dryness, aiming for a savory, full-bodied style.

They offer a handful of ciders, from Lost Orchard Dry at $10 a bottle (quite tannic and dry) to January Barbecue Smoked at $8.50 a bottle (the apples are wood-smoked before fermentation, meant to accompany smoked meats, seafood and aged cheeses). The 2013 Barbecue Smoked bottling will be released in mid-January.

Tilted Shed also just released a new cider from the 2012 harvest, Barred Rock Barrel-Aged Cider, a plush, dry, savory winter warmer made from late-season heirloom apples ($9 for 375 ml). Aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels, Barred Rock offers notes of amaretto, vanilla and toasted marshmallow.

Neither Tilted Shed (tiltedshed.com) nor Devoto Orchards (devotocider.com) have tasting rooms; visit their websites to learn where to try and buy their ciders.

Rethinking the Art Museum

December 2013

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Visitors at the Sonoma Valley Museum toured the Memories: The Kathleen Thompson Hill Culinary Collection exhibit with glasses of wine before a special showing of the movie “Julie and Julia” followed by food from the movie cooked by Sandra Bernstein of The Girl and the Fig. (photo by John Burgess)

As executive director of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Kate Eilertsen aims to change the way people think about museums.

“The word ‘museum’ makes people yawn,” she said. Now, downtown Sonoma’s museum is trying new things to add a little kick.

For four years, the museum offered “Mix” cocktail nights in a successful effort to attract singles and younger adults.

“A lot of them joined the museum as members,” Eilertsen said.

“Memories: The Kathleen Thompson Hill Culinary Collection” exhibit at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art includes a display of vintage sifters and other kitchen implements. (photo by John Burgess)

To keep the program fresh, Eilertsen, her staff and board of directors hit the pause button until they could find something new that would re-energize it.

The museum also ran its own coffee shop for a while. Eiltersen converted office and storage space into two classrooms for talks, workshops and hands-on, artistic fun.

“We have the ‘Wet Room’ now, where you can spill paint on the floor and not worry about it,” she said.

The museum regularly invites art lovers to meet and tour local artists’ studios.

The museum’s choice of exhibits also reflects the search for something new. Showings in the recent past have featured creative puzzles by local artists, and art work (as well as words) by San Francisco poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

During an exhibit of vintage kitchen implements collected by local food writer Kathleen Thompson Hill, the museum screened films with food themes, including “Julie & Julia” and “Big Night.”

“We have tried to do a wide variety of shows,” Eilertsen said. “I believe that art is not just a pretty picture hanging on a wall. It’s about creativity.”

Since it opened its doors in 1999, the museum has staged more than 70 exhibitions attracting more than 130,000 visitors.

The current exhibit, “Site and Senses,” runs through March 2 and spotlights the designs of San Francisco architects Joshua Aidlin and David Darling. The exhibit emphasizes smell, touch and sound, as well as sight, Eilertsen explained, and includes a wall of charred wood and a gravel path.

“Museums everywhere are looking for ways to become more interactive,” she said.

This spring, the museum will present its annual salute to relatively unknown local artists in the “Discovered: Exceptional Artists of Sonoma County” exhibit, running from mid-March to late April. This year, the program also will include appearances by young local performers mentored by the Transcendence Theatre Company, a troupe of actors and singers with Broadway and national touring company experience, based at Jack London State Historic Park.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and free to those 18 and under; Wednesdays are free to all.

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, 551 Broadway, Sonoma, 707-939-7862, svma.org

Get Thee to a Spa

December 2013

By Meg McConahey

The Spa Hotel Healdsburg offers a Farm to Spa menu of treatments that sound downright delectable. (photo by Chris Hardy)

The craving for natural and organic that has fed the farm-to-table movement is spilling over to personal care, with many spas now offering “farm to spa” treatments that sound good enough to devour. And like discriminating chefs seeking new flavor combinations with hyperlocal ingredients, area apothecaries are experimenting with luscious mixtures of home-grown herbs, flowers and fruits to create natural, plant-based products that are incorporated into massages, facials, wraps and other treatments used in the region’s top spas.

The Spa Hotel Healdsburg touts a Farm to Spa Collection Menu with seemingly delectable selections such as the Lavender and Peppermint Massage using Matanzas Creek Winery lavender, and Wine and Honey Wraps using Quivira Vineyards & Winery’s Sauvignon Blanc and honey from Beekind.

It’s a natural extension of the hotel’s Dry Creek Kitchen, whose chefs forage the Healdsburg farmers market for produce. Spa manager Dawn Stephens also shops the market for mint, cucumber, lemons and other edibles to season the refreshing spa water.

“We’re so lucky to be in this wonderful and abundant area,” she said. “And it’s easy and fun to play with locally produced scents and ingredients.”

Products from Michele’s Apothecary, a farm in Bennett Valley where Michele Steinert mixes up more than 50 products, from calendula petals to lemon verbena, comfrey to catnip. (photo by Chris Hardy

Meyer lemons are among the spa’s signature ingredients. For winter, what could be more comforting than to be wrapped in a warm blanket like a baby, fresh from a massage with lemon oil and sage body milk?

As with restaurants, spa menus can also change with the seasons.

“When the apples are happening, we do an Apple of the Eye with every single treatment we have,” said Loma Alexander, who co-manages the spa at Forestville’s Farmhouse Inn. Apples from inn owner Catherine Bartolomei’s nearby farm are grated and steeped with chamomile teabags for soothing the eyes.

Honey from the farm is incorporated into the Warming Ginger Honey Massage, along with locally gathered flowers and fruit, to make velvety creams and “farm to spa table” skin masks.

“It gives people a sense of place when they come to visit,” Alexander said, “and allows them to learn a little bit about our locale.”

Local can mean Bay Area, Wine Country, Sonoma County or even a spa’s own garden. The Farmhouse spa harvests geranium leaves from the garden for use as a natural exfoliant in some treatments.

The grounds at MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa in Sonoma provide bounty for the inn’s Garden Spa.

The Peppermint Reflexology begins with a foot soak in bath salts with rosemary and peppermint from the garden. Rose petals are sprinkled in tubs and dusted on tables.

“All our treatments,” said Garden Spa director Tiffany Delayly, “are based around plants, flowers or herbs.”

Michele Steinert at work in her lab sorting through wildflowers she’ll use in one of her products she blends for high-end spas under her Michele's Apothecary label. (photo by Chris Hardy) — Michele Steinert at work in her lab sorting through wildflowers she’ll use in one of her products she blends for high-end spas under her Michele’s Apothecary label. (photo by Chris Hardy)

Many spas source from local makers, among them Sequoia Beauty in Petaluma and Michele’s Apothecary. At her 17-acre farm in Bennett Valley in eastern Santa Rosa, Michele Steinert mixes up more than 50 products, from calendula petals to lemon verbena, comfrey to catnip.

Using a small copper still, she distills her own hydrosols, which are perfumed waters. Organic shea butter and sunflower oil are key ingredients, as well as sugar, a natural exfoliant.

Steinert makes custom products for the Hotel Healdsburg spa and for Raindance, the spa at The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa. Many of her ingredients come from the Sonoma County Herb Exchange and local farms. She also regularly sniffs her way among the 800 rose bushes at The Lodge, plucking the best for bath salts and body polishes.

“I choose the most fragrant and the most colorful,” she said. But the whole vast and varied Sonoma landscape, from Sebastopol to Sonoma Valley, she explained, is “rich with inspiration.”

Hotel Healdsburg’s Stephens said guests peruse the spa menu with the same hunger they might approach a restaurant menu.

“What chefs are doing is gathering and featuring the best elements in our surroundings,” she said. “I feel like we could be on par with the best of them, not in the kitchen but in the spa.”

Love blooms among the vineyards

December 2013

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

When preparing to pop the question, the Sonoma Wine Country has plenty of magnificent backdrops to make the proposal complete. (Charlie Gesell)

Arthur Liao was nervous. He was about to pop the question — a once-in-a-lifetime question, he hoped.

Liao was 95 percent sure his girlfriend, Johanna Sung, would say yes to his marriage proposal, but there was that 5 percent to agonize over. In an attempt to make his proposal fail-proof, the 29-year-old Google engineer from San Francisco played Romeo and rigged up a trip to Wine Country to secure an irresistible backdrop.

With help from locals, he picked a romantic perch: the hilltop terrace at Healdsburg’s Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery overlooking the Russian River Valley. Then all he had to do was wait until sunset and keep the ring a secret, hoping that Sung wouldn’t get suspicious about the box in the pocket of his navy blazer.

A surprised Sung said the proposal was surreal, with the setting and sunset bewitching.

Sung, 29, is the marketing manager for Lending Club, a startup lending company. She’s also from foggy San Francisco, and is a longtime fan of Wine Country because of its sun-drenched views.

Nancy Bailey, general manager at Gary Farrell, said the property is well-suited to romance with its views of the valley, and everyone involved knows the element of surprise is vital when plotting proposals.

While some prefer a well-orchestrated proposal with family and friends, others opt for something a little more low-key or intimate. An avid hiker, for instance, recently proposed at Glen Ellen’s Jack London State Park, concealing the ring in his backpack, along with wine and picnic treats. The couple hiked a mile to the lake surrounded by redwoods and then sat on the stone wall, known as a romantic spot for writer Jack London and his wife, Charmian.

Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves in Healdsburg also offers a captivating view. Ross Clendenen, Bella’s marketing manager, said he has set up at least nine proposals.

“We generally set it up as a tour,” he said. “However, that is usually a ruse to get them up on Lily Hill overlooking Dry Creek Valley. The view is incredible, with the whole north end of the valley below.”

The tour guide often takes couples in his four-wheel drive to the secluded vineyard near a grove of redwoods, having stashed wine and glasses nearby. Clendenen said the modus operandi is to have the tour guide find a way to excuse himself, to give the couple time alone.

Clendenen said he’s only had one “no,” and that it was a bit awkward.

“The guy was pretty upset and asked me for my advice,” Clendenen said. “I told him maybe he should write a country music song.”

Beautiful Blooms Fresh From Wine Country

December 2013

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

After harvesting roses, Bernardo Negra of Neve Bros. nursery takes an armload to be packed in Petaluma. (Kent Porter)

If you want to charm a loved one on Valentine’s Day with roses grown in Sonoma soil, several florists source at least some of their flowers locally. Check out Tesoro at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma (tesoroflowers.com), Dragonfly Floral in Healdsburg (dragonflyhealdsburg.com) and Grohe Florists & Greenhouse in Santa Rosa (groheflorist.com). A number of stores, including Petaluma Market, Oliver’s Markets and Community Market in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, also carry Sonoma-grown flowers.

Give the gift of Sonoma

December 2013

By biteclub

Simi Winery has one of the best holiday gifts for food and wine lovers at a really great price.

The Simi is Sonoma Taster by Out of the Box Collective includes either 2010 Landslide Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon or 2011 Russian River Valley Reserve Chardonnay with a whole batch of artisan goodies from some of our very favorite Sonoma producers.

Along with the wine, there’s a special edition chardonnay-infused jam from Dry Creek Peach & Produce, two sweet and savory bacon Piggy Pops from Black Pig Meat Co., pickled beet relish from Preserve Sonoma, chardonnay flour artisan crackers from WholeVine, sea salt from Merchants & Millers and fig and port vinaigrette from girl & the fig.

Available for $65 to $75 from Simi Winery.

Wishbone: The Pork Chop of Awe and Wonder

December 2013

By biteclub

The Ravioli at Wishbone in Petaluma. Photo: Heather Irwin/BiteClubEats

First of the season sardines with fennel salad. Photo Heather Irwin

It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of the North Bay’s Miriam Donaldson and Josh Norwitt since they opened Humble Pie in Penngrove in 2008.

With a collection of mismatched thrift store dishes, blues and jazz crackling on an old record player, and the scent of fresh pies baking in the oven, their restaurants have always felt like coming home to a favorite grandmother’s house. I mean, assuming granny could actually cook. The couple’s newest venture, Wishbone, is no exception.

Embracing the beloved history of their new location, the former Three Cooks Cafe in Petaluma, they’ve done little to change the interior (okay, aside for some serious cleaning and ripping out the old carpet). The kitchen is open, and a cozy bar flanks the front door. You feel instantly welcome.

The food, of course, is what you’re here for. A collection of old favorites, like the Pork Chop of Awe and Wonder–a hefty juniper brined slab of pork with mashed potatoes, and their signature Blue Balls (meatballs stuffed with Pt. Reyes blue cheese atop atop warm tomato sauce and crispy Brussels sprouts. But here, they’ve raised the bar significantly, adding seasonal appetizers like sardines with fennel salad, a sexy little loaf of milk and honey bread with orange butter and the “I’m having a moment” dish, The Ravioli.

Steel yourself, because this giant toasted pasta stuffed with roasted squash, carrot and herbed goat cheese may cause involuntary moans of satisfaction. Topped with fresh chanterelles, sage brown butter and Tuscan kale, it’s almost obscene in its deliciousness. It goes without saying that all of their food is locally-sourced from their own farm and other nearby producers.

Dessert gets serious noms for its selection of fresh baked pies (Miriam is a godess of piemaking) and a yogurt, strawberry whip that we were convinced was creme fraiche with a slice of Heaven mixed in.

Gushing? Probably. But sometimes a meal just hits you in the soft spot. Maybe its the company, the wine (they have a small but tasty collection of local wines) or just the night. Or maybe its the love and care they put into every dish.

Wishbone: Open for lunch and supper Wednesday through Sunday. Brunch from 9am to 2:30pm Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday. 841 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma. (707) 763-2663.