Sonoma Vacation: Goat Rock Beach at Jenner

Wildlife interlude.

So after settling in to our cottage at Fern Grove Cottages in Guerneville, (definitely "quaint," meaning "small" but quite nice), we realized we had a bit of time before dinner, so we took a leisurely drive out towards Jenner and crossed over to Goat Rock Beach in hopes of spotting some seals.

Unfortunately, although there are signs advising us not to harass the seals, and ropes up, there are no seals to be seen.

Nevertheless, the beach is gorgeous, and I'm totally fascinated by the flocks and flocks of pelicans, who scatter themselves among the sea gulls all across the beach and sail inches away from the water at the mouth of the Russian River.

They look like nothing so much as the neo-pterodactyls they are, and as each group comes in for a landing, I peer at them, wondering what desert island they've been hiding on since the Mesozoic Era.


I sidle over to get a better look at him, and that amazing neck stretches out, ET-like, to get a better look at me.

We eye each other for a bit, and then he waddles off a step or two and I realize that they're even more absurdly ungainly on land than swans.

But when they take off, suddenly, they're like alien warplanes. No sagging chin full of fish, no thick feet, just streamlined darts cutting through the air. They look dangerous, and prehistoric. As I watch them sail over Goat Rock, I can't hlp but wonder if this is what dinosaurs saw standing on this beach?

No tourists, no taco stand, no wineries or marketing materials. Just gorgeous coastline.

Back to our itinerary.

Sonoma Vacation: Dutton Goldfield/ Balletto and Hartford Family Wineries

We had a few wineries on the list and we hit our first one on the way up Highway 116 to Guerneville.

On the search for Chardonnays of redeeming crispness, my Omnivore turned up the name of Dutton. No, no, we were told, that's the Dutton Estates up the road. Same family, different kids. But while we were there, why not sample...?

Why not indeed?

Balletto, the winery that shares the tasting room made some nice wines, and we bought a bottle of Pinot Gris from Balletto and a Zin from Dutton, but if I'm being honest, the best selling point of the place is a nice quiet patio with a fountain where we could put up the umbrellas over the tables, and indulge in my favorite pastime, picnicking!

It takes me all of about 2 minutes to roll out the spread.

In preparation for this little excursion, I made a couple of batches of homemade mustards-- our mustard adventures will have to wait for a post of their own--and picked up some of Fra'Mani's luscious new Rosemary ham, along with slices of soppresata and toscano. Add some of those Maille cornichons, slices of St. George, toasted pecans, a few bites of fregola..... I'm in picnic heaven!

====================
Balletto & Dutton-Goldfield Tasting Room
5700 Occidental Road (midway between Hwy 116 and Fulton)
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
707.568.2455 x18

Hartford Family Wines
8075 Martinelli Road
Forestville, CA
800-588-0234

Back to our itinerary.

Sonoma Vacation: Matos Family Cheese

Oh. Oh. OHHH. One of our favorite cheeses.

The Matos Family's St. Jorge or St. George cheese. It's a pungent, cheddary Portuguese style cheese that hint back at the Azores, where the Matos family grew up.

We've been fans of this local cheese for a long time, so it was one of our most anticipated stops of the whole trip. If we played it right, I theorized, we'd have cheese for the rest of the trip-- maybe the rest of the year...

The farm itself, is a working affair, with perhaps not-so-welcoming cows, and crows that toss fruit at you as you come up the drive.

Perhaps we should say the cows are just disinterested. Almost with that French Normandy Bovine disinterested sort of fashion.

But hey, they look a heckuva lot more happy--nay, entitled-- than the Giacomini Dairy cows whose living quarters next to a pit of their own feces so horrified me that I can't bear the sight of Point Reyes Blue, much less eating it.

The Matos farm is a different story. As we drive up, a dog raises a lazy ear on the driveway, but doesn't budge from his dusty corner, giving us leave to inspect the chickens pecking about in their yard.

As always, the city girl is fascinated by the barnyard animals, but we're here for the cheese. We head for the door to what looks like an extension of the family house, which sets off a startling buzz on opening. We quickly close it behind us and stare around at the absurdly austere, tiny room marked only by a counter, a hunk of cheese, a 12-inch chef's knife, a scale, a register and a few posters.

A young woman, who only speaks Spanish, comes out to handle us. The very first thing she does is hack off a slice, a big slice, and hand it over to us to sample. Yum. Well, we clearly seem to want cheese, but after that, she's a little non-plussed as to what exactly we want. She goes back into a ROOM OF CHEESE, and shows us a WHEEL of CHEESE, albeit one of the smaller ones in the room. She weighs it and indicates--about $77. I'm all excited and ready to take the whole damn thing, but my Omnivore-- perhaps envisioning cheese for breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner and supper, not to mention elevenses--balks.

We negotiate in my high school pidgin Spanish and settle on three large chunks of cheese. $44 and a steal.

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Matos Cheese Factory
3669 Llano Rd,
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
707-584-5283
Daily 9-5

Back to our itinerary.

Sonoma Vacation: Bud's Custom Meats

What a hilarious place.

I don't know what I expected when we drove off the beaten path to head for Penngrove and Bud's Custom Meats. It was a little like driving around Tuscany when we discovered that the roads marked in white on the Italian Touring Club maps are basically dirt roads.

"Turn right here," I say, torquing around my map and peering intently at the crisscross of rail lines with-- I thought-- roads.

The incredulous look on my Omnivore's face says, "Um... into the field?"

Well, anyway, we made it to Bud's, which at least is marked with a prominent sign, and discovered a hard-core butcher shop.

There's a.. a... well, a deer, a deer head, that is, overseeing the counter, which separates an impressive meat packing operation, done by hand by several workers, who look pretty much ready to ignore us until we fire off a shotgun.

In the mean time, folks are coming in here and there, picking up what seem to be humongous pre-orders of meat, chops, ground, all kinds of stuff.

"They have wild boar!" I say excitedly, pointing into one of the vast refrigerated cases.

Sadly, we have no cooler (and it's pretty hot outside) and I'm not sure there's a refrigerator where we're going anyhow. Sighing, we settle on some fairly safe venison jerky and something delectable, with the undelectable name of "Bloody Mary" jerky.

We'll be back.

Bud's Custom Meats
7750 Petaluma Hill Rd
Penngrove CA
(707) 795-8402
Open Monday-Saturday 8-5

Back to our itinerary.

Sonoma Vacation: Divine Delights

Vacation! Really? Honest? Yay!

We kicked off our trip up to the gorgeous Russian River with a quick pass by a place I found online a few weeks ago after paroxysms of frustration unleashed by the great Petits Fours Debacle.

The Petaluma-based Divine Delights makes Petits Fours... and they'll ship them to you.

But are they any good? Their Petit Four Outlet is apparently "Now Open" and easily accessed from the Old Redwood Highway exit off 101, so we made them our first target.

Petit Four Outlet?

Fine, bring it on.

Actually, the place is the home base where they make the thousands of painfully, adorable little cakes, and ship them all over the country. There's a small room with a case of samples that are less expensive than if you ordered them from the catalog and had to pay shipping (about $1.00 apiece for the small petits fours).

They were kind enough to let us peek at the facility where the magic happens. Cakes are made on site, using Italian almond paste for the cake, and poured Guittard chocolate (not fondant-- aha! the secret!) for the smooth, sweet covering. All of the cakes are run through a machine for their two coats of chocolate, but they are expertly hand decorated, as you can see from the two charming ladies who are already working on Christmas themes.

Right, right. They're disarmingly precious and look stunning on a tea stand, but are they any good??

Ahhhh... yes, yes, the Strawberry one... quite nice... Yes, the Apple one, yes, indeedy, quite good. The Hazelnut... um.. let me take a bite. Oh yes, yes. And that's one...? Orange? Yes, yes, by Jove, quite good. And the Lemon? Mmmm-ph, mmmm-hmmmm... And ugggmmmph...? Pass the mmmmmph....with the ..... mmmmmmmm. Mmmmmmmmm.

Mmmmmmm...

Note: Management would like to indicate that insufficient testing was conducted. One sample of each flavor results in an OBVIOUSLY inconclusive study. Testing must begin again. From the beginning. With more samples. Now.

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Divine Delights
1250 Holm Rd
Petaluma, CA 94954
Phone: 800-443-2836

Back to our itinerary.

Sonoma Vacation: the List

Sonoma Vacation

places we visited and stuff we did!

And we're off! My Omnivore headed out last weekend (to beat the Labor Day crush) in search of a bout of much-needed R & R along with foraging for wine and food. And wine. And food.

We visited so many places that if I put them all in one post it would be probably be as many miles long as we drove last weekend, so I've parsed our itinerary out into individual posts. Looking at the list, I'm actually surprised at how many places we hit. I guess this will give us a head start on the Slow Food Nation next weekend and make it easier to get through all those taste pavilions at Fort Mason!

I post updates to this page as I finish blogging! Whew!

An alphabetical list of all the places we went with links to the individual posts. Take that Slow Food.

• Amphora Family Wines, Dry Creek


• Applewood Inn, Guerneville


• Balletto Vineyards, Santa Rosa


• BeeKind Honey, Sebastopol


• Bistro des Copains, Occidental


• Bud's Custom Meats, Penngrove


• The Cheese Shop, Healdsburg


• Divine Delights, Petaluma


• Dutton Goldfield Winery, Santa Rosa


• Farmer Dave's, Penngrove


• Gary Farrell Wines, Healdsburg


• Goat Rock Beach, Jenner


• Hagemann Ranch Trout Farm, Bodega Bay


• Hop Kiln Winery, Healdsburg


• Farmers Market, Healdsburg


• Matos Family Cheese, Santa Rosa


• Oakville Grocery, Healdsburg


• Preston Vineyards, Healdsburg


• Pug's Leap Cheeses, Dry Creek


• Taco Truck, Guerneville


• Unti Vineyards, Dry Creek


• Wild Flour Bread, Freestone

Tuscany and Rome: Eating, Drinking and Being Warm

Oh dear.

So, since getting back from Italy, I've really fallen down on the blogging job. That always seems to happen at the end of the trip-- suddenly the last couple of weeks of a vacation start to accelerate and it all becomes a giant blur. But before I get too far away from it all, I thought I'd at least jot down a few of the food and drink places we visited that really stood out as we travelled through Montalcino, Siena and Rome. Put these in your address book -- they're worth visiting!

TUSCANY

Dario Cecchini's Macelleria (and SoloCiccia) in Panzano- The Dante-spouting, opera loving butcher who featured in a chapter of Bill Buford book Heat, is actually quite the friendly guy. We arrived at around 10:30 in the morning and first thing, he's heating up meatloaf samples and pouring a stack of glasses of Chianti. With Pavarotti blasting on the CD, we chatted a bit about San Francisco (where I gathered that his wife lived), we ate some snacks and then we bought a cannonball-sized meatloaf, plus he threw in a a bottle of his magic "Bam!"-- Chianti spices that are good for seasoning anything from meat to bread. Dario's new restaurant, SoloCiccia or "only meat," is across the street.

Enoteca La Fortezza, Montalcino- One of my favorite wine places to visit in all of Tuscany. Why? Because it's comfortable. The staff there is knowledgeable, incredibly helpful-- and if you get them chatting, they'll tell you all you need to know. Questions about the differences between Brunello producers? Want some tips on wineries? Need to know what the archery contest is all about? Looking for tips on which Quartiere to root for? Head up to the Fortezza and settle in with a nice glass of wine.

Enoteca Franci, Montalcino- Near the Fortezza, this unassuming shop stocks a predictably wide range of Brunellos. The proprietor seemed less than interested in chatting with us, however, their wildflower honey really knocked my socks off. Succulent without being overly sweet, it is perfect just slathered on bread.


Fiaschetteria Toscana- viale della Liberta 5 (off the main square). A pleasant little spot to stop for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, it was obviously also a cozy hangout for locals, whether their quartiere had won the archery contest of no. Behind the bar is a smaller area where you can order food and have dinner.

Castello Banfi-Located in Sant'Angelo Scala, south of the town of Montalcino, Banfi is perhaps the largest of all the Brunello producers in the area. Owned by the American Mariani family, Banfi is also the most tourism-ready of the local wineries, with tasting room, accommodation and touring facilities that look a lot like Napa estates. There's also a restaurant as well as a luxury guest rooms.

Sant'Anna in Camprena- The old convent that served as a location for the film The English Patient is now also an agriturismo. The tiny dirt road that turns off from teh Route to Pienza was lined with swaying cypresses just like the movie, and as we walked around, the only sounds we heard were teh wind and the birds. It's easy to see why it was chosen for the film, as the air of absolute peace and solitude makes it the perfect place for contemplation. Well worth a detour or a longer stay.


SIENA

Everyone who's been to Siena loves the city and it's no mystery as to why. There's nothing more fun than wandering the city and discovering the charms of its medieval streets.



Pasticceria Nannini-Via Massetana Romana 42/44. With all that marble and crystal, Nannini's looks more like a swank place for tea than a spot for a casual coffee stop. nevertheless, the coffee is good, and the pastries are better. It's a convenient stop along the Banchi Sopra between the Campo and the church of San Domenico.

Enoteca Italiana-Fortezza Medici. The repository of examples Italy's greatest wines, the Enoteca is a pleasant spot to pass a few hours. If our bartender wasn't as warm and friendly as our friends at the Montalcino Enoteca, he was nevertheless knowledgeable. At the Enoteca, your wine tasting can range across the many regions Italy, making it a super spot to try styles you've nver heard of before.

Gelateria Kopa Kabana-via dei Rossi 52/54. Another entrant in the "Best gelato in Italy" category, Kopa Kabana is tucked away down a street off the Banchi Sopra.

Gelato here looked suspiciously close to "neon mound of hrmph." Nevertheless, their hazelnut was acceptable, and texture was rather good. It just wasn't the best gelato in Italy.


Trattoria La Torre- Via Salicotto 69, Siena, +39 577 28 7548. Came highly recommended from foodie friends and it was a homey delicious little trattoria. Simple food, nothing too high end, and do bring along your Eating and Drinking in Italy because they're going to recite the menu to you in Italian. Portions are large, and be warned that your server will come around after each course and say quite matter-of-factly, what do you want next? You'll find yourself stuffed to the gills and yet somehow feeling compelled to order a whole fish.

Antica Trattoria Papei-piazza del Mercato 6, behind the Torre. A warmly pleasant and informal place, Antica Trattoria looks like it caters to its share of tourists, but that doesn't make the food any less delicious. Pastas are served in a delicious sauce, and the house wine we had, a DOCG Chianti for 3 Euros, was super.


Wednesday Flea Market- Need a strainer and a wooden spoon for your undersupplied vacation rental? Or perhaps you need boots? Napkins? Plastic tablecloths? Scarves, jeans, cappucino makers, underwear, jewelry, shower curtains? You'll findincredible bargains over at the Medici Fortress on Wednesday mornings, but leave yourself plenty of time to wander through the miles and miles of stalls.

ROME
In Rome, we stayed in an apartment (courtesy of SleepinItaly.com), so once again, we did more shopping for food and cooking at home than eating out in restaurants. We did try to find a few restaurant recommendations, like Costanza or Casa Bleve, but as we were here over the holiday weekend, many places were closed. Still, we found a lot of other spots we liked-- none more than:

Campo dei Fiore Market- Need we say anything more? Except maybe "Open Daily."


















Il Forno Campo dei Fiore- Campo dei Fiore 22. On our first day in Rome, we arrived too late in the day to hit the open-air market in the Campo, but we did visit several shops on the square to get food for our dinner. We were so excited to be shopping in Rome, that we enthusiastically pointed all over the place. It's amazing that we did only wind up with one loaf of their delicious bread and a couple of pastries for our breakfast.

Il Fiorentino- Campo dei Fiore 17/18. We wandered into this little shop not quite knowing what we wanted or whether the place was any good, but the butcher behind the counter was exceptionally patient with our rudimentary Italian, and helped us pick out some fantastically flavored sausages to go into our pasta that evening. If we'd had an oven we would have been back again for one of the beautiful roasts they had trussed up in their case.

Caffe Farnese-on the Piazza Farnese 106/107. Recommended as a pleasant stop after the vagaries of market shopping, Caffe Farnese does indeed make a lovely little spot to sit and soak up a little sunlight in the mornings. Add in a newspaper from the newstand in the nearby Campo dei Fiore and you have a relaxing few hours away from the hustle and bustle.


Volpetti's- via della Scrofa 31/32, 06-683-00-334. There's another location on via Marmorata, but when we stumbled across Volpetti's on via Scrofa, we couldn't help wandering in.

The guy behind the counter spoke about as much English as we did Italian, but on the spur of the moment, I attempted to communicate that we had pan forte and were looking for cheese to go with it. After a momentary confusion, he cottoned on to what we wanted and found us two fantastic little goat cheeses, one wrapped in cherry leaves and the other in chestnut leaves. He waved a cheese at us indicating we should smell -- and it smelled pretty damn fine. We had a great conversation, even though neither one of us spoke the other's language and ultimately left there with some bacon and salumi to boot.

Gusto's- Piazza Augusto Imperatore 28. It's a food store, it's a wine bar. It's a cafe, it's a ristorante. It's a pizzeria AND a drive-thru cheese store. And it's all crammed into one narrow Mussolini-era building that faces the old Mausoleum of Augustus and the new monstrosity by Richard Meier. Gusto's has quickly become THE foodie destination in Rome, and though we had a seriously adverse reaction to the high-handed dismissiveness of the sommelier (who basically foisted a wine upon us with very little effort to find out what we wanted to drink) the food was very good, and the cooking tool store was quite charming.

Tre Scalini-Piazza Navona. At Tre Scalini, you're paying for the fact of sitting at Tre Scalini. Still, sitting and watching the show that is the Piazza Navona go by is a tradition for a reason-- it's fabulous fun.

Possibly our favorite moment was when a strangely dressed woman in many layers--obviously The Official Crazy Woman of Piazza Navona--stopped by to chat with our waiter. Her "crazy" persona dropped for a moment and they talked like old friends, then she hoisted the old "crazy" persona back onto her face and moved on to bark at the wind in the Piazza. Life is so much fun to watch.


Cafe Sant'Eustachio- Piazza Sant'Eustachio 8. When you're talking about the real deal, the best coffee in all of Rome--maybe all of Italy-- in my humble opinion, you must be talking about Sant'Eustachio. Is it the baking powder? The pimped up machinery? The sweat of the crowds at the bar? Who knows? But their coffee is most definitely unlike any other we had on our entire trip -- smooth, rich, fragrant, and utterly beautiful.

Gelato San Crispino- Our candidate for the best gelato in Rome. We saw many nasty piles of neon gelato everywhere and people happily consuming out-of-season neon garbage. But San Crispino had a huge variety of fabulous imaginative flavors. On their menus, though, a few to definitely try are the merengas--creamy gelato with crisp bits of merengue mixed into them.

One review waggishly suggested that the guys at San Crispino look like lab techs. If this is what it takes to make good gelato, unleash the technology. Oh, and the hazelnut? Still not Amorino, but damn good -- not too sweet and a beautiful fragrance.

A couple of other odds and ends. Yes, the eggs are indeed better there. As part of the normal course of things you get the kind of eggs, with that beautiful golden yolk and firm white, that we pay $7 a dozen for around here -- for 1 Euro.

Why can't we do that here? Perhaps we need to assign each egg its own identity card, as they do in Italy, where -- I kid you not-- we got eggs that were each individually stamped on the shell.

But after all the travelling, after all the walking, the scurrying from place to place, you might ask what it was that we were really seeking on this trip? But, uh, don't suppose you could, uh, tell us where we might find a, um, find a, uh, a, um, a uh--



"A G-rr-rr-rr-rrail?"