El Molcajete
by Sarah Reith
El Molcajete is back, and it’s busier than ever. At 11:00 on a Tuesday morning, tables were already filling up at the latest arrival to what’s been called “the gateway to Ukiah.” Tucked in between Rainbow Ag and the old Dragon’s Lair building, this used to be where visitors could get Romi’s Wild West Brew and BBQ. Locals remember fragrant smoke rising from the outdoor grill, stars and horseshoes on the sign, and the red-barn vibe. You could get live chickens next door, and drop by Romi’s for wings before leaving town.
Now, after standing empty for years, it’s bustling again. As of April 29, 225 East Perkins Street is the new home of El Molcajete, named for its signature dish: a lavish spicy stew with chicken, beef, and chorizo, served in a large bowl made from volcanic rock, its rough rim festooned with shrimp. A Molcajete is a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle. It’s used to grind spices and prepare foods like salsa and guacamole. Because it has so much texture, it allows nuanced flavors to develop. Because it’s made of rock, it holds the heat for a long time. Dishes continue to sizzle as diners enjoy a leisurely meal with friends. “Here our lunch is very long,” observes Montserrat Ruiz. After almost six years at El Molcajete, she’s taken on a lot of responsibility, but eschews a title, declaring that “nobody is more, and nobody is less” in this workplace. She’s been with the business through good times and pandemic times. Now she’s on hand for what may be boom times. “Dinners are long, too,” she adds. That may be because breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served from 10:00am to 9:00pm, seven days a week, making it one of the few places in town that does business on Sunday. There’s enough business to keep five wait staff on the run.
Before 2020, El Molcajete did a steady enough business at the south end of town. Three wait staff was plenty to handle brief rushes at lunch and dinner. They built up a loyal clientele.
Then the pandemic hit. El Molcajete, along with so many other restaurants, closed. After the lockdowns, it reopened briefly on South State Street. But traffic was sparse, and competition was tight. El Molcajete was not part of any post-pandemic revival. Owners Maribel Sahagún and Juan Guerrero took a chance on upcoming developments in town. Why not position themselves in the midst of empty storefronts, between the heart of the business district and a massive construction site?
Work on the long-awaited new courthouse, just a few blocks to the east, is well underway. Across the street, the Curry’s Furniture building is slated for demolition, though the owners have not revealed their plans for it yet. A banner on the empty retail building next door promises that it will soon be the site of student housing. “I’m down,” Ruiz says, contemplating a constant supply of hungry college students. “I think I was one of those.”
High school graduation night was a prime example of young people in the mood to eat a lot food until well past closing time. “We had such a good night,” Ruiz recalls. “The kitchen was still taking orders at 9:00. We clocked out at almost midnight.”
Adding to the party atmosphere, there’s also regular live music at El Molcajete. From 6:30 until closing time on most Friday nights, the local Mariachi Hernandez starts taking requests, serenading individual tables with traditional Mexican music. They are visible from the street, on the patio under the oak trees in their gleaming charro suits, playing so energetically it’s hard to imagine how anyone could sit still.
There are other festive details, too. Large vibrant artworks adorn the wall. One colorful image shows a woman with flowers and a skull painted onto her face, to celebrate Day of the Dead. The low wall around the bar is decorated with Talaveras tiles in different patterns, some floral, some geometric.
The bar is not purely decorational, though. In addition to sangria, wine, beer, and homemade non-alcoholic aguas frescas, patrons can order margaritas in a variety of flavors: strawberry, lime, mango, and even sangria and Coronarita. (Yes, that is a margarita containing an overturned bottle of Corona, in case you couldn’t decide which you prefer.) Just eight weeks after throwing open the doors at the new location, a new and expanded menu was already in the works, set to include cocktails (including mixed drinks with red and white wine), filet mignon, and other specialties from the grill. The kitchen is equipped with an indoor grill, and the outdoor BBQ pit is unlikely to sit idle for long.
Portions at El Molcajete are a serious commitment. Huge burritos, thicker than a middle-aged woman’s forearm, emerge from the kitchen drenched in red sauce. A special plate called the “Gringa” consists of half a pineapple with melted cheese and pastor, salsa, and onions. Of course, it also has the rice, beans, and tortillas that make it a proper meal. All the plates, bowls, and cups are made in Mexico, painted with brightly colored flowers. The mugs fit snugly in the palms of your hands, so you have something to hold onto as you gaze off into space, stunned by the amount of food you’ve just consumed. The chairs are handmade in Mexico, too, with backrests made of dried grapevines and padded with red leather covered in hand-painted flowers.
Everyone remembers how during the pandemic, schools and businesses shuttered. Ruiz recalls that when she came to Ukiah from Mexico, she dreamed about her high school graduation. She would walk across the stage in front of hundreds of people. Maybe there would be a party afterwards, like the one she saw this year in the restaurant. But in 2020, her graduation was a subdued affair. “This is our event?” she thought. It was one of many heartbreaks during covid. But even though she was disappointed, she resolved that “you have to keep going forward.”
Now a young adult, she’s determined to be part of the recovery. Construction is going on all around her. Old buildings are coming down. New ones are going up. Mendocino Community College has made an arrangement with Sonoma State to offer four-year degrees at the Ukiah campus. Hungry young people will be moving in, right next door to a thriving local business.
El Molcajete is positioned to take part in what comes next.
El Molcajete
225 East Perkins St, Ukiah
(707) 468-8989
Open weekdays 10am - 9pm, weekends 9am - 9pm
Sarah Reith enjoys wildlife, gardening, and lounging around in her wild garden in inland Mendocino County.
Photos courtesy of El Molcajete
Absentee Winery
Surfing Fermentation to Make Refreshing Apple Wine
story by Holly Madrigal
photos by Nik Zvolensky
The sea changes each day, every moment. The surf that pulls you in might be serene and calm as you wait for the break. Or it could be rough and erratic, requiring all your attention to catch the next ride. Focus is necessary but so is letting go—the magic happens when you are in the flow.
Avi Deixler was drawn to the Mendocino Coast in part so he could surf. When the waves are good, he’s out on the water. When they are not, he’s making wine. A transplant from Point Reyes, Avi moved north in search of a more flexible schedule and escape from the blindingly high cost of Bay Area living.
Once here, Avi’s life centered around two resources the rugged Mendocino Coast has in abundance: waves and apples. “My friend Aaron Brown, who is a fellow cider maker, cultivated a network of abandoned orchards around Sonoma and Mendocino counties,” he shares. “One of them happened to be in Fort Bragg, just a few minutes from my house, so it just made sense for him to pass the care of those trees on to me.”
In 2014, Avi was working in Napa in the wine business. After the harvest, his friend got hold of a bounty of apples from further north. “So we juiced them, I shaved three oak barrels and bottled it up. I added a little bit of frozen juice before I left to make it sparkling. It was good. But I was supposed to go to France to learn more so I left one barrel here while I was gone,” Avi remembers with a smile. “I didn’t have enough time to bottle it so I took off. While I was absent, the fermentation continued on its own. When I returned I tasted it and it blew my mind ... Absentee Wines was born! It was my absence, and my trust in the process, that made it so amazing.”
Avi’s passion for fermentation brought him to the wine industry. “I was fortunate enough to travel the world learning about wine,” he says. “I made a friend in Australia named Florent. He came from Burgundy but we met in Australia and became friends. He came to Napa to work for a crazy prestigious winery, Screaming Eagle. I was working at Rudd Estate at that time and Florent sponsored me to work for a year in Burgundy. I arrived in spring and did the harvest, pruning, and wine-making. We learned from each other.”
While in Burgundy, Avi traveled the country and visited different wineries. “I found a really remarkable person in Anjou in the Loire Valley. His son is named Baptiste Cousin. Baptiste used a corner of his dad’s cellar for his own wine,” Avi remembers. “He makes really good, thoughtful wines. He was able to be a bit punk rock about it but still keep the essence of the work. That guy was super informative. The more I met people making wine with this ethos—that was fun and inclusive and natural and not fear-based—the more it helped me conquer the fear of natural fermentation and aging that was instilled in me as a young assistant winemaker.”
Back in California, Avi studied the importance of wood barrels. Working closely with a cooperage, he learned the art of toasting the wood and shaving the barrels to expose a fresh surface. “I have these skills with the barrels. So much of the dynamic and character in a wine is done by the wood, the exchange of wood and liquid. It doesn’t taste good without that magic.”
Avi describes how wood barrels influence his apple wine. “The soil has all this flavor to impart from terroir, but so does wood. The flavor and essence come from the interaction with the barrel. When I was learning winemaking I did not have access to the vineyard to make changes with the pruning, the water, and subsoil. So I learned to adjust flavors in the barrel.” The juice stays in the barrels for three or four weeks for the initial fermentation, then goes through malolactic fermentation. “There is diverse culture living in there so it takes a while for all the microbes to get their share,” he explains. “There are not as many sugars turning to alcohol. I have an understanding of limiting oxidation from my days in conventional wine. So a barrel is a good option because it’s closed to free-flowing air but still lets enough oxygen in through the fibers of the barrel to keep the culture inside aerobic, living.”
Avi’s focus on the barrels reflects his interest in natural wine making, an approach that avoids chemical interventions. “I realized there was a certain essence of winemaking that I was interested in capturing. That is why I leaned into natural winemaking processes. I like wines made by a careful, talented hand. I got burned out in the wine business and so when the opportunity arrived my then-partner Natasha and I decided to move north.“ Many California regions that now grow wine grapes were originally planted in apples, like Sebastopol, Alexander Valley, and Anderson Valley. “Once we moved up here it seemed a natural evolution to transition to apple wine. The processes are the same: fruit, ferment, preserve, drink,” Avi reflects.
Once he relocated, Avi reconnected with a number of farmers he had known earlier in his career. “There are orchards and ranches way out in the hills with these antique varietals in them. I have made relationships with orchard owners. Historically the orchards were tended but now they have been able to grow a bit feral. That legacy is what makes it so rich. That’s how I like it,” he adds with a smile.
Avi is grateful for his network of forward-thinking farmers and chefs on the Mendocino Coast. “I’m a cook at heart, food is my passion,” he says. “So when I had the chance to take my knowledge of wine and shift it to apple wine, it let me live here in a more authentic way. Living here has allowed me to learn how to surf and to create an apple wine that is the result of all of my knowledge in fermenting to this point in time.”
Avi has a wine production space in the forest, not far from the sea. It’s dimly lit and stacks of barrels fill the cool interior. “Some of this wine has spent time on the skins. The Pink Pearl apple wine for example. It has this rose color. I added this juice to red wine barrels to enhance the hue. Apples offer similar aspects as grapes—tannins, color, flavor—from the skins. I believe there are those same factors in apple juice. I’m trying to have fun with it.” He pours a glass of the Pink Pearl and the rouge glow sparkles with light effervescence.
“People in wine can sometimes look down on those who make cheese, or other products. They get a bit high and mighty. I’m bringing all my grape wine skills to apple wine, and I believe there is a market for it. Apple wine has the same level of flavor complexity with a connection to this place. I’m working with restaurants in San Francisco who want to do food and apple wine pairings.” Local natural wine enthusiast Nathan Maxwell Cann describes Absentee Wines like this: “It doesn’t taste like cider, or wine, or anything you’ve had before. It’s raw, alive, and stubborn as the trees it came from. You don’t drink it — you meet it.” When he’s not conducting the fermentation process in his apple wine cave like an obsessed orchestra conductor, Avi is surfing. Out on the ocean, he watches for that next wave, the next break, always seeking that flow state that he brings to his apple wine fermentation, capturing the taste of this wild coast for you to enjoy.
Absentee Wines are available at Fog Bottle Shop, The Brickery at Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino, and Maritime Cafe in Elk.
Janie’s Dahlias
Fort Bragg’s Dahlia Queen Keeps Blooming
story by Torrey Douglass
photos by Nik Zvolensky
Janie Larsen-Notmeyer may well be to dahlias what Johnny Appleseed was to apples. For the last 30 years, everywhere she has lived, Janie has planted her favorite flower. It might be just a pot on the porch or a little corner of the yard, but if she was there for any length of time, dahlias went into dirt.
Dahlias are not shy. They come in all sorts of colors, from hot hues like oranges and pinks to purple and even black. The petals might be rolled, fringed, flat, or even mimic cactus spikes. Shapes vary as well, including balls, starbursts, pompoms, and more. Blooms can be 11⁄2 inches in diameter all the way up to a whopping 10 inches, like the Dinnerplate Dahlias. In some varieties, the number of petals is sparse, like an orchid. In others they are abundant, with a multitude of small petals gathered in a tight spiral. Some have the charming look of a child’s drawing, with petals the shape of fat teardrops attached to a central circle.
With such an impressive array of colors, sizes, and shapes available, it’s no wonder the showy dahlia stole Janie’s heart—the same heart she followed to Fort Bragg a decade ago. She met Barry Notmeyer in 2008 while living in Petaluma and raising four daughters on her own. For seven years they visited each other whenever possible. Once her girls were launched, Janie moved up to Fort Bragg and they married.
The pair started their new chapter together on a three-acre property three miles inland from Fort Bragg. Suddenly Janie had a lot more space for planting dahlias, and she did not waste the opportunity. As her number of plants grew, so did the idea of selling them at local farmers markets. She kept the notion to herself until one day she finally admitted to Barry, “I’m going to have all these dahlias, and I have a dream of selling them at the farmers market.” Not only would it provide an outlet for her dahlia passion, it would get her away from her desk—where she works remotely for an education nonprofit—and out around people. “It’s not easy to come [to Fort Bragg] at my age and make friends up here,” Janie reflects. “Selling is a way to get connected into the community.”
Barry was immediately supportive. He enlisted a friend with a backhoe to dig the first two rows in 2019, and a couple hundred tubers went into the ground. By the second year they expanded the garden to 500 plants. Over time they’ve worked hard to get the soil just right “The size and health of the plants have exploded since that first year,” Janie remembers. She did a lot of reading, and learned to use a hand vacuum to suck up cucumber beetles as soon as she saw them. “They are not an issue if you get on them early,” she shares. While the farm is not certified, they do grow organically, water with well water, and compost everything.
They also have a market garden where they grow crops like snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower and chard. “But dahlias are the main thing,” Janie confirms.
The property’s distance from the coastline locates them out of reach from the chilly fingers of coastal fog. The flowers love the sun and heat, and by mid- to late-July, they are ready for market. On Saturday mornings during her selling season, Janie sets up a table in the parking lot of Adventist Health Medical Center on Fort Bragg’s Main Street. There she sells pre-made arrangements for $20 each. “People heading to a party will grab a bouquet,” she says. “I really love getting creative and putting different colors together, then adding a little greenery.” She favors yellows, pinks, and whites in the summer, while fall offerings include more oranges and reds.
Janie also sells a few pre-made arrangements at farmers markets in Mendocino (Fridays) and Fort Bragg (Wednesdays), but the main attraction is always the build-your-own option. Customers select their stems and take them home in a cellophane envelope with water in the bottom and tied with raffia. Regulars often bring their own vases to skip the plastic.
Selling to the public has had the desired outcome of connecting Janie to her new community. She’s known as a local dahlia expert now, teaching workshops at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden—dividing tubers in the spring and tending dahlias in the summer. With their long growing season, dahlias are a great choice for events many months of the year. Janie’s Dahlias have graced birthdays, funerals, and weddings.
Growing and tending a ginormous dahlia garden is a dream come true for Janie. “When it’s dahlia season I have them all over, vases in almost every room. I have withdrawal in the winter,” she reflects. “There are so many colors and textures—I just love them. Some bloom into November!”
One of Janie’s favorite aspects of her garden is the abundance of wildlife that has evolved with it, including frogs, spiders, and bees. ”I absolutely love that we got a beautiful bumblebee population we never had,” she says. “The bumblebees cover themselves in the pollen, then sleep inside of the big dahlias overnight. In the mornings they don’t move, so I can’t cut those in the morning. They only wake up when the sun heats them up.”
Dahlias exude delight as they turn their multicolored faces to the ever-generous sun. It’s like they are happy to be where they are and can’t help but express it. The same goes for Janie, who loves where she is and what she’s doing.
Janie’s Dahlias
janiesdahlias.com | janiesdahlias@gmail.com
Buy dahlias at the Fort Bragg (Wed) and Mendocino farmers markets (Fri) and on the corner of Cypress & Main Street on Saturdays through October.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville. Current life joys include garden puttering and escaping into a good book.
Luna Trattoria
“Over the Moon” Italian Cuisine
by Terry Ryder Sites
It is easy to miss Luna Trattoria while walking the charming streets of Mendocino since the restaurant is not visible from the sidewalk. One must keep an eye peeled for a wooden archway framing a narrow path, a sign reading “Trattoria Luna - Northern Italian Cuisine - Open Tonight,” and an Italian flag. They are found at 955 Ukiah Street, which may sound familiar since a restaurant by that name operated in the space for 25 years, closing in 2018. The timing was fortuitous for Massimo Melani and Marissa Rey, since the Fort Bragg building that contained their own restaurant— Luna Trattoria—had just been put on the market. Massimo remembers, “At first it wasn’t so nice. I don’t like change, but we did like Mendocino.”
So they relocated to Ukiah Street, down a pathway that feels a little like falling down a rabbit hole. The walk is flanked by signs reading “Stay Positive,” “Good Vibes Only,” and “We’re all quite mad here, you’ll fit right in.” Eventually you arrive at the door of an unassuming wooden building with a vintage stained glass window and a crescent moon shaped mosaic. Look to your left to see a glimpse of the outdoor garden complete with fairy lights, fanciful garden statuary, and European-style black and white striped umbrellas.
Mendocino’s bohemian influence is evident throughout the restaurant. Various art pieces adorn the wooden walls, whimsical knick-knacks are tucked here and there, and beautiful coastal light streams in the windows. Husband and wife team Massimo (chef and wine advisor) and Marisa (front of house organizer) are the welcoming committee, available to make sure guests are comfortable and happy. The space has a vibe that is decidedly playful. Massimo, with his Italian movie star accent, could charm the birds out of the trees. Marisa, with her infectious warmth and alert eyes, doesn’t miss a thing as she oversees everything that happens in the restaurant.
These two are a match made in heaven. Massimo is from Romagna in the province of Ravenna in Northern Italy. He began his culinary career as a waiter in Italy, working his way up through experience, “I learned to cook using my family’s recipes. The food business—it’s in our culture. It is what we grow up to know. It is kind of our life.” He liked what he saw when he visited California in 1995 and decided to move to the U.S. in 1996 to “give it a shot.” He shares, “I miss my family and friends but life is better here. It is possible to get ahead. We never could have done this in Italy.” Marisa had lived and worked in Italy, running a bed and breakfast from 1992 - 2008. The two eventually met in Newport Beach, California, at Dolce Ristorante where Massimo was working at the time.
After they met and fell for each other, they began to dream of opening their own restaurant. They decided to explore Northern California, where it is much less expensive to get started. They opened the original location in Fort Bragg in 2014, then moved to Mendocino in 2018. The move boosted business to the point where reservations are a must, since the place is often packed to capacity.
The menu at Luna focuses heavily on pasta. I counted 15 different kinds of regularly offered pastas, nine “special of the week” pastas, and four entries of “Homemade from Romagna” pastas—Orecchioni, Lasagna Bolognese, Lasagna Vegetariana, and Gnocchi. They also offer several steak and chicken dishes, along with five different salads and eight appetizers. The three biggest customer favorites are Spaghetti Carbonara, Linguine with Clams, and Lasagna. The wine list includes both Italian and California selections.
As an artistic person, Marisa is especially proud of the artwork displayed on the restaurant walls, primarily pieces that have been given to them over the years by both Italian and American artists. While Massimo used to be in the kitchen, he is proud to say that his staff does everything now—pasta, bread, desserts, and meat. “I tell them what I want and they do it, we have a very good crew.” They have 20 employees, most of whom are also immigrants. During the interview the kitchen staff made regular appearances, looking relaxed and happy as they served coffee and prepared for the night’s dinner service. Marisa says, “Our staff is like a family, we laugh a lot here.”
Massimo advises all to “Come to Trattoria Luna for the Italian experience without the passport!” When asked about her favorite part of Luna, Marisa says, “On a good night, when all the seats are filled and everyone is having a good time— especially seeing them enjoy the garden—makes me happy.” At night when the fairy lights are twinkling and live music fills the air, when people are enjoying themselves and Luna’s delicious food, it is easy to imagine the feeling of satisfaction that would bring.
Luna Trattoria
955 Ukiah Street, Mendocino,
(707) 962-3093 | lunatrattoria.com
Open Tuesday - Sunday
Reservations: 5pm, 5:30pm, 7pm, & 7:30pm
Terry Ryder Sites lives in Yorkville with 4 cats and 1 husband. A graduate of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College, until recently she wrote a weekly column for the Anderson Valley Advertiser.
Exterior sign and celestial decor images by Terry Rider Sites. All other images courtesy of Luna Trattoria.
Wild Hare Farm
Harnessing the Korean Natural Farming Practices of JADAM
story by Torrey Douglass
photos by Nik Zvolensky
Food farmer Jason Jannone grew up in New Jersey, where his family always had a garden in the backyard. He and his friends would sit on the patio and smoke cannabis, tossing seeds into the garden bed alongside it. One year some plants popped up. “That cannabis was so much better than what we’d been smoking,” he remembers. It planted the seed that he might want to be a farmer someday.
At the time he was pursuing engineering, but his cannabis epiphany inspired him to leave that program for Evergreen College in Washington, where he studied natural history, ethnobotany, anthropology, ecology, organic farming, and natural systems instead. He even interned at a local farm, guiding plants from starts through selling the produce at farmers markets. After he graduated, he did construction and landscaping for a time before moving to Humboldt to grow weed. He was married with a one-year-old at the time. “It was the best thing to be home with our baby and farm all day,” Jason recalls. “In 2010 we bought the property in Willits, which was a cannabis farm until 2022.”
Jason’s partner in both business and life is Darcie Krueger. Darcie was raised in a family of avid gardeners and loved all aspects of growing plants—except for the weeding her dad required of her. She wasn’t particularly interested in cannabis farming, but her former husband had been, and the two of them had moved west because of it. “I kind of fell into it,” she shares. “I never thought my hobby of gardening would or could turn into a way to make a living.”
Jason and Darcie‘s shared love of growing things got a boost a couple years ago when Jason took an intensive 2 1⁄2 day course on JADAM in Sebastopol, taught by its founder, Youngsang Cho, who came from Korea to teach a series of courses in the U.S. JADAM is a Korean natural farming approach where farmers create their own fertilizers and pesticides with materials found right on their farm. The idea is that the resulting plant food is already optimized for the particular climate and conditions of that location, so the plants grown there will respond enthusiastically to its locally specific, nutrient-rich inputs. JADAM is flexible, effective, and best of all, affordable, replacing purchased additives with homemade ones. It takes the fundamentals of organic gardening and points them in a scrappy, MacGyver-inspired direction.
Last year, Jason and Darcie took the plunge and converted their old cannabis operation outside of Willits into Wild Hare Farm, growing food exclusively. The existing infrastructure was easily adapted to growing things like tomatoes, parsley, and cucumbers. The experimental and forgiving style of JADAM was a good fit with their “let’s see how this goes” approach. “We learned so much last year,“ Darcie recalls. “There were lots of fails, but I was really surprised by how well we did.“
They credit JADAM with the better-than-expected results of their first year. One of the primary tools it uses is JLF— JADAM Liquid Fertilizer. When harvesting or clearing, the farmer collects plant trimmings, grass cuttings, weeds—any plant waste, really—and puts them in a container with non-chlorinated water. Damp leaf mold is added, which can be found at the base of trees under decaying leaves or logs. That leaf mold provides an inoculant that kick-starts the putrefaction process that breaks down both the sugars and the proteins in the plant scraps. Once all of the plant matter is submerged and the leaf mold is added, the container is covered left to do its magic. (Warning: it can get a little stinky.) The length of waiting time varies. Typically, if the mixture contains plant matter from a fast-growing plant, it will break down relatively quickly into JLF, perhaps as soon as 10 days. Other crop-specific formulas, for example for corn, will utilize corn leaves, stems, and kernels and can take as long as 3-6 months. The resulting solution will contain the microbes, minerals, and nutrients the new plants will love, resulting in a healthy, abundant, pest- and disease-resistant new generation of corn. Once the solution is ready, dilute with 1 part JLF to 100 parts water before adding it to the soil around plants.
One of the recipes Jason learned about in his Sebastopol course was how to make a natural pesticide from California Bay trees by boiling the leaves in water then combining that liquid with surfactant (known as JWA—JADAM Wetting Agent, which you can make yourself). The wetting agent allows the concoction to stick to leaves, killing aphids and other pests. “I couldn’t believe the results with just one spray,“ Darcie remembers. “It’s non-toxic and we don’t have to pay for it.” Jason adds, “It’s cool to implement the practices and see the results.”
Another important part of using JADAM is JMS—Jadam Microbial Solution. This combines local leaf mold, cooked potatoes, and sea salt or sea water as a source for all the micronutrients. The mix is brewed for a day or two depending on the temperature, then applied directly to the garden, undiluted if there are no plants and diluted if there are plants. The JMS innoculates the soil with billions of local microbes that have naturally evolved to address ailments that target plants in that area.
While Wild Hare Farm benefits from the inland heat and abundant sun, making it perfect for hot weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, Jason and Darcie live on the coast where they also have a big backyard garden where they grow cool weather crops like kale, lettuces, and herbs. Between the two locations, they have a variety of produce they can bring to the Fort Bragg and Mendocino farmers markets.
For their first year, Wild Hare Farm sold produce through the MendoLake Food Hub and also to restaurants, catering companies, Mendocino Outland Bar Productions, and even a Montessori school run by a friend. But most of their harvest was sold at the farmers markets. Friend and fellow farmer, Mic from Mulligan Gardens, helped them navigate the paperwork and also answered various questions to prepare them for market selling. “It was such a great environment to be in,” Darcie recalls of the Fort Bragg Farmers Market in particular. “Everyone is so supportive and community-oriented.”
Darcie especially appreciated the regulars who came back week after week. “It just reinforced that we are good at what we do even though [it was] our first year,” she shares. She particularly liked introducing customers to new things. At one point they had an abundance of somewhat rare Japanese eggplants that are ripe when they are green. She and Jason had been eating and loving them, but customers were confused by the green coloring until she took the time to explain the variety. She would often throw one in for free with the rest of a customer’s purchase, asking them to try it. A lot of those customers would add some to their basket the next time they came back.
The two hope to support themselves just with farming someday, but until then, they both have other jobs. Jason does construction full-time while Darcie tends bar during special events held on the coast. Often Jason works those gigs as well, transporting supplies and helping with the setup and teardown involved in weddings and other big to-dos. It’s a busy life but they make it work, and both are optimistic for the 2025 growing season, eager to put all the lessons learned during their first year into practice.
They would like to expand, but as Jason says, “It’s a delicate dance. If we expand it will take more manpower. We both have other jobs and it’s already busy enough. If things go well this year, next year we might find a helper who can stay at Willits.” After a pause he adds, “I know I would rather be a farmer all day than go do construction.”
The name Wild Hare Farm was inspired by the wild hares spotted on the farm and also from the expression to get a wild hare, meaning to have a sudden, impetuous desire to do something out of the ordinary. Darcie admits, “Our wild hare outbursts are not as frequent as they used to be, but we still do have them.” Followed up with some Korean natural farming techniques, a lot of hard work, and a passion for growing clean, nutrient-rich food for the community, those wild hares have lead to some exceptionally tasty results.
Wild Hare Farm
Insta: @wildharefarmmendo
Torrey Douglass lives in Boonville and is a card-carrying cat lady as well as a web and graphic designer.
Tomato photo courtesy of Wild Hare Farm
All other photos by Nik Zvolensky
Own-Grown
Backyard Gardening is Easier Than You Think
by Lisa Ludwigsen
My 87-year-old mother clearly recalls helping her grandfather tend his Victory Garden in Wisconsin during WWII. They grew tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, and other veggies, delivering the harvests to her grandmother’s kitchen and sharing with neighbors. Mom remembers the excitement throughout the neighborhood as everyone planted and maintained their own gardens, sharing tips and harvests, to support the soldiers overseas. Neighbors tended the gardens of drafted men while they were away.
Victory gardens were a galvanizing source of pride for Americans during difficult times. The gardens supplemented food for the war effort and generated a sense of purpose and collective contribution as they popped up in public parks and filled vacant lots. Victory gardens boosted morale.
Today we see a new type of Victory Garden, spurred on by ever increasing food prices and general uncertainty about the state of the nation. Suddenly, putting that small space out back into production, or expanding what is already there to increase variety and quantity, seems like a pretty good idea. Backyard gardening is both an act of self-sufficiency and therapy. Fortunately, growing a little food is easy, and our Northern California climate boasts a long growing season. So why not get growing?!
For beginners, it’s possible to start small and keep things manageable. At its most basic, a ‘garden’ can consist of a single tomato or zucchini plant growing in a large pot filled with high quality organic soil. Placed in a sunny spot and properly watered, that single plant will reward you with pounds of tasty tomatoes bursting with flavor or elegant long zucchini perfect for summer meals. In cool seasons, do the same with chard or kale or herbs like parsley or cilantro. Chances are that you’ll be swept into the big world of backyard gardening, inviting you to continue learning, experimenting, and sharing. For anyone looking to improve their gardening game, Mendocino County is rich with experts to both inspire and provide practical know-how.
Tucked into the redwoods in Willits, Ecology Action has been steadily revolutionizing small-scale agriculture around the world since John Jeavons founded it in 1971. The group’s work is focused on the model called Biointensive Sustainable Mini-Farming. The mission: maximize productivity in minimal space, with few external inputs. Jeavons’ Biointensive Gardening model has reached 153 countries and more than one million people because their practical blueprint, developed through their academic work, benefits backyard gardening enthusiasts, too. Jeavons advises gardeners to use the best compost available. Creating healthy, vibrant soil is key to organic food production at all levels—it allows the gardener to space plants closer together, save water, and improve the nutrient density of the food.
Starting with good quality seeds or transplants is also key. Newbies may want to purchase transplants for a solid head start, but growing food from seed is immensely satisfying. Again, start with healthy, organically grown plants or seeds. Care for your plants daily, providing adequate water and sunlight, and you are on your way. And don’t forget to share a few words of encouragement to the little growers while you’re out there.
Ecology Action’s project, Victory Gardens for Peace, aims to bring the spirit of Victory Gardens into current times. Victory Gardens for Peace helps establish community gardens, teaches workshops, and oversees a large seed bank which teaches seed saving and houses 1600 varieties of locally grown seed varieties available for free to the community. Matthew Drewno, Director of Victory Gardens for Peace, explained, “We tap into the Victory Gardens cultural memory of rallying to overcome the challenges of our times by working together to stabilize local food access, grow local food economies and reskill populations who have lost touch with their agricultural past.” He added, “Gardens have been proven to bring peace, help people heal, increase health and quality of life, and are the ultimate form of local food.”
For gardeners needing more space or wanting to mix and mingle with like-minded folks, community gardens are the answer. Community gardens are centrally located gardens where each participant is assigned a plot of their own for planting. There has been some form of communal gardening throughout history, and in the United States, community gardens began to emerge in the 1890s during economic recessions. Resources and expertise are often shared between plot owners, who all contribute to maintenance and upkeep of the overall space. In essence, a community garden is a place where people connect with nature and each other through the shared activity of gardening. Lovely!
The Gardens Project, a program of North Coast Opportunities, has established over 55 successful community gardens in Mendocino and Lake counties since its start in 2007. If you live in Mendocino or Lake counties, there is probably a community garden near you!
There’s no denying the great satisfaction of pulling a bright orange carrot from the ground, giving it a rinse, and taking a bite, or snapping a few leaves from a head of lettuce for the evening meal. Homemade pesto from backyard basil is transcendent—a fragrant mix that shouts of summer, even if it’s pulled from the freezer during the dark winter. Backyard gardens open up a whole new world of culinary opportunities. They also invite us to get outside, increase our self-sufficiency, and enjoy this beautiful place we live. What are you waiting for?
All of Ecology Action’s offerings, including Victory Gardens for Peace, can be found at www.growbiointensive.org. Find out more about the Gardens Project at ncoinc.org
Lisa Ludwigsen has been working in environmental education and small scale agriculture for 25 years. She chronicles her experiences and travels at Food, Farms & Families at lisaludwigsen.substack.com
The Boonville Distillery
A Trio of Talent
by Torrey Douglass
Natalie Sparks was 21 when her dad brought home some apple pie moonshine. “I thought it was delicious,” she recalls. “That sparked my interest.” She got a book and even considered making her own, but ultimately didn’t pursue it at the time. In fact, many years would pass before she seriously pursued the craft of distilling spirits. Today she is the owner of The Boonville Distillery, home of her distilling business, two restaurants, and the only full bar within 30 miles.
It makes sense that Natalie is doing what she does. A fifth generation Mendocino County resident, she grew up spending time at her grandparents’ home, conveniently situated above the bar they owned on Lake Mendocino Drive in Ukiah. She would rise with them at 5am to mop floors, motivated by permission to play the jukebox before the doors opened. “Being behind the bar is second nature to me because I witnessed it as a kid,” reflects Natalie.
Years later, after moving to Anderson Valley, Natalie decided she wanted to get into the restaurant business. She became business partners with Lauren Keating, owner and founder of Lauren’s restaurant, a long-time and beloved local dining spot in Boonville. Natalie worked alongside Lauren for a few years before taking over when Lauren retired. Eventually, she moved the restaurant down the street to the original home of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company. The Brewery’s owner had selected the property because it had a reputation for possessing “the sweetest water in Boonville,” which was ideal for his beer brewing.
Because of the location’s history as a brewery, Natalie was able to acquire a license to distill spirits and finally try her hand at the craft. She delved in, reading up on old and new techniques and learning from various distillers in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. She started with some good old fashioned apple moonshine, using fruit she picked with her son from their 50 apple trees.
Less than 8% of craft distilleries in the U.S. are owned by women (incidentally, the first known still was invented by a woman known as “Mary the Jewess” in 200 CE). To date, Natalie has produced her own vodka and agave spirits (as a Protected Designation of Origin, only the agave spirits originating in Mexico can be called tequila). She is devoted to using local ingredients, purchasing organic corn from the Sacramento Valley for the vodka and agave grown in central California for the agave spirits. Both spirits are used in their craft cocktails, and the menu is changed every few weeks to incorporate seasonal flavors. This past winter, Natalie featured an apple cinnamon agave spirit made with local apples, and to welcome spring she’s offering a strawberries and cream vodka.
One way to incorporate flavors is by “fat washing,” where the alcohol and a fat— like bacon grease, cream, or olive oil—are combined and left to mingle at room temperature for three days. The mixture is then frozen, which allows the fat source to be removed while leaving the infused alcohol behind. The result is a softer mouthfeel, intriguing and complex flavors, and a great starting point for crafting cocktails. Natalie uses vodka infused with local olive oil in the signature martinis, a customer favorite. The margaritas are popular as well, made with just three ingredients: house-made agave spirits, house-made simple syrup, and lime juice.
For Natalie, all the fun in distilling comes down to the flavors. “My focus is simple, scrumptious cocktails that highlight quality ingredients,” she shares. Some of those ingredients are grown right outside the restaurant door, like the mint used in mojitos, or the rosemary that is burned to infuse agave spirits for the smoked rosemary paloma, combining it with grapefruit juice to harmonize tart, smoky, and herbal notes into one drink.
Cocktails are served at the bar, in the restaurant area, or, if the weather is agreeable, on the decks outside. The food you can enjoy with those drinks changes depending on the night you come in. Tuesday through Thursday is Fiesta, when Libby Favela is in the kitchen serving up the authentic Mexican food for which she’s known.
Libby grew up in a small desert town 35 miles outside of Mexicali. The landscape was flat, the climate hot and dry, and fields of tomatoes, alfalfa, and cotton surrounded the small town. Libby always enjoyed cooking, which was a good thing. Her older siblings had left home, and she was responsible for feeding her eight younger siblings while her mother was at her job sewing clothes.
In 1980 at the age of 20, Libby and her youngest brother left for Los Angeles. A few months later they continued north to Santa Rosa, where they found work making Christmas ornaments. By 1986 she had met and married Jose, and the two moved to Anderson Valley. She washed dishes at a The Floodgate in Navarro. Johnny Schmitt, who would later become the owner and proprietor of the Boonville Hotel, was cooking there at the time, while Lauren Keating waited tables.
“I like to be around people to prepare and cook food for them,” shares Libby. She cooked at other establishments for ten years before opening her first restaurant with Jose in 1996 in Boonville. By that time, her daughters Belma and Alejandra were old enough to serve while she and Jose prepared the food. It was very busy from the start, with a line that stretched down the sidewalk as hungry diners waited for her delicious food. In 2000, she opened Libby’s in Philo, which was a local institution for 16 years.
Libby’s restaurant in Philo served up generous plates of her popular red enchiladas, carnitas, super burritos, camarones a la diabla (a frequent special), and more, but after 16 years her body needed a break, and they closed the restaurant. In the following years, she often heard from locals how much they missed her cooking. These days, her three nights a week at Fiesta is a good fit. She doesn’t miss the responsibility of running an entire business, and fans can get their Mexican food fix again, whether in the restaurant with a margarita or takeout to enjoy at home.
Friday through Monday is The Bistro, when Chef Chris Morrison creates elevated American classics like fried chicken, build-your-own burgers, and smoked ribs, as well as fresh specials inspired by the season. A grill-loving chef who grew up in the Long Beach area of Southern California, Chris knew from a young age that he wanted to be a chef. He’d grown up eating his mother’s top notch fare, and he enjoyed making food for his brothers. For him, it was the perfect combination of being creative and making the people he loved happy.
At 16, Chris got a job as a dishwasher and prep cook at a restaurant in Norwalk called Rosewoods. It taught him responsibility, time management, and the importance of working as a team. “It felt right being in a kitchen, meeting a different group of people, being around chefs, servers, and staff,“ Chris remembers. He went on to attend the culinary program at Cerritos Community College, which impressed upon him the artistic aspects of cooking—namely, how to see the plate as canvas and ingredients as the paints.
After he completed the program, Chris worked at Disneyland’s Plaza Inn before moving up to the exclusive Club 33. He was the pantry and sauté cook there for almost three years, cooking for presidents, basketball stars, and other celebrities. While he was there, the older chefs shared some wisdom: when a chef spends time in a variety of kitchens, they learn new techniques, ingredients, and flavors, so a good chef should never stay too long in one place.
Chris took the advice to heart, and in the following years he cooked all over, including at Paramount Pictures in West Hollywood, barbecue in Idaho, and three years of gig work around Europe. Each experience informed his cooking style, as did personal heroes Sean Brock, an East Coast chef known for popularizing varieties of rice once thought to be extinct, and Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential. Chris tries to keep a couple used copies on hand to share with anyone who might be a kindred culinary spirit.
The recession had hit hard by 2011, prompting Chris to return home from Europe to help his mom pay the bills. A good friend had opened a restaurant in Hermosa Beach—Barrons 2239—and reached out to Chris one day when the pantry chef failed to show. It turned into one of the most influential jobs of his career. Chris cooked there for five years, during which the restaurant earned two Michelin stars. “That’s where I learned about building plates and flavors,“ shares Chris. “I worked with talented chefs, and there was a lot of trust among the team.” Chris held a number of positions in the kitchen, including expediter, sauté chef, and grill chef.
Chris spent time in Idaho honing his BBQ skills after leaving Barrons 2239, then relocated to the Anderson Valley in 2024. When Natalie found herself unexpectedly without a chef in July, he was in the right place at the right time.
Chris has inherited menu favorites from the days of Lauren’s and made them his own, and he’s added new dishes as well. Guests can still enjoy hamburgers with prime beef, sautéed onions, and all the fixings, along with classic fries made from hand cut potatoes, while hungry kids can still gobble up Nora’s Noodles. But Bistro diners can also savor the popular fried chicken and mashed potatoes, barbequed ribs, chipotle salmon tacos, or fish and chips. For folks seeking lighter fare, there is a selection of fresh salads that are delicious and hearty enough to be a dinner entree. As Natalie declares, “We take our salads very seriously.”
“My goal is to bring food to the forefront that pairs well with alcohol,” confides Chris. He likes to make as much as he can in-house, like the fresh pasta dishes that show up on the specials menu from time to time, and even pickles and ranch dressing. “I want to make food with fresh, clean, big, bold flavors,” Chris continues. “And most of all, to have fun!” That fun might involve opening up the patio in the summer, playing with produce from area farms, and, as always, transforming hungry customers into happy ones. That is, after all, why he got into the kitchen in the first place.
Chris is helped in the kitchen by long-time cooks Maria Guerrero and Neli Simón, both of whom have been with Natalie since she took over Lauren’s 9 years ago. “I’m so grateful to them,” Natalie says. “They are a big reason why the restaurant is still here.”
Natalie sees the restaurant as a place where she can be creative and express her playful side. From the restaurant specials to the cocktail menu to the color of the walls, things are always evolving. But the constants remain—unfussy food that’s full of flavor, either from Fiesta or The Bistro, accompanied by craft cocktails, mocktails, regional beers on tap, and local wines. It’s a great place to stop if you are hungry or thirsty, or just ready for a break from the road when you are driving through Boonville. You can even pick up a bottle of agave spirits or vodka, and bring a little Boonville home with you.
The Boonville Distillery
14081 Hwy 128, Boonville,
(707) 895-3869 | boonvilledistillery.com
The Bistro: Sat - Mon 11:00am - 8:00pm, Fri 11:00am - 8:30pm
Fiesta: Tues - Thu 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Food and cocktail photos by Natalie Sparks. All other photos by Torrey Douglass.
Back from the Brink
Raising American Bison at J Bar S Ranch
by Lisa Ludwigsen | photos by Nik Zvolensky
In his documentary The American Buffalo, Ken Burns describes bison as “the most magnificent mammal on our continent,” adding, “The buffalo story is so complicated and so interesting because it moves through almost every era in our lives and touches on so many subjects you wouldn’t think it would touch on.”
Bison are the continent’s largest mammal, weighing in at around 1800 pounds, approximately the size of a small car. Inhabiting large swaths of the Great Plains, bison were virtually uncountable before the 1800s and estimated at 30 million in the early 1800s. The widespread arrival of Europeans drove the bison to near extinction. By the beginning of the 20th century, fewer than 1,000 bison survived. That decimation was due to market hunting— people wanted buffalo robes and the expanding railroad used hides as engine belts, among other things—and the effects of diseases brought in with domestic cattle. In addition, bison were killed off as part of the inten- tional eradication of Indigenous people’s crucial source of livelihood, in efforts to force them off their land. Native people have coexisted with bison for over 10,000 years in a profoundly reciprocal relationship, across a vast area of the central and northern plains of the continent. Killing off the bison impacted every aspect of the Great Plains Native American lives, devastating both people and animals.
But all was not lost. Successful conservation efforts have helped stabilize and grow the bison population in an encour- aging story that started back in the early 1900s by a zoologist named William Hornaday, with support from President Theodore Roosevelt. A few bison were shipped to the Bronx Zoo over 100 years ago for the purpose of breeding and ultimately re-releasing into the wild, and today there are over 400,000 in the U.S. in both wild and commercial herds. Other small conservation efforts by concerned ranchers helped to preserve and repopulate the plains.
Bison are not native to California. They thrive in vast tracts of prairie found in the central areas of North America, from Canada into Mexico. But in Mendocino County, there is a small bison herd at J Bar S Ranch, east of Ukiah just off Highway 20. Bob Lawson, the ranch’s owner, shared the story of his father’s longtime interest in bison. When Jim Lawson bought 40 acres in 1966, the ranch came with a few sheep. The ranch was not intended to be a working ranch at first. “My father brought in the first few bison in the 1980s just because he was interested in them. That herd now numbers around 60. It’s not a large group, but we keep the herd manageable for our environment. We are very happy to have 20 calves born this year from our three bulls and 35 cows.” Even though Lawson’s herd is a commercial herd, intended to be harvested for meat, it is one of many similar herds considered important within the conservation movement.
Lawson shares the concern of local beef ranchers about the lack of local slaughter facilities equipped to process bison in Mendocino County. This forces Lawson to transport his animals to his Wyoming ranch, which supports another 300 head on 1600 acres. “Bison are difficult to get to slaughter because they are so large and strong. We built special reinforced pens at our slaughterhouse in Wyoming to contain them.” Lawson has observed a full-grown bison clear a 6’ fence without a running start.
Lawson is optimistic about the future of bison as a viable meat source and steward of rangeland. Because bison evolved as they roamed the continent freely, they help sustain plains and prairie ecosystems as a keystone species. They are good for the environment and healthy to eat, too. “Our herd is grass fed and grass finished. They are handled as little as possible. We offer them an enhanced feed as they approach harvest, but the bison don’t really choose it.” Unlike cattle, bison have never been truly domesticated. They basically do what they want. A visit to the ranch illustrates just how large these animals really are. They were attentive to the visitors in the truck, but when asked if he or the herd manager could leave the truck and walk among them, Lawson’s answer was, “Not really.” They exude a sense of their wild heritage and they demand respect.
The National Bison Association based in Colorado boasts over 1,000 members who raise over 250,000 head of bison. The organization has adopted the slogan “Regenerative by Nature.” Regenerative agriculture seeks to improve the health of the planet by restoring nature, utilizing agricultural practices to increase soil biodiversity and organic matter. Building resilient soils also helps resist climate change impacts like flooding and drought. Bison are meaningful players toward this goal.
Grazing bison naturally support rangeland by stimulating new plant growth as they graze, by providing soil with vital nutrients from manure and urine, disturbing soil so native seeds can take root, and creating wallows that capture rainfall. “They basically do all the land management for us,” said Lawson. It’s well documented that healthy grass- lands created by grazing animals capture carbon from the atmosphere and return it to the soil. This is regenerative agriculture in a nutshell, and bison are the original livestock for this approach to holistic management.
Bison are naturally grass-fed and GMO-free because they aren’t raised intensively like cattle. Bison meat offers several health benefits. It’s a low-fat lean protein rich in nutrients like iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins. The expanding meat market helps to ensure both the survival of the species and the prairie ecosystem. “It is a niche market that began growing during the pandemic, when people started looking at new sources of food and discovered that bison tastes good and is a healthier red meat,” shared Lawson.
As part of the bison recovery, innovative partnerships between Indigenous communities, national parks, and educational institutions have formed which are contributing to sustainable management and economic empowerment. The largest tract of open rangeland for bison is owned by former media mogul Ted Turner. He began purchasing land in the Midwestern prairie states in the 1970s with the goal of supporting bison restoration. Today, the octogenarian’s Turner Enterprises owns 16 ranches in seven states, totaling almost two million acres that provide habitat for 45,000 bison. It is privately owned land with little public access, but the bison and prairie are thriving and protected from development. One of Turner’s ranches open to the public is Vermejo Park Ranch, a 550,000-acre guest ranch in north- eastern New Mexico where visitors can learn about local conservation efforts with the bison.
Preventing the extinction of bison is an American success story, not unlike that of the bald eagle. In the case of bison, providing open prairie and promoting both conservation and a sustainable commercial market for meat can keep the efforts moving in the right direction. If you’re bison- curious, find J Bar S bison meat for sale at the ranch store, at Mariposa Market in Willits, and Harvest Market in Fort Bragg. It is also on the menu at Ukiah Brewing Company. It is tasty and satisfying, and a welcome addition to a diverse local food system.
J Bar S Ranch 6201
Hwy 20, Ukiah
(707) 485-6852 | jbarsranch.com
Open Wed-Sun 10:30am - 5:30pm
Lisa Ludwigsen has been working in environmental education and small scale agriculture for 25 years. She chronicles her experiences and travels at Food, Farms & Families at lisaludwigsen.substack.com
A Delicious Legacy
TomatoFest’s Ongoing Quest to Preserve Heirloom Tomatoes from Around the Globe
by Torrey Douglass
If the economy hadn’t stalled out like a neglected jalopy in the 1970s, then perhaps a young architectural illustrator in Boulder, Colorado, might not have been inspired to pick up sticks and pursue a new career in food and publishing on the central California Coast. But it did, and he did, and tomato lovers will be ever grateful.
Gary Ibsen relocated to Carmel, California in the early 70s specifically because it was a renowned culinary destination with world class restaurants. He had developed a passion for good food, partly inspired by the cookbook A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price (yes, that Vincent Price). The pair had sought out excellent eating around the globe, and the book gathers recipes from the best of those experiences. With inspiration from the Prices’ cookbook and his own love of culinary expertise, Gary started Adventures in Dining in 1974 to “celebrate and champion excellence in food, food production and food service.” For those first few years, he produced the majority of articles and photo- graphs himself, and under his leadership the quarterly won two Maggie Awards—essentially the Oscars of magazine publishing.
Gary is a man of many careers and has worked as an off-Broadway actor and singer, on a nuclear submarine while in the U.S. Navy, and as a grower of premium cannabis. He has owned two magazines, an art gallery in Connecticut, and a Cajun restaurant in Carmel. After selling Adventures in Dining in 1990 and finding himself again ready for a new pursuit, he decided to expand his personal love of backyard gardening into something more.
Years prior, a Portuguese farmer in Carmel Valley had opened Gary’s eyes to the mouth-watering magic of heirloom tomatoes by giving Gary a pair of seedlings. In those days, tomatoes were bred to endure travel to faraway supermarkets and were picked before reaching their full flavor potential for the same reason. For Gary, that first bite of an heirloom tomato was akin to biting into an oven-fresh chocolate chip cookie and realizing that for years he’d been consuming the cardboard box it came in rather than the real deal.
This marked the start of what would become a lifelong quest to find, propagate, and share heirloom tomatoes in all their variety, complexity, and beauty. As he searched out little-known varieties, Gary’s finds ran the spectrum of yellows and pinks, through reds and oranges, to purples and blacks. Some had fuzzy skins like a peach, and some were hollow like a red pepper. The flavors could be bold and acidic or layered and more subtle, with notes of chocolate, citrus, or tropical fruit. As news of his efforts spread, friends, relatives, and their friends and relatives began sending Gary their favorite varieties. Often they had been grown on family farms or in backyard gardens for generations.
As a fixture of the Central Coast food scene, Gary was delighted to share his expanding tomato harvest with his chef friends, watching their eyes light up, just like his had, with their first bite. He began selling the tomatoes to local restaurants and hosting backyard barbeques where friends could share tomato dishes and swap stories and ideas. Over time, those barbeques grew in size and renown, and once it was featured in Sunset magazine, their popularity soared. Soon the Tomato Fest became official, relocating to the Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel Valley and opening ticket sales to the public.
During its heyday, the Carmel Tomato Fest was an exuberant annual celebration of the tomato, hosting 3000 attendees, 70 top chefs, and 50 wineries. Over 350 varieties of tomatoes were available for tasting, as were the chefs’ creations. The event also featured wine tasting, garden demonstrations, a salsa showcase, a classic barbeque, and live music and dancing. The extravaganza lasted one day—a Sunday—so chefs could have time off from their restaurants. This buoyed the fun and festive vibe of the day. “It was a happy, love-filled event,” recalls Gary’s wife and partner, Dagma Lacey. “Everyone was so overjoyed to be there. It was an opportunity to be together, to see their friends.” Often chefs would ask to be located near their buddies, ensuring a generous helping of play along with all the work.
Dagma entered Gary’s life in 1998 when Tomato Fest was in full swing, and she fondly recalls how she was equally smitten with Gary as with his tomatoes. They courted from a distance while she remained in her hometown of Spokane, Washington, to finish raising her five teenagers, after which she relocated to Carmel to be with him full time.
The pair are a natural fit. Dagma’s predecessors were farmers from the Bohemia region of Germany until World War II. Dagma’s mother, Marianne, was 13 when Russian soldiers arrived at her school in May of 1940 and forced the students into a truck for transport to a labor camp. Marianne and four others leapt from the moving vehicle to escape, but only two survived. She traversed the Alps on foot with a friend, despite having been shot in the leg when crossing the Czech border, before ultimately arriving in Weiden, Germany. Years later, in 1955, she recon- nected with her parents and siblings with help from the Red Cross. After falling in love with an American soldier, she married in 1957, then relocated to Spokane, Washington to raise a family with him.
An orphan from New York state, Gary didn’t have much mothering in his youth, so his relationship with Marianne later in life was an added bonus to his courtship with Dagma. When Marianne’s sister from Germany sent her favorite tomato seeds to them, they named the variety “Marianne’s Peace” to honor Dagma’s mother and her life of courage, vitality, and resilience.
Another legendary woman is honored with a different tomato variety. Gary served on the founding board of the American Institute of Food and Wine with Julia Child for a time, where the two became friends. Julia was an honored guest at Tomato Fest 2000, and he credits her connection to the fest as one reason it became so popular. At Gary’s request, Julia agreed to have a tomato named after her. When he asked what said tomato should be like, she simply declared, “Tasty!” The tomato that bears her name was originally an unnamed family heirloom tomato sent to Gary in 1997. Part of his seed trials for four years before being released commercially in 2001, it is described as producing “4-inch, deep-pink, lightly-fluted, beefsteak fruits that have the kind of robust, smack-you-on-the-palate tomato flavors and firm, juicy flesh.” It is also the only instance of Julia permitting her name to be used for a product outside of her cookbooks.
In addition to the festival, Gary grew and sold his rare tomatoes to local restaurants and markets, including Whole Foods. At the start, the market ordered 100 pounds of tomatoes per week, but within the year it increased to one ton per week. This spike in interest did not go unnoticed by larger producers, and while Gary refused to sell tomatoes outside of their peak season, the bigger players had no qualms about growing in warmer climes and shipping tomatoes year-round. Finding themselves unable to compete with larger producers, but always up for a pivot, Gary and Dagma shifted the tomato business to primarily propagation and seed sales to the public, while still selling fruit to local restaurants, who knew a good thing when they had it. The annual TomatoFest event continued until 2009, at which point a cancer diagnosis forced Gary to retire from his leadership position. His son had moved to the Mendocino area years prior and thought the slower pace and wild beauty would be a good fit for Gary and Dagma. They moved up to Little River, continuing to farm tomatoes in Hollister while running the rest of their business from their new home. “We’ve been extremely happy with the people, environment, the small town,” shares Gary. “We get to live on a dirt road where the most precious commodity is quiet. We have super neighbors, [and] everyone looks out for everybody.”
These days TomatoFest is exclusively a seed business for heirloom tomatoes, selling their 650 varieties only online. All are organic, and they hail from around the globe: Italy, Ukraine, Spain, India, Russia, China, and all across the U.S. Every year Gary and Dagma shepherd their tomatoes through the seasons, first as seedlings in the greenhouse, then planting into the dirt, followed by harvesting the fruit, then processing and packaging the seeds. Harvest time in Hollister is a family affair, with their combined eight children and 17 grandchildren coming together to get it done. They return home with green hands, seeds for their customers, and a bounty of tomatoes they turn into sauce to give to friends. “We put our hands on everything,” muses Gary. “I touch every seed,” Dagma adds.
It is an undiluted joy to bite into a summer-ripe tomato. Exploring new and unusual varieties in order to spread that joy far and wide has been a central undertaking for much of Gary’s life. He and Dagma consider these seeds to be their legacy, one they must protect, expand, and, above all else, share. Over 200 charities benefit from their Tomato Seed Donation Program, with some seeds going into school and community gardens, and others propagated into plant starts to sell for raising funds. Ultimately, both the donation program and the seed-selling business exist for the same reason: to provide an organic, GMO-free, and nutritious food source to as many people as possible. The humble tomato, crowd-sourced, is available in an astounding scope of sizes, colors, and flavors to light up eyes, delight palates, and set imaginations free to explore new culinary possibilities.
Browse over 650 varieties of heirloom tomatoes at tomatofest.com.
Photos courtesy of TomatoFest®
The Loose Caboose Cafe
The Best Hot Sandwiches in Willits
by Holly Madrigal
When my childhood friends come back to Willits to see their parents or to visit, they structure their stay around a stop at the Loose Caboose Café. This restaurant could well be considered a beloved institution. In 1988, Jill Persico (then Pieretti-Cessna) was getting ready for work at her retail job at Sidney’s clothing store in downtown Willits when she overheard a radio program talking about how the cabooses of trains were becoming obsolete. Jill loved the idea of a little romantic café—her favorite place to dine when traveling. As she thought about the sadness of losing the cabooses with their small cozy spaces, somehow the ideas combined in her mind. She thought about making a caboose-themed eatery and calling it the Loose Caboose Cafe.
Locals may remember that the cafe—which turns out hot sub sandwiches, many different salads, and soups—was originally located in the old Country Mall now occupied by JD Redhouse. A former ice cream shop in the front of the mall was closing down, and Jill snapped up that equipment, adding real ice cream milkshakes to the menu. Loose Caboose Café was born, and Jill created a menu with a combination of recipes from her mother—that’s where the meatball sub came from—and a deli called Bensoni’s that used to exist back in the day. Jill’s twist was to serve all of the sandwiches hot.
Loose Caboose moved across Wood Street to its current location and never looked back. Serving up hot sandwiches, salads, and shakes turned out to be a winning combination. The interior has been updated over the years but it remains warm and inviting. A huge mural of a caboose careening through a meadow sets a playful tone. They added a wonderful patio, creating a shady space covered in hanging flowers. Visitors with pups love the outdoor space, where their furry friends can hope for a dropped bite of a sandwich. The focus is on good food and gathering with friends and family. If you are not family, you will be welcomed in as if you are. You can’t stop by without running into a neighbor or high school teacher.
Jill & Aimee
Everyone that I know has a favorite dish, and though they may pretend as if they are perusing the menu, they know what they want and how they want it. Mine is a Turkey Depot with no bell peppers. The savory melted cheese, lettuce, onions, black olives, and mustard combine with the sliced roasted turkey drizzled in an oil and vinegar dressing that is as zesty as it is addictive. The best method is to eat there, in the restaurant, because if you wait you risk losing the perfect toasty crunch of the roll with the hot ingredients within.
I called a friend who now lives in the Bay Area, and she confirmed that she is also a Turkey Depot devotee, and did not appreciate that my call had made her hungry for that very dish. My husband preferred a Vegetarian Station, adding pesto for an extra kick. Others swear by the Meatball Express—I mean, it IS Jill’s mother’s very special recipe from Italy. And though I have my favorites, I went through a phase of getting the Southwest Chicken Salad, as their spicy ranch is crazy good, drizzled on the crunchy greens and topped with tender chicken that is its own delight.
The soups are amazing as well, and don’t just take my word for it. Loose Caboose has won Best in Show at the Sip Some Soup fundraiser for our Daily Bread multiple times. And if you are feeling decadent, get an espresso or chai milkshake before you leave. The Chai milkshake manages to mingle the spices of apple pie with rich ice cream, creating, basically, liquid ala mode.
A commitment to quality and delighting their customers has made this restaurant stand the test of time. Jill reflects, “I figure I will do this as long as I love it. And I still do love it. My Italian upbringing connected family and good food, and that has always been at the center of this work.” Most of the staff in the kitchen have been with Loose Caboose for years, and the business has trained many a young person in the hospitality business. Jill’s generosity in supporting the community goes beyond the restaurant to sponsoring sports teams, events, and nonprofit auctions. At a recent live auction for the Seabiscuit Therapeutic Riding Center, a “Year of Loose Caboose Sandwiches” went for $3,100. “That brought me to tears,” Jill adds, “that our business is so appreciated and valued. I still don’t know who the winning bidder was,” she laughs.
Jill attributes the secrets of her longevity to the consistency of the food and having an onsite owner. “It is important for me to be out there greeting the customers, checking in. I consider myself semi-retired. My daughter Aimee is now stepping in and we are co-managers. We are the perfect team, and she is allowing me to take time when I need to. I know that the restaurant is in good hands. Her sister, Caprice, does all of our bookkeeping. Aimee is helping us shift to the next generation,” Jill says.
Jill’s daughters grew up amidst the hustle and bustle of the business. Both girls moved out of the area, and Aimee and her husband, Ben Dawson (a Willits alum), returned to the area after their boys were off to college. “The boys spent their childhoods running around on the ranch in Willits, and they love to come visit,” adds Aimee. And after nearly forty years in business, Aimee is busy streamlining processes like finally accepting credit cards after 36 years. “We work so well together,” says Jill. “Aimee is bringing the business up to modern standards and ensuring that our business is going strong.” The duo has not wavered in their commitment to the community. Jill’s Catholic faith is very important to her, and she and Aimee have begun teaching confirmation once a week at St. Anthony’s Church in Willits. When I stopped by, Jill had her homework planned to prep for this week’s class. The love of hometown and community runs deep in the ethos of this little café.
Sometimes, when something is so consistent in life, it can get overshadowed by the glitzy and new. But it benefits us all to remember the heart of Willits, which resides in a little shop off Wood Street. The Loose Caboose Café has given so much to the town of Willits, and I cannot imagine a visit without stopping by for a hot sub sandwich and a catch-up on the local buzz. When waitress Liz Persico Day left to spend more time with grandkids after a decade with the Loose Caboose, I remember thinking, “Who else is going to call me sweetheart and get away with it?” But time goes on, and these local favorites keep serving up classically delicious food. Thank you to all the cooks in the kitchen, the waitstaff, Aimee, and most importantly Jill, for warming our hearts and bellies all these years.
The Loose Caboose Café
10 Wood St, Willits
(707) 459-1434 | loosecaboosecafe.com
Open 10am - 3pm Mon - Sat
Photos courtesy of Loose Caboose Cafe.
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Roundman’s Smokehouse
A Carnivore’s Paradise in Downtown Fort Bragg
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Sometimes life works out in unexpected and altogether gratifying ways. For Steve Rasmussen and Greg Braden, co-owners of Roundman’s Smokehouse and Butcher Shop in Fort Bragg, a series of coincidences and a couple of leaps of faith have landed them in just the right spot.
Roundman’s has been a fixture on Main Street in downtown Fort Bragg for over 30 years. As its name reflects, Roundman’s smokes and sells a full selection of meat, fish, and cheese to retail and wholesale customers in Northern California. Roundman’s is also a full-service butcher shop, that increasingly rare place where the butcher will expertly cut, trim, or filet to order and offer excellent advice on how to prepare your selection. It’s hard to find a good butcher shop these days, and Roundman’s butchers stand out for their expertise and service.
It’s not unusual to hear an out-of-town visitor to Roundman’s exclaim, “I wish we had a store like this where I live.” The residents of Fort Bragg are indeed fortunate. But the secret sauce for the success of this relatively modest shop in a small coastal town isn’t just the high-quality ingredients, careful sourcing, or the onsite, full-time USDA inspector. At its core, Roundman’s success stems from its people. From the owners to the loyal, hard-working staff, everyone at Roundman’s shares a dedication to the success of the business.
Though Greg Braden’s background in Mendocino County ranching and farming, and as a private chef, follows a relatively straight line to owning a smokehouse and butcher shop, Steve Rasmussen’s path is more unorthodox. As an instructor with Ford Aerospace satellite and surveillance systems in San Jose, Rasmussen used to ride his motorcycle up the coast to visit his aunt in Fort Bragg, back when the town was just a little “hole in the wall,” as Rasmussen called it. She introduced her nephew to Roundman’s Smokehouse, and when it came up for sale, something told Rasmussen to go for it. So he did. That was 34 years ago.
Braden got to know the Roundman’s staff from the back door, literally. He delivered Covelo Beef from his neighbor’s inland ranch each week. “Through those deliveries, I came to respect the entire staff and appreciate how they run their operation.” When Rasmussen’s partner decided to sell his half of the business, Braden was at the top of the list of potential buyers, much to his own surprise. It wasn’t on his bucket list to own a smokehouse and butcher shop. But he bought in on September 1st, 2021. The rest is history, as they say.
“Buying into the business is an incredible opportunity for me,” shared Braden. “The shop allows me to serve people high quality food and still be home for dinner every night,” he said. There aren’t the long, demanding hours of a restaurant. “I can create new recipes and forge new relationships with suppliers and customers.”
The two partners agree that building and maintaining a strong team is essential for the success of their business, and while many businesses talk big about company values and team building, these guys walk their talk. “This is an employee-driven business,” said Braden. Rasmussen added, “We treat our 18 employees as family, and we love them as such. We’re on their side.”
In an era when employers complain about finding and retaining employees, Roundman’s folks stick around. “Because we want to offer the best possible product, we make everything by hand,” said Braden. This is a very labor-intensive operation. “None of our equipment is automated, so all of our slicing and processing is done by hand, including smoking and slicing up to 3,000 pounds of bacon each week and 1,000 pounds of sausage, hand ground and twisted.” That attention to detail by well trained staff results in a loyal customer base who can purchase in the store, wholesale by delivery, or by mail order. With low staff turnover, the business is able to keep expanding to meet the needs of its growing customer base.
That customer service is key to Roundman’s success. They deliver twice a week to restaurants, wineries, and grocery markets throughout Mendocino County. “If a customer wants just one or two of something, we’ll deliver it,” Braden said. Chances are that if you enjoy a fabulous flat-iron steak at a local eatery, it was cut and delivered by Roundman’s. They are permitted to sell products outside the shop because of their onsite USDA inspector. (As an interesting aside, large chain grocers are inspected by the FDA just twice a year.)
Braden’s expertise and a task he loves is tweaking traditional recipes and creating new ones that reflect current culinary interests. He uses celery as a natural sodium nitrate for flavor and preservation, for instance. He and Rasmussen also take the time to carefully nurture relationships with their suppliers to ensure that the products they’re selling are sustainably raised. Producers like Stemple Creek Ranch, Demkota Beef, Vande Rose Farms heritage pork, and Superior Lamb are a few of the established companies they do business with. It is easy to know where your food comes from with this shop.
It takes creativity and persistence to create and maintain a successful business, regardless of size. After 34 years, Roundman’s Smokehouse is going strong and the future looks bright, even in these uncertain times. It is the type of small business that strengthens its community by offering trustworthy products and steady jobs. The next time you’re in Fort Bragg, make sure to stop in and stock up for your picnic or dinner. Your tastebuds will be delighted, and you will know that you are supporting a healthy and vibrant community. A win-win.
Roundman’s Smokehouse
412 N Main St, Fort Bragg
(707) 964-5954 | roundmans.com
Open Mon - Sat 9am - 5:30pm, Sun 9am - 3:30pm
Lisa Ludwigsen has been working in environmental education and small scale agriculture for 25 years. She chronicles her experiences and travels at Food, Farms & Families at https://lisaludwigsen.substack.com
Photos by Nick Zvolensky
St. Orres
Old School Hospitality and Outstanding Food on the South Mendocino Coast
by Torrey Douglass
According to executive chef Rosemary Campiformio, “St. Orres is a healing place camouflaged as a country inn and restaurant.” Her assertion might be referring to the soothing effects of the towering redwoods that grace the property. Or it could be the stunning view of the ocean combined with the calm shushing of its waves. Possibly it’s the wonderful cuisine—both deliciously fresh and scrumptiously satiating—or the beautiful, Russian-inspired architecture. Likely it is all of the above, coming together to create a food and lodging experience that is decidedly unique and delightful.
This distinctive “country inn and restaurant” sits on 50 acres between Gualala and Anchor Bay, boasting a grand two story building with 8 upstairs guest rooms, as well as an esoteric collection of cottages and cabins around the property. There are a handful of meadows, but most of the land is covered by the aforementioned redwoods. (Side note: The documentary Giants Rising, shown at the 2024 Mendocino Film Festival, shared research that revealed how even just looking at pictures of redwood forests has a beneficial effect on one’s nervous system—though it’s safe to say that experiencing them in person is infinitely more enjoyable.)
In the 1830s, homesteader George St. Orres settled on the original 29 acres. George came from a family of Russian immigrants—a large one, verified by the sprawling family plot at the Anchor Bay Cemetery. He made his living creating the loading equipment that transferred goods to and from ships that used the many “doghole ports” along the north coast.
In 1929, the land was acquired by Sid Johnson, who built a hotel there. Sid rented the 10 upstairs rooms and 5 newly built cabins to fish catchers in the winter and loggers in the summer. Called the Seaside Inn, the hotel included a dining room, general store, and gas pumps to serve travelers passing by. By 1971, the hotel had passed its heyday and fallen into disrepair, at which point it caught the eye and imagination of a master woodworker from Mill Valley named Eric Black.
Eric and friends Robert Anderson and Richey Wasserman pooled their resources and bought the old hotel and property, eventually pulling up stakes in Mill Valley and relocating with their families to this slice of heaven by the sea. Hopefully the gorgeous location compensated for the rustic old cabins they and their families moved into, referred to in St. Orres literature as “funky.”
The partners dismantled most of the Seaside Inn and then rebuilt it according to Eric’s vision. His design was influenced by his father (a well known architect in San Francisco), his experience working in the 1960s as an apprentice carpenter on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin Civic Center, and the Russian stave church design of the original structure. He also had building experience under his belt from working on high-end homes in Marin which incorporated the octagon shape so popular at the time.
It took five years of sweat and hustling to prepare the new restaurant and inn for the public. A bounty of local talent contributed to the project, providing bespoke landscaping, wood carvings, light fixtures, stained glass windows, quilts for beds, and prints and paintings for the walls. Together these efforts created a space that is undeniably unique and intriguing, a one-of-a-kind destination that captures the craftsmanship and character of the community.
But there’s a lot more to creating a successful business than a stunning structure. In those early days, a young tax accountant named Rosemary Campiformio, who had recently relocated to Gualala from Berkeley, was hired to set up the accounts and manage the books. Before long, Rosemary had fallen in love with the area and St. Orres itself, officially becoming a business partner in 1975.
Rosemary was integral to the St. Orres inn and restaurant by the time the doors opened in 1976. As a new venture, profits were put right back into the business, so Rosemary got her real estate license to support herself. Her role expanded when, one day in the early 80s, the current chef walked out of the kitchen right before service. Rosemary walked in, and she never looked back.
To this day, Rosemary is the Executive Chef of St. Orres. Raised in Connecticut in a large Italian family, food always played a central role in her life and relationships. Except for a 2-week culinary class taught by Madeline Cameron in Napa in the 1990s, Rosemary is entirely self-taught. She crafts her menus around what’s happening outside the window, including dishes focused on foraged ingredients like mushrooms and berries, and wild game like boar, venison, rabbit, and pheasant.
“I like the specials and menu to reflect what’s local, fresh, and not available anywhere else,” Rosemary shares, adding that the rack of lamb is especially popular. “I love the work that I do, I don’t just enjoy it. When you are in a place for a long time like I am, it’s a springboard for giving to the community, watching families grow, providing a stable place where people can come and celebrate their birthdays, memorials, and anniversaries. And I love feeding them.” While no longer working in the kitchen, Rosemary can still be found at the restaurant most nights, greeting guests and making sure the dinner service goes smoothly.
Guests can sit either in the Seaside Bar or the more formal cathedral-ceilinged dining room. Regardless of where a guest is seated, they can order from the cafe menu (spaghetti with clams, chili relleno with rice and beans, grilled burger, and more) or the somewhat fancier dining room menu (filet mignon, quail, venison, and lobster dishes, to name a few). I started with a salad listed on the menu as “organic greens and blueberries,” a humble description that was outshined by the generous pile of vibrant greens and berries that arrived at my table. It was light and flavorful, a beautiful balance of sweet, spice, and tart achieved with the combination of nasturtium petals, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries all topped with a tangy dressing.
This strong start was followed by wild mushroom ravioli. The serving size at first had me concerned I’d leave with room to spare, yet the dish was entirely satisfying by the last bite. The pasta pockets were filled with wild mushrooms and parmesan covered in a creamy parmesan sauce, uplifted by fresh cherry tomatoes, basil, and spinach. It was filling without being heavy, luscious but not overwhelming. And while I demurred on the dessert menu, there was plenty there to tempt a person to find a little extra room for a sweet something.
When the restaurant was new, Gualala was not serviced by food delivery companies, so St. Orres got a van to drive to Santa Rosa every week for flowers, produce, meat, and fish. These days the restaurant can get those things delivered, and though the pandemic put some of their former providers out of business, many have now returned and, according to Rosemary, “things are starting to feel back to normal.”
Though they now enjoy the luxury of food delivery, Gualala remains out of the rush and bustle of the busier Bay Area cities found just down the road. “Things are a little slower here, but that’s what we love about it,” Rosemary reflects. That slower pace allows for a more balanced life, and Rosemary takes full advantage. On top of her work with the restaurant and her real estate business, she is a rock hound and a master falconer. “I feel so blessed to be here all this time, living here in this beautiful environment and doing what I love,” she muses. “It’s a well crafted life. People who live in Mendocino County are up here crafting their lives.” With the redwoods and the sea, this piece of the California coast is an excellent location for building those well crafted lives, made all the more delicious by the exceptional room and board to be found at beautiful St. Orres.
St. Orres
36601 S Highway 1, Gualala
(707) 884-3335 | www.saintorres.com
Open Thurs - Mon
Photos by Torrey Douglass
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and drinking good coffee with a friend.
Shamaz Valley Farm
Farming Uncommon Apples for 50+ Years
by Lisa Ludwigsen
As a visitor arriving at the pristine home of Shamaz Valley Farm on a crisp fall day, the first take is that this place is not just well cared for, it is well loved. Situated just east of Potter Valley, the land abuts the Mendocino National Forest and evokes the feeling of being in the Sierra foothills. Surrounded by a mixed conifer forest of ponderosa and sugar pines, Douglas fir, oaks, bays, and madrones, the farm’s well-appointed log house sits beyond a bubbling pond that provides hydroelectric power to the residence. The hot, flat Ukiah Valley, just a few miles to the southwest, seems a long way off.
This is the 108-acre parcel that Darshan Mayginnes has been stewarding for over 50 years, first as a part-time weekender and now as a full-time fruit farmer. His home is completely off-grid, generating energy through solar and that hydropower system. He explained, “We’re lucky to have plenty of water here in the Eel River watershed so we can generate hydro power to supplement our solar system. The high water table allows us to dry-farm our orchards. No irrigation is needed.”
Darshan, with assistance from his 15-year-old daughter, Ambrosia, grows over 45 varieties of apples, along with pears, peaches, cherries, and nuts. They sell mainly at the Ukiah farmers market on Saturdays, where you’ll find them from June through December. Darshan explained, “Our market season begins in June with cherries and transitions to apples in July with the earliest ripe apple, the Yellow Transparent. The final apple of the year, Hauer Pippin, ripens in December.” That’s almost six months of freshly harvested apples.
Most apples on grocery store shelves have been in storage for months, or even up to a year. Yes, apples are a dependable staple, but Darshan has strong opinions about eating and enjoying fresh apples. “I don’t want to sell anyone an apple that has been in storage, so I only sell apples that are picked the day before,” he offered. “Ambrosia and I get great pleasure sharing samples of our apples at the farmers market. It’s a big part of what we offer. It changes the way people think about apples, and they almost always come back for more.” The superior taste and overall quality are obvious. Shoppers can also find Shamaz Valley Farm apples at a few select local grocers like the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op and through the MendoLake Food Hub.
If names like Arkansas Black, King David, Rubaiyat, or Sierra Beauty don’t ring a bell, you aren’t alone. A wide world of taste profiles and textures reach well beyond a Honeycrisp or Fuji. Other Shamaz favorites include Rhode Island Greening, Macoun, Tompkins County King, and Esopus Spitzenburg, an apple first discovered in New York in the late 1700s and planted by Thomas Jefferson. Rhode Island Greening, developed on the east coast in the mid 17th century, are highly prized for pies because of the complex flavor and that they hold their shape when cooked. Darshan and Ambrosia delight in describing each variety’s distinctive characteristics. Clearly, apples are their jam. Their animated stories and accounts express their shared passion for their vocation.
In his book, The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan reported on the ways plants have evolved to create symbiotic relationships with humans. Apples originated in the forests of Kazakhstan and were brought to North America via seeds with the pilgrims. As apples slowly became sweeter, their interactions with humans increased. John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, followed western expansion in North America at the beginning of the 19th century, planting apple orchards at new settlements. Chapman lived eccentrically, mostly barefoot using a cooking pot as a hat, and occasionally sleeping in tree trunks while tending his burgeoning orchards, some of which still stand today. Because those apples’ bitterness rendered them virtually inedible, they were pressed and fermented into hard cider, which was enjoyed around tables at all times of the day, because the cider provided a safe beverage when water quality and supply were of concern. Pollan writes, “Really, what Johnny Appleseed was doing and the reason he was welcome in every cabin in Ohio and Indiana was he was bringing the gift of alcohol to the frontier.” The apples were also turned into vinegar, a key ingredient in food preservation. Two hundred years later, that symbiotic relationship between apples and humans has flourished, and we would do well to follow Darshan’s lead to seek out and enjoy the less common varieties. The apples want us to enjoy all of them!
Feeding and developing her entrepreneurial spirit, Ambrosia is an integral participant in the farm. Her education through Ukiah Independent Study Academy allows her to apply her talents and interests to all aspects of running a farm. She’s already adept at pruning, grafting, harvesting, and general farm maintenance. Ambrosia also takes care of the farmers market set-up and marketing of the business. An Apple-of-the-Month club, offered through the MendoLake Food Hub, may be in the works as well. Just like heirloom tomatoes lifted us out of the expectation that tomatoes are hard, watery, uniform orbs, farms like Shamaz Valley help us remember the immense joy and satisfaction of seeking out different versions of old staples. We’ve seen that consumer interest and demand can shift how and what producers grow. It may just be the time for apples!
What is Mayginnes’ all-around favorite apple? “The Thompkins County King, because it reminds me of my childhood.” The best pie apple? Rhode Island Greening.
Darshan and Ambrosia’s shared commitment to thoughtful caretaking of the land and their orchards is evident throughout their operation. Ambrosia may take the reins from her father one day, but for now they’ll continue to spread the apple gospel one taste at a time.
Darshan’s Apple Crisp
INGREDIENTS
• 8 cups sliced apples
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
DIRECTIONS
Mix cinnamon and maple syrup with sliced apples. In a separate bowl, combine butter into flour and
brown sugar. This is easiest to do by hand. Place apples in baking dish, add ¼ cup water, and top
with butter/flour mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until apples are soft.
Find Darshan and Ambrosia on Instagram @ShamazValleyFarm.
Lisa Ludwigsen has been working in environmental education and small scale agriculture for 25 years. She chronicles her experiences and travels at Food, Farms & Families at https://lisaludwigsen.substack.com
Cover photo by Lisa Ludwigsen
All other photos courtesy of Darshan Mayginnes
The Dance of the Elements
Matt Drewno on How to Compost with the Carbon Cycle
by Torrey Douglass
If Matt Drewno could ask of you one thing, it would be to “Challenge yourself to grow your own soil as best as you can.” It’s easy to walk into a nursery, feed supply, or big box store’s garden center and walk out with a bag of high quality dirt, but Matt recommends against it. “People feel like they have to buy things to make it work, but that’s not necessary. You don’t need to spend $1,000 to grow a head of lettuce.”
Matt is the Vice President of Ecology Action, founder of Victory Gardens for Peace, and Director of Biointensive Community Garden Initiatives in Fort Bragg and The Stanford Inn Biointensive Research Garden in Mendocino—so he knows a thing or two about how to care for plants. Rather than buying soil, Matt encourages people to simply mimic how nature makes it. It’s arguably the best thing we can do for our food supply. As Matt puts it, we should “feed the soil, not the plant—a healthy soil will grow healthy plants.” To do so will deepen your relationship with nature as you connect with its cycles, harnessing the perpetual dance of our planet’s elements, a process both primordial and poetic.
The basis of all life on earth stems from the photosynthesis and respiration of plants—an ongoing reciprocation between a plant and the four elements. The sun (fire) provides warmth, air supplies CO2 and oxygen, earth offers its minerals, and water carries nourishment throughout the plant’s body, much like blood does within ours. The plant turns sunlight into sugar, and sugar into energy, then uses that energy to pull carbon (CO2) from the air and minerals from the soil to grow more of its plant body, while simultaneously breathing out the oxygen we humans are so fond of.
Matt describes topsoil as “where atmosphere meets earth,” continuing, “at that interface there’s a lot of transformation and dynamic processes that generate abundant, healthy soil that feeds the plants. [There are also] microbes and other organisms living in the soil, making paths and tunnels, and leaving their waste.” That waste adds nourishment while the tunnels allow air flow, an important benefit since the biological material can’t break down without it.
It takes 500 - 2,000 years to build an inch of topsoil naturally, and agriculture requires increased nutrient cycling, so it makes sense for humans to step in and help things along. Feeding the soil keeps land from becoming depleted, and when done correctly, that land can remain productive indefinitely. Matt points out that there are farms in Asia that have been producing food for over 4,000 years, yet in the United States, farmers often have to rely on inputs like chemical fertilizers to maintain productivity after just 40 years. And considering that we are headed toward a post-fossil fuel future where those toxic inputs may be less affordable and local food will be the default, maintaining rich, healthy soil to grow that food will be essential. Matt encourages, “You can grow your own soil—it’s cheap and easy and it’s one of the best things you can do now, and for the future.”
At the heart of growing soil is harnessing the carbon cycle— that dance between plants and the elements. Once moisture is removed, plants are roughly 50% carbon by dry weight, so the goal of composting is to create carbon-rich soil that can become future plant life. Carbon farming involves growing plants not just for the food they produce, but also for their biomass—the unused parts of the plants left over after harvest. Selecting crops that generate high volumes of biomass in addition to their edible output will increase the carbon removed from the atmosphere during their lifespan and give a gardener lots of raw material for soil building after it. Organic gardening pioneer Alan Chadwick was fond of saying “Life into death into life,” describing how plants grow, then die, then feed new life. This is the dance soil-building gardeners step into, learning the steps and feeling out the rhythms. And with an expert like Matt at the lead, you will be finding your groove in no time.
The key, according to Matt, is the balance between mature and immature plant material. In the past, composting advice has categorized the types of materials to add to your compost as brown/green, wet/dry, or carbon/nitrogen. A better approach is the mature/immature description. Immature materials come from plants before they’ve flowered, transitioning into mature materials once that process begins. Explains Matt, “once they begin flowering, their carbon structures transform, becoming more rigid to support the plant getting off the ground and into the air, resisting the wind and ultimately flowering and bearing the weight of seeds.” To find out if a part of a plant is mature or immature, test its rigidity—if it snaps when you break it, it is mature.
Matt continues, “Immature materials are soft and flimsy, and have simpler carbon structures which break down quickly. They help drive a more intense decomposition process with a greater degree of sugars and starches.” Examples can include garden cuttings, fresh cut grass, cut fresh flowers (provided they are organic and not treated with preservatives), cooked food waste, livestock manure, and pruned plants provided the stems and leaves are fresh green and pliable.
In contrast, “Mature materials break down slower, often require a diversity of microbes and host a small ecosystem to break down completely. This slows down the carbon cycle.” These materials can include dried leaves, sticks, and branches from cleared land, corn cobs, rigid vegetable cuttings like a broccoli stalk, and raw potatoes, celery, or carrots.If it takes some effort to chew, you can consider it a mature material.
The balance between the two types of materials is essential to quality compost. Says Matt, “Compost derived from immature materials tends to be rapidly utilized and doesn’t persist as long in the soil. Compost derived from mature materials tends to break down slower, cooler, and is less rapidly available and more persistent in the soil. Having a mix of both helps generate organic matter (compost) which is both available in the short and long term throughout the year.”
Matt continues, “The carbon cycle is CO2 from atmosphere absorbed into plants as carbon, then broken down by microbes and transformed into organic matter. Organic matter is largely carbon-based organic materials undergoing various stages of decomposition, dead microbial bodies, living microbes, carbon chains, and complexes—all of which have a spongy character that can hold moisture, nutrients, life, and fertility.”
A home compost pile should be a minimum of 36” high, wide, and long. If it’s in a container, creating a frame with walls of hardware cloth or old fencing is ideal since it will allow air in while keeping critters out. Start with a 3” bed of dry sticks. This will keep the rest of the pile off the ground and will also aid air flow. Follow that with 3” of mature material, 3” of immature material, and a sprinkling of soil followed by water. Continue to add alternate pairs of layers of the two materials along with the intervening soil sprinkling until the pile is 36” high.
It’s important to “build the pile with as many different materials as you can, and no more than one third of any one material,” according to Matt. “Keep the pile straight and vertical—not tapering, not leaning—build it as if you were building the foundation of a house, nice and sturdy.”
Turning the pile will speed decomposition but will also release carbon into the air, thus removing it from your future soil. For a more carbon-rich compost, resist the urge to turn over your pile and just let it be, occasionally adding water to keep conditions moist. Matt calls this “cold composting,” describing how the process “heats up at first, but has a slow cooling off period without the drastic booms and busts in microbial populations produced by turning. This slow cool off curve represents a dynamic and complex ecological succession, resulting in a richer and more complex end product. Think a good cave-aged wine or cheese that are set in the right direction and minimally interfered with, vs. pasteurized products which lack the complexity and character which defines quality in nature.” And if you build that pile on a vegetable bed, once the resulting compost has been removed to feed other areas, any fertility that has leached from the pile into the soil will benefit whatever you choose to plant there. Matt recommends potatoes or sunflowers as excellent options for a post-compost-pile garden bed.
Ultimately, Matt advises that you think of your compost pile as “an organ of digestion for microbes to transform once living organisms from death into the raw materials for life again. The more diversity of materials in the pile, the more diversity of life breaking down those things, the more diverse and complex the compost end-product.”
When your soil is rich with complex organic matter, it has a robustness and resilience it will transfer to the plants it feeds. Matt reflects, “Many important antibiotics and other medicines come from microbes which inhabit compost piles, like penicillin! Quality compost is like a “farmacy” for the soil and helps plants resist disease and pest outbreaks, while promoting good health and balanced nutrition.”
Adapting to whatever the future holds will require looking at things with a fresh perspective. The ingredients for a thriving compost pile are materials often seen as waste, yet with a revised outlook and a willingness to learn the rhythms of the carbon cycle, that waste can be transformed into biologically rich organic matter, pulling life from death and preserving the valuable topsoil that we rely on for our food.
Register for Matt’s fall Sustainable Agriculture Course at the Mendocino College Coast
Campus at www.mendocino.edu.
To find out more about composting, Matt recommends:
growbiointensive.org/PDF/FarmersHandbook.pdf (pgs. 3-6)
Victory Gardens for Peace is a project of Ecology Action. They offer a free seedbank with 1500+ varieties, affordable soil testing and analysis, free sustainable gardening resources and growing guides, internships, apprenticeships, and classes covering sustainable agriculture. www.victorygardensforpeace.com (Passcode for the seed bank: saveseeds!)
Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen
Authentic and Exceptional Thai Food
by Torrey Douglass
Out on the southern Mendocino coast between the towns of Point Arena and Gualala, Anchor Bay sits inconspicuously, a tiny community tucked between a sheltered curve of coastline on one side and tree-covered hills rising inland on the other. It’s so small you might very well drive right through without clocking it. But that would be a mistake, especially if you are a fan of Thai food.
The bustling commercial center of Anchor Bay is essentially two long, single story buildings facing off across Highway One. On one side is a low, boxy stucco building with a handful of businesses, including a salon, massage spot, and an insurance office. On the other side of the highway is a more traditional building, wood painted light gray, with a jaunty cupola and shallow awning over the front sidewalk. The structure gives genuine Western vibes—saddled horses tied up out front would not look out of place. It faces the ocean and houses its own collection of businesses: a coffee shop, real estate offices, yoga studio, general store, and, at its southernmost end, Anchor Bay Thai kitchen.
Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen is run by Kwan Wong and Jay Arndt, partners who opened their doors in 2012. Almost a decade earlier, Kwan completed her culinary arts training in Singapore, after which she worked in a Michelin-rated fine dining restaurant. Her next career move took her to the kitchens of international hotels in both Singapore and Thailand, where she cooked for the Thai royal family, the American Red Cross, and The Royal Project Foundation. By 2009, Kwan felt ready to run her own show, opening her first restaurant in Bangkok serving authentic Thai cuisine elevated for fine dining.
Kwan comes from a cooking family—both her brother and mother own restaurants around the Northern California wine region. Kwan came to the U.S. in 2011 to help out and live closer to her family. While working at her mom’s restaurant, Ting’s Thai Kitchen near Harbin Hot Springs (unfortunately no longer open), Kwan met Jay. Jay also has deep roots in hospitality. His family owns a number of restaurants in the Bay Area, and he worked for many years in restaurants around Lake Tahoe. With his convivial nature and high energy, he is a natural at front-of-house management.
Before long, Kwan and Jay were looking for the right location where they could open their own restaurant. They didn’t plan on moving to a hamlet of under 500 souls on the edge of Mendocino County, but when the realtor showed them the property, they decided that’s what they’d do.
According to General Manager Tina Kanakanui, the community response was enthusiastic when they opened, and has continued to sustain them. “We survive in the winter with our community,” Tina shared. “They are great, very supportive. A lot of people with properties in Sea Ranch always come back when they are in the area.”
Thailand is famous for its warm and gracious hospitality, and that kindness can be felt in both the service and the food. The menu has a satisfying variety of dishes, with the intent that everyone can find something they like. Dishes include fresh spring rolls, crispy prawns, stir-frys, and curries, many offered with protein options as well as vegetarian and gluten-free versions. Spice levels can be adjusted for the customer’s preference, and stir-fry dishes are cooked using cholesterol-free rice bran oil. There’s even an outdoor patio for diners who want to bring their pup.
Over the years, Jay has created strong relationships with local food purveyors, be they farmers, fish catchers, or foragers. The restaurant’s website proudly states, “Our philosophy: As eco-conscious owners, we believe in sourcing when available local ingredients which results in good Karma, good for our community, and good for the world by creating a smaller carbon footprint.” They purchase organic produce whenever possible from farms like Roseman Creek Ranch in Gualala and Oz Farm and Anchor Bay Farm in Point Arena. Seasonal specialties might feature locally caught seafood and crab or locally foraged wild mushrooms. In fact, Jay is a devoted forager himself, and will join other foragers on their forest forays once the year turns wet and cold, returning to the restaurant with his own haul of golden chanterelles and porcinis.
Kwan and Jay’s “local first” priority is also reflected in both the beverage menu and even the interior art. Except for the Thai beer Singha, all the beer and wine on offer are made in the area, with options like Navarro Vineyards Pinot Noir and Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s Boont Amber ale. The vibrant wall mural was created by Nicole Ponsler, a well known artist from Point Arena. Creations by other local artists adorn the walls as well.
My dinner at Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen started with the tofu spring rolls made with lettuce, carrots, cucumber, mint, basil, and cilantro wrapped with rice paper. They were light and refreshing, the mint and basil flavors pronounced without being overwhelming, and complemented by a pungent sweet and sour sauce that had just the right balance of sweet and heat.
The tofu pumpkin curry followed, a red curry simmered with a rich coconut milk containing green beans, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, peas, bamboo shoots, and basil. The gently fried tofu had great texture, and the veggies were bright and tender. Served over rice, the dish was deliciously satisfying and packed with flavor. With food like this, it’s no wonder Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen has become a favorite among locals and not-so-locals alike, with some devoted customers making the hour and 15 minute drive from Fort Bragg regularly.
The owners close the restaurant from time to time in order to travel to various cooking gigs. In 2013, Millennium International Hotels asked Kwan to cook for a VIP party for Oliver Stone at the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles. Then in 2015 and 2016, she went to NYC to work as the private chef for Thailand’s prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, when he was in town for the U.N. General Assembly. Fortunately, Kwan and Jay always make it home and open back up to resume serving their superb Thai food to hungry customers.
A perusal of online reviews reveals not just enthusiastic praise for the scrumptious cuisine available at Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen, but a consistent whiff of incredulity that such excellent fare can be found in a place that seems, to the untrained eye, to be located on the distant edge of nowhere. Perhaps it is a long drive for most, but the scenery is stunning, the welcome is warm, and the food is, without a doubt, fit for royalty.
Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen
33517 S Highway 1, Anchor Bay
(707) 884-4141 | anchorbaythai.com
Open Tues - Sun, 4pm - 7pm
Photos of Kwan courtesy of Anchor Bay Thai Kitchen. All other photos by Torrey Douglass.
Cocina Picante
A Pandemic Pivot to Making Ultra-Fresh Salsa
by Holly Madrigal
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and we can experience that in tasty bites of fresh salsa provided by Cocina Picante. Owners/chefs Felix (who, like Che, prefers to be first name only) and Yiping Hsieh found themselves without work and a lot of time on their hands four years ago when the world shut down. They began thinking about what could be sold at the farmers market to make an income. Yiping has a passion for succulents that she has nurtured over the years. She began propagating the many-hued plants to sell at market, but they grow quite slowly, and the couple considered what else they could do to enhance their market offerings.
Felix has been cooking since he was eleven. His parents both worked, and so it became his job to cook for his younger siblings. His mother and abuela are from the Guerrero area of Mexico. They are very talented and taught Felix many recipes. He and Yiping thought that they could bring some of their authentic Mexican salsas to a wider audience. The first year the couple started Cocina Picante, they made forty types of salsa, quickly narrowing it down, according to popularity, to a handful of signature salsas and a couple of rotating specials. Their seasonal offerings may include: Mild Green, Nice Kick, Picante Verde, and Picante Signature. The couple makes an effort to use local produce when possible, taking fresh ingredients to create salsas with multiple spiciness levels.
Felix has a flair for making a wide variety of different salsas for different palates. He explains, “In Mexico, we have a plum called ciruela. These Mexican plums are smaller, and they make a really good fruit salsa. I also love to make mango and pineapple salsa when the fruits are in season. We even have a cucumber one called Cucumbers Salsa de Pepino. We always have samples on hand at the market for customers to taste,” continued Felix. “I tell them they are not going to like it, they are going to LOVE it! And they do!”
They have branched out to dips and pre-made dishes as well. The Poblano con Crema is a rich mix of roasted peppers in a savory cream dip, delicious on tortilla chips or poured over rice and vegetables. Depending on the day, you may also find fresh steamed tamales, Chili Verde, or Arroz con Leche.
Yiping says they are always listening to their customers and responding to their needs. She learned that several customers with arthritis could not eat salsa as they were advised to avoid “anything in the nightshade family”— tomatoes and peppers, primarily. Yiping shares, “My friends would come and say, ‘Oh, I miss salsa so much, but I am not supposed to eat it.’ We heard this from a number of people at different markets, so Felix and I have developed a salsa without those ingredients.” The couple laughs, “Felix calls it Impossible Salsa and Salsa Fresca which is similar to pico de gallo.” The two are pleased to meet the needs of the customers that support them.
Felix and Yiping live in Calpella and use the Grange Commercial Kitchen in Willits to prepare their salsa. “The Grange Kitchen is such a wonderful place to support the community. We just recently became grange members,” says Yiping. “We use no preservatives, so most of our salsas are sold at farmers market to make sure the customers get the freshest product,” she adds. They travel quite a bit to attend multiple markets throughout Mendocino County and beyond. On Saturdays they are in Ukiah, and on Sundays they are in Windsor. On Wednesdays they travel to Fort Bragg. (If you miss that market, Roundman’s Smokehouse in Fort Bragg has their salsas available.) Thursdays are at the home base in Willits, and then the cycle begins again. “I want to give a shout-out to our helper, Indigo, who assists us in the kitchen making salsa. She is such a great help!” adds Felix.
Yiping and Felix have been together for 27 years now. When asked how it is to work so closely together, they laugh. Yiping says, “We’ve been together so long that we had all the arguments before.” The two dance around each other helping customers and preparing samples, joking and laughing. They seem to have captured the spice of life, and they obviously enjoy sharing it.
Cocina Picante is available at various farmers markets throughout Mendocino and Sonoma counties. On Instagram @cocinapicante707
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Photos by Nik Zvolensky
The Water Under Our Feet
The Essential Undertaking of Aquifer Recharge
by Torrey Douglass
One of my favorite things about living in Mendocino County is watching the turn of the seasons. I love the four distinct segments of the year, each with its own flavor profile of scents and sights. As I write this, the hills are covered in fresh green grass—the kind that inspires my cows to break out of their corral and go on walkabout to fill their bellies. By the time you are reading this, though, that green will mostly or entirely have dried into a crispy gold, thanks to the summer sun.
The green grass is evidence of the abundant 2023-2024 rainy season. Storms blew through at nicely paced intervals, and the rain was rarely torrential, allowing the moisture to seep into the ground while also minimizing flood risk. There were stretches of good weather between those downfalls, sparing us from the bane of El Niño— weeks of uninterrupted dreariness that can weigh heavy on the souls of sun-lovers. But anyone who has lived in this area for a decade or more can testify that such advantageous rainy seasons are not a given. California suffered extreme droughts from 2012 - 2016 as well as 2020 - 2022, some of the worst on record. Local ponds and reservoirs dried up, trees weakened and frequently succumbed to disease, and the fire risk climbed to ever-higher levels, inspiring an unrelenting, anxious vigilance in area residents from August through October.
According to Laura Elisa Garza Díaz, Ph.D., droughts like 2012 - 2016 will happen again, increasing in length, frequency, and intensity as climate change reshapes our natural environment. Dr. Garza Díaz is the Area Water Quality, Quantity, and Climate Change Advisor at the U.C. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, part of the U.C. Cooperative Extension, and her focus is Mendocino and Lake counties. “When we have a wet winter, we forget about drought,” Dr. Garza Díaz observes. “But due to climate change, drought resiliency is a high priority.”
Dry years force Californians to rely almost exclusively on the groundwater in aquifers accessed via wells, but groundwater is not an infinite resource. Like our forests, aquifers must be utilized judiciously in order to avoid over-extraction to the point of depletion. With this in mind, California passed the State Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014. Regulating groundwater is not unusual—both Washington state and even regulation-averse Texas have been doing it since the 1940s, and Florida and Kansas passed their own laws in the 1970s.
The SGMA has rated groundwater basins throughout the state. The Central Valley, where farms rely heavily on water pulled from aquifers to irrigate crops, was deemed a high priority basin, while the Ukiah Valley Basin was rated a medium-priority region. The assessment resulted in the formation of the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (UVBGSA), an organization that encompasses the County of Mendocino, the City of Ukiah, the Upper Russian River Water Agency, and the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation and Improvement District. This group is responsible for creating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan which will serve as “a strategic roadmap to secure the sustainable management of groundwater within the basin within a two-decade timeframe,” according to Dr. Garza Díaz.
The plan submitted by UVBGSA was approved by the state, which is fortunate as it keeps our groundwater management strategy under local control. Meetings are open and public input is welcome—find details on the UVBGSA website, ukiahvalleygroundwater.org. The agency has proposed a number of strategies but must select just a few to pursue as funds are limited. Ideas include expanding the City of Ukiah Recycled Water Project, rehabilitating existing reservoirs, constructing off-stream tanks for storage, and digging injection wells—wells designed to send water to the aquifer rather than pulling from it.
Restoring water to aquifers, known as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), is essential to the future sustainability of California. Some farmers in the Central Valley have started flooding their fields after a heavy downpour, allowing the water to percolate down to the water table. This practice has the added benefit of activating microbes in the soil that accelerate the decomposition of the nitrates that have built up over time from repeated applications of fertilizer. Grape growers in Alexander Valley are also considering intentional flooding of the vineyards to restore water to the aquifers.
There are a number of things you can do on your own property to help recharge groundwater. While you can’t capture rain runoff in a human-made pond without a permit, you can slow it down to allow it time to sink into the soil. Building up mounds of earth, called swales, in strategic locations can help, though it’s recommended to utilize professionals like Village Ecosystems in Ukiah, since swales must be engineered appropriately to avoid landslides, foundation damage, and erosion.
If you want a truly DIY approach to implementing MAR on your property, consider planting a rain garden. When paired with rainwater harvesting, you can create a low maintenance system for sending precipitation back to the aquifer on which your home relies. In Mendocino County, you do not need a permit for water tanks under 5000 gallons, so choose one below that limit to keep things simple. Locate the tank on a level surface next to your house and install gutters that deliver water to it. Be sure the water passes through a screen before going into the tank in order to filter out solids.
Typically, a tank under 5000 gallons will not store an entire season’s worth of rain, so plant your rain garden nearby and direct the tank’s overflow to it. Be sure the garden is situated at least 10 feet away from your home’s foundation. Ideally, the garden’s location will be near an impermeable surface, like a driveway, that delivers runoff to the site. You can dig out a basin to collect the rain and runoff if there is not already a natural depression that collects rainwater at that spot. The rain garden requires percolating soil, so if you have a lot of clay, amend the soil appropriately.
The basin should include three zones: the bottom, a higher terrace level around that, and the top. The basin does not need to be deep—5" is sufficient—but an overall size of at least 150 square feet is recommended. If you are digging the basin yourself rather than using a pre-existing depression, you can use the removed soil to create a berm around the basin. At the bottom of the basin, use plants that have a high tolerance for moisture, as they will be submerged for the longest time. Take inspiration from your surroundings and use the type of plants you see growing in the beds of seasonal streams. The terrace zone should contain plants that thrive in both wet and dry conditions. These plants can reach the water in the basin bottom with their roots, and will be submerged themselves after heavier storms. The plants at the top should tolerate primarily dry conditions, so select drought-tolerant options for that zone.
All these plants should be native, be they shrubs, flowers, grasses, or trees. Native plants are adapted to the local soil and typically have much deeper roots than their imported alternatives. The deeper the roots, the more moisture can be pulled from the surface down into the ground, where it can be stored in soil, plants, and ultimately, the aquifer. You can also select plants that are pollinator- friendly in order to provide food and habitat for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Once the rainwater collection system is in place and the plants are in the ground, it takes relatively little effort to maintain, as native plants do not need much irrigation or inputs. Linda MacElwee, the Watershed Coordinator at the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, recommends planting fruit trees around the basin if there’s room. They can help build the water-holding capacity of the soil while also providing shade, beauty, and food.
It feels like we are living in a time when a number of bills for past behaviors are coming due. When it comes to groundwater, there’s been a lot of taking and not a lot of giving, and that must change. Rain gardens can help bring balance to our relationship with the aquifers we rely on, a balance that is necessary for our survival as we move into a future defined by new and intense climate conditions. Thankfully, while this underground resource may remain out of sight, it’s no longer out of mind, and we can take measures to ensure its sustainability for generations to come.
Follow the UVBGSA at ukiahvalleygroundwater.org.
Water photo by Jenn Wood courtesy of Unsplash. Rain garden photo by Linda MacElwee.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville.
Chantelle Sookram
Trinidadian Roots, French Training, and a Deep Devotion to Local Food
by Torrey Douglass
Chef Chantelle Sookram was born in tropical Trinidad, where she lived with her family before moving to New Jersey at the age of 16. She attended high school there, and by the time she graduated, she was ready to leave behind both the winters of the Northeast and traditional academic learning. So the following fall, she took her cue from the birds and migrated south to attend the Johnson and Wales culinary school in the decidedly warmer climes of Miami, Florida.
The choice to pursue a culinary career stemmed from Chantelle’s experience working at Verjus, a restaurant in Maplewood, New Jersey, while she was in high school. “I learned so much working there,” remembers Chantelle. “When it came time to graduate, there was nothing that I was really passionate about besides food.”
Chantelle’s family background also contributed to her love of food. Trinidad has a significant population of both East Indian and Afro-Carribean people, and Chantelle’s family included both, a combination that was especially evident in the kitchen. Her dad’s East Indian roots were reflected in spiced curries and roti (Indian flatbread), while her mom’s Afro-Caribbean heritage brought dark stew meats, ground provisions like yams and cassava, and plenty of fresh fish to the table. Both of her grandmothers were part of her childhood, and little Chantelle watched the two of them cook everything from scratch with precision and patience.
Chantelle’s training at culinary school added to her skillset the French techniques that are typical in fine dining. In total, she spent ten years in Florida before relocating to San Francisco to work at Nopa, an exceptionally popular Divisadero neighborhood restaurant that specializes in organic, seasonal, wood-fired cuisine. Owner Lawrence Jossel would visit farmers markets four days a week to get the best ingredients of the moment, a devotion to local food that resulted in outstanding flavors and made an impact on Chantelle’s evolving culinary ethos. As a result, she started considering the farmers behind the food and all the resources and toil that are required before ingredients arrive in her kitchen. When she returned to Florida, she delved deep into the local food movement there, taking a position with Urban Oasis Project, a Miami nonprofit created to address social justice issues within the existing food systems.
Her work with Urban Oasis Project gave Chantelle lots of opportunities to engage with local food issues. Some of her roles focused on community empowerment, like helping farmers sell their crops at farmers markets and organizing farmer dinners to showcase a local food producer by creating a beautiful meal with their harvest.
Other aspects of the job took food sovereignty to a personal level, like the GIVE Gardens program, where she built gardens at people’s homes, usually in low-income neighborhoods that lacked access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
After five years working on the front lines of Miami’s local food movement, Chantelle was ready to get back in the kitchen. Seasonal work seemed like the way to go, as it would allow her to explore different parts of the country and cook in different settings. Following a season at a family owned steakhouse in Hatch, Utah, an ad for a seasonal chef at Mendocino Grove caught her eye. After a few Zoom interviews and some online research about the area, she took off for the Northern California coast.
Mendocino Grove sits on 37 acres above the Pacific Ocean just south of the village of Mendocino. Glamping tents are grouped into neighborhoods and consist of weatherproof material stretched over raised platforms. Each contains a bed with heated sheets, and outside, guests have their own fire ring, picnic table, and deck with a chair or two. A pair of bathhouses offer clean bathrooms and hot showers, and little details—like a dog washing station, 24-hour hot beverage bar, and vases of fresh local flowers—add convenience and comfort. Campers who want to “rough it” will need to look elsewhere.
Attentive and friendly staff keep the campground operating while it is open for guests from May through Thanksgiving. One of the first things that struck Chantelle when she arrived to work there was the team’s strong work ethic and cohesion. “I was pleasantly surprised by how all members of staff are committed to providing an amazing experience for the guests,” she shares. “Even when there are disagreements, they get worked out without drama, because everyone has the same goal.”
During the summer, and especially in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, mornings can be quite chilly on the coast. That’s where the heated blankets, hot showers, and hot beverage bar come in. Chantelle’s new position included serving a hot breakfast seven days a week—oatmeal with lots of toppings, as well as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit, and hard boiled eggs. “I want to make sure folks are warm and comforted since it can be foggy and chilly on the coast,” she explains.
Chantelle also oversees dinner at the grove, which is typically served Friday nights, as well as some Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The Campfire Series brings local musicians to the grove to entertain guests by the campfire, usually on Thursday and Sunday evenings, and dinner is always served on those nights. Soups and stews are typical, like chili, curry, or ramen, as well as side dishes inspired by visits to local farmers on the coast. Meat and seafood are typically sourced from Roundman’s Smokehouse or Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg.
The 2024 season will bring back the popular Farmer Dinner Series, a monthly event highlighting three farmers who provide the meat, produce, and flowers for an outstanding meal and social occasion. The dinners benefit the Good Farm Fund, which provides small grants to local farmers, and include live music and discounted tents for those who want to stay the night. These dinners are an excellent reflection of Chantelle’s culinary passion. She observes, “There’s lots of fresh food accessible on the coast—there are amazing local farms here. It sparks joy for me. I like my food to reflect where I am and what’s available.”
This season, Chantelle wants to lean a little more into her Trinidadian roots when cooking for the campers, incorporating Caribbean influences and using lots of fresh fish and produce, which are common in her native cuisine. When combined with the French flair of her training and her devotion to sourcing local food, guests can expect dishes to be balanced, nourishing, and full of flavor.
Before the season starts in May, Chantelle spends time in Trinidad with her family. She enjoys the slower pace, which allows for long conversations with neighbors over tea, as well as plenty of outside time to enjoy the beaches and rainforest. It’s a time to relax and reflect, to gather inspiration, and prepare for another season of cooking. “I want to return with fresh eyes,” she shares, “so I can increase joy and happiness for everyone in the situation.”
Joy and happiness are certainly what Mendocino Grove aims to deliver. For years, guests have traveled there to savor the fresh ocean air and peaceful forest paths, the gorgeous views, cozy beds, and toasty seats by the fire. Now they can enjoy Chantelle’s enticing food as well, adding another dimension of delight to their stay.
As a relatively young chef, Chantelle will continue to evolve as she hones her craft in the kitchen, building on her Trinidadian roots, French culinary training, and commitment to Mendocino-grown ingredients. With such distinctive and complementary influences informing her dishes, campers visiting during the 2024 season, as well as locals who come by for some music or special event, will enjoy truly unique cooking from this gifted and committed culinary talent.
Mendocino Grove
9601 California 1, Mendocino
(707) 880-7710 | MendocinoGrove.com
Locals are welcome at the Campfire Series, Farmer Dinners, and the annual live music event the first weekend of November, Mendocino Fall Fest. Keep an eye on Mendocino Grove on instagram for details @MendocinoGrove.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and drinking good coffee with a friend.
Images by Carla Danieli courtesy of Mendocino Grove.
Eastside Ranch
Raising Happy, Healthy Animals for Local Meat
by Melissa Arana
Every morning I wake up in the most beautiful place on earth. The sun-kissed mountains peer through the wispy fog in the quiet Willits valley. This idyllic haven is where my partner, Paul, and I rise each day and look out over our beautiful ranch that we, along with upwards of three hundred animals, call home.
I was born and raised in the heart of Mendocino County, in the quaint town of Willits. Home-birthed, I was a feral “hill kid” with acres to roam and a beautiful garden that was my mother’s labor of love. Though we only had chickens and dogs, I always had a love for pigs and dreamed of having some one day. Paul grew up in the city of San Jose. Always a lover of animals, he was ecstatic when his mom would take him to fairs where he could see the livestock. He would beg his mom to let him buy a cow or a horse to take home, but that wouldn’t have been suitable in their suburban neighborhood. One of his favorite parts about his childhood was a trip to Portugal, when he would wake up with the sunrise to go milk the cows with his uncle. He was always a big dreamer with ambition, and when work brought him to the Willits area, he fell in love with the landscape and people. After months in a hotel, he put down some roots and purchased agricultural land.
When we started dating, Paul and I talked about all of our dreams, including having the opportunity to grow our own food and live off the land. We decided to start with a few pigs to see how that would go. After hog paneling the existing fence and installing water lines, Paul set off to find some piglets for sale. I can’t say I was surprised, as nothing Paul does is in small gesture, but more than a few pigs came home to the ranch that day—18 to be exact, running around in their large open pasture, squealing and rooting away. We were in hog heaven.
Shortly after the pigs came the goats, followed by sheep, cows, and chickens. Several litters of piglets and many lambs have been born and nursed in our pastures as Eastside Ranch has blossomed. The spacious, inclined landscape provides the perfect drainage as well as room to roam, resulting in not just healthy animals, but happy ones.
Our evenings turned into self-taught classes as we read up on what each animal requires and the different approaches to raising them. Friends were the best of teachers, giving insight and advice to our newfound farm life. From castrating to roping cattle, we learn something new every day.
Paul has taught himself the art of cutting and harvesting the hay from our field—an energy- and time-consuming process that few farmers still do. We find the effort worthwhile, though, because preserving grass feed has allowed us to nourish our animals from the land all year round, especially in the winter months when the fields are dormant. Our friends at Kemmy’s Pies have been giving us their fruit and vegetable scraps, which the pigs gobble up with joy. All other GMO-free feed and supplements we purchase locally in Willits, Laytonville, or Ukiah to support the community as they support us. Our goal is to utilize the land we have and all the by-products from it, from making our own lard and tallow, to using the organ tissue from every animal to make nutrient rich capsules.
Paul has taught himself the art of cutting and harvesting the hay from our field—an energy- and time-consuming process that few farmers still do. We find the effort worthwhile, though, because preserving grass feed has allowed us to nourish our animals from the land all year round, especially in the winter months when the fields are dormant. Our friends at Kemmy’s Pies have been giving us their fruit and vegetable scraps, which the pigs gobble up with joy. All other GMO-free feed and supplements we purchase locally in Willits, Laytonville, or Ukiah to support the community as they support us. Our goal is to utilize the land we have and all the by-products from it, from making our own lard and tallow, to using the organ tissue from every animal to make nutrient rich capsules.
As the Ranch grew, so did the aspiration to share what we were raising with the community. We started by looking into the regulations to sell at the farmers market, at which point we discovered the lack of local USDA-certified slaughterhouses in close proximity. To minimize trips on the road, we settled with a certified slaughter and butcher in Sonoma County. We started selling pork, lamb, and eggs at the Fort Bragg, Willits, and Ukiah markets, and then to a few local restaurants. We currently sell meat to the Willits TNT Indian food market (where they make a phenomenal curry), and occasionally to the up and coming Munchery. It was a dream come true when we started having regular orders coming in, and that made all of the hard work feel worth it.
After many trips back and forth to Sonoma, Paul got the idea to have a facility more local, for ourselves and others in our neck of the woods. The next in our list of many goals is to open a USDA-inspected slaughterhouse and butcher shop in Mendocino County for local ranchers and hunters, so they can raise and process their own animals from start to finish. This will not only strengthen our community’s food supply, but also provide new career opportunities for residents. Our goal is to help ranchers make their products marketable and obtainable to the patrons of this beautiful place we call home.
Meat from Eastside Ranch is sold at the Laytonville feed store, Fort Bragg and Willits farmers markets, and occasionally at the Ukiah Natural Foods Coop. Check our website for online sales.
EastsideRanchWillits.com | Insta: @eastsideranchwillits
Paul and Melissa are up and coming ranchers managing and growing a sustainable ranch, while utilizing the land and each animal to its full potential.
Photos courtesy of Eastside Ranch.
Thinking with Your Palate
Delving into the Complexities of Tasting
by Holly Madrigal
Learning to taste is a skill. When I try, I find myself struggling to describe the sensations happening in my mouth. Try this: Bite into a piece of dark chocolate, say 60% cacao. What do you taste? At first, sweet … chocolatey … Then taste deeper … a hint of bitterness … creamy … Is that a flavor like black coffee or brown sugar?
Tasting is a talent that can be developed and honed like any skill. Some people have become expert tasters, practicing and learning until they can detect quality, difference, and flavor notes. Steve Cuevas is one of those people who has trained his palate to sense slight alterations in flavor and texture. He was, until recently, the head roaster at Black Oak Coffee, and he has become an award-winning “cupper,” meaning that he can taste region, roast level, and quality. He does this by sussing out the acidity, body, and astringency.
Steve started at Black Oak ten years ago working as a barista, and he asked to sit in on the roasting process. Sample roasting introduced him to coffee tastings, where coffee farmers from around the world would send small samples of their beans to be roasted in-house and tested to determine if Black Oak wanted to carry that varietal. Coffee tasting can also be used for quality control and barista training. Steve participated in testing and tastings for a month until he graduated to roasting, which required constant tasting of the finished product to ensure the coffee met Black Oak’s standards.
Steve used to live in San Leandro, where his roommate was learning to roast at a shop called Zocalo. They roasted by sight and smell, noting in a journal the times and temperatures for each roast. Black Oak’s original owners, Jon Frech and Keith Feigin, were trained at Ritual in the Bay Area. “When I came to Black Oak,” Steve explained, “they had a whole other level of data. Here they have a computer that notes factors like the temperature of the roasting beans and the temperature of the air exiting the machine. So we’d have all sorts of nerdy conversations about data.” Steve blended the two methods as he was learning to roast.
On first taste, acidity or bitterness often comes up initially. Astringency, which you can think of as the flavor aspect that makes your mouth pucker, comes after. In small amounts, it adds a wonderful complexity. Hard cider for example really blooms when using apples with a high astringency. Steve marveled that owner Jon has a really good eye, with the ability to identify most regions just by sight. “Just by looking at the beans, he can tell that it comes from Colombia or Ethiopia.”
The industry uses a rating scale for coffee that measures its quality from 0-90 points. Anything that is specialty coffee is over 80, so it is rare that Steve tastes anything below that. He considers anything 88 or above to be something special. He explained, “I never rate anything 90, because that would be a perfect score, and that is not achievable. As a taster, I also know that some things that I love personally are not as popular. We have learned what the customers prefer, and we will roast to what they like.” They have learned that many customers tend to like low acidity, as well as chocolate or nutty notes. Steve continued, “We do light roasted coffee really well, but not everyone likes those. We have a collection of coffees sourced from all over the world.”
There is a process called cupping, where they line up a series of cups, fill each with coffee, and taste each one while recording their nuances. “The year I won the national cup tasters competition in 2017, I was tasting 70 samples a day, three or four days a week. And we might be tasting different countries, or it could be the same country but different farms, or it could be one farm with different parts of the farm, or the same coffee roasted multiple ways,” said Steve. When I asked what goes through his head during these tastings, he added “I am thinking about nothing, keeping my mind open. I try to keep variables the same. I space the cups the same distance apart, I cover the beans so that you don’t have visual cues of color or if it has been washed. It helps that I have bad short-term memory, so even I forget what I put where.”
At these tasting competitions, there are three cups. Contestants taste all three, then set aside the one that is different. Accuracy is the most important factor in scoring, followed by the speed of determination. The most correct wins the competition. Black Oak Coffee won the Golden Bean roasting competition two years in a row. It involves a four-day tasting where they judge how good the coffee is, and how well it expresses the desired traits.
Those who have developed their palates over time can judge with surprising accuracy. I once attended a blind tasting of Alsatian white wines, where the host offered a mix of imported bottles and local wines from Ukiah and Anderson Valley, all hidden within brown paper bags to obscure their origin. A friend tasting with us pinpointed the one that was grown in the deep end of Anderson Valley—she claimed that she could taste the terroir. Owner Keith has a similar tasting skill. “We used to go to wine education nights at a place called Bergamot Alley. They would do these double-blind tastings. Keith could taste where a wine was from. He would say, ‘I think this is from the northern Rhone area, it has the acidity that usually comes from cold climates’ … it was crazy,” Steve shared.
When asked about what traits he tastes first, Steve first pointed out that the taste map of the tongue (salty at the tip, then sweet with sour on the sides, bitter in the back) has been disproven. “I just taste,” he said. He explained that some people are supertasters—they have more papillae in the same amount of tongue space. “[When] I do a training for our new baristas, I do an infusion of nutmeg, because similar to the relation of cilantro to soap, for certain people nutmeg has a similar gross flavor. They have an extra ability to taste another chemical present in nutmeg.” The point is to try to make them think. He puts lime rinds in a water infusion and colors it yellow, then lemon rinds in another and colors it green. “You get acidity with both, but they are different flavors. I want them to evaluate what they are tasting.“
“You may not know that you can do tasting like I do. It can be intimidating. People are kind of shy having opinions of their own,” Steve added, continuing, “I like to help people realize that they can develop their palate and appreciate what they like regardless of popular opinion.” He has been amazed at where his career has taken him. “When I got to do the world championship, I was able to travel to Europe, Paris, Budapest. I was amazed that this skill let me experience a whole other world. We traveled to South Korea, and they were eating bugs so I had to give it a try. I like to taste different things,” he added with a smile. “Of course, there are times that I am just eating and the flavor is pass or fail. You just want a taco or a burger. But then there are times when I want to be thoughtful, to taste thoughtfully. I think about texture and flavors. I’m a very textural person.”
When asked what he is excited about at the moment, Steve mentioned that some farms are experimenting with fruit. Coffee comes from a cherry, which is added to a water tank and sometimes fermented slightly before removing the hull and drying before roasting. Some growers add fruit and wine yeast to the water tank at that stage, particularly producers in Panama, Guatemala, and Ethiopia. “It is a big gamble to do this to your beans because some buyers may not like this style. The price of coffee is a big determinant as well. Some growers cannot afford to take risks if the price of the coffee would go up significantly. But I enjoy it,” said Steve.
Black Oak used to have a tasting chart displayed, its rainbow colors catching the eye. “The outer ring is fruit, and then the inner ring narrows it down to tropical or apple. Or the outer ring might be chocolate, then narrows down to milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and baker’s chocolate, narrowing down what you might be tasting. It is a tool to help you think about what you are tasting,” said Steve. “That is kind of how I taste.” He added, “It’s acidic . . . it’s sweet . . . then I taste for body. This is very bright and acidic, I might think lemon, but then if it is acidic and sweet, then I might move more towards white grapes or green apple. Together, flavors combine to create different perceptions of things.”
Steve encourages tasters to try to pick out notes, think about what they are tasting, and then convey that experience, explaining, “Descriptions of things are so subjective. For example, if I gave you three coffees, all are identical but the body of each is different. You would say that the sweetness level and the type of sugar are different. The lighter body might taste like white sugar, a thicker body might be molasses or brown sugar. So the words we use to describe the coffee can better convey what the taste is like.” Some coffees have a thicker mouthfeel, similar to wines (red wines generally have a thicker mouthfeel and whites a lighter one).
Professionals may need to taste not for their particular preferences, but for a wider audience. Skilled tasters may pursue becoming a sommelier for the wine industry and fine dining, or a taster of craft sake, pursuing the distinction of sake master. As the legal cannabis industry has progressed, a group has developed a Ganjier™ program. These tasters can separate and describe the particulars of cannabis strains, flavors, and notes. I personally envy the coveted position of cheesemonger, rating the creaminess, the funkiness, and the sharp tang of different fromages.
Developing these preferences for yourself may take a lifetime of discernment. Tasting with intention and study will allow your personal palate to evolve. Exploring what you like takes time, but it is an effort worth the journey.
Black Oak Coffee Roasters
476 N. State St., Ukiah
(866) 390-1427 | BlackOakCoffee.com
Open daily 6am - 6pm
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Photo by Josh Bowers
MacCallum House
Phenomenal Food and Cocktails with an Ocean View
by Holly Madrigal
I’m obsessed with the Elderflower Martini at MacCallum House. The signature sophisticated glass reflects the shape of a woman with her arms reaching toward the sky. The glass is chilled and contains swirling liquid of the palest green hue. Dried rose petals circle gently as I take my first sip. Astringent in the best way, cucumber vodka with only a hint of sweetness. The St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur and Roederer Estate sparkling wine keep this cocktail in the clouds, while the barest hint of orange bitters brings the aroma gently back to earth. I have tried other amazing and noteworthy seasonal cocktails at this establishment. The Smoke & Smash, concocted of Del Maguey Vida Classico mezcal, lime juice, pomegranate, and house made huckleberry sage syrup, is found nowhere else. Served in a tulip-shaped glass, it brings to mind sitting in your favorite leather chair and perusing world maps for your next adventure. The Paper Plane is comprised of Redemption Bourbon, deep umber Aperol, and Amaro Nonino. But I keep coming back to the Elderflower martini, completely under the spell it has cast on my tastebuds.
The restaurant and classical bar at MacCallum House are steeped in history, but the creations from its kitchen are anything but dusty. The former home of Daisy Kelley MacCallum, a wedding present from her father in 1882, is an architectural jewel of Mendocino Village. A total of 19 rooms make up the inn on the main property, with 13 other accommodations elsewhere in the village. One of my favorite rooms is the whimsical, pagoda-roofed former playhouse to the west of the main building. The wrap-around porch holds a number of dining tables, each with a view of the waves crashing in the bay, and within is a cozy dining lounge complete with roaring fire to ward off the chill.
The space reflects the best part of the house’s historical stature, and yet the design and culinary offerings are fresh and modern. Classical architecture is a standout from its Victorian time, and the garden’s lush landscaping boasts electric vehicle charging stations tucked discreetly into a rustic cabinet. It is easy to see why so many choose the expansive lawns for vows and receptions. This location is classic in the best sense, retaining the beauty of another time while pushing the culinary edge.
Chef Alan Kantor helms the kitchen at MacCallum House, with Aaron Welge serving as sous chef. Kantor has a long history with the locale, starting from before his culinary school education, when the restaurant and inn were separate entities. Noah and Zoe Sheppard purchased the inn in 2002 and the restaurant in 2004, and Kantor remained to hone his culinary craft.
Chef Kantor strives to make as much from scratch as possible. “The sauces, the bread, the breakfast tortillas, the cocktail syrups—our kitchen has a standard of fresh, organic, homemade ingredients,” says Saya Hansen, General Manager at MacCallum House. A meal here is not the time to forgo carbs, as the fresh-baked sourdough bread slathered in butter has an addictively satisfying chew and a crunchy crust.
Kantor’s kitchen reflects the seasonal bounty of the Mendocino coast. The winter months have brought flavors of chestnut and acorn squash, and for dessert, an apple beignet with salted caramel syrup and cinnamon ice cream. Locally foraged mushrooms reveal their wonders in dishes like the baked porcini gnocchi with fennel sausage, Bolognese gratin, or the trumpet mushrooms found in the Nightly Noodles. The value of the Nightly Noodles is a poorly-kept local secret with an ever-changing seasonal presentation, like a recent fettuccine with seared steak, kale, trumpet mushrooms, and dry jack in a Dijon white wine sauce. (You were warned about the carbs.)
MacCallum House excels at reinventing classics, such as the Liberty Farms Duck Breast, which Kantor serves with a huckleberry Pinot Noir reduction and a porcini bread pudding. Perfect for a special occasion is the Chef’s Tasting menu, with wine or whiskey pairing, which includes treasures like the pan-seared scallops with chanterelle duxelles, a rasher of bacon, puff pastry, and other wonders. If you crave a more relaxed offering, Mac House is known for their fried chicken sandwich with house made pickle, slaw, and the works. But even this classic comes with the modern twist of a Japanese milk bun and smoked paprika fries.
The legacy of excellence at MacCallum House is upheld by the staff. Saya has been there more than 11 years. She has watched many local students, in their first high school job, learn to create the fine dining experience. “We are finally back in the swing of things,” comments Saya. “A lot of senior staff, the seasoned team, left us during the pandemic.” Now the restaurant is back to being open seven days a week for breakfast and dinner.
You can hear the pride in her voice when she describes the important role that MacCallum House has played in the community over the years, giving dinner for two and room nights to in-county causes almost weekly. “We would love to get back to hosting winemaker dinners and Dine Out for a Cause, events that raise funds for our local nonprofits like the Kelley House Museum and the Mendocino Art Center,“ she adds.
The historical architecture and stately design may not have changed much since 1882, but within this Mendocino Village icon is a kitchen that is continually exploring fresh culinary ideas. This appetite for continual reinvention makes every visit a new experience. So if you’re ready to spoil yourself a little and discover some new and enticing dish or cocktail in the process, an evening at MacCallum House is just the thing.
MacCallum House Restaurant and Inn
45020 Albion St., Mendocino
(800) 609-0492 | maccallumhouse.com
Breakfast Mon - Fri 8am - 10am, Sat & Sun 8am - 11am
Dinner 5pm - 8pm
Photos by Holly Shankland courtesy of MacCallum House
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Bee the Change Microfarm
Building a Sustainable Poultry Farm One Dream at a Time
by Susanna Seidensticker
Bee the Change Microfarm is nothing short of a labor of love. Neither I nor my partner, Ian, have backgrounds in farming. We both share a deep love and respect for Mother Nature—Ian grew up around agriculture in Davis, and I rode horses for almost two decades when I was younger. We weren’t aware that the other might even have an interest in farming when we started dating, and we had been together for about a year when I casually asked if he might consider enrolling in a community college course on natural beekeeping with me. To my surprise, the answer was a resounding yes. I truly believe that in that very moment, Bee the Change Microfarm was born.
We were both immediately taken with beekeeping and started hatching harebrained ideas about keeping bees in the suburbs. We lived in the city of Santa Maria at the time, just south of the Central Coast of California where I grew up. We had a concrete backyard where we grew fruit trees in big pots and flowers for pollinators, and I tried and failed to keep worms for vermicompost. It didn’t take long before we both started dreaming of more.
It did not feel like it at the time, but it was almost kismet when our landlord decided not to extend our lease, forcing us to choose between another year of rent or taking the leap into home ownership. We decided to take the plunge and started the stressful process of house hunting, and we somehow managed to purchase a house on an acre of land in the very arid Paso Robles region. I don’t think we’ve stopped working since.
We lived in Paso Robles for just over four years, and unsurprisingly, we acquired a beehive almost immediately. Our goal was merely to be more sustainable in our way of life, to live intentionally, to get our hands dirty and maybe, just maybe, lighten our footprint on this earth. All my life I have wanted to make a difference, and our little property was where I poured all my angst over the state of the world. I cannot say if it was the bees or the chickens that were our gateway drug into farming, but I know that once we got our first chickens, it cascaded from there. We started with only two hens, given to us by a friend of a friend, and named them Cluck Norris and Nugget. Anyone who has chickens knows that they are like potato chips and as such, we rapidly acquired more from wherever we could find them. As time went on, I began getting more and more interested in chicken breeds, genetics, and standards of perfection. So began my obsession with rainbow eggs and poultry breeding.
To be honest, I started selling eggs as a way to justify hatching more chicks. I absolutely love doing research and believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right, and the more I learned, the more breeds I wanted to add to our flock. I knew I would never have the most eggs to offer, nor the cheapest, so I made it my goal to have the prettiest. The intersection between chicken genetics and egg color is quite interesting, and it is this combination of art and science that has kept my interest to this day. Of course, the real goal was still to feed my family in the most sustainable way possible, but I also felt truly honored to be able to have my eggs out in the community, hopefully giving people a little bit of joy with their beauty. It was truly wonderful to see our customers delight over the different colors, thick shells, and rich yolks, and I felt inspired to dig deeper and see what else we could offer.
As our chicken flock grew, we began adding ducks, guinea hens, geese, and quail to our menagerie. We decided to choose heritage breeds for our waterfowl, specifically Ancona ducks and Pilgrim geese, due to their status on the Livestock Conservancy priority list. These breeds are relatively rare in the United States, and being able to steward their genetics felt like the right step for our farm. However, it was the quail
that ended up stealing the show. Quail are unique. They begin laying eggs as few as eight weeks after they hatch, making them ideal for both eggs and meat. We decided to raise a jumbo breed that gets significantly larger than typical quail birds, and almost by happenstance ended up selling them to a few local chefs. Last year we were honored to provide close to 250 quail to a Michelin-mentioned restaurant in Paso Robles, our proudest accomplishment thus far as a farm.
As much as we loved our property in Paso Robles, we always knew that it was not destined to be our forever home. When Ian secured a job in the Bay Area, we immediately set our sights further north. We have always loved the forest and often dreamed of being in a more rural location. We had traveled through Mendocino County together before and loved the natural beauty, diversity, and community the county had to offer. Leaving our old property behind was bittersweet, but we still felt as though we were gaining so much more than we were losing.
While rebuilding on our new land in the hills outside of Willits is undoubtedly daunting, especially due to the fact that our land is far from prime farmland, we are excited by all the opportunities it has to offer. It is steep and wooded, but instead of seeing this as a detriment, we are looking forward to stewarding the forest via regenerative farming. I had always hoped to adopt a regenerative model, but our old property, with its arid climate and small amount of land, made this goal unrealistic. Regenerative agriculture is an incredible tool to combat climate change, as it helps to put carbon back in the soil, but it requires the ability to graze animals on a rotational basis. Rotational grazing in an arid environment would require a lot of irrigation, something I never felt comfortable with, but here in the cool shade of the forest, it just might work.
We plan to incorporate other animals into this model as well, and have already welcomed five adorable Kunekune pigs to the farm, who will be rotationally moved throughout our property when they are old enough. We continue to expand our quail operation and are also working towards providing the community with chicken meat. The commercial chicken industry is one I find to be problematic, as the vast majority of meat birds are a breed called Cornish Cross. While they grow incredibly quickly and efficiently to become the plump, big-breasted birds most are accustomed to seeing, the reality is that they are a hybrid that cannot actually live past the age of eight to ten weeks old. They suffer from heart attacks and other ailments, do not feather out due to their rapid growth, and often end up unable to walk or with broken legs due to their large front ends. They are the standard for meat chickens and they have their place on many farms, but I wanted something different.
In search of a more sustainable option, I started raising a breed called the Bresse. These heritage birds originated in France and can live just as long as any other chicken breed, meaning I can run a closed-loop system by keeping a breeding population and not having to buy chicks every year. Not only that, but they are known for a gene that allows fat to be stored in a different pattern than is generally seen in chickens. Some liken this to marbling, but in actuality it just means that they have more widely distributed fat throughout their bodies, making them an incredibly tasty, if not quite so plump meat bird.
There was zero infrastructure on the property when we got here, so we are still in the building phase. We’ve started “hatching out” quail this winter and hope to have our quail operation up and in full swing by spring. The meat chickens will take longer as we have to build a breeding pen for them, hatch them out, and raise them up to slaughter weight, which all takes time. I am also refining the breed and will be adding a second genetic line next year to work on their body type, growth rate, and so on. I hope to offer hatching eggs and chicks by 2025 as well, for the Bresse as well as a few other breeds that I raise.
We hope to sell quail to local restaurants and ultimately offer direct-tocustomer sales via our website for pickup or local delivery. Someday we’d also like to offer a poultry-based CSA. Our eggs are available through the MendoLake FoodHub when they are in season—chickens slow way down in the winter, and we opt to stick to the natural cycle rather than providing artificial lights.
Ian and I have many dreams for our new home, some reasonable and some completely preposterous, but we would not be where we are today if we did not allow ourselves to dream. We dream of bettering our land and feeding our community. We dream of living a more sustainable existence in harmony with the natural beauty around us, and above all, we dream of making this corner of our world a better place. Everyone knows that dreams without work are just that, but luckily we are not afraid of a little work. We look forward to finding our place here in Mendocino County, growing in ways we cannot even imagine yet, and seeing where our preposterous dreams take us next.
Keep up with everything at Bee the Change Microfarm at BeeTheChangeMicrofarm.com.
Photos courtesy of Bee the Change Microfarm.
Cover Photo of Ian and Susanna by Sonja Burgal.
Susanna Seidensticker operates Bee the Change Microfarm with her partner, Ian.
Pest-Predator & Pollinator
Reflections on California’s Beneficial Bats
by D. R. Darvishian
A Canyon bat
And how bewildered is any
womb-born creature that has to fly.
As if terrified and fleeing from itself,
it zigzags the air, the way a crack runs
through a teacup. So the bat quivers
across the porcelain of evening.
– Rainer Maria Rilke (1923)
Forever. That’s approximately how long bats have been taking it on their often wrinkled, pug-nosed, leaf-shaped little snouts. Bats, reads the cultural record, have been so maligned for so long in the West that Rilke’s elegant stanza above can be thought of as kind—an interspecies epiphany. A clarifying moment between mammals, one way or the other.
For millennia, bats quivered around in the night as enigmas. No one knew quite where they belonged among the animals. They flew like birds, and in some places they were considered to be. It was only in the late 18th century that they were classified taxonomically, placed into the order Chiroptera, meaning “hand wing” in Greek.
Rilke, at least, understood that bats have nipples and navels and suckle their young. In fact, bats have nurseries and lick their pups clean, like the family retriever. Unlike dogs, though, bats would do just fine without people. Yet while bats may not be our best friends, they’re one our greatest agricultural heroes and do us all kinds of good.
From insect control and plant pollination to seed dispersal in the Southern Hemisphere—where without them rain forests might never regenerate—bats provide irreplaceable benefits. One estimate asserts that, across the nation, insectivorous bats save farmers nearly $4 billion a year in crop loss and reduce pesticide bills. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for reproduction, while in warmer climates, bats pollinate fruit trees like bananas, mangoes, and guavas. And you might want to thank them for your next margarita—without the bats pollinating the blue agave plant, the source of tequila would not have survived its first season.
In Northern California, bats consume millions of insects each night, spring through autumn, including vast numbers of mosquitoes. State officials worry about the introduction of West Nile virus, as well as other “highly virulent mosquitoborne viruses,” yet bats eat the irritating bugs that carry them without harm. California itself is a bat bastion. With its long, temperate coastline and varied landscapes, the state hosts 25 bat species—more than half of the 47 species living throughout North America, all of them nocturnal. Most people would be lucky to glimpse just a few. Bats naturally have favorite habitats, so any dedicated bat spotter should be prepared for a lot of night hiking.
Evidence indicates that people have been bat-curious and telling tales about them for thousands of years. In some places bats embody a deity, in others they may bring good luck or bad, and in yet others, they are cunning, mystical creatures. Bat images were found in Egyptian tombs dating from 2000 BCE. In Zuni fetish tradition, Bat is guardian of the night. In Cameroon, Africa, bats have allegedly sucked the life out of sleeping adults, and tales from Sierra Leone have children suffering exsanguination by hammer-headed fruit bats. Urban folks rarely see them in real life, often rooting their understanding of the creatures in the legends and myths that have developed around them over the years.
In Aesop’s Fables, there is a story about a great war between the world’s birds and beasts, featuring bats—who were neither—as duplicitous schemers who changed sides when battlefield fortunes waned for their allies. They were freelancing, but when both sides finally noticed, bats were banished into the night. After that, “neither the birds nor the beasts would have anything to do with so double-faced a traitor, and so he remains to this day a solitary outcast from both.”
In a more modern-day defense of the winged creature, Canadian author Kenneth Oppel employed Aesop’s yarn to see things from the bats’ perspective after the war. His award-winning Silverwing novel series follows the often harrowing adventures of Shade, a Silverwing bat, from his life as a newborn colony runt through adulthood, using their banishment to propel Shade’s quest for his day in the sun.
Superstition and folk tales aside, bats go back more than 52 million years, judging by the oldest known bat fossil. Discovered within an ancient Wyoming lakebed, the bones look remarkably similar to those of modern bats. The finding astonished some researchers. “The very first fossils of bats were bats that are already bats,” paleontologist Tim Rietbergen of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands, told Smithsonian magazine (April 2023).
For generations, it has been thought that bats are attracted to human hair. Not true, notes Mary Jean “Corky” Quirk, director of NorCal Bats in Davis, a group focused on bat education and rescue. She has known of cases where bats that are busy feeding—say, pursuing moths gathered around a parking lot light—can get tiny claws tangled in the hair or clothing of human observers. While such moments can be hypertensive for all concerned, Corky counsels calm … or as much of it as can mustered. Bats are pretty adept at extricating themselves and are likely to fly off without assistance.
Since all North American bats are nocturnal, finding one on the ground during the day may be a sign that the animal is sick or injured. Any potential Good Samaritan would be well-advised to find a pair of sturdy gloves before lending a hand. Norcalbats.org offers other advice on handling bats safely. But once the critter is secured, what next?
NorCal Bats is one of the few bat rescue outfits in Northern California, and they often help by activating their informal network of bat enthusiasts. To handle bats professionally requires certification, but anyone can transport a bat to safety. “We’ll often meet a person halfway and make the transfer,” said Quirk. “We deal with injured bats, which are quite often hurt by cats, but I get calls about crows and ravens. We can usually offer advice. I’m one of those people who will get out of my car to move a dead squirrel off the road, so the turkey vulture swooping down for a meal doesn’t get clobbered, too.”
Although California’s bat population appears stable, bats elsewhere—mainly in the eastern U.S. and Canada—have died in the millions, killed by a cold-loving fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS), characterized by its color and fuzzy appearance around the muzzles of hibernating bats. First encountered in 2006 in upstate New York, the fungus seems to have been transported accidentally from Eurasia. It has been traveling, likely on the gear of unwitting sport cavers, and is assumed to have made its way to northeastern California based on amplified testing.
Globally, the biggest threat to bats is habitat destruction, said Frick. Homes and roads built too close to roosts; people entering maternity caves, where mothers care for their pups until they can fly on their own; runoff water clogging or polluting cave streams; wanton destruction by vandals—all of these actions, and others, including uninformed cavers spreading disease—can drastically affect bats. The over-harvesting of bat guano, used as fertilizer by many Northern California growers, can alter cave environments irrevocably. Guidelines for guano mining have been promulgated by the likes of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but acceptance has been slow.
As climate change heats up our summers and brings heavier rains, mosquito season will last longer, and our alliance with bats will become even more important. Quirk says people can make their properties more bat-friendly by “reducing or not using pesticides, supporting farmers that use integrated pest management or grow organic crops, and planting native plants, especially those that bloom at night to support the native insects.“ You can also provide bats with some excellent accommodations in the form of bat houses (see sidebar). Keeping these winged mammals happy and healthy preserves balance in the ecosystem, as well as the opportunity to witness their balletic hunting flights before a backdrop of stars on summer evenings.
Installing a Bat House
Mounting a bat house on your property is the perfect way to help bats who are in need of a safe place to live while protecting your yard from pesky night-flying insects.
It is also a great way to get involved in bat conservation. Habitat loss is a major problem for bats, and putting up a bat house can give your local bats a safe and comfortable place to live.
The invaluable online resource, NorCalBats.org, is home to the NorCal Bats organization that is devoted to bat education and rescue. It has plans for how to build your own bat house and links to purchasing one if you’d rather do that. It also includes these important tips for how to install that bat house once you’re ready.
Bat houses should be mounted on buildings or other large wooden or concrete structures.
It is best to install bat houses at least 12’ from the ground (15’ to 20’ is better). Bats don’t want to be too close to the ground, and predators.
Bat houses should receive at least six hours of daily sun exposure. Generally we recommend that it be mounted facing east, to get the morning sun, but south works also. You are trying to maximize the amount of time that the box temperature is between 80°F and 100°F.
Mounting on a pole may work well in climates that are moderate to hot, without extreme temperature variance. We find that they don’t get occupied as often as bat houses on a building (properly located). If you do mount on a pole, it may work best if you have two bat houses mounted back to back to increase temperature retention.
Avoid mounting a bat house in trees. In California, we rarely see bats occupy a bat house mounted in a tree. It is too easy for predators to access the box. Aim for 20’ to 30’ from the nearest tree if possible.
Don’t let wasp nests accumulate. If they do, they should be removed in late winter or early spring before either wasps or bats return.
If you are installing a bat house on a farm or other large property, it works best if it can be placed within a quarter mile of a permanent water source, such a canal, pond, or stream.
Bat houses in warmer areas, such as the Central Valley, can sometimes overheat, and pups may fall out due to stress or overcrowding. Consider adding a bat house pup catcher. This would be a nylon mesh pouch that you would mount at least 24 inches below the opening in the bat house. Fallen bat pups will be able to crawl back to the bat house if you build the catcher properly. Note that you may have to clean guano out of the pouch periodically.
Be patient—it can take several years before bats decide to move in. But if you don’t have any occupants after 3 years, you might consider moving the bat house to another location/ orientation.
More information is available at NorCalBats.org.
D.R. Darvishian is a longtime writer, journalist, and editor living in Lakeport, CA, and now sees bats in his dreams.
Bat cover photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Article Bat photo by Bob Johnson, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Noyo River Grill
A Family Operation with a Side of Sunset
Perched on the precipice of a cliff overlooking the entrance to Noyo Harbor, the Noyo River Grill is the only dining location in Fort Bragg to catch a bird’s eye view of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Spacious and open, this jewel of a restaurant occupies the former location of the Cliff House, with table to ceiling windows that look out onto both the ocean and the harbor, and a welcoming ambience that takes an already enjoyable dining experience to the next level.
Locals know that Noyo River Grill has been serving up delicious seafood and traditional American classics for years before it opened its doors in this location. The Medina brothers, Gabriel and Guillermo, first opened Noyo River Grill five years ago in a cozy spot along the Noyo Harbor frontage, near the former Cap’n Flints and Silvers on the Wharf. They built that business on a long history of culinary experience which began shortly after their parents arrived in Fort Bragg in the 1980s.
The elder Medinas moved to Fort Bragg from the Yucatán, and after settling in and seeing lots of opportunities, they brought the family to join them—four girls and three boys. The parents initially worked for Caito Fisheries. The children graduated from Fort Bragg High School and feel rooted in the community.
When their sister, Andrea Mex, opened Café One (see Word of Mouth, Winter 2022), the entire family stepped in to help. Gabriel worked as a server for many years as the diner grew into a local favorite. Meanwhile, Guillermo completed his culinary training in Santa Rosa and began advancing his career, working at a large international steak house chain where he gained valuable experience. The restaurant where he worked burned in the 2017 Sonoma County wildfires, so Guillermo moved back home to Fort Bragg. The family then started planning to open another restaurant, eventually purchasing an existing business in the Noyo Harbor. The siblings launched Noyo River Grill with the help of their parents, with the whole family pitching in to help where they could. The restaurant quickly became popular as the go-to location for cioppino and other fresh seafood delights.
Not everyone could pull off working so closely with their siblings, but the Medina family is the exception. Noyo River Grill is a family affair. Gabriel, the eldest son, has become the “do everything guy.” Guillermo is the main chef. And Eric, the youngest, has recently graduated and joined the business in their new location as the General Manager. Their oldest niece, Cynthia, works behind the full bar, and their father enjoys baking fresh bread and making pasta for the dishes that Guillermo creates.
Gabriel explains, “After five years, we’ve learned to balance each other out. We’ve been working together as a family since Café One. The whole family jumped in to help her [his sister, Andrea Mex], then they all jumped in to help us [with the Noyo River Grill].” Eric says, “I feel like our mother is watching over us, and dad is still there baking bread and making pasta.”
Noyo River Grill opened their doors at the new location in late May. They are thrilled with the site, though it has been a big change. It has taken some adjustments for the staff, as the new location is three times the size of the former spot and can seat up to 200 guests. Gabriel notes, “It’s exciting to see people enjoying the space again. Nice to see our regulars back and some new faces . . . Our staff are very flexible and excited, working out all the kinks by asking ‘What’s going on, what can we fix?’ All are on-board and positive. All of our staff came with us, and we’re looking to hire more folks.”
The team has added a number of new menu items and specials including filet mignon, duck breast, and a couple of new salads. They serve up fresh and delicious tacos—rock cod, salmon, or roasted vegetables served on home-made tortillas, with a side of crispy fries or salad. Fresh Oysters and chicken picatta are enjoyed with a crisp salad of gem lettuces and roasted beets. Fresh seafood still has pride of place and a soft spot in chef Guillermo’s heart. He explains, “We went to school with Anthony Caito [of Caito Fisheries] and their kids. We feel really appreciative that the local community has been supportive of us, because these are the people we grew up with.”
The family has taken on this new challenge with the skill, flexibility, and hard work that they bring to all their efforts. The food is fresh, the prices are reasonable, the staff are friendly, and the views are unbeatable. The sunset bathes the dining room in golden light as diners celebrate an anniversary or savor a family vacation. And the sounds of music fill the room as local musicians entertain. Meanwhile, Gabriel, Guillermo, Eric, and the rest of the family work hard to make it all look and taste good. At the Noyo River Grill, it truly is a family affair.
Noyo River Grill
1011 S Main St, Fort Bragg
(707) 962-9050 | NoyoRiverGrill.com
Open Fri - Wed, 11:30am - 9pm
This piece was written collaboratively by Holly Madrigal and Dawn Emery Ballantine.
Cover photo and cliff-side location photo by Torrey Douglass. Bar photo and interior photo p8 by David Ballantine.