If you’ve endured a winter anywhere, well, east of the California border, you may understand the unbridled glee that we non-natives feel about spring farm markets. Yeah, that’s us fondling the spring onions and caressing the asparagus.

Weird? You try living on beets, potatoes and cheese all winter.

In the next few weeks, BiteClub heads to some off-the-beaten path farms and markets throughout SoCo. Places like Greenstring Farm, Tierra Vegetables and Canvas Ranch.

But that’s just the start. Where are some of your favorite Sonoma County spots to pick up fresh fruits and veggies? What about eggs, milk or meat? Do you have a secret source, or an incredible find? Think outside the Big Box stores and let us know who’s the best CSA and where to find the freshest greens.

We’ll share the bounty.

Leave your thoughts here on the comments section, or email me!

Greenstring Farm, 3571 Old Adobe Road, Petaluma, 707.249.0144

Canvas Ranch, 755 Tomales Road, Petaluma, 707.766.7171
Sustainable family farm and CSA specializing in culinary and medicinal herbs, vegetables, asian pears, lavender, Araucana chicken eggs, Olde English Babydoll sheep and cashmere goats. Tours, classes, special events, artists welcome. By appointment only.

Tierra Vegetables, Airport Blvd and 101, 707.837.8366
Since 1980 and now farming open Space District land, our diversifyed farm specializes in chiles. CSA subscriptions and farm store.

The obligatory list of Easter Brunches for the omelette-and-french toast crowd. Love it like a little furry bunny.

PASSOVER SEDER

April 2: Passover Seder at Bistro-V, 6pm. Bistro V, 2295 Gravenstein Hwy S, Sebastopol, 707.823.1262

April 3: Passover Dinner at Syrah Bistro, Prix-fixe, $65, 205 Fifth St., 707.568.4002.

Wednesday through Saturday: Buckwheat knishes and duck liver at Cafe Saint Rose, 465 Sebastopol Avenue (between Santa Rosa Ave. and “A” St.) Santa Rosa 707.546.2459

April 9, Community Passover Seder Celebration at the Russian River Jewish Community center, 14520 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, 707.632.5545.

SANTA ROSA

NO RESERVATION NEEDED Dierk’s Parkside Cafe: Usual brunch menu (see) plus a few Easter additions, including asparagus and ham. Walk-ins only. See BiteClub’s review. 404 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa., 707.573.5955.

Equus at the Fountain Grove Inn, Serving an Easter Brunch Buffet from 10am – 2pm. Adults $25, children (under 12) $16. Equus Restaurant at the Fountain Grove Inn, 101 Fountaingrove Parkway, Santa Rosa, 707.578.0149. Reservations suggested.

John Ash, Extensive Easter brunch including sticky bun French toast, egg benedict, pork carnitas quesadilla and grilled filet of beef with blue cheese polenta. 10am to 2pm. John Ash & Co., 4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 707.527.7687. Reservations suggested.

Champagne Easter Brunch at Oakmont from 10am to 2pm, including omelettes, bacon, French toast, ham and lamb. Adults $29.95, children $9.95. Oakmont, 7025 Oakmont Drive, Santa Rosa, 707.539.0415. Reservations suggested.

Sassafras: Three course brunch featuring crab cakes, ham and cheese tart, eggs Benedict, brioche french toast and more. Seating from 10am to 2pm. $32 for adults, $18 for children. 1229 N. Dutton, Santa Rosa, 707.578.7600. Reservations suggested.

NO RESERVATION NEEDED Sam’s for Play: Eggs Benedict, Champagne Mimosas and full menu from 7am to 3pm. 1024 Sebastopol Road or 2630 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa.

Flamingo Hotel: Terrace Grill Sunday Champagne Brunch, 10:30am to 2pm. 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707.523.4745.

HEALDSBURG

NO RESERVATION NEEDED Bovolo: Serving brunch. See review.

Ravenette: Sunday brunch, 117 North St., Healdsburg, 707.431.1770. Reservations suggested.

Dry Creek Kitchen: 3-course prix fixe Sunday brunch from 11am to 2pm. $42 for adults, $21 for children. Reservations required. 707.431.0330.

SEBASTOPOL

Easter Brunch and Dinner at Bistro V, from 10 to 2:30pm. Brunch, $25 per person. Bistro V, 2295 Gravenstein Hwy S, Sebastopol, 707.823.1262. Reservations suggested.

SONOMA/GLEN ELLEN

Wolf House
Offering a family style Easter brunch or dinner plus a la carte menu. Open 10 am to 6pm with creekside patio dining. 13740 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen, 707.938.8510. Reservations suggested.

Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa offers Champagne Easter Brunch buffet with carving and omelet stations in newly redesigned Sante restaurant. Easter bunny and hunt at 10am. $40 adults, $20 children 6-12, and free for guests 5 and under. Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, 100 Boyes Boulevard, Sonoma, 707.938.9000.Reservations suggested.

The General’s Daughter offers brunch Easter Sunday from 12 to 4pm. 400 West Spain St., Sonoma, 707.938.4004. Reservations suggested.

The Girl & The Fig, Sunday brunch from 10am. 110 West Spain Street Sonoma, 707.938.3634. Reservations suggested.

Hunt for the Hare at Safari West. Annual brunch and Easter Extravaganza.
– (Morning Package) Brunch 10:00am – Hunt for the Hare Tour 11:00am
– (Afternoon Package) Brunch 1:00pm – Hunt for the Hare Tour 2:00pm
– Tour and Brunch: $60 for adults; $28 for children (ages 4-12)
Price includes applicable tax. Gratuity not included.

BiteClub is a fan of firemen–especially young hunky, off-duty ones. Except when they’re blocking my way to the buffet table. And then BiteClub gets a little grouchy. But it wasn’t the hungry fire fighters hogging the buffet line at My Ha that had me perturbed.

It was the buffet, itself.

After so many of your glowing reports about this Santa Rosa Vietnamese restaurant’s awesome lunch spread ($7.95), I was practically foaming at the mouth for some serious Viet-grubbing. And though packed to the gills with enthusiastic eaters, the tiny buffet–about ten steam trays, along with a fresh fruit bar–was uninspiring at best. The miniscule fried spring rolls had lost their crispness long before my arrival. The sweet & sour fish struck a mostly sour note. The lacquered BBQ pork ribs were dry and sticky. The rice had little uncooked pieces that crunched. The green beans were halfway between cooked and raw–and not in a good way, but in a weird chewy sort of way. Uh, fried chicken? Really? And so on. Maybe it was a bad day, but I couldn’t even get through a single plate–a rare situation for BiteClub.

In desperation, I also ordered fresh Vietnamese spring rolls ($5.95)–unfried rice paper rolls stuffed with lettuce and shrimp. They were bland, skinny and tasteless, filled mostly with coarse lettuce. Yes, they came to the table quickly. But frankly, I think they would have benefited from a bit more thought. Even my Diet Coke was flat.

On the plus side, the steam trays come out fresh and fast, with little time stamps on them, so you know how long stuff’s been sitting there. And usually it isn’t long with the kind of crowd they draw for lunch.

So, is My Ha a total write-off? Several of my readers swear by their Pho. My BiteClub pal, Dena, is one of their biggest supporters and says that the food is some of the freshest she’s had. She’ll likely skin me for saying otherwise. Unfortunately, those good experiences just didn’t translate to my lunch buffet.

Then again, the hunky firemen seemed to like it.

My Ha, 385 Aviation Blvd., #B, Santa Rosa, 707.527.8882
Buffet is served week days only from 11am to 2:30pm.

BiteClub has learned that Seafood Brasserie, the McCormick & Schmick-managed seafood restaurant in Santa Rosa’s Hyatt Hotel will be losing its longtime chef, Liz Ozanich and restaurant’s management group, McCormick & Schmick’s will be pulling out.

The change comes as the Hyatt Vineyard Creek & Spa transitions ownership to the Noble Investment Group. McCormick & Schmick’s, an Oregon-based seafood restaurant group, was contracted to manage the restaurant in 2004. A McCormick’s spokesperson confirmed that the group will cease management in the coming weeks, turning the restaurant back over to the Hyatt hotel.

Chef Ozanich, who has been involved with Seafood Brasserie since its early days as Brasserie De La Mer
(the brainchild of Portland chef Philippe Boulot) is leaving Santa Rosa
to take over at McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood Restaurant in San
Francisco.

Ozanich’s replacement has not yet been named.

Seafood Brasserie, 170 Railroad St, Santa Rosa, 707.636.7388

I arrived at 5pm. The doors opened at 5:30. To say the tension was palpable would be an understatement.

The waiters huddled around an impromptu staff meal awaiting instructions. Cooks fiddled with their mis en place, checking and double checking the ingredients. Busboys threw on white jackets and checked their hair in whatever reflective surface was available.

And then, at the stroke of 5:30, everything suddenly clicked into high gear–fryers, grills, waitstaff–and that was that. West County Grill, open for business.

It’s not everyday that Sebastopol, or Sonoma County, witnesses an opening of this magnitude. Months in the making, restaurant heavy-hitters and former Chez Panisse alums Jonathan Waxman and Stephen Singer, along with Mike Hale (formerly of Manzanita) and Darren McRonald envisioned a Cal-Mediterranean restaurant that was a spot where Wine Country could come ‘hang out.’

As you might expect with so many of Alice’s former cohorts involved, the focus is on fresh, local, organic and sustainable ingredients. And as you might expect, celebish chef Jonathan Waxman’s famous grilled chicken in on the menu (which you really shouldn’t miss, though we’re hoping that the fries have improved after the first night jitters). The wood-fired oven is still there, but has expanded to double the size, so pizzas have top-billing on the menu. And the kitchen bar is really THE place to sit, so you can dish with the cooks and watch your food being prepped (along with getting that nice charcoalish smell in your clothes).

So what’s the SoCo angle? Aside from using lots of local produce, Singer, who lives in Sebastopol and has a vineyard in the area, plans to put a heavy emphasis local and regional wines. At opening, the list runs about 6 pages, with some great choices, but he says that’s just the start (there are plenty of non-California wines on the list as well). Most wines are under $60 per bottle (though there are some ego-wines as well), and Singer also plans to open a wine shop upstairs, with an even larger selection of local wines.

The menu is slated to change up frequently, features a approachable lineup: A raw bar with local oysters, wood-fired pizzas, a lovely selection of artisan salumi, roasted chicken and quail, lamb shanks, hangar steak and pastas (the spaghetti colo granchio with crab, mint and chili looked fabulous).

And despite a few opening night snafus (very few) what struck BiteClub most was the warm, friendly feeling of sitting at the kitchen bar, chatting with a chef or two (you never know who’ll show up on opening night) and nibbling plate after plate of food.

Is West County Grill a radically different idea? No. SoCo’s been doing ‘fresh, local, organic’ forever. It’s what we do best. Is the wine list outstanding? Not yet, but it has potential under Singer. What makes West County Grill worth the trip is the easy expertise that Waxman and crew bring to the table. It’s elevating simple flavors with ease, and creating a space that feels like it’s been around forever.

Think of it as your new favorite neighborhood bistro. That just happens to have a celeb chef.

Best Bets: Dandelion greens wth anchovy dressing and fried egg ($9); pizza bianco ($12, with prosciutto, wilted greens and fontina), jw’s chicken and fries ($18) and the 50/50 for desert–a parfait of whipped cream and citrus granita that dazzles.

Keep in mind: Though the restaurant has been open just a few days, and there will doubtless be some kinks, the folks in charge have opened countless restaurants, so service and food should settle in very quickly.

West County Grill, 6948 Sebastopol Plaza (in the former Lucy’s space), Sebastopol, 707.829.9500.

Posted By: saundra (20/03/2007 9:34:15 AM)
Comment: Gary Chu’s in Santa
Rosa is serving shark fin soup. Sharks are captured,
their fins cut, then they are thrown back in to die of wounds or eaten by
others. This is unacceptable and illegal here in the U.S. Please be responsible diners
and don’t order the soup, hopefully they will stop!

So what’s the deal? BiteClub tracked down Chef Gary Chu for some answers.

Chu says that this traditional Chinese delicacy was taken off the menu at his restaurant several years ago after some complaints, but that he continues to serve it–by special request only–at banquets. “This is a very traditional Chinese food,” he says.

And although it is illegal to harvest the fins (a death
sentence for live animals) in US waters, it is legal to serve the soup. Dried fins are usually
purchased from sources in China, where the practice of taking the fins from live or dead sharks is not regulated.

Chu says that he can make the soup from imitation shark fins, made with gelatin, but that some customers request the real deal. “When people special order we have to use the real ones, but this is not an everyday thing,” Chu tells BiteClub.

Is this another foie gras fight in the making?

Congratulations to Chef Mark Stark, (Willi’s Wine Bar, Willi’s Seafood, Monti’s) voted BiteClub’s Top SoCo Chef for 2007.

Just a handful of votes behind, in second place, Syrah’s Josh Silvers (who sportingly told BiteClub he was proud to have lost to his friendly SR rival, Stark). And, in a close third place, Cyrus’ Douglas Keane.

In all, BiteClub tallied 3,000 votes for Top Chef in a little more than a week–a pretty impressive showing for SoCo restaurant aficionados. Securing just over a third of the total votes, Stark, Silvers and Keane have clearly made an impression not just on out-of-towners looking for a quintessential Wine Country experience, but on those of us who live and eat here every day. No small feat.

Other top contenders in the poll: Dino Bugica of Santi Restaurant, who garnered the most write-in votes; Mathew Bousquet of Mirepoix, Jeff Mall of Zin and Tony Ghilarducci of Shiso in Sonoma.

And the rest? BiteClub ended up more surprised at who didn’t make the Top 20, than who did. Did some restaurants have a smaller fan-base (at least who read BiteClub)? Fewer employees and family who voted for them? Lower profiles and less glad-handing in the dining room? Or, slipping reputations? One has to wonder what the deal was, because some pretty high-profile restaurants didn’t make the grade in your eyes. Hmmm.

Here’s my takeaway: Sometimes it takes more than great food to make a great chef. It’s about a chef’s personality, reputation and community involvement as much as it’s about how beautifully he (or she) plates foie gras. It’s about how eating at that restaurant makes you feel and whether or not you want to go back again and again. And ultimately, it’s about whether people feel like the chef is an integral part of their dining experience-or just a name on the menu.

With that said, here are The Top 20 Vote-getters in BiteClub’s Top Sonoma County Chef 2007

1. Mark Stark: Willi’s Wine Bar/Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar/Monti’s, Santa Rosa/Healdsburg
2. Josh Silvers: Syrah Bistro, Santa Rosa. Absolutely Crabulous
3. Douglas Keane: Cyrus, Healdsburg. Cocktail hour at Cyrus
4. Dino Bugica: Santi, Geyserville. Pig out
5. Matthew Bousquet: Mirepoix, Windsor Top 10 Most Romantic
6. Ryan Fancher: El Dorado Kitchen, Sonoma
7. Jeff Mall: Zin, Healdsburg. Comfort Food Without Apology
8. Tony Ghilarducci: Shiso, Sonoma
9. Norm Owens, Café La Haye, Sonoma
10. Carlo Cavallo, Sonoma-Meritage, Sonoma
11. Jesse Mallgren, Madrona Manor, Healdsburg
12. Steve Litke, Farmhouse Inn, Forestville 10 Most Romantic Restaurants
13. Gary Chu, Sake’O/O’Sake/Gary Chu’s, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg Sushi Smackdown
14. Tony Najiola, Central Market, Petaluma
15. Karen and Lucas Martin, K&L Bistro, Sebastopol Michelin Dining, No Wait
16. Preston Dishman, General’s Daughter, Sonoma
17. Jeffrey Madura, John Ash, Santa Rosa
18. Jeff Reilly, Equus, Santa Rosa
19. Michael Quigley, Pacific Market, Santa Rosa/Rohnert Park/Sebastopol
20. Fred Langley, Langley’s on the Green, Windsor

Watch for continued reviews of some of the Sonoma’s Top 20, Mark’s Award Ceremony (coming soon!) and BiteClub’s ongoing commitment to finding the best bites in Wine Country (top chef or not).

Zin serves deviled eggs without apology.
Potato and fried onion casserole without flinching.
A Blue Plate Pot Roast every Tuesday to a packed house.

Here, comfort food rules and no one walks away from the table hungry.

Riffing on American regional favorites, (Chicken-N-Dumplings, spaghetti and meatballs, Mac-N-Cheese) Zin Chef Jeff Mall feeds the need for dishes just like mom used to make. Only a lot better. But that’s just part of the story.

Mall also throws some solid Wine Country curves on his seasonal lunch and dinner menus–like the Mexican beer-battered green beans with mango salsa; the Dungeness crab salad with avocado, mango and chili-lime salsa; or the unmistakably Left Coast-y roasted beet & orange salad with frisee, toasted walnuts, fresh goat cheese and Meyer lemon vinaigrette. The Great Alice would approve.

Somehow Mall makes this weird mix of comfort-meets-California work, despite being both a little disorienting and wildly endearing. One day you’re eating wild mushroom Chile Rellenos with goat cheese, the next you’re gobbling buttermilk fried chicken. Red bean cassoulet followed by Carolina pulled pork. Okay, sure.

What ties them all together are fearless flavors and Mall’s nearly fanatical interest in using hand-picked ingredients from his own farm, Zin Garden. Chances are those tomatoes in your spaghetti came from one of his thousands of plants. The jelly in your Zinfandel doughnuts? Yep, he crushed the grapes himself. You get the idea.

Ultimately it comes down to this. There’s Healdsburg’s whole tie and cheese cart thing. Or there’s Zin, where you can throw on your jeans and order up a smoked pork chop and warm jelly doughnuts.

Yeah, me too.

Zin Restaurant and Wine Bar, 344 Center Street, Healdsburg, 707.473.0946

Best Bets: Menu changes seasonally, so ask your server what’s new. However, the beer battered green beans are a staple ($8), along with the pot roast ($16) and applewood pork chops ($21). The hangar steak is another can’t miss ($24), topped with (in the winter) wild mushrooms and thyme. Oh and don’t miss the wine list, which features an extensive list of by-the-glass local Zinfandels.

Don’t Miss Zin THIS WEEKEND on the Food Network’s Giada’s Weekend Getaways.

There are crab cakes. And there are crab hockey pucks.

Crab cakes have, uh, actual crab in them. In fact, the main ingredient needs to be crab.

Crab hockey pucks are those nasty, greasy little things chefs try to pass off as crab cakes, but are mostly breadcrumbs, egg and celery with a string or two of crabmeat. Most often doused in lemon mayonnaise. As a former crab cake judge (seriously, I was) I’m hereby declaring them illegal. After all, we live in the heart of Dungeness Crab Country in the heart of Dungeness Crab season. Is it that hard to make a decent crab cake around here?

Ask Josh Silvers of Syrah. He seems to have figured it out.

Josh’s Crab Cakes are a staple on the Syrah menu. Like the cheese course and the Liberty Duck breast, they’re part of the Syrah experience. Yes, they’re $15 for three patties, which goes down a little hard. But if you look at the recipe (which follows) you’ll notice that they’re almost all crab. $21-pound-crab, according to Silvers.

So what aside from a good 5-6 oz of crab (Silvers uses Dungeness and lump, depending on what’s best at the moment) sold me on Josh’s cakes? They crumble and fall apart a bit when you cut them (this is a good thing), instead of sticking together in a spongy, bready clump. They sit on a bed of tart and tangy mustard aioli, cutting the richness of the frying, encased in a crunchy shell of Japanese panko crumbs.

And, I may have mentioned this, they are full of crab.

Those other crab cake imposters? Call the food police and just back away slowly.

Syrah Bistro, 205 Fifth Street Santa Rosa, 707.568.4002

Plus, don’t miss the Meyer lemon trifle. Pretty as a picture and tasty, too.

The recipe for Josh’s Crab Cakes-
Ingredients:

12 oz. Fresh Crab Meat
2 Tablespoons Red Onion (finely diced)
3 Tablespoons Red Bell Pepper (finely diced)
3 Tablespoons Celery (finely diced)
1 Tablespoon Italian Parsley (chopped)
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup (approximately) Best Foods Mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs)
Peanut Oil (for sautéing)

Method:

Check crab meat for shells and place in large bowl. Add vegetables, parsley, mayonnaise and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Then add Panko slowly until the consistency is dry and slightly tacky to the touch. Form cakes and cover with more Panko and set aside.

To Cook:

Heat sauté pan, then add oil and wait until oil is hot. Cook crab cakes until one side is brown and turn over and cook other side until brown. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel. Serve with your favorite condiments.

The cocktail menu at Cyrus reads like a J. Peterman catalog, minus the quirky illustrations of wrinkle-free travel dresses.

But it has that same breathless, exotic quality that compells you to spend 10 minutes ignoring your martini (and your date) learning about the history of Mexican Coke, hand-crafted vodkas and why Rangpur limes are so darn good in your drink.

And like the J. Peterman catalog, you really have no choice but to buy the aforementioned products–price be damned–just to live the dream. You’d be crazy not to. Because who in their right mind would turn down a drink decorated with orange foam, flower blossoms and dried lotus chips?

There are some things in life that are just wonderfully decadent experiences. And there are some things in life that are well worth the price. Cocktails at Cyrus happen to be both.

(Just make sure you get an extra lotus chip or two. The bartender infuses, reduces, flavors and dries them himself.)

The bar at Cyrus Restaurant, 29 North St., Healdsburg, 707.433.3311.

Don’t miss: Lotus Potion, made with mandarin vodka, orange blossoms, orange and Meyer lemon juice, 5 spice honey, bitters and a crispy vanilla lotus chip: $10.