A bar patron adds another dollar bill to the ceiling.
The J Terrace menu features cheeses and cured meats.
Photos by Ryan Lely
“Go West, young man,” I said to Flash as he settled behind the wheel of his plucky 1968 Mustang. We were headed across the great divide known as Highway 101 to explore the roads that run beside it on the far side.
I thought I’d owe apologies to Horace Greeley, the New York newspaper editor to whom the classic 19th-century motto is usually attributed. As it turns out, the origins of the phrase are debatable; it may have been coined by an editor somewhat to the west, John Babson Lane Soule, who used it in an 1851 editorial in the Terre Haute (Ind.) Daily Express. The Oxford English Dictionary grants bragging rights to Soule, but only in uncharacteristically vague terms.
For anyone paying attention, that conflict might have served as an omen (or at least a metaphor) for the destination-challenged excursion we took a couple of weeks ago. We were en route to a couple of enterprises along Westside Road on the outskirts of Healdsburg, trying to jibe the Farm Trails map with the reality of the terrain, when we came to a bridge that was closed for the day and had to backtrack.
So even though we were late reaching the roadside stand at Verdure Farm, we weren’t quite late enough. We had expected to find some 200 varieties of tomatoes there in mid-August, but like every other grower in Sonoma County, Tamara the Tomato Lady was exasperated with the tardy ripening of her nearly three-acre crop. Greeted by the farm’s dachshund, Ozzie (short for Oscar the Wilde Child), we stayed to admire the riot of basil – opal, purple ruffle, lime, licorice, perpetuo, Genovese and other varieties – that would have tasted oh, so good with some buffalo mozzarella and a few slices of (sigh) tomatoes.
Our manifest destiny – fine food – still lay ahead. In about 25 minutes, we arrived at J Vineyards and Winery, where we settled into a plush sofa in the tony Bubble Room. We forgot all about the tomatoes the instant we saw the ink-black cluster of Osetra caviar served on a teeny blini with a dab of crème fraiche and a micro-mint leaf. Accompanied by J’s 1999 Brut, it was the first in a series of small plates that are the specialty du maison. Next, a baby corn samosa made a fabulously savory complement to Cuvee 20, J’s second nonvintage sparkler. That was followed by a roasted beet salad in a cherry vinaigrette with a beet-pinot noir glaze (with the 2004 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir) and then by seared, aged Masami beef with an onion-nori compote (with the 2006 Nicole’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, a true knockout).
Originally, modest pairings were conducted in the tasting room, but last year J remodeled its visitors center in order to offer more elaborate sessions in the Bubble Room and simpler pairings of wine with oysters or charcuterie, on the J Terrace until sometime in October. On Saturday, Aug. 30, the winery will launch Essence, a private, seven-course pairing experience
Having rescued our Road Trip from disaster, Flash and I felt like kicking back in a less rarified atmosphere. We drove south along Stony Point Road – through neighborhoods of rickety shacks interspersed, apparently at random, with new condo developments – to the intersection with Roblar Road. Perched on the Cotati/Petaluma cusp, the rambling red-and-white Washoe House has been offering aid and comfort to westside travelers since stagecoach days.
The menu runs to fried chicken and prawns, but we ordered gin-and-tonics and joined the regulars in the bar, where we were mesmerized by the legendary assortment of dollar bills tacked to the ceiling that, over the decades, have been stained an almost uniform nicotine brown. The bills fluttered like confetti every time the door opened, making it hard to focus on my search for a Euro. Had I spotted one, I’d have hopped up on a bar stool to snag it. As it turned out, though, the drinks were such a bargain that we had enough dollars left over to have pinned a couple to the ceiling.
Verdure Farm
2476 Westside Road, Healdsburg;
707.433.1403
Open daily 11 a.m.-6 p.m. through November.
J Vineyards & Winery
11447 Old Redwood Hwy., Healdsburg;
888.JWINECOMPANY.com
Open daily. Bubble Room:
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.-Tues.
Reservations advised: 707.431.5430.
Prices start at $55.
J Terrace: Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Fri.-Mon.
No reservations necessary. Price: $35.
Essence: Available only on Thursdays
for maximum of eight people. Price: $200.
Washoe House
Stony Point Rd & Roblar Rd
Petaluma
707.795.4544
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
