Noodle Palace | Santa Rosa

By biteclub

Noodle Palace bun

It’s hard to pinpoint what’s most curious about Santa Rosa’s Noodle Palace: the Pepto pink exterior, lumpy parking lot, the hand-painted sign on plywood, trying to figure out where the door is, the untouched faux-cantina interior left over from Mi Rancho, or the fact that I never get exactly what I order.
Somehow they all add up to awesome.

Operating on a shoestring, these Pho Vietnam veterans have quickly won a neighborhood following with their idiosyncratic eatery. And it’s  welcome addition to the north end of Petaluma Hill Road —  a virtual restaurant wasteland (aside from Lola’s and a few taquerias).
Says BiteClubber Jim: “The food is typical Vietnamese/Asian noodle fare, cheap, fresh and tastes great; they are already proving very popular with the locals.”
The menu’s a combination of Vietnamese pho and bun, rice plates, egg rolls and spring rolls and off-menu additions like chow fun (wide noodles fried with vegetables and meat). So far, no bahn mi, but if enough folks start asking…
Beef Balls Pho
Beef Balls Pho

The vibe: Clean and friendly, with excellent barbecued beef and pork. Pho-eaters (which I am not) give the soup solid marks, though I can say from experience that beef balls are an acquired taste that I’m not planning on acquiring anytime soon. It’s a texture thing really. Beef add-ins include rare steak, tendon, tripe and brisket, along with seafood (crab, fish balls, squid, shrimp) and chicken.
Shrimp salad ($6.95)is a standout, with crisp lettuce, cilantro and spicy fish sauce. Bun (vermicelli noodles, $6.50 to $7.45) is remarkably similar to the versions at Pho Vietnam and Simply Vietnam — meaning lunchtime heaven, even if they did forget to put the egg rolls on mine. Chow fun is slick and slippery (as it should be) with tons of intriguing veggies and the perfect amount of gravy. Ask for it dry if you’re looking for a little more wok hai.
Shrimp salad

Devotees will cheer at finding soy bean milk, coconut juice, sweet red beans, and jellied tapioca in coconut milk on the menu. But fresh lemonade served in an ice cream glass? It’s part of the Noodle Palace experience: Unexpected. A little weird. Ultimately awesome.
*Bonus: Look for the hidden money in the walls. Don’t take it, cause that would be horrible. Just look around and you’ll find it.
Noodle Palace, 1310 Petaluma Hill Road, 528-1548. Open M-Sat 10:30am to 9:30pm; Sunday 10:30 am to 8:30pm.

El Pollo Loco to RP

By biteclub

Fast food joints opening up aren’t usually big news (except when it’s an In N Out), but this one is near and dear to many SoCal transplants, and probably worth a mention.
El Pollo Loco, a chain of flame-grilled chicken restaurants (think KFC without the “F”) famous for their herb, spice and citrus marinade is coming to Rohnert Park in September. The restaurant has a Mexican flair, serving up tortillas, salsa, beans and Spanish rice along with the usual fries, mashed taters and corn and macaroni.
The location: 5215 Redwood Dr., Rohnert Park

Gyros Northbay style

By biteclub

Do good gyros exist in Sonoma County?
Let’s first start with a definition. In the U.S., gyros have come to mean pretty much anything wrapped up in a pita. Traditionally, however, gyros are made from roast lamb or a combination of pressed lamb and beef sliced off a vertical rotisserie. Souvlaki are generally roasted meat kabobs (chicken, pork, beef or lamb) that are wrapped in pita. And what gyros are to Greeks, “Doner” is to the Turks. Instead of pita, they use Lavash flatbread, but the end result is pretty similar — sliced meat rolled up in a deliciously portable packet. We’ll just lump them all under “gyros” for the sake of this article. And let’s all agree that it’s pronounced yeeros, not jiro — as my dad refers to them.
Here’s what BiteClub (with the help of some Facebook friends) found…
Petalumans have an ongoing tug-of-war over which of their two Turkish gyro — excuse us, doner —  spots rocks the Lavash harder. One the westside, Real Doner and on the eastside, Afendi’s. The good news: You’ll have plenty of fun testing them both to find out.
Real Doner: “The Real Doner in Petaluma will tell you that Doners rule over Gyros,” said Dave Devencenzi. Which, frankly, is true in this case. “I just had the best gyro of my life (and I am from Michigan where there is REALLY good Greek food) at Real Doner. Even though I live in Healdsburg, I will be making the trip just for this fantastic gyro,” said Allison Fuleky Ketcham. Real Doner is a no-frills family-run deli with where the focus isn’t on ambiance, but on the mini torpedos of meat, sauce, veggies and flatbread that serve up to hungry locals every day.  307 F. St. Petaluma, 707.765.9555.
Afendi’s Turkish Grill: If you’re a fan of Real Doner, then you may recognize Chef Joe Besir from his days in their kitchen. Now with a place of his own, Besir has taken his show across the freeway to the east side — more restaurant than deli — with all of his signature dishes. Gryos, of course, are on the menu (“doner”), made with Halal chicken, lamb and beef with his signature sauce, onions and cabbage. “One of the best I ever had!” said Robbin Montero. While you’re there, it’s worth trying his Sigara Borek (little “cigarettes” of filo and feta”; smoky baba ganouj and falafel. Belly dancers on Friday and Saturday night. 299 North McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, (707) 763-1998.
Taste of a Gyro: Chef Sondra Bernstein gives the heads up on Dominic Sammarco’s mobile gyro trolley near the Sonoma town square. He does traditional lamb as well as chicken gyros, but the secret’s in the sauce. In addition to tzatziki (a yogurt cucumber sauce), he douses his $6 hand’wiches with a selection sauces that go from mild to wild: ranch feta, jalapeno feta, habanero feta or the mouth-searing super fire hot red sauce (jalapenos, sirrano, habenero and body-numbing ghost peppers). “It’s all about creating your own taste,” he said. You’ll find business and construction folks rubbing elbows with a few adventurous high schoolers from 10am to 4pm Monday through Saturday at the Sonoma Skate Shop (1001 Sonoma Ave., Sonoma) or Tuesday evenings at Sonoma’s farmer’s market.
Bobby The Greek: “Find the best homemade tzatziki and you’ll find the right gyros. Bobby’s at Wednesday night market is excellent,” said Timothy Jaxon. Bob Gekas will charm the money right out of your hands, plying you with his gyros and souvlaki (grilled lamb, chicken or pork) served on a warm pita with the aforementioned tzatziki, tomatoes and onions. Find him at the Wednesday night market in downtown Santa Rosa and on Saturdays at the Veteran’s Building Farmer’s Market.
Yanni’s Sausage Grill: Okay, so sausage isn’t exactly a gyro, but the building blocks at this tiny storefront are certainly in the same neighborhood. On the menu, eight flavors of sausage including Loukaniko, a rustic Greek sausage with citrus and spice; greek kalamata olive and feta sausage; and lamb sausage served with tzatziki. All are under $6, most under $5. 10007 Main St., Penngrove, 795-7088
Papa’s Taverna: The big daddy of Greek restaurants in the area, this Lakeville Hwy destination is all about the Opa! There’s a large selection of gyro and souvlaki, along with traditional entrees like roast leg of lamb and moussaka. It’s worth the trip on weekend evenings just for the bellydancing and live Greek music. 5688 Lakeville Hwy, Petaluma, 769-8545.
Pita Cafe: A number of readers swear by this unassuming Rohnert Park cafe, saying their lamb and chicken gyro are tops. According to Stephanie Moore Ansley: “Delicious gyros and gyro wraps.” I’ve been a couple times and found them to be solid — definitely a step above fast food — but not swoon-worthy. Then again, when you’re craving the gyro… 6585 Commerce Blvd # C, Rohnert Park, 707-588-9522.
CLOSED Daphne’s: Fast-food gyros that aren’t half-bad. A great way to introduce kids and leery friends to the whole gyro mystique. Plus, great healthy, low-cal options like grilled chicken, and a vegetarian plate of falafel, spanakopita, hummus and dolmas. 2280 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, (707) 566-6736.
Did we miss one of your favorites? Sound off…

Would you pay $26 for a chicken?

By biteclub

We are a nation in love with poultry. The average American eats about 90 pounds of chicken each year, more than three times what we ate in 1960, and that number continues to grow. And grow and grow.
With that increase in demand has come an increase in alternatives to the plumped up, pumped-up factory-farmed chicken that’s become a staple of our diet. Free-range, organic, hormone-free birds take up increasing amounts of space in the poultry case, commanding up to twice as much as conventional chicken, with most costing significantly more than conventionally grown poultry.
But when the gap grows to five times the cost of  the cheapest bird ($4.99 for a rotisserie-roasted bird at Costco) versus $26 for a free-range, hormone-free bird from a local CSA, you have to start asking some serious questions: What could possibly make a chicken cost $26? And more importantly, why would anyone pay that kind of money for a single bird?
Turns out, a growing group of educated consumers will. Food advocate Michael Pollan has repeatedly suggested that we’re not paying nearly enough money for our food. In 1960, 18 percent of our national income was spent on food, and only 5 percent on healthcare. Today, Pollan says 9 percent of our income is spent on food and a whopping 17 percent on health care. “The less we spend on food, the more we spend on healthcare,” he says.
And when you start talking to farmers and ranchers why their animals cost so much, the answers bear that out.
I talked to Nancy Prebilich of Gleason Ranch who started breaking down the cost differential. A family rancher who uses organic feed, sells locally, used to process locally (until Fulton went out of business), keeps her chickens in outdoor “tractors” and is trying to make a living being sustainable, it’s not a pretty picture. Although she’s the darling of many local chefs, processing about 600 chickens per week  in the “air-chill” method (versus a cold water dunk that saturates the chicken, artificially plumping them up with water), her family ranch is still mostly a labor of love. Her chickens run about $17-$20 at local grocery stores like Oliver’s and at farmer’s markets (she sells at the Saturday farmer’s market in Santa Rosa).
Consider some of her average costs, however…

  • Chick: About $1.30 to $2 each. About 20-40% won’t make it to adulthood.
  • Feed: $1200 a week.
  • Processing: $4 per bird

And that doesn’t take into account other hard costs (shelter, veterinary care, man-hours in cleaning and maintaining the animals). At that point she’s already well beyond what the Costco bird sells for. And like other folks who let their birds have access to fresh air and grass, she gets has a fair amount of birds knocked down from “Grade A’ to Grade B (which are worth less) because of insect bites or blemishes on their skin. It’s not easy money, as she can attest.
“Sustainable agriculture is agriculture that will sustain a living for a farmer,” said Prebilich. “We’re relying on that chicken to pay our PGE bill. This is not a side job.” According to her, about 80 percent of farmers rely on something other than agriculture as their main income. “Sure, a $30 chicken is outrageous, when i can get a gallon of milk for $4. But taxpayers are subsidizing that. We’re not subsidizing our local farmers and we shouldn’t be,” she adds.
What’s your take on $26 chickens? Should we be supporting sustainable agriculture — an ultimately our own health and environment — by paying more? Or is it too much to ask in hard economic times?
Sound off.

Savory Spice

By biteclub

Good cooks will tell you to replace your spices about once a year. Great cooks, every six months. The reasoning: After sitting around for a while, they lose so much of their essential essence that you may as well season with sawdust.
Case in point: The row of bottles in my spice rack dating back to, uh, the 1980’s. I’ve made a lot of cream sauce a la sawdust, it seems.  Someone needs a trip to Savory Spice Shop.
The idea: Rows and rows of freshly ground spices — from true cinnamon (that stuff on your shelf is a sad imitator) to exotic curry blends, whole vanilla beans and hundreds of sweet, savory, spicy ingredients from around the world. Organized by affinity, baking spices gather on one wall, Asian on another, Mexican and Latin spices, etc. So, if you’re looking for, say Garam Masala, you’ll know just where to find it.
The fun is in sampling. Each has a tester bottle, so you can sniff and taste your way around the store. Dumping any leftovers on the floor is encouraged, lending to the inviting scents that are ground into the very floorboards.
Can’t miss additions to your kitchen:
– True Ceylon Cinnamon: Sweet and pungent, this is is the essence of cinnamon. You’ll never use the other stuff again. You may also find yourself rubbing it behind your ears and on your wrists.
– Garam Masala:  A signature Indian mix of coriander, pepper, charnuska, cumin, cardamon, cloves, mace, cinnamon and bay leaves.
– Shichimi Togarashi: A spicy Japanese seasoning blended with sesame seeds, orange peel, white poppy, paprika, Chinese chiles, Szechwan peppercorns, ginger and toasted seaweed. Love this on udon noodles, and chicken.
– Park Hill Maple and Spice Pepper: Maple sugar, black pepper, coriander, mustard and a ton of other spices make this a sweet and savory mix perfect for rubbing on pork loin. Or just eating out of the jar.
– Paris Cheese Sprinkle: Dill, Romano cheese, onion, basil, chives, tarragon, chervil and parsley make this perfect for mixing into dips or sprinkling on popcorn.
– Vadouvan: A smokey, oniony curry powder that’s great on chicken or veggies.
A big plus is that many of the flavorful blends don’t include salt, making them a great solution for folks watching sodium intakes. The store also offers “kits” of herbs and spices perfect for wedding, birthdays, or housewarming.
Spice things up.
Savory Spice Shop, 317 D St., Santa Rosa, (707) 284-1310



Fish Taco Quest

By biteclub
Aoili’s Fish Taco

Aoili's Fish Taco
Aoili's Fish Taco

No offense to watermelon, drippy Popsicles or potato salad, but when it comes to iconic warm weather eats, fish tacos are the catch of the day. They bring to mind flip flops, sandy beaches, lazy days at the ocean and the apre-swim munchies that require anything fast, fried or finger-food-friendly to be adequately quelled.
A longtime staple of many local taquerias, the fish taco is a constantly evolving snack — transformed from a lowly fish stick on a tortilla to a crunchy, multi-cultural work of art in the right hands. Then again, sometimes a fish stick and some chipotle mayo on a corn tortilla is fine, too.  From haute to humble here are some of the area’s best bets for fish tacos that quench the craving. Here are some of my favorites…
Top Pick: Fancy Fishies at Aioli Delicatessen (Friday only)
Autumn Barber is a fish-frying fool come Friday. On the menu just once a week, her wild rock cod fish tacos are dunked in Fat Tire beer batter  spiced with coriander and cayenne, fried to a crispy crunch and served up with chipotle lime sour cream, pico de gallo and lemon oil dressed cabbage. In a red plastic basket, mind you, as not to get all highfalutin. Worth the drive to Forestville, truly. Just be patient, cause there’s usually a line, starting at noon. 6536 Front St., Forestville, (707) 887-2476.
Top Pick: Las Palmas
Fish tacos aren’t always on the menu, but when they are, jump. Blackened fish tacos here are all about the fish, and less about the batter. Loaded up with cabbage and a side of beans and rice, it’s a meal and a half.  What keeps us coming back to Las Palmas are menu specials like these that go way beyond boring burritos and quesadillas. 415 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, (707) 546-3091.
La Texanita: Hot. Hot. Hot. These are some seriously spicy fish tacos, packing a flavor wallop. For us, they were almost too spicy for comfort, but like everything here, they’re fresh and homemade. If you’re jonesing for the frutas del mar, don’t miss their spankingly good shrimp and ceviche tostadas. 1667 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa, (707) 525-1905.
Cafe Zazzle: Fish tacos with a side of Zazzle slaw? Get past the preciousness and prepare to dig in. Fresh grilled fish with cheese, chipotle aoili, salsa and their signature slaw. One of our Petaluma lunchtime faves. 121 Kentucky St., Petaluma, 762-1700.
Third Street Aleworks: Friends raved about these fried nuggets of goodness. And they lived up to the hype. Somewhat similar to Aioli Deli’s, they’re beer-battered cod tacos with cabbage, pico de gallo and cilantro-lime sour cream. But without all the glamor of lemon-oil. 610 3rd Street, Santa Rosa, 523-3060.
Crepevine: Who knew eggs benny and omelets could be menu-mates to fish tacos? Santa Rosa’s new breakfasty-brunchy cafe does a solid lunchtime rendition of fish tacos with mango salsa. Prepare to doggy bag, however. Servings here are huge. In addition to two broiled fish tacos, you’ll end up with a side of Caesar salad and fries.740 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa,  (707) 577-8822.
Willi’s Seafood: Though it seems almost a shame to adulterate the amazing fresh fish at this Healdsburg fave (where oysters rule, along with the lobster roll), Willi’s keeps their fish tacos simple. Just a simple grill, with salsa, crema and lime. Voila, perfection. 403 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, 433-9191.
And the rest…Fish taco affectionados also suggested Martha’s Old Mexican Grill (305 North Main Street, Sebastopol, 823-4458), Lola’s Markets, La Taquiza (2007 Redwood Rd., Napa, 224-2320) and Rubio’s as their favorites. With summer still playing out, there’s no doubt more and more fish tacos will crop up on local menus.
What about Ceviche?
Seafood of a different sort, ceviche is simply fish “cooked” in citrus. It takes on a variety of hues and flavors, but you’ll most often find mild white fish like cod mixed with fresh pico de gallo, lots of lime and cilantro. Scooped onto a crispy tostada it’s a bit of heaven.  You’ll find some of the best at , Taqueria Don Jose, where off-duty chefs scarf down carnitas, ceviche and cerveza with mucho gusto. 958 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa, (707) 545-5747. But there’s nothing like a nice shrimp tostada or ceviche at the El Cache truck at the Saturday Santa Rosa Farmer’s Market. You’ll find me most weekends with a heaping plate of salsa, shrimp and fresh sliced avocados sitting round the oilcloth table. Just leave me a little hot sauce and a spot in the shade.
What are you faves?

Black Cat closing, more bar shakeups

By biteclub

Where will we drink? There’s a rash of bar shakeups leaving their thirsty faithful, well, a bit parched. Here’s the download…
Black Cat: The freak flag flew high at this funky little Penngrove bar, and BiteClub for one is misty over its demise. Eight-year owner Robin Pfefer hosted some of the area’s coolest musical acts (squeezed into the tight corner) along with open mic nights and fostered a healthy community spirit where gay, straight, young, old and everyone on the spectrum could cozy up on the cracked vinyl seats and hang. All of us freaks. We’ll miss the mayor, the bras on the ceiling, le chat noir poster and the feeling that there was at least one last bastion the tan/gym/laundry crowd hadn’t infiltrated. The Cat hosts its final farewell on August 28, when the bras from above will be given to their owners/admirers. The bar will officially close in mid-September and has been purchased by the owners of Cotati’s Eight Ball, reopening in the fall as Mack’s. “It’s bittersweet,” said Pfefer, who is closing the bar in order to spend more time with her toddler son. “We had the greatest clientele, the greatest staff. But because the bar is gone doesn’t mean the people are gone. They’ll pick up the freak flag and fly it somewhere else,” she said. The only good news, Humble Pie next door will remain open. 10056 Main Street, Penngrove, (707) 793-9480.
The Vine: The ultra-lounge formerly known as Seven, and then The Vine, is officially closed. A for sale sign is posted in the window. Doomed from the start? It seems the ghost of Seven never quite left the building. 528 7th Street, Santa Rosa, (707) 527-5600
Stir: There’s no official word, but recently Stir hasn’t been stirring. We’ve seen this kind of thing before at the Mendocino Ave. cocktail lounge — one night packed, another mysteriously dark — so we’re not tolling the death bell just yet. But the phone has been “temporarily disconnected” and their Facebook fan page indicates that the swizzle sticks are on ice for now. The former Barcode has long been a challenging spot, but Stir seemed to be getting it right. Ste D, 404 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, (707) 284-7480.
Is there still hope? BiteClub hears through the grapevine that several other local spots are on the skids (though others are doing just fine, thanks). Why do some watering holes thrive while others head over the guardrail in just a few months? And while we’re at it, why do some bars swear they’ll never play hip-hop, only to throw it on the turntables a month later.
One insider we talked to said that he tells bar owners that they’ll be lucky to be full two nights a week. And if they can’t support that, then they’re swimming upstream. Especially in this market. What’s your take?
Personally, I’m voting for someone to open a burlesque bar atop the 440. Now that’s something we could all get behind…

Keane names new steakhouse

By biteclub

Shimo Modern Steak is the name of Douglas Keane’s forthcoming Healdsburg steakhouse. According to the Cyrus chef, shimo is a Japanese word referring to “frost” and use it to describe the white marbling in beef, especially the highly prized Wagyu whose fat has an almost snow-like appearance. It’s also particularly appropriate for Keane, who brings an Asian influence to nearly all of his cooking and plans to incorporate some Asian flavors and sauces into the steakhouse menu. The restaurant is anticipated to open winter 2010/11.

Friday Foodcart Fiesta: SF’s Off the Grid

By biteclub

The wagons have circled around the coolest food scene in the Bay Area — the Friday night foodcart extravaganza in Fort Mason called Off the Grid. And SoCo is solidly representing.
The idea: Somewhere between 15 and 20 of the best street food trucks ’round SF and beyond roll up into the Marina parking lot between 5 and 9pm on Friday evening, forming a tight ring of squeal-worthy eats at rock-bottom prices. Add some kickin’ tunes and a full bar, and you’ve got a gastro-party worth the hour trip south.
If you’re a fan of the Bay Area’s food cart scene (bottom line: top-notch chefs and creative cooks are reclaiming the roach coach, turning out restaurant-worthy bites from their mobile kitchens at prices anyone can afford), you’ll recognize many of the names: The Creme Brulee Cart, Chairman Bao, Kung Fu Tacos, Hapa Ramen and of course, Santa Rosa’s own Street Eatz truck, which is easily holding its own among the SF giants of cart cuisine.
Bring a pocket full of cash, a bib, some friends and a willingness to try anything. BiteClub and friends ate through as many of the trucks as we could in 90 minutes (we parked illegally and didn’t want to get towed, after all). Here’s the Fork-1-1…
Chairman Bao: By far the longest line is for these nouveau Chinese steamed and baked buns. And we counted no less than five very pregnant ladies in line, which is never a bad sign when it comes to crave-worthy eats. Best bet: Order one of each flavor (there’s a six bun max limit!): pork belly with radish, duck confit with mango, sesame chicken with scallions, garlic tofu with miso and meatball with kim chee. Regretting missing the pineapple salted caramel shaved ice.
Global Soul: Bourbon shrimp toasties were the best meal of the night. Curried shrimp atop two toasted buns.
CupKate’s Truck: “Best cupcakes ever” was the mantra overheard again and again. Solid.
The Taco Guys: Fish tacos to swoon over
Street Eatz: The gals from our neck of the woods change up their styles frequently, and we loved that “Asian” was on the menu last week, dishing out their amazing agedashi and curries.
Kung Fu Tacos: Don’t miss the duck and pork belly tacos.
Curry Up Now: Deconstructed Samosas are everything you love about a samosa turned inside out.
Hapa Ramen: Slow food noodles. Ramen, a soft boiled egg, pulled chicken, fresh corn and lots of happy slurping.
Happy Dumplings: Fresh-made dumplings. The only “meh” of the night.
Gobba Gobba Hey: Whoopie pies done right. Dulce de leche. Mmmm.
You can find nearly all of these vendors (and many more) at the Street Food Festival August 21, 2010 in San Francisco.