Sonoma County Restaurant Week 2013

By biteclub
Tomato salad from the girl and the fig for Sonoma County Restaurant Week
Tomato salad from the girl and the fig for Sonoma County Restaurant Week
Online Database by Caspio

Click here to load this Caspio Online Database.

 

Tomato salad from the girl and the fig for Sonoma County Restaurant Week
Tomato salad from the girl and the fig for Sonoma County Restaurant Week

Now in its third year, Sonoma County Restaurant Week 2013 (March 18-24, 2013) has become a truly fork-worthy event, showcasing more than 100 area restaurants. Three course fixed-price menus start at a thrifty $19, increasing to $29 or $39 for fancier fare.

The biggest question isn’t whether to go, but where to go.

With just seven nights, BiteClub’s sifted through all the menus and starred a few stand-outs. Throughout the next week, I’ll continue to highlight my menu favorites, so check back…

Keep in mind that the restaurants will serve their usual menus throughout the week if you’re not hot on their Restaurant Week menu.

Not What You Were Expecting: La Vera Pizza, K&L Bistro
More than just a slice, Santa Rosa’s La Vera serves up slow roasted pork with cauliflower mascarpone mash, pan-seared sea bass and cannoli for $29. Sebastopol’s K&L Bistro forgoes its usual bistro fare for soy-glazed pork belly, seared ahi tuna and ginger panna cotta ($29).

 Foraged Fare: Backyard
Forestville’s new bistro sources most of its food from West County, and the restaurant week menu features a wild foraged mushroom soup along with Shepherd’s pie and one of the few gluten-free/vegan dishes on RW menus, a truly indulgent gnocchi with foraged mushrooms and hemp oil. $29

 Go Haute: Dry Creek Kitchen, John Ash & Co.
Here’s your chance for the bling without the cha-ching. Dry Creek Kitchen features a wild mushroom veloute (a fancy word for soup), lardo-wrapped pork loin and walnut mousse with candied bacon on their $39 menu. John Ash & Co. has a 63 degree egg with bacon lardons, pomegranate glazed beef cheeks or King Salmon with a warm chocolate truffle cake or lemon mousse dome for dessert ($39.)

Off the beaten path:  Although chef Domenica Catelli’s Rolodex is filled with A-list fans, her approachable Geyserville restaurant Catelli’s the Rex doesn’t advertise with flash and pomp. Instead the food does the talking. For restaurant week, she’ll be featuring an organic kale and blood orange salad with locally harvested walnuts, handmade 10-layer lasagna with braised rabbit, and her legendary warm sourdough bread pudding for $39. 21047 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, 707-857-3471. If you’re coast-bound, Rocker Oysterfeller’s in Valley Ford is a Southern-fried stop that’s serving up crispy okra with Tabasco ketchup, andouille sausage gumbo, 18-hour smoked beef brisket, and buttermilk fried chicken with Lagunitas ale gravy, $29. 14415 Highway One, Valley Ford, 707-876-1983.

Here’s the he full list of participating restaurants for Sonoma County Restaurant Week 2013…

$19 Menu

Barbeque Smokehouse Bistro
Barley and Hops Tavern
Bear Republic Brewing Company
Big 3 at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn
Breakaway Café
Café Citti
Café Europe Restaurant & Catering
Dempsey’s Restaurant & Brewery
El Coqui Puerto Rican Cuisine
Flipside Bar and Burger
Jacksons Bar & Oven
Legends
Luma
McNear’s Saloon & Dining House
Palms Grill
Petaluma Pie Company
Rosso Pizzeria + Mozzarella Bar
Rosso Pizzeria, Santa Rosa
Sally Tomatoes Café/Bar * Catering
Sizzling Tandoor (Healdsburg)
Sizzling Tandoor (Santa Rosa)
The Fig Café & Winebar
Three Squares Café
Union Hotel Restaurant (Santa Rosa – Mission)
Village Inn & Restaurant

$29 Menu

Alexander’s at Timber Cove Inn
Andy’s Kitchen & Sushi Bar
Bacchus Wine Bar & Restaurant
Backyard
Bay View Restaurant at the Inn at the Tides
Bistro 29
Bistro Des Copains
Bruno’s On Fourth
Ca’Bianca
Café Claudio
Caffe Portofino
Campo Fina
Cattlemens (Montgomery Village)
Cattlemens (Petaluma)
Centre du Vin
Charlie’s
Della Santina’s Trattoria
DeSchmire Restaurant
Equus Restaurant and Loungebar
Fabiani’s Ristorante
Glen Ellen Inn
GTO’s Seafood House, Inc
HopMonk Tavern (Sebastopol)
HopMonk Tavern (Sonoma)
Italian Affair
Jack and Tony’s Whisky Bar
La Gare French Restaurant
La Rosa Tequileria & Grille
La Vera Pizza
Nectar Restaurant
Nonni’s Ristorante Italiano
Occidental Union Hotel
Olive & Vine
Peter Lowell’s
Piacere Ristorante Italiano
Pub Republic
Relish Culinary Adventures
Rendez Vous Bistro
Risibisi Restaurant
Riviera Restaurant
Roberto’s Trattoria Lupo
Rocker Oysterfeller’s
Saddles Steakhouse at MacArthur Place
Sazon Peruvian Cuisine
SEA Thai Bistro
Social Club
Sonoma Meritage Restaurant
Sonoma Wine Shop & La Bodega Kitchen
Speakeasy
Spork
Starlight Wine Bar & Restaurant
Sweet T’s Restaurant & Bar
THAI TIME Asian Bistro
The Brasserie Restaurant & Lounge
The Epicurean Connection
The Girl & The Fig
The Villa Restaurant
Tides Wharf Restaurant
Tolay
Tomi Thai Restaurant
Ume Japanese Bistro
Vineyards Inn Spanish Bar & Grill
Viola
Willow Wood Market Café
Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar

$39 Menu

Baci Café & Wine Bar
Barndiva
Café La Haye
Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar
Catelli’s the Rex
Central Market
Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen
Corks Restaurant at Russian River Vineyards
Duck Club Restaurant and Drake’s Fireside Lounge
French Garden Restaurant
John Ash & Co
Kenwood Restaurant
Mateo’s Cocina Latina
Rustic Francis’s Favorites
Stark’s Steak and Seafood
Taverna Sofia
The Restaurant at Applewood
The Spinster Sisters
Underwood Bar & Bistro
Zazu Restaurant & Farm
Cricklewood
Forchetta/Bastoni

Canneti Roadhouse in pictures

By biteclub
Chef Francesco Torres of Canneti Roadhouse
Chef Francesco Torres of Canneti Roadhouse

After months of work, Canneti’s Roadhouse is in previews.

Chef Francesco Torre (formerly of Fish in Sausalito) has been transforming the cozy West County restaurant for nearly six months, rehabbing the kitchen, sandblasting walls, repainting, and adding tons of charm with rustic tables and chairs, rebar barstools, and a primo pasta-making machine from Italy. The menu’s still under wraps, but Torres promises some solid Tuscan-inspired eats.

The restaurant is taking a few restaurants per night, but according to Torre, he’s still training staff. “I just wish to make sure everything is perfect when I open for the big public,” he said.

We’ll have more details on the menu in the coming days.

6675 Front Street, Forestville.

[sh-slideshow-post id=”27128″]

Chop Shop at Community Market in Sebastopol

By biteclub
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats

You’ll soon be able to get a slab of bacon with your broccoli at Community Market — at least in Sebastopol. The historically-vegetarian grocer will add pork, lamb, duck, rabbit, grass-fed beef and locally-raised chickens from Victorian Farmstead Meat Company when it opens its second location this summer at The Barlow. 

Called The Chop Shop, local meat-purveyor Adam Parks has struck a deal with Community Market to operate an independent butcher counter within the grocery store.

“It will be a full service counter with all the meats we currently have as well as our own sausages, bacon and charcuterie,” said Parks.

“We’re really excited,” said Nica Poznanovich, assistant general manager of Santa Rosa Community Market. “This is a dream partnership,” she added. “We want to be known as having one of the most extraordinary and ethical meat departments in the country. Adam is so well-connected in his ability to achieve the quality that we want, so it was a really easy decision,” said Poznanovich.

Parks, who runs a small butcher counter at his Sebastopol ranch as well as selling at numerous farm markets throughout the Bay Area, has garnered a strong following for his sustainably-raised meats. Though he’d long been rumored to be “The Butcher” alluded to in marketing materials for the Barlow, Parks said the cooperative venture was more financially viable than a stand-alone business.

A small, but vocal collection of customers have voiced dissent over the addition of meat to the nearly 40-year-old grocer’s decision to go omnivore. “Our mission is to be an educational resource in Sonoma County. We can no longer ignore the want and need for extraordinary meat from local ranches,” she said. The Santa Rosa location, however, will remain meat-free for the foreseeable future.

Parks has been busy with other ventures as well. He told BiteClub that he’s also planning to take over the butchering area of Petaluma’s Agius Grocery for a USDA-certified “cut and wrap” facility. While most consumers might yawn at the news, the service would be a boon to other small-scale, artisan meat producers who have few other options for legally packaging their products for sale in the North Bay. In short, more locally-raised, locally-slaughtered and locally-packaged meat is a good thing for all local carnivores.

> Read more about The Barlow from BiteClub
> Read more about Adam Parks from BiteClub

Wanted: The Grill Sergeant

By biteclub
Are you up for the job of Murphy-Goode’s Grill Sergeant? Are you willing to wear a viking helmet?

 

Are you up for the job of Murphy-Goode's Grill Sergeant? Are you willing to wear a viking helmet?
Are you up for the job of Murphy-Goode’s Grill Sergeant? Are you willing to wear a viking helmet?

Murphy-Goode winery is seeking a military veteran with serious grilling skills to be its official Grill Sergeant.

You’ll need to be able to fight grill flare-ups, season like you mean it, engage on the competitive barbecue circuit and pair wine and recipes with precision.

“Our Grill Sergeant will barbecue and create Murphy-Goode recipes, all while encouraging a GOODE time,” says the winery on its Craigslist ad for the gig. Not to mention able to endure a lot of really bad puns and the shame of wearing a viking helmet during daylight hours.

If you’re willing to enlist, check out the website at murphygoodewinery.com/grill-sergeant.

 

Butcher and Cook Chicken & BBQ

By biteclub

butcherPop-up restaurateur Berry Salinas will open a brick and mortar fried chicken and barbecue shack at the former Greyhound bus stop on Santa Rosa Avenue (near Dierk’s Parkside and Las Palmas and the growing SOFA arts district).

“The location was just a golden opportunity,” said Salinas. The “Butcher” of Butcher and Cook, she’s looking toward a May opening featuring local farm produce, take-out fried chicken dinners, barbecue, and house-cured meats made on site.

Salinas is planning to partner with local artists and metalworkers to beautify the space, and looks to be open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday. Stay tuned for more details.

Women’s History Dinner and Somm Soiree

By biteclub
Chef Jennifer Puccio guest chefs at La Toque on March 7.
Chef Jennifer Puccio guest chefs at La Toque on March 7.
Chef Jennifer Puccio guest chefs at La Toque on March 7.

To celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Chef Jennifer Puccio of San Francisco’s celebrated Marlowe and Park Tavern restaurants will team up with Chef Ken Frank of the Michelin-starred La Toque at The Westin Verasa Napa for a special five-course dinner on Thursday March 7, 2013.

On the menu: Cauliflower panna cotta, uni and caviar; venison carpaccio, classic Angus beef tartare, capers & crispy bone marrow and “Callie Noir” a dish made with black truffle, cippolini onions & crispy Parmesan stuffing. The dinner is $200 per person, with wine pairings included and reservations are required. 1314 McKinstry St, Napa, (707) 257-5157.

The dinner is a kick-off for the Westin’s Somm Sister Soiree Getaway Weekend featuring a collection of events showcasing women in wine, including a Grand Tasting with 30 female winemakers on Friday March 8th. The Tasting event is $50 each. Details about the entire weekend online.

Great Gatsby Soiree at Madrona Manor

By biteclub
The Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Isla Fisher opens May 15.
The Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Isla Fisher opens May 15.
The Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Isla Fisher opens May 10.

Channel Nick, Daisy and the rest of the Great Gatsby cast at Madrona Manor’s 20s-style lawn party Sunday May 5th, 2013 from 2-5pm.

The Healdsburg inn’s first “Great Gatsby Soiree” pays homage to the forthcoming movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel with live music, dancing, cocktails, and lawn games in addition to a luncheon inspired by passages in the novel.

Michelin-starred chef Jesse Mallgren’s menu includes crispy oysters in spiced ham, Waldorf salad, suckling pig pork pie, lobster hash with caviar and cold fried chicken with goat milk biscuits and dark ale mayonnaise.

Tickets are $65 per person for the event with special rates for overnight accommodations. 1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg. For reservations call 800-258-4003.

Lay’s Chicken and Waffle Potato Chips?

By biteclub
Mmmm. Chicken and waffle chips
Mmmm. Chicken and waffle chips
Mmmm. Chicken and waffle chips

More than 3.8 million folks submitted ideas for a new Lay’s potato chip flavor (some of which, like peanut butter and jelly, were mercifully left on the drawing board).

However, the three finalists are now on grocery store shelves: Chicken and Waffles, Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic Bread.

So far, the chicken and waffles is a sort of “love it or hate it” thing, though they grow on you. Like an untreated fungus. Sriracha is, well, kind of srirach-y. Then again, I’m bitter because my entry of “Sriracha Aioli” was not considered. It would have been good. I couldn’t find a bag of the cheesy garlic bread. They were all out. Bummer.

Whatever your taste, these certainly aren’t the strangest potato chip flavors ever invented. China seems to have the lock on those. Or possibly Japan.

Snap up these limited edition flavors fast, however, because they’re, well, limited editions. The contest’s most popular chip will snag $1million for the person who suggested it.

Sure, its all a big marketing ploy, but at least it’s a tasty one.

What’s your take?

Dim Yum

By biteclub
Dim sum at the SRJC Culinary Cafe.
Dim sum at the SRJC Culinary Cafe.

You don’t often find dim sum, braised beef with celery root puree and Tarte Tatin on the same menu, but somehow it all works at the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Cafe.

The student-run kitchen and restaurant is still one of the best values in Wine Country with dishes ranging from sunchoke soup and goat cheese stuffed pears to homemade pizzas, duck confit with cherry sauce or a plate of steamed pork buns and shumai–not to mention amazing fresh local produce from their own Shone Farm for a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay elsewhere starting at $4 and topping out at $11.

But don’t get your heart too set on any one item. Menus are ephemeral, changing up weekly to give students a chance to practice different preparations.

Which brings us to the (kinda) bad news: The current session ends March 18th (but don’t worry they’ll be back after spring break on April 3) and the restaurant is frequently booked solid, so you’ll need to call in advance for a reservation, 522-2796. 1501 Mendocino Ave. at Carr Ave., Santa Rosa.

[sh-slideshow-post id=”27183″]