Maria Robledo and Jan Wahl celebrate big birthdays in Sonoma, plus Mother’s Day brunches

Kathleen Hill

Local winery grande dame Maria Robledo, whose Robledo Family Winery 2006 Chardonnay was served at the the White House on Monday for Cinco de Mayo, received a surprise tres leches birthday cake at the Robledo-Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar Cinco de Mayo celebration Sunday.
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Landmark Winery hosted KRON-TV and KCBS radio film critic Jan Wahl on her birthday as she screened “Some Like it Hot” starring Marilyn Monroe.
Wahl gasped when Monroe herself, played by expert local impressionist Diana Dawn, flounced into Landmark’s courtyard during the Girl & the Fig Caters dinner preceding the film, and presented Wahl with a special cake, “Monroe’s” lusty rendition of “Happy Birthday, Jan Wahl,” à la “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” and several big red-lipped kisses and gushes.
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Jean Arnold Sessions’ Pajama Party at the El Dorado Kitchen last Thursday attracted loads of local women – most dressed in pjs, from Target to Saks Fifth Avenue – for another fundraiser for the Carolyn J. Stone Women’s Health Center. While the tempo seemed slightly subdued compared to last year’s inaugural event, it was a great and productive evening.
The dinner buffet included endive salad, gnocchi filled with Bellwether Farm ricotta, salmon with wild mushrooms and pesto chicken breast. Two continuous dessert buffets offered giant s’mores, “Oreo” cookies, bite-sized cheesecakes with raspberry ribbons0 and lots s’more. Gloria Ferrer donated bubbly, and Peggy Fleming and husband Dr. Greg Jenkins donated their Victories Rosé to the evening.
Fleming-Jenkins Vineyards & Winery created their Victories Rosé to raise funds to wipe out breast cancer, with which figure skater Fleming was diagnosed in 1998 on the thirtieth anniversary of winning her Olympic Gold Medal. This is not just a pretty-face wine. Greg Jenkins’ 2006 Victories Rosé ($20) garnered 90 points from “Wine Enthusiast” in its July 2007 issue. Order at www.flemingjenkinswinery.com.
The next morning, Peggy and Greg basked on the Sunflower Caffé patio, saying “We don’t have anything like this in Los Gatos!” Fleming ate about half of her omelette, which is probably why she looks 30 at 60. She told me, “Kathleen, I am 60! Six-oh! Hey, that’s 6.0,” which used to be a perfect skating score and, we decided, just became her permanent score and age.
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Sonoma Valley Museum of Art hosted its members’ opening of the new Picasso exhibit Thursday night. Rocket catered simply and elegantly with a Spanish theme, accompanied by local Gloria Ferrer Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut, sharing origins in Picasso’s native Catalonia.
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After Picasso, we finally tried Deuce’s Thursday night special of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans, and found the southern delight appealingly plump with a light crunchy batter and perfect mashers. Many locals recognize Peter and Kirsten Stewart’s restaurant, at Broadway and Andrieux, by its fabulous roses and patio.
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Friday’s third annual Sunnys Awards at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn filled the hotel’s tent. Executive Chef Bruno Tison, with planning help from Julie Atwood, created one of the best large-party menus I have experienced, including a rich goat cheese flan served with Sebastiani 2006 Carneros Chardonnay and Millerick Road 2005 Carneros Cuvée Rosé; Lock Duart salmon with perfectly cooked heirloom beans, black truffle and Bloomsdale spinach with Nicholson Ranch Estate 2006 Pinot Noir and Bartholomew Park 2005 Syrah; and a sweet pineapple tarte tatin with coconut whipped cream and candied kumquats on a caramel crisp.
In the evening’s gift bags, a toothbrush donated by Yolanda Mangrum, D.D.S. accidentally (I think) stuck to an old-fashioned miniature “Look!” candy bar from Tiddle E. Winks on East Napa Street.
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Gia and Michael Ghilarducci of the Depot Hotel Restaurant just welcomed their son, Antonio Ghilarducci, back to the family restaurant as executive chef, while Enrique Rojas continues as chef de cuisine.
Tony worked beside his father in the Depot Hotel’s kitchen from age 12 and graduated from San Francisco City College’s Culinary Arts Department, which his father attended 40 years ago.
Tony got to know Jacques Pépin on a family cooking trip to Europe, and Pépin recommended him to Roland Passot of La Folie and Left Bank. Since then Tony has worked his way up the kitchen ladder at Angèle, Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and El Dorado Kitchen, and then as chef de cuisine at Shiso.
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Sheana Davis of The Epicurean Connection just heard that her Delice de la Vallee, a “proprietary blend” of goat and cow milk cheeses with crème fraîche, has been accepted into the Slow Food Nation 2008 expo in San Francisco’s Fort Mason, Aug. 29-Sept.1. Congrats Sheana!
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Don’t forget Saturday’s visit by the legendary Walter and Patricia Wells, the latter a hugely prolific American cookbook author and cooking school proprietor living in France. I will interview the couple at the Sonoma Woman’s Club, and Sheana Davis will prepare food from their book. $15, Saturday, May 10. 4 p.m. reception, 4:30 discussion. 564 First St., E., Sonoma. Tickets at Readers’ Books or online at www.sonomacommunitycenter.com.
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Jeff Cox, restaurant reviewer for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and author of several books, including “The Organic Cook’s Bible,” has started a new business, From Farm to Table, to provide gourmet culinary and wine tours. Guests stay in bed & breakfasts and enjoy vineyard and winery tours with lunch, culinary treasure hunts, evening Plaza picnics and closing night dinners at Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School. Reservations are available for tours from late June through mid-October.
Cox and Kim Ryals will open a retail depot at the original location of the Garden Court Café on Highway 12, next to Triangle Motors and across from the Sonoma Valley Regional Park. For more information visit www.FromFarmToTable.com.
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Cathy Fisher will hold another vegetarian potluck on Friday, May 9 at the Sonoma Community Center. Fisher invites people to bring a dish for 8 to 10 guests, serving spoons and place settings. To celebrate spring veggies, Mother’s Day and her own birthday, Fisher guarantees plenty of vegan chocolate cake and raw mango and macadamia nut pie. $4 suggested donation for room. 6:30 p.m. 376 E. Napa St., Sonoma. For more information email sonomaveg@yahoo.com.
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Mothers’ Day Brunches galore:
Several Sonoma restaurants will offer special meals and buffets if your mother needs to go out and you don’t want to cook. You might also take her and a picnic to the park, or take her to the beach to filter sand through her toes. Another hint: plants from Sonoma Mission Gardens and Wedekind’s Garden Center make super lasting gifts.
Here are special offerings from some restaurants in ascending order according to price.
Plaza Bistro: Champagne brunch with live music by Jim Aiken with fruits, salads, smoked trout and salmon, pastries, beef tips, bacon, sausage, carved ham, eggs to order, brownies, New York cheesecake and fruit tarts. $25 adults, $15 ages 3-12, one glass of champagne or juice included. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 420 First St. E., Sonoma. 707.996.4466.
Harvest Moon: Special menu includes breakfast items, a couple of sandwiches and creations based on the best fish, meat and produce available that day. Price unknown at press time. 11a.m.-2 p.m. re-opening for dinner at 5:30. 487 First St., W., Sonoma. 707.933.8160.
Depot Hotel: Fruit Macedonia or green salad; asparagus topped with ham and two eggs; crab cannelloni; frittata, puff pastry with sautéed chicken and shallots, shrimp salad with asparagus, tortellini with ricotta and veal, sliced ham with scrambled eggs; poached salmon; and tiramisu or cheesecake. $35 adults, $20 12 and younger. 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 241 First St. W., Sonoma. 707.938.2980.
Saddles: Buffets of local cheeses and fruits, jumbo prawns, chilled green lip mussels, crab legs, and oysters; salads; ricotta crêpes, roasted turkey, prime rib, eggs Benedict and sparkling wine. $48 adults, $19 children under 12. 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. 29 E. MacArthur St., Sonoma. 707.933.3191.
Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar: Bloody Mary bar, buffet of smoked fish, beet salad, Belgian waffles, rock shrimp salad, deviled eggs and breakfast pizza; seared scallops and lobster home fries with truffled hollandaise; Kobe flank steak, pork loin, strawberry French toast with mascarpone Balsamic syrup, dessert buffet, glass of bubbles and a rose for mom. $60 adults, $25 children under 12. 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. 1325 Broadway, Sonoma. 707.931.2042.
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn: Specials on its regular Big 3 menu range from iceberg lettuce salad with blue cheese ($12) to filet mignon ($28). Santé restaurant will feature a special Domaine Carneros brunch with waffles, smoked salmon, cheeses, fruits, beef Bourguignon hash, ricotta blintzes, pasta salads, vegetarian spring rolls and Berkshire Ham. $49 adults, $24.50 children 6-12, free 5 and under. Includes bouquet of daffodils for mom, music by harpist Laura Simpson and a glass of Domaine Carneros sparkling wine. 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Santé will also present a tasting menu that includes Maine lobster, prime beef three ways, strawberry sorbet, flourless chocolate cake, white chocolate mousse and Bing cherry sorbet. $125 per person. 707.939.2415.
Tune in to hear Jeff Cox on The Kathleen Hill Show next Monday, May 12, at 4 p.m. on KSVY-91.3 or www.ksvy.org.
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