At first glance, it hardly looks like the beginning of a sea-urchin foraging expedition: a circle of 40 people on the grass pretending to be kelp, feet rooted to the ocean floor, swaying from the knees up in the current, arms elastic like stalks, heads bobbing. It could be a flash mob reviving the ’60s dance sensation “The Swim.”

“Wave your kelpy arms all around as your back warms up and your arms warm up,” says teacher Ryn Sullivan, who, along with colleague Ricardo Romero Gianoli, leads curious landlubbers into the ocean for Fork in the Path, a Berkeley-based company that curates wild-food foraging adventures throughout the Bay Area.

It’s a late Thursday afternoon alongside the Fort Ross State Historic Park parking lot, not far from a sheltered cove where briny treasure awaits at low tide. “Now we are sea urchins,” Sullivan beckons, encouraging everyone to squat down on the sea floor of grass.

Earlier, a puzzled park ranger stopped by to take in the scene. “You guys have a pretty big group—what’s going on?” he asked a would-be forager.

They’ve come from miles around—some as far as Connecticut and Los Angeles, others as close as Occidental and Sebastopol—a ragtag band of foragers all in search of the notorious purple sea urchin. Martin Wobig drove over an hour from Santa Rosa to learn to harvest a creature he’s never actually tasted, although he’s seen uni on the menu many times at sushi restaurants. “I’m curious to see what they taste like. I mean, they’re gonads, so that’s the initial thought,” he says, grimacing slightly. “But they’re supposed to be a delicacy.”

There’s something about the spiny, round marine invertebrate that draws people in. Maybe it’s the forbidding exterior or the salty sweet interior that is the roe. Or maybe it’s the hard-to-fathom stories of how this seemingly innocuous little creature is directly responsible for the destruction of more than 95% of the kelp forest along the North Coast. It turns out climate change and the centuries-long mass hunting of sea otters have left the hungry sea urchins without any natural predators. To convey the impact, Sullivan asks people to imagine a similar outcome on land. “What if the redwood forests just disappeared overnight? That’s kind of what happened with the kelp forest. But people can’t see beneath the water, so we’re trying to give them that same kind of scale and understanding.”

The marching orders are clear as Sullivan, who uses gender neutral pronouns, tells everyone, “We can take 35 sea urchins per person today. All together in our 40-person class, that is 1,400 urchins removed from this tidal ecosystem, which takes some pressure off the reef.” Their hope is that starving urchins off the coast, where the kelp once grew, will come in and fill the void, and the next round of foragers will remove them, creating a continuous cycle of population reduction.

On a mission, the harvesters—some decked out in expensive waterproof gear from head to toe, others in jeans and hiking boots—gather their bags and makeshift tools, and off they go, hiking down to a cove where a minus tide has exposed glistening tide pools rich with aquatic life.

Long before the Russians ran aground in this same inlet in the late 1700s, later building Fort Ross trading post in 1812, the Kashia Pomo harvested sea urchin and abalone here for as long as anyone can remember. Their nearby village of Metini moved every few years so they didn’t deplete natural resources in one area. At the time the Russians settled, Metini was a little to the east of the fort, closer to Highway 1.

“For Kashia, we are from the ocean,” says Anthony Macias, Cultural and Tribal Preservation Officer for the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria. “We have a lot of contact with the ocean. It’s been with us since the beginning, you know, since Creator made us.”

Most often, they ate sea urchin raw. Occasionally, they would dry it by curing the roe over a fire and saving it for a snack later. They also used urchin roe in fish traps made from willow branches.

But that all changed when the Russians arrived. Driven by greed and an endless demand for hats and coats, fur traders nearly wiped out the entire North Coast population of sea otters by the end of the 19th century. According to tribal lore, the Pomo tried to warn them about driving the sea otter to regional extinction. “To this day, everything we have said has come true,” says Macias.

As a boy he pulled abalone from the sea, many more than a foot long. “Now we can’t hunt our abalone because of what happened to the ocean—how it got depleted, how we lost the kelp forest, how we’re even losing seaweed.”

In 2015, when the Kashia Pomo regained nearly 700 acres of their ancestral land near Stewarts Point, it was the year after what many scientists call “a perfect storm” was set in motion. In 2014, an El Niño heat wave raised water temperatures around 10 degrees above average. Soon after, a lethal bacteria began infecting sea stars—especially the sunflower sea star, the only other major predator of sea urchins after the sea otter. The sea star wasting disease spread quickly, from Mexico to Alaska, destroying around 99% of the sunflower sea star population in Sonoma County. Left unchecked and without predators, purple sea urchin populations exploded, increasing to around 60 times their average number, voraciously devouring more than 95% of the bull kelp forest along the Northern California coast.

Over the past decade, myriad volunteer groups have taken to the ocean to try to curtail the rampant spread of urchins. Sullivan, the Fork in the Path guide, volunteers with the Purple Urchin Removal Project (PURP), free diving to collect and remove urchins in Stillwater Cove, 4 miles north of Fort Ross. And Gianoli is a member of the Caspar Cove Project, a team of divers who have an emergency permit to destroy purple sea urchins in designated waters off the Mendocino coast.

“Diving underwater, all you see is just this barren landscape like Mars or like a deforested plain,” says Maya Munstermann, a marine ecologist working toward her Ph.D. while studying purple sea urchins and kelp forest restoration at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory. “It’s weird because there’s no shade. The bull kelp provided all the shade. Now, under this wide-open bright light, you see urchins all over the ground, all these purple spines and nothing else.”

Urchins typically gnaw away at the kelp’s base, the holdfast that roots its long trunk or stipe (often 100-150 feet long) to the seafloor. Once detached, kelp plants drift away to die, leaving vast urchin barrens covered with starving “zombie urchins,” barely sustained by algae and seaborne nutrients. Without much food, their roe shrivels up—to the point where unlucky harvesters crack open the shell to find hardly any food inside.

But Munstermann is working with fellow marine ecologist Dr. Dan Swezey on an “urchin ranching” project that will hopefully create a rich uni pipeline for restaurants and provide jobs for the Kashia Pomo, a non-gaming tribe. Last year, as part of a grant to restore the kelp forest, the tribe teamed up with commercial divers and several marine science organizations to remove tons of sea urchins off the coast near Shell Beach in The Sea Ranch. A team of Pomo divers is currently in training. For now, they’re turning the high-calcium urchin remains into compost for farmers. But, by next year, they hope to have an aquaculture facility in place to farm both urchins and abalone—a shellfish of great cultural and spiritual importance to the Pomo. Eventually, the goal is for tribal divers to collect tons of empty, starving urchins from kelp forest restoration sites, fatten them up in about two months with a special diet (including kale, carrots, and cabbage), then sell them to local chefs.

“The big vision is for it to support the ocean restoration and to also be that critical piece that’s missing, which is traditional food,” says Swezey, director of oceans and aquaculture for the Kashia Pomo. “This is something that is valuable to the people. If we’re going to be removing tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of urchins year after year to restore kelp forest, the tribe feels a lot better about making use of that resource for food rather than just compost.”

Back in the Fort Ross tide pools, the class of newbie urchin wranglers are trying to do their small part in the restoration process, hoping to reach their limit in the last hour of daylight. Sullivan’s advice to “sneak attack” the urchins and come at them from the side, seems to be working. “You want to twist,” they tell everyone. “You don’t want to pull it off. You want to push to the side. Straight off is how they’ll suction themselves back to the rock.”

Adam De La Montanya, of Healdsburg, makes the most of a stainless steel frosting spatula to pry urchins off the rocks. “I snagged it without my wife knowing,” he says, later explaining how one of his daughters wrote a long letter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife encouraging them to focus more on reintroducing sea otters along the North Coast.

Nearby, Serena Ingre is using a three-pronged garden rake to claw urchins from the rocks. She drove up from Berkeley with her husband, Sean Gibson, who has memories of melt-in-your-mouth uni in Tokyo sushi bars. But after tasting one mid-harvest, he declares, “It’s best fresh out of the ocean.”

How would he describe it for the uninitiated?

“Silky, a little buttery, but also salty at the same time.”

But Kenny Guay from San Francisco isn’t so sure. “It’s not as strong as I thought it would be coming right out of the ocean,” he says, after cracking open an urchin.

His girlfriend, Jen Goza, seems unfazed. This day has been on her bucket list for years. “Honestly, I started eating more purple sea urchins because of the overpopulation,” she says. Goza is hoping to raise awareness by sharing tales of her adventure. “I’m telling everyone, ‘Look what I did. It’s fresh from the California coast.’ This is a way to be more mindful of our surrounding habitat and how we as humans can try to help.”

It’s the same philosophy that inspired the Mendocino County Purple Urchin Festival. A conscious effort to rebalance the coastal ecosystem is also behind everything from branded Urchinite marbled table- and countertops made from crushed sea urchins to fabric workshops, titled “Help the Kelp: Create Natural Dye with Sea Urchins,” led by artist Margaret Seelie.

Also trying to do their part, local chefs up and down the North Coast often forage for purple sea urchin to bring back to the kitchen, or specifically order purple instead of red urchins from their seafood distributors. Traditionally, the prized uni at sushi restaurants—which can fetch more than $200 for an extravagant uni rice bowl at fish markets in Japan—comes from the red sea urchin, not the purple. But there’s been a push over the past decade to get the purple urchin on local menus. Part of the trick is finding chefs willing to tell the story and come up with creative ways to encourage their guests to try it.

At The Sea Ranch Lodge, not far from Shell Beach where the Kashia Pomo are hauling out urchins by the ton, executive chef Ryan Seal makes a popular uni carbonara with purple sea urchin foam, pancetta, and squid ink pasta sprinkled with katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes). The kitchen goes through nearly a pound of uni roe—around 60-80 urchins—every night it’s on the menu.

“We’re not using it because it’s weird. We’re using it because we should and need to, to keep the other sea life around us growing and happy,” says Seal, who foraged for purple urchin when he was cooking at the now-closed Sacred Rock Inn in Elk. A mile down the coast, chef Matthew Kammerer has been known to pluck urchin from local waters for his two-Michelin-starred Harbor House Inn, making tempura-fried maitake mushrooms and fried crispy mustard leaves topped with purple sea urchin roe.

But Seal might win the prize for most creative and unlikely urchin dish: Behold “the Banuni”—a surprise starter with roasted banana sorbet, conjuring notes of caramel, but also slightly savory, similar to a plantain, topped off with what he describes as “the fresh ocean taste” of uni.

At a recent conference in San Francisco, Swezey talked with seafood industry experts about challenges they face marketing purple urchin to new customers. “Many people think it tastes sweeter,” he says. “But the market sort of wants this mango, yellow-orange color and purple urchin roe sometimes looks like that, depending on what they’re eating, but it also looks a little bit different sometimes.”

Purple urchin can display more of a light yellow, he says, and sometimes less desirable “gray twinges” depending on diet. Red urchin are also more meaty and larger in size on average, and hold their shape a little better.

“If we can kind of get over this size thing—like maybe you could combine a couple gonads from a purple urchin and make a bigger piece that is as appealing—the flavor is there,” Swezey says.

When David Hopps, chef and owner of Izakaya Gama in Point Arena, gets a batch of purples with less than perfect roe, he often uses the uni as a thickening agent in pasta sauce, blitzing it down with cream and shallots and serving it over thicker noodles sprinkled with chives.

When he’s not serving it raw as sashimi, Hopps likes to wrap it in a shiso leaf, fry it in tempura batter, and serve it with a dipping sauce. But his favorite uni dish might be layered on top of chawanmushi, a savory egg custard. “It’s the counterbalance of the sweet umami to a really savory umami of the egg custard itself,” says Hopps, who tries to keep purple urchin on the menu about half the year.

The problem with foraging, he says, is the often unpredictable yield. “I’ve had great days where you go out and get like 50 sea urchin and you crack them and they’re all perfect,” says Hopps. On other days he says he can crack 100 and get less than what he could purchase from a seafood purveyor with much smaller investment of time. Occasionally, he wanders down to the Point Arena pier when a dive boat is offloading excess urchins and they’re giving them away.

“When you do get great purple sea urchin, I think it’s just as good, if not better, than the red sea urchin. It’s sweeter,” says Hopps, who often fields questions from tourists curious about the latest news on purple urchin and the local ecosystem.

As night falls on the cove near Fort Ross, the class gathers on the beach beneath the spotlight glow of headlamps to learn how to clean their urchins. Gianoli teaches them to use small scissors to remove the hard five-toothed mouth on the bottom, known as Aristotle’s Lantern, to gain access to precious urchin innards. Then he demonstrates how to run a finger along the inside lip of the shell to dislodge any other teeth gripping the uni flesh. After making a smaller, circular cut around the opening of the shell, and a little more finger prying, he dunks it in a small bath of seawater, then shakes the uni into his hand—something that’s easier said than done.

Under a beach tent, the instructors fire up a hearty miso soup over a gas burner, chopping green onions to sprinkle on top. They offer handrolls of seaweed and rice so guests can top it with fresh uni, and Sullivan explains how to make uni butter at home.

Amid sounds of cracking and grunting, people try their best to wrestle open the brittle shells and unearth the gooey prize. Finally, the moment of truth—the first slurp everyone has been working toward. But not everyone agrees on the taste.

“It’s interesting, but I’m not sure I would go, ‘Wow!’” says Martin Wobig, a first-time harvester and taster from Santa Rosa. He compares it to a soft cheese, more sweet than salty.

A few feet away, Max Aukes is celebrating his 6th birthday with his family. After straining to “take out the mouthpiece” and open the shell, how would he sum up the taste?

“Slimy, yet satisfying,” he says with a big grin.

Another way to size it up: “It’s salty, ocean-flavored butter,” says Keeley Waite, who drove up from Sausalito for the day. “But if you don’t like oysters, you’re not gonna like this.”

No matter what they think about the taste, everyone in the class can agree on one thing: The cautionary tale of the sea urchin, the sea star, and the kelp forest is impossible to ignore. It makes you want to join in and lend a hand, even if it’s just pulling three dozen sea urchins from the millions of spiny invertebrates blanketing the ocean floor.

“It’s nice to engage in a way that doesn’t feel extractive,” says Vanessa Wilbourn. The singer and bass player in the popular folk-rock trio Rainbow Girls is back for her second time, bringing along a friend visiting from Connecticut. “I feel like we’re actually working to bring some measure of balance, or at least that’s what I hope is happening.”

The post Bay Area Locals Are Helping To Save the Coast From Purple Sea Urchins appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

In Sonoma County, with our proximity to the Pacific, we can enjoy fresh, straight-from-the-depths seafood at restaurants across the area. Bodega Bay is the hot spot for seafood, of course, with crab shacks and fish markets that also serve food. But don’t overlook places farther north, if you take a day trip to Jenner or Gualala, or spots inland in Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Petaluma.

Fishetarian Fish Market

This casual seafood shack on the Bodega Harbor boasts fresh-caught fish daily, healthy twists on traditional seafood favorites and picnic table seating right on the shore. You can’t go wrong with the classics here, including Boston-style clam chowder (plus bread bowls from Franco-American Bakery and Mariposa Baking Co.), and fish tacos, raw oysters and crab cakes. 599 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-875-9092, fishetarianfishmarket.com

Terrapin Creek Cafe & Restaurant

This Bodega Bay restaurant serves a sophisticated seafood menu that features dishes like pan-roasted Hokkaido scallops and fresh crudo of Hamachi with bright notes of lemon and basil. Or try the Mediterranean fish stew, with big chunks of salmon, sole, calamari, clams and potatoes in a tomato and fennel broth. 1580 Eastshore Road, Bodega Bay, 707-875-2700, terrapincreekcafe.com

Gourmet Au Bay

Add a wood-fired oven and a fully stocked wine bar to a waterfront seafood venue and you get the warm and inviting Gourmet Au Bay. Crab cakes are a best bet, along with clam chowder, baked oysters with garlic butter and the generously topped smoked clam flatbread pizza with bacon, garlic and Parmesan. 412 Bay Flat Road, Bodega Bay, 707-875-9875, gourmetaubay.com

Drakes Sonoma Coast

The Lodge at Bodega Bay has a full-service restaurant with a charming dining room featuring a large stone fireplace and a fireside lounge overlooking the Pacific. Try steamed Tomales Bay mussels or Dungeness crab roll for brunch. 103 Coast Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-875-3525,  drakesbodegabay.com

Fisherman’s Cove

When a seafood shack doubles as a bait shop, you know the restaurant means business. Fisherman’s Cove specializes in fresh oysters from Tomales Bay — the grilled oysters with garlic butter and wasabi cocktail sauce are stars. The crab sandwich, with loads of fresh Dungeness crab on toasted ciabatta bread with a choice of cocktail sauce or dill aioli, is also highly recommended. 1850 Bay Flat Road, Bodega Bay, 707-377-4238, fishermanscovebodegabay.com

Spud Point Crab Company

You can tell Spud Point takes crabbing seriously from the to-the-second timer on its website counting down to the start of crab season. The stacked crab sandwich with housemade sauce consistently gets rave reviews and the New England-style clam chowder rivals those found on the East Coast. You’ll also want to order the crab cakes with roasted red pepper sauce before they sell out (only available on weekends). 1910 Westshore Road, Bodega Bay, 707-875-9472, spudpointcrabco.com

The Birds Cafe

Named for the movie that made Bodega Bay famous, The Birds Cafe boasts sweeping bay views and a simple menu of classic seafood favorites. The fish tacos are loaded with fresh, crispy, beer-battered cod, the clam chowder has flavorful pieces of clam in every bite, and the chunky lobster roll on a buttered brioche bun would warm an East Coaster’s heart. 1407 Highway 1 Bodega Bay, 707-875-2900, thebirdscafe.com 

Anello Family Crab & Seafood

This family-run crab and seafood shack is only open on weekends, making its famous Dungeness crab sandwiches a special treat. The Anello family brings fresh, quality seafood from their boats to their customers, with offerings of crab, grilled prawns in garlic butter, Lagunitas IPA-battered fish and chips and Grandma Mimi’s clam chowder. 1820 Westshore Road, Bodega Bay, 707-232-8002, anellofamilyseafood.com

Coast Kitchen

The dreamy seaside Timber Cove Resort has a full-service restaurant with cozy seating options — you can take in the ocean view from the outdoor patio or pick a warm spot by the stone fireplace inside. Coast Kitchen offers seasonal fare, a long wine list and carefully presented dishes. Try the creamy smoked trout chowder, grilled salmon wings and corvina in a refreshing coconut citrus broth. 21780 Highway 1, Jenner, 707-847-3231, coastkitchensonoma.com

River’s End Restaurant

Probably the most romantic seafood eatery on our list, River’s End is both a cozy inn and a fine-dining restaurant, graced by gorgeous sunset views over the ocean. While the menu changes with the seasons, it often includes oyster and wine pairings and the restaurant’s signature clam chowder. 11048 Highway 1, Jenner, 707-865-2484, ilovesunsets.com

Rocker’s Roadhouse

Situated in the historic Valley Ford Hotel, Rocker’s Roadhouse (formerly Rocker Oysterfeller’s) serves Southern comfort cuisine with ingredients sourced from nearby farms and fisheries. This translates to next-level Cajun-seasoned Dungeness crab cakes with a remoulade sauce, beer-battered rock cod fish tacos and barbecued Tomales Bay oysters (get the Louisiana hot oysters for a taste of Southern heat). 14415 Highway 1, Valley Ford, 707-876-1983, rockeroysterfellers.com

Rocker Oysterfeller’s at the Wharf

Opened last year in the former Lucas Wharf Restaurant location, Rocker Oysterfeller’s second outpost delivers on excellent, locally sourced seafood with a few Southern twists. The Creole Fisherman’s Stew is a glorious display of fresh, local seafood, and the Captain’s Platter is a surefire bet for delightfully fried rock cod, calamari, beer-battered shrimp, Dungeness crab cakes and French fries. The Cajun Blackened Pasta with wild gulf shrimp is a personal favorite. 595 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-772-5670, rockeroysterfellers.com

Handline

This Sebastopol eatery pairs sustainably sourced seafood with locally grown produce (much of it from its own backyard). The fish tacos are a draw here, made with beer-battered rockfish, fresh shaved cabbage, chipotle aioli, avocado and lime. Other fan favorites include the Monterey trout salad with a heavenly green goddess dressing, and La Sirena tostada with poached calamari, fresh veggies, citronette and pickled chile aioli. 935 Gravenstein Highway S., Sebastopol, 707-827-3744, handline.com

Oyster

Sustainable seafood is the focus of this Parisian-style oyster and bubble bar from Kosho restaurant’s Jake Rand. The charming indoor-outdoor location at Sebastopol’s Barlow makes for great people watching while snacking on Spanish octopus a la plancha, crispy skin tai snapper, rock shrimp ceviche or seared scallops in brown butter. Worth a special trip. 6770 McKinley St., Sebastopol, 707-503-6003, oystersebastopol.com

Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar

The Starks’ seafood restaurant in Healdsburg features a tapas-style menu of eclectic twists on classics. Standouts — beyond the ever-popular Maine lobster roll — are the pan-roasted shrimp with chiles, charred octopus tacos with aji amarillo and pickled hearts of palm, and the caramelized butterfish with miso vinaigrette and exotic mushrooms. The buffalo-style crispy fried oysters served on the half shell are a fabulous spicy, crunchy starter for the table. 403 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-9191, willisseafood.net

Bag o’ Crab

Bag O’ Crab is exactly that: a steaming pile of seafood dumped onto a communal plate that’s a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. Wearing a large plastic bib and eating with your fingers is also self-selecting. If you’re up for both, or just find pulling off shrimp heads weirdly satisfying, Bag O’ Crab is your new favorite restaurant. Combos are the best bet, offering mix-and-match choices of Dungeness crab, king crab legs, clams, crawfish, shrimp and lobster. 1901 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-843-7267, bagocrabusa.com

Santa Rosa Seafood

This seafood market on Santa Rosa Avenue has been selling fresh local and exotic fish to North Bay customers for more than 40 years. Fresh-caught crab is offered daily until it sells out, and those in the know wouldn’t leave without a pound of smoked salmon. You can find any other seafood you desire here, from bay scallops and calamari steaks to yellowtail and whole black cod. 946 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-579-2085, santarosaseafood.com

Pezcow

This upscale marisco spot rarely gets the attention it deserves for impeccable seafood dishes, molcajete with shrimp, mussels, scallops, octopus and crab legs, aguachiles and show-stopping piña rellena, a half-pineapple filled with seafood topped with melted cheese (surprisingly awesome). 8465 Old Redwood Highway, Suite 510, Windsor, 707-236-7342, pezcow.com

Simmer Claw Bar

Vietnamese-Cajun fusion is the kind of cuisine most of us didn’t know we needed. The crispy coconut shrimp are a winning treat every time, and the tender fried frog legs are a fun surprise. The true Simmer Claw Bar experience would be incomplete without a seafood boil: a pound of your choice of seafood (try the crawfish for a taste of Louisiana) with your choice of flavoring (Cajun, lemon pepper, garlic butter or the secret Simmer Sauce) and desired spice level. 595 Rohnert Park Expressway, Rohnert Park, 707-806-2080, simmerfamily.com

Anna’s Seafood

Skip the freezer aisle at the grocery store and head to Anna’s Seafood next time you want fresh seafood to bring home. You can’t go wrong with the selections here, such as the rich sashimi-grade Pacific king salmon or meaty ahi tuna steaks. If you’re looking for ready-to-eat meals, try the assorted pokes, crab cioppino and smoked salmon. 901 Lakeville St., Petaluma, 707-318-5286, shopannasseafood.com

The Shuckery

The Shuckery’s Lalicker sisters, known as the Oyster Girls, know their way around shellfish, much to the benefit of locals and visitors. Check out their daily selection of raw oysters or order the baked oysters (Rockefeller, poblano, miso or bingo). The mussels and clams are tender, delicate and savory, accompanied with grilled Della Fattoria bread to sop up the flavorful wine sauce. 100 Washington St., Petaluma, 707-981-7891, theshuckeryca.com

La Salette Restaurant

Fresh seafood is at the heart of Portuguese cuisine, which La Salette does exceptionally well. You could get lost in the starters alone, such as the Atlantic salt cod cakes, chouriço-crusted day boat scallops and wood oven-roasted whole sardines. But the entrees that can’t be missed are the bacalhau no forno, a traditional Portuguese dish of salt cod in a baked casserole, and the caldeirada (or Portuguese fisherman’s stew) with sea bass, scallops, clams, mussels, shrimp, linguiça and fingerling potatoes. 452 First St. E., Suite H, Sonoma, 707-938-1927, lasaletterestaurant.com

Valley Swim Club

Owners of buzzy Sonoma restaurant Valley Bar + Bottle have opened a casual seafood spot offering coastal staples like chowder and griddled, split-topped rolls with juicy fried oysters, shrimp or crab, along with seasonal aguachiles (shrimp with cucumbers, lime and cilantro is a favorite). Pescadillas — a cross between a fish taco and a seafood empanada — are perfect handheld snacks, while bigger entrees include trout a la plancha and a spicy tuna bowl. 18709 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, 707-243-3032, valleyswim.club

Worth a Trip to Marin

Hog Island Oyster Co.

There’s nothing better than slurping oysters just feet from where they’re harvested on Tomales Bay. Oysters are pretty much the entire menu (you can also get a few salads, cheese and charcuterie), but whether they’re raw or barbecue, you’re here to shuck. Reservations only. Bonus: Last year, Hog Island opened its newest location in the form of a pickup window in Petaluma (419 First St., Suite B). 20215 Shoreline Highway, Marshall, 415-663-9218, hogislandoysters.com

The Marshall Store

Though it was named among The New York Times’ “Top 50 Restaurants in America” in 2021, The Marshall Store remains an unpretentious oyster bar frequented by locals. Residents and visitors alike come for the fresh oysters, like the sought-after grilled Kilpatricks topped with garlic butter, Worcestershire sauce, bacon and parsley. But don’t miss the hearty, New England-style clam chowder or vibrant fish tacos with grilled mahi mahi. 19225 Highway 1, Marshall, 415-246-9306, themarshallstore.com

Tony’s Seafood Restaurant

Tony’s was established in 1948 by Croatian fisherman Anton ‘Tony’ Konatich. The seafood shack, now owned by Hog Island Oyster Co., is popular for its daily fish specials and locally caught shellfish, particularly the HIOC Clam Chowder, served in the style of a cioppino, with whole Manila clams and hunks of vegetables, potatoes and bacon in a cream-based broth. For something more on the crispy, carby side, go for the fried oyster po’boy with HIOC’s signature Hogwash slaw and housemade tartar sauce on a Route 1 hoagie roll. 18863 Highway 1, Marshall, 415-663-1107, hogislandoysters.com/restaurants/tonysseafood

Worth a Trip to Mendocino

Gualala Seafood Shack

A small, no-frills shack by the ocean with a modest, straight-to-the-point menu of classic dishes is how to win over a seafood lover’s heart. After a day of whale watching or hiking coastal bluffs, settle in for a meal of crisp local rockfish and chips with a side of housemade tartar sauce. For a bite of something fresh and zesty, go for the stuffed fish tacos with purple cabbage, pico de gallo and chipotle cream. 38820 S. Highway 1, Unit 104, Gualala, 707-884-9511, gualalaseafoodshack.com

The post Favorite Seafood Spots in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

A retired librarian and an accomplished chef walk into a bar. On a whim, they decide to take over the space. There’s no punchline — that’s just how Sonoma County came to have the new Trillium, a lovely little cafe and wine lounge in downtown Guerneville.

The shoebox-size spot is the work of Genevieve Payne, who began studying wine at Santa Rosa Junior College and traveled around Europe after leaving her career as a bibliophile. The co-owner and chef is Greg Barnes, who has worked with legends such as Jeremiah Tower, Traci Des Jardins, and Duskie Estes, and who has known Payne for a decade.

The long-vacant space the team took over, right near the landmark Rainbow Cattle Company bar, came with some kitchen challenges, namely a lack of space for equipment to work with grills and live fire. So Barnes developed a sophisticated menu around a raw bar and selections from a giant convection oven and cooktop. The raw bar offers the oysters, poke, crudo and ceviche that have become Trillium’s signature.

There’s sumptuous seafood chowder and a sensational New England-style crab roll ($32), on a toasted, house-baked brioche split roll with a side of tangy house pickles, a sandwich that won a gold medal at last fall’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair. The seafood chowder is a standout, too, with a rich white-wine-and-cream base with chopped mussels, prawns, red potatoes, and hickory-smoked sous vide bacon over a base of heavy cream and white wine, with fresh thyme, Old Bay seasoning, and a splash of Louisiana Crystal hot sauce to make it sing.

The wine list is extensive and interesting, focusing on natural wines, including a dry, citrusy Colliano Sparkling Ribolla Gialla from Slovenia and the certified organic, gently tropical Folk Machine Potter Valley Sauvignon Blanc. There are also craft beers and ciders on tap, nonalcoholic cocktails and wine flights. Tiny Trillium, in tiny Guerneville, is setting the bar high.

16222 Main St., Guerneville. 707-604-5750, trillium.bar

This story was originally published in The Press Democrat. Read the full story here.

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Chef Matt Weinberger has taken over the kitchen of Tony’s Seafood in Marshall. Chef Matt Shapiro previously held the position.

Weinberger was a former chef at Santa Rosa’s Grossman’s Noshery & Bar (he created the restaurant’s Weinburger patty melt). He was also the opening chef at Marshall’s Nick’s Cove restaurant together with his wife, chef Heather Ames.

Tony’s Seafood, a coastal staple for more than 70 years, was purchased in 2017 by the owners of Hog Island Oyster Co., who renovated the restaurant and turned it into a vibrant, modern seafood house with some of the best food and best views of Tomales Bay.

18863 Shoreline Highway, Marshall, 415-663-1107, hogislandoysters.com

You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.

The post New Chef at Coastal Staple Tony’s Seafood in Marshall appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Hog Island Oyster Co., a popular seafood establishment on the Sonoma-Marin Coast, has opened a Petaluma pickup window on First Street. The menu features oysters, shellfish (clams, mussels, prawns) and other local catches, including squid, abalone and geoduck clams.

Customers will also be able to pick up kitchen staples, including Hogwash mignonette, cocktail sauce and miso nori butter, as well as Hog Island merch.

Orders must be placed online or over the phone for pickup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.

419 First St., Suite B, Petaluma, 415-390-4219, hogislandoysters.com

You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.

The post Renowned Oyster Company Opens Petaluma Pickup Window appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

With stunning views of Bodega Bay, a convenient location and ample parking, Lucas Wharf Restaurant has been a popular stop on the Sonoma Coast since it opened in the early 1980s. The food, was another story. Let’s just say it never made my annual “Best Restaurants” list. This year, it probably will.

(Side note: Fishetarian, the restaurant’s fast-casual seafood sibling, is spectacular.)

The coastal restaurant, which closed abruptly last March, reopened as Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf in mid-August. Within days, new owners and longtime restaurateurs Brandon Guenther and Shona Campbell had a runaway hit on their hands. And the excitement is only growing.

Locally sourced seafood, rock star chef Jamilah Nixon (of Jam’s Joy Bungalow) and a full bar have made the restaurant a new destination dining spot for visitors and locals seeking the kind of experience coastal restaurants often promise but rarely deliver.

But Lucas Wharf has always been more than just another seaside restaurant to Guenther and Campbell. The couple, who also own Rocker Oysterfeller’s in Valley Ford, loved its historic mahogany charm and rough-around-the-edges aura, and frequented the restaurant on days off. It was a no-brainer to save it after it closed last year.

Once known as Lazio Dock, the restaurant has been a centerpiece of the local seafood industry, where salmon, shrimp, rockfish, crabs and all other kinds of seafood caught in and around the Bay were processed.

“Lucas Wharf was important to the community. Watching it sit there for so long empty drove me crazy, so we jumped on it and threw ourselves to the wolves to get it opened back up,” said Guenther. “We wanted it for the community, even though I didn’t want to give up our favorite bar seats.”

The eats

The menu, developed by Guenther and chef Nixon, is classic wharf-side dining with some Southern twists — not surprising since the original Rocker Oysterfeller’s restaurant in Valley Ford focuses on dishes like shrimp and grits and fried chicken (as well as oysters). The two restaurants, however, are literally and figuratively miles apart.

While Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf focuses on “surf” dishes like fat Captain’s Platters loaded with fried fish, calamari and fries, peel-and-eat shrimp, blackened rockfish and chowder, Rocker Oysterfeller’s Roadhouse (the new name), will evolve its menu around “turf,” with fried chicken, pasta and burgers (though its fish tacos and oysters will remain). (The daily happy hour is a Valley Ford tradition and is highly recommended.)

Guenther said the couple closed their third Rocker’s location in Placerville recently so they could focus on the new restaurant in Bodega Bay.

The vibe

Lucas Wharf’s brick-red exterior and old-school interior are mostly the same, purposefully.

Things have been refreshed, though, and artist Joe Szuecs has created a metal kelp garden with moving lights above the dining room, echoing the Bay’s aquatic life.

The bar is still a focus, with seats and window views always at a premium. There are no reservations, so you’ll likely be in for a wait if you visit at peak times.

“This place already has a built-in audience, so you’re constantly getting people coming by who came here for years. They’re excited to have it back,” said Guenther. “We’re definitely going to have some fun out there.”

Best bets

Butterball Potato and Manila Clam Chowder, $9.95: Not your average pasty chowdah. Rocker’s version has a New Orleans-style roux base, giving it a light caramel color and loads of flavor. Not too thick or too thin, but something perfectly in between. Served with applewood-smoked bacon and garlic toast to sop up all the goodness.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, $19.95: Shell-on wild Gulf shrimp in Worcestershire butter sauce. Worth the mess.

Pan Roasted Local Fish Fillet, $29.95: Rockfish (aka rock cod or Pacific red snapper) is a local favorite and a workhorse of this menu. The styles will change seasonally — we had it with blackened spice, basmati rice, corn and summer squash, black-eyed peas and green tomato chowchow. You’ll be a fan even if you’re not a fan. If the charbroiled whole rockfish with garlic butter and fennel (with jambalaya fried rice) is available, it’s also spectacular.

Captain’s Platter, $38.95: This is the holy grail of fried seafood pilgrims. A ridiculous amount of saltine-fried shrimp, beer-battered rock cod, salt and pepper calamari, a Dungeness crab cake and Kennebec fries served with tartar, rémoulade and cocktail sauce for your dipping pleasure. Easily enough for two. I’ve looked for something as impressive as this on the coast for decades and never before found it — a tip of the captain’s hat to the kitchen.

Rémoulade Louis Salad with Dungeness Crab, $29.95: Soft butter lettuce, toy box tomatoes, pickled onions and a jammy-yolked egg set the scene. A pile of fresh crab gets dressed with a Cajun-spice riff on the classic Crab Louie dressing.

Smoked Salmon Dip, $14.95: Just what it says. Creamy smoked salmon with salty capers, salmon roe, fresh herbs and plenty of cream cheese — another tasty dipper.

Banana Pudding, $11.95: Tiramisu meets English trifle meets maw-maw’s home cooking. Though it was first introduced in the North, this simple banana pudding recipe is layered with ‘Nilla wafers soaked in Saint George NOLA coffee liqueur. Your inner child will squeal while your adult self contemplatively savors the deep coffee and banana flavors.

Also great: The Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf menu is expansive and the portions are generous. We barely got through a handful of dishes before tapping out. Guenther said the PEI Mussels in a Creole tomato beer broth with Andouille sausage ($23.95) is a personal favorite, along with the ever-evolving Chilled Seafood Tower ($49.95), with raw oysters, mussels, shrimp, smoked fish dip and pickled corn. If you’re not a huge seafood fan, steak and pasta are also available.

Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf is open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. 595 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-772-5670, rockeroysterfellers.com

Carey Sweet contributed to this article.

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All it takes is a cool, winter day out on Tomales Bay, right after a storm passes and the water turns to glass, “when it just feels like home to me,” says Aluxa Lalicker. It is where she learned to ply the waters as a kayak guide and where she mastered the art of shucking oysters, a life skill she passed down to her younger sister, Jazmine. They might have been born in the Yucatan and raised in Oklahoma, but The Oyster Girls were conceived in the briny waters of Tomales Bay.

“I call it the slippery slope upward,” Aluxa says. “It really is an obsession or an addiction.”

After shucking oysters on the beach for clients while working as a kayak guide on the bay, Aluxa was hooked. Transporting that experience to the Bay Area party circuit, she and Jazmine took their show on the road in 2007 as The Oyster Girls, catering events everywhere from wineries to fire stations. Quick to show off their knife skills, the sisters were often the life of the party. Their look was classy and sophisticated—much like the vintage girl lounging on a half-shell that makes up their business logo.

Everywhere the sisters went, people learned more about Tomales Bay – and more about the mystique of the oyster as an aphrodisiac, a fascination that goes back to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. For Jazmine, part of the fun is “taking the sexuality and turning it into education, and showcasing the oyster for the femininity that it has, which I think before wasn’t really showcased before.”

The sisters’ nuanced approach is a welcome counterpoint to the stereotypical bro oyster shucker. “The number one biggest misconception with oysters is that it takes some big dude wearing, like, a rubber apron and rubber boots and really dirty gloves that have never been washed before. And they’ve got to power through this hard, really hard, dirty, gritty work,” Aluxa says. “It’s a huge misunderstanding,” adds Jazmine. “Because oysters are so delicate, and it takes so much finesse to open them.”

Another misconception is that an oyster party will turn into a hazmat scene. “I’ve had people gasp, like, ‘You’re going to wear that and shuck oysters?’” Aluxa says. “Or they ask, ‘Do I need to Saran-Wrap the bar area?’ They want to Saran-Wrap the whole room.”

“It’s not a crime scene,” Jazmine jokes. Quick to finish each other’s sentences, the two sisters were born in Cancun, Mexico, where their parents – their father is Mexican and their mother is from Oklahoma – ran a bed-and-breakfast. Not long after a hurricane ravaged the Yucatan peninsula, the family relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was in Sooner country, where, as a teenager, Aluxa tasted her first oyster. Her grandfather wanted to show her, “how to act on a date and what to expect on a date,” she remembers. “So I went out and bought a little black dress, and my grandpa picked me up in his truck and we went out and ate oysters.”

The briny, salty flavors blew her mind. Over a decade later, she migrated to Sonoma State University and was working for Blue Waters Kayaking on Tomales Bay when a friend taught her how to shuck an oyster. The sisters knew from the beginning that it would be important to create lasting relationships with local oyster farmers, especially Hog Island Oyster Co., Tomales Bay Oyster Company, and Drakes Bay Oyster Company. “I’ve always seen The Oyster Girls as a bridge between the oyster farmers and the party world,” Aluxa says.

Drakes Bay Oyster Company co-owner Ginny Cummings taught them that a handshake was all it took to do business. To this day, The Oyster Girls buy half their bivalves from the company, which pivoted to farming oysters in Baja, Mexico after closing down their operations in Point Reyes National Seashore in 2014. “They found that niche that no one else was doing at the time,” says Cummings of the sisters. “They had sass, but they also had class.”

Those relationships came in handy when the Lalickers opened The Shuckery on the ground floor of Hotel Petaluma in 2016. Inspired by a trip to New Orleans, where hotel oyster bars are a way of life, the two carved out a 32-seat oyster bar that goes through 600-1,200 oysters a day. Jazmine, who once worked as a server at Petaluma’s Central Market, now primarily focuses on the restaurant, while Aluxa books Oyster Girl parties. Both businesses are starting to bounce back from the pandemic, along with the oyster industry as a whole.

During the restaurant hiatus, many of the meaty mollusks sat in the water for an extra 12 to 18 months, growing larger than usual. “I’ve never seen Kumamotos so big,” Aluxa says.

When it comes to local oyster terroir, Aluxa can get super nerdy.

“An oyster that was eating zooplankton is almost like a wine that came from stainless steel,” she says. “It’s going to be really bright, briny— steely and metallic. And an oyster feeding on phytoplankton, it’s still gonna have the salt of the bay, but it’s gonna have a sweeter finish, like seagrass and melon – even though it’s the same oyster from the same bay, at the same time of year.”

Still amazed that many locals take it for granted, both sisters cherish this time of year on Tomales Bay. “It’s a little-known secret, but it’s the most beautiful time of the year,” Aluxa says. “Sure, you get rain. But then you get four days of calm weather, with the water like glass. The migrating birds move in. The anchovies come in, and the whales are migrating. Californians eat most of their oysters in the summer, with outdoor barbecued oysters – it’s a very California thing. But really, I think the oysters are the best this time of year.”

Jazmine and Aluxa Lalicker’s oyster bar, The Shuckery, is located inside the Hotel Petaluma, 100 Washington St., Petaluma. 707-981-7891, theshuckeryca.com. For catering and events, visit theoystergirls.com.

How to Throw Your Own Oyster Party

Inspired by local oyster experts Jazmine and Aluxa Lalicker, we’re celebrating the season by honoring winter oysters. So grab a shucking board and some Sonoma County seafood and read on to learn about how to set up the perfect oyster party.

It may seem obvious but…

Make sure you invite people who love oysters, says Aluxa Lalicker, co-owner of The Oyster Girls and The Shuckery restaurant in Petaluma. You don’t want to throw a party where you’re shucking oysters and no one’s eating them – that’s no fun for anyone.

Out of the shell

Decide whether to hire a professional oyster shucker or do it yourself. If you’ve never brandished an oyster knife, practice ahead of time. Jazmine and Aluxa Lalicker have a how-to video at theoystergirls.com.

Source your oysters

Figure out if you’re going to get a bag of the same oysters, or do a tasting of several varieties. The Oyster Girls have oysters for pick-up and party kit trays to go. Or, if you’re driving to Tomales Bay to pick up oysters, bring a cooler, and don’t make too many pit stops on the way home. You don’t want your oysters to sit for long in the car.

Set up the bar

Don’t banish your oyster bar to a far corner of the party—choose a central location. Next to the alcohol is often a good idea, say the sisters. Picnic tables and wine barrels easily showcase big oyster platters.

Grab supplies

You’ll need a shucking board, oyster knife, glove, apron, and trash can. Also some crushed ice and platters if you’d like to display your oysters after shucking.

Wine, cocktails, tequila shots — all good!

“Really, it comes down to whatever makes you happy,” says Jazmine Lalicker of what to drink with your oysters. Wines made in stainless steel and neutral oak pair beautifully, especially Chablis and Chenin Blanc—and, of course, Champagne.

At The Shuckery, Jazmine serves a popular Huntress cocktail, with gin, vermouth blend, Campari, golden raisins, toasted oak, and Angelica root. And don’t forget: “The oyster can always be the salt to your tequila shot,” Aluxa says.

The post Petaluma’s The Oyster Girls Want You to Have a Party appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Tony’s Seafood in the tiny hamlet of Marshall was a charming little seafood restaurant until it wasn’t.

For almost 70 years, the ramshackle little fish house was a coastal favorite run by a Croatian fishing family. But by the time the restaurant changed hands in 2017, the restaurant was a fading relic from another era.

After a two-year remodel by the owners of Hog Island Oyster Co., Tony’s has been reborn into a vibrant, modern seafood house with some of the best food and best views of Tomales Bay.

Old oyster shells litter the ground on the strip of land south of the cozy restaurant, giving a satisfying crunch underfoot. There is almost no parking, so expect to pull perilously close to a steep drop-off, then tiptoe your way over shells to the pier-supported restaurant. The smell of brine is a companion for the slightly harrowing journey, but the reward of a cozy, modern room filled with sunlight and bowls of shells on every table.

Shells, of course, are what you’re here for, or more specifically what’s in them — clams, mussels, crab, shrimp and, of course, oysters. There’s fresh Alaska cod, halibut, salmon and anchovies along with a handful of seafood-free items like the Tony’s burger, or battered-veggies and local greens, but really, seafood is what’s on the menu.

Chef and forager Matt Shapiro runs the kitchen and focuses on seaside classics with his own twists. The longtime Hog Island toque knows what coastal travelers want, from fish and chips and clam chowder to crab sandwiches, raw oysters and oyster po’ boys. What makes Tony’s worth the trip, however, are the little touches — house-made tartar sauce, creamy flourless chowder with piles of sweet clams, and just-from-the-ocean ingredients.

Best Bets

HIOC Clam Chowder, $16: Hog Island owner John Finger developed this recipe with two absolutes, no flour to thicken it and only fresh clams. Hog Island grows Manila clams in addition to oysters, so the sweet little clams are piled high in the bowl, shells on, making it an interactive experience as well as a tasty one. It’s heavy on the good stuff, aromatic herbs, fresh cream and bacon, and light on the fillers (potatoes and carrots). This is what chowder should always be and rarely ever achieves.

Whole SF Anchovies, $11: Even experienced eaters can be put off by a plate of fish returning your gaze, but these little anchovies are deboned and lightly fried with a blast of furikake (a mix of dried fish, sesame seeds, seaweed, sugar, and salt) and served with togarishi-sesame aioli and lime. Pop the finger-sized fish into your mouth whole and prepare for fireworks of flavor. Bonus, there’s no oily, overly salty, fishy flavor to these fresh anchovies.

Baked Stuffed Butter Clams, $15: Minced clams are mixed with bacon, jalapeno, thyme, celery, and breadcrumbs and baked onto a scallop shell. It’s a great alternative to raw oysters if that’s not your jam.

Fish & Chips & Slaw, $21: Local rock cod is the standard on the coast, but Tony’s uses Alaska “True” Cod, a sweeter, more substantial cod that was originally found on the East Coast. Sustainably sourced, it’s actually a lot better than rock cod. Light breading and house-made tartar sauce that’s flavorful and slightly runny rather than mayonnaise quicksand that swallows up the entire piece of fish.

Tony’s Burger, $17: Is it the best burger ever? Nope, but it’s a really good burger made with locally sourced Stemple Creek beef. The thick patty is cooked perfectly medium-rare and topped with Pt. Reyes Toma cheese and tartar sauce. Served with thin-cut fries. The original Tony’s was known for their burger, and this one pays homage to that tradition.

Halibut Crudo, $15: Thin slices of raw halibut float on slices of Granny Smith apples in a shallow pool of jalapeño oil and lime juice. It’s very, very tart and the lime slightly overpowers. But eaten with the apple, which seems almost sweet in comparison, lightens the dish.

Today’s Oysters: Pacific and Atlantic oysters are both on the menu, though oddly on the day we visited there were no Hog Island oysters from the nearby farm. Apparently, conditions only recently became optimal for the Hogs, and they will soon return.

Drinks

A brief but well-matched wine list with plenty of crisp whites and sparkling wines by the glass or bottle. The Hog Island Oyster Wine, White Rhone Blend, $12 per glass, has nice acidity with hints of lemon. Works beautifully with raw seafood in particular.

Local beers, including Henhouse Oyster Stout plus Mexican Coke and Sprite, house lemonade and teas.

Needs Improvement

CA Dungeness Crab Sandwich, $21: It’s end of season for fresh crab, and this version just doesn’t really do the local crab justice, lacking the sweetness that makes local Dungeness so wonderful. The crab salad felt a little dry, made with celery, dijon and house-made mayo. The ciabatta bun made the whole thing even drier. A smushy roll, more mayo and a little less mustard would have made this a more enjoyable experience.

Overall

A relic has been reborn, bringing back the tradition of just-off-the-boat seafood to a new generation.

Details: 18863 Shoreline Highway, Marshall. Open Friday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. for dinner only. 415-663-1107, tonysseafoodrestaurant.com.

Still hungry? Check out Heather’s always-updated food and dining blog at BiteClubEats.com

The post Tony’s Seafood, A Great Catch in Marshall appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

We love any excuse to escape to the coast — from Marin to Mendocino — and, of course, Sonoma! Whether it is to reward ourselves with a local beer after a long day of hiking or biking, or toast to a special occasion as the sun sets, a cocktail with a coastal view never gets old. Click through the gallery above to discover our favorite coastal bars.

The post From Marin to Mendocino: 8 Ocean-View Bars To Visit Along Highway 1 appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

The list of restaurants re-opening after the wildfires that ravaged Wine Country continues to grow – and soon the Glen Ellen Inn Oyster Grill & Martini Bar will be added to that list – after renovations. 

“Our restaurant and inn survived,” share owners Karen & Chris Bertrand, who have owned the bistro for over 25 years, “as did our house, barely.”

Luckily, most of the restaurants in downtown Glen Ellen escaped major damage, thanks to hard working fire crews.

The Glen Ellen Inn serves up more than just local oysters and strong martinis, it has seven cottages nestled along a creek behind the restaurant. “Three of our buildings were yellow tagged due to roof damage,” says the Bertrand’s, “but we will have that fixed as soon as we can.”

The electricity was off in Glen Ellen for 14 days, leading the Bertrand’s to replace a refrigerator and freezer. They’re also taking advantage of the repair time for a winter renovation, which will feature an update to the martini bar, flooring and kitchen. They’ll reopen as soon as permitting allows.

“Meanwhile, we ask all of our guests to visit our friends in our Glen Ellen neighborhood restaurants,” say the couple, “Glen Ellen is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people – and we will come back strong!”

We here at Bite Club will let you know when they reopen.

The post Glen Ellen Inn Oyster Grill & Martini Bar Stands After Fires appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.