Heather,
I thought I would drop you a line and let you know about a new spot in Windsor that is incredible. Maybe you have already heard about Odyssey. It is in the former spot of L’Assiette, kind of hidden away just off the town green, but it’s soul is 1000’s of miles away. It is hip and modern, and shows Fellini films on the wall like Foreign Cinema in SF. It is to Windsor what St. Rose Cafe is to S.R.
We started off mixed olives and rosemary flatbread, $5. I can’t really describe how great it was other than to say it is right out of Italy. Grilled local sardines with fennel and arugula sauce. Awesome!! Seared tuna with fava bean tortelli and white bean puree, could have been a plate from Cyrus!! Pizza Margherita could have right out of Da’ Michele in
Naples. The prices are right too.
Maybe you can tell I am very excited about this place. I just heard about it this morning from two different people and just got back from a late dinner. They will serve until 10 weekdays and 11 on weekends. It reminds me of the hip small bar/restaurants that you see in Italy. The chef, Rudy, worked at Gramercy Tavern in NYC, then moved to Southern Italy after 9/11 and lived/worked there for several years.
They have been open 5 weeks, but will not fly under the radar much longer.
Just Go!!!
Jeff Mall,
Zin Restaurant
BiteClub has heard about Odyssey (from several of you) and made a couple of trips up, only to find it closed. Drat! They’re not open for lunch and are closed on Sunday and Monday. Stay tuned for more details. I’m on my way!

Odyssey, 426 Emily Rose Circle, Windsor, (707) 836.7600. Get directions
 

Okay, it’s time for the ultimate coffee vote-down. Tell BiteClub the spot that you can’t miss in the morning. Who’s got the best beans, the best baristas, the best morning nibbles and the absolute-can’t-miss macchiato? Cast your vote for the best spot in SoCo and we’ll feature the top bets for when you’re jonesing for java.

Leave your comments below, or email me at biteclub@pressdemo.com.

My faves: Can’t miss my non-fat raspberry latte at Holy Roast (490 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. 707.523.3137). But for the best nibbles, I’ll walk a mile any day for an espresso and an ‘everything bagel with butter’ at Grateful Bagel (1015 4th St., Santa Rosa, 527.7530).

Quick update on the status of Anatolia and the space’s new resident, Stout Brothers Pub.

Jeremy Crone, a partner in the new Irish pub and restaurant says that they’ll be working on refurnishing the spot through the summer and are looking at a Sept. 1 opening date. Stay tuned.

Meantime, fans of Moose Jamal’s Mediterranean cafe, Anatolia are wondering just what happened. Jamal, reached at his Cotati restaurant, Cafe Salsa, says that the rent just got too high for the restaurant in downtown SR. Though he promised regulars he’d be re-opening soon, the deal seems to have fallen through, and he’s still looking for another location in Santa Rosa.

Jamal continues to run Cafe Salsa (Cafe Salsa 8230 Old Redwood, Cotati) and is a partner in the Redwood Cafe (8240 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 795.7868).

Meanwhile, if you’ve got an absolute hankering for pitas and hummus, BiteClub recently stopped by the new East West Cafe (2323 Sonoma Ave., Santa Rosa, 707.546.6142). The interior has been transformed from rustic BBQ joint to a bright, bubbling oasis. We tried several dishes, including the hummus and babah ganoush which were reasonably tasty (though crying out for more spice). The chicken schwarma plate, which is a pita stuffed with grilled chicken, hummus, grilled tomatoes and onions, was on the right track, but again–and I fully admit this is a recurring issue I have with ‘healthier’ restaurants–just kind of lacking in the Uumph! department. And here’s the rub: The basil vinagrette dressing on my side salad was incredible, tasty, zingy and alive. So I know flavor is possible. Am I crazy? Taste buds overly stimulated? Or right on track?

Tell me your take on East West

Tons of great stuff this weekend-where to start? You’ll find BiteClub and Co. milling around at least a few of these. Come say hi!

Saturday:
– Matanzas Creek Winery Days of Wine and Lavender: If you love lavender, this is the place to be. Sadly, the event is sold out, so hopefully you already have your tickets. If not, just drive by the winery and breathe deeply.

– Build a Better Burger Fire-Up at COPIA: Console yourself by indulging in all things ground-beef at COPIA today as Burger Judge and cookbook author James McNair answers your every question about how to make a truly spectacular burger. Plus cooking demos and a luncheon. Check out copia.org for more details.

– Check out the Grand Opening of the Peterson Winery tasting room in Healdsburg. With the motto, No Soul-Less wines, Peterson’s place is simple and rustic and his wines, well…see what you think. Chef Dan Lucia pairs appetizers with the new wine releases. 4791 Dry Creek Rd, Bldg #7, Healdsburg, 707-431-7568

Sunday:
– Sonoma-Marin Fair: Okay, call me disappointed, but still hopeful. After pretty much getting shut out of the Ugliest Dog Contest (local and national media were pushed about 15 feet away from the stage by security, but the intrepid Crista persevered!) and finding the “Sustainable Agriculture: Farm to Table Showcase” was a group of about five vendors shoved into a tiny, almost un-navigable hallway (kudos for the idea, but BiteClub certainly hopes the execution will improve “check out Frances Rivetti’s coverage, which was a bit more optomistic), I’m headed BACK to the fair on Sunday with food blogger Meloni Courtaway for some fried twinkies and a trip to the Wine Garden to check out Chris Sawyer’s chat on the Petaluma Gap wines (2:30). Oops. I see a conflict already…

– Also in Petaluma, don’t miss the book-signing and meet-and-greet with my awesome buddy, Heidi Swanson at Copperfield’s Bookstore, 3 pm, 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, 707.762.0563. Okay, I won’t pretend to be objective here, but this is one event you don’t want to miss. Heidi’s the author of Super Natural Cooking, a gorgeous cookbook filled with her photography and recipes that incorporate unusual and highly nutritious grains, alternative sugars and lots of fruits and veggies. Forget what you know about natural cooking–Heidi is a hip, amazingly informed author who’ll have you using quinoa, wakame and black turtle beans in no time.

Youngstown, Ohio is not known as a hotbed of culinary culture, unless you really love
pierogi and well, pretty much anything batter-dipped and fried. Not to demean
its myriad other wonderful qualities (vague mob connections, corrupt
congressmen and hearing about the good old days of steel), but as a 23-year-old
foodie stuck on the cops and courts beat for the Youngstown Vindicator (yeah,
seriously), I spent a fair amount of time in search of things like Brie and
Camembert. In glamorous places like Cleveland, Akron and Pittsburgh.

Suffice to say, I love cheese. Enough to drive miles for the
good stuff.

Inspired by local cheese goddess, Laura Werlin’s recent naming of the world’s
best cheeses–The World!–in Aspen,
BiteClub was on a hunt to find all nine here in SoCo. Even the really rare
stuff, like a truffled cheese from the small town of Bertagni, Italy.

Mission
accomplished (mostly). Tucked quietly into a Center Street mini-mall, Doralice
Handal’s Cheese Shop in Healdsburg (423
Center Street, Healdsburg, 707.433.4998) is a
dark, cool cheese sanctuary that hits you with a blast of unmistakably funky
cheese smell when you walk in. Yep. This is the place. Piled high on the
counters and in the refrigerator are dozens of slices–from runny and gooey to
blue, truffled and wine-soaked. I try not to swoon.

Doralice, who’s a bit reserved, opens up when you start talking cheese. She’s
just one of those people who just adores what she does, having cut her teeth in
the restaurant biz and most recently working with the rock star cheese gals at
Cowgirl Creamery.

She blasts through Werlin’s list. Most of the cheeses (or very close facsimiles) are in-store. Fortunately, it’s cheese season, she tells me. Cheese has a season? Apparently goat cheese is at
its prime and many of the other cheeses just happen to be at their best at this
time of year.

Whatever Doralice doesn’t have, she’ll special order in her constant search for new discoveries from around the world–from Healsburg’s Pug’s Leap goat’s milk cheese, to Rogue Creamery’s “Oregon Blue” to
insanely small-production artisan cheeses from France, Italy and Portugal.

All this with, thankfully, no trips to Cleveland.

Grab your cheese basket and get munching. Werlin’s “Best Cheese” list and local availability…

–
Brillat-Savarin: An indulgent French triple-cream Brie.
I ate an entire wedge on the ride back from Hburg and don’t regret it for an
instant. Cheese Shop: In stock, $20lb.

–
La Tur, Caseficio Dell’Alta Langa, Italy: A soft
goat’s milk cheese. Cheese Shop: Doralice suggests the Robbiolo, a cow, goat
& sheep’s milk cheese. $30lb

–
Lincolnshire
Poacher: One of my absolute favorite cheeses, this is a cheddar-style English
cheese that has an intense, sharp flavor like browned butter. Cheese Shop: In
stock, $28lb.

–
Comte: A rare French cheese that has some similar
qualities to Gruyere. Nice for melting. Cheese Shop: Currently out of Comte,
but comes in regularly. Several cave-aged Gruyere’s in stock, $17lb.

–
Formaggio al
Tartufo, Bertagni, Italy: A soft cheese infused with
black truffles. Cheese Shop: Try a Sardinian truffled sheep’s cheese, $30lb

–
Testun al Barolo: Love this cheese that’s aged in
Nebbiolo and Dolcetto grape must, giving it a purple sheen and a little crunch
on top. Cheese Shop: Testun Ubriaco from Verona,
$24lb

–
Queijos Serra de Estrela, Matias, Portugal: A sheep’s
milk cheese with incredible flavor. Cheese Shop: Try Torta La Serena, a similar
cheese from Portugal,
$24lb

–
Cayuga Blue, Lively Run Goat Dairy,
US: A soft, pungent blue from
New York.
Cheese Shop: Doralice recommends one of her favorites, the Bayley Hazen Blue
from Vermont
at $21lb.

If you go: Don’t miss the June Taylor Gravenstein Apple Butter ($11). Made in Berekley, it’s heaven with cheese. Doralice also has some great local Rose wine to pair with your cheese.

Milkshakes. Beer. Together, what could be more American, and more perfect for the first day of summer. In the interest of some serious culinary R&D, BiteClub took on the rather open-eneded recipe from we recently got from Samuel Adams for a Cream Stout beer milkshake:

– One cup ice cream (see results below for optimal pairing)
– One cup milk
– 2 Tbsp sugar (I found this unnecessary)
– 1Tbsp malt powder
– 3 Tbsp Samuel Adams Cream Stout (frankly, using a little more is
fine. You can use any type of beer, but a stouter beer lends a
chocolate & caramel tone that’s especially nice)

Blend and serve.

You see the problem here. What kind of ice cream? BiteClub smelled a trip to the freezer section to find out.

Purchased: Vanilla Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry’s Crème Brulee, chocolate Haagen-Dazs, Hawaiian Lehua honey & sweet cream (a new Reserve flavor from Haagen-Dazs), coffee Haagen-Dazs, and Dulce de Leche Haagen-Dazs.

Now, this whole idea, as you might have read previously, stemmed from an Aspen
luncheon featuring a rather upscale version of the beer milkshake paired
with a buttercream beer cake and beer ice cream. Yeah. After spending a small fortune on ice cream, BiteClub paired the shakes more modest snacks: Kettle Buffalo Bleu chips, Safeway organic pretzels and ball park in-shell peanuts.

With the help of my favorite beverage and snack consultant, Jason, BiteClub and Co. conducted a late-night blind tasting (meaning neither of us knew which flavor we were drinking) and paired each shake with a salty snack.

After 25 minutes at the blender and some very sticky fingers, here are the results of the BiteClub’s Beer Milkshake Taste-Off for your stout-inspired bliss:

A. Vanilla Beer Milkshake: A great, even flavor if not totally exciting. Pairs great with pretzels and VH1.

B. Crème Brulee Beer Milkshake: Thought the caramel and cream might work. Ick. Dead wrong. Waay to sweet. Teeth hurting. Save ice cream for slathering over fresh raspberries.

C. Chocolate Beer Milkshake: A nice bitterness and darkness to contrast the sweetness of the ice cream. Pairs delightfully with Buffalo chips and Barry White.

D. Honey Beer Milkshake: Not terrible for a dessert. Spoon over your partner.

E. Coffee Beer Milkshake: Ding, ding, we have a winner. “This would be damn good in the morning,” reports Jason. Intense and robust, it’s the only milkshake that we could really taste the beer in. Pair with cold pizza and a cigarette. Or, you know, a little Baileys if you’re feeling frisky.

F. Dulce de Leche Beer Milkshake: Dulce de Icky. Again, hoping the caramel flavors would work well. Nope. But after five beer milkshakes, we can’t really promise objectivity.

Best bets: Coffee ice cream is the clear winner here, with chocolate in second and vanilla a distant third. But in the end, BiteClub has to admit that when it comes to beer, ice cream and potato chips, there really is no wrong way about it.

Samuel Adams Cream Stout is available at BevMo, $7.99; all other supplies purchased at Safeway.

Talk about a page turner. I was up half the night
reading the new “House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine
Dynasty” by Julia Flynn Siler. Unlike many Wine Country bios, the book
reads like a novel, jam-packed with juicy tidbits about the powerful Mondavi
family. But while many have assigned malicious intent to the author, my read
(at least so far) is that Siler lays on plenty of kudos to the family for its
pioneering attitude and driven leader, Robert Mondavi, while presenting the
very human foibles that all of us can identify with.

A quick quote from the book: An aging, slightly
out-of-it Robert sits at the 2004 Auction Napa Valley and sees his Mondavi lot go for far less
than its worth-

“(T)he moment was poignant for the onlookers at the
auction that day who understood the drama playing out in the Mondavi empire. A
lot offered by Napa’s most famous
family was bought at a fire sale price by one of their company’s fiercest
rivals from neighboring Sonoma County
(Jess Jackson). Was the bid symbolic of Jackson’s
rising strength in the industry and Mondavi’s fading glory? Was it a kind
gesture aimed at sparing Robert from further humbling? Or was it a
foreshadowing of what was to come “with Jackson
and other potential predators at that very moment eyeing Mondavi’s many
attractive properties.”

The
book went on sale yesterday, as as of late afternoon, there were still
plenty of copies on sale at the downtown SR Barnes and Noble. Trust me, this is an unauthorized bio you’ll want to read around the pool. Uh, maybe with a nice glass of Mondavi wine?

+++++++

Plus, two quick morning hits-SEA Thai restaurant of Petaluma will
open its Santa Rosa outpost next
Monday, June 25 in the former East West Café spot in Montgomery
Village. BiteClub expects to be first in line.

BiteClub has confirmed that a popular Wine Country bistro is currently in talks
to acquire the former Mixx restaurant space in Santa Rosa’s
Railroad Square. I first heard about the potential sale while in Aspen, chatting with several SoCo chefs. The spot
was apparently of great interest to top toques because of the area’s
booming scene, but rumor has it that the price was pretty steep. Our fingers
are crossed for this deal to go through. More details to come.

– Never pay $135 for a cab when you can hitchhike: A cancelled flight. A broiling afternoon with nothing to do. A serious need for margaritas. Yes, BiteClub hitched it 10 miles out of Aspen to hit the Woody Creek Tavern, one of Hunter S. Thompson’s favorite watering holes. The journey is the destination, baby. Stay tuned for the full story-

– The recipe for beer milkshakes is on its way, according to the Sam Adams folks. Just in time for summer.

– We’ve seen the future, and it’s drive-through. Well, sort of. Thomas Keller, along with Tom Colicchio (Craft, SF’s ‘wichcraft), Chipotle CEO Steve Ells and Drew Nieporent (of the Nobu empire) were mostly in agreement that ‘Fast Casual’ dining is the wave of the future. Don’t worry, McDonald’s probably won’t be going away anytime soon, but casual dining restaurants with a commitment to quality (respect and standards for the food, according to Keller) are gaining serious ground. Case in point: Keller’s success with Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery and Ad Hoc, down-tempo versions that cash in on Keller’s well-known fastidiousness about high quality ingredients and great food, serving up killer meals for the rest of us. Though still a bit cryptic about plans for his burger joint, Keller says he’s still looking to find the right place for the project.

– Best Chef 2010? Amber Nishimoto, who was raised in SF and learned the art of Japanese pastry here in the Bay Area, is a young chef to watch. Now working in New Orleans (to help rebuild, she says) Nishimoto was singled out with several other CIA students to assist top chefs at the Food & Wine Classic.

– The Zen Shepherd: A big, burly rancher from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, Keith Martin doesn’t immediately strike you as the type to say something like, “We have to listen to the voice of the lambs” and espouse a radical, wholistic philosophy of raising and slaughtering animals. But ideas like that have made him one of the French Laundry’s favorite meat purveyors. Stay tuned for more about Martin and other purveyors with a conscience.

– And a final thought from the weekend: I really wish I would have drunk more. A lot more. From Eater: NYC “-most of the Best New Chefs were there (at a private party for the Who’s Who of the food world), even the one from Seattle who’d slept in the field after going shot-for-shot with Mario the night before. Mario and Spotted Pig contingents notably absent on Saturday night.” All I got was a clog keychain. Damn.

“There are two types of people here: People who are someone and people who aren’t.”
– overheard in Aspen

It’s 1am on Sunday morning, and I think I’m quite possibly the only person in Aspen sitting at my computer, watching E! entertainment television in my pajamas. Here, the party never stops, especially during four days in June as the Food & Wine Classic rolls into town.

Okay, it stopped for me (burp), but I can hear the revelers outside, stumbling in after three days of non-stop eating, drinking and schmoozing. Clearly, I neglected the requisite advance party-training memo. It’s a sad day when Jacques Pepin, the ever-present senior statesman of food, can outlast you. By a mile.

It’s been three days of all-out sensory assault. From celebrity chef stalking and riding a ski gondola to the top of a mountain for a buffet of the gods (elk, crab legs stacked to the sky, all the artisan salumi you can eat, wine flowing like water and Giada pushing her way past in search of a cookie), to discovering that honey mead (a fermented honey beer) is the hottest drink for summer or racing up and down three flights of stairs (repeatedly) to snatch up all ten of the Best Chef’s creations before the mob descended (see the photo gallery) on Saturday’s walk-around dinner. (After which, I was left wondering where I could get a good burger.)

But that’s just the start. Outside of the cooking programs by culinary showmen like Emeril and Mario, there are grand tastings where thousands happily pack into giant tents for sole privilege of eating and drinking into oblivion. There are major deals being struck poolside, at after-hours parties and in Lexus shuttles driving attendees the four blocks back to their hotels. Come on, three-inch heels are a bitch to walk in.

If it all sounds a little over the top, it is. Blissfully so.

“People are so star struck by this industry right now,” Sean O’Brien, chef of San Francisco’s Myth restaurant told me yesterday. As one of the Top 10 Chefs selected by Food & Wine magazine, he’s fairly unfazed by all the attention lavished on the young superstars singled out for national media attention, not to mention having to serve thousands at Saturday night’s dinner (O’Brien served up a cold salad of octopus and chick peas). At least that’s his story for the moment.

“There’s a glamorizing of the industry. Every kid in culinary school is thinking they can be a celebrity. It can happen. But for the most part it isn’t going to,” he says.

Maybe. But here in Aspen O’Brien and, well, pretty much anyone wearing a toque and chef’s whites are guaranteed their 15 minutes of fame from rabid foodies who’ve flocked to Aspen to pray feverishly at the temple of gastronomy. At least for a few days each June.

Check out the photo gallery. You owe my poor, blistering feet that much.

Oh, and about those Beer Milkshakes–who knew? Sam Adams beer plus ice cream equals a little bit of booze heaven.

If you caught Mario Batali on Good Morning America on
Friday, you may have noticed a shout out to SoCo’s own Bovolo Restaurant. While
making an on-camera dish, Batali gave props to the meaty, artisinal bacon made
by Chef John Stewart under his Black Pig label. Locals can buy Stewart’s thick,
insanely delicious bacon at the Healdsburg eatery in addition to hand-made salumis.
BiteClub got the word on the GMA appearance straight from Duskie Estes (usually
found in the kitchen at Zazu or scooping up her homemade gelato at summertime
events), who this week is helping out the Food & Wine crew here in Aspen.
(She’s mugging it up at right).

If Healdsburg is too much of a schlep, Estes says they’re
planning to find a co-packer (someone who processes the bacon based on John’s
recipe and directions) in order to find wider distribution for all your bacon
needs.

Which brings me to Green Grapes and Ham. Sort of.

Pork-lovers flocked to a ham and wine pairing here at Aspen
with Dan Philips of Grateful Palate (www.gratefulpalate.com) and Danny Meyer of
Union Square for a morning
tasting of, you guessed it, ham and white wine. Philips is quite possibly one
of my favorite people in the world because A) He is not afraid to wear a pig nose in
public and B) He runs the “Bacon of the Month Club”. How can you not
love that?

The tasting revolved around nibbling various pieces of
smoked, cured and uncured hams from around the world with white wines (sadly
none from SoCo, though Philips said there were probably some possibilities with
Gewurtz). So, if you’re planning on serving ham and wine, let me know. I’ve got
some great whites that are a natural for you ham-atics.

In a six-degrees-of-separation moment, Philips is talking to
Estes and Stewart about their bacon, though they’ll have to be able to make
something like 4,000 pounds before they can be considered for inclusion in the
Bacon of the Month Club.

Stay tuned…