When the line for Dim Sum Charlie’s snaked to 45 people, there was no question that Santa Rosa’s first food truck Monday was officially a success.
The first of eight scheduled Munch Mondays taking place downtown between January 10 and February 28, 2011, organizers watched as eager eaters arrived, cash in hand, to snap up dim sum, tacos, agedashi, carne asada French fries, grass-fed burgers, whoopee pies and hot dogs. No tables or chairs. — just paper (or in one case bamboo) plates, the adept balancing of forks, napkins and soda cans, and the great outdoors as the backdrop.
Over the hum of whirring generators and gently chattering teeth, groups two or three merged into growing queues, rubbing hands together and peering over shoulders to see chalk-written menus in this impromptu public dining room between the post office and public library. The general discourse: Wow, this is awesome. What are you ordering?
Hundreds in line | Photo John Burgess, PD
Officially sanctioned by the city, it’s something of an experiment in dining. Throughout the country, but most notably in cities like San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and New York, a new breed mobile eateries are popping up by the hundreds. Unlike old school “roach coaches” as they were often referred to, these converted kitchens are licensed, bonded and health department certified, sometimes featuring highly trained chefs and gourmet foods from cupcakes to dim sum.
In Wine Country, the scene is still emerging, but in downtown Santa Rosa, vendors have been planning a group round-up of diverse offerings since last fall. In this week’s inaugural lineup: Street-eatz Mobile Kitchen, La Texanita Truck (from La Texanita Restaurant), Chicago Style Hot Dogs, Fork Catering and Napa’s Dim Sum Charlie’s. Conspicuously missing was Karma Bistro. The truck was hit by another driver on Saturday while returning home from another food truck event in Napa.
Interest at Monday’s event pleasantly surprise the vendors, who had hoped for a welcome reception, but ended up selling out of popular dishes within an hour or less as lines continued to grow. Procrastinators were met with an ever-dwindling selection, and snapping up the last whoopee pie (which I did) was cause for near riot. Many eaters took a smorgasbord approach, gathering something from several of the vendors and sharing bites with friends.
What’s heartening is that, for the most part, brick and mortar restaurants in nearby downtown Santa Rosa seem to be on board. The mobile vendors have worked with downtown organizers and restaurants to help allay fears of unfair competition. And although not everyone is thrilled to see the trucks, the city is presenting the seeming dichotomy with an advertising campaign called “Sit Down” and “Stand Up” — recommending a trip to the trucks for folks in a hurry and more traditional sit-down eateries for executive luncheons and meetings.
The only fly in the ointment: Several diners noticed parking enforcement officers ticketing cars around the parking lot targeting cars parked in the lot and on side streets in the area. Not a great foot forward for a city clamoring for more downtown engagement.
But there’s more to come as Santa Rosans embrace stand-up al fresco dining and the food truck culture — even in the dead of winter. And frankly, my fork is ready and waiting.
Marcella, David and Luz in the kitchen at Woodruff’s
Marcella, David and Luz in the kitchen at Woodruff’s
CLOSED
Market eateries are a hot trend for 2011, and Woodruff’s Artisan Foods & Cafe in Sebastopol is the second to open in recent in recent months (the first being Fresh by Lisa Hemenway in Santa Rosa). Part restaurant, part take-out, part gourmet food market and wine shop they’re hybrid culinary one-stops inspired by European food halls.
Housed in a former bowling alley, owner David Woodruff is an SRJC culinary grad embarking on his second career after 25 years in the automotive industry. Lending serious culinary cred is Luz Quiroz, a native of Colombia who was the private chef of both the Swarovski (as in crystal) family and Rush Limbaugh.
With a mix of grab and go sandwiches, cheeses, gourmet groceries and sit-down dining, the crew is hoping to keep you coming back. The seasonal, local menu changes up frequently, and Quiroz’s Latin flair — including fresh arepas, (toasted corn cakes) and homemade chimichurri — keeps things interesting.
Steak au poivre
At opening, the crew are serving up impressive breakfast, weekend brunches and lunches inside the cafe (named after Woodruff’s fiance, Marcella, who also helps in the kitchen) with plans to launch dinner within a year. Homemade breads and pastries are baked daily in house, and menu items include dishes like French Toast Souffle, fresh blueberry scones, ragu Bolognese, steak au poivre, savory bread pudding with applewood smoked bacon and Point Reyes blue cheese, homemade soups and lighter salads.
Breakfast entrees range from $4.25 to $9 and lunch is $6.95 to about $12.
Adding to the mix is David’s special passion for handcrafted beers, which he’s included in the grocery section, along with local artisan foods, cheeses and wines. All menu items can be taken to-go.
About a month ago, I bitched about out-of-season avocados, specifically the dark green monuments of Giza on display at my local Safeway, on sale at a seemingly unbeatable price of a buck per. For whatever reason – I, of course, speculate in that earlier post, but can’t say definitively – they were appalling: Watery, mealy, flavorless, an ultimately disgusting pale green mush and affront to guacamole everywhere. Well, today (in point of historical fact, two nights ago) I got to eat my words: Said avocados are now $1.25, but – and this is the important thing – they actually taste pretty damn good. No, not the dense, creamy confection of the mid-summer California version, but still and all, a far cry better than most of my local taquerias have been serving up, and a worthy bridge-loan from last season to next for those of us, myself included, in the throes of mid-winter guacamole withdrawal.
Because, even as I kvetch unrelenting about stuff I don’t like, I try to be fair – harsh, perhaps, but fair, regardless – here is my official Tip of the Hat to the produce buyers over at Safeway: We weren’t even on speaking terms when I wrote that other column, but you just saved my wife’s burrito from its tragically banal meatless destiny, and got my freshly fried tortilla chips their sorely needed fix.
At some point, I’ll get around to writing a longer treatise on the wonders – consisting, in roughly equal proportion, of cardiac perfidy and gustatory revelation – of In-N-Out’s “Animal Style” offerings. But not today. Today – and, if you saw my recent column on Savory Onion Jam, I guess you’d say all week – I have eyes only for condiments, and few condiments inspire like In-N-Out’s insanely caramelized onions.
But to relegate Animal status to that of the generically caramelized onion would be to call a dinosaur a lizard or your spouse a good friend, because Animal Style onions are to your garden-variety caramelized onion what the Autobahn is to a carpool lane: Made from the same stuff, designed for the same purpose, but pushed to the very logical extreme of its functional existence. Animal Style onions aren’t just caramelized, they’re stewed into oblivion, until they are no longer even recognizable as onions per se, but rather as some freakish fantasy version of French onion soup that could suspend a spoon vertically by virtue of its sheer density. (Mandatory hat-tip to Kenji over at The Burger Lab, who first got me thinking about blurring the line between onions and soup in this post.)
I actually have no insight, literally none whatsoever, into how In-N-Out makes theirs, and to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I should care; what matters is that I’ve constructed an exceptional reproduction – dare I say, a better version than the mold form whence it was borne – in my own kitchen, and out of really good, local ingredients. The stuff would probably keep for months in the fridge, but I go through it far too quickly for that: Slathered on cheeseburgers (see picture inset), as a condiment for a juicy steak, in omelets… Really, this stuff just rocks, and I’d put it virtually anywhere that a sweet, onion-y flavor is welcome without thinking too hard about it. Caramelized Onion Jam, “Animal Style”
Finely chop 2-3lbs of sweet onions (I’ve been using local Cipollini’s since late summer from Love Farms, Bernier Farms, and Foggy River Farms, and they are exceptional, but they seem to be out of season now; a decent Walla Walla, Maui, or Vidalia will work just fine, and – given the abuse they’re going to get – the generic yellow supermarket “Spanish” onion would probably be almost indistinguishable.)
Slowly caramelize the onions in peanut or canola oil in a large pan over medium-low heat, along with a healthy sprinkling of sugar and salt. As they start to dry out, deglaze with a half cup or so of good-quality balsamic vinegar, and let them cook all the way out again. Go on like this for up to an hour, until the onions start to darken and are very fragrant and soft all the way through.
Cover the onions in stock (I used chicken, but you could make it even richer with dark beef or veal stock; or you could use veggie stock and have an acceptable and vegetarian-friendly version – why you’d do such a thing, well, that’s for you to decide) and slowly braise them for another 1-2 hours, until all the liquid has been cooked away and you’re left with a very thick stew.
Downtown Santa Rosa’s popular Cantina Mexican restaurant is reportedly being taken over by a group of Aspen restaurateurs to reopen as La Rosa Tequileria and Grille in the coming months.
Though details are still emerging, insiders tell BiteClub that a group of five young hospitality pros who popularized a sister Cantina restaurant in Aspen (there is also a Cantina restaurant in Mill Valley) were courted by Santa Rosa’s original owners to revitalize the sagging eatery.
The vision for the new Cantina: “An elevated execution and approach to Mexican and Latin cuisine.” The new business owners are also planning to feature a master collection of high end tequilas for flights, tastings and pairings. The shuttered second floor is slated to reopen later as a sports bar serving more casual fare.
Rumors of the restaurant’s fate have been swirling for several months as construction crews built scaffolding around the exterior of the restaurant and began renovations. In 2007, Cantina was sold to Dudum Sports & Entertainment, a Walnut Creek developer who planned to convert it into a Santana-themed restaurant called Maria, Maria. The Mill Valley Cantina was converted, but closed soon after and has reopened as a Cantina again.
Continued delays in Santa Rosa put the Santana-themed restaurant on ice, and the space was sold in August 2010. After a brief ownership change, the restaurant reverted to the founders of the original Cantina restaurant.
UPDDATED 1/6 The downtown Santa Rosa nightclub space that housed the troubled Seven Ultralounge and The Vine will reopen Friday as Rapture. The Seventh street entertainment venue will feature music, dancing, a full bar Thursday through Sunday.
New club owner Mark Hines and business partner Henry Leon Raney Jr. purchased the business in December from building owner Gerald Buhrz who also owns nearby properties housing the Chrome Lotus and Franco’s Pizzeria.
Hines is a former printing business owner and mobile DJ who said he’d been looking for several years to open a nightclub in the Bay Area and fell in love with the 528 Seventh St. property when he saw it.
He and Raney have invested in a significant upgrade to the sound and light system in the space, but otherwise are making few interior changes initially, with a grand opening on Saturday night.
Hines plans to create an upscale lounge space with VIP areas where customers can pay an additional fee for private seating areas, along with dancing waitresses. DJ Rob Cervantes, a fixture from the Seven Ultralounge days, will coordinate the entertainment, according to Hines. He plans to feature local talent and traveling DJs with a focus on house, electronic and pop music. Hines cited international trance DJ Armin Van Buuren as an inspiration for the type of entertainment vibe he’s setting at the club.
When asked about the club’s notorious past, Hines said that he interviewed more than 150 people to get the right mix of staff, which will include security to patrol the nearby parking structure. In 2006, 32-year-old Matthew Toste was fatally shot in the parking lot across from the club.
“We want to make this the ultimate guest experience,” Hines said. “We are successful business people and this is a business for us, not just a bar,” he added. The club will enforce an upscale dress code and, according to the owner, will not play “certain types of music” (which he later explained as rap music with desultory lyrics about women and police) that led to incidents in the past. “Trust me, nothing will be the same,” said Hines in reference to the former nightclubs.
The Vine closed in August 2010, a little more than a year after opening, although Buhrz said in a previous interview that he never planned for the club to be a longterm business. Seven Ultralounge opened in 2006 as a high-rolling nightclub with $200-plus VIP tables and a luxe urban ambiance but devolved into a troubled scene with strict city supervision after the shooting, leading to the ultimate loss of its liquor license in 2008.
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PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
After several years of struggles, the former nightclub space that housed Seven Ultralounge and The Vine has found a new business owner.
According to documents filed with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the space is being taken over by Ryde Hotel Properties LLC to become a new eating establishment called Rapture.
The Press Democrat previously reported that the building at 528 Seventh St. in downtown Santa Rosa is owned by businessman Gerald Buhrz, who also owns the properties housing the Chrome Lotus and Franco’s Pizzeria. In an August 6, 2010 interview, Buhrz said he never planned to operated a nightclub longterm at the location, but keep the business location alive until a buyer came along. The asking price in August was $325,000, down from $550,000 the previous year.
The Vine closed in August 2010, a little more than a year after opening. Prior to that, it was Seven Ultra Lounge, which began as a high-rolling nightclub with $200-plus VIP tables and a luxe urban ambiance. The club devolved into a troubled scene with strict city supervision and never fully recovered from its affiliation with a fatal 2006 shooting in a nearby parking garage and ultimate loss of its liquor license in 2008.
The Ryde Hotel and event center, a popular hotel and wedding venue in Walnut Grove, which some thought may have been behind the purchase, has denied any involvement.
Yesterday, as I was blabbering about cooking with friends, I tried to argue that the biggest prize from letting another cook into your kitchen is, aside from some help with the dishes, the potential to learn something new, to come up with a meal that you’d not otherwise have thought of. A case in point, and the needle affixed to the business end of this particular thread, comes courtesy of our dear friends the B’s, their torrid love affair with thermal immersion circulators (one of the gastro-toys du jour), my new favorite condiment (a savory onion-cranberry jam, as advertised in the tag line), and an escalating cacophony of rumbling tummies at the afternoon soiree we were hosting at our casita: A pitch-perfect finger sandwich of pork loin sous-vide (executed in spades and delivered in situ by our guests), with local blue cheese and my onion jam, on grilled cranberry-semolina sourdough toast from a nearby oven.
Despite my undying enthusiasm for the popularity of sous-vide cooking, the technique (to say nothing of the required infrastructure) remains well outside my culinary bandwidth. In that regard, a tightly-monitored water bath is hardly unique; there are all sorts of interesting ways to cook that are either beyond my ken, my natural abilities, or simply strike me as an upside-down cost/benefit analysis, given limited resources of time, money, and storage space. But that’s the whole point of collaborative cooking: I never, not ever, would have made this dish (as I understand it, a pork loin, dressed in bacon fat and cooked very slowly in the usual sous-vide fashion, which is then cooled and sliced), and yet it played perfectly off things that I would, and in fact did, cook.
I already had a loaf of cranberry-semolina sourdough from the uniformly excellent Full Circle Baking Company; a wedge of Pt Reyes Original Blue; and a jar of my savory onion-cranberry jam (adapted from Tom Colicchio and a staple of many years’ worth of Gramercy Tavern menus; my recipe follows). Mr & Mrs B had their pork loin (I can get his recipe for anyone that likes, just ping a request in the comment section). Like some foodie version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial, everything sort of just fell into everything else: The sweet spiciness of the onions, the salty tang of the cheese, and the melt-in-your-mouth richness of the pork, all contrasting with the hard crust of grilled semolina sourdough, combined to make, I have to say, one of the better sarnies I’ve had in quite some time.
So we let B do his thing, put his protein in the driver’s seat (he absolutely killed it), and used the condiments to played off of that porcine bass line: Add some thin slices of the cranberry-semolina bread to a grill pan for texture and color, layer with medallion-like slices of the pork loin, and top each medallion with a small dollop of the jam and a little chunk of blue cheese (the cheese and onions can easily overwhelm the delicate pork – a little goes a long way). Garnish with fresh thyme flowers or, as pictured here, lavender blossoms. Damn good finger sandwich.
And I never would have had it, had I not let someone else screw around in my kitchen. Onion-Cranberry Marmalade (Adapted from T Colicchio, “Think Like a Cook”)
Heat a large pan over medium-low heat and finely slice 4 medium onions, preferably a sweet, yellow variety like Vidalia or Walla Walla. (I’ve taken to cutting the onions into fine dice rather than slices, as I prefer how it spreads.)
Put a small amount of fat in the pan – canola, peanut, or similarly neutral oil – and add the onions, along with few pinches of salt, and a tablespoon of mixed spices (I used roughly equal proportions of cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and white pepper – the key is to incorporate some of those “baking spice” flavors without letting them become overpowering).
Sautee gently until the onions are all soft and begin to give up their water and shrink down in the pan. Do not let them caramelize too deeply or develop any texture – you want them to get really sweet, but also to remain very soft and translucent.
Add about a half-cup of good balsamic vinegar, a quarter-cup of sugar, and a 1/2-1 cup (depending on your preferences; I liked it with more rather than less) of dried cranberries. Turn the heat down to low, and cover the pan (it needn’t be air tight, aluminum foil is fine). Continue to cook, checking and stirring occasionally, for at least an hour, and ideally more like 90 minutes. If the onions begin to dry out, taste them, and add either more balsamic vinegar, water, or even a light stock, depending on how it tastes (the onions should take on a deep reddish brown color and should have a pronounced acidity kept in check by sweet spice).
Once the stuff has reduced to a thick, jam-like consistency, adjust the seasoning and allow to cool. This is quite a lot of the stuff, but it should keep for weeks in the fridge.
Serve cold on pork or turkey sandwiches, in a tart or quiche, as a side to strong cheeses, or warm with steak or game.
Just in time to solidly crush all those silly promises to lay off the sweets this year, Sift Cupcake & Dessert Bar is adding six new confections to their cupcake lineup. Throughout December, the pastry peeps worked with Facebook fans to taste-test the new line which rolls out the week of January 10, 2011 — just in time for their Cupcake Wars debut on the Food Network on 1.11.11. BiteClub got a guided tour just before the holidays. Try not to feel too jealous. cupcake truffle at Sift
– Cupcake Truffles: Cupcakes and frosting take a whirl in the blender, then get hand-dipped in chocolate to create a bite-sized cruffle. ($2)
– Frosting Shots: If you’re in the camp that believes cupcakes are merely convenient carriers for a heaping helping of buttercream, belly up to the bar. Tiny shot glasses get a swirl of frosting, a few sprinkles and their own mini spoon. $1.50
– Whoopie Cookies: Two soft homemade cookies sandwich a layer of buttercream frosting. These guys are Whoopie whoppers, so bring a friend to help out. ($3) frosting shot at Sift
– Profiteroles: Tiny puffs of pastry get a dollop of cream filling and a sprinkly ganache hat. So light and airy, it’s almost like there are no calories at all! $3 for 2.
– Macarons: French almond meringue cookies (not the coconut ones) get supersized with smoosh of frosting in between. Classy AND gluten-free. ($3) – Cupcakes: The classic. Minis available by pre-order.
– Coming soon, Ice Cream Sammy: Homemade cookies embrace a scoop of ice cream. Sift Cupcake & Dessert Bars: Cotati (7582 Commerce Blvd., 792-1681); Santa Rosa (703-4228) and Napa (1000 Main St., Suite 100, 240-4004)
So, whether you’re a hardcore resolutionist or you defy any attempt to start fresh on January 1, there’s no denying that the New Year provides an opportunity to take stock and perhaps see where some improvement might be needed. That, or just be a total smart-ass. BiteClub reached out to a handful of food and wine folks to see what their resolutions would be. And while some were heartfelt, most landed in the latter category. And, frankly, anything else would have been disappointing. Here are some of my favorites and two of my own…
Ziggy Eshcliman/Ziggy the Wine Gal): “I think I’m going to try and embrace more Beer! (Now THAT’s a challenge!)”
Lisa Hemenway/Fresh by Lisa Hemenway:” It has been a long 2010!! I am ready for the change! I want to get out in the woods and hike more. Hug the trees and smell the moss. I also would love to be more disciplined. By this I mean less procrastination!”
Terri Stark/Stark Reality Restaurants: “Here are my resolutions: Stop working out; Eat and Drink more; Gain 20 Lbs; Start Smoking; Spend less time with my family. Ha!”
Josh Silvers/Syrah Bistro: “Not to procrastinate”
Hardy Wallace/Natural Process Alliance and Social Media legend: “My resolution- to bring the untamed spirit of the WWF to wineries throughout Sonoma county.”
Heather Irwin/BiteClub:
1. Minimize everything, including my thighs
2. Force everyone around me to make resolutions which I will repeatedly and sternly remind them of throughout the year.
What are your resolutions (sardonic or otherwise)….
PS, here are the most popular ones…
* Lose Weight
* Manage Debt
* Save Money
* Get a Better Job
* Get Fit
* Get a Better Education
* Drink Less Alcohol
* Quit Smoking Now
* Reduce Stress Overall
* Reduce Stress at Work
* Take a Trip
* Volunteer to Help Others
Each year, as we kiss a fond farewell to our gastronomic past and look toward all the delicious possibilities, culinary crystal balls appear to forecast the food trends of the year. Overexposed zeitgeists like bacon and cupcakes begin to fade and newcomers take the stage. What’s does 2011 have in store? Here are some top picks inspired by what’s happening locally, social media rumblings on Twitter and Facebook, and national input from restaurant consultants like Andrew Freeman & Co. of San Francisco and Brooklyn-based Baum + Whiteman. Pies from the Petaluma Pie Company Pies are the new cupcakes: Though perhaps not as Kewpie-cute as cupcakes, the homier pie is set to have its moment in 2011. Made with seasonal ingredients (persimmon, Meyer lemons), local butters and organic, all-natural ingredients, these are the kinds of pies great-grandmas used to have cooling on the windowsill. Branching off are myriad ethnic versions (savory curry pies, English hand pies), mini pies baked in Mason jars and southern-inspired, pecan and fried pies. Petaluma Pie Company, 125 Petaluma Blvd N. (behind Starbucks), Petaluma, 347-9743; fried pies at Fremont Diner, 2660 Fremont Dr., Sonoma, 938-7370. Best pies in SoCo.
Market Eateries: More than a grocery store, less than a restaurant. Multi-purpose, European-style food halls offer gourmet prepared foods; meats, cheeses & groceries along with sit-down service. One of the most anticipated market halls was Mario Batali’s Eataly in New York City, a 50,000 square-foot space with several boutique eateries as well as fish, meat, pasta and bakery goods for sale. Locally, Fresh by Lisa Hemenway (5755 Mountain Hawk Way, Santa Rosa, 595-1048) pioneered the local market eatery with a combination of locally produced foods, an extensive prepared foods deli and in-store eatery. On a smaller scale is Woodruff’s Artisan Foods & Cafe in Sebastopol, a recently opened specialty foods market with it’s own restaurant, Cafe Marcella, inside. (966 Gravenstein Hwy S., Sebastopol,) Southern cooking & Gulf seafood: The South is rising again. Although Sonoma County has long been a home to southern transplants, nouveau southern cooking will get its due in 2011. Grits, pimento cheese, fried chicken, Spam, red velvet, barbecue, gumbo and scrapple are showing up on local menus with increasingly regularity. Chefs are showing support for the hard-hit fishermen of the Gulf by showcasing seafood (most notably shrimp) from the area as well. Top spots for Southern hospitality: Rocker Oysterfeller’s & Sonoma Coast Fish Bank (buttermilk fried chicken, gumbo, Gulf seafood) 14415 Coast Hwy 1, Valley Ford, 876-1983); Zin Restaurant and Wine Bar (cassoulet with Andouille sausage): 344 Center St., Healdsburg, 473-0946; Rotisserie & Wine (duck confit and waffles, scrapple) 720 Main St., Napa, 254-8500); Sarah’s Forestville Kitchen (jalepeno grits, gumbo) 6566 Front St., Forestville, 887-1055; Pimento burger at Brick and Bottle (55 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, (415) 924-3366). Haute Dogs: The lowly wiener has become more than just ballpark fare. Hot dogs and their encased-siblings, sausages, are getting a makeover, with white tablecloth toppings (wine reductions, caramelized onions) and unusual ingredients (feta, cranberries). Using their own meat grinders and natural casings, chefs are getting into the action as well. Roy’s Chicago Doggery (peach habenaro hot sauce, blue cheese) 84 Corona Rd, Petaluma, 774-1574; Tap’s Petaluma (organic sauerkraut, deep fried bacon dog) 205 Kentucky Street (beneath the historic Petaluma Hotel), Petaluma, 763-6700; Chicago Style Hot Dogs (pinot dog), various locations Twitter: dogsfromchicago; Yanni’s Sausage Grill (Greek, chicken limoncello) 10007 Main St., Penngrove, 795-7088; Panini from Bliss Bakery “Free” Foods: Elevating Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free dining: Formerly fringe-y food ideas are going mainstream as our collective waistlines expand. Meatless Mondays, a one-day-a-week-meat-free movement started in 2003 as a public health awareness program, is gaining momentum as restaurants and schools cut back on animal protein in favor of grains and vegetables. Forward-thinking chefs are lavishing attention on vegetarian and vegan options — highlighting pristine produce. Eateries devoted to raw, vegan and gluten-free foods are getting thriving, as are restaurants that offer limited protein choices. The Garden (90 Mark West Springs Road, 829-1410); Bliss Bakery (gluten-free dining) 463 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa, 542-6000; Cyrus’ haute vegetarian tasting menu, 29 North St., Healdburg, 707.433.3311; Cafe Gratitude, 206 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 707.723.4462. Dessert First: Heck with dinner, why not just eat dessert? Dessert bars, bakeries and superstar pastry chefs are emerging as equals. Top Chef Just Desserts on Bravo helped to shine a light on the sometimes overlooked craft of pastry. With a new emphasis on exotic flavors, savory influences along with updated spins on traditional treats, desserts are becoming an integrated part of the meal. Or the meal itself. Sift Cupcakery has shed its cupcake-only mantle to become Sift Cupcake and Dessert Bar (Santa Rosa, Cotati, Napa) featuring unique takes on the whoopie pie, cream puffs, profite rolls, macarons and ice cream sandwiches. Haute restaurants are recruiting top pastry talent, including the recent move of Nicole Plue to Cyrus. More trends for 2011:
– Smaller Portions/Mini-sizing: Gut-busting plates of food will be replaced by more thoughtful, reasonable portions. Sliders, mini-burgers and other micro-sized bites pack in flavor, but satisfy with less. Continuing to remain popular are tapas and small plates restaurants where ordering multiple dishes and sharing are encouraged.
– Calories in our face: More and more menus are actually listing calories in places other than hidden away on some pamphlet hung near the bathroom. Fast food giant Wendy’s is putting calorie counts right on the ordering menu…and frankly, it’s not all bad. Yes, there are times when you just don’t want to know. But a dose of realism is also a pretty good thing sometimes. Hot Cheese, tomato soup and pickles
– One-thing only eateries: Shifting away from the Chinese menu approach are restaurants and pop-up eateries that just do one thing really well. Chef John Ash experimented with a grilled-cheese-only farm-market stand called “Hot Cheese” over the summer.
– Feeding our children better: School lunch programs continue to evolve, though many still pay mostly lip-service to meaningful nutritional change. Over-ambitious parents pack tweezer perfect Bento-boxes with nutritious yet adorable rice balls, fruits and vegetables. Still Trending from 2010
The hottest food trends of 2010 will continue to extend their influence into the mainstream throughout the year… Food Trucks: Santa Rosa’s Munch Mondays begin on January 10 as a collection of mobile kitchens converge near downtown. In Napa, trucks converge on the first Friday of the month near Oxbow market.
Food buzzwords also include: home canning and preserving; collective gardening as entire neighborhoods share in the bounty; the waste-less whole animal eating; Korean cuisine; exotic spices and spice blends in the kitchen. Your 15 minutes are officially over
The bacon zeitgeist: At last bacon can just be bacon again. The wacky days of bacon mayonnaise, bacon candy, bacon t-shirts and bacon cocktails are winding down, which is actually good news to folks like John Stewart of Santa Rosa’s Black Pig Meat Company. Although the frenzy was initially good for biz, serious pork-o-philes can now just get back to the task of enjoying their smoky goodness in peace.
