Ricky’s Eastbound restaurant and cocktail bar in Santa Rosa’s Skyhawk Village will close at the end of September to make way for a new family-friendly eatery from the owners of Ausiello’s Fifth Street Bar and Grill.

The Ausiello family’s new project was rumored for months, but Leeanna Kane, the daughter of Ausiello’s founder Armand Ausiello, confirmed Saturday that Ausiello’s Homeslice will be replacing the Mountain Hawk Drive restaurant owned by Rick and Linn Bruno.

“We’ve lived in Rincon Valley for a long time, and we knew we needed a family restaurant around here,” said Kane, who grew up in east Santa Rosa with her brother, Mario. The brother-and-sister team joined their parents in operating the downtown sports bar and will all co-own the new restaurant Kane describes as “family-friendly and cocktail forward.” They hope to open later this year.

It was a matter of good timing for the Ausiellos when Ricky’s went up for sale.

“We had been looking to expand our business for almost eight years, and we’ve been very particular about the location. We know about restaurants and bars and the high turnover,” she said. Kane was confident a restaurant with familiar favorites — wood-fired pizzas, burgers, hearty salads and a happy hour — would be well-received by locals.

The name has a special meaning to Kane, capturing the neighborhood vibe and as a metaphor for growing up nearby.

“This is our homeslice,” Kane said of the slang word meaning “little slice of home” or something dear to your heart. Chef Will Suman, formerly of Bistro 29 and Rosso, will helm the kitchen.

Chef Rick Bruno, who also owned Bruno’s on Fourth (which closed in 2020) and a food truck, said he’s welcoming a breather after more than 40 years of cooking and is ready to start the next chapter, though he plans to continue catering for the next several months.

“After that, I’m going to take a harder look at what I want to do. Getting to be 60 changes your life,” he said, as he prepared to open Ricky’s on Saturday morning.

“We took on a challenge that most people wouldn’t have attempted,” said the longtime chef of the Skyhawk Village location. Several businesses came and went from the site in rapid succession before the Brunos took over the space.

“We made this a next-level restaurant, and we were able to sell it. I never got to sell Bruno’s,” he said. The small cafe he leased in the McDonald Avenue neighborhood went up for sale in 2020 at a price he couldn’t make work at the 38-seat cafe. It stood idle for many years but is now a marijuana dispensary.

During the 2019 wildfires, Bruno operated a food truck in the parking lot at Skyhawk Village, providing a gathering spot and haven for neighbors, he said. During the pandemic, Ricky’s pivoted to a takeout model that sustained the restaurant for over a year.

Bruno’s wife, Linn, has headed the Warm Puppy Cafe at Snoopy’s Home Ice for several years, and he hopes to help her occasionally. “If they’ll have me,” he added.

“I’ve met a lot of great people in this industry and this town, and I thank them all.”

Restaurateurs Mark and Terri Stark have never been afraid to take a chance on unusual restaurant spaces.

From their first Sonoma County restaurant, Willi’s Wine Bar, on far-flung Old Redwood Highway to the once-crumbling Railroad Square complex where Stark’s Steakhouse now operates, the couple have a knack for seeing possibilities where others don’t.

Now, they’re rolling the dice on a historic downtown Santa Rosa restaurant location shuttered since 2020.

When the Starks announced that their eighth restaurant, a French bistro, would open on Fourth Street, many asked why they’d take a risk on what’s been a graveyard for many restaurant concepts — especially after long construction projects and Covid-19.

“We don’t see what other people see downtown. It’s time for a rebirth with all the new housing and hotels,” said Terri Stark, sitting in the upstairs office of Augie’s French restaurant, slated to open Oct. 12 after nine months of renovation.

As sconces and bright butterfly wallpaper go up, along with a new zinc bar, reoutfitted kitchen, and Easter egg details that are a specialty of Terri Stark (watch for the dog portraits near the back door), the couple is hopeful about the future of the restaurant and downtown.

“This building is the reason we’re here. It just says ‘bistro’ to me. It was this building first and then the concept,” Terri Stark said. “Augie’s” is a nod to Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine. Like many diners, they saw a need for a bistro concept after the closure of Chef Brian Anderson’s Bistro 29 in 2020.

According to Mark, Augie’s French will officially be their last restaurant opening.

“Each opening takes two to three years off your life. Eight is enough,” he said. The Stark Reality Restaurants operate Willi’s Wine Bar, Stark’s Steak and Seafood, Willi’s Seafood, Bravas, Grossman’s, Monti’s and Bird and The Bottle.

Augie’s is also a full-circle moment for the 63-year-old chef who began his career in French fine dining in Washington, DC.

“This menu is very familiar. I started with French and will end with French,” he said.

A preview of the opening menu includes bistro classics Salad Lyonnaise, Onion Soup Gratinee, Beef Cheek Bourguignon, Steak Frites, Dover Sole Grenoblaise, Grilled Boudin Blanc with morel mushrooms and Salmon Paillard. He’s incredibly excited about a menu section devoted to escargot (snails), a French delicacy. Augie’s will also feature baguettes and breads made at nearby Grossman’s bakery. Chef Quincey Sanders, formerly of Portland’s Le Pigeon, will head the kitchen.

The Starks say they’re excited to see the renaissance already begun in downtown Santa Rosa.

“We started walking around Santa Rosa, and every time we did, we found something new. We sat on the patio at L’Oro di Napoli and saw so many people we knew. We’re super excited to be downtown. And there’s plenty of parking,” Mark Stark said.

A limited number of soft-opening reservations are available by emailing info@augiesfrench.com.

A quick update on Marla Bakery’s progress in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square: After a revamp, the former Miracle Plum space has been taken over by partners Amy Brown and Joe Wolf.

Brown said the space is nearing completion. Once it’s open, they’ll sell their fresh-baked breads, pastries and a limited to-go menu Thursday through Sunday.  The shop will feature Oakland-based Cute Coffee (a woman-run company) as well as beer & wine.

More details closer to opening (fingers-crossed) early October. The location will be at 208 Davis St. in Santa Rosa.

The couple will keep their production baking facility in Windsor and offer specials, too. More details to come when the space opens in (fingers crossed) early October.

We’ve all missed many things since Healdsburg’s iconic Bistro Ralph shuttered in 2016: the chicken livers, the haystack of shoestring fries, the long martini lunches.

But most of all, it was the chicken paillard, a thin and crispy flap of chicken breast swimming in brown butter and lemon and topped by a healthy sprinkling of capers, that I missed most. However, the inimitable chef Ralph Tingle is returning for limited dinner engagements at The Parish Cafe on Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26.

The curtain call includes a three-course meal of bistro Caesar salad, chicken paillard, corona beans, sauteed spinach and bittersweet pot de crème, all prepared by Tingle and the Parish team. Gareth Owens, co-owner of the cafe and a sommelier, will partner with local wineries to serve wines at each dinner. The cost is $60 per person, excluding tips, tax and wine.

Reservations are highly recommended and available on Open Table or at bit.ly/48zriVF.

Finding The Local, a north Petaluma sandwich shop takes patience and a good GPS, but it’s worth seeking out. The crafty ultra-local fare hooked us immediately. In the shop at the Active Wellness Center (1201 Redwood Way), chef Raul Lopez creates stunning sandos, wraps, salads, smoothies and fresh pressed juices for an appreciative gym and pool crowd.

But you don’t have to be a member to get a nosh from the fine-dining chef. The grab-and-go deli has small bistro tables for dining in, or you can take your meal to go. Either way, at least try one of The Local’s griddled sandwiches, like the Cubano ($14) with toasted rosemary sourdough, honey ham, Pepper Jack cheese, avocado, pickles, pickled cabbage slaw and chile lime aioli or the Kimchi Banh Mi (vegetarian, $13) with housemade kimchi, Persian cucumber, pickled carrots and onion, ginger and the same zingy aioli as the Cubano.

The Helen Putnam, named for the late Petaluma mayor, is one of The Local’s most popular sandwiches ($12), with roasted beet hummus, avocado, local mustard greens, artichoke, pickled ginger, onions and pickles on Della Fattoria sourdough.

Ingredients are primarily sourced locally, from purveyors like Della Fattoria, Longer Table Farm and the Peach Farm. We love that you can customize your order by choosing gluten-free bread or adding lemon rosemary chicken, turkey or ham to vegetarian and vegan sandwiches. A fun selection of local beers and unique wines are also available.

Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. thelocalpetaluma.com