By now, most of Sonoma has learned that I take my birthday rather seriously. Anyone who knows me knows that come the first of October, I commence the celebration. Having the very fortunate opportunity to have a birthday at the end of the month – October 30 – I choose to take the very festive opportunity of celebrating all month long. Poor people with a first-of-the-month birthday. I’ll readily admit that I might not be doing anything so different from a normal month, but what I do tends to be done under the “it’s my birthday month” heading. I adore birthday month! I believe we all need to embrace each year, simply live it to the fullest, use every opportunity to take advantage of a little special attention. Wouldn’t you agree? Not to mention, it’s pretty darn great to have a month-long excuse to have that second glass of bubbly or to slather a bit of butter on your baguette. It’s your birthday month after all. I am fairly confident that this year I ate more amazingly delicious things than I have during any birthday month before this. Find my favorite bites from this year’s birthday month below, but don’t feel like you need to stash these experiences away for your birthday month…they’re delicious all year long!
The gift of crabs
Growing up in Florida, my birthday happily coincided with the beginning of stone crab season. It became a fabulous, celebratory tradition that each year my birthday lunch was thrown at Miami Beach’s historic Joe’s Stone Crab Restaurant. Stone crabs, for those of you who aren’t familiar with them, are quite different from their west coast counterparts, the dungeness crab. With stone crabs, one large claw is removed from the crab and he’s tossed back in to simply grow a new one, the luxurious meat is sweet and the getting it out of the shell is far easier than that of a dungeness. At Joe’s, huge platters arrive, with a divine homemade mustard sauce for dipping the cold, expertly cracked crab claws. Folks, this is seriously crab heaven. The birthday meal is, unquestionably, finished with a monstrous slice of tart key lime pie that is to-die-for. Candle mandatory. Since my relocation to the Bay Area, I resigned myself to the fact that I would begin a new birthday tradition that would more than likely include something like dim sum or possibly cioppino. Until the thrilling day a few years back when I found out that BarbersQ, the chic barbecue spot in Napa, flies stone crabs in straight from Florida the entire season. There couldn’t have been a more thoughtful gift than to recreate one of my most cherished personal traditions during a long, leisurely, stone crab-filled lunch. Plenty of mustard sauce and yes, even a piece of key lime pie. BarbersQ is located in the Trader Joe’s shopping center on Trancas. Visit barbersq.com or call 224.6600 for details or to make a reservation. Stone crab season runs October 15 thru April 15.
Best gift ever
One of my dearest friends, who obviously knows what I like, gifted a beautiful little glass jar of salt for my birthday. I am not talking about just any sort of salt, although I would have been thrilled with any sort of special salt. This was black truffle salt. Delicate sea salt infused with tiny specks of potent, funky black truffle. I hadn’t used it in quite some time, but oh holy smokes, this is some outrageous stuff. I cannot imagine anything that truffle salt would not be wondrous on. A richly marbled steak, right off the grill? Yes, please. One of my absolute favorites…just popped popcorn. Sliced tomatoes, simple baked potatoes or even noodles with butter are all ridiculous when given a generous sprinkle. Want your mind blown by deliciousness? Gently scramble a couple of backyard eggs and just sprinkle away. The best birthday gift ever. Find truffle salt locally at Whole Foods and Sonoma Market.
Birthday Brussels
One of the dishes that easily stood out amongst a sea of birthday month dishes was Brussels sprouts. Yes, Brussels sprouts. Even when enjoyed amongst four week’s worth of extravagant birthday dishes, which included oysters, duck confit – of course – and sparkling sushi, the Brussels sprout side dish found on the current menu at the El Dorado Kitchen were memorable. These beauties are perfectly cooked. They were tender on the inside, absolutely crispy, slightly charred on the outside, finished with a hefty glug of olive oil and an unexpectedly gorgeous squeeze of lemon, which brightens up the entire, yummy mess. The portion is generous and lovely when paired with several other of the restaurant’s beautiful side dishes, which include roasted beets with orange, a decadent macaroni and cheese, a silky potato puree and a cheesy polenta. My birthday month dinner was at the bar, engrossed in conversation with a friend and consisted of several side dishes – those Brussels! – a few glasses of wine and was easily one of my favorite meals of the month.
Bread is beautiful
Have you ever gasped uncontrollably while chewing? Taken a bite of something only to immediately go wide-eyed, little moans escaping? Have you eaten something that you knew would probably taste nice, only to have it surprise you with it’s amazing deliciousness? This is the sort of thing that I literally hope for every time I eat and honestly only happens a few times a year. Luckily, it happened during my birthday party picnic held out on Tomales Bay at the Hog Island Oyster Farm. I cannot think of a more heavenly way to spend my birthday than with a small group of my closest friends, cozied up at a picnic table over looking the sparkling bay with iced platters of oysters – farmed right there – plenty of ooey gooey cheeses and other scrumptious picnic fare, bottles of bubbly. The oysters were meant to be the highlight of this lunch on the coast, but my entire group was blown away by a hunk of bread, topped only by a slice of tomato and a sprinkling of the aforementioned birthday truffle salt. I regularly choose bread from Petaluma’s Della Fattoria Bakery, whether straight from the atmospheric little bakery or more often from Sonoma Market. All of their bread is fabulous, but on this day, I grabbed the Meyer lemon-rosemary loaf. It’s a hearty boule, with a sublime presence of mass quantities of olive oil and coarse sea salt. We grilled thick slices over the dying coals and when topped with a slice of the juiciest, end of the season heirloom tomato and that truffle salt I about fell off of my seat. Insert swoon here. Della Fattoria breads are sold locally at Sonoma Market or visit their bakery in downtown Petaluma at 141 Petaluma Boulevard.
On The Menu
This Friday evening, November 4, join Community Cafe for a “Winemaker Dinner with Rich Little of Little Vineyards.” Taste Little Vineyard wines and enjoy a lovely sounding four-course, autumn menu that includes braised lamb shanks and dark chocolate mousse! $29 per person. For more information and to make reservations, call the Community Cafe at 938.7779.
• Be sure not to miss this great event at the Epicurean Connection’s new Plaza shop, “Eat Good Food,” a conversation and book signing with Sam Magonnam from San Francisco’s BiRite Market and his Sonoma Valley BiRite Farm. Magonnam will be on hand to discuss his book which is an aisle by aisle guide through the grocery store aimed at helping the reader make better shopping decisions. Saturday, November 5, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call or email Sheana Davis at 935.7960 or sheana@vom.com.
• The Vintage House throws their “Vintage Holiday” dinner and reception on Saturday, November 19 in the Stone Hall Ballroom. Chef Catherine Venturini of Olive & Vine will prepare festive hors d’oeuvres and an elegant four-course, seated dinner. Seasonal cocktails will be shaken up by mixologist Shane McKnight and wine from Charles Creek and Madrone Ridge. Live jazz vocals by Jackie Ryan will entertain guests. The $175 ticket provides much needed funds for senior programs at the Vintage House. Call 996.0311 or visit the Vintage House to purchase tickets or for more information.
Joe’s Stone Crab Mustard Sauce
Recipe from Eat at Joe’s: The Joe’s Stone Crab Restaurant Cookbook
Makes 1 cup
1 tablespoon Colman’s dry mustard, or more to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
1 teaspoon A-1 sauce
2 tablespoons light cream
salt
Place the mustard in a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the mayonnaise and beat for 1 minute. Add the Worcestershire, A-1, cream, and a pinch of salt and beat until the mixture is well blended and creamy. If you’d like a little more mustardy bite, whisk in 1/2 teaspoon more dry mustard until well blended. Chill the sauce, covered, until serving.
Kristin Viguerie is one of Sonoma’s most passionate, food obsessed residents. In this weekly column, she covers all the delicious happenings, foodie events and restaurants in Sonoma, the rest of Wine Country and beyond. Find her blogging daily as the Cook (thecardiganandcook.com) or via email at foodandwine@sonomasun.com.
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