Food obsessed: bone broth

Bone broth is one of the hottest (pun intended) food (or beverage?) trends in the country, triggered by the Paleo diet fad.

I was spoiled living in Oakland, where we had countless ramen shops. Since my relocation to Sonoma Valley, the selection is few and far between, with Shiso serving noodle bowls and the option for a long drive to Sebastpol to visit Ramen Gaijin (home of probably the best ramen in the county).

Recently, I visited the Kenwood Restaurant (9900 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood; 833-6326, kenwoodrestaurant.com) for the first time since their ownership change.

Despite a warm weather day, I sat outside on the patio and ordered a hearty bowl of bone broth, served ramen-meets-Wine-Country style: “hand pulled noodles, green onions, buttered corn and a salt cured farm egg.”

The bone broth uses bones from “smoked walnut fed pork,” which creates a remarkable, savory, slightly salty, delicious bowl of broth. This also makes it one of the most expensive bowls of broth around – $21 – but the noodles are made in house, and egg, corn, and pork are all local.

Bone broth, available here, has a long history of being a comfort food, gaining popularity in 18th-century France’s inns, which served big bowls of broth, called restoratifs, to travelers. And while I’m not a fan of fad diets, I can get behind this old timey soup.

While some trend followers claim it has health benefits (inflammation reduction, good for those with sensitive guts), science has shown very little proof that it really provides these benefits. But, who cares. It tastes really really good and with fall coming, you bet I’ll be making this a staple in my cooking tool belt.