File under FINALLY. The excruciating wait is over! Karen Waikiki’s El Molino Central in Boyes Hot Springs is open! The lovely little spot is serving up the most delicious coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee Company – my café au lait was spot on – seriously authentic Mexican dishes to take home or enjoy immediately – the Panuchos were stunning – and beautiful fresh-squeezed juices. Grab local, fresh eggs, guacamole, perfectly fried chips and a special selection of homemade Mexican sauces that are the real deal from the refrigerated case – a very cool pumpkin seed pesto was divine on my breakfast of fried eggs. Whatever you do, don’t forget the spectacular organic, house-ground corn tortillas. Hours have not yet been finalized, but will more than likely be seven days, from eight-ish to seven-ish. 11 Central Avenue.
Another Springs business, The Old Sonoma Public House is now open after what seems like forever. Check out their great selection of microbrews from the Bay Area and from around the world. 18615 Sonoma Highway, Suite 110 in the Fiesta Plaza.
After more than a year of trying to sell and then lease the space that was last home to the Fig Pantry on the Eastside, at Napa Street and Eighth, Tom and Gayle Jenkins have finally settled on a plan to open a business there themselves in which they have coined Sonoma’s Best Market. The concept will be similar to the Fig Pantry, with an emphasis on locally produced items: healthy picnic fare, artisanal Sonoma County cheeses, ice cream, tamales, and a nice selection of Italian and French food products. To my immense pleasure, drip coffee and espresso drinks will be from Bay Area cult coffee company, Blue Bottle Coffee! The deli will offer fresh sandwiches and salads, while the lovely Heyerly sisters of Rocket Café and Catering will provide a sure-to-be-tasty selection of grab and go items, soups, spreads and more. The couple have plans in the works to soon offer the best Sonoma County wines as well. The Market will officially open this Saturday and will be open daily from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. except for Mondays and Tuesdays when they’ll close at 2 p.m. I am so excited to see this wonderful old building receiving a new life and am very thankful to the entrepreneurs in our community who are taking risks to make Sonoma a yummier place to live!
Stuffed. Wow! This week, great foodie events abound and I am eager to overindulge! I plan to kick off the weekend by drinking plenty of water and then heading to Gloria Ferrer for their Tapas on the Terrace. Friday evening’s festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. and for a mere $35, you’ll be transported to Spain minus the pesky jet lag. While the – hopefully balmy – breezes blow, listen to the romantic sounds of the Spanish Flamenco guitar performed by Jason Walters and sample tapas prepared by the Vineyards Inn Spanish restaurant, paired with the winery’s sparkling and still wines. gloriaferrer.com
On Saturday, at 1 p.m., I will be first in line for a huge porchetta sandwich from RoliRoti’s to-die-for mobile rotisserie parked at Gundlach Bundschu’s Inaugural Huichica Music Festival. $35 at the door will give you access to all nine hours of high-caliber independent live music on the winery’s outdoor stage and complimentary wine tastings until 6 p.m. gunbun.com/HMF One of my favorite events of the year, Infineon Raceway’s Historic Race Car Festival, zooms into Sonoma on Saturday evening beginning at 5 p.m. The gorgeous selection of James Bond-worthy speedsters do a jaunty lap around the Plaza before heading to the Sebastiani Winery, where a swanky party ensues. A nice selection of local restaurants and wineries, including Mamma Tanino’s, The Red Grape, The Swiss Hotel, The Schellville Grill, Cline Cellars, Deerfield Ranch and Landmark just to name a few, provide the bountiful snacks and sips for $35, which benefits Sonoma County youth organizations through Speedway Children’s Charities. infineonraceway.com From Sebastiani, I’ll head straight – pun intended – to Gary Saperstein and Mark Vogler’s Out in the Vineyard Twilight T-Dance, a soirée benefitting Face to Face Sonoma County AIDS Network. Held at the spectacular Atwood Ranch in Glen Ellen, we’ll drink plenty of Sonoma Valley wine and dance the night away while raising much needed funds to further the fight against HIV and AIDS. My non-VIP $50 ticket promises much fun, but not much food – which is fine – I will be grabbing a late dinner with the boys at the Girl and the Fig, of course! outinthevineyard.com
Sunday morning and WHEW! another day full of foodie fun. From 9 a.m. until noon the Sonoma Valley Grange is again hosting its acclaimed Pancake Breakfast and I know after my late night Saturday, I will need something healthy and hearty in my belly. The offerings sound so seriously good, some of our local breakfast establishments should take note: pancakes made from organic, whole wheat flour ground fresh that morning served with real maple syrup, local, free-range chicken sausages, vegetable and cheese frittata made from free-range eggs, organic dark roast coffee and tea, and organic fruit with Agave Nectar. The cost is amazingly only $10, $5 for children. The Grange is located at 18627 Sonoma Highway in Boyes Hot Springs, 935-1322. Next, a little nap may be in order and there’s no better place to do just that than on a blanket, under a tree in the Plaza and from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. I won’t be alone. The Sonoma Community Center’s Annual Ox Roast will pack the Plaza with locals from all over the Valley in search of the event’s killer barbecue feast, live music and this year’s inaugural Beer Garden, featuring some fun local breweries. sonomacommunitycenter.org
Small Bites: The sun is finally shining and I can’t imagine anyone who could be happier than the famers. A few happy farmers in town are offering shares in their Community Supported Agriculture programs. Lunita Farms is Austin Blair and Rachel Kohn Obut’s enthusiastic vision for converting unused property into land for agricultural use. They’ve begun by planting on a large piece of borrowed land in Carneros and in three Valley backyards, with a goal to distribute to local restaurants and ultimately be a hub for community growth, educational workshops and harvest celebrations. Pick up Lunita Farms’ CSA box every Tuesday at my Plaza shop, Junipero & Co. on East Napa Street. www.lunitafarm.net/csa The Sonoma Garden Park also has a few available spots for their 2010 CSA season. Call Jessica for more information, 996-0712 ext. 108. Both farms offer a heaping variety of seasonal fruits and veggies each week for dollars a day. A CSA is a great way to personally interact with your farmers and to know exactly where your food is coming from, not to mention that opening the box is like getting a delicious present every week! Have you see the scrumptious offerings from Rocket Café at the Tuesday Farmer’s Market? Pristine tuna poke and some big beautiful salads…I just love the new food offerings at the Market this year! rocketsonoma.com I am still reeling from my gigantic lunch at Mary’s Pizza Shack on the Plaza last week. Not having children who beg to be taken there endlessly for the fun atmosphere and kid-friendly fare, I’d be the first to admit that I was not the Mary’s authority. What I did know was that they have a brilliant Happy Hour and make a pretty excellent pizza. What I didn’t know was that for fifty years everything has been made from scratch using Mary’s original recipes and that she charmingly pioneered the “open kitchen” to ensure no one left hungry. After hearing about their new and improved menu, I was eager to get in and see what was cook’in. Less popular items were removed to make way for options the company hoped long time customers would approve of, with only the removal of the tuna melt creating some unhappy backlash – don’t worry folks it just may reappear in the future. Months of hard work, meetings with purveyors and farmers, not to mention many, many tastings by the food and beverage department resulted in the current updated offerings. One of the company’s happiest successes is the new house-baked focaccia, available as an appetizer or as a bread choice when ordering a sandwich while my favorite is the super thin, crispy Napoletana pizza with fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato. From big salads to made to order sandwiches, sizable entrees, calzones and of course pizzas…there are so many choices you won’t know where to start, but the one thing that is certain is that there is bound to be something for everyone.
* Please accept my apologies for the error in last week’s column. The correct spelling of the chef’s name from the very tasty Cochon Volant Flying Pig BBQ is Rob Larman. www.cochonvolantbbq.com
