Mmmm. Schmaltz.
Just in time for Passover, BiteClub goes on a quest for this staple of
Jewish cooking. Enjoy! Check out Syrah’s Passover Seder Saturday (April
21, 2008), a five-course non-kosher menu created in the spirit of
Passover with the Chef’s special culinary interpretation and family
recipes. Chef Josh Silvers has planned a special welcoming, communal
Passover gathering with seatings through the night beginning at 5:30
pm. Each table will have a copy of the Haggadah story, house-made
matzoh with haroset. 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 568-4002.

Mmmm. Schmaltz.
Just in time for Passover, BiteClub goes on a quest for this staple of Jewish cooking. Enjoy! Check out Syrah’s Passover Seder Saturday (April 21, 2008), a five-course non-kosher menu created in the spirit of Passover with the Chef’s special culinary interpretation and family recipes. Chef Josh Silvers has planned a special welcoming, communal Passover gathering with seatings through the night beginning at 5:30 pm. Each table will have a copy of the Haggadah story, house-made matzoh with haroset. 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 568-4002.

Recently I got a call from a BiteClubber who was shocked to have a found a bug in her salad at a local restaurant. A sign of a dirty kitchen? Slacking oversight? The key, I told her, was where she found the bug. In her salad.

After talking to some local chefs, the news is a little less distressing. Blame it on organic greens. Because many restaurants are using salad mixes that aren’t sprayed with the nasty stuff that might make us sick, the greens also aren’t always repelling the little critters that feast on them. So, despite the fact that most restaurants still wash the greens after they arrive, there’s a chance that you’ll find a rogue hanger-on once your salad has been dressed and brought to the table. Obviously that doesn’t make discovering a creepy crawler in your arugula any less unappetizing.

So, what to do? Should you be the unlucky winner of the bug lotto, the best thing to do is to let your server know right away. There’s no need for hysterics. A good restaurant will immediately take away the offending plate and offer you a new one. Chances are your appetite for more of the same has been dampened, so the folks I’ve talked to say that the best practice is to (obviously) comp the salad and offer you their heartfelt apologies. Better restaurants may also sweeten the deal with a free dessert or a small gift certificate to get you to come back.

There is, however, a BIG difference between finding a field bug in your salad and finding a roach. There’s never an excuse for roaches. Ever. You also should never be subjected to finding a bug in cooked food. That’s clearly more a problem and needs not only to be reported to the chef and may also warrant a report to the Food Inspectors. Oopsies happen from time to time, even at the best restaurants, but a serious infestation needs to be taken very, very seriously.

If you’re wondering exactly how clean the restaurants you’ve been frequenting are, you can check out their current status with the Sonoma County health department online or the Napa Health officials. Major critical violations may warrant immediate closure of the facility.

Mmmm. Anyone hungry?

Set to open May 7 is Seed, a vegan/raw foods restaurant located in the former Cafe Saint Rose space. In the kitchen will be Jerri Hastey, formerly of Passages alternative healthcare and a certified raw foods chef.

If you’re not familiar with raw foods, they’re, uh, raw. The idea, in a nutshell, is that cooking food kills all the good stuff (namely enzymes), so nothing is heated past 116 degrees. Instead foods are consumed in their natural state or “sprouted” for easier digestion. A crazy idea? In the last few years, a entire food community has sprouted up around the idea of translating uncooked fruits, veggies and grains into a type of hyper-healthy cuisine. Locals may remember the hulabaloo a few years ago about Roxanne’s, an attempt at haute-raw cuisine in Larkspur which was a bit ahead of its time. Since then, the movement has gained a foothold around the Bay Area–its most popular posterchild being Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco.

Hastey plans to serve lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday. Seed,
465 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa.

I’m about the least political person on the planet. I head for the hills when discussion starts to veer toward candidates, “anti” anything or involves sweaty, shouting people. Not that I don’t have the utmost admiration for the advocates among us. I’m just more of an eater than a fighter.

So while Richard Gere, Ani DiFranco, Bono and countless others among you fight the good fight, BiteClub chooses a quieter, more delicious way to make a stand. Like, how about I spend a thoughtful afternoon eating daal, saag paneer, momo, tikka masala and naan at Himalayan Tandoori and Curry House? It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make over and over (and over) again for the betterment of humanity…and in support of the cuisine of our friends from Tibet.

Want to join my crusade? Here’s the deal: Hidden in a Sebastopol strip mall, the year-old restaurant has flown way below the radar of most foodies. Relying mostly on word-of-mouth advertising, Tibetan owner Rajehh Moktan promptly won over local vegans with his brown rice, veggie tandoori, daal bhat (lentil soup) and meatless curries. No small feat in Sebastopol. But that’s only a small part of the equation.

Omnivores can sink their teeth into lamb or seafood tandoori; a rich, creamy chicken tikka masala (which is naked without a dab of mango chutney) or the ultra-rich saag paneer curry with homemade cubes of cheese, fresh spinach, onions, spices and tomato sauce. To sop up every last dribble of sauce–and believe me, you’ll want to–head straight for the garlic cilantro naan bread. Pace yourself as you dive into the half-moons with crisp edges and a soft middle studded with butter, herbs and garlic.

Manning the kitchen is Rajehh’s cousin (also from Tibet) who cut his teeth at Sonoma’s Taste of Himalaya and Rohnert Park’s Shangri-La after having owned his own restaurant back home. Having never trekked through the Himalayas, the food’s authenticity is better left to experts. I have however, watched Anthony Bourdain choke down yak meat in Nepal, and will venture to guess that Rajehh’s take is probably more suited to American tastes. Note: If you’re planning to be a hero, be warned that “spicy” can mean some serious heat. Mild or medium is a safe bet, though Raj says they strive to make chicken taste like, well, chicken no matter how hot you want it.

If you’re keeping to mostly Tibetan-influenced dishes, steer toward the meat (or veggie) momo–filled dumplings that have much in common with potstickers. The restaurant serves them up with a tomato and cumin sauce that packs a punch. Fill up on daal bhat curry with rice and vegetables and mixed pickle chutney.

The rest of the menu borrows heavily from the cuisine of Nepal’s Indian neighbors–not too surprising for a nation that survives mainly on lentil soup, rice, pickles and yak, uh, products (including butter and cheese). In Tibet, sustenance beats out complicated preparations and exotic spices. In India, not so much. Hindi influences show in kabobs, curries, masalas and vindaloos, as well as the desserts of gulab jamun (sweet, fried dough balls) and Kulfi (a sort of Indian ice cream).

Call it food inclusionism and make your own stand. Power to the Paneer.

Himalayan Tandoori and Curry House, 969 Gravenstein Hwy So, Sebastopol, 707.824.1800. Open for lunch from 11am to 2:30pm Monday through Saturday, Dinner from 5pm to 9pm Monday through Saturday. Closed on Sunday.

Hospital food, I’m here to tell you, is every bit as awful as you’ve heard. Having just spent four days and nights in the pediatric ward, BiteClub would have traded a bed pan, four grape drinks, a slightly used IV bag and a several luxurious nights on the floor for a real hamburger. The distance between jubilant relief and ungrateful revulsion is only a hospital meal away.

Having recently been sprung (everyone is fine, thank you), it became mission critical to readjust my cholesterol and fat levels to their previous levels. Stat. Enter Big Boy’s Buns and Burgers.

Around since 1963, it’s got a local following that borders on rabid. Larkfield locals frequently line up at the walk-up windows, waiting patiently for their half-pound Big Boys and beer-battered onion rings for as long as it takes.

Worth the wait? Let me lay out the pros and cons. On the plus side are fresh patties, crisp fixins (tomatoes, lettuce and pickles), J-Lo sized buns and, of course, the special sauce. Minuses: An almost mess-free burger in need of a juice transfusion and a poor burger to bun ratio–too much of a good thing (in this case the bun) isn’t always a good thing. Other minor annoyances included a lack of toast on the undersize of aforementioned bun and a serious lack of grilly goodness. Hey, those little crackly, crunchy bits off the spatula are what I’m here for.

The thick-cut fries and onion rings at Buns and Burgers are highly respectable companions, served up with plenty of salt. If you’re going all out, I recommend indulging in a small order of each, or the chili-cheese fries if you really want to get that old heart beating triple time. Also on the menu is the bacon, ham and cheese burger, bbq cheese burger with onion rings, patty melt with swiss and grilled onions, fish and chips, chili cheese dogs, BLT sandwiches and daily specials (today’s was pastrami).

Don’t miss handmade ice cream shakes so thick you’ll get a headache from sucking the straw. Just for good measure, take home a quart of co-owner George Fiori’s minestrone soup, passed down from a special family recipe for generations. People swear by the stuff.

Despite the imperfections, its a hard act to follow, especially for the newcomers at Thumbs-Up Burger down the road in Windsor. Prior to our health fiasco, BiteClub and family stopped in for dinner, along with about half of Windsor. Already a popular spot on weekend nights, the deli-style restaurant serves up a decent burger in a hurry though it lacks serious inspiration. Paper plates and a lack of napkins make for a messy meal. Clearly they’re still in start-up mode, and we’ll give them a lilting thumbs-up for effort.

Overall, I’ve still got a soft spot for the now-defunct Chippery’s Jesse James burger as the ßmeasure against which all burgers are, uh, measured in my all-beef patty world. But who can complain, really, after a week of Jell-O and beef broth?

Big Boy’s Buns and Burgers, 406 Larkfield Shopping Center, Santa Rosa, (707) 546-6835, open daily from 7am to 7pm, Friday and Saturday until 8pm.

Thumbs Up Burger and Deli, 8465 Old Redwood Highway, Suite 300, Windsor, 707.837.7443. Open Monday through Sat., 6:30am to 9:30pm; Sunday 6:30am to 8:30pm.

PS. BiteClub wants to give a special shout-out to the awesome ER and pediatric staff of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, including Rick, Gloria, Penny and all the super cool folks to made our stay comfortable–including bringing me the food that I’ve been so ungrateful for. Regardless, Miss Lucy and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you ever find yourself stuck in the hospital, may I recommend take-out from Sushi To Dai and Sea Thai Bistro which my man McNibs mercifully brought me during my incarceration. Thanks McNibs!