So much has been said about Sweet T’s. So much.
With a new chef installed, BiteClub recently returned to check out the lineup with high expectations.
Here’s what I can tell you: A lot of people have told me they LOVE the new menu. It seems to appeal to a broader crowd. The nachos are very popular. The ribs are very good.
Further investigation may be required.
2097 Stagecoach Rd #100, Santa Rosa, CA
CONGRATS BILL C and CHRIS J
There were SOOO many amazing posts, and frankly, the final itinerary I’d suggest would include a little of nearly all of them. I’ve made a spreadsheet with my favorite suggestions (by town) and plan to hit every single on in the coming months. What it ultimately came down to for me were sort of oddball, local spots that had some grit and wacky to them. Not the “beautiful” spots of Sonoma County. The stuff that would make good TV. Stay tuned for my “Best of” based on your votes.
I just can’t quit Anthony Bourdain. He’s a smug, foul-mouthed, boozy nihilist. He’s a poster boy for the schticky celebrity chefs he routinely skewers. His kitchen-cred is admittedly questionable, he’s not shy about where women belong, and the whole Quentin Tarantino channeling Hunter S. Thompson gets a little grating after 40 episodes or so.
Yet we, his brooding followers, can never get enough of King Tony’s bad boy antics and alcohol-fueled adventures. As the Patron Saint of Egoist Chefs, Dean of Maliciously Delicious Tweets and Railer Against Food D-Baggery, we eagerly dissect every episode of No Reservations and now, The Layover. We cheer as countless Kitchen Dimwits, Culinary Poseurs, food writers, and, well, most of the Food Network fall upon his sword. Huzzah!
So it’s with girlish glee we welcome Tony’s return Feb. 10, 2012 with the Chef Eric Ripert (“Good”) in the continuation of their show, “Good vs. Evil” at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. You will be there, of course, eating up every word as he skewers Guy, Rachel, Paula (Oh, Paula) and an ever-broadening list of celebrity targets. We will even come back for more as he dismisses Wine Country while blathering on and on and on about how great San Francisco is. He doesn’t mean it. Really, he doesn’t.
Need a ticket, you say?
Here’s the deal: Outline a script for a Layover in Sonoma County. Trot out the really weird, funky stuff he’d see here. Suggest a dive bar spot for playing quarters with Doug Keane and Doug Richey (right?) while discussing the finer points of the foie gras ban. Where to get his hands dirty (I’m thinking Lou Preston would school him good). What other local food characters and shenanigans shall we put on display? Methinks a trip to Mark Maliki’s Casino might be in order? A little of Mateo’s hot sauce? A dive into the Hello Cello Limoncello vats? A trip to all of Guy’s favorite local DDD spots?
We’re rife with possibilities.
I’ll judge the two best comments and award you each TWO TICKETS for the show. (Wanna buy ’em? They’re almost sold out, but here you go). I’ll announce the winner on Feb. 8.
Will Bourdain ever see ’em? Come on. This guy is has insulators for his insulators. Not bloody likely. But we can live in the satisfaction that we’re good enough. We’re worthy enough. And at least Guy likes us.
Wieden + Kennedy UK enlist Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner, Hobo with a Shotgun) and Director Dougal Wilson for a video you can’t stop watching. Whatever Lurpak is…I want it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MspN-CBOTaw&feature=colike
We’re loving the idea of local chef Jeff Mall (Zin) serving up regional American foods that inspire his own menu each Wednesday. He’ll wander from New Orleans and Southern Louisiana (Feb. 1) to ‘Iowa farmhouse’ (Feb. 8), Central Texas Style BBQ, and one of his calling cards — flavors of the deep South (Feb. 29). $29 for a 3-courses, $39 with two wine pairings.
ZIN Restaurant and Wine Bar: 344 Center Street, Healdsburg, CA
Feb. 8. -‘Iowa Farmhouse’
Feb. 15.-‘Austin, Central Texas Style BBQ’
Feb. 22.-‘Pennsylvania Dutch- German flavors, American made’
Feb. 29- ‘Mississippi, Flavors of the deep South’
March 7.- ‘Central California Portuguese’
March 14-‘Taste of Tennessee, Memphis to Nashville’
March 21-‘Santa Fe, New Mexican’
March 28- ‘Nevada Basque- Love Lamb’
Kendall-Jackson Wine Center hosts its third annual Gumbo Smackdown from 11a.m. to 3pm on Feb. 11. Southern hospitality gets competitive as Justin Wangler (KJ), Brandon Guenther (Rocker Oysterfeller’s), Jeff Mall (Zin), Josh Silvers (Petite Syrah) and Jeff Reilly (Duck Club) take their roux head-to-head. $30-40, reservations at 571-8100. 5007 Fulton Road, Santa Rosa.
After a brief hiatus, Rosso is ramping up development of its Petaluma restaurant again. Owners had hoped to be in the downtown Theater District space last summer. Locally-made cheeses will feature prominently in the new shop. Opening dates are still soft but late spring looks promising.
Chef Rudy Mihal, who opened spoonbar at the h2hotel in July, 2010 has left the kitchen. There’s plenty of scuttlebutt about who’ll take over the menu of the popular Healdsburg hangout, and the buzz points to a well-known name in the food world. No official confirmation yet, but it looks like a March arrival.
Big, big news out of Glen Ellen, where French Laundry alum Ari Weiswasser and wife Erinn Benziger-Weiswasser are finalizing plans for a new restaurant. The Benziger family bought the space after the closing of Saffron last year. Though the final menu is still in the works, early “spring” previews give a hint at whats to come: Lots of wood-oven roasted veggies (baby sugar beets with harissa and orange oil, fava beans with burrata and preserved lemon marmalade), wood fired pizzas, a scrambled Sonoma hen egg with chanterelles and Devonshire cream (oh, yes), lamb shank with pole bean cassoulet, whole roasted “loup de mer” (sea bass), and a whole lamb (available with 48 hour notice) to serve 8-12. A dessert feature is homemade ice cream sold by the 1/2 pint with flavors like salted caramel, malted milk chocolate and vanilla maple bourbon. Stay tuned for details as preview dinners happen over the next month. 13648 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen.
Break out of the Valentine’s Day rut. Instead of dime store candies and $3 bubbly, tell your smoochie poochiekins you love ’em with a crispy pig ear, turducken meatball gyro or even dinner delivered in bed. The day (hint: next Tuesday, Feb. 14) is your oyster, to be shucked and slurped with gusto. Here are some out-of-the-box ideas for daring dining (and drinking) throughout the week.
(Feb. 8th) American Mulefoot Pig Wine Dinner: Rustic Restaurant at Francis Ford Coppola winery features a four-course nose-to-tail dinner starring this unique heritage breed pig. On the menu: Lardo crostini, pancetta, blood sausage, crispy pig-ear salad, sausage, porchetta and chocolate, bacon and chili torte with gelato for dessert. Super sexy. $115 per person, 300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville. Reservations required. 857-1485.
(Feb. 11) Longboard Aphrodisiac Wine Dinner: Chef Matthew Paille of Healdsburg Social Club creates a very sexy dinner including a trio of oysters: grilled, raw and crispy; truffled mushroom risotto with shaved black truffle and sauteed wild mushrooms; heirloom cauliflower soup with bacon wrapped scallop; crispy skin duck breast with sour cherry glaze; candied ginger with Korean ginseng and vanilla bean creme brulee, Just in case you aren’t hot enough yet: A Mayan chocolate chile shot for good measure. $69 per person, Longboard Vineyards Surf Lounge, 5 Fitch St., 433-3473. Reservations required.
Valentine’s Day
Willi’s Wine Bar: Three wines, three nibbles. We see a theme here. Menage your trois at the Valentine’s Tasting Tuesday: featuring winemaker Dylan Sheldon of Sheldon Wines (sorry, he’s taken). $16, reservations recommended, 4404 Old Redwood Highway, Santa Rosa, 526-3096. Tuesdays 4-5:30pm.
Zazu: Nothing says love like duck fat. $79 prix fixe three course menu includes oysters with tequila granita; hoisin pork buns, turducken meatball gyro; red risotto with gorgonzola; Dungeness crab tagliatelle, grilled T-bone with duck fat fries, chocolate budino, red velvet cupcake. 523-4814. 3535 Guerneville Road, Santa Rosa.
Bistro 29: You had me at Maine Lobster Risotto with Lobster Croquette. Four courses include buckwheat blini with salmon and cavair, Coquilles St. Jacques, Filet Mignon, rack of lamb, raspberry fondant cake with lemon curd. $59. 650 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 546-2929.
Dinner in Bed: Ruthy’s Real Meals deliversValentines dinner for two. Menu choices include braised pork with apple cranberry chutney, curried pumpkin soup, lemongrass chicken and several vegan options. $105-$120, with leftovers for the next night. Or the morning after. 640 Martin Ave # 4 Rohnert Park, 888-0128. Reservations required by Feb. 11 for the 14th.
Gypsy Cafe: Four Course Prix Fixe, $45 includes creamy potato fennel soup with roasted mushrooms, winter greens with citrus, beet “spaghetti” and chevre, grill mahi-mahi, smoked pork chop with green apple chutney or mushroom walnut ravioli, flourless chocolate mousse cake with ginger ice cream. Classical guitar from Esteban Bello. Seatings at 6pm and 8pm. 162 North Main Street Sebastopol, 861-3825.
Bistro Des Copains: Regular menu plus a three course prix fixe ($55) that includes Dungeness Crab and spinach on puff pastry with Hollandaise; fire-roasted rack of lamb with Yukon gold dauphinoise, mille-feuille dessert. 874-2436.
Rocker Oysterfeller’s: Prix Fixe, $55 three course dinner. Dungeness crab bisque with caviar, Tomales Bay oysters with grapefruit mignonette, Kobe Beef Chateaubriand for two; Bellwether Farms cheese spoonbread with mushrooms and spinach, passionfruit sorbet, triple chocolate cake with zinfandel soaked cherries. Jazz Noir from 6-9pm, dinner from 5-8:30pm, Feb. 14. 14415 Hwy. 1, Valley Ford, 876-1983.
Viola Pastry Boutique and Cafe: Three course prix fixe ($40) includes choice of artichoke heart with wild mushrooms, crab and citrus salad, homemade ricotta gnocchi, braised shortribs, chocolate bon bons and homemade caramel ice cream. 709 Village Court Santa Rosa, 544-8830.
DIY French Country Bistro: Chefs Christopher Greenwald and Ciara Meaney walk couples through a romantic bistro-style meal, using hands-on techniques to make a Bordelais, pate a choux dough, oyster with mignonette and more, culminating in a candlelit dinner at the end of the evening. 6pm, $96, Relish Culinary Center, 14 Matheson St., Healdsburg, 431-9999.
Petite Syrah: Indulgent to the extreme, this four course meal says, “you’re so worth it.” On the menu: oysters with Proseco mignonette, lobster bisque, risotto with 63 degree egg and black garlic, foie gras with pork belly and lentils, pan-seared dayboat scallop, pork tenderloin with brown butter Hollandaise, whiskey cremed lobster vol-au-vent, grilled New York steak, black forest cake, white chocolate and pink grapefruit bombe. $85 per person plus tax and gratuity. Optional wine pairing, $40. 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 568-4002.
John Ash & Co.: Three courses, $60. Choose from Hog Island oysters, sesame salmon tartare, duo of foie gras, wild mushroom Risotto, duck breast, sea bass, glazed Kobe beef short ribs, raspberry swirl fromage blac cheesecake, Passion fruit pavlova. 4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 575-7530.
Spoonbar: Craft your own four-course for $55. Menu includes grilled prawns, Niman ranch carpaccio, roasted beet tartar, pan-roasted sea bass, Kobe beef, roasted lamb rack. 219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 433-7222 for reservations.
Barndiva: Go big or go home is the theme for Barndiva’s 5-course, $87 dinner. Choose from cauliflower veloute, creamy lobster risotto, Dungeness crab, filet mignon, halibut with polenta and Brussels sprouts, chocolate Bavarois with coconut sorbet, Meyer lemon tart. 231 Center Street Healdsburg, 431-0100.
Tolay at the Sheraton Sonoma County: Four course menu from Feb. 10-14, $65 per person. Select from Santa Barbara smoked salmon coronet, oysters, Lobster medallions with rock shrimp, stuffed guinea hen, mixed berry trifle.745 Baywood Dr., Petaluma, 283-2900.
Central Market: Chef Tony Najiola always inspires with fresh, local ingredients. He’s on vacation until the 7th, but promises some special surprises for V-day. 42 Petaluma Boulevard North Petaluma, 778-9900.
Cupcake Lunch: Just because you’re over the usual wine and dine V-day doesn’t mean you can’t feed your sweet tooth Moustache Bakery (381 Healdsburg Ave.) is unfurling an all-inclusive cupcake lunch date, featuring two lovely Valentine’s cupcakes with your choice of Fourbarrel coffee drinks. $20. Reservations, 395-4111.
Got more ideas? Add ’em below!
Beer is downsizing. Following the arc of small-scale artisan salumi, cheese, bread, olive oil and garagiste winemakers, now micro-batched, regionally-sourced, hand-crafted beer is the hottest thing in brewing. And the North Bay has a growing stake in the trend.
Somewhere between home-brewing and micro-brewing is nano-brewing. To illustrate the scale: Home brewers typically make about 5 gallons per batch. Nano-brewers, between one and three barrels at a time, topping out at a few hundred barrels annually. Micro-brewers like Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewing Company may soon produce up to 600,000 barrels annually; a large “craft” brewer like Samuel Adams, 6 million barrels per year. Anheuser-Bush produces upwards of 100 million barrels per year.
But what they lack in output, a number of North Bay upstarts more than make up for in passion. Working from garages or tiny breweries, former home brewers from Novato to Healdsburg have single-minded devotion to developing best-in-category brews from IPAs to Belgian stouts. With start-up costs ranging from $50 to $250,000 and a labyrinth of city, county, state and federal licensing requirements, this brotherhood goes well beyond hobbyists.
In varying stages of development — from Healdsburg Beer Company’s established reputation to yet-to-be-completed breweries in Windsor, Novato and Petaluma — here are four Northbay nano-brewers to watch.
Old Redwood Brewing: Young Guns — With backgrounds in wine and food, the under-40 garage brewers of Old Redwood Brewing in Windsor are the most experimental of the bunch. The four collaborators, Adam Derum, Bob Anderson, Dominic Foppoli and Mike Stewart, plan to create a new small-batch beer each month using mostly Sonoma County ingredients. In fact, they’ve already got a running list that includes beers like Belgian Stout, honey Hefferveisen and pomegranate witbier. They’ve contracted with local farmers to grow hops for them in the Russian River Valley and hope to incorporate fresh spices and fruit into their beers. The partners are currently building a small brewery and tasting room off the Town Green where visitors will be able to taste through curated flights and recent brews.
“We want to educate people,” said Derum, who’s been tapped as the tasting room guy. Old Redwood is slated to open in mid-March and you’ll be able to find them at the upcoming Battle of the Brews on March 31 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. (redwoodbrewing.com)
Healdsburg Beer Company: The Veteran
Kevin McGee (healdsburgbeerco.com), who’s been selling his nano-brewed IPA for four years, is the grizzled veteran of the bunch. A lawyer by day, he’s already navigated the licensing and beer making process, selling out all of the 20 or so barrels he produces each year before he’s even brewed it. A true garagiste, he brews twice a month in his detached Healdsburg garage (all legal, of course) and primarily sells to restaurants in town. You’ll find it on tap by its large Old English H.
“I made the logo so you could spot it 25 yards away,” he said.
The vision for the beer, according to McGee, “is like when you go traveling through Italy and find some maniacal wine producer that is so good that no one lets it out of the village. I’m that brewer in Healdsburg.”
The former home brewer got his start after kicking around the idea with his former boss, wine mogul Jess Jackson.
“I showed it to him as a joke,” McGee said, “and he said, ‘You gotta do it.’” McGee knew he was onto something after watching 95-point winemakers drinking Bud Light at holiday parties.
“There is a market for beer drinkers with a honed wine palate,” he said.
McGee acknowledges he may not be making the trendiest sorts of nano brews, but aims instead for a perfect cask-conditioned IPA.
“You have to find your niche. I’m the guy who tries to make the best damn cheeseburger out there. Not the wackiest,” he said. “I’m not going to make something better than Pliny or Blind Pig. But the recipe I’ve done is guided by the principle that if I can’t sell it, I have to drink 31 gallons of it. So it better taste good.”
Petaluma Hills Brewing: Pico Brewer
Calling himself a pico-brewer, JJ Jay of Petaluma Hills Brewing (petalumahills.com) considers his forthcoming brewery an even tinier offshoot than some of the other regional nano breweries.
“Like most brewery start-ups, I’m a former home brewer. I didn’t start with a plan, but over 22 years I’ve transitioned from a vast majority of my beer being store-bought to having all my friends drink my beer,” said Jay.
He’s currently working on a three-barrel production brewery in Petaluma that he hopes to have up and running in 2012.
“All of my recipes are ale. I don’t do lager or pilsners and I don’t really mess around with flavors. My beers are more traditional,” he said. “I’ve purposely avoided IPA (which is a a flagship for local brewer, Lagunitas) because everyone else does that.”
Like the other nano-brewers, he’s looking to sell to nearby local restaurants and pubs increasingly interested in offbeat, artisan brews. Unlike some others, he’s not in a particular hurry to quit his day job as a character director at Dreamworks Studios.
“My overarching goal is to have a beer that’s just good to drink,” he said.
Beltane Brewing: The Artist
“I am part artist and part scientist,” said Alan Atha, who heads up Novato’s Beltane Brewing (beltanebrewing.com).
The former painter, photographer and current personal-trainer/cycling coach plans to open a cafe and brewery in Bel Marin Keys in July, 2012.
“Brewing is really an art form,” he said. “I had to learn the science of it.” He’s planning to do an ambitious 600 barrels per year.
“I haven’t even started brewing in the brewery yet and I have hop contracts for the next three years,” he said. “You have to think that far forward to pull this off.”
The former head of the Sonoma County Beerocrats, a popular home-brewing club, he takes his beer seriously, having participated and competed in several nano-brewing competitions and gatherings like last fall’s SF Beer Week’s Nano Fest.
Alan’s current lineup of beers include “Rumplestiltskin,” a West Coast Double IPA, a chocolate ale with TCHO chocolate, a French farmhouse ale and a barrel-finished dark sour beer in limited release.
“A lot of guys dream about doing this, but pulling it off is another thing,” said Atha.
