CONGRATS TO Mudbug Eddie, who’ll receive my beautiful Heirloom Tomato book.
As a full-time eater, I’ve nibbled my way through hundreds of restaurants in the Bay Area. I’ve got spare tire around my middle to prove it. But there are thousands of equally passionate part-time diners in the North Bay who know just as much — if not more — about local eateries, off-menu specials, lunchtime best bets, just-opened and sometimes-overlooked spots. Some of you have bigger dining expense accounts than I do, while others are penny-pinching students just looking for a cheap eat. But whatever your food budget, through my dining blog, BiteClubEats.com, Facebook, Twitter, email and just on-the-street chats with you, I’ve learned that together, we’re an unstoppable force in sussing out the best, worst and just can’t miss eateries throughout Wine Country.
That’s what this column is all about. One question each week answered by you, then edited and supplemented by me. Think of it as a delicious group project.
QOW: What’s your favorite way to eat ripe tomatoes? Which restaurants have especially great tomato dishes (Caprese, fried green tomatoes, etc)?
Please note that these comments may be used for publication in the Press Democrat, so please use your real first and last name (or sign in with Facebook) if you’d like to participate. Some lucky person just might get my desk copy of The Heirloom Tomato, a new book by Amy Goldman.
Denny’s Fried Grilled Cheese Mozzarella Stick Fail!
Frankly, I’d hoped for more. When putting my very health on the line, I at least like to stare death in the face and give a hearty belly laugh. Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt felt like a very weak fist shaking — maybe a stern finger pointing — at best.
New to Denny’s $2, $4, $6, $8 Value Menu, it’s a grilled cheese sandwich with four mozzarella sticks stuffed inside. Epic!
Along the lines of Carl’s Junior Footlong Cheeseburger or KFC’s Double Down, this is the latest entrant into the zeitgeist of stupid, ridiculous, horrifying abominations that revel in their gastrointestinal wrongness. They dare you to eat them. The only plus: Their caloric freakishness is offset by the rush of hedonistic masochism that jolts through your veins. You could crush those self-righteous nutritionists with your belly rolls!
Hidden inside the menu, it’s hard to find and staff don’t seem to have their heart into its delivery. The slim $4 ‘wich masquerading as the promised Fried Cheese Melt had none of the aforementioned gusto. And came served minus marinara. Or fries (I was offered a salad or soup – meh). On the plus side, the ranch dressing did serve as a handy dunking pool. But sheesh, at least give me the satisfaction of some fries with my cheese-covered fried cheese with butter.
Calorie-wise, it’s still in the nightmare oeuvre, clocking in at about 895 calories and 34 grams of fat. Tack on the ranch dip, and you’re into the quadruple digits. But frankly, after a few bites, I lost interest and started thinking about exactly how many hours of cardio it would take to burn this meal off my thighs. And how many days I just clocked off my life.
So not worth it. Pass the salad.
Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt, available at all local Denny’s restaurants.
CLOSED Torch of India
CLOSED Billing itself as “Solano County’s #1 Indian Restaurant”, Torch of India’s tagline might be a bit of an undersell in SoCo. Because while no one doubt’s Vacaville’s contribution to the expansion of chain restaurants, culinary mecca isn’t usually among it’s descriptors.
Number one is number one, though. And not to be scoffed at. With a sunny new coat of paint on the walls, a solid opening lunch buffet ($8.95) featuring Makhni (butter chicken!), Jalphrez, tandoori, pakora, saag paneer and lentils, along with fresh salads and steaming naan, the Torch is off to a bright downtown start.
Inside the former Kabab and Curry, the bar has been removed to make way for the lunch buffet, and the interior brightened up. Bollywood videos on flat-screen tv’s set the mood, providing instant conversation starters should dates/co-workers/online meet-ups turn dull. (You can brush up on the dance moves here) or here.
The new owners are from the northern region of India, so there’s lots of rich cream sauces (Kashmiri lamb cooked in a cream mint sauce), lamb, tandoor, kabab and clearly-marked vegan and vegetarian dal, masala and curries. The menu runs for eight full pages, so there’s clearly more tasting to be done. Much more tasting. Plus, the beer and wine license is about a week away, as are the belly dancers.
Stay tuned for more tastes, but for now, here’s to being number one. Wherever you’re from.
Torch of India, 507 4th St., Santa Rosa, open M-Sat for lunch and diner (closed 2:30 to 5:30pm) , Sunday from 5:30 to 9:30pm. 569-7500
Duskie Estes of Zazu an Iron Chef candidate
Local foods champion and restaurant owner Duskie Estes of Santa Rosa’s Zazu Restaurant + Farm, Bovolo + Black Pig Meats has been chosen as one of ten chefs from around the country competing on the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef.
She’ll be in the company of such heavy hitters as Ming Tsai, the chef-owner of Blue Ginger, Andrew Kirshner of Wilshire in LA and Marc Forgione of Forge in New York.
Estes has been bound to secrecy by the network, but she did tell BiteClub, “I’m super excited!”
From the FN machine: :“The third season of The Next Iron Chef certainly has no shortage of tough competitors,” said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Programming & Production. “These chefs are some of the fiercest and most decorated yet, which promises the most exciting culinary rivalries to date.”
Just don’t be too alarmed by her bio pic on the FN site. The usually toned-down Estes has been given a deluxe dolling-up. “My kids say, ‘That’s not my mommy!'” she said over the phone. We’ll also forgive the fact that they spelled her restaurant incorrectly on the FN site.
Congrats to Duskie. Despite some SF snarking (pffffff), it’s about time that SoCo kitchens get the mainstream cred they so deserve.
Restaurant consultant Clark Wolfe, on InsideScoopSF said of Estes, “gotta tell you, I think it’s a great choice. She does the kind of hearty farmland food that represents some of the best of the Bay Area without a lot of the sillyness that passes for technique. It will be interesting to see how it’s recieved by a winner take all tv crowd. Go Duskie!!”
The series begins October 3 on Food Network.
Here’s more on the show from the Food Network:
This season, the contestants battle their way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to New York, for the right to compete in the finale in legendary Kitchen Stadium. Along the way, they will be challenged to showcase important Iron Chef attributes through their food: ingenuity, innovation, resourcefulness, transformation, respect, inspiration, seduction, and honor. Host Alton Brown puts the culinary warriors through eight grueling tests that pay homage to American cuisine. Challenges include: cooking on a desert island, catching their secret ingredients in the wild, dreaming up a 5-star luxury menu and turning ordinary fair food into an Iron Chef worthy meal. Esteemed judges Donatella Arpaia (restaurateur and cookbook author), Simon Majumdar (food writer and broadcaster), and Iron Chef Michael Symon (chef and restaurateur) critique the challenges and narrow down the competition. The final two battle for supremacy in Kitchen Stadium in the season finale on Sunday, November 21st, at 9pm ET/PT. The winner joins the ranks of Symon, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, Mario Batali, Cat Cora and Jose Garces and launches into instant fame as a member of the Chairman’s team on Iron Chef America.
Noodle Palace | Santa Rosa
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…
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.
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
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
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?
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
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
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?