Spend Some Time in Dry Creek Valley

A few nights ago, I went out for After Hours at the Ravenous Restaurant here in Healdsburg. That is, I went just to hang out and get a bit of conversation and meet some interesting people before I turned in myself. Ravenous is a local restaurant in an old house on Center Street. The entire backyard is the backyard patio and bar. It’s a pretty cool atmosphere. I like showing up later–you meet more locals (everybody who’s getting off of their shifts from somewhere else).

I ended up talking to two out-of-town gentlemen who’d met one another at law school in London, England. One was living in Hong Kong now, the other–still in London. They were both here on holiday getting a bit of the California sun.

You couldn’t ask for a better outdoor evening than that night. It was warm enough to sit outside in sleeveless tops. (And I know you’re thinking: “Well it is California after all!”), but we often get fog here late at night, and it cools everything off and adds some humidity to the air–so bare arms are often chilly late at night. But, that night was a perfectly warm summer evening.

I said hello to KC Mosso, the bartender, and talked to him about sending me the listings for his events he books over there. And once I’m seated at the bar, I turned around and started talking to these two gentlemen.

They’d made it to Healdsburg after a few days in San Francisco. They were a bit tired, but they did ask where I could recommend they should go visit the next day. I asked KC for a piece of paper and a pen. He handed me an extra menu from behind the bar and took a pen from his pocket. Thanks KC!

They were only planning half a day or so in the area before they headed over to Carneros. I gave them a full day itinerary–just in case. There really is a lot to see here and it’s better to enjoy an entire day than just rush in and out. Anyway, I thought I would write up the route I gave them and post it here. It’s pretty useful information if you don’t really have much time to spend in the area and it’s got a bit of variety.

BREAKFAST and MORNING

Start early. It’s important to have breakfast. There’s a number of places you can have breakfast in town, it all depends on what you’d like to eat. If you’re on a time line, like these guys were, you probably want to grab a breakfast sandwich (or something). I know that the Costeaux Bakery Cafe and the Palette-Art Cafe both offer breakfast sandwiches. You can usually just ask for a recommendation at the counter. The servers really do know best.

Take your breakfast to go and head on up to Lake Sonoma. Lake Sonoma’s about 20 minutes from the town of Healdsburg (at the top end of Dry Creek Road) and you don’t want your breakfast to get cold.

Find the lookout and enjoy your breakfast in the fresh air. Depending on how much time you have, you can hike around up there or just take goofy pictures of you and your friends.

BY THIS TIME, IT MIGHT BE 11AM OR SO

On the way back down, you can visit any winery that’s open along the way. Here’s a link to an interactive map. But, there are a few I like to note from my own preference and experiences. My friend Shana Ray, who helped promote the Day-in-the-Life event last month and also contributes articles to this magazine works at Kokomo on Fridays. You could always stop in and say hello to her. If you twitter, let her know you are coming: @ShaRayRay.

One day this winter, I had the fortune to try Papapietro Perry’s 2005 Pinot Noir and it made and impression on me. I don’t know much about wine, but I do know what I like. And I liked their 2005 Pinot enough for me to recommend trying their other tastings.

There are a few other wineries clustered in and about Kokomo and Papapietro Perry: Amphora, Collier Falls, Forth, and Peterson. I’ve never tried any of these wines (but I’m sure I will–eventually). You could always try them and comment below. That would be great.

A bit further south and across the road from this cluster is a vineyard and tasting room called UNTI. They weren’t even on my radar until one day I started talking to Mick Unti himself (at an After Hours at the Ravenous). He was full of opinions about life, the universe, and everything. And it’s just refreshing to meet somebody local who has a few interesting things to say.

Also, I like the back label on the 2006 UNTI rose. It’s not listed on their website, so I guess you can’t get it anymore, but it was a story–about rose. I like stories. I like to connect with people over stories. That’s just the way I am. Actually, I like the rose too. So there. I guess I tried the 2007 though. It’s refreshing on a hot summer afternoon. Mick is going to admonish me for publishing all this, if he ever finds out. But–whatever, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You can just go in and try the wines yourself and see if you like them. That’s the best way.

BY THIS TIME, IT MIGHT BE 1:30 or 2:00PM

You’ll probably be hungry so stop for lunch out at the Dry Creek General Store (at the turn off for Lambert Bridge Road). Since Dry Creek Road and the Skaggs Springs Road are two of the most popular roads in the county for motorcycling, you’ll often see a gaggle of bikers stopped there too. Or–a gaggle of cyclists. And–most probably, a gaggle of other wine tasters. Stop and compare notes. It’s all about you experience. After lunch you can head across Lambert Bridge Road to West Dry Creek.

It’s probably best if you go on up to the north end of the road. You can wind your way back through any of the wineries. Everybody has an experience. Everybody has an opinion. You decide which ones you like.

Although, if you are out in Dry Creek, and it is a Friday afternoon, stop by Michel Schlumberger Winery or or Wilson Winery. They have a series of live music on Fridays. On Sunday afternoons, C. Donatiello Winery has music too. It’s nice just to hang out in the gardens and enjoy the afternoon. (Check the What’s Happening Healdsburg calendar for more details).

When you finally make your way back into Healdsburg and ask a local where they’d recommend you for dinner. AND don’t forget to ask what they like on the menu. There is a reason we live here. And we know what we like. And we’re definitely full of opinions!

Mateo Granados: Fresh, Local, Fabulous

I hear about Mateo Granados from a few people before I actually get to talk to him myself. David and Ondine mention him when they find out I’m looking for interesting perspectives. And I crosscheck the reference with Julie, my winemaker-foodie friend. She nods her head. Yes. Definitely.

And when I’m talking to Evie at the Tierra Vegetables Farm Stand, she says: “Oh. You HAVE to talk to Mateo.” And she calls him right there and leaves a message with my phone number.

Mateo calls me the next day. I’m driving home and don’t really get a chance to explain myself, but we agree to meet the following Wednesday, at 9:00 am at the Palette Art Café.

I arrive early to sort myself out before he arrives. He rushes in a few minutes late, dripping and sheepish. He’s been at his kitchen making tamales since 6:00 am. He wanted to shower and clean up before he met me. We order coffee and sit down to chat.

He’s animated. He’s not only explaining himself with words. He uses his face, his hands. He gestures. He just starts explaining.

“What I’m doing,” he says, “Is reproducing the food I grew up eating—but with the bounty of Sonoma County growers.” He smiles and nods his head, “Modern Yucatan Cuisine.”

He explains a bit about the Nuevo Latino cuisine movement and states: “But we’re taking it further. We’re making it regional: Flavors of the Yucatan—with Sonoma County flair.”

“I grew up in the breadbasket of Mexico. My father was a butcher and my mother—an artist. This is what I know. This is what I love. This”—he motions to the table in front of us as if there were a grandiose spread right there, “This is just what I do.”

I ask him to explain more of his past. How did he come to Sonoma County? Believe it or not, he came to the US as a professional soccer player. It wasn’t long though, before he injured himself too much to continue to play. “My housemate at the time was Michael Bonaccorsi. We would spend all of our time together tasting. Tasting food. Tasting wine. And expressing ourselves. That is how I learned English: talking about food and wine with Michael Bonaccorsi.”

Michael went on to become one of the first twenty master sommeliers in the United States. Mateo went on to work his way up through some of the Bay Area’s top restaurants and is now a pedigree chef. He’s held positions such as Executive Sous Chef at Masa’s in San Francisco and Executive chef at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen here in Healdsburg.

LOCAL FINE DINING

Now, Mateo’s goal is to start his own fine dining experience. He aims to bring his refined Mayan recipes to the same level as respected French, Italian, and Spanish cuisine.

He started small. In fact, he went back to square one. In 2004 he started selling his handmade tamales in the Farmer’s Markets all over Sonoma County. His philosophy: “Grow local. Know local. Buy local.”

His commitment to his customers is 100% locally grown and produced. He buys his ingredients from over 30 growers in Sonoma County. “If you love what you do, you have to do it right.” He’s a passionate proponent of not only knowing where his food comes from, but knowing the grower and how it was grown. The Local Harvest website defines community supported agriculture as “putting the farmers’ face on food.”

Mateo certainly puts a face on every ingredient he uses. He describes every dish with a list of identities. It wasn’t just queso fresco. It was Bodega Bay Queso Fresco. Black Sheep bacon. Pug’s Leap Goat Cheese. Black Beans from Tierra Vegetables. And so many more. I couldn’t keep track.

“You can’t beat it. The flavors. The smells. The textures. I get vegetables from Tierra—there’s still earth on them. And roots!” He cups his hands as if he’s holding a bulb of garlic or something and brings them towards his face. I can tell he can smell the earth.

The idea of fresh, local produce is to keep it alive until you use it to cook. He tells me: “Enjoy it while you can. Because the fresher it is, the more alive it is on your plate. The more flavor explodes in your mouth.”

Another part of Mateo’s philosophy is: Respect. Respect the land. Respect the food. Respect the growers. Respect the producers. He knows how much energy, time, and labor it takes to grow a tomato, an onion, a carrot, a pig. Because he knows his suppliers, he doesn’t waste. He creates his signature dishes around what’s available in the season and finds a use for everything. Everything. He doesn’t waste anything because he doesn’t want anything to go to waste. He’s very aware of what he’s throwing away.

He tells me all of this and I take notes. Finally, he takes a moment to sip his coffee and looks at me expectantly: “Do you have any questions?”

“Well,” I say thoughtfully, “Is it possible to have an experience?” He looks at me and thinks for a second and says: “Ok. You want an experience? Let’s go to my kitchen.”

FRESH FAST FABULOUS

We drive to the kitchen where he prepares his tamales. As we get out of his car, he points to two big trucks and adds with a grin: “Those. Those are complete mobile kitchens. I am so committed to local ingredients and the idea of fresh. I bring everything to your site and prepare it right there.”

He shows me around the kitchen and introduces me to his workers who are preparing tamales for his Farmer’s Markets. He makes me taste some of his garnishes: olives from Lou Preston, beets and cabbage cured with bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.

I realize what he means by keeping the produce alive until it’s on your plate (or in this case—in my mouth). (A few weeks later as I’m writing this article and thinking about his cured beets and cabbage, I’m still salivating from the memory).

“OK,” he pulls a cast iron fry pan from the cupboard, “Let’s make a quesadilla.” He asks his helper to clean some cactus.

“Come over here,” he motions and makes me smell the olive oil. “Can you beat that?” He pours a dollop to the fry pan and turns up the heat. He adds the cactus pads for a few seconds on each side then removes them to a cutting board. Then, he goes into the other room to get out his knives and comes back sharpening one: “To make good food, you have to have good knives.” He’s cheeky.

He slices some onion and crystallizes it in the pan. Then dices the cactus pads, slices a bit of Pug’s Leap Cambremer goat cheese, and layers it all together on a soft tortilla. All of which, he now puts it back in the fry pan, fast. Both sides. Just enough to grill the tortilla and soften the cheese.

He whisks it out onto a cutting board, quarters the quesadilla and decorates the top with tomatilla salsa and his cured cabbage condiments. He tops it all off with a handful of sliced green onion. All the while, he’s lecturing about not wasting anything in his kitchen.

How can you beat that? 10 minutes or less. Fresh. Fast. Fabulous.

He smiles:“Pair it with a crisp Rose and you have yourself a succulent, fine-dining, regional experience.”

MORE ON MATEO
Flickr photo stream for this article
MateoGranadosCatering.com
Interested in attending a Missing Link diner?

PS: You can taste more than his tamales at the Healdsburg Farmer’s Markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can also find a Mateo Granados menu at the Santa Rosa Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and in Sebastopol on Sundays.

Best Japanese Food in Healdsburg

I was visiting with my friend Ana today. We were talking about how our week was going. I ask what she did last night, she tells me she went out with a few friends for Japanese food. I ask her where she went. She says, “We went to that place in Windsor.”

“Hmm.” I’m thinking out loud. “How did you like it?” (Because I’m always thinking about content for this magazine.)

“Honestly? She pauses. “I like Sake ‘O better. I mean. I don’t really like the location of Sake ‘O in that strip mall thing. But I like their food better.”

Now, my interest is peaked, “What do you like?”

“Oooo.” She draws in her breath and her eyes light up. “The martini shimp. Definitely the martini shrimp.” I start searching the drawers in my kitchen for a pen an paper to write things down because I know I’m going to forget.

Now she starts thinking about her experiences at Sake O. “The vegetable tempura.”

I still can’t find a pen.

“Martini shrimp,” I repeat to commit it to my memory. “Martini shrimp. Vegetable tempura.”

“And the dragon roll,” she adds nodding her head. “Yep. The dragon roll” I can see the memory of her last dragon roll in her eyes.

“Ok. Martini shrimp. Vegetable Tempura. And the dragon roll.” I say it again because I can’t find a pen to write it down.

She starts to recite more items from the menu and I have to say, “Only three Ana. How am I supposed to remember any more than three.” But I’m impressed that she can almost recite the menu.

What Do You Like to Eat, Healdsburg?

My friend Sean told me the other day he’d visited each and every of the 53 eateries in town (not on one day–but over the course of the last few years). And I realized that every Healdsburgian probably has something to say about each and every one of these places.

You live here, my friends. Who knows better than you what you like to eat and where.

So, I just thought I would ask. What is your favorite menu item at any of our local restaurants?

Please leave a comment at the bottom of this article.

You can leave an anonymous comment if you aren’t comfortable using your name. Just fill out anonymous in the name field and something that resembles an email.

I do have some guidelines though. If you want to comment on somebody else’s comment, please respect their opinions and experiences. In other words, don’t dis another commenter. Talk to them as if they were in the same room as you…not a faceless person from the internet. Present your own perspective.

That’s it. What do you think Healdsburg? Where do you eat? What do you like on the menus?

Best Mexican Food in Healdsburg

I met Nista at the music in the plaza series that plays after the Farmer’s Market on Tuesday evenings. I’m just wandering around looking for a good picture and I stumble (almost literally) over Ronald (a friend I know from snowboarding). I laugh and ask if I can crash his blanket.

He introduces me to his colleagues. He’s a winemaker at Jordan Winery and everybody on the blanket was somehow connected to Jordan. I felt a bit out of place. One girl asks where did I work? And I answer that I am an independent. I don’t work at any winery–nor in the wine business in general. She grabs my shoulders with both hands and exclaims: “Wow. I’ve heard about people like you, but I didn’t really believe you existed.”

We both laugh.

Ronald eventually introduces me to Nitsa. She’s bubbly and smiley and I like her immediately. When she asks what I am doing, I tell her about this website and what I’m trying to do here. She thrilled and her reaction gives me some confidence. She starts talking: “If you want to know anything about the restaurants here, talk to me.” She uses her thumbs and points at herself. “I’ve been out and about with my husband for two or three years. WE KNOW what’s what on the menus.”

I ask her to clarify.

“Mexican, for examle,” she says. “Mexican. If you want a good taco, you have to try the Al Pastor taco at El Sombrero. If you want the best enchilada, Taqueria Santa Rosa for sure. The cheese enchilada. And they have THE BEST salsa. THE BEST salsa in town.

She’s animated and continues: “And El Taco Grande (and motions in the direction of the Longs Plaza), you have to try the Wet Willi at El Taco Grande.

I raise an eyebrow and question: “Uh…what is a Wet Willi?” I’m not sure if I actually want to hear the answer.

“Oh.” she laughs. “It’s a burrito. Actually, it’s a chili relleno, fried and rolled into a burrito. And it’s big enough for two people. For the entire day! That’s all you need to eat,” she emphasizes. “ALL DAY!”

Alex over at the Costeaux Bakery Cafe

I was over at the Costeux Bakery Cafe on Monday afternoon just to get out of the house and have a bite to eat. I’d taken my laptop because I knew Costeaux has an open WiFi connection. I thought I could get caught up on some emails and maybe make a post.

I’d also talked to Abby (the marketing and PR person) last week about their menu and found out that Costeaux offers a full breakfast all day long. And what is the most important meal of the day? I figured if I were only going to eat one meal, it might as well be breakfast. I indulged in their quiche.

Deep-dish quiche designed with Black Forest ham, bacon, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, spinach, bell peppers, Jarlsberg and cheddar cheeses with a side of seasonal fresh fruit.

As I was finishing up my meal, the staff was tidying up their shift. Alex asked if I would like anything else. A coffee? A treat? He was incredibly courteous. He even just said: “I’d recommend the chocolate chip or chocolate crinkle.” (I’m pretty sure he was talking about a sweet treat to go with the coffee).

And because he offered that recommendation, I asked him what else he’d recommend on the menu. He smiled and immediately replied: “Oh. The chibatta. It’s on the special menu sometimes.” Then he said: “The chicken sandwich.” I’m sure if I’d let him, he would have just rattled off the complete menu.

I’ve been over to Costeaux a number of times lately–because I like their breakfast menu. I’ve been trying something different every time.

It’s all good. And, to top it off, they have baked goods, breads, wedding cakes, catering services, and boxed lunches. Pick up and delivery.

How can you go wrong with any of that?

Some Things We Like About the Palette Art Cafe

Just a bit of a shout out here to the Palette Art Cafe. We have started to meet there for coffee a few mornings a week just to get things done for this magazine. So today, we thought we’d make a quick list to say what we like about it.

The atmosphere in general. It’s light, bright, and open and often playing jazz. Not to mention the live music events, art displays, and art openings. Soon, too, there will be Open Mic night on Wednesday nights.

The friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Fast, public WiFi.

According to my friend Julie–great chicken soup.

According to Shana, the fact they have fondue on the menu. Cheese fondue. Dessert fondue.

According to the three people at the counter the other day the chicken, pesto sandwich.

Find out yourself. Check it out.

Palette Art on foot: 235Healdsburg Avenue, suite 105 (behind the LaCrema tasting room).
Palette Art online: www.palette-art.com.

Best Saturday Morning Breakfast in Healdsburg

I’m researching an article on Mateo Granados for this magazine. Last Saturday, I walk around the Healdburg Farmer’s Market to find his stand and to see if he’s there. He is. He’s sweet. He greets me with bisoux. He says, “Come in…stay awhile. Meet my customers.”

I wander back meet the people who are eating at his stand. There’s two women already sitting down. I introduce myself and ask them what they’ve ordered: Huevos Rancheros and a Squash Blossom Omelette.

I ask them if they are local residents or if they are just visiting. One lady is visiting–the other has just relocated here from Florida.

I ask why they’ve decided to eat at Mateo’s Farmer’s Market stand. And the lady who’s relocated says, “Oh. I tasted his tamales at the Farmer’s Market on Tuesday. They’re just wonderful. I was just hoping he’d be here today.”

I tell them that Mateo is actually a pedigree chef with credentials from high-end restaurants such as Masa’s in San Francisco and Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen. And she nods her head and says: “I can tell.”

Later, after they leave, three more people sit down. I introduce myself again and I ask them if they are residents or visitors. The fellow tells me they’re from Hopland. His wife shops the farmer’s market’s for her catering business but this is the first time he’s come round. His wife arrives and tells me that Mateo’s stand is THE BEST PLACE for breakfast in Healdsburg on Saturdays.

I ask her to explain why. She says, “He doesn’t have a restaurant (yet) and he’s only at the Farmer’s Markets. He’s only HERE on Saturdays.” She also tells me that Mateo arrives at the markets, sets up his stand and shops the market for his menu.

Then he makes his menu from what’s available.

How can you get any fresher than that? Directly from the farmer to your plate. His food is alive in your mouth.