Just past midnight, 82-year-old Frank Whigham and his wife, Champa, head to their Bennett Valley bakery, The Donut Cafe, to cook up hundreds of donuts, fritters, Danish and (best of all) cinnamon twists for the next morning.
It’s grueling work — the shop opens at 5am and the couple usually work until around 4pm, getting in a few hours sleep before starting the whole process again the next day. The payoff: Donuts so good even local cardiologists are known to come in for a few.
“We have a lot of doctors,” said Whigham, grinning. Along with early morning laborers, construction workers, then school children, the mid-morning business folks and coffee-sipping crowd and the later lunchtime nibblers, there’s a steady stream of folks walking out with pink boxes or just sitting around the tables having coffee and donuts.
Suffice to say Whigham’s built up a loyal following in the four years since opening in Santa Rosa. But fans know to come early, because his popular twists tend to run out early.
“We do everything the old fashioned way,” said Whigham, who’s a stickler for details like using real pastry cream, jellies and from-scratch ingredients. Including real cinnamon for his crispy twists.
Whigham’s been in the biz since he was 9, learning the trade in his uncle’s Georgia bakery. “I also learned to drive in Georgia,” he says with just a hint of his southern twang, “My uncles were moonshiners.” In San Francisco, he joined the baker’s union (illegally) at 15, was busted and sent back to school, and eventually ended up with 5 bakeries in Daly City. If you get him going, he’ll gladly tell you about a lifetime of adventures — from playing with Confederate dollars as a kid to teaching donut making in Saudi Arabia.
And in a place and time where sugary, glutenous, calorie-laden treats have almost become verboten, it’s refreshing to find a little corner of the world where old-fashioned morning pastries are still made — and accepted — with love. “I never get tired of donuts. I still eat five or six a day,” said the octogenarian.
Maybe there’s something to enjoying a little sweetness in life — in moderation of course. You can ask the doctors walking out with a bear claw or jelly donut the next time you’re there.
Donut Cafe: 4275 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, 539-2416.
Just in time for Mardi Gras season, the secret chefs of Guerrilla Cuisine are hosting a southern-inspired dinner on the down-low, happening this Saturday, 2/18/2012 in Healdsburg.
Undercover organizers are calling it “a culinary revival with Southern Soul”, featuring chefs, a featured artist and a winemaker who are all transplants from the land of Dixie. Five courses are served with wine, but BYOB (to share with friends) is always encouraged.
“Guerrilla Cuisine is not for everyone. It’s not a sit at a restaurant and order from a big menu kind of event. It’s an intimate evening with strangers and getting closer to the people that grow, raise and produce your food,” say organizers.
That’s about all the info you’ll get beforehand, including the exact location (given out just before the event and only to ticketholders). But past dinners have been sell-out events and this one will likely be the same.
Missed out on getting a rose from Bachelor Ben?
How about a rosé instead.
Bachelor Ben Flanjnik pours his first release of Envolve rosé at Pink Out on May 8, 2012. The celebration of perfectly pink wines (and those who love them) happens at Butterfly restaurant in San Francisco and features more than 40 still and sparkling roses along with appetizers and music.
Also rumored to be at the event?? A certain local Disney/Pixar bigwig who publicly launched his own winery last year. In case you’re still wondering, it’s John Lasseter, who has his own Rose blend, Enjoue, inspired by dry French roses.
Just when we all thought hope was lost, Ike’s Place Santa Rosa is on the fast track toward opening. At least according to owner Ike Shehadeh.
The popular SF sandwichery best known for their “dirty sauce”, and ,uh, creatively-named sandwiches (the Lizzy’s Lips, Spiffy Tiffy, Fat Bastard, Pizzle) has been “coming soon” to Santa Rosa since sometime in 201o. It’s also one of the most frequently asked questions BiteClub gets: “So when is Ike’s coming?”
Unfortunately, not much happened at the gated-off S&S Market spot at 1780 Mendocino Ave. where the vinyl sign teased the “coming soon” for more than a year. Until last week.
Thanks to BiteClubber, this little piece of happiness came my way:
A quick call to Ike confirmed the news.
“We’re actually looking for a place to live right now,” said Shehadeh over the phone today. “We finally go the use permit in January and started the build out on Monday.”
The restaurant is slated to open in March. Of 2012. We hope.
Ike’s opening comes on the heels of a flurry of activity in the JC neighborhood. Chick-fil-A is scoping out the former Burger King on Mendocino, Panera Bread opened just last month. In-N-Out and 5 Guys opened last year, along with the recent opening of locally-owned crepery, Crepe Daze, and the heralded opening of the new culinary center at Santa Rosa Junior college. BJ’s Brewhouse will open later this year at Coddingtown Mall.And we have this kind of hopeful feeling that Chipotle, which has long been rumored to be looking for a space in Sonoma County, might take over the now-shuttered Baja Fresh.
There’s a whole lot of process involved in opening a restaurant, but the company has submitted documents stating their interest in the space and will go before a city planners next week.
The release of Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Younger was just the start of the brew-madness filtering through the Bay Area this month. Feb. 10 through 19 is San Francisco Beer Week, a hop-tastic gathering of thousands. Up in our neck of the woods, you’ll find a number of related events including the release of Racer X Double IPA at Bear Republic and the much-anticipated Winter Beer Dinner (345 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg); Barrel Aged Cellar Releases at Whole Foods Coddingtown Tap Room (390 Coddingtown Mall, Santa Rosa); IPA’s in Asia at McNear’s (23 Petaluma Boulevard North Petaluma); RateBeer’s Best of 2012 and beer-tasting dinner at Hopmonk Tavern (691 Broadway, Sonoma); Grand Teton Meet the Brewer (Taps, 205 Kentucky St., Petaluma) and the Black and White Beer Ball, a fundraising event for Autism (ales4autism.org for tickets and details).
Snobby gastronomes have this thing they love to do. No matter what you’re eating, they sniff their nose, roll their eyes and say, “This isn’t really what (insert food product) tastes like. I’ve had the real (food product) in (insert some snobby restaurant or country) and that is what (food product) TRULY tastes like.”
I hate that. Except that I’m about to do it to you.
“These are the kinds of chickens your grandmother would have prepared,” said co-owner Amy Proaps, who runs the business local Craig Azevedo . “These are original breeds. You can’t buy them in the stores because they’re just too expensive to raise,” she said.
Why? Proaps said that most commercial chicken is grown as quickly as possible, with as much meat as possible. These slower growing birds forage around the pasture all day, using their muscles and “doing what chickens do naturally,” Proaps said. Like actually perching in their roosts at night. Most commercial birds don’t have the ability to do that because of their huge breasts and weak legs. Pepper Ranch chickens, you’ll notice right off, have smallish breasts and large, muscular legs because they actually, well, move around.
Proaps and Azevedo slaughter only about 50 birds from their growing flock of about 500 to sell at local farm markets. The resulting birds have a thicker skin (holding in moisture well), with darker and much firmer meat. The flavor is less metallic, and more round, complex, and textured. “They’re creamy and buttery,” said Proaps, who was inspired to start selling her chicken after tasting the championship 4-H birds raised by her son.
Prepare for a little sticker shock, however, if you’re used to getting a whole bird at Costco for $4.99. At about $6 per pound (in line with other non-commercial, organic chickens), every morsel is precious and the birds become something of an investment rather than something you’d smother with canned mushroom soup. Most birds are 2.5 pounds and up. But grown organically, the bones and scraps make for great stocks and you can stretch the birds into a couple meals.
If you’re willing to give it a try, Pepper Ranch Poultry are what real chicken truly taste like. Or at least what they should.
“Not as gross as it sounds” is rarely a ringing endorsement for food. But it takes some convincing to get most folks to give Jack in the Box’s new, limited edition Bacon Milkshake a try.
It’s exactly what it sounds like: Torani Bacon flavored syrup + vanilla milkshake = Bacon Milkshake. There is no actual bacon involved in the shake, making it (ostensibly) vegetarian. Depending on how much you’re willing to bend your lifestyle choices or drag yourself onto the bacon! bandwagon again.
Part of an excessively creepy seasonal promotion for bacon-tastic foods at JIB, the Bacon Milkshake is off-menu, meaning you’ll have to know about it to order. Kind of like In-N-Out’s secret menu. Which means part of the fun of ordering this abomination is the look you’ll get from the person behind the counter.
Jack in the Box, Dutton & Sebastopol Roads, 5:45pm. Children cringing in car, embarrassed. Me: “Bacon Milkshake please?” Jack in the Box Employee: <Pause, moment of confusion, smile> “You’re the first person to ask for that.” Me: “Really?” Jack in the Box Employee: “Yeah. No one else has asked for one. Have you had it yet?” Me: “Not yet!” <Gleeful hand clapping> JIB Employee: “Okay. We have them.” <Says something inaudible to fellow employee I’m assuming went something like, “What’s with these people?” or “That’s about the last thing she needs on those thighs.” Or possibly, “Can you hurry up with those fries?”> Me, eagerly leaning in to hear: “So, I hear these are super limited edition. So, like are you going to run out when the syrup is gone? I heard that. That’s the rumor.” JIB Employee: “Uh, no, we just order more.” Me: “Oh.”
At 771 calories (or so), they’re strangely addictive. We sucked down the first one in about 10 minutes flat. I needed another. For testing purposes, of course.
Jack in the Box, Farmer’s Lane, 12:45pm
Me: “Three Bacon Milkshakes please?” JIB Employee #2: “<Pause, moment of confusion, smile> “How many?” Me: “Three.” JIB Employee #2: “Three?” Me: “Three! Yes.”
<Pause> Me: “Have you had many people order them yet?” JIB Employee #2: “Um. Not really.”
Apparently less of a mad rush for these bad boys than I anticipated. Where’s the sense of adventure?
The Takeaway? Fellow employees are wonderful guinea pigs. We realized that, first off, the smell is somewhere between Beggin’ Strips and real bacon. If you get any of it on your clothes, hands, car, mustache, etc. you will regret it for the rest of the day. Possibly longer. They have around 771 calories, so it’s not a small investment to your daily intake. On the other hand, the taste is kind of like eating a maple syrup waffle with bacon. It’s sweet, smoky and kinda alright.
Overall, they’re not bad. They’re not great. Five out of six Press Democrat newsroom employees agree.
This is a guest post by Crissi Dillon from SantaRosaMom and 707. She’s been inspiring me to try my own hand at kombucha, and gave me my first baby scoby. If you’ve been thinking about trying your own hand, here are some great instructions based on her own trial-and-error and research. Good luck!
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I hopped on the kombucha boat a little late in the game in an effort to combat the cold season blues that were sapping me of all my energy. I’d heard about the pro-biotic and energy-inducing quality of kombucha, and was totally intrigued. However, fermented tea hardly sounded delicious. I’m not exaggerating when I say I had to find courage to purchase a bottle of it at Whole Foods and take my first sip.
I’m also not exaggerating when I say it had me at ‘Hello’.
The stuff was delicious, and I was instantly hooked. I read somewhere that those seeking the health benefits of kombucha should drink it every day. But after my 4th day and $12 later, I realized this was hardly healthful to my bank account. So I began reading up on ways to make my own tea.
There are several ways you can go when embarking on the Kombucha adventure.
– You can buy a kit that includes a Kombucha scoby. These are found on various sites and generally include a scoby, organic sugar, organic tea, and a jar for anywhere from $20-$50.
– You can beg a friend to let you have one of the baby scobies and some residual kombucha to help boost it along.
– You can create your own scoby using one of those $3 kombucha drinks, just like the blogger at PaprikaHead.com shared in a blog entry (and who was responsible for starting my own brewing adventure).
A little Kombucha terminology lesson…
Kombucha: Sweetened tea that has been fermented by a scoby
Scoby: A mushroom-like rubbery substance of bacteria and yeast that floats on top and ferments the tea.
Mother: The part of the scoby that is actually fermenting the tea, located at the bottom of the scoby.
Baby: Layers of scoby that grow on top of the mother scoby that can be separated between brewing cycles.
Assuming you have a healthy scoby on hand from any one of these measures, brewing kombucha is actually incredibly easy to do:
A. Starting out, place your scoby and at least 1 cup kombucha in a large jar (I use a drink dispenser that I found at Cost Plus for only $15).
B. Heat 12 cups of water to boiling. Once it’s boiling, add 1 cup of sugar and let boil for 5 minutes more until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add 4 organic black tea bags. Let cool completely to room temperature. Add to the scoby in the large jar and then cover with a piece of cloth or paper towel, secured by a rubberband. This allows the drink to breathe while keeping out potential fruit flies. Place in a cool, dark area and forget about it for 7 days (I keep mine on top of the refrigerator).
C. After 7 days, taste-test a small portion. It should have a slightly sour taste with a bit of effervescence. If it still tastes sweet and flat, let it sit for another day. Repeat every day until it’s achieved the desired fermented state. Bottle the kombucha by placing it in separate airtight bottles (I found some beautiful blue bottles with swing top caps at The Beverage People at 840 Piner Rd #14, Santa Rosa), or in a large airtight container. Notice the theme: airtight. This allows bubbles to build up in the tea. Once bottled, you can start the brewing process all over again, adding a cup of reserved kombucha from this batch and repeating the directions to create the sweetened tea for brewing.
Now for the things everyone should know about brewing kombucha:
The Scoby
1. Cold stops the fermenting process, heat activates it. If your kombucha is at the desired taste and effervescence, store it in the refrigerator. If you wish it to become more bubbly or sour a bit more, keep it out. I will usually keep the brewed kombucha out of the fridge for a day or two so it can become more bubbly, and then store it in the fridge to ensure it remains sweet.
2. Allow your brewed kombucha to breathe. Kombucha builds up a lot of pressure in airtight bottles, making them naturally bubbly. It can also create so much pressure that the top of the bottle will fly off and cause serious damage. If you are storing kombucha outside of the refrigerator, open the top every couple of days to relieve the mounting pressure.
3. Teas you should use: Organic teas are actually best for the process as there is nothing in there that can harm the scoby. Teas should be free of oils, so Earl Grey tea is out. And the teas need to have caffeine to properly feed the scoby. The best teas to use are black or green teas. Black tea creates a stronger tea, green tea creates a milder tea with more bubbles. I’ve heard of many combining the two types of tea bags to create a strong and bubbly tea.
4. Drink water! I learned the hard way how dehydrating kombucha can be. Actually, it’s the tea that saps the system of water. So make sure you are getting in plenty of water when drinking kombucha to avoid any signs of dehydration.
5. Start out slow. Because of the pro-biotic qualities of kombucha, it can cause…bathroom issues. Let’s just say that it sweeps out all the toxins in your body very effectively. So start with a small glass of kombucha every day and increase it as your body gets used to it.
6. Be kind to your mother. I’m not joking about this. Weeks into brewing some very successful kombucha tea, a friend of mine came to my house and spied the jar of fermenting tea on my refrigerator. She then proceeded to make fun of the mother scoby mercilessly, slamming the way she looked and how the tea probably tasted. Days later when it was ready to brew, the tea tasted so much like vinegar I had to throw it out. I gave my mother extra love the next brewing session, and in return, my happy mother gave me the best tasting kombucha yet.
7. Only brew kombucha in glass. Metal and plastic don’t react well with the fermenting properties of kombucha, and ceramic with lead can seep into the liquid. Under the same token, do not let metal touch your scoby at all – including metal spoons. If you must use a utensil, I suggest using a wooden spoon.
8. Keep things clean! If you’re going to handle the scoby in between brewing, make sure your hands are clean. Better than using soap, use apple cider vinegar to rid your hands of dirt and oils to make them safe enough to come into contact with the scoby. And when you are done handling the scoby, wash your hands again. Make sure all your brewing equipment is sanitary to ensure your scoby doesn’t grow mold. If any mold starts forming on your scoby at all, you must throw out the whole batch and scoby and start all over again.
9. Flavoring your kombucha. I prefer just plain kombucha, but some people like to add different fruits and juices to their tea. All flavoring should be added after the drink has been bottled and not to the fermenting kombucha with the scoby. Different flavors can widely vary and depends on your taste. My personal favorite is to add a few pieces of mango and some grated ginger to the bottle. Another favorite is a little pineapple juice, coconut water, and coconut extract to create a piña colada kombucha. Experiment with different juices and fruits to create a taste you’ll love.
10. Share the wealth. Every cycle of brewing will create a new baby scoby on top of the mother. Left untouched, the layers quickly add up. But these layers are actually baby scobies that can be passed on to others who wish to start brewing their own kombucha. Separate the layers (don’t be afraid, the scoby won’t bite), add it to a cup or two of reserved kombucha, and pass it on.
Want to cook up a batch like Crissi? Share your kombucha adventures and wisdom in the comments.
