A bevy of new restaurants ring in the New Year, starting with the official opening of Stark’s Steakhouse Thursday (Jan. 10) after it’s preview party on Dec. 31. The restaurant is targeted to a “young, urban audience” (in Santa Rosa?). The focus is on dry-aged steaks and grass-fed beef with a pedigree. In addition to steaks, the meat-centric menu is set to include specials like calves liver and onions, short ribs, Dover sole with meyer lemon marmalade, Berkshire pork and (ohmygod!) steak frites cooked in duck fat. Can I hear an amen?

Lunch (which starts on the 21st) will focus on “build your own burgers” including a lamb burger with cucumber raita, ahi tuna burger with pickled ginger and spicy mustard and veal burger with fried sage, pancetta and fontina. Yum.

Headed up by Mark and Terri Stark (of Willi’s Wine Bar fame), odds are good that the restaurant will deliver. The restaurant is open (starting late January) Monday through Friday for lunch, 11:30am to 2:30 pm; dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5pm to 9pm and Friday and Saturday dinners until 10pm. 521 Adams St., Santa Rosa (the former Michele’s).

Elsewhere, Petaluma continues its foodie bonanza with several new restaurants. Flippers officially opens today at the former Waterfront Grill in the Golden Eagle Shopping Center. A SF-transplant, the menu focuses on burgers and–if its other restaurants are any indication–a brisk brunch biz. My question: How does that bode for nearby Dempsey’s, the defacto burger king of P-town? Time will tell, but it’s going to take some serious burger magic to wrestle away my loyalty.

Also new: Viva Cocolat is in the works at 110 Petaluma Blvd, a chocolate and dessert spot; burger and breakfast noshery Blu (140 2nd St., Petaluma), owned by the Sugo clan, has opened to some negative buzz from my P-town connections; Walnut Park Grill, a walk-up affair is serving up Niman Ranch burgers and sweet potato fries at 131 4th St; and Chopstix, at 212 Western Ave., is bringing a new twist on pan-Asian to the area.

So, the big question is, how will all of these new restaurants survive? Check out a thoughtful piece that recently ran on Petaluma360.com asking just that. The answer is simply that they won’t. Survival of the fittest, baby.

Back in the 1990’s, absinthe was all the underground rage. You couldn’t buy the stuff legally, mind you. Like marijuana and raw milk cheese, it was only available if you knew a guy who knew a guy who was willing to sell some to you at ridiculously high prices. You could even get busted for possessing the stuff. But oh, when you got some it was heaven. Except when it tasted like paint thinner. Which was most of the time.

Time for a look back at the brilliant, disastrous and generally delicious events of the past twelve months. Overall, it’s been a good year, full of openings, delightful surprises and some pretty darned tasty meals. But it’s also been a year of controversy and disappointments. Check out some of BiteClub’s favorite moments:

10. Ubuntu: Despite its odd mix of yoga and meatless dining, this Napa newcomer has become a critical darling after two former Manresa chefs work their magic on Brussels sprouts and radishes. See a photo gallery of the food

9. West County Grill: Though it opened with much fanfare and hope, reviews have continued to be mixed for Chez Panisse alums. Has celeb-chef Jonathan Waxman left the building?

8. Starks Steakhouse: The most anticipated opening of the year? Terri Stark’s new steakhouse venture. The owners of Monti’s, Willi’s Wine Bar, et al have been working hard on this venture for months, with promised opening dates throughout the fall. Dinner is rumored to begin service in early January. Will it live up to the hype?

7. Odyssey: Chefs go ga-ga over former Gramercy Tavern chef, Rudy Mihall, who opened his upscale bistro in Windsor this July. BiteClub looks forward to hearing more about this young chef, who’s destined for big things.

6. Rosso: With a menu that reads like a Sicilian love letter, former Tra Vigne Chef John Franchetti’s newly opened Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar ain’t your average pie shop. The remodeled space in Santa Rosa’s Creekside Center focuses on paper-thin prosciutto, fresh-made tapenades, signature salads, antipasti and bubbling wood-fired pizzas.

5. Sometimes things don’t work out quite the way you plan them. After a solid opening, a menu mix-up at Toyo stirs up serious gall with readers. And don’t get me started on the whole fish and chips debate.

4. Oxbow Market: Despite the fact that there’s still plenty to be done, I’m stoked about the new market in Napa, bringing together the best of Wine Country.

3. Two of my favorite meals of the year were in Chicago, at the very forward-thinking Alinea and Moto. Not to slight Wine Country, of course. But come on, bacon on a trapeze?

2. The biggest surprise of the year was how far The General’s Daughter has come. Sonoma’s comeback kid got a serious facelift in the kitchen by southern boy, Preston Dishman.

1. And my very favorite moment of the year: Your comments. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a cop-out, but I couldn’t do this column without you. Big shouts out to Mike, Bonnie, Phyllis, Wojamo, Vince, MsSteak, Denaruth, all the chefs who’ve put up with me, my boss Leigh who encouraged me to do this in the first place, the patience of Diane, and to everyone else who’s kept me on my toes, corrected me, cheered me on and generally made BiteClub a hell of a lot of fun.

I lift my fork to each and every one of you.

Namaste to Priya’s 20-plus item Indian lunch buffet for the bargain price of $8.95. With their steam tables just about a week old, it’s by far the best conglomeration of curry BiteClub’s found in recent memory. Featuring Indian cuisine of the north and south, the Rohnert Park restaurant doesn’t spare the spices in these top-notch dishes.

Freshly made offerings (the staff start cooking every morning at 7am) range from simple vegetarian daal, paneer, tandoori and chicken curry to more unusual offerings: Idli (steamed rice cases); utappam (rice pancakes with onions and chilis); goat tikka; keema mattar (ground lamb curry), masala kidney beans and a tikka-style Chicken Makhani. The buffet also features fresh naan bread, dosa and perfumed jasmine rice. Nothing has time to dry out or congeal as a constant parade of staff refill the steam trays.

Run by Berkeley transplant Sivaleela, the former taqueria in the Mountain Shadows Plaza is already packed with a hungry lunch crowd. The set-up isn’t fancy, and things can get congested around the steam tables as folks go back for seconds and thirds. But trust me, despite a sweating brow and evacuated sinuses (dishes here can get a bit intense), you’ll want to pile your plate repeatedly. Even the desserts–shredded carrots jacked with cardamom and the ubiquitous Gulab Jamun (warm donut balls marinated in rose syrup)–are thoughtful and delicious.

The lunch buffet runs from 11am to 3pm daily. The dinner menu features many of the lunch buffet items, along with additional fish, lamb and chicken dishes. But for sheer quantity and quality, our money’s on the blessings (or priya) of this awesome new find.

913 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park, 707.585.2944, open daily

Yes, BiteClubbers, I know you’re angry with me. Tired of seeing the same tired entries for a week. If I may play upon your sympathies, I have an excuse. Several actually. The dog ate my homework. My great Aunt Elma died. My sass is slumping. I have the flu.

The last two are actually true. Like most of the county, I’ve been laid up at home for days slurping soup out of a can. Eating boxed mashed potatoes, tuna casserole and Jell-O. Nursery food. Not exactly the stuff you’re craving to hear about and it would hardly be sporting of me to show up at restaurants with a seriously stuffed up schnoz.

I do have a few little tidbits to share, however.

When I start feeling crummy, I head for serious comfort food. Traverso’s (106 B St., Santa Rosa, 707.542.2530) comes to the rescue with their homemade meatloaf. Grab a slice or two at the deli counter–it’s just the right blend of meat, bread and marinara to cure what’s ailing you. Because I’m absolutely sure that tomato sauce has serious curative properties, I’ve been slinking around the ravioli shops in town as well. The ravioli’s been disappointing, but I found paydirt after ording a hefty chunk of mostaccioli from Paolo’s Ravioli Deli (1422 4th St., Santa Rosa, 707.526.3435). It’s a gut-busting chunk of pasta, sauce and cheese that tastes like moms. This Santa Rosa institution is warm and toasty inside, with happy checkered tablecloths and a stack of trashy tabloid magazines that can’t help but make you feel better.

Wrestling myself out of bed for an Echinacea-pumped Odwalla (my go-to-cure-all), I found salvation on a paper plate. Whole Foods in Santa Rosa has been offering samples of their holiday turkey dinner to lucky shoppers–turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and cranberry sauce all piled together. Heaven. They’ve also got a mean tomato macaroni in the deli that’s manna for the soul.

Hot and sour soup’s my other restorative. You can get a pretty decent cup at Ting Hau (717 4th St, Santa Rosa, 707.545.5204), but for sheer convenience, I can usually be found hunched over a steaming bowl at the nearby Golden Dragon (401 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa). Once you’re on the mend, check out new Stix Asian Grill (6285 Commerce Blvd S, Rohnert Park). It’s nothin’ fancy, but the spicy beef and fried rice isn’t half bad if you’re in a rush. Plus, there’s a gelateria fixing to open next door.

But I’m not done with my excuses. Oh no. For the last nine months or so I’ve been moonlighting, daylighting and spending just about every waking hour on another project that’s finally getting off the ground. WineTravel.com (you may have seen the ads on pressdemo.com) has launched in BETA version. And yours truly has put a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears into this project. More about it later. But Miss BiteClub has been plenty busy skulking around Wine Country sussing out the coolest stuff to see and do. Check it out. There’s still lots of work to be done, but I’m always looking for your input. Be kind to my baby.

Enough excuses. Stay tuned for more adventures. I promise to get back on the trail soon. Happy Holidays. Happy New Year. And keeping eating. Chow! (Sniffle. Cough.)

Funny how friends come out of the woodwork when you’ve got a box of chocolate around. Even more so when they’re wrapped up in a box so precious it makes your teeth hurt.

BiteClub has literally smacked grabby hands away from these inspired designer truffles in order to photograph them for you. The ride home from St. Helena was never quite so painful, with wafts of $22 chocolates (yeah, that’s almost $2 a piece for my tiny blue box) taunting at every turn. The chocolates made it home intact. The $12 sea salt caramels didn’t fare quite so well.

Woodhouse Chocolates, based in St. Helena, are insanely decadent delectables in flavors like Thai ginger, raspberry Chambord, brown butter ganache and passion fruit. Run by a family of former sparkling winemakers, St. Helena locals Tracy Wood Anderson and husband John get both the flavors and aesthetics that go into the mystique of making Wine Country’s most coveted candies.

I mean, have you ever actually tasted a mint chocolate that tasted like real, fresh mint?

From the tony decor to the glass cases staffed by uniformed candy gals, the whole experience feels, well, decadent. And a whole lot cheaper than diamonds.

So okay, maybe it’s the second best thing you can get in a light blue box.

Woodhouse Chocolate, 1367 Main St., St. Helena, 1.800.966.3468.

Here in Wine Country, we’re no strangers to the farm market concept. On
Saturday mornings, you can practically trip over dozens of local
purveyors hawking everything from honey to zucchini. Capturing that
passion for fresh, local meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies, the new
Oxbow Market in downtown Napa is 40,000 square feet of the region’s
best food. Under one roof.

Yes, start hyperventilating right now.

The marketplace features about 30 local purveyors (including several
cafes) and ten local farm stands open daily. Similar in concept to San
Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Market Place or Pike Place Market in Seattle,
it’s both a tourist attraction and a gathering spot for residents.
Located next to COPIA, the Center for Food and Wine (and home of
Julia’s Kitchen), the market is the newest addition to a larger plan to
revitalize the Oxbow region. Plans are in the works for nearby hotels
and condos and a walk-able greenbelt around the region.

The current lineup:

1. Roli Roti:
   The much-loved mobile rotisserie and farm-market fixture gets a
   permanent home here. All organic-free range meats. Start the queue.
2. Fatted Calf:
   Bay’s Area’s swoon-worthy charcuterie. House-made sausages (more of the
   classic pork, rabbit and duck-style than the fruit and cheese-filled
   type); pate, bacon, salumi, heirloom pig pork chops and other meaty
   goodness.
3. Taylor’s Automatic Refresher: A vintage St. Helena burger spot with a Napa twist–Ahi tuna burgers and sweet potato fries anyone?
4. Pica-Pica: The
   key offering at this Venezuelan kitchen are flatbread corn arepas (a
   cousin to El Salvador’s pupusas) filled with meat, cheese or veggies.
   Also on the menu, tequeños, cachapas, polvorosa de pollo, yucca fries,
   salads and a variety of South American beverages and desserts.
5. Three Twins Organic Ice Cream: A San Raphael newcomer using all-organic products in their delicately flavored-ice creams.
6. The Model Bakery: A St. Helena gathering spot featuring tasty salads, espresso and fresh baked goods.
7. Whole Spice: Petaluma retailers offer up hundreds of different spices from around the world.
8. Five Dot Ranch: Premium producer of sustainable beef.
9. Plus,
   Oxbow Cheese Merchant, Annette’s chocolates, The Olive Press, Tillerman
   Teas, Kitchen Library, Heritage Culinary Artifacts and Fete
   (entertaining provisions).

10. Kanaloa Seafood, the heralded
    environmentally responsible seafood purveyor from Santa Barbara, California. Kanaloa is the only ISO 14001 Seafood
    Company in North America. ISO 14001 certification is a framework
    following international standards which helps organizations to better manage
    the impact of their activities on the environment and to demonstrate sound
    environmental management standards.

CLARIFICATION: BiteClub attended an opening preview, in which many of the merchants were open. Here is the updated opening schedule:

The following are open:
Anette’s Chocolate Factory, Fête, Heritage Culinary Artifacts, Kitchen Library, Tillerman Tea, Whole Spice, Folio Enoteca & Winery, Three Twins Organic Ice Cream, The Olive Press

By next weekend, January 5th/6th, these are expected to open:
Five Dot Ranch, Pica Pica Maize Kitchen

Mid to late January, these tenants are expected to open:
Oxbow Cheese Merchant, The Fatted Calf, The Model Bakery, Oxbow Wine Merchant & Wine Bar, Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, Rotisario

Farm stands open (not every day)
Bera Ranch with oranges, DeSantis Farm with a variety of citrus, walnuts, persimmons and pomegranates

The holidays are so delish. Especially when they involve gifts for me. I’ve consulted my own wish list, along with recommendations from my very own gourmet elves and come up with some top treats for the food-lover in your life.

1. Bacon Peanut Brittle
Bacon. Peanut Brittle. Together in an unholy matrimony. Rejoice. Bacon Peanut Brittle, $21.95 for one pound at Grateful Palate.

2. ABC Cookie Cutters
In case you’re not up on your third grade humor, ABC stands for Already Been Chewed. Now isn’t that appetizing? Serve up a plate full of gingerbread men missing various body parts. Just like mom used to make. Available at Fishboy.com

3. Helping Hand
Give yourself a little pat on the back with these nifty hand-shaped salad tongs (preferably before you add the dressing, or things could get messy.) So much easier than old-fashioned tongs and much more polite than using your fingers. Nigella Lawson Bliss Serving Hands, $16.95, available on Amazon.com

4. Egg Pants
An egg needs pants about as much as a chicken needs lips. Which is why this soft-boiled egg steady-er is so perfect for your breakfast table. Forget Sponge Bob. You’ve got egg pants. Egg Pants: Set of two for $20 at designglut.com.

5. Spoon me
Kitchen utensils with pizzazz. One might even say a bit of pluckiness. Striped spoon set, $15 for two, available at loftparty.com

6. Apron Envy
Whether you’ve got this hot little number over your holiday best, or well, nothing at all (under the mistletoe?), you’ll be Santa’s favorite helper. Jessie Steele makes housedresses hip with flirty halter aprons that flatter the figure. Holiday Apron, $32.95 at TheDashingDiva.com

Sneaky veggies
Moms all around town have been gushing about Deceptively Delicious, a new cookbook with good-for-kids recipes featuring hidden cruciferous goodies, sublimated sweet potatoes and more. Feel good about pulling a fast one on the tots. Decptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, $14.97, at Amazon.com.

7. Peppermint Shots
Toss back the holiday spirits in edible peppermint shot glasses that keep your breath fresh and taste delightful. It’s a Christmas miracle. Now, pass the Rumplemintz. Available at wishingfish.com, $6.50 for two.

Salt Lick
Stuff this little piggy with salt, sugar or other pinchables while you cook. Cute as a sow’s ear. And way more practical in the kitchen. Nigella Lawson Mini Salt Pig $16.95, available on Amazon.com

9. Edgy brownies
True brownie-lovers (and really, who isn’t?) dive for the crunchy edges as soon as the pan’s cool. The rest? Pah. You can have it. So elation, joy and happiness at the new Baker’s Edge Brownie pan that makes every bite so very edgy. $34 at Bakersedge.com

10. Pinch Bowls
Just a sniggle, a titch, a nibblet. Tiny silicone bowls for holding mini bits of goodness. Set of four, for $5.99 at cooking.com.

Taj is a second act for the former owners of Santa Rosa’s Sizzling Tandoor. Looking for a new project after selling their popular Indian restaurant three years ago, the family recently opened a Windsor outpost featuring cuisine from their homeland.

At first blush, not much is wildly innovative about the menu or the atmosphere of the restaurant. Tucked between cigarette discount shops, framers and dental offices Taj’s vinyl “All You Can Eat Buffet” sign seems to sum up the vibe pretty well.

But on Windsor’s practical east side, it works. The busy office lunch rush heads for the buffet ($8.99), served from 11:30am to 2pm and again from 5pm to 9pm. With only a few steaming copper pots, it’s a short trip, but a tasty one, featuring an aromatic mulligatawny soup, black lentils, curried chickpeas, lamb meatballs, vegetable pakoras (fried bits of vegetables), tandoori chicken, salad and fresh naan bread served at the table.

Now, BiteClubbers know well my distaste for all things mushy and flavorless, but the mix of spices and herbs in each of the dishes (even the vegetarian ones) had enough complexity to keep things interesting. Having done my time at Indian buffets, what’s even more surprising was finding moist tandoori and pakoras crisp with life.

If you’ve got a little more time, check out the extraordinarily creamy (if slightly salty) Tikka Masala. The restaurant also has a long list of vegetarian dishes, including okra masala, roasted eggplant and saag paneer. Lamb, fish and chicken are featured in tandoors, as well as various curries and spicy sauces–from Vindaloo to Pasanda (a yogurt-based sauce).

What makes or breaks an Indian restaurant, in my book, are the chutneys. There have to be at least three: Mint and cilantro, tamarind and yogurt. Taj takes it a step further with a saffron-colored spicy chickpea and lentil chutney that kicks up the heat just a notch, as well as mango chutney that’s indispensable if you’re eating curry.

Indian desserts typically scare the pants off me, usually being a combination of mushy, flavorless and sickeningly sweet. Getting talked into the Galub Jamun ($3.95) “–cold, fried fritter balls soaked in syrup–wasn’t quite as bad as I feared. The sauce was pleasantly perfumed, tasting more like jasmine than sugar. It’s still a stretch for American palates. Sticking with a nice mango lassi, seems like a better plan if you’re jonesing for the sweet stuff.

Overall, a solid neighborhood spot that’s got the experience and kitchen know-how you’d expect from a veteran restaurateur.

Taj Indian, 9076 Brooks Road South (near Safeway), Windsor, 707.837.9568.

Lunch on the run can be so uncivilized. Napkins flying, mayonnaise dripping, crumbs landing in every possible nook and cranny. Not to mention finding a pickle stuck to your rear several hours later.

Sometimes you gotta eat to live. Plain and simple. But should mobile munching bring you to Sonoma town, speed pass the golden arches. Here, El Dorado Kitchenette elevates the humble “To Go” to tony.

A relaxed coffee and pastry shop attached to the upscale El Dorado Kitchen restaurant, the new kitchenette offers up fresh pastries (from pannacotta and pain au chocolat to fresh-made muffins and scones), pre-made salads and espresso. But in Sonoma, where locals have been fed a steady diet of top-notch baked goods for years (Fiorini, Scandia, Basque Boulangerie and Artisan) that’s hardly newsworthy.

What’s worth the trip are the caramel filled macaroons. Boxed up and ready for transport, they’re great for hostess gifting, sharing or, well, simply rewarding yourself for being so darned wonderful.

As long as you’re there, you’ll probably need a tomato and brie sandwich on crunchy French bread. And missing the house made vanilla ice cream with strawberry rhubarb or extra virgin olive oil and sea salt would be really unfortunate. (You’re burning off calories with all that running around, after all.)

Consider it a car picnic. A moveable feast. Or maybe just stains with a pedigree.

El Dorado Kitchenette, 405 First Street West, Sonoma, 707.996.3030.