Everyone loves a comeback story. All the better when it involves Kobe beef.

After years of lurking in the shadows as a solid, but not particularly innovative Sonoma institution, the General’s Daughter has been reinvented as one of the most consistently impressive restaurants in Wine Country. No easy task.

Because the only thing more difficult than opening a restaurant is trying to change the public’s perception of an existing eatery–especially when that perception is one of bridge club luncheons and wedding rehearsal dinners. (I held mine there 10 years ago.)

But with quiet perseverance over the last two years, Chef Preston Dishman has been winning over the hearts, minds and stomachs of locals with his southern take on California classics. Backed by the restaurant’s new owners, Floridians Jim and Bettie Hall, Dishman’s been given free rein over the menu, marrying southern ingredients like andouille sausage with local tomatoes, Dungeness crab cakes with creole mustard butter or goat cheese beignets. He is, after all, a Southern boy.

Dishman stops, however, well short of making the whole thing feel hokey and forced. Calling his food New American with a distinct Southern drawl, Dishman’s obvious mastery of classic French techniques serve as a solid platform for his experimentation in Cal-Ital-Lowcountry cooking.

Bottom line: This ain’t just collard greens and grits. Think foie gras with roasted peaches; heirloom tomatoes with spicy rock shrimp and basil vinaigrette; buttermilk panna cotta with blueberry gelee, brown sugar streusel and blueberry sorbet; venison with harissa spiced carrots. And, okay, West Coast shrimp & grits with andouille and Tabasco butter. (See a sample menu)
It took a plate of Dishman’s slow braised American Kobe short ribs at a recent winemaker dinner, however, to seal the deal. Swoon-inducing, the ribs were melt-in-your-mouth bits of meat and sweet sauce piled on a potato puree (more butter than potatoes, Dishman admits with a smirk) with baby spinach. Professional courtesy was all that kept me from a gushing bear hug of thanks.

Maybe next time. This comeback story still has plenty of chapters waiting to be written.

If you go: Dishman’s menu is arranged by courses, with diners selecting three ($49), four ($61) or five ($73). All menu items are available a la carte should you (and you will) want to share a few extra dishes. “Beginnings” range from salads to oysters; “The Deep Blue” showcase Preston’s skill with seafood (sea scallops with Israeli couscous, Maine lobster with potato gnocchi, tomato and mascarpone cream); “Field and Forest” (lamp chops, beef with polenta, duck breast), a cheese course and dessert (fig tart, buttermilk panna cotta, Meyer lemon crème brulee). The menu change up depending on what’s fresh and seasonal, and Dishman likes to use fresh produce from his chef’s garden at Benziger Winery.

General’s Daughter, 400 West Spain Street, Sonoma, 707.938.4004

The Buzz
Seems Santa Rosa wasn’t quite ready for Nirvana’s high-concept Indian fusion. The restaurant has reportedly closed. Though BiteClub was initially enthusiastic about the food, continued problems with service and consistency–as well some fairly rabid counter-advertising by nearby Sizzling Tandoor–seem to have doomed the restaurant.

The Tightwad
Ferrari tastes on a Volkswagon budget? BiteClub gets it.

Get your bubble on: Domaine Chandon’s usually staid etoile restaurant is attracting some hipsters on a budget during Bubble Hour, featuring half off Chandon wine and $5 sparkling cocktails from 6-7 pm. Thursday nights throughout August, they’ll be offering swing dance lessons for just $10 from 7 to 8pm and a live DJ. One California Drive, Yountville.

All you can eat sushi? Sonoma foodie Kathleen Hill reports in the Sonoma Sun that Shiso Restaurant will offer an all-you-can-eat dinner every Wednesday night from 6pm to 9pm. For $30, you’ve got one hour to cram as much food into your piehole as you’d like (though there is a limited menu). At an upscale sushi house like Ed Metcalfe’s (who plans to open a steakhouse at the SoCo airport this month), that’s quite a deal. 522 Broadway, Sonoma.

Locals night at Dry Creek Kitchen: Charlie Palmer’s Healdsburg outpost offers up a three course tasting menu Monday through Thursday for $30, $45 with wine. 25 Matheson St, Healdsburg.

Applewood Inn, which received a recent Michelin nod, serves up high-end Cal-Ital dishes from Chef Brian Anderson Tuesday through Thursday on their bistro menu. Frequented by romance-seeking tourists on the weekend, the Guerneville spa/hideaway is a nice little getaway for us locals during the busy workweek. Reservations recommended 13555 Highway 116, Guerneville.

The next time Incanto’s Chris Cosentino asks me if I want to watch him break down a whole pig–nose-to-tail–I swear I’m going to take him up on it. One of my biggest foodie regrets, in fact, was passing by the chance to see this offalist at work, elbow-deep in hog.

Because while most of us are a bit squeamish about the seemingly nasty bits of animal left behind after the prime bits of meat have been cut away, this manic organ-ic doesn’t flinch. In fact, the SF chef prizes every usable bit of the animal, sautéing, frying and steaming blood, brains, and, uh, even duck testicles in ways not often seen in the US (at least in the last 75 years or so).

Call it gross. Call it brilliant. Call it a whole new take on sustainability.

And, call it recognized. Cosentino, along with fellow offal-lover Fergus Henderson (sometimes hailed as the father of the organ meats resurgence) of London’s St. John Restaurant were both recently recognized as top Green Chefs by Grist.com.

It’s also a bit of a radical change in thinking. Serious carnivores are rarely hailed by the mostly veggie-centric ecorati. To their defense, animals do take a serious bit of resources to raise, slaughter and process. But when sustainability is part of the total equation–from birth to table–even many hard-core vegetarians are rethinking their stance. In fact, it has recently been reported that flexitarianism “former vegetarians who eat the occasional sausage or hamburger “is a new trend among the formerly meatless. Some credit the influx of more organic, sustainable, humane practices into meat processing for the change.

So, while Alice Waters, Dan Barber and notable French vegetable enthusiast Alain Passard remain usual suspects on “green chef” lists, it’s refreshing to see folks like Cosentino and Henderson’s commitment to waste-less meat eating lauded.

Even if it isn’t your cup of blood pudding.

Check out the other Green Chefs, including Pacific Grove’s Ted Walter and Manresa’s David Kinch, were nominated by Grist.org

In other news: Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations kicks off its new season tonight (7/30) on the Travel Channel.

After months of anticipation, Railroad
Square’s Toad in the Hole pub will open at the
auspicious hour of 4:20pm Friday, July 27.
If you don’t get the significance, uh, ask your kids. The English style
bar and eatery will offer Bangers & Mash, fish and chips, meat pies and
other tasty Brit fare from former Syrah toque Pam Wilson. And yes, they’ll also
have plenty of foamy pints. No word whether they’ll be passing the hookah.
Which begs the question: Should Anglophiles pass the dutchie to the left hand
side, or the right? Toad in the Hole, 116 Fifth St.,
Santa Rosa, 707.544.8623

Also tonight, Cornerstone Gardens hosts a summer block party from 3:30 to 9pm at it’s Highway 121 location in Sonoma. The fete honors the art and garden center’s re-invention as home to several new lifestyle shops and wine tasting rooms, including a (hopefully) permanent home for the displaced Roshambo Winery. Cornerstone Gardens, 23570 Hwy. 121, Sonoma. Look for the giant blue tree.

Back by popular demand: Fatt Hos at Della Fattoria. Think homemade Ho Hos–those delightful little rolled sponge cakes layered with pastry cream and drenched in chocolate. Della Fattoria, 141 Petaluma Blvd. N. (bet. Washington St. & Western Ave.), Petaluma, 707.763.0161.

Ubuntu almost open: Napa’s new restaurant/yoga studio has attracted top Bay Area toques (most notably Jeremy Fox of Manresa) for its mid-August launch and locals are already buzzing about the vegetable-focused menu. The restaurant will rely heavily on its own biodynamic gardens (stay tuned for more on chef gardens) but promises to satisfy omnivores looking for something a little heartier. Ubuntu, 1140 Main St., Napa.

Details are fuzzy on the possibility of a new restaurant in Sebastopol slated to open this fall; The Sonoma Sun reports that Shiso owner Ed Metcalfe has announced plans to open a new steakhouse in the Sonoma County Airport called SkyLounge (click here to see a menu) and the rumors you’ve heard about the General’s Daughter are all true. Foodies have been abuzz about Chef Preston Dishman’s spicy Southern take on Wine Country classics, but when winemaking kings David Ramey and Mike Benziger are both spotted in the restaurant on the same night there’s clearly something special in the air.

Some buzz about the new barVino in Calistoga. The Left Coast-owned (Brannan’s, Latitude, Checkers) Italian trattoria has been garnering thumbs-up for its small plates and and convivial vibe as meet-up spot in the usually sleepy resort town. Though the restaurant was reportedly opened by Brannan’s executive chef Jeff Jake (doing double duty), we noticed a recent Craigslist ad seeking top chefs for both Brannan’s and barVino. Has Jeff left the building?

Finally, I can’t help but mention the Baconator. Wendy’s recently introduced a double patty, double cheese hamburger with six slices of smoky bacon. Just one of these puppies will set yoiu back about half a day’s worth of calories (830) and 51 grams of fat. So wrong it’s right? Or just wrong?

Watch the ad. It’s so worth it.

There’s nothing like watching thin, rich, tan people frolicking poolside from your dinner table to inspire a little caloric restraint.
Then again, if you’re anything like me, the sight of all that taut skin inspires an order of beef short ribs with polenta, a peach tart, some flatbread and a strawberry mojito. Oh, and uh, how is that potato gnocchi, anyway?

But SolBar isn’t here to be judgmental about your food choices. Tucked inside the new Solage spa compound in Calistoga, this ultra-trendy, ultra-minimalist (think Press, FARM and pretty much anything built in Napa in the last three years) restaurant features a menu politely divided into two parts: A Continental Divide, so to speak, of healthy, calorie-conscious spa food on the left and the hearty, carb and fat-loaded stuff on the right. You know, your choice.

Hey wait a minute. I feel so judged right now.

Best bet is to wander back and forth over the chasm. Though the menu changes up according to season and availability, a summer favorite is the chilled carrot ginger soup with radish, avocado and spearmint ($7), which despite its glow is a cold snap of refreshing, sweet carrots and crunchy radishes from the healthy left side of the menu. If you’re in a sharing mood, the hearth-baked sea salt flat bread served with three dips: Tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber sauce), a pesto-like salsa verde (lemon, basil, cilantro) and a brilliant red olive tapenade ($8, sorry not from the healthy side though I’ll give you a pass on this. Come on its yogurt.). Also worth a peek are the char sui bao, barbequed pork buns ($10, nope fattening).

Entrees range from shrimp and vegetable salad with water chestnuts, fennel and orange ginger vinaigrette to chicken breast with brown rice, ajo blanco and red grapes (yes, you’re so good!) to Petrale sole with lemon garlic risotto, a double cheeseburger with fried pickles (what’s with fried pickles all the sudden?) and beef short ribs with organic polenta, watercress and thyme-roasted onions (from the husky side of the menu). Yeah. Live a little and experience what may be some of the best polenta I’ve ever had. In other words, it actually had flavor–and lots of it. The ribs are marinated for two days and fall apart at the sight of a fork. I could have done without the goofy green watercress, however. Leave it for the salad eaters.

For dessert, the Frog Hollow Farms peach galette with sour cherries and lavender honey mascarpone ($8) was a warm after dinner hug (though the heavy-handed crust was left behind.) Valrhona chocolate pudding with toasted marshmallows and graham crackers is a cute nod to s’mores–best enjoyed by the open fireplace or flaming fountain outside.

Trying to manage the ying-yang desires of the spa-set is a tall order for Chef Brandon Sharp, a former sous chef at SF’s Gary Danko and French Laundry alum. And aside from some lackluster plating and distracted service Sharp’s clearly working hard to attain a sense of inner balance and harmony on both sides of the menu. It’s up to you to decide where your true bliss lies.

If you go: Don’t miss a poolside seat with exotic signature cocktails like the Strawberry Ginger Mojito (rum, strawberry puree, mint and fresh ginger); Brasilian (Oronoco oak aged-rum and fresh lime juice) or blood orange Sidecar with Martell Cognac, blood orange puree and fresh lemon juice ($11).

SolBar at Solage: Open to the public daily for lunch and dinner. 755 Silverado Trail, Calistoga, 866-942 7442.

It’s not often you meet a Kentucky Colonel. Let alone three at one sitting–and not a bucket of fried chicken in sight.

Gathered at the behest of local bourbon connoisseur and Straightbourbon.com webmaster Jim Butler, folks from around the globe (and closer to home) trek to Santa Rosa each year to meet up with similarly passionate drinkers to talk bourbon, share bourbon, sip bourbon, admire bourbon, smoke a stogie or two and then get back to all things bourbon. These are serious bourbonians. Including–I kid you not–several who’ve been tapped as real-life Kentucky Colonels for their dedication to the state’s righteous brew. (Most wear t-shirts and jeans instead of white suits, however.)

Turns out this was the weekend for the big meet up in Santa Rosa and the bourbon crew counted some 15 states and several countries among those represented at the Bourbon Fest. And somehow BiteClub got invited. Mostly because I accidentally crashed their pre-party on Friday night while making a beeline for a Jack and Coke.

Now in case, like me, you’re a little rusty on the difference between whisky and bourbon, the kindly StraightBourbon.com folks are happy to explain it while you try not to cough and choke on your first shot of 141 proof bourbon. Unlike whisky, there are some rather stringent requirements on what can and can’t be labeled bourbon. Though they share some similar qualities, bourbon must be made with a minimum of 51 percent corn (most distillers use 65 to 75 percent corn, according to the website) and bourbon must be aged for a minimum of two years in new, white oak barrels that have been charred. Nothing can be added at bottling to enhance flavor, add sweetness or alter color.

A couple other interesting facts gleaned while hobnobbing with the Bourbons: Bourbon is a uniquely American drink and no other country has license to create “bourbon” “kind of like the whole flap about sparkling wine makers not using the term “champagne”. In addition, Bourbon doesn’t really change or age (like wine) after it’s bottled. So at the party, there were more than a few bottles that dated back 20 or 30 years “a real treat to crack open those old time tax tabs.

So, here’s the big question: Is Jack Daniel’s bourbon? Nope, though the process is similar, Daniel’s uses a special process of filtering that makes it straight-up whisky. Not that anyone’s complaining. It just isn’t bourbon. But mention Scotch and you’d think I’d just brought a bottle of Hearty Burgundy to a dinner with Robert Parker Jr. Apparently there’s no love-loss between Scotch-drinkers and Bourbonians.

To find out why, check out Jim’s website,straighbourbon.com for a FAQ, forums and plenty of discussion about all thinks mashed, filtered, distilled and sipped. Just don’t mention Scotch.

BOURBON FOR WINE DRINKERS: Bourbon drinkers from Wine Country were excited about a new Woodford Reserve Bourbon that is “finished” several months in Chardonnay barrels from Sonoma Cutrer winery after being aged in new oak. The bourbon, which is rumored to be released shortly will retail for $89.99 and only 900 cases are being produced.

I feel so wrong. So very, very wrong.

Wafts of my lunch chastise me at regular intervals from the patchwork of drips and stains covering my clothes. My sated stomach gurgles. My conscience is troubled.

Without a second thought or even a napkin, I have scarfed down a sandwich the size of Cleveland–beef brisket covered in melty smoked cheddar with mayonnaise, pickles, onions and peppers on a sourdough bun.

There, I said it.

A surprise find in the Petaluma’s OSH shopping center (I was
actually on my way elsewhere on a food tip), I was pulled in by the
undeniable gravitational pull of fresh barbecue. (You’ll see the smoking
‘cue on the sidewalk just down from Jerome’s BBQ).

On Franzi’s menu board (aside from the brisket) is a United
Nations of sandwiches including the BBQ Tri Tip, pulled pork, Louisiana hot links and Petaluma BBQ chicken, Rueben, Panini and Persian in addition to St. Louis ribs and fresh made Baklava. Most specialities are under $8, which is a pretty good deal for that much meaty goodness.

But oh that evil, delicious gigantic beef brisket! BiteClub could not resist wolfing down
every last morsel on the ride home. Then licking fingers and searching
around for any missed morsels that have escaped the carnage. My dry cleaner will be horrified.

Not that I wasn’t warned. “You eat half now, half for dinner,” said the kindly lady at the Franzi’s Swiss Italian Deli, nearly toppling from the weight of my sandwich. Cha, right.

Oh, the guilt. Oh, the shame. Oh, the stains. Oh, what a sandwich.

Franzi’s Swiss Italian Deli, 1390 North McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, 707.664.1339