The latest food and drink news from Sonoma Valley
Valentine’s Day bites…
Fresh dipped strawberries at Sonoma Market. (Photo credit: Sonoma Market)Hand-dipped strawberries available at Sonoma Market on Feb 13-14 for Valentine’s Day (do we really need an excuse, though?). 500 W. Napa St.
Vella Cheese is 14% off this week only at our beloved Vella Cheese Company. Nothing says I love you and your non-lactose intolerant self like tasty local cheese. 315 2nd St. E.
Rosé & Roses at Poseidon Vineyard & Obsidian Ridge will take place Saturday at Cornerstone Sonoma. For $10 you can get a wine flight, which includes an early tasting of their soon-to-be released 2014 Rosé for the Bay. Proceeds from the sales of each rosé bottle goes are donated to San Francisco Baykeeper. Live reggae, also! Feb 14, 1-4 PM, 23570 Arnold Dr. tricyclewine.com
Need Valentine’s Day ideas? Don’t be the guy (it’s always guys, c’mon) frantically knocking on the window of the local chocolate shop after they’ve closed on the big day…Check out my latest column for my suggestions.
Everything else…
Gumbo at Tips Tri-Tip (Photo Credit: Tips Tri-Tip)Gumbo is on at Tips Tri-Tip this week. Chef Andy has New Orleans roots and the famous “Tri-Tip Trolley” is celebrating Mardi Gras with fresh gumbo. Ask for a side of shiitake bacon. Pick up a bowl at Fat Pilgrim (20820 Broadway) from 11:30AM-1:30PM this Thursday or stop by Muscardini Cellars (9380 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood) on Sunday from 11AM-3PM. No flashing required.
Sonoma Gourmet now available at Safeway. Now you can pick up their Sonoma Valley made pasta sauces at Safeway locations across Northern California. Tasty options include kale pesto with white cheddar and organic plum tomato marinara. sonomagourmet.com
Wednesday night is locals’ night at Olive & Vine. Locals can get a $25 2-course prix fixe every Wednesday. This week it was salad with seasonal beets and goat cheese with chicken cacciatore as the entree. BYOB – locals don’t pay corkage. They announce the menu each week on their Facebook page.
2014 girl & the fig Grenache rosé (Photo credit: girl & the fig)girl & the fig releases 2014 wine! It’s a 2014 Grenache rosé made in partnership with Santa Barbara based Margerum Cellars. Only one barrel made and the label was designed by Patti Britton, who has designed all the fig labels and branding. Get a table on their patio and buy a bottle, you know you wanna! 110 W Spain St.
New Double India Pale Ale at Sonoma Springs Brewing Company & fill up your growlers. Today from 2PM-7PM and Fri-Sun 12PM-7PM. Lil Chief IPA, Uncle Jacks Kolsch, NomaCloud TIPA and the new NomaComa DIPA are available. 19449 Riverside Dr.
Taste of the Himalayans re-opens today after being closed for a week for cleaning and renovations. Huzzah! 996-1161, 464. 1st St E.
Enkidu Wines tasting room opens on the Square on Saturday. They relocated from Kenwood recently and are finally opening their doors. Not sure of their tasting prices, but, you can opt for the standard tasting or a reserve tasting. My favorite tasting experience at 2014’s Eight Street Wineries Open House was with the folks at Enkidu – they make some tasty pinot noir and were very welcoming. I’m hoping that overflows into their new tasting room experience. New tasting room is at 520 Broadway. enkiduwines.com
Bring canned foods for a free drink at Dutch Brothers on Feb 14. (Photo credit: Dutch Brothers)Canned food drive for FISH at Dutch Brothers on Saturday, Feb 14. They’re spreading the love in exchange for your love for Sonoma Valley residents in need – bring 4 canned food items to Dutch Brothers and get a free medium drink and a “Dutch Luv” bracelet to show you donated. 711 Broadway. dutchbros.com
Take an Olive Odyssey this weekend at the Olive Press and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. It’s the final weekend of the Sonoma Olive Festival! Take a tour of the olive mill, taste olive oils, check out olive-inspired art, and enjoy food from Costeaux and Carneros Caves Cheese. It’s free! 11am-4pm, Feb 14-15, 24724 Arnold Drive.
Go forage and drink Pinot Noir at Benziger Family Winery on Saturday, Feb 21. Chris Benziger & Patrick Hamilton of Forge SF will take participants on a hike through Benziger property to forage for mushrooms and other edible plants. A farm-to-table lunch will be prepared and paired with Pinot Noir wines. $110 per person/$90 wine club members. Learn more here.
Register now: 12th annual Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference is Feb 21-25. Artisan and urban cheesemakers, mongers and lovers unite for this annual conference. It launches with a Winter Artisan Cheese Fair in San Francisco, then relocates to Sonoma for a two day Artisan Cheese Fair at Ramekins with seminars and workshops (many which are sold out). More in next week’s issue of the Sun. Learn more and register here.
Sonoma wineries head to Chicago for Sonoma in the City. Over 60 county wineries will bring some California love to the Midwest on March 3 at the famous Drake Hotel in Chicago. Sonoma Valley wineries include Arrowood Winery, Lasseter Family Winery, Patz & Hall, Petroni Vineyards, Schug Wines, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, Three Sticks Wine and more. Tell your Chicagoan friends to hustle through the cold weather and grab a warm glass of Pinot. Learn more here.
El Verano Elementary wins a smoothie barEl Verano Elementary wins $10,000 for a classroom smoothie bar. Kids will make tasty smoothies out of fresh organic ingredients (many from the school garden) using, wait for it, Nutribullets (there has to be a corporate twist, right?). No child left behind…on the kale smoothie wagon! Congratulations!
Learn to make flatbread with the Mike Zakowski, aka the bejkr, at the Sonoma Community Center. He’s the guy who rides around town on a bike delivering tasty bread and has a mobile bread oven you’ve seen at farmers markets. The course includes ingredients and an afternoon meal using locally sourced ingredients. Register now, the class will sell out. $90 or $85 for SCC members. Learn more here.
10th annual VinOlivo is March 13-15 and tickets are already on sale for one of the biggest parties in wine country – the Grand Tasting. The biggest names of food and wine in the area are participating and attendees can drink and eat until their hearts content on March 14 at the Lodge. French fries and sparkling wine galore – WHAT?! It’s true. Learn more here.
Anaba Wines gets a shout out in Fortune this week for their 2012 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. “In the mouth there’s a dollop of vanilla and leesy flavor atop the stone fruit.” I had to Google what leesy means. Congrats! Read more here.
And now for something completely different
“simple elegance and efficiency”Costco in Napa designed to have “simple elegance and efficiency” which is hilarious because the renderings make it look like every other Costco on the planet. I’m an anti-Costco person and I generally moan and groan about all things Costco given it’s mass-market nature and excellent job at making Americans giddy about free samples and bulk quantities of razor blades and soy milk. Unless, of course, a shopper falls under one of three categories: 1) has a huge family; 2) is stocking up for the zombie apocalypse; 3) or owns their own business. The Napa Costco will be 5.5 miles closer than the Costco in Novato. I suppose a road trip to the future Napa Costco is just another reason to stop off at Domaine Carneros for a bottle of bubbly and use “the traffic was bad on Highway 12” as an excuse.
Heinz releases Sriracha Ketchup as part of the Sriracha hot sauce trend. Over it. Read more from SF Gate and then go buy yourself a bottle of the best hot sauce in Sonoma Valley, the Breakaway Pumpkin Seed Hot Sauce, at Breakaway Cafe.
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