SRJC Culinary Cafe and Bakery

By biteclub

The SRJC Culinary Café and Bakery will reopen for the fall semester on Wednesday August 29 at 1670 Mendocino Ave across from the main SRJC campus.

At the Culinary Café, students plan, prepare, cook and serve a weekly menu of seasonal salads, soups, sandwiches, pizzas, entrees and desserts. The Café opens for lunch at 11:30AM and serves until 2:00PM, Wednesday-Friday. Seniors age 60+ receive a 15% discount on lunch each day. Reservations are highly recommended and may be made by calling 707-522-2796. A separate room is available for group luncheons and meetings of up to 50 people.

The SRJC Bakery features freshly baked pastries and award winning breads made by students in the school’s Baking and Pastry Program. Between 7:30AM and 9:30AM, morning pastries and Taylor Maid coffee drinks can be enjoyed in the Café’s new dining room while watching culinary students prepare for the day’s lunch service. Breads, pastries and desserts to take out can be purchased until 2:00PM Wednesday-Friday.

The new location, in the B. Robert Burdo Culinary Arts Center, opened in January of this year. In addition to the full-service Café and Bakery, the Center has two commercial teaching kitchens, a production bakery with an ice cream and chocolate room, a wine library, a culinary career center and three technology-smart classrooms. Tours of the new Center are conducted on Tuesdays at 3:00PM when school is in session. Tour reservations are required and can be made by calling 707-522-2800.

Taste of Petaluma

By biteclub

Stroll the streets of Petaluma for nibbles and noshes at dozens of Sonoma County’s favorite local restaurants during the 7th Annual Taste of Petaluma, Saturday August 25, 2012  from 11:30a.m. to 4p.m..

Newcomers to the event this year include Rosso’s (burrata on bruschetta wth prosciutto or spaghetti and meatballs); Andy’s Sushi (purple yam tempura, Thai BBQ Pork); Social Club (heirloom tomato gazpacho); Three Twins Ice Cream (sea salted caramel, chocolate orange confetti) and Paradise Sushi (Ninja roll, chicken teriyaki).

Other faves include Real Maria doing Lebanese dolmados; Tres Hombres Mexican Spring Rolls, Cordoza’s Deli featuring a meatball and marinia sider and Sinful Delights Cheesecake; Hiro’s Sushi, Bovine Bakery, Petaluma Market, Taps Restaurant (beer braised pork sliders with orange cream slaw), Lydia’s Organics, Mi Pueblo, Petaluma Pie Company, and Wild Goat Bistro.

The event is a benefit for Cinnabar Theater. Ticket packages (10 tastings) are available for $40 starting at 10:30 AM at the event at Putnam Plaza (139 Petaluma Blvd. N.) and at Theater Square (C. St.). $35 Advance Tickets – You can buy discount $35 advance tickets until 3 pm 8/24 from Cinnabar Theater and between 10 am 3 pm weekdays by calling (707) 763-8920, or at Gallery One – 209 Western Ave., Petaluma and I Leoni – 120 Kentucky St. from 8/15 – 8/23

See last year’s Event:

Social Club Restaurant announced for Petaluma

By biteclub
Rendering of Social Club Exterior
Rendering of Social Club Exterior
Rendering of Social Club Exterior

UPDATED: More details on Social Club are emerging…

The Chef De Cuisine will be Bob Simontacchi, formerly of Brick and Bottle.
GM Damion Wallace will be heading up the beverage program, and says  one of the restaurant’s signature drinks will include egg whites as an homage to Petaluma.

Opening is now slated for Sept. 5 and the preview menu includesstarters of Penn Cove Mussels and nectarines; “Social Plates” for sharing that include pulled pork and pork belly sliders and chicken wings; Entrees of grille dPrather Ranch flatiron steak and Petaluma fried chicken with jalapeno whipped potatoes and baked to order chocolate chunk cookies, roasted figs and chocolate Nutella cake in a cup for dessert.
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More SF players moving north: The team behind SF’s CIRCA, The Cosmopolitan and Parlor Bar plan to open The Social Club, in Petaluma this July.

Taking over the long-empty Pazzo space at 132 Keller Street, Exec Chef Steven Levine will create a rustic American menu around a wood-fired oven and grill expected to include smoked short ribs, grilled Angus hangar steak, Prather Ranch burgers and Sonoma fried chicken. Prices will range from $5 to $24. Levine garnered critical acclaim for The Cosmopolitan and was the former chef of Freestyle in Sonoma. Owners are currently looking for a chef de cuisine.

Big names attached include restaurateur Mick Suverkrubbe, designer Lauren Germia ((Blackbird, Churchill, Citizens Band), a beverage program developed by Alex Fox (Bar Tartine, Gary Danko and Myth) and GM Damion Wallace (Wexler’s, Bistro Aix, Gary Danko and Myth).

The bar menu will include 50 bottled craft beers, single malt whiskeys, scotches and bourbons, along with an affordable wine list. Outdoor fire-pits and a large patio are a key outdoor feature planned for the restaurant.

Three Squares Cafe

By biteclub

What was once Syrah, then Petite Syrah will become Three Squares Cafe in mid-September.

Opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, the forthcoming cafe is slated to serve up hearty rib-stickers including prime rib and fried chicken in the evenings; red flannel hash, omelets, Hangtown fry, huevos ranchers and matzo brei with potato latkes for brunch; oyster po boys and burgers for lunch and butterscotch pudding and pies for dessert.

But behind the griddle will be the familiar face of Executive Chef Josh Silvers, who has owned the iconic Railroad Square restaurant for more than ten years (as well as nearby Jackson’s Bar and Oven). Though the names have changed over the last few years, the soul remains the same — evolving with the times and with Silvers’ own culinary outlook as he’s shed more than 40 pounds and come to rethink the kind of food he’s eating.

Calling his new menu “wholesome comfort food”, Silvers focus is on visceral, familiar flavors rather than haute, aspirational dishes. “It’s not so cerebral. I want you to just be able to close your eyes and say, ummmmm,” he said.

For the next several weeks, Petite Syrah remains open, serving up some crowd favorites from the past. The exactly closing date for the restaurant is still up in the air, pending city permitting and signage issues, but the changeover is likely to happen within a couple days.

Stay tuned for more details.

Fabiani’s (which was Franco’s) reopening

By biteclub

Franco’s Ristorante, which went dark earlier this year, is reopening as Fabiani’s on Saturday, August 18, 2012. The menu and vibe will be familiar — not much has changed — but the restaurant will now make better use of its outdoor patio, adding live music. “We didn’t want to chance what worked,” says new partner, Durelle Finster. “It’s like a little Mediterranean villa,” she added. They’ll host the grand opening at 3pm on Saturday with wineries Seghesio, Sunce and Kaz doing wine tastings, an hors d’oeuvres menu and radio station KRSH onsite. Dinner and music lasts until 9:30pm. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily. 505 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.

Backyard opening in Forestville

By biteclub
Sheldon and Kedan at Peter Lowell’s
Sheldon and Kedan at Peter Lowell's
Sheldon and Kedan at Peter Lowell's

The former Sarah’s Forestville Kitchen will reopen in October as Backyard.

At the helm: Former Ad Hoc and Peter Lowell’s chef Daniel Kedan and Seth Harvey, formerly of Petite Syrah and the Girl and the Fig. Marianna Gardenhire will be pastry chef.

The menu: “It’s all from the backyard of Sonoma County,” said Kedan, who plans to highlight local farms and producers for the California-cuisine menu. “The food is what you’d have if you came to my house for a party,” Kedan said. Having worked at Lowell Sheldon’s farm-to-table eatery for the last year, he’s familiar with many of the local producers, and has continued to hone his classic techniques. The highlight of the Forestville space is a large outdoor patio, that’s usable about eight months of the year.

Inside is a 40-seat dining room. They’re sprucing up the space and working on the menu over the next few months, but plan to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at the restaurant.

Daniel Kedan's Antipasti at Backyard in Forestville
Kedan's Antipasti

Sugar Plum Season

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At their height, French prune-plum orchards covered nearly 20,000 acres of Sonoma County. Centered around Healdsburg, it was as staple crop, along with apples, walnuts and canning cherries beginning in the late 1800s (and bolstered by Luther Burbank) until the late 1970s.

Ripped out to make way for vineyards, they’re difficult to find these days, cropping up wild on farm lots and often ignored altogether. But finding that rare untended gem is something of a minor miracle, and worth seeking out.

Recently, I visited the Rincon Valley farm of Ariel and Jeff Russell from Redwood Empire Farm. They’re two of my absolute favorite farmers, with Jeff’s family working the same land for several generations. I stumbled over one of their plum trees, and took a picture, astonished by its beauty when forager/chef John Lyle pointed it out to me.

Available only a few weeks each year (and so delicate they’re almost impossible to keep for more than a few days), Redwood Empire Farm has some available this week at their farm stand, which is open Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 6 pm and Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm just off of Hwy 12 at 55 Middle Rincon Road, in east Santa Rosa. Or online at redwoodempirefarm.com.

(They’ve also got some incredible sweet and hot peppers and of course, tomatoes for sale right now.)

Picking in their nearby fields
Picking in their nearby fields

 

Aqus Foundry Fest

By biteclub

Saturday, August 18

Aqus Foundry Festival is live music, food, Lagunitas beer, wine and family fun on the river. Check out Djin, The Easy Leaves from noon to 7pm at 189 H St., Petaluma. The event is a benefit for Petaluma Bounty. Aquscafe.com.

Star Party

By biteclub

Friday, August 17, 2012

Beer, wine and stars gather at the Laguna Environmental Center as astronomical guides from Wine Country Star Party guide you through an observation of the night sky. Watch the sunset unfold over the Laguna and observe the resident barn owls and other crepuscular critters become active at dusk. Observe planets, stars, constellations, galaxies, star clusters, and nebula with powerful 10 and 12 inch reflector telescopes.

Cozy up with a cup of cocoa to share questions, stories, and awe at the mystery and beauty of the amazing universe! Ages 18 and up, maximum 20 participants.

Advanced registration required, $75. 

 

Casting for The Big Dish

By biteclub

Calling all home cooks! Fave food personality Clark Wolf will is casting for his new reality cooking competition show on KOFY TV. They’re looking for Bay Area cooks who want to share a family recipe and have it featured on KOFY TV as well as the possibility of being featured in top restaurant. Enter online here: kofytv.com/the-big-dish