The bad news is that our favorite New Yawkah has left Santa Rosa. The good news is that NY Pie may finally be open regular hours. Earlier this month, the tiny Santa Rosa pizzeria at the corner of Brookwood and Fourth St., was sold to new owners. The restaurant’s constant presence, R.J. Iervolino whose direct style and haphazard hours sometimes confounded Californians, has retired and turned the business over to Ty Folk, the owner of Foster Freeze in Sebastopol. The award-winning pizza and homemade sauce aren’t changing, and the restaurant will now be open from 11a.m. to 9p.m. daily. They’ll soon add some new specials to the menu as well as a few appetizers. But best of all, they’ll also be doing pizza by the slice, something R.J. steadfastly refused to do, bless his New York heart. 65 Brookwood Ave., Santa Rosa, 526-9743.
On the first morning of breakfast service for Three Squares Cafe, the newly reborn Syrah in Railroad Square, chef-owner Josh Silvers wandered from table to table greeting, well, other chefs. Like much of the local dining community, the anticipation among other restaurateurs was palpable: What would become of the iconic space? It turns out to be exactly what many of us hoped it would be–a return to the comfortable, warm, homey cooking that’s Silvers’ hallmark.
“It’s food that comes from here,” says Silvers, pointing to his heart, “not here,” he adds, pointing to his head. “You don’t have to sit and think about it,” he says of Petite Syrah, a short-lived version of the restaurant that featured small plates of haute cuisine. “It just wasn’t me,” he says. Instead, the new three-meal-a-day menu (hence the name) features dishes including a breakfast sticky bun, Hangtown Fry with fried oysters and bacon, corned beef hash with poached eggs and Matzo Brei — a Jewish version of chilaquiles with pieces of matzo crackers and scrambled eggs — served up with potato pancakes, sour cream and house-made applesauce. Sweet-tooths will love deep fried French toast with real maple syrup or pumpkin griddle cakes with homemade sausage.
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Generously-portioned salads (which are often scarce around these parts) are the backbone of the lunch menu: Prawn Louie is a decadent pile of butter lettuce, tomato, egg and avocado with homemade Louie dressing (a sort of Thousand Island) and prawns. Chili Calamari Salad is destined to become my personal favorite, heaped with fried calamari, Asian slaw and peanuts. Many are available as “half” salads for smaller eaters. Entrees of quinoa pasta, chicken pot pie and hangar steak with Kennebeck fries are also featured on the dinner menu, as are the Oyster Po’ Boy with bacon remoulade and The Burger. It’s almost impossible not to compare Silvers’ burger here and the one across the street at his other restaurant, Jackson’s Bar and Oven. It comes down to grilled, squishy bun lovers versus griddled, egg bun-lovers. Personally, I wish I could merge the two into a grilled egg-bun Frankenburger.
Dinner includes a daily “Square Meal”, Spaghetti and Meat Balls on Wednesday, Fried Chicken Thursday and Prime Rib on Sunday. The price includes soup, salad and housemade ice cream. But you may want check out the dessert menu anyway, because Josh’s butterscotch pudding is downright addictive. And there’s almost nothing better than getting a slice of Birthday Cake (with a candle) when its not your birthday. The cake is made in house, and Josh’s one requirement to the baker: “Bake whatever makes you smile.”
Shoulder to shoulder with his kitchen staff (including breakfast cook Pam Wilson, his first sous at Syrah), Silvers seems happier than ever, cooking food that’s more approachable than ever. The kind of Wednesday morning, Friday night, Sunday afternoon food that just makes you go, “Mmmmm. That’s just what I wanted.”
Open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Closed Monday. 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 707-545-4300.
It’s the weekend of the Harvest Moon*, and Chef John Lyle (of the sold-out Chosen Spot dinners at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens) is heading to Geyserville for a special outdoor winery dinner at Kelley & Young.
The five-course dinner using only local meats and produce takes place Sunday Sept. 30, 2012. Guests will be treated to a wine and canapé reception in the winery estate’s garden. Following the reception, an elegant dinner will be served under the garden arbor at a single continuous banquet table. HARVEST MOON Wine Estate Dinner is presented by Hardcore Farm To Face to benefit the Food For Thought AIDS Nutrient Bank.
$100 per person includes wine from Kelley & Young. Call (707) 887-1647 or register online at http://fftfoodbank.org/under-harvest-moon. Seating is limited to 50 guests.
*This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox.
Bloomfield Organics Farms in Sonoma County offers CSA boxes, tours and farm market produce. Photo: Heather Irwin.
A box of veggies harvested on Sunday
“Mommy, I picked a lettuce!” is the kind of conversation you’ll hear over and over in the fields of Bloomfield Farms. Each Sunday (through October), the family-operated organic farm opens its barn doors and sets folks loose on several acres of salad greens, kale, squash, lettuce, potatoes, zucchinis and other veggies. Staff are on hand to point you to the right rows, give tips on how to most effectively dig for potatoes and guide you to what’s at the peak of the season.
Plan to get your boots dusty and your hand dirty, because this is farm work after all. Each box is $25 to fill. Sundays 10am to 3pm, at Bloomfield Farms, 12550 Valley Ford Road, Petaluma.
THE U-PICK SUNDAY “COUNTDOWN” WITH NOTED, ACCLAIMED AND CELEBRITY CHEFS!
We will be offering U-Pick Sunday to members of the public until Sunday, November 4th. Also we have made arrangements for acclaimed and celebrity chefs to be onsite preparing wonderful dishes, snacks and brunches
THE OMG! TABLE TO FARM PICNIC (THIS WEEKEND, OCT. 7TH) – Chef Brandon Guenther of Rocker Oysterfeller’s (highlighted by Sunset Magazine, respected as a chef throughout the world)www.rockeroysterfellers.com
GERARD’S PAELLA (October 28th) Chef, friend and Paella extraordinaire to the stars, Gerard Nebesky once kicked Bobby Flay’s tail during a ‘Paella Smackdown’ episode on the Food Networkhttp://gerardspaella.com/
Recently a group of restaurateurs, chefs, farmers, food purveyors and food justice folks got together to think about a whole bunch of issues in the local food scene — what we want to change, how we want to grow, how we think the world see us — and one really interesting question came up…
How is it that we really define what makes Sonoma County unique when it comes to food?
It seems like a really obvious question with really obvious answer. But is it?
Some people think we’re the American Provence.
Others suggest Tuscany.
Some people think we’re something that shouldn’t be compared to Europe.
Some people think its all about the farms and ranchers.
Others about our chefs. Or the wineries.
Some compare us to Napa. Others say we are something altogether different.
One thing most agree on is our authenticity.
But in the end, its a more difficult question than you might think.
So…I ask you. What defines us in Sonoma County when it comes to food?
(This article appeared in the PD, by Diane Peterson…I’m reprinting it here)
Lucy Fincher of Healdsburg and her brother, chef/owner Manuel Azevedo of LaSalette in Sonoma, have taken over the lease at Affronti restaurant in Healdsburg and plan to open it as Cafe Lucia later this fall, serving Portuguese cuisine with a Wine Country twist.
Azevedo will oversee the kitchen, where Jason Santos, a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, will serve as the Chef de Cuisine.
Fincher, a Healdsburg native who has lived in the town for the past 20 years, will run the front of the house. A former paralegel, Fincher started off her career in the restaurant business.
Fincher’s husband, Tracy, works for Clos du Bois Winery and started his own catering business, Hot Rod Barbecue, last year. The couple has two daughters, ages 12 and 14.
Located behind La Crema Tasting Room, Cafe Lucia will seat45 and an additional 35 outside on an all-season patio. The kitchen is currently under renovation, with a stove and a hood being added by the landlord.
The siblings plan to offer value-oriented food and a wine list that will draw heavily from Portugal as well as from the Healdsburg area.
“There needs to be a restaurant that appeals more to the locals,” said Azevedo, who received a Michelin Bibb Gourmand award for LaSalette. “The price will be fair, it’s comfortable and has real food.”
The menu starts off with a choice of three small “Tasca” plates, such as sardine paté, white anchovies and pickled vegetables, for $15.
Starters will range from $7 to $12, and entrees will be in the $20 to $25 range. Some of LaSalette’s signature dishes will anchor the menu, such as the Chourico-Crusted Scallops and the Oven-Roasted Branzino, a Mediterranean fish, but Azevedo expects the menu to develop in time.
“It will evolve and pick up its own personality,” he said. “It’s not LaSalette opening a new location. It’s about Lucy opening her first restaurant.”
According to a message on the restaurant’s voicemail, chef/owner Jude Affronti of Affronti will continue to serve sandwiches and salads at the Parkpoint Club, 196 Foss Creek Circle, in Healdsburg.
Cafe Lucia is located at 235 Healdsburg Ave. Tentative opening date is Nov. 1.
Local food celebrities Clark Wolf and Marcy Smothers gather some of the county’s most influential purveyors, writers, farmers, advocates and activists to discuss the future of food and farming in Sonoma County.
This Late Summer Farm Forum will be held Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 5-7:30pm at the Petaluma Seed Bank (199 Petaluma Blvd North).
On the panel:
– Carrie Brown, The Jimtown Store
– Dr. Frank Chong, President of Santa Rosa Junior College
– Michele Anna Jordan, PD Columnist, author and radio host
– Paul Kaiser, Singing Frog Farm
– Kendra Kolling, Nana Mae’s Organics
– Tony Linegar, Sonoma County Ag Commissioner
– Don McEnhill, Russian Riverkeeper
– Sam Mogannam, Bi-Rite Market
– Marlena Spieler, Food Writer
– Paul Wallace, Petaluma Seed Bank
Top Chef contenders Ryan Scott, Eli Kirshtein and Casey Thompson compete at the 2012 Kendall Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival Cookoff against challenger Justin Wangler, KJ’s executive chef. Ultimately, Thompson won the day, but all the dishes were spectacular. Take a look at the lineup.
For a long time, I’ve thought about how cool it would be to have a Culinary Salon in Sonoma County — a place where like-minded folks could come and talk about whatever aspect of the food scene they’re interested in. Maybe its food politics. Maybe gossiping about the local restaurant scene. Maybe you want to get the word out about a local purveyor you’ve fallen in love with.
I also wanted a forum to chat about some of the things I’m passionate about at the moment. This month I’m super hot on Water Kefir, and want to share that with you. Next month, maybe it will be home brewing or figs, or whatever. Rather than just reading about it, I’ll try to bring the people I write about to you.
Square Belly Food Theater is the result of all that. It’s a fun way to connect the food community IRL. Its a series of salons and culinary how-tos at the Arlene Francis Center that are either low or no cost (we do accept donations for the AFC and to defray the cost of supplies, etc.).
Our mission is merely to have fun, share our food passions and bring together like-minded folks.
The first Salon will be held Wed, Sept. 19 at 6:30pm. There’s no set agenda, but we hope to see anyone who wants to hang out and chat, help us format future salons, etc.
The bad news is that our favorite New Yawkah has left Santa Rosa. The good news is that NY Pie may finally be open regular hours. Earlier this month, the tiny Santa Rosa pizzeria at the corner of Brookwood and Fourth St., was sold to new owners. The restaurant’s constant presence, R.J. Iervolino whose direct style and haphazard hours sometimes confounded Californians, has retired and turned the business over to Ty Folk, the owner of Foster Freeze in Sebastopol. The award-winning pizza and homemade sauce aren’t changing, and the restaurant will now be open from 11a.m. to 9p.m. daily. They’ll soon add some new specials to the menu as well as a few appetizers. But best of all, they’ll also be doing pizza by the slice, something R.J. steadfastly refused to do, bless his New York heart. 65 Brookwood Ave., Santa Rosa, 526-9743.
