Page 583 – Sonoma Magazine

James Beard Restaurant + Chef Semifinalists 2011

March 2011

By biteclub

Wine Country chefs tapped in food "Oscar" semifinals Few big surprises in today’s Restaurant + Chef Semifinalist announcements for the James Beard Foundation Awards for 2011. Winners will be announced at an event in May — the food and wine industry’s biggest night for collective back-patting.

The Rising Chef category is one of the few that showcases new talent, and Wine Country’s Perry Hoffman of etoile at Domanine Chandon and Aaron London of Ubuntu in Napa both got nods.

Here are some of the other local nominees. Here is a list of all restaurant and chef semifinalists…

Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional
Merry Edwards, Merry Edwards Winery, Sebastopol, CA
Ted Lemon, Littorai Wines, Sebastopol, CA

Outstanding Wine Service
La Toque, Napa, CA, Ken Frank and Scott Tracy

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Perry Hoffman, étoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon, Yountville, CA
Aaron London, Ubuntu, Napa, CA

Best Chef Pacific
Josef Centeno, Lazy Ox Canteen, Los Angeles
Kevin Chong, Chef Mavro, Honolulu
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Josiah Citrin, Mélisse, Santa Monica, CA
Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook, Animal, Los Angeles
Laurence Jossel, Nopa, San Francisco
Loretta Keller, COCO500, San Francisco
Andrew Kirschner, Wilshire, Santa Monica, CA
Chris Kobayashi, Artisan, Paso Robles, CA
Christopher Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, CA
Mourad Lahlou, Aziza, San Francisco
Corey Lee, Benu, San Francisco
Daniel Patterson, COI, San Francisco
Gayle Pirie and John Clark, Foreign Cinema, San Francisco
Laurent Quenioux, Bistro LQ, Los Angeles
Richard Reddington, Redd, Yountville, CA
Carl Schroeder, Market, Del Mar, CA
John Rivera Sedlar, Rivera, Los Angeles
James Syhabout, Commis, Oakland, CA
Michael Tusk, Quince, San Francisco

Starbuck to buy Peet’s Coffee?

March 2011

By biteclub

According to a number of published reports, Starbucks may soon acquire Peet’s Coffee, a much loved Bay Area-based coffee chain.

This isn’t necessarily good news for Sonoma County’s java-set. In fact, you can pretty much cause an all out fist fight by claiming allegiance to one or another, around these parts. Sure, we love our Thanksgiving, Ecco and Flying Goat, but there are also those times when you just need a fix.

What’s your take on all the hubub? Does it ruin your day, or is it just another merger? Sound off…

[polldaddy poll=4742845]

Panera Bread to Santa Rosa

March 2011

By biteclub

National pastry and sandwich bakery Panera Bread is slated to open in Santa Rosa, according to several sources. An online hiring posting for an SR outpost showed up on the Interwebs, and local restaurant real estate folks are confirming rumors about the opening.

Though there are no solid confirmations yet, the buzz is that it may be going into the CVS shopping area on Mendocino Ave., close to all the other recent restaurant chain hubbub — Five Guys, In N Out and Whole Foods Coddingtown.

Are chain entries into the local restaurant market news? You tell me…

Stay tuned for more details.

Madrona Manor | Ideas in Food Dinner

March 2011

By biteclub

Madrona Manor’s Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren has long dabbled in the world of forward-thinking culinary techniques popularly described as “molecular gastronomy.” And though most chefs now bristle at the term, it refers to a sort of laboratory approach to foods, breaking them down into their most basic elements or flavors, creating surprising methods of delivery or using unconventional cooking methods to create wildly creative dishes. Tools of the trade range from whipped creamers and blow torches to liquid nitrogen, gelatins, powders and foam. Its pioneers (Grant Achatz of Alinea, Ferran Adria of El Bulli) are some of the most celebrated chefs in the world. (Both also have books out this month…)

One of the pied pipers of this cooking style is H. Alexander Talbot of Ideas in Food. The East Coast chef, along with his wife Aki Kamozawa run a culinary consulting business that trains chefs on how to use modern ingredients, equipment and innovative approaches to food. The couple spent several days at Madrona Manor demonstrating transglutimates, liquid nitrogen, CO2 and other cutting edge kitchen wizardry. As a final demonstration, Talbot created a guest dinner at the restaurant.

On the menu 3/16/11…
– Scrambled egg mousse with Blis brook trout roe, melon and cucumber
– Medai with grilled fish bone oil, Eureka lemon leaf, salad burnet
– Shaved Shrimp with charred jalapeno and bolting cilantro (using Activa as a binder)
– Uni Tortellini with yuzu kosho and Dungeness crab
– Local black cod with chicory, squash banana and watermelon radish
– Sonoma lamb loin and tongue with carrot peanut butter and oxalis
– Cashew Butter Bavaroise with sugared crouton, huckleberry, white chocolate, toffee ice cream

Check out the pictures below…

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Healdsburg closure, opening

March 2011

By biteclub

News from the Hburg front…

A Divine Affair has closed. Owner Kahleen Nowak’s eclectic downtown Healdsburg restaurant shuttered March 11. Nowak isn’t publicly saying why the restaurant closed, but insiders say the 100-year-old building had caused some inherent space and noise challenges for the eatery. The chef/owner is looking into the possibility of a new venture elsewhere in Sonoma County.

Santa Rosa’s Sizzling Tandoor is expanding to Healdsburg. The second location for the restaurant has just been inked off plaza, near Osake. It will no doubt be a welcome addition to the region, considering the dearth of Indian eateries north of Santa Rosa.

French Garden | Sebastopol

March 2011

By biteclub

Beet salad with goat cheese and microgreens at The French Garden

CLOSED
Since 2006, Dan Smith has been on an often Quixotic quest to turn his sprawling Sebastopol eatery, The French Garden, into a Michelin-starred destination restaurant.

With it’s own 30-acre bio-intensive farm, Smith’s ample financial backing and a dedicated local following, it’s always had potential for greatness. Its Achiles heel: The kitchen. A series of top-notch chefs have debuted impressive menus at FG, only to exit – sometimes within months – leaving kitchen staff scrambling. Departures have been so notable and so frequent that one recent toque was simply called Quince (or Fifteen in Spanish) in reference to the fallen chefs preceding him. He too, is now gone. Suffice to say Smith is as exacting with his kitchen as he is with his farm.

Undaunted by the turnover, Smith has soldiered forth, staunchly believing in the restaurant after many gave up on it. His patience, however, may finally be rewarded.

Current chef Patrick Quillec took over the kitchen in the summer of 2010. Like many of his predecessors, Quillec is a French chef both by birth and by trade. Hailing from a restaurant family from Brittany, he trained with several Parisian chefs and is a successful restaurateur in his own right, having opened a number of French bistros and cafes in the United States. Most importantly, he seems to get Smith’s vision for a true farm-to-table experience. Because having your own personal restaurant farm is great, but only if you know how to use it.

Lunch is classic bistro fare, impeccably executed: Charcuterie, daily soups, escargot, frites with lemon aioli, Salade Lyonnaise ($11), quiche, Coquilles Saint Jacques (scallops in cream sauce, $15), steak frites, burgers, Croque Monseiur and daily crepes. Up to six daily vegetables from the farm are featured as side dishes (chard, parsnip tempura, squash, or whatever is in season, $7 each). Flavors are light and bright, and presentation shows the kind of precision Quillec has in the kitchen and his fondness for Smith’s pristine produce. Little details, like warm bread served with honey butter (the honey is from the farm) add serious cred.

The evening dining room is a more upscale affair, though many of the dishes are the same, with the addition of a few heartier entrees — lamb shank, chicken breast and pork. Not everything hits the mark, but classic preparations including duck breast with lentils ($14) and whitefish in beurre blanc with risotto, French onion soup ($9) and squash and Boursin ravioli with crab and chanterelles ($15) are stunners. Seasonal desserts tart tatin with salted caramel sauce and creme fraiche ice cream or lemon tarts are equally impressive.

For more casual neighborhood dining, the bistro has upped its game with a hip cocktail menu, $4 happy hour tapas (tuna tartare tacos, hangar steak sliders), and a la carte dinner items served in the bar. On Sunday, the brunch menu ranges from apple crepes ($7) and eggs Benedict to burgers, leek soup and and brioche french toast ($10) with the added benefit of their own farm market stand outside. The outdoor patio can’t be beat on warm spring and summer days and frequent live music acts add to the ambiance.

Nine months in, it seems safe to say that Chef Quillec’s may finally bring Smith’s epic quest to a close, windmills conquered with a fork and knife — and on track for the critical success The French Garden always has been capable of achieving.

French Garden Restaurant, 8050 Bodega Ave, Sebastopol, 824-2030. Open Wednesday through Saturday 11:30am to 2;30pm, dinner 5-9:30pm. Full bar and bistro from 4:30, happy hour 4:30 to 6:30pm. Sunday brunch and farm market, 10am to 2pm. Children’s menus available.

Pasta, with a Handful of Herbs

March 2011

By biteclub

“…with a handful of herbs.” I love that. Even if the dish weren’t so simple and delicious, even if it didn’t leave my wife starry-eyed with carbohydrate lust, I’d cook this pasta just to call it by name; that, and the devil-may-care pleasure of a recipe defined, not by cups or teaspoons, but by the size of one’s hand. Want the recipe? Here it is: Grab a handful of whatever herbs happen to be growing in the garden, toast two handfuls of breadcrumbs, and sweat a handful shallots and garlic:

Now choose a nice pasta – I particularly like the way penne and orecchiete cup the sauce – and cook til just al dente, toss the lot of it together, and serve it with some freshly grated cheese; parmigiano would be unimpeachable, although I might suggest a good pecorino instead, for its salty barnyard tang, and how that stands up to the pungency of raw herbs and the richness of buttery breadcrumbs and shallots. And that is it.

The size of your hand, the mixture of herbs, the type of bread, and the shape of the pasta will all influence the final product, but the beauty of this recipe is that it will almost always be good – I’ve tried to screw it up, and it’s not easy. The main thing is to strike a balance between sweeter herbs like tarragon and basil, stronger, more peppery herbs like rosemary or thyme, and the gentle bite of a green onion or chive. If at all possible, make your own breadcrumbs from a good, crusty sourdough, although I’ve used panko from a box with unqualified success. Ultimately, there are lots of ways to get it right, and very few not to.

The chef who taught me this particular version describes it as classic Italian peasant food, although I’ve never seen it on a menu or in a cookbook; probably, it’s a regional or even family-specific riff on pasta al grantatto, a fairly generic catch-all for “noodles with breadcrumbs”, and Italian Kryptonite for Atkins dieters. But whereas most al grantatto recipes include some form of seafood, this one depends mainly on the aromatics of fresh herbs, and varies naturally with the seasons, which seems especially nice.

Pasta with a Handful of Garden Herbs & Breadcrumbs (adapted from G. Sarnataro)

1 lb/500g best quality dry pasta, ideally penne rigate
1 large handful of mixed fresh herbs (lots of basil or parsley; some chives or green onions; and thyme, tarragon, or rosemary, more sparingly), chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely sliced (optional)
1 palm’s worth of finely chopped shallots (about 4 large or 6 smaller ones; or a medium onion, if shallots are unavailable)

2 large handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs, pulsed in a food processor (about 2 cups; substitute panko if necessary)
Butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper – as needed

Hard cheese, grated, for serving

Sautee the shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft and sweetly fragrant; remove from pan and reserve.
Melt a knob of butter in the same pan and gently toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown and lightly crunchy; remove from pan and reserve.
After they’ve cooled (you don’t want to cook the herbs), combine the breadcrumbs, shallot mixture, and herbs in a bowl, toss with olive oil and season relatively aggressively with salt and a little pepper.
Boil a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta until just al dente, and drain in a colander. Toss the pasta with the herb mixture, check the seasoning, and serve with a grated hard cheese.

Benefits for Japan

March 2011

By biteclub

Chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus, HBG and Shimo Modern Steak has long been tied with the people and cuisine of Japan. He’ll host a series of events to aid the victims of the earthquakes in a variety of price points — so there’s no excuse for not opening up your wallet.

– HBG, 3/29: Karaoke night from 7-10pm, $20. Beer wine, snacks and singing.
– Shimo Modern Steak, 4/4: Several Hburg chefs gather at the restaurant, each serving a dis. $40, 6-9pm
– Cyrus, 4/19: Mega star chefs David Kinch, Corey Lee, James Syhabout, Michael Cimarusti, Nicole Plue and Keane create a multi-course tasting menu. $450, limited to 50 people.

Here are some other Bay Area benefits posted by Inside Scoop SF.

Know of other local benefits for the earthquake victims? Let us know…

Making Peace with Whole Foods Butchers

March 2011

By biteclub

Just say no.

For years, those three little words neatly summarized my feelings about Whole Foods, and made for a Flintstones-sized bone of contention between me and every food-snob I came across; where my friends and family chomped at the bit to feel good about parting with their paychecks, I saw only a business model predicated on sloughing-off expensive products of inconsistent quality, remarkably mediocre prepared foods, and egregiously priced dry goods encased in very clever branding.

But a certain reader, in response to last week’s column on Costco beef, explained that Whole Foods in Santa Rosa sources 100% grass-fed, certified-organic beef from ranchers right here in the County, so I decided to update some of my facts and figures:

That’s the tag line from their website, and you know what? They’re talking the talk and walking the walk. I’ve been cooking my ass off with Whole Foods’ beef all week – top sirloin, short ribs, and chuck, ground for steak tartare and burgers; stew meat for Marcella Hazan’s beautiful Stew with Red Wine and Vegetables – and from what I’ve seen, I gotta say, it surely doesn’t suck.

Now, before you think I’ve gone soft, let’s be clear: I’d still rather stub my pinkie toe than eat off their steam tables, and I still think you may qualify for County services if you buy their paper towels or laundry detergent. But their beef, while not cheap, is fair for what it is, because what it is is damned good, with a clear provenance from farm to table, an unequivocal insistence on quality, and, no mean feat, properly executed butchery – I know that sounds hyped up, but trust me, I wouldn’t be serving the kids this steak tartare with a Hello Kitty fork if I didn’t believe it:I’m signing off with a shout-out to the butchers, not only because they’re so essential to the quality and safety of ground meat, but because the Whole Foods crew actually know what they’re doing, right down to the sanitation of their grinders and what the cattle eat in winter, and Whole Foods butchery has been something of a bugaboo for me in the past – at the Tribeca location that we used to live near, they were downright incompetent, equally incapable of filleting salmon as trimming a veal chops, even refusing even to grind meat to order. But that’s all different now, at least at the Coddingtown branch, and they deserve credit for getting it right.

St. Patrick’s Day 2011 | Santa Rosa & Sonoma County

March 2011

By biteclub

St. Patrick’s Day, let’s be honest, isn’t a food holiday I look forward to with glee. Overly salty corned beef, boiled cabbage and mealy potatoes? Yuck.

Which is why BiteClub is pointing you to restaurants turning tradition pub grub on its ear. From buttermilk battered smelt to rabbit stew, Lagunitas cupcakes and green gnocchi, we’ve got the hookup for March 17.

Okay, and some of the more traditional fare (which I’m sure is better than my my sorry attempts) and plenty of options should you choose to drink your dinner. O’Tasty!

Restaurants
Glen Ellen Inn will be serving a romantic St. Patrick’s Day feast for both lunch and dinner on March 17, 2011. The eating o’ the green will start with Early Spring Asparagus Soup topped with Creme Fraiche ($7.95), and continue with Spicy Grilled Sausage on Corned Beef Hash, with Truffle Fries ($15.95), and finish with House Made Lemon Verbena Sorbet ($6.95). Heck with the pints, why not raise a Green Glen Ellen Melon Martini instead. Secret cottage rooms for the O’romantic and McTuckered available at $139 plus tax. 13670 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. Lunch 11:30-4; Dinner 5:30-9

Irish Pubs
Why are all those Irish eyes a-smilin? It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, the one holiday each year where drinking, pinching and a wee bit o’ hijinks are the order of the day. Taps turn green, beef gets corned and everyone’s a McSomeone on Thursday, March 17th this year. BiteClub leads you to your own pot of gold, or at least mug of beer, at the end of the rainbow.

Murphy’s Irish Pub: You can take the high road or the low road, but all roads lead to Sonoma when it comes to annual St. Paddy’s parties. Just off the town square, this pub has one of the rip-roarin-est parties in the county, with plenty of Emerald Isle brews, whiskeys and cock o’tails. 464 First St. East, Sonoma, 935-0660.

Friar Tuck’s Pub: Let the bromance flow as costumed bagpipers belt out Danny Boy and other Irish tunes throughout the day, green beer flows and hundreds of pounds of corned beef steam at this Cotati pub. Because if you can endure all that without an “I love you man,” there isn’t an ounce of Irish in ya. $10 for the corned beef dinner buffet, noon to 9pm. 8201 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 792.9847

Nutty Irishman: Each St. Patrick’s Day, the shamrock-hat and beer-goggle crowd overrun this usually-quiet local bar to the bemusement of regulars. Not that they’re not glad to see you. The bar puts out a spread of green beer and corned beef and cabbage for everybody, because, as one staffer says, “We’re all Irish here.” 995 Piner Rd., Santa Rosa, 544-1447.

Maguire’s Pub: The former Finbar Devine’s Irish Pub has been revamped and reborn as, well, another Irish pub. After dark, the scene is more bar than restaurant, but fans say the burgers are solid as well as the fish and chips. 145 Kentucky St., Petaluma, 762-9800.

Ruth McGowan’s Brewpub: Up in Cloverdale, the always lively Ruth McGowan’s celebrates its eighth anniversary with happy hour specials all day, corned beef and cabbage, Green Hornet Emerald Ale and McGowan’s Irish Stout. 131 E First St., Cloverdale, 894-9610.

Stout Brothers: This cozy faux-tiqued public house will still be packed to the rafters with whiskey and beer-drinking revelers on St. Pats. Fish and chips are still solid contenders here, as are its signature macaroni and cheeses (chicken bacon is tops). 527 4th Street, Santa
Rosa, 636-0240.

Spoonbar: Mixologist Scott Beattie will share the bar with legend Bartender Fred Dagnino from the San Francisco Institution, Buena Vista Cafe, Chef Rudy Mihal will prepare corn beef and hash sliders and an entertainment surprise will go on at 9 p.m. Bar hours are 5-11 p.m. 219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 433-7222.

Jackson’s Bar & Oven: Irish…pizza? This irreverent pie is topped with corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. 135 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 545-6900.

French Garden: It’s Irish luck times two. If it’s a bit ‘o fancy you’re after, the restaurant will serve a three-course prix fixe menu throughout the weekend including a salad culled from the FG grams, rabbit stew or spinach gnocchi and lemon verbena creme brulee. In the bistro, grab a more casual “Menage A Trois”, Beer Battered Fish and Chips Three Ways — buttermilk battered local smelt, Guiness battered black cod, cornmeal battered local oysters and a mint julep or Guiness for $17. Thursday through Sunday, 8050 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol, 824-2030.

Sift’s Stud Muffin: Lagunitas beer cupcake, salted caramel frosting and spicy brown sugar bacon on top. Beer cupcake, okay. Salted caramel frosting, addictive. Sift Cupcakery in Cotati, SR and Napa.

Henweigh Cafe: Shepherd’s pie with ground beef and lamb, fresh peas, carrots and corn topped with Colcannon mashed potatoes — potatoes so good there’s a song about them. Owner Dennis Kelly sends along a comment from a recent customer: “Those Shepherds ate pretty well.” On St. Patty’s they’ll also have Guiness stout beef stew. McYum.4550 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, 829-7500.

Pearson and Co: Bring your Irish home with a takeaway meal of Corned Beef and cabbage, baked salmon with fennel and leeks with lime dill cream sauce; bubbles and squeak (mashed potatoes with carrots and peas), spring asparagus, Irish soda bread with clove and currants, or a Bailey’s Chocolate Irish Cream pie. Orders must be received by 3pm Tuesday.

Casino Bar and Grill: Chef Mark cooks up lentil soup with pork belly, Dungeness crab toast with lemon mayo and butter lettuce, corned beef brisket, cabbage and spring veggies. 17000 Bodega Highway, Bodega, 876-3185.

Breakaway Cafe: Black Velvet cocktail (Guiness and Kenwood Brut), sweet pea and mint soup, traditional corned beef and cabbage with boiled veggies, strawberry rhubarb compote with vanilla ice cream, $18. 19101 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 996-5949.

Mac’s Deli: I’m a huge fan of their ever-tasty Reuben, piles of corned beef, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. Just consider it an Irish dinner on rye.630 4th Street, Santa Rosa, 545-3785.

Traditional Fare:
Quincy’s Pub and Cafe: Corned beef and cabbage and homemade Irish stew from 9:30am to 6:30pm St. Patty’s Day, 6590 Commerce Blvd, Rohnert Park, 585-1079.

Brown St. Grill: Corned beef and cabbage all week starting today, $9.95. Cooked with love by Done by a septuagenarian chef Roger Boileau, a former Marty’s Top of the Hill toque. 100 Brown St., #150, in Sebastopol, 824-4400.

Cafe Europe: Corned beef and cabbage for lunch and dinner on St. Patrick’s Day. 104 Calistoga Road, Santa Rosa, 538-5255.

DIY St. Patty’s
David Little of Little Organic Farms will be at The Seed Bank in Petaluma to help home gardeners learn his dry-farming techniques for this mainstay of the Irish Pantry. 7-8:30pm. 199 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma.

Staying home? Check out Michele Anna Jordan’s tasty tips for corned beef and cabbage on her blog.

Did we miss a restaurant you love? Tell us below!!!