Sonoma Day 3 - On to the Wineries

Monday was chilly and a bit cloudy. After a leisurely morning around the house and running some errands, Alex, Cass, Rob, Janet, Cece and I headed down to Maya in Sonoma Square. Then off to the nearby Ravenswood and Gundlach-Bundschu wineries - both within a mile or so of our house - where we met up with Pat and Olivia for some tasting. We ended the day back on the Square for dinner at Harvest Moon Cafe - even better, treated by our four sons! Continue reading below for a few photos from our day.

Below: Maya; Ravenswood; Gundlach-Bundschu; Harvest Moon Cafe

Another great day with more to come.

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A Culinary Plunge into Sonoma County with Sheana Davis

We first met Sheana Davis in mid-2008 when Alex, Cass and I took a class that Sheana taught at the Cheese School of San Francisco on “Cheese and Wine of Sonoma County.” It was a great class and gave us an introduction to a range of wonderful cheeses and wines that were produced within a drive of an hour or so from San Francisco. Sheana – a fourth generation Sonoma resident - has a tremendous knowledge of the history of the area and who is producing top quality food products. Our class – together with a couple of more we subsequently took with her with a locavore focus – was like a culinary tour through the county.

At the time of our first class, Sheana was just getting started with the production of her Délice de la Vallée cheese blending cow and goat milk, and we have enjoyed that cheese ever since (as have many others – among Sheana’s customers is the French Laundry!).
When we decided to spend this week vacationing in Sonoma, one of the first people I contacted was Sheana. She not only gave us a wealth of suggestions about things to do during our week here, but also offered to come over to the house where we were staying and cater a wine and cheese tasting for us. Needless to say, we jumped at her offer.

So, yesterday after our return from our brunch at The Girl & the Fig, we girded ourselves for Sheana’s arrival with a bit of whiffleball, lounging and hot tub time.

Around 3:00 Sheana’s heavily-laden car came up the drive and the event kicked off. Sheana had decided on the following cheeses for our tasting:

~ Délice de la Vallée – cow and goat
~ A bloomy rind cheese by a mystery producer - sheep
~ Formagella - Nicasio Valley Cheese Co. (Lafranchi family) - cow
~ Estero Gold - Valley Ford Cheese – cow
~ Sonoma Toma – Bleating Heart Dairy (Seana Doughty) - cow
~ Shamrock (Ana Cox) – Crottin – goat

As always a very interesting selection including many cheeses we had not had before, and a couple that were so new that they still do not even have names. In keeping with her enthusiasm and knowledge about Sonoma County, each item was presented with a story about exactly where it had come from and who had produced it.

In addition to the cheeses, Sheana brought a number of accompaniments and other treats:

~ Duck rillette
~ Romesco paste (a roasted red bell pepper based paste)
~ Marcona almonds
~ Dried fruit
~ Strawberries (the kind that let you remember what strawberries really taste like!)
~ Glen Ellen honey
~ Bread and crackers

Below: Estero Gold, Sonoma Toma and Crottin cheeses; a combo - Délice de la Vallée, duck rillette and Romesco paste; the amazing strawberries.

And finally there were the wines - and more wines – two whites and four reds:

~ Highway 12 – Sauvignon Blanc - 2008
~ David Noyes (Pagani Vineyards) – Tocai Friulano – 2008
~ B.R. Cohn – Panel Wagon – Pinot Noir - 2008
~ Spann Vineyards – Mo Zin – 2007 [Zinfandel 57%; Mourvèdre 30%; Petite Syrah 10%; Syrah (3%)
~ Unti Vineyards – Petit Frere – 2007 [Syrah 44%; Grenache 38%; Mourvèdre 18%]
~ Rimerick Ridge (Smothers Brothers) – Cabernet Sauvignon - 2001

Do we look like we had a good time?

Since we had been a bit concerned that we might still be hungry after the wine and cheese tasting, we had also asked Sheana to bring along a bit of dinner. And so after all that had gone before, before she left Sheana assembled the following to tide us over until breakfast:

~Ravioli Stuffed with Délice de la Vallée cheese with Swiss Chard and Basalmic Vinegar
~Roasted Gleason Ranch Chicken with Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
~Fresh Sausages simmered in Mo Zin and Verjus
~Oakhill Farm Green Salad with Green Garlic Aioli Dressing
~Fresh Baked Butter Cookies

Just in case we might be feeling a bit of Sheana-withdrawal, we have made arrangements to stop by here Epicurean Connection store tomorrow morning for some coffee and pastries! See you then Sheana, and thanks again!

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Sonoma Vacation

We are in Sonoma this week for a family vacation. Amazingly we were able to collect our ENTIRE family under a single roof – Andrew and Connie from Santa Monica, Rob, Janet, and our granddaughter, Cece, from New York, Patrick and Olivia, Pat’s friend and classmate from Auburn, from Alabama, and Alex and Cass from San Francisco.

We have rented a rustic house in the hills to the east of the town of Sonoma.

We are only about three miles from the plaza in the center of town, but it is a remarkably quiet and peaceful spot.

Here are a couple of photos of the house and the view from the deck looking west,


and here’s a video of the view.

Alex, Cass and Olivia will have to return to the real world mid-week, but the rest of us will be able to stay until next weekend. Our friend, Sheana Davis from Epicurean Connection, is coming by later today to do a wine and cheese tasting for us, and that will be a good culinary warm up for the week ahead.

Today was a beautiful day here in Sonoma and we went down to the Square this morning to have brunch at The Girl & the Fig.

We were seated at a very nice table on their back patio and enjoyed a range of their dishes including the Duck Confit & Potato Hash, Stuffed Brioche French Toast, Bacon & Cheese Omelet, Mussels in a Pastis Broth and English Pea Pancakes – of course with assorted Fig Royales, Mimosas and Bellinis.



After brunch we did a lap of the Square and Cece did some shopping.

Now if we can just avoid a visit by those pesky birds from just down the road in Bodega.

Stay tuned for future posts from Sonoma.

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CIBO’s First Anniversary

Today marked the first anniversary of the opening of Tera and Alfredo Ancona’s CIBO in Sausalito, and happily it was a beautiful day from the very start.

Since it opened a year ago, CIBO has become one of my favorite weekend hangouts. I normally spend a couple of hours there on Sunday morning on my way to the gym, studying Italian and enjoying both Tera’s ever-changing pastries (after all, I am going to the gym!) and their excellent Blue Bottle coffee.

To celebrate today’s anniversary CIBO offered free drip coffee all day. Further, starting for a couple of hours at 8:30 when I wandered by, Vien Dobui, one of the official trainers for Blue Bottle coffee, was there with Alfredo offering shots of three of Blue Bottle’s seasonal single origin offerings:

~ Ethiopian Amaro Gayo Natural
~ Brazilian Chapada Diamantina
~ Colombian Mesa de los Santos

paired with a sampling of Tara’s handiwork -- muffinettes, airy cookies made with an eclair-like dough, and mini versions of CIBO’s polenta pop tarts with fruit filling.

A great way to start the day, and what better place to hang out on a Spring morning with the brick walls lit by the sun streaming through the windows.

Plus, only a couple of days to go before my next visit on Sunday morning!

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May Day, May Day -- Cooking Class Reunion

It had been over a year since the last pot luck reunion of our class from our 2006 Museo ItaloAmericano Italian cuisine terminology/Cucina Italiana class – one of the oddest and most rewarding educational experiences of my life. Although it had taken some time to find a date when our surviving class members and respective companions could all meet, we had finally settled on this past Saturday, May 1.

This time we were to gather at our place in Sausalito, and while the weather earlier in the week had been a bit on the cold and overcast side, happily Saturday was one of those Spring days that reminds one of why one chose to live in the Bay Area - the view from our deck was pretty nice.

As always, preparation for these reunions takes a bit of thought. Apart from the food and wine, what about appropriate music? Given the contrasting May Day implications (think Lei Day in Hawai’i where I grew up vs. L'Internationale) and Italian cuisine theme of the event, it is possible that no previous iPod playlist has featured the same combination of Italian, Hawaiian and international labor movement selections that we enjoyed. The seamless juxtaposition of Paolo Conte, Gabby Pahinui and the Red Army Chorus was something to behold.

One thing you can be sure of at these events is that we will all eat and drink well, and most importantly will all have a great time with some wonderful friends.

As far as I can remember, this was our menu for the evening:

Gli Antipasti

~ Ricotta with mint served with bruschetta
~ Abbaye de Belloc
~ Tomino in oil with herbs and chile
~ Fra’Mani Salume Gentile
~ Tuscan bean spread
~ Castelvetrano olives


La Cena

~ Fennel, arugula and orange salad
~ Chicken Pappardelle
~ Peperonata
~ Asparagus
~ Tartine country bread, with olio di olive
~ Lemon & chocolate hazelnut tarts

I Vini

~ Val’d’Oca Prosecco
~ Cantine Mederfil “Le Grotte” Reggiano Lambrusco
~ Vietti – 2008 Roero Arneis
~ Seghesio – 2004 Marian’s Reserve
~ La Braccesca – 2004 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
~ Cascina del Santuario (Soria Bruno) – 2006 Moscato d’Asti
~ Hauner – 2005 Malvasia delle Lipari – Passito

Twelve persons was the most we had ever had at a sit-down dinner at our place, although with a bit of creative geometry (don’t ask me what the shape of our table was) we managed to fit everyone in.


Just a few random comments on our dishes.

Thanks to Karlena and John for reading my blog and bringing one of my favorite cheeses, Abbaye de Belloc (we will forget for the moment it is French), not to mention my favorite local salume from the folks at Fra’Mani, and the Prosecco that tided us all over until the rest of the gang managed to fight through the Saturday traffic on the Golden Gate.

Alba and Michael came through with the Lambrusco that everyone knows is the perfect pairing for salume, as well as with the asparagus.

Melva and Jim deserve recognition for bringing the loaves of country bread from Tartine Bakery (is that not the best bread in the world - flavor + crust + texture ??), not to mention the vivid green olive oil all the way from their estate in Cortona.

Reidun and Angela get singled out for the handmade ricotta cheese that they learned to make a few weeks ago at their cooking class with Rosetta Costantino (note to self: buy Rosetta's new "My Calabria" cookbook!)

Barbara gets our thanks for the insalata as well as for sharing with us all the bottle of Seghesio Marian’s Reserve that she had received from our departed classmate John Demergasso, whom we toasted during the meal. John, we could not have had a more appropriate forum during which to enjoy your gift!

Veronica scored with the spectacular and contrasting lemon and chocolate/hazelnut tarts, notwithstanding a bit of ingredient sloshing on the ride out from the city.

Mega-thanks to Nancy for all of the pre and post-dinner planning, cleaning and other efforts and many dishes, not the least of which were the Chicken Pappardelle main course and the both beautiful and tasty Peperonata Tuscan onion and bell pepper stew taken from Judy Witts Francini’s recent cookbook I picked up during our recent class with Judy at Cavallo Point.

And finally kudos to Kip and Quigley who, after a bit of exuberant barking to welcome our guests, calmed down and throughout the evening performed their customary roles of patrolling the floor for dropped tidbits.

Where do we go next?

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Giants Outing

Patrick was visiting this weekend from Auburn and he and Alex went to the Giants/ Cardinals game on Friday night to watch Tim Lincecum raise his record to 4-0 on the season. Nancy, Cass and I joined Pat and Alex yesterday at AT&T for the second game of the 3-game series.

Happily the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful afternoon at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.

The Giants were giving away a Pablo Sandoval bobblehead doll to the first 20,000 fans.

We had some thought of trying to get one, until we arrived at the stadium just after 4PM for the 6PM start and found the line for the bobbleheads stretching all the way down the Embarcadero almost to the Bay Bridge!

We decided that none of us wanted a bobblehead that badly so we headed into the stadium through one of the gates where the dolls were not being given away.

We made our way to our seats in Sec. 112 in the Lower Box area and I then headed off to the Sheboygan Brats stand near the left field foul pole for one of their fully-loaded offerings. After stopping off Murph’s Clubhouse Pub for a Guinness on the way back to our seats, I was ready for game time.

Barry Zito delivered the first pitch of the game around 6:05.

Pablo played well on his day with a couple of hits and some excellent plays in the field.

However, Barry was the star of the day - he pitched one of his best games as a Giant with 10 strikeouts to record his 3rd win of the year. Worth every penny of his $126MM contract? Maybe not, but this season is certainly looking far better than the last two. It is nice to hear chats of "Barry - Barry" at the ballpark again.

We had a great time...

... and what better place in the world to watch a baseball game?

It was also a historic baseball day for the Moyle clan on the East Coast as Rob and Janet took Cece to see her first MLB game - a 3-1 Mets victory over the Braves at Citi Field in New York. As one can see from the below taken on the subway to the park, and during the game, Cece is obviously a gamer!

Now if the Giants can only overcome the 2-0 deficit they are facing this afternoon. Matt Cain just gets no support.

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