Cucina Verona Mercato
A Taste of Italy in Fort Bragg
by Helene Chalfin
Escaping the heat is always a good thing to do, so when I got a few days off, I made a beeline to the Mendocino coast. While exploring historic downtown Fort Bragg to see what was going on, I came upon a sign: BAKERY! Driven by a mocha craving, I dove into a narrow walkway festooned with Italian flags.
I heard inviting Italian music as I walked past dining tables inside a beautifully lit, covered outdoor patio with a small music stage area. Turning left, I followed the signs—“Keep Going, Almost There!”—that led to the bakery’s green door.
Besides the wave of delicious aromas, I could hear lively chatter and distinctive Italian music. A woman in a colorful hat greeted me: “Buon Giorno! You found us!” she exclaimed with a smile.
Immediately, I spotted a display case containing a rainbow of gelato flavors: gold salted caramel, deep chocolate, raspberry sorbetto, and the green of the chocolate chip mint. The smell of cinnamon, rosemary and vanilla filled the air. Fresh croissants, grandiose cinnamon rolls, and sugar-dusted cannoli filled the cases. For fans of savory snacks there was pizza by the slice. Pillowy herbed focaccia sat alongside a frittata loaded with veggies and cheese.
Then a big guy (Chef Joe, I was told) turned the corner, arms full of freshly baked bread. I remembered a shop in Florence next to the Duomo where I could find all the traditional treats. This place had that feel. Outside that Mercato were some tables with umbrellas to provide shade. I would often sit there to enjoy my coffee and the view.
Now, as I peered through the front door onto Franklin Street, I saw bright green tables and red umbrellas—exactly as I remembered from Florence. No Duomo to gaze upon, but I was immersed in a truly Italian experience—all while in the center of Fort Bragg, California.
For insight into this slice of Italy on the North Coast, I turned to the lady in the hat—Kathleen Murray, owner and wife of Chef Joe. “Welcome,” she said. “This is Cucina Verona Mercato!” She explained that the patio I had just walked through is their pet-friendly outdoor dining space. “You should come back later to hear some local musicians. Our restaurant Cucina Verona, the orange building on Laurel Street that you walked past on your way here, is where we serve homemade Italian food each day of the week.”
I learned that the Mercato store on Franklin (just around the corner from the restaurant) has featured Italian-sourced food and drinks since 2018. The couple enjoys these authentic Italian artisinal ingredients and uses them generously in their recipes. The Mercato allows them to share that joy with the community.
This year, Chef Joe and Kathleen have taken the Mercato a step further, offering their own fresh-baked goods every morning. In addition to the Italian meats and cheeses, multi-flavored gelatos, and custom coffee drinks already offered at the Mercato, customers can savor fresh-baked pastries starting every morning at 8:00am.
“We were inspired by the medinas—maze-like outdoor markets in Italy,” Kathleen shared. “We created the additional side entrance to the morning bakery so people can follow signs through the side walkway patio entrance like you did. It’s a little meandering, but it adds to the sense of discovery.”
At this point, I was ready for a double espresso to wake me up (or not), from this Italian dream. I put my order in. Soon I heard the encouraging noise of fresh espresso beans being ground. While Kathleen made sure the crema on my espresso was perfect, I grabbed a basket to fill with the tastes and memories of foods I had savored in Italy.
The foods and wines at the Mercato are imported from the heart of Italy, where GMO products are more highly regulated. Kathleen shared stories of the origins of the curated specialty foods and her life with Chef Joe. It turns out Kathleen’s partner in life and business is a Renaissance man in the fine old Italian tradition. In addition to being the chef and baker, he is also a winemaker who produces his own Pinot Noir. And sometimes he joins the musicians who play at the restaurant, strumming along on his bass. Between pastries in the morning and fine dining at night, there is a plateful of passion at Mercato Bakery and Cucina Verona Ristorante in Fort Bragg.
Mercato Bakery
353 N. Franklin St., Fort Bragg
(707) 972-3698 | cucinamercato.com
Open Mon-Sat 8:00am - 6:00pm, Sun 9:00am - 5:00pm
Cucina Verona Ristorante
124 E. Laurel St., Fort Bragg
(707) 964-6844 | cucinaverona.com
Lunch Tue - Fri 11am - 3pm. Dinner nightly 5pm - 9pm. Brunch weekends 10am - 3pm.
Helen Chalfin is a local musician and songwriter. When not sharing her music, she is following her passion for native plants with a focus on education and action. Coordinator of the Caspar Gorse Eradication Project, she assists in securing grants to improve our world.
Exterior photo courtesy of Mercato Bakery. All other photos by Helene Chalfin.
Syd’s Tempeh
Locally Produced Meat Alternatives Just in Time for BBQ Season
by West
Sydney Grange blew into town around the same time I did. It was an uncertain time in an environment with seemingly insurmountable challenges on a global scale. She came to the Mendocino Coast to learn about and research biointensive agriculture. She says, “I was working on growing a whole diet in the smallest amount of space possible while building soil and conserving resources in a closed loop system,” a method developed and inspired by John Jeavons.
Sydney was growing calorie-dense staples like beans, wheat, barley, rye, quinoa, and fava beans, feeling that they had the best potential. She had noticed a lack of sustainable and locally sourced protein options, so she did a deep dive into learning about tempeh, typically made from soybeans. As it turns out, the process can be applied to most beans, grains, and seeds.
In 2020, I joined a pandemic-shaped pod of youngsters that included Sydney. We rode those odd years out together by having the sweetest beach days, surf sessions, bonfires, supportive chats, hikes, and celebrations. Among us, there was a feeling of community care, hope, and grief in a rapidly changing world. There was, and is, a depth of commitment here that is determined to innovate joyfully into the future and out of our steep predicaments, such as staggering biodiversity loss and a warming climate, among others.
If you talk with Sydney, a beautiful, caring, and friendly person, you will realize that a conversation can lead in directions that could literally save the world. Victoria Joy, Sydney’s former co-board member at the Garden Friendly Community Fort Bragg (the group that created the South Lincoln Street Community Garden), explained to me that “Sydney is the leader of our future.” She adds, “She’s cracking the code on what we will need to do.”
I went to my first of many gatherings at Sydney and Katie’s, Platonic Life Partners (PLPs) who started an agriculture project called Earthlings Veganic Farm in Fort Bragg. Sydney told me she was learning to make tempeh with quinoa that she grew herself. As partygoers danced above, she showed me the cooler in which she was growing the food. “It likes to be between 85-90 degrees,” she said, smiling over the thundering bass. This temperature happens to be similar to the climate in Indonesia, the birth- place of tempeh, and where Rhizopus oligosporus got its big break a few hundred years ago. This fungus knits together grains with tiny strands of mycelium. What’s left is a patty composed of mushrooms and partially processed quinoa, all adding to the bouncy cohesiveness. The thick texture is divine, and it is naturally nutty in flavor. The effect of fermentation reduces antinutritional factors in the grains and improves protein bioavailability. Syd’s Tempeh is rich in Vitamin B, iron, micronutrients, fiber, and contains all nine essential amino acids.
The Indonesian Tempe Movement (it can be spelled tempe or tempeh) is an organization that seeks to spread the love and knowledge about tempeh throughout the world. The movement’s website declares, “Tempe is the food of hope from Indonesia for the world.” They list its best attributes as “Healthy, Sustainable, and Affordable.” I couldn’t agree more and will add that it’s also delicious! Sydney is on board with this mission and encourages everyone to try tempeh- making. “What’s great about it is that the process is accessible to all people.” She adds, “On a home scale, it doesn’t require any fancy equipment or tools, and you can easily grow or source the ingredients locally. It’s something people can make for themselves if they want. There are no secrets in what is involved. In fact, I want to be a part of the movement of spreading tempeh through education.”
As a lucky member of her friend circle, I have been the sampling committee at many beach bonfires. Sydney would always bring her latest batch of burgers to share. Sometimes the marinade was extra spicy and sometimes the texture was a little gooey. “I was experimenting with what worked,” says Sydney. She has since graduated from a cooler in her bedroom to working in Chubby’s Commercial Kitchen in Fort Bragg to make large batches using industrial tools— steamers, incubators, silicon forms, and tumblers. Her products are made of completely locally grown, dry-farmed, staple crops using organic methods, with low impact to the land. They are fermented into a protein-dense, delicious, nutritious burger that can compete with any others for its rightful place between the buns. If this is the future of food in the face of disaster, it’s not so bad. And it’s both vegan and gluten free.
Over time, Sydney perfected her own recipe for quinoa- based tempeh. Launched in 2023, and after two years from inception to store sales, Syd’s Tempeh offers a line of frozen, ready-to-cook delights. Sydney details the process she uses on her website—steaming, inoculating, mixing, and incubating. Air, humidity, temperature, and sterility are important to make sure the correct spores grow and that other organisms don’t cut the line. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours later, she shrink-wraps, boxes, and freezes them for the local grocers and the Fort Bragg farmers market.
Sydney emphasizes that sourcing local beans and grains is a key part of the mission of her business. “It’s about supporting sustainable agriculture and local producers and making a local healthy protein option available for folks that requires minimal processing,” she says. Fava beans are grown by Rachel Britten, who runs the Mendocino Grain Project in Ukiah. The quinoa is grown by Blake Richards of Wild Rose Farm in Arcata. She uses the Boonville Barn Collective’s “Seconds Quality” heirloom beans, utilizing what customers may find too ugly to buy at a store. “Using a variety of heirloom beans allows us to contribute to diversifying the seed genetics in our food systems, whereas large tempeh makers are using one kind of soybean,” says Sydney, adding, “I started to find local producers of those crops since I needed them on a larger scale than I was able to grow myself.”
Veronica Storms, a local farmer and farm educator who has been in the county for two decades, says, “Locally grown food in the grocery stores around here was unheard of back then. Now, everyone is really connected, and we get to support local food. It’s good for the farmers and good for the community.”
I knew we had to save the world, but I didn’t know it would be so delicious. Thank you to Sydney and all those working toward a sustainable future for all beings on earth.
Syd’s Tempeh
sydstempeh.com | Insta: @sydstempeh
Available at Corners of The Mouth, Point Arena Co-op, Mariposa Market, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op, and Fort Bragg Farmers Market
When West is not adventuring along the coast, they are building things and finishing their natural earthen home.
Schnaubelt Distillery
Unexpected Flavors Abound at Noyo Harbor’s New Watering Hole
By Holly Madrigal
The sun shines through the ocean mist as I find my way to the Schnaubelt Distillery in Noyo Harbor. Boats are moored unloading their catch; sea lions bark as they jockey for space in the docks. Because of a desire to maintain the working harbor, all businesses there must have a link to the sea. How then does a distillery meet that standard, you may ask? Well get ready to try ... smoked salmon-infused vodka. If you are not the brave sort suited to seafood-infused liquor, you could try a spirit imbued with local candy cap mushrooms with hints of sweet cinnamon and maple syrup. A menu of these vodkas, rums, and whiskeys will provide an array of interesting flavors to try.
John Schnaubelt’s sea legs go way back—his family has been fishing in the harbor since the 1920s. His mom’s people come from Portugal, and his dad’s moved to the area in the 1940s to work the fishing trade. The men traditionally did the fish-catching, while the women often were the ones to filet the fish into sellable parts. The Schnaubelts have worked as commercial fishermen, truck drivers, fish and chips sales, and even fish fertilizer sales. Over time they have purchased different properties around the harbor, formerly housing their fishery where Caito Fishery is now. The Schnaubelts’ business interests once resided in the space now occupied by Princess Seafood Market.
The eventually secured a dockside location and opened Sea Pal, a hole-in-the-wall fish and chips joint that serves up some of the most delicious crispy golden fish with a vast selection of Northern California beers. “My mom and dad traded a property for the spot where Sea Pal is now,” shares John. “My mom had a little smoked salmon shop for years. My dad was dealing with back issues and health challenges from a lifetime of fishing. My dad and I used to go to the bowling alley, back when we had one, and go bowling and get a burger. I have really fond memories of that. After the bowling alley closed I decided to make a go of the fish-n- chips place. I tried to recreate the taste of that burger, and that’s what we sell at Sea Pal.” The eatery has really taken off. The outdoor dining tables, large outdoor fire pit, and riverfront deck are regularly filled with visitors and locals alike.
At one point, John went to a bachelor party in Kentucky, where he and his friends had a great time. One of the key events was a tour of multiple distilleries. While tasting, John looked around and realized that much of the equipment looked similar to what he had worked with at home. He started to think that maybe he could weld up his own tanks and find equipment to distill his own spirits. He experimented and found that he had a knack for it.
The Schnaubelt Distillery now resides in an old icehouse on the inside corner of North Harbor Drive. John has outfitted the retro building with a refurbished bar and a reach-in fridge from the 1950s. A pinball machine fills one corner, and picnic tables are out front for patrons with tasting flights. “We don’t have a kitchen here, but if people want to order food from Sea Pal across the street, they can pay for it and have it brought over,“ he explains.
John wants to continue to push the boundaries of what they can distill on site. He has been working on an absinthe that he is excited about, explaining, “We are trying to incor- porate locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible, like the wild fennel, used in the absinthe, we found here along the Noyo River. We may also branch out to a Moonshine. We’re interested in making well drinks for Fort Bragg bars and distributorship more broadly around the area.” They are also thinking about producing a lavender gin, and they’ve begun canning their mixed drinks like the Seabreeze and the sophisticated Greyhound. These cans are a perfect size for a trip to the beach.
It is fun to taste the different types. Paige, who works the tasting room, brings over their whiskey. “This has a tequila nose and an unusual grain bill of 88% malted barley, 2% malted wheat, and 10% corn,” she describes. “We did 30 bottles of this and we’re still playing with the recipe. It has honey notes and an oat finish.” My palate found caramel flavors and an almost coffee taste. One taste of a whiskey-in- progress was 150 proof, and it stands up and slaps ya. “I like the flavors of that stronger one. It sort of has a butteryness to it. Some whiskeys feel like they strip the tastebuds off your tongue, but others have a way of coating it with flavor. That’s what I like in a whiskey,” adds John.
They infuse some of their drinks like huckleberry, adding the local fruit to their vodka, which uses a corn base, adding a residual sweetness. The ruby-hued drink is tart, and the locally-sourced huckleberries have a hint of citrus. The huckle- berry vodka mixed into Sprite creates a stunning sipper. Candy cap mushroom is also infused into their vodka, and it makes for a unique gift. The unusual smoked salmon-in- fused vodka was created because the zoning in the harbor requires a fishing connection. It is surprisingly savory and would be a perfect addition to a Bloody Mary or with a raw oyster plate.
John Schnaubelt is pushing the boundaries of distilling in his business by the sea. His stills fill a space comprised of a tower of round windows reaching up to the ceiling like a spaceship. The distilling process lets evaporation carry the condensed vapor higher and higher, increasing in alcoholic proof, until it reaches the top where it is piped into a condenser and then bottled.
Stop by the Schnaubelt Distillery—it is well worth it for a taste of some unique flavors. You may find yourself learning a whole lot about not just liquor, but also the history of the harbor and those who live and work there.
Schnaubelt Distillery
32425 N Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg
schnaubeltdistillery.com
Open Hours
Thu - Sat 12pm - 5pm, Sun 1pm - 5pm
Whiskey bottles photo courtesy of Schnaubelt Distillery. Other photos by Holly Madrigal.
Wickson Restaurant
A Long-Held Dream Realized for Young Local Chef
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
Wickson Restaurant is nestled inside The Madrones in Philo, an Italianate complex in Philo that looks like it would be equally at home gazing over the Adriatic Sea rather than the Anderson Valley vineyards that surround it. It was conceived as an inn restaurant, much like the family-run equivalents found throughout Europe, that cater to both locals and travelers. Owners Jim Roberts and Brian Adkinson initially partnered with Chef/Owners Rodney Workman and Alexa Newman (now of Elk’s Maritime Café) to offer a dining option for their overnight guests, retail and tasting room visitors, and area locals. It took a leap of faith, and when they opened in 2020, they somehow made it work during an especially difficult economic time.
After a couple of years, Rodney and Alexa left the restaurant to devote more time to their growing family. Since then, Chef Jason Azevedo, who specialized in Portuguese and Spanish-inspired cuisine, and his Sous Chef, Jenny Ann, have had their successive turns at the helm. This past summer, after Jenny Ann left for an opportunity on the coast, Claudia Almeida stepped into the position.
For Claudia, her new role is a dream fulfilled. Claudia is originally from Leon, Guanajuato in Mexico. When she was 14, her family moved to Boonville to join her father, who had been working in the vineyards. They were from a city, so moving to the country was quite a change, though she has now come to appreciate how “very calm and peaceful” it is. Claudia and her two sisters and brother were immediately enrolled in the local high school, but they spoke no English, so their road was not exactly smooth.
Claudia attended Anderson Valley High School for four years. When she saw the school cafeteria on her first day, she knew that she wanted to work there, so she and her two sisters enrolled in a food service class that placed them in the cafeteria, preparing and serving breakfast and lunch to their classmates. Claudia took every opportunity to be there throughout the four years that she was in school. Thanks to the help of her cafeteria time and one particular teacher, Miss Ester Soto, Claudia was able to become fluent in English within two years. After she graduated from high school, she attended Mendocino College to take classes in the culinary arts, but because of low enrollment, classes were cancelled after she had completed only two courses. So Claudia returned to Boonville to find practical experience and work in the industry she loved.
Claudia’s first kitchen job was at The Buckhorn Saloon under Tom Towey, where she started as a dishwasher before moving up to prep cook, setting up salads and appetizers for a menu of classic American pub food. When The Buckhorn sold to new owners, Claudia advanced again, becoming the “right hand” of the new head cook. She had primary cooking responsibilities when the head cook was off, and was largely responsible for communication and translation, since her English was more fluent.
Restaurants are a notoriously precarious business, and The Buckhorn lasted only two more years before the new owners decided to close. Claudia found new work in the kitchen of The Bewildered Pig—a former bastion of fine food dining in the Deep End of Anderson Valley—where she worked under Chef Janelle Weaver. Claudia says that working there was “a great experience” and provided many of the foundational skills she now uses as chef at Wickson.
While at The Pig, Claudia watched and absorbed all facets of the restaurant. The kitchen brought in new produce each week based on what was ripe in the fields, so she learned to be creative with vegetables she had never met before. She was taught to smoke fish, to craft pasta by hand, to create confections with mushrooms, and to understand the uses and wonders of spices. And she has become passionate about never wasting food, finding a use for everything. By the time The Bewildered Pig closed its doors, Claudia had three years of high end dining experience, and she knew she was in the food business for the long haul.
That’s when Claudia arrived at Wickson. Under Chef Jason Azevedo, she was responsible for preparing salads and appetizers, graduating to Sous Chef when Jenny Ann led the kitchen. At that time, Wickson moved into general continental cuisine, which included pizzas—a natural fit with Wickson’s wood-fired oven. Claudia is now more than capable of her new role and enjoys the help and support of “… a talented, hard-working group of ladies who understand the comfort of food,” according to owner Jim Roberts.
When reflecting on her leadership role, Claudia admits that she was “at first nervous of being in charge of the kitchen,” but her focus has been to work as part of the team. Together they “create new food with new recipes that will make people happy.” And people are happy!
Claudia had never cooked Italian food, with the exception of some pastas she created at The Bewildered Pig, and she has fallen in love with the cuisine. She loves to prepare a roasted red pepper pesto ravioli, hand-made and time-consuming, but completely worth it. Another popular dish is Pasta al Ajillo—pasta with scampi, garlic, white wine, and Piment d’Ville chili flakes. Wickson also offers gluten-free pasta as well as a vegan option regularly on the menu, so most special diets can be accommodated.
The signature offering of the new menu is the Pinsa Romana—a long-fermented flatbread made from wheat, rice, and spelt flour whose origins date back to the Roman Empire. A complex undertaking, the final product results in a lighter dough which is higher in protein, with fewer calories, carbs, and gluten. Owner Brian Adkinson says, “It’s like biting into a fluffy cloud with a crispy crust.”
Wickson has recently launched a weekend brunch, where the offerings range from a delicious chili-verde topped Huevos Rancheros to the mouth-watering pinsa—add an egg for a breakfast twist. The kitchen whipped up a special vegan vegetable-topped pinsa (no cheese), which met my dining partner’s needs and tickled his tastebuds perfectly. Their roasted beet salad is a particular favorite, with the tang of the Pennyroyal Farm Laychee juxtaposed with the sweet earthiness of the beets on mixed salad greens, and dressed with a piquant vinaigrette.
The most difficult thing for Claudia in the Wickson space is the wood-fired kitchen, which is open to the restaurant. “I’m a little shy,” says Claudia. Knowing the patrons are looking at them makes her more self-conscious. But it also allows her to see customers enjoying her food and the smiles on their faces.
In the world of small business, particularly the hospitality/ restaurant sector, things are always in flux. Owners, chefs, restaurants—they all come and go, for all kinds of reasons. Though the owners are moving towards retirement, Wickson and the other businesses at The Madrones will continue to operate, allowing Claudia’s menu to evolve according to the dual influences of season and inspiration. Stepping into the role of chef may be a dream achieved, but for this young culinary talent, it is just the beginning.
Wickson Restaurant
9000 Highway 128, Philo
(707) 895-2955 | wicksonrestaurant.com
Open dinner Thu - Sat 5:30pm - 8pm, brunch Sat & Sun 10am - 2:30pm
Claudia photos by Clara Shook. Mezzaluna Club photo by Jim Roberts.
Tall Guy Brewing
Fort Bragg’s De Facto Community Center
by Terry Ryder Sites
Meeting Patrick Broderick, the brewmaster and owner of Tall Guy Brewing, is a lot like meeting a gigantic sevenyear- old with tousled sandy hair and twinkling eyes. He ambles amiably through his taproom and, although well into his middle years, he still seems full of wonder, curiosity, and youthful energy. His first beer-flavored memories are the smells of homebrews his father cooked up in the family kitchen. “Brewing smells like nothing else,” Patrick reflects. Tall Guy isn’t just about beer. It has become a de facto community center for Fort Bragg. More like an English or Irish pub than a bar, kids are welcome. Looking around, families are playing board games while seated on small couches and comfy armchairs. Clumps of guys are shoulder to shoulder on long benches talking sports (or whatever it is that guys talk about), while kids explore the small carpeted area which includes a sign that reads, “Please keep dogs off the black turf.”
A visit to Tall Guy is a lot like watching Fort Bragg on parade, and what a fabulous little scrappy town it is. To keep the atmosphere lively, different days of the week are set aside for different entertainments, and the music always sounds great thanks to a first rate sound system. Every Monday, the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society meets and plays, Wednesdays are devoted to acoustic music, Aaron Ford hosts an open mic on Thursdays, and on Fridays, D.J. Wally’s Karaoke holds court. To round off the week, every Saturday features a different band. (For the full calendar, see “What’s Hoppenin’” on the website.)
D.J. Wally’s Karaoke deserves a special mention as it is a truly democratic operation. Kids are just as welcome as adults to belly up to the mike. On a recent Friday, a 10-year-old with long blonde hair, a baseball cap, and sports togs sang a very credible version of Billy Joel’s “Vienna Waits for You” to a wildly appreciative audience. Next up was a Goth girl in black fishnets with hot pants and eyelashes so thick and fluttery they looked like captive black butterflies. She belted out a seductive love song to the fan club she came in with—a bunch of giggling Goth girls. Apparently, Wally can find absolutely any song you care to select by scanning the internet. There are plans to add a trivia night to the line-up soon. Anything goes, and that’s how Patrick likes it. “I was surprised by how really important entertainment is,” he shares.
July marks Tall Guy’s first anniversary, though the business plan first came together in 2022. The original concept for the venture included a barn brewery concept with an out of town location, but that idea fell through. Patrick is very grateful that the downtown location materialized, as it has worked out pretty perfectly. Despite substantial renovation costs converting the old Sears store at the corner of Franklin and Laurel into a tap room, Tall Guy has made money since day one, thanks to the draft beer—a guaranteed moneymaker once it finds an audience. By offering minimal food (hot dogs and pretzels only), while encouraging people to bring their own food from home or to order take-out locally, the whole restaurant expense and administration package is sidestepped. This simplification keeps the focus on the beer, which is how Patrick likes it. Customers report that they think it is a wonderful spot, with really good beer and a great vibe.
Tall Guy beers are classic—you won’t find exotic brews on tap. Hazy Mama is his best seller, and there are no fanciful options made from local ingredients (seaweed beer? redwood bark beer?). They try to match their hops to the beer style, using German hops for German style beer, for example. Tall Guy differs from the competition and most other breweries by subculturing their own yeast and using different yeasts in different beers. With a degree in microbiology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a Master Brewer Certificate from U.C. Davis, the science side of things is well within Patrick’s reach. Add to that his 30 years of experience working at North Coast Brewing Company under brewmaster and owner, Mark Ruedrich, and it is clear that beer-making is the easy part of his business. Patrick shares that Mark has always been his mentor and that there is no awkwardness between them now that they are “competitors”—both feel there is plenty of room for three breweries in Fort Bragg (the third brewery is Overtime Brewing at the north end of town).
For those of us who have had big dreams but stayed on someone else’s payroll as the years went by, Patrick’s story is an inspiration. He’s lived in Fort Bragg since 1992, and he loves the ocean and the fog rolling in, adding, “It feels like home.” After 30 years, he finally brought his vision to life—it really never is too late. In the process, he has helped revitalize the economy of Fort Bragg by inserting a vibrant and successful new business right into the heart of downtown. It seems Fort Bragg is just the right size and mix to support this kind of undertaking. The locals love it and the visitors love it—what’s not to love? Sitting in an airy space with so much elbow room, friends can—and do!— use this as a home away from home. The huge windows bring the sidewalk action in so you can appreciate quirky Fort Bragg as it struts its stuff inches from your beer-drinking stool. Cheers!
Tall Guy Brewing
362 N Franklin St, Fort Bragg
707-964-9132 | tallguybrewing.beer
Open Sun - Fri 1pm - 10pm, Sat 12pm - 10pm
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.
Photos courtesy of Tall Guy Brewing
Mendocino Barkery
Awesome Toys, Togs, and Treats for Your Furry Friends
by Kamala Williams
Mendocino Barkery has changed ownership! Billy Harris and his partner, Nicholas Casagrande, have recently taken on the delightful little pet store across from Alex Thomas Plaza in downtown Ukiah. This pet shop is the perfect place to find high-quality pet supplies and support not only the Barkery but two other local businesses that have products sold in the store.
About a year ago, the previous owners of the building, which also houses Nicholas’ wealth management firm, decided they wanted to sell the building. That meant that a local woman who had run the store for many years would lose her business. Nicholas and Billy decided to buy the building so the woman could keep her job and the business could continue as it had before.
The pair’s ultimate goal for this store is to sell good quality pet food while supporting local businesses. The Barkery offers local pet food from a small business called Rover’s Choice in Humboldt County. They also highlight the Redwood Cheese Board Co., which specializes in charcuterie boards and makes the cutest barkuterie boards, containing delicious treats your furry friends are sure to enjoy.
Billy says, “We really want to create a good sense of community. We love seeing both new customers and returning customers wander into our store. Many people love going to the farmers market on Saturdays to get fresh bread and farm fresh produce, and then come across the street and get fresh food, local treats, and lifestyle gear for their pets.”
Nicholas and Billy also do a few events to further support the community, including discount Wednesdays that allow people who may not be able to afford more expensive pet food to give their products a try. They also work with a local nail trimmer so people can get their pets’ nails done. And they partner with county rescue groups, the Ukiah shelter, and the Humane Society of Inland Mendocino County by hosting adoption days. Billy explains, “We really try to focus on a holistic approach to helping and taking care of Animals.”
The couple loves the philanthropic feel of Mendocino County and how much everyone comes together to support local businesses. After moving here roughly ten years ago, the two fell in love with the landscape and trees of Mendocino County. They relish that feeling of small-town closeness you cannot get in most other places. Billy talks about how blessed he feels to be a part of such a community, not only to support the beautiful people here, but also to sell high-quality food to everyone’s favorite four-legged friends.
Mendocino Barkery is a place of joy with its kind and helpful employees, who are happy to answer questions. Billy and Nicholas are also happy to ‘talk pets,’ as they are proud owners of four adorable pugs: Ella, Choca, Chola, and the eldest, Polly. The Mendocino Barkery family, both human and furry friends alike, welcomes you in. So if you are ever in the area, wish to shop local, or indulge your pet with a tasty treat, be sure to stop by.
Mendocino Barkery
207 W Stephenson St, Ukiah
(707) 463-3644 | mendocinobarkery.com
Open Mon - Fri 11am - 7pm, Sat & Sun 9am - 6pm
Kamala Williams grew up in Mendocino County. A recent graduate from Ukiah High School, she enjoyed writing for the school newspaper and has begun her journey at U.C. Davis studying communications and human rights.
Photos by Kamala Williams
The Munchery
New Eatery Serves Up Delicious Homestyle Cooking and Craft Cocktails
by Holly Madrigal
It was difficult to hear Shauna Brown-Martin over the sound of the auctioneer at the Junior Livestock Auction. She asked me, “Do you know where to get the best peaches locally? We want to feature them on the menu at our new restaurant.” (I wondered if these auctioned animals were going to find their way onto the menu there.) Actually I do. It’s Langdon Day Farms in Potter Valley. But what new restaurant, I wanted to know. “It’s called the Munchery, and it is at the south end of town on our property next to the gas station,” she shared excitedly.
As a Willits native, this is wonderful news. Shauna’s family has owned Browns Corner in Willits for years and they have always gone above and beyond when supporting the community, hence her vigorous bids on the locally raised steers, pigs, and sheep at the Junior Livestock Auction. The Munchery fills a culinary space that has been vacant in town until now: brunch, lunch, and dinner with a seasonal outlook and fresh local ingredients. The interior space feels high-end, but the price is totally approachable. Shauna had originally considered opening a deli or creperie, but once she discovered that a coveted liquor license was being released by the former Yokayo Bowl, she jumped at the opportunity, which would allow the restaurant to have a full bar. Now you can indulge in a Bloody Mary at brunch or a signature Munch-Tini (vodka, raspberry, grapefruit, Cointreau, with a lime) at supper. Nowhere else in Willits is quite like it.
The menu is filled with classics with modern updates, like the Hearty Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie, the Cajun Shrimp Scampi, and the Wagyu Sliders. The Munchery’s love for local comes through with a John Ford Beef Open Flame Grilled Rib Eye to honor Willits’ favorite resident rancher, and the Beast Burger, which uses a smash burger from family friends Fonsen Cattle, topped with house sauce, onions, and pickles. Dustin Decker is the breakfast and lunch chef, and George Koro does most of the recipe development for evening service. Chef Joshua Landes heads up the team, and together they have created a menu they are really happy with. “We will have seasonal specials with some favorites that will stay consistent,” said Shauna.
On the north side of the restaurant is a spacious patio where diners with pups like to sit. Recently, a large group gathered there for a family brunch, with the staff skillfully stepping around happy dogs while distributing the eggs Benedict, breakfast crepes, and mimosa flights. Area heaters keep everyone comfortable while eating outside.
The full liquor license has allowed the bar to craft a line of signature cocktails and events. Bloody Mary Sundays has a full selection of a Spicy Mary, a Smoky (with smoked bacon chipotle salt), a Bloody Mendo (with gin), and a Bloody Munch (insert raised eyebrow here). When the weather is fine, the patio fills up with those wanting to partake in a lazy Sunday feast. The drink specials change with the season and what’s on hand, and the bar has a line of fruit purees—orange, mango, strawberry, and others, all of which can be added to your cocktail of choice.
The Munchery has filled a niche in Willits for casual fine dining, and the community is thrilled. Brunch, lunch, and dinner are now being provided with a smile from a great local family who celebrates their neighboring farmers and ranchers. Stop by and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
The Munchery
1797 South Main St., Willits
(parking on the north side of the building)
(707) 941-0028 | TheMuncheryWillits.com
Open Mon - Thurs 7am - 9pm, Fri 7am - 10pm, Sun 8am - 2pm
Weekdays closed 3pm - 4pm
Photos courtesy of The Munchery
Moon Honey Tea
Boonville’s Secret Tea Shop
by Holly Madrigal
Tucked away in an art gallery in Boonville is a secret shop. Antique curiosities sit amidst a curated collection of jewelry, gifts, and artwork. Locally harvested honey shares shelf space with home-harvested walnuts from the owner’s orchard. This small shop is the vision of Una Ann Morgan. A friendship with John Hanes, an elder artist and sculptor in Boonville, led her to open Moon Honey Tea within his gallery. When she first opened in April of 2023, she began serving fresh roasted, French press coffee and loose-leaf tea at the shop. She roasts the organic coffee beans herself every few days. “I have a background in coffee and I welcome everyone to come by for a taste. We also sell coffee you can take home with you.” If you want to taste something beyond coffee, you can try the Three Ravens Blend of coffee, chicory, and black tea. The cozy warmth will transport you to a seat by a roaring fire.
A passion to find herbal remedies that were safe and healing for her children led Una to research and make her own tea blends, and Moon Honey Tea Company was born. “I’ve always been in love with the magical and healing properties of plants, but the thing that inspired me to offer herbal blends to the public was the lack of herbal remedies available that are safe for children. I have kids, and I wanted remedies for common complaints like sore throat, tummy ache, fever, etc., using herbs that were considered safe for children and effective for the whole family,” says Una. While researching online, she kept finding products that said “not safe for children,” or those that were safe seemed ineffective. By creating her own, she was able to fill her personal medicine cabinet and share with friends.
“These are herbal blends, and I give them cute names so that you can tell a story for your child. For example, the fever reducer is called ‘Fairy Dust,’ so you can say, ‘We’re sprinkling some fairy dust in hot water to make you feel better,’” she adds. “I’ve made an antiviral blend for sore throats called ‘Mr. Frog’s Throat Tea,’—you know, since you have a frog in your throat. When I was young, my sister and I were very into natural wisdom and witchy stuff,” says Una. “Creating these teas seemed a natural fit.”
Una prides herself on making tea and herbal blends that are not just effective but delicious as well, and she welcomes visitors to try samples in the shop. Mr. Frog’s is filled with thyme as well as other ingredients that reduce inflammation, are antiviral, and taste great. She also makes a Ginger Cat tummy tea, so named because it has lots of ginger. A common myth, she says, is that you can only steep tea once.
“I encourage my customers to use the blend two or three times to make the most of your purchase.” She describes her business as an organic, loose-leaf, specialty blend tea and coffee shop, as well as an eclectic gift shop. “I love tea because it’s a wonderful way to remind ourselves, every day, to slow down in a kind of ritualistic and meditative way,” Una shares. “It also keeps us connected to nature in a multitude of ways specific to the properties and energies of each leaf, root, tree bark, stem, flower, or fruit, as well as to the seasons and regions it is harvested in.”
Next time you visit Boonville and see the open sign outside of the John Hanes Gallery, you can stop by and have your own meditative moment with a steaming cup of fresh pressed coffee or sip of tea. Bet you won’t be able to leave without a handful of gifts, goodies, and remedies to fill your personal medicine cabinet.
Moon Honey Tea Company
John Hanes Gallery 14051 Hwy 128, Boonville
(707) 489-0981 | www.etsy.com/shop/MoonHoneyTea
IG @moonhoneytea
Open Friday - Sunday 11:00 – 3:00 or when the open sign is out
Sam’s Smoked Out BBQ
A Little Taste of Texas on the Mendocino Coast
by Esther Liner
There’s truth to the saying, “You know the food’s good when the table goes quiet.” Before we had language, we had fire, and once we had fire, we had barbecue. Academics argue over what our first words were, but I can tell you in my bones what I know to be true: they were “Mmm” and “Ahhh” uttered around a fire, through mouthfuls of wood-smoked game-meat. I suspect all other words were born of these two sounds.
Over the last few months, I’ve watched time and again as people are rendered speechless by their first bite of Sam Cook’s Smoked Out Barbecue. You can see the fuse of joy ignite at the base of their spines and the spark dance all the way up before erupting into a delighted grin. When Sam asks people how it is, at first they have no words, just reflexive, instinctual “Mmms” and “Ahhhs.”
As a food and travel writer, it’s been my job to scout the best BBQ in the country— Louisiana, Georgia, the Carolinas, Kansas, even Washington State. While each regional style has its merits, for my liking, Texas Style is where it’s at. I’d given up all hope of finding decent, let alone excellent Texas BBQ in Northern California. That is, until I met Sam Cook of Austin, Texas.
Sam arrived in Mendocino in 2013, at the age of 20. While he loved his newfound community, he missed Texas BBQ something fierce. In preparation for a 2018 Adult Kickball charity event at Friendship Park, Sam decided to try and recreate the flavors he calls home. He mined YouTube videos and cookbooks for rub-potions and sauce spells from top-tier pit masters. Sam took a pinch from here and a dash from there, ultimately creating his own style of Texas BBQ utilizing the hardwoods, meats, and produce of Northern California. He uses Valley oak for his smokes, and is looking to source dry orchard woods, like pecan, apple, and cherry, from further inland.
Encouraged by those who got their first taste of his cooking at Friendship Park, Sam is now doing weekend pop-up events. Every week he makes sure to serve both Fort Bragg and Mendocino at historic bars like Milano, Golden West, and Dick’s Place, as well as art openings and events. He uses naturally raised beef brisket and pork shoulder, his sides include locally sourced ingredients like collard greens from Wavelength Farm, potato salad dressed light and kept crisp, and home-baked organic white bread for Texas Toast.
Born in San Antonio, Sam was the third child in as many years delivered by a young mother who knew love alone was not enough to give her baby the life he deserved. Via a Methodist adoption agency, she pored over dossier after dossier of hopeful parents until she came across a letter written by Ben and Marsha Cook of Austin, Texas. “We loved Sam before we ever met him,” shares Ben. “We were looking for him and, I like to believe, he was looking for us. We were there at the moment of his birth. He was the most beautiful baby boy you’d ever seen. We took him home to Austin the next day where both his Grandmothers were waiting for him. It was love at first sight for us all.”
That love included the family’s pair of golden retrievers, Tory and Bear. His dad recalls how Sam taught Bear how to climb the ladder to his treehouse and slide down the slide. “All day, the two of them, up and down the ladder. He’d curl up on the floor with our dogs, rest his head on them, and they’d snuggle him like he was their own pup.”
One of the first friends Sam made when he landed in Mendocino was Kyle Houghton. Gregarious and kind, Kyle was unafraid to show his love to friends and strangers alike, and treated Sam like a long lost brother. Though I didn’t meet Sam until recently, I, too, met Kyle in 2013. We were both at a party when he saw me wrangling more bags of groceries than I could handle, and he swooped in to relieve me of my burden. He’d carried all six bags up a treacherous staircase before I could even catch his name or say thanks. Tragically, our community lost Kyle in August of 2020. Big, brave, gentle, blonde, a total water-dog—in essence he was the human embodiment of Bear, Sam’s Golden Retriever. His sudden death left Sam bereft of the closest person to a brother he’d ever known.
Sam is not proud of the places his grief took him after Kyle’s death, but he’s learned from his travels. If it weren’t for the unrelenting faith and unconditional love expressed by his friends and family, there’s a good chance Sam wouldn’t be here. Yet when he reflects on that difficult time, Sam shares that it all came down to a feeling—“I gotta own up. My work here isn’t done. I know leaving wouldn’t fix anything. It never does. I know I owe it to the people who believe in me to try, and that I owe it to myself.”
Sam knows that while running from his problems won’t fix a thing, other kinds of running are okay, and he’s training to run his first marathon in October. Exercise helps him overcome inertia that, unchecked, can exacerbate depression. It gives him a place to channel all that stuck energy, and a chance to spend time with Sadie, his sweet black Lab-Akita mix. After a recent jaunt up Big River, he confides, “Thank goodness Sadie needed to stop for a break, or I might have been done for.” A smile spreads across his usually serious face and lights his eyes like a crackling campfire.
Sam’s good friend Vincent Lee provides space in his wooded backyard for Sam to practice his craft. “I met Sam when things were going south for him after Kyle,” Vincent recalls. “I just kept thinking, if he can follow his passion for barbecue and feeding people, he’s gonna be all right. I mean, you’ve tasted his food right?”
On a mild afternoon I visit Sam in Vincent’s back yard as he keeps the fire. Part way through, he removes the brisket from the smoker, explaining, “This is how we do it in Texas: when it’s time, we wrap it in butcher paper before returning it to the smoker, to protect the tenderness and what-not.” The 12+ hour process takes patience and vigilance, but is not without its rewards. As Sam works the grill, he confides, “There’s nothing better than that joy you see on people’s faces when you’re feeding them. It’s the best—nothing else even comes close.”
I’ve witnessed that joy first-hand. Over the past couple of months, I’ve brought Sam’s sandwiches to servers, bartenders, and my own mother. These are people who habitually give too much of themselves to others and forget to save a piece for themselves. I’ve seen how Sam’s food brings them back into their bodies.
Sam’s good friend Nicole Beauchimin was a steadfast supporter during Sam’s darker days. “Sam is one of the most loyal, loving, and capable people I’ve ever met,” Nicole reflects. “He loves feeding people. He’s at his best when he lets that love shine through.” That love is evident in an anecdote Sam’s dad shares with me. “You know my son, when y’all lost your power, he pulled his smoker into town and offered to cook up people’s meats, so that they wouldn’t spoil without electricity. That’s who Sam is.”
The flavors in Sam Cook’s Smoked Out BBQ are an expression of his generous roots, nurtured by his family and friends. They are a love letter to where he’s from and where he is now. “I wanted to show people around here what I’m saying when I say I miss home,” Sam shares. Eating his fantastic BBQ, you’ll get a little homesick for Texas, too, even as the breeze off the Pacific cools your face outside of Dick’s Place on Mendocino’s Main Street.
You can find where he is week to week on his Instagram. Be sure to get there early enough to partake—once the word is out, perfectly smoked, expertly seasoned love-on-a-plate goes fast. In a time when people seem to be wobbling somewhat under the weight of the world, it turns out that the ideal remedy for a soul stretched thin is a little taste of Texas.
Sam Cook is at Dick’s place in Mendocino every Saturday from 3pm-until Sold Out. He is also for hire for private events. You can reach him through his IG: @smoked_out_barbeque
Esther Liner is a freelance writer and photographer who splits her time between the Mendocino Coast and the East Bay. She writes about: slow food, fast times, rad art, and the Captains who make it happen. Instagram: @esther_liner / Inquiries: estherlinerwriter@gmail.com
Cover photo is courtesy of Sam Cook. Additional photos provided by Esther Liner.
Good Bones Kitchen
A Chef-Ceramicist Tackles the Challenge of Serving New Food in an Old Space
by Holly Madrigal
There’s a particular charm to a new restaurant in an old building. Guests can enjoy delectable dishes by a fresh kitchen talent within a space that resonates with a wealth of good-time memories from years past. Following this tradition, Good Bones Kitchen, a new restaurant in the tiny community of Caspar just north of Mendocino, opened in May and gets its name from the architectural integrity of the old building that holds it.
The space previously contained the Caspar Pub House, and, for many decades before that, the beloved Caspar Inn. Chef/Owner Miles McCreary reflects, “It’s rare to come into a restaurant space with so much history. It already has this classic tavern feel, and the last thing we’d want to do is take the soul and character out of the room by doing major renovations.”
While this is his first restaurant, Miles’ culinary experience stretches back to his years growing up in Berkeley. His early restaurant jobs defined his culinary ethic: food should be fresh, in season, simple in its integrity, and beautiful. In addition to his kitchen chops, he has the eye of an artist and craftsman, all of which are on display at Good Bones. Like many creative people, it was a winding journey that led Miles to where he is now, a journey with repeating themes of clay, food, and fire. While attending Evergreen College in Washington and studying sustainable agriculture and food systems, Miles discovered the joys of baking sourdough bread. A nearby bakery had a wood-fired oven built by renowned oven builder Alan Scott, which Miles was allowed to use on its off-hours.
Soon there was more bread than Miles and his housemates could eat, and friends started asking to buy loaves. “I clearly remember the first time I exchanged bread for money. I was standing in the kitchen of my house in Olympia, and a friend offered me $3 for half a loaf of bread. I still have one of those dollar bills tucked away in a box with other sentimental objects. That was the first time I seriously considered making food for a living,” Miles recalls. He quickly developed a subscription model, baking on Saturday mornings and selling bread to friends and classmates on the weekend while he completed his studies. After graduating, Miles moved back to the Bay Area and began working in a kitchen that he credits as his most influential culinary experience: Ramen Shop in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. Started by three veterans of Chez
Panisse—one of whom studied in Japan—the restaurant sourced ingredients meticulously, and the whole menu changed every day. “There was a blueprint to the menu—there were always a few salads and three types of ramen—but the ingredients would change every day with what was in season,” he remembers. “That blueprint resonated with me, structuring a menu in a way that allows you to highlight whatever ingredients are available on a given day.”
One of the Ramen Shop owners was married to an artist, and they used her handmade pottery in the restaurant. “As a line cook there, I first worked the salad station, and I really nerded out on the ceramics, deciding which salads looked best on which glazes. I loved how that was one of the decisions I got to make as a cook. Crimson tuna contrasting on a robin’s egg blue dish—I loved thinking about this as part of the eating experience,” Miles adds. “Most eaters aren’t thinking about the pottery, but it can enhance the dining experience even if every eater may not realize it.” Miles continues, “I asked Jessica Niello, the ceramicist, where she was making her work. She told me about the Pottery Studio in Berkeley, and I started taking classes. There’s a joke in the ceramics community that certain people just ‘get bit by the clay bug’ and I got bit hard. I fell down that rabbit hole fast, and before I knew it I was spending all my free time at the studio.”
When the pandemic hit, Miles was accepted into the ceramics residency program at Mendocino Art Center. Mendocino struck him as an appealing amalgamation of his previous stomping grounds. “This part of the coast reminds me of every place I’ve lived—culturally there’s lots of overlap with Berkeley. We’re far enough north that the landscape and flora remind me of the Pacific Northwest, especially the way lace lichen hangs from trees. The colonial architecture in the town of Mendocino reminds me of summers spent cooking out on Martha’s Vineyard. And there are days driving through Anderson Valley when there is a haze, an alpine glow almost, that reminds me of my time living in Asheville, North Carolina surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. All together, it feels like home.”
While working on his residency, Miles picked up a part-time job at the Brickery at Café Beaujolais cooking pizza in a wood-fired oven built by none other than Alan Scott—a nice parallel to the early days of his cooking journey. While he enjoyed working at the Brickery, he also wanted to have a kitchen of his own. He heard about an opportunity with the new owners of the Caspar Inn, an old roadhouse with a long history as a music venue, restaurant, and bar.
Owners Erin Walkenshaw and Thomas Rosskopf, who both had ties to the community in Caspar, decided to buy the restaurant property and move to Caspar full-time in 2021. “I feel incredibly lucky because they put the word out that they were looking for someone to take on the restaurant, and a few people in the community put my name forward,” recalls Miles. “The timing was perfect, too. I had just finished the Artist-in-Residence program and was looking for something that could be my anchor and allow me to stay. This felt like it was my ticket to putting down roots here in Mendocino.”
The restaurant’s May opening followed a successful series of pop-ups this past winter that proved that there’s an audience for Miles’ cooking. Staples like housemade bread and fresh seafood anchor the menu, while the kitchen team improvises daily with all the local produce they can get their hands on. Devin Myers of Dorsal Wines and Fog Bottle Shop manages the bar and has curated a unique wine list focusing on natural wines from all over the world. Jenna St. George brings years of experience working in Bay Area restaurants to her role as general manager, as well as a talent for designing and curating restaurant spaces. There are plans for live music on Fridays so guests can start the weekend off right.
And of course there’s the pottery, which adds an extra creative dimension to the guests’ experience. “It’s probably not realistic to make every single plate or bowl myself. One of the things I’m most excited about is to bring in pottery from other artists, to have a platform where I can showcase work that I admire,” shares Miles. But whether the dish or plate under the food comes from Miles’ hands or another ceramicists, each one was made with care—just like the food, and the old building in which it’s made.
Good Bones
14957 Caspar Rd., Caspar
GoodBonesKitchen.com | IG: good.bones.kitchen
Open for dinner Fri – Mon | Check website for lunch hours
Photos by Nik Zvolensky
Slack Tide Cafe
Coffee, Treats, and Harbor Views with a Side of Marine Science
by Torrey Douglass | photos by Clara Shook
In recent years, the Noyo Center for Marine Science has been eyeing various properties down in Fort Bragg’s Noyo Harbor, casing the joint like a would-be burglar, albeit with better intentions. They were seeking a permanent location that would grant them harbor access for observation and research projects, a spot that could serve as both an education and a research facility. Such a property would add a new and necessary dimension to complement their other locations: the Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center—a bluff-top A-frame by the ocean, and the Discovery Center—their downtown exhibition space and retail store in the heart of Fort Bragg.
The center particularly wanted their new space to include a dock for launching boats to give them and collaborating organizations easy access to and from the ocean. A harborfront location would also allow researchers the opportunity to study the harbor’s unique ecosystem, work on projects such as the Red Tide Program, and potentially have space for a wet lab. After investigating several properties with the usual mix of potential and problems, the center eventually took ownership of their own patch of North Noyo Harbor in February 2022 at the former site of Carine’s Fish Grotto, a Sicilian seafood restaurant and local institution from 1947 to 2014, run by three generations of the Carine family.
Richard Millis, II, worked for the Noyo Center for Marine Science as a part-time Marine Mammal Specimen Collections Coordinator for seven years before becoming involved in first the renovation and later the management of Slack Tide Cafe. Richard oversaw the many projects required to make things safe for visitors and to bring the building up to code. The location had sat empty since the restaurant closed in 2014, and while “the bones were good,” the space needed some significant renovations, including repairs to the interior, kitchen equipment updates, deck refurbishing, rebuilt railings, and the replacement of an aged ramp structure to the dock.
All that work made for a busy spring and summer of 2022, as the renovations and improvements slowly reshaped Carine’s Fish Grotto into Slack Tide Cafe. Because the organization was working with a tight budget, volunteers, staff, and board members were essential to preparing the cafe for its September opening. From deep cleaning the spaces, to sanding and painting the walls, to donating a shiny new espresso machine, the Noyo Center’s support network showed up with willing hands and infectious enthusiasm to get the space safe and ready for customers.
The planning team focused on a short list of goals when developing their vision for the cafe. The first and foremost was to bring something new and needed to Noyo Harbor, and the area lacked a morning coffee spot for the harbor’s various workers, sailors, and visitors. At first they considered leasing the food business. As Board President Dave Turner shares, “We weighed renting the restaurant property out and simply maintaining our ocean access goal … but the location was too beautiful, and the team overwhelmingly wanted to provide a ‘Noyo Center’ take on a sustainable coffee shop and lunch cafe.” Additional goals included generating revenue for the center’s educational and research programs, as well as creating jobs in the community.
Slack Tide Cafe is now the only place that serves morning coffee among the harbor businesses, offering up java and espresso drinks thanks to their partnership with Black Oak Coffee Roasters. Besides coffee, customers can enjoy a selection of delectable pastries, sandwiches, salads, and breakfast burritos. Everything is fresh and tasty, and management is keeping the menu simple for now so they can expand it intentionally as they get a feel for what works best.
The cafe’s vibe is casual and friendly. Large windows let in generous natural light, brightening the entry room where customers can order at the counter or browse a small retail section with shirts, jackets, books, mugs, and more. A separate room of tables provides seating for relaxing and visiting away from the traffic around the register, or guests can head out back to an expansive deck that looks out over the water. That deck warms up nicely on sunny days, and from pretty much any seat in the house (or out of it if you’re on the deck), you might see a harbor seal poke their head up from the water’s green depths and return your curious stare. Sea lions, river otters, and a variety of birds might be spotted as well.
As summer brings more people down to the harbor, the cafe plans to host science talks, develop educational programs for student groups, and host other marine science exhibits. The facility is also available for rent for private events, and there are plans to feature live music on Friday and Saturday evenings during the spring and summer months.
Future plans include a program for developing restorative seafood by ranching purple urchins. Purple sea urchins have decimated the bull kelp forests and in many cases are undernourished due to their high numbers. The program would be modeled after similar urchin-ranching efforts that collect live sea urchins, hold them in tanks, and feed them kelp-based nutrition to result in a sustainable commercial product. An abalone breeding program is also being considered.
As well as providing a location for hosting future scientific efforts, the space also honors the past. Photos of the Carines and their decades serving homestyle Sicilian seafood to the community are on display, along with other mementos from the family. The site bears the name “Carine’s Landing” to ensure the original owners, who transformed a former fish shack into a long-running and beloved local restaurant, are remembered.
For now, it appears that the cafe has succeeded in adding something unique to the harbor community. “It’s a spectacular place to be,” remarks Interpretive Facilities Manager Trey Petrey. “It’s part of the history of Fort Bragg and a great place for drinking coffee and watching wildlife on the river.” A busy dining area on the morning of my visit indicates that folks agree, appreciating the friendly atmosphere as the air fills with laughter and the rich scent of coffee.
Richard’s friendly and attentive manner make him an excellent choice for managing the cafe, as does his previous experience in carpentry, bartending, and barista-ing. “We lucked out,” he remembers. “There were lots of repairs to do and they all went smoothly. I’m grateful for the full-time work, and I love the people. This place has nothing but potential.”
Growing into that potential will be a long and deliberate process that will take years, but there’s time. In the meantime, the cafe is doing just fine living up to its name. A slack tide is the pause that occurs after low tide has finished piling its waters into the lap of the Pacific, a moment of stillness before the process reverses and the sea doggedly shambles back up the shore. If you need a moment to pause and escape the pull of life’s competing currents, head down to North Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg. Slack Tide Cafe offers the welcoming ambiance, excellent coffee, tasty nosh, and harbor seal sightings to take your mind off the grind.
Slack Tide Cafe
Carine’s Landing in Noyo Harbor, 32430 N Harbor Dr, Fort Bragg
(707) 962-8808 | NoyoCenter.org
Open Thursday - Monday 8am - 3pm
Friday & Saturday 8am - 7pm
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders
Old World Brewing in a Historic Point Arena Building
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
We are fortunate to live in an area replete with great beer, wine, cannabis, and food, offering a plethora of good things to meet most folks’ needs. Yet even though we have so many good options, it’s always exciting when a new venture opens its doors. On April 7, 2022, Peter McDowell and Rose Walterbach finally realized their dream of opening The New Museum Brewers & Blenders in Point Arena. It was inspired by one of their very favorite cafes in Belgium, explained Peter, and hopes to be ”a true community brewery that makes its patrons feel at home.”
Peter and Rose have been living in Point Arena for the past two years, waiting out the pandemic and the county building department permitting process. During that time, they have completed much of the remodeling of The New Museum Brewers themselves. The building is the oldest on Main Street, constructed in 1893, and they maintained that feeling of age, grace, and beauty with their renovations. The interior is spacious, furnished with gorgeous black walnut tabletops perched on beer casks, chairs, and a beautiful redwood bar complete with barstools. There is substantial outdoor seating on the deck, and there is even a produce stand featuring local produce from various growers including Wavelength Farm in Manchester, Filigreen Farm in Boonville, and Martin Hayes on the ridge. Both kid- and dog-friendly, there’s an added bonus with the produce and flower stand—a nice diversion for kids who get bored while their parents taste beer.
Most recently hailing from Hood River, Oregon, Peter and Rose met in a skate park in Salem, Oregon when they were young, forming an instant connection. Both life- and work-partners, they have been together—and pursuing their dream of owning their own brewery—for nearly 15 years. They began home brewing in 2011 while living in Portland, with the assistance of friends who were brewers. “We just found so much love and passion for it,” Rose explained, adding “We’ve learned on the job and with a lot of reading.” They began taking turns volunteering at various breweries to gain experience, while the other worked in more mundane jobs to make ends meet and save for future plans.
In 2015, they decided to take the next step toward establishing their own brewery, sending out applications everywhere in the country they could think of to gain more brewery experience. Rose was hired by Anderson Valley Brewery in Boonville as a cellar worker, and while Peter initially landed a job at Bear Republic in Cloverdale, he was soon scooped up by AV Brewery as well. They worked together there from 2015 to 2018, running the brewery’s pilot system under Trey White. The pilot system was the brewery’s smaller, more types of beers for export to Russia, Croatia, and China, as well as a particular export of Summer Solstice to Thailand.
Rose and Peter initially considered this phase of their education to be a stepping stone, and had planned to go back home to Portland to put their experience into action. But when they returned there in 2018, though they were glad to be back among familiar faces and places, they realized how much they missed the camaraderie and the community in Mendocino County. They loved their experiences here, marvelling that “polar opposites can hang out and still have good conversations.” Peter noted that the “good people have each others’ backs,” which is not true everywhere. So they revised their dream and began to plan in earnest for a move back to Mendocino County.
Serendipity happened, in that small town way. Peter and Julian Lopez of Cafe Beaujolais were enjoying a Great Day in Elk, and they mentioned their dream of opening a farmhouse destination brewery to Michael, a friend of Rose and Peter. Rose explained, “Our friend Mike said, ‘I have some friends I know who you could talk to.’ But beer was involved, so they didn’t give our contact information.” Not long after, another friend mentioned to the couple that they knew “people” who wanted to reach out to them. Though they didn’t have the contact information either, they mentioned that the folks owned Cafe Beaujolais. So Rose went to their website and reached out via the contact page, told them their story, and proffered their business plan. Two days later the phone rang, an enthusiastic connection was made, and a partnership was born.
Rose left her job in Oregon to focus solely on this project, and in early 2020, two weeks prior to the pandemic shut-down, Rose moved back to Mendocino County to “do whatever”—a phrase common to many of us who have moved here and figured out how to make it work. She lived with a friend in Navarro and worked at The Company Kitchen and at Lemons’ Market, noting that “the Lemons family really supported me” during her move. Peter had planned to give his notice at the brewery in Hood River, but pandemic shutdowns had begun in earnest. He was lucky enough to keep his job after initial layoffs and thought it might be best to delay his departure for a couple of months.
About half of their beers are a Belgian-type ale—a low alcohol, dry, refreshing farm-style beer—and the remainder are more hop-forward IPAs. “We just brew the beers we like to drink,” Peter said. They recently brewed their first pilsner and tried out a dark lager as well. They handle most brewing tasks together, with Rose brewing one batch and Peter the other, then blending the double batches together. Between the two of them, they handle the brewing, packaging, distributing, selling, and bartending. Peter explained, “We will always be doing everything. Especially in Europe and Belgium, in particular, you go into a brewery and get a beer, and it’s the brewer who’s serving the beer, or the family.”
“We’ve kind of designed, in our eyes, the perfect flow,” Peter said. Rose added, “We’ve designed it so it’s not a job. It’s fun. We built to our capacity . . . the biggest we want to be, which is 1,000 barrels per year. We don’t want to get bigger than that.” They have two cooks now, which has freed them from the kitchen, giving them more time for promotion and distribution to their Sonoma and San Francisco accounts, where their beers have been very well received.
New Museum’s food offerings include several types of tacos, ceviche, salads, and chips, salsa, and guacamole. We tried the cauliflower and potato tacos—both beautiful and stupendously good, perhaps the best vegetarian taco ever; the chips and guac—delicious and not too spicy; and a flight of their beers—a good variety to meet most people’s tastes. Their beers are uniquely named and range from light, refreshing farmhouse style ales such as Among the Ferns and Mild Child, to mid-range hoppier offerings like Another Tale and Fresh Cut Flower, to a dark farmhouse ale. My favorite was Band of Horribles, an unfiltered West Coast IPA, and my dining partner preferred Petal Drop, their darker farmhouse offering. All were easy to drink and paired well with the food.
When asked about their experience moving from Portland to a town as remote as Point Arena, Peter and Rose shared that so many young people who live here are from Oregon or have spent time up there. There are certainly things to miss about city life, but “here there’s such a community, and a lot of young movement and people doing really neat things.” Point Arena has created a foodie enclave, with old favorites such as Franny’s Cup and Saucer, the Little Green Bean Coffee, The Bird Cafe & Supper Club, and Point Arena Pizza, along with the more recent additions such as Izakaya Gama, Pelican Bread, and the soon-to-be-launched Good Food Club. One of their friends recently exclaimed, “Wow! You guys have this little hidden food mecca that two months ago was not there.” Rose and Peter are enjoying and definitely benefitting from the growth and the renaissance of Point Arena.
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders beer can be found locally at The Company Kitchen in Philo, and at Luna Trattoria and The Waiting Room at Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino. New Museum sells growlers for home consumption, or they can refill your unbranded growlers. Come on out to the new food mecca in Point Arena and have a taste, straight from the makers’ hands.
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders
265 Main Street Point Arena
(707) 356-8232 | TheNewMuseumBeer.com
Open Sundays 12pm - 6pm, Saturday 12pm - 9pm
Thursday & Friday 4pm - 9pm
Offspring Wood Fired Pizza
Homestyle Italian Cooking with a California Touch
by Torrey Douglass
There are many reasons to stop by Offspring restaurant in Boonville. The light, airy interior is California zen—rustic, modern, and spare. The easygoing vibe and friendly staff make guests feel genuinely welcome. But first and foremost there’s the food—mindfully sourced, kissed by fire, and served with an easy-going, no-frills simplicity that belies the exceptional skill behind its execution.
Offspring is the creative offshoot of The Boonville Hotel, overseen by its Executive Chef Perry Hoffman and helmed by Chef de Cuisine Ben Ehlhardt. Ben is an upbeat, good-natured fellow who responds with quick attentiveness and gives the impression that he’s a moment away from rolling up his sleeves and diving into whatever task is closest at hand. Ben grew up in Chico, with a soil scientist for a dad, a gifted cook for a mom, and a bountiful home garden out back. Between accompanying his dad on farm visits and helping his mom in the kitchen make good use of the garden’s output, young Ben was exposed early and often to the joys and possibilities of agriculture at different scales, as well as to the deeply satisfying pleasures of well-made, garden-fresh cooking.
Ben helped his dad in the fields, gathering samples and doing whatever little jobs were needed. When Ben was 15, his dad’s employer officially hired him as an assistant. The position was only for the growing seasons, so as he got older, he took jobs cooking in restaurants over the cold months. “I love that I’ve seen both sides,” he shares, referring to working both on farms and in kitchens. During these same formative years, he watched his sister—ten years older and an admired role model in his life—pursue her own culinary career, eventually landing work in Napa Valley’s fine dining world, along with her husband. Originally, cooking was a versatile and convenient way for Ben to make a living, providing both the funds and flexibility to travel. But his exposure to fine dining through his sister and brother-in-law eventually inspired him to aim higher.
So in 2008, Ben attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, Oregon. He opted for the 18-month program, which provided a solid foundation in essential culinary skills, knowing he could learn anything beyond that on the job. He practiced knife skills and butchery techniques, made “mother sauces” and stocks, but the rigidity of the French approach didn’t appeal to his more improvisational cooking style. The better fit, he found, was farther south. “I love wood fired, rustic regional Italian cuisine, where ten different towns in the same region can make the same sauce ten different ways,” Ben reflects. As a result, of all the Napa restaurants where he cooked, a clear favorite was Oenotri, known for its wood fired pizzas and house-extruded pastas.
Ben eventually relocated to Healdsburg and became a sous chef at The Shed under Perry in 2016. The Shed was an ambitious establishment envisioned as a “modern grange,” with cafe, fermentation bar, retail area, and community meeting spaces, all devoted to local farms and sustainably produced local food. Its menus were crafted around the best ingredients available from the area’s farms and ranches—a more expansive and elevated version of cooking garden vegetables in his childhood kitchen next to his mom. It was the perfect environment where Ben could explore ever-more creative ways to use the cornucopia of local ingredients available.
The Shed shut its doors in 2018, closing down all but the retail portion of the business, which still remains online. Perry relocated to Boonville to take the helm of the restaurant at The Boonville Hotel, and Ben joined him as sous chef soon after. Besides an enduring friendship, the pair had developed a seamless professional rhythm, sharing a passion for cooking, a penchant for experimentation, and a similar nose-to-tail, leaf-to-root approach that uses the entire plant or animal. They continued to center dishes around premium local/seasonal ingredients, this time in the hotel’s prix fixe format.
In 2021, Ben felt ready to take the next step in his career and head up his own operation, yet he was reluctant to leave both the area and the hotel, whose values and cooking style harmonized so well with his own. As fortune would have it, there was an empty restaurant space across the street, complete with wood fired oven. Even more fortunately, it was located in a multi-use building owned by hotel partners.
So Ben took the plunge, opening doors in December of 2021, populating his menu with homestyle southern Italian dishes rendered with a light California touch, usually slightly reimagined from their previous incarnation. As an offshoot of The Boonville Hotel—under its auspices yet with its own pared down, fast-casual style—Offspring was the logical name for this next-generation endeavor.
As Perry sees it, “It was time for Ben to take it and run with it. I needed someone who spoke the same language, understood how to cohabitate in the same small town. The restaurant needs to feel different while offering the same clean, delicious ‘Boonville food.’“ The hotel and Offspring share resources, from staff to ingredients. “There’s a lot of back-and-forth across the road,” adds Perry. “We have a ‘no pizza dough left behind’ policy.” The team has worked hard to create a delicious, consistent dough with their premium Central Milling type 00 flour. Any that is left over at the end of the night becomes focaccia for the hotel, served alongside rillettes and dips the following day.
The menu is fluid, integrating gems from his favorite farms—strawberries from The Boonville Barn Collective, squash and fresh greens from Lantern Farms in Cloverdale, and whatever grabs his eye on the MendoLake Food Hub that week. There are truly outstanding pizzas, like a wonderful carbonara with crème fraîche, charred onions, speck ham, and parmigiano reggiano, topped with grated garden cured egg yolk and black pepper. Other favorites include a mushroom and white sauce pizza with oregano, and a lovely margherita interpretation with charred tomato and fresh mozzarella. And the indulgence of pizza feels entirely justified when it follows a few vegetable starters—the oven roasted broccoli with garlic aioli or a delicate green salad with tangy vinaigrette were both excellent.
True to his ever-curious, ever-expanding nature, Ben is looking forward to adding house-made pastas to the menu, and perhaps an oyster station on the back deck. And with the ice cream shop, Paysanne, next door now making its own ice cream, “pizza and a pint” (the cold, sweet kind of pint) will be available before long. Flavors include seasonal fruit sorbet, mint chip, meyer lemon and lavender, fresh cinnamon, and more.
The open plan of the restaurant, designed by Johnny Schmitt, is spacious and spare with large front windows, high ceilings, and an open feel. A rolling industrial door opens onto an outdoor deck with more seating. Works from local artist Katie Williams line the walls, including an oversized depiction of California poppies layered over an older painting promoting The Dark Carnival, a community Halloween party from some years back. The piece fills the wall behind the bar, the bright whimsy of the poppies set off by the muted and moody gothic elements that peek out from behind it, the weathered burnish of the background balancing the poppies’ delicate bursts of color.
It’s an apt metaphor for the restaurant itself: something refreshingly new standing on the shoulders of the distinguished elder. Offspring possesses its own personality, connected to its roots but standing apart at the same time. It’s early days and the staff is small, so the fast-casual format works well. Sure, you have to place your order at the counter and fetch your own water from the dispenser on the corner of the bar, but when the food arrives, you can taste the care that went into it. And maybe that care is the “home” in homestyle cooking—the vegetables brought in from the garden, the sauce just a little different from last time, and a food as common as pizza made uncommonly, scrumptiously good.
Offspring Wood Fired Pizza
14111 Hwy 128, Boonville | (707) 972-2655 | OffspringPizza.com
Open Tuesday – Friday, 5PM – 8:30PM | Saturday, 12PM – 8:30PM
Ben’s baby girl, Addison Alida Ehlhardt, was born July 17th. Our heartfelt congratulations!
Photos by Torrey Douglass. Other photos are courtesy of Offspring.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her family. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and inspiring her dogs to jump into the air with uncontained canine happiness.
Izakaya Gama
A People-First Mendocino Institution
by Sara Stapleton
Driving through the coastal hamlet of Point Arena a decade ago, things felt pretty quiet. My mom and I were staying in nearby Anchor Bay, and we had been directed to Point Arena’s pier with the promise that, if we got there at just the right time, we’d be rewarded with fresh fish right off the boat. It was a weekday as I recall, and I remember driving up Main Street with hardly a person in sight.
Recently, though, this little village by the sea has seen a new influx of creative energy. With its mild climate, rich river-bottom soils perfect for growing beautiful produce, and the bounty of the sea at its edge, it’s no surprise that the area has drawn those passionate about farming, cooking, and eating alike. Izakaya Gama is one of the newest additions here, and the proprietors couldn’t be happier to finally open their doors.
David and Elyse Hopps, owners and co-creators of Izakaya Gama, migrated to Mendocino County in 2018 to be a part of the culinary team at the now Michelin-starred Harbor House Inn in Elk. They quickly fell in love with the area and settled into the small community. But after spending years honing his skills at Saison in San Francisco and then working as sous chef of Harbor House, David felt called to step away from the exclusive nature of fine dining. The husband-and-wife team wanted to create a space where unique, high quality cuisine could be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike—to offer an approachable, more affordable menu that could appeal to everyone. Having spent their formative cooking years working in Japanese restaurants, David and Elyse were ready to make their dream of opening their own izakaya a reality, serving the community that they had come to love.
In Japan, izakayas are casual, lively gathering places that can be found in almost every corner of the country. Something akin to a gastropub or tavern, the atmosphere is relaxed, but the food is never overlooked. It is a place for people to decompress after a long day of work, or to come together with friends. It is warm and welcoming, and that is the feeling that Gama aims to provide. “Gama is a place for people to go out, have fun, and sample a variety of incredible foods from our area,” said David.
True to the style of traditional izakayas, dishes are presented in the form of small plates, lending to the convivial atmosphere and perfectly suited for sharing. The menu offers skewered local meats such as chicken, duck, or Wagyu beef from their kushiyaki grill, Japanese-style pickles, the occasional spotlight on Fort Bragg uni, and their crispy, crunchy karaage—fried chicken with aioli and house-made shichimi togarashi (a spice blend of Piment d’Ville, sea lettuce, black sesame, and sansho pepper)!
An important element to any traditional izakaya is their beverages. Gama sources a wide selection of sakes and Japanese craft beers. Elyse recently became certified as a sake sommelier, so don’t be afraid to ask for suggestions!
In his time as a sous chef in the area, David has built close and reciprocal relationships with many farmers, fisherman, and craftspeople, as well as with the MendoLake Food Hub. Gama’s cuisine, in true Japanese style, hopes to truly showcase the ingredients themselves, allowing them to shine in their delicious simplicity. The menu features what is found in abundance here—crisp, flavorful root crops and tender greens, fresh seafood and other salt water delights, as well as different mushrooms and fungi foraged for use in broths and other dishes. While they will feature some different types of sushi on the menu, the Chef points out that, for the sake of our environment, Gama won’t be flying in fish from all over the globe. Elyse and David are very passionate about creating a restaurant and a business that is sustainable, and a big piece of this is working to source things as close to home as possible, working with the incredible ingredients that we already have at our fingertips.
Photos left to right: Restaurant front with a Noren curtain displaying the logo (Gama means toad in Japanese); Karaage—Japanese fried chicken; Elyse and David Hopps at their soft opening.
It has taken a generous serving of patience and perseverance for Gama to finally be able to welcome guests into their beautiful restaurant space, which is graced with a long local cypress wood bar and tables. In April of 2020, the couple first got word of a space available in Point Arena and decided to take a look. Although it was in the earliest and most uncertain days of the pandemic, they saw the potential, and the seed of bringing their vision to life was planted. Throughout the next few months, they faced countless discouraging delays, but though progress had slowed to crawl, they were committed. So in the spirit of the times and in the spirit of this place, they adapted.
Luckily, the owner of their as-yet unusable restaurant on the south end of Point Arena also owned a small space with a kitchen on the north end of town. While there wasn’t indoor seating, there was a take-out window, which was perfect given the pandemic restrictions. David and Elyse decided to offer a pop-up, to-go style service, which met with great success. Through the window of the small, brightly colored space, they served many a bowl of rich, steaming ramen, with other menu items announced each week through social media. Giving the people a taste of what was to come allowed them to gain local support and to get their name out, while providing comfort and nourishment in whatever delicious way they could throughout those strange, unpredictable times.
The buzz and excitement has been building, and Gama began taking reservations in their dine-in restaurant on April 1st. Be sure to find your way out to the south coast and take a seat with friends, or cozy up to the bar and make some new ones! Izakaya Gama is sure to be exactly the warm, welcoming space that we could all use these days. And the food, well, you can be sure it will be local, fresh, sustainable, and delicious. Kanpai!
Izakaya Gama
150 Main St, Point Arena | (707) 485-9232 | Izakaya-Gama.com
Open Wednesday - Sunday, 4 - 9pm
Sara Stapleton makes her home in a mountainous valley southwest of Willits and works as a postpartum doula with a focus on providing nourishing whole foods to new mamas and families. You can also find her selling New Agrarian Collective’s beautiful produce at the farmers market from time to time, and exploring the backroads of our county with her partner whenever she can.
Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl
Serving Up Pizza, Music, and Movies in Downtown Willits
story & photos by Charlie Cathcart
Loyal customers formerly knew this location as Main Street Music & Video, a longtime favorite of folks looking to grab a movie rental or a vinyl album. The pandemic wreaked havoc on many businesses of all types and sizes in 2020, and Main Street was no different. It also made clear a truth that some had already accepted—video stores were going out of style.
That Main Street Music & Video was still in existence in 2020 showed that it was standing the test of time. But owner Pete Swanton knew that he would have to try something new to continue to be successful. Opening a new business is never easy, but luckily he already had a successful business that just needed a breath of fresh air.
Pete was quite familiar with pizza, having grown up in New Jersey, so when he envisioned Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to pay homage to his roots. His previous foray into food service, a dumpling shop called Nite Bite, turned out to be a little ambitious for the community. Pizza provided a perfect opportunity to feed customers with something classic and family friendly, with a bit of flair.
A new wood-fired oven was installed, as well as an updated kitchen with equipment from a previous venture into food service. New staff were brought in, and the evolution into Flying Dog Pizza was complete in late October of 2020. What was the worst that could go wrong in the midst of a global pandemic?
The menu has evolved in much the same way as the store did. It started out rather basic, but now offers lots of variety. Specials showcase new items every week, with things you may not think of when you first think of pizza. (Pulled pork in a wood-fired oven is hard to beat.) The menu also offers a new dessert pizza every week, with specialties ranging from blueberry sauce to pears to chai custard.
Ashleigh, the head chef and kitchen manager, says, “We care about our ingredients here. I think that shows in our pizzas. We are always trying to do something new and fun for our weekly specials and dessert pizzas.” One of her favorite specials featured a pear and bacon pizza with sliced red onions and a parmesan white sauce, a mozzarella/provolone cheese blend, and hot honey on the crust, all topped with arugula. She also highly recommends the cinnamon roll dessert pizza, reminding folks to ”Eat it hot!”
Pete has always had a dedication to responsible business practices, and this proved no different for Flying Dog. The kitchen produces very little garbage and composts everything else. There is a dedication to quality ingredients, including local produce and nitrite-free meat. And perhaps most importantly, there is a commitment toward making a positive impact in the community.
Adaptability has been crucial for businesses during the pandemic, and Flying Dog is no exception. One innovation that’s proved especially popular with the pizza-loving community is the monthly Mimosa Sunday brunch. Held on the first Sunday of every month from 10am to 2pm, it offers an inspired menu of fun breakfast pizzas to enjoy with the aforementioned mimosas. Throw in a few of your favorite people and it’s the ideal way to round out your weekend.
It’s never been easy to start a new business, and that is especially true in today’s pandemic reality. It will take our local communities to ensure that small businesses like Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl survive. The good news? In this case, doing your part is no hardship, what with amazing wood-fired pizzas and an abundance of records and movies to explore. So come on by for pizza, and grab some vinyl treasures before you head home.
Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl
65 S Main St, Willits, CA 95490
(707) 459-4747
Facebook: @mainstreetmusicandvideowillits
Instagram: @flyingdogwoodfiredpizzavinyl
Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday: 4 - 8:30pm | Friday, Saturday: 12 - 8:30pm
Sunday: 12 - 7pm | Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Charlie Cathcart is originally from New Jersey. He has lived in Willits for about a year with his uncle, Pete Swanton, where he can get his fill of delicious pizza.
Café Poppy & Thatcher Hotel
Hopland’s Historic Hangout
story & photos by Holly Madrigal
The small community of Hopland is the first town north of San Francisco on the 101 where you encounter a crosswalk, a nice reminder to slow down in Mendocino County. Near that crosswalk on Highway 101, a bright sign marks the official first spot to stop for a cocktail—Café Poppy and Thatcher Hotel. Completely renovated with modern amenities, the stately iconic Victorian balances a clean, modern aesthetic with the historic character of the property. Thatcher Hotel reopened in October of 2019, but the pandemic silenced the fanfare. This past March, they were able to shake off the forced lethargy of the lockdown and reopen room rentals with all the safety precautions in place.
Café Poppy is a sunny modern space in Thatcher Hotel which offers Plank Coffee and espresso drinks. All the baked goods are homemade, and their hours cater to the breakfast and lunch crowds. The Caprese Panini and the Farro Salad with kale and fresh strawberries looked especially enticing. The café transitions to small plates in the evening to partner with the seasonal craft cocktails at the adjoining Bar Thatcher. The stunning original wooden bar looks like it arrived straight out of the Old West, but it has been beautifully updated to enhance the design style.
The library fills this bibliophile’s heart with joy. It was kept intentionally unique, and you may be surprised to learn that the books are slightly controversial. They have also used the books as design elements, with some spines turned toward the back of the shelf to display clean lines, and with others organized by hue. The entire space is peppered with curiosities, and the wooden rolling ladder and fireplace welcome visitors to sit and talk philosophy with their Sazerac.
The Gallery just down the hall is a spacious area that can hold 50-60 people for a sit-down dinner, or more than 100 for standing cocktail events. The floor-to-ceiling doors open onto a stylish veranda with firepit seating areas. A lower-level garden space has its own firepit and opens up to a bar and micro-brewery downstairs. The sleek dipping pool area has shaded lounges, outdoor showers, and a pergola. The local secret: You can get a pool pass to enjoy the water if the inn is not fully booked and the pool reserved for guests.
The collaborators on Thatcher Hotel’s revival include a number of Hopland neighbors. The similar aesthetic blends perfectly with the historic character of the property. It’s as if they revealed the core beauty of the hotel, uplifting the key design elements and stripping the rest away, leaving clean, modern lines. The renovation modified a 24-room hotel into one with 18 rooms complete with spacious bathrooms and luxurious appointments. The Harvest Room boasts a modern clawfoot soaking tub and a leather seating area with a view from the iconic corner cupola. Another room has views of the eastern hills, golden and wreathed in vineyards. Sleek concrete sinks and minimalist open showers provide a luxurious spa feel. Currently, Thatcher Hotel serves guests Thursday through Saturday nights, while Stock Farm, the inn next door, welcomes guests throughout the week.
The entire property has been renovated to create a welcoming respite from the road. A variety of bites, all within steps of each other, beckons you to stop and stretch your legs. Hopland is a hidden gem boasting fine dining, amazing beer, and unpretentious high-quality wines, and it is just a short jaunt up the meandering highway from the city. Now Thatcher Hotel and Café Poppy welcome visitors to stop and stay. We have a slower pace here in Mendocino County, and this is the perfect oasis.
Thatcher Hotel & Café Poppy
13401 Hwy 101, Hopland | (707) 723-0838 | ThatcherHotel.com
Evening Stays Thursday - Saturday nights
Café Poppy Fri - Sun, 8am - 2pm
Bar Thatcher Fri - Sat, 12pm - 8pm
Left Coast Seafood
Falling for Ukiah’s New Fish Find Hook, Line, and Sinker
by Holly Madrigal
Fresh caught lobster in decidedly inland Ukiah, California? Yes, please! Piles of the rich, opal-hued lobster top a buttery brioche bun with crunchy lettuce and a touch of aioli to complete the lobster roll. A mountain of shoestring fries somehow squeeze on the plate. Crustaceans are on my mind as I sit in the sunshine on the happening patio at Left Coast Seafood. Friends stop to say hi, but I can’t talk with my mouth full of my first ever (what can I say, I grew up in Willits) lobster roll.
“We fly that in fresh from Canada” says owner Matt Talbert. “Most everything we buy comes from the Left or West Coast. Our primary focus is our backyard of Ukiah, then Mendocino, and California. We want to support local and family businesses first. The seafood is made up of Pacific or Left Coast catch coming from mostly local fishing partners and stretching as far as Mexico to Canada,” he adds. Crab cakes, fried calamari, and a cioppino that will fill your soul as much as your belly are regulars on the menu.
“One of my best friends from Chicago, someone I have known since around the age of 8 and phenomenal chef, convinced me to move out to California in 2010. Every time he called to chat, he would say, ‘When are you coming out to the Left Coast?’ And so, the name was born for the restaurant.” The road to opening in the midst of a once in a lifetime pandemic was a heroic effort, supported by family and friends who lobbied Matt and his partner Magdalena (formerly McAvoy) to move back to where she grew up.
Back in January 2019, Matt and Magdalena were up from the Bay Area to visit her family. “We are at my father-in-law’s house when his friend and neighbor, Tom Liden, pops over. Tom is a huge advocate for anything Ukiah. He knows I’ve been in the restaurant business pretty much all my life and at a high level the last 10 plus years. He proceeds to tell me of a restaurant for sale in town. He says, ‘You should buy it and move up here to be closer to family.’”
The world had a very different outlook back then. They didn’t know it at the time, but within a year his wife would give birth to their third child, Miles. “Fast forward to Fourth of July weekend 2019. Magdalena and I are walking around downtown Ukiah and we walk past the restaurant space at 110 W Standley, the one Tom had been talking about. We spend the entire two-hour car ride home that night talking about what we would do in that space.” Matt remembers, “We spent the next five weeks putting together a business plan while I was working full time as the General Manager of Scoma’s, one of the largest single family-owned seafood restaurants in the country, with a new baby on the way and two other kids that want my undivided attention at home.”
The pair engaged an experienced culinary team: Executive Chef Julian Sandoval, Culinary Director Adina Leone, and Assistant General Manager and Bar Director Adam Rollo. “These are friends and family I have known most or all of my life that I love, respect, trust, and could not do without.”
One of Magdalena’s very good friends, Tawny Bailey, set them up with another great local figure in the community, Ian Powell. “We had a great instant connection. He is the genuine article and an absolute sweetheart of a human. He has deep roots in this community, with nothing but its best interests at heart. It was immediately apparent that he would be a phenomenal partner to share in this venture,” adds Matt. “We go into contract, then into escrow, then Covid hits! Bam! Now what? So, here we are, it’s the middle of March 2020, the pandemic closes everything.”
This pandemic has challenged everyone, but the hospitality industry has been some of hardest hit. Local businesses had literally poured everything they had into making a wonderful culinary destination, only to have an already high-risk business venture in complete free fall. “Through all this I found peace. I had the love of my family and the support of my partner, Magdalena. I slowed everything down and stopped and listened to the current of the universe. I felt connected to an energetic understanding that we were going to be okay and felt the direction of travel our lives were headed. I spoke to my team—“The Avengers,” as I like to call them, that I’d been assembling to run the restaurant with me—and to my investors and partners, and let them know we were going forward as planned. That this was the right decision, and we were moving to the right place at the right time to open this restaurant. Long story short, this is exactly what we did.”
Against all odds, surrounded by friends and family, they pulled off the unthinkable and opened a restaurant right in the middle of a pandemic. “Since we opened our doors on December 1, 2020, I still pinch and poke myself every day. I feel so grateful to have been able to curate my lifelong vision and dream of opening a restaurant.” Matt beams, adding, “This is such an amazing community of loving and kind people who care deeply about protecting and supporting their small businesses. The perfect example of this is, in our first two month in business, smack-dab in the middle of this pandemic, we had local non-seafood fans stopping by the restaurant to buy something to give to someone else, just to support our new business.“
I can attest that the menu includes something for everyone. Consider the housemade mushroom ravioli. The savory filled pasta is smothered in fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. Matt recommends the Surf and Turf as well, though I was at my capacity for this visit. It has a full lobster tail with slow roasted ribs bathed in a red wine reduction. The decadence of that meal would please a king. I took note because I have friends that do not love seafood but enjoy an excellent meal. The short ribs paired with truffle mashed potatoes would fit the bill for those without sealegs.
Left Coast has also joined a neighborhood that often competes for the Excellence in Beverage category. Cultivo next door is known for their local beers on tap, and at the end of the block, Patrona mixes up some amazing drinks. Left Coast joins the party by crafting a menu of specialty cocktails that makes my mouth water. The El Jefe has roasted poblano-infused Herradero tequila, cactus-hibiscus agave, and fresh lime juice. The Sungrown Smash balances Angel’s Envy Rye Whiskey with a house made ginger honey shrub, mint, grilled persimmons, and fresh apple cider. All the options seem ideal for a hot summer afternoon!
“What a journey it’s been to get here,” says Matt. “I’m so excited for the rest of the adventure and for the world to come back into a place where we all feel connected to each other again.” As the summer nights get longer, be sure to grab a table under the stars and sip a cocktail as you dig into your fresh caught Fish ‘n’ Chips. If you close your eyes, maybe you can imagine the sound of the waves.
Left Coast Seafood & Marketplace
110 W Standley St, Ukiah
(707) 380-8392 | LeftCoastSeafoodCa.com
Summer hours: Tues–Thurs 11am – 8pm, Sat 4pm–9pm
Drop In Donut
Fort Bragg’s Favorite New Sweet Spot
by Esther Liner
For twin siblings and co-owners of Drop In Donut, Jeremy and Heidi Wall, some of their sweetest childhood memories center around donuts. “Our background is Portuguese, so at Christmas, we’d make traditional donuts, malasadas, with our family. Our dad was a dentist, so we didn’t have a lot of sweets around growing up. When he’d take us for a donut or a maple bar at our local bakery, it was really a special treat,” says Jeremy. “Our father really loved donuts, it’s something he shared with us. We lost him a few years ago, but I know he would be so excited for us if he could see what we’re doing now,” says Heidi, pointing to a picture on the wall of their late father enjoying one of his favorites: a powdered sugar, lemon-filled donut.
Prior to moving to the Mendocino Coast to be closer to his sister and enjoy a quieter pace of life, Jeremy had spent a decade as a professional pastry chef in the Bay Area and San Diego. Noting that his new hometown didn’t have a mom and pop donut shop of the sort the Walls had grown up going to on special occasions, they sought to remedy that.
In May of 2020, Drop In Donut brought their colorful, contemporary takes on the classic raised donut to the Fort Bragg Farmers Market. After an enthusiastic reception by the public, in July they went on to open a brick and mortar shop in the storefront adjacent to the historic Golden West building. While it takes major chutzpah to open a business in the midst of a global pandemic, Drop In has become an instant hit amongst locals and tourists alike. Perhaps now more than ever, people have a need for comfort and traditions, something sweet to look forward to. Indeed, just as their father used to take them on special occasions to pick out donuts, the Walls get to enjoy new generations of grandparents, parents, and children coming in for a special treat. Local workers love donuts too, with people often stopping in to pick up a dozen donuts to share with their office or bring to a meeting.
The name “Drop In” is a triple entendre, a reference to the act of dropping donuts into the fryer to get them golden, dropping in on a wave, as surfers do, and dropping in to pick up donuts as locals do. Drop In’s decor reflects the siblings’ love of surf culture and mid-century classics, with vintage booths and tables sourced from a donut shop back east, and cheerful Endless Summer-style surf memorabilia adorning the space.
The Walls are looking forward to Drop In becoming a neighborhood visiting place once the coast is clear for dine-in establishments, and in the meantime they are happy to serve people for take-out service. Their flavor lineup changes weekly, incorporating the best of seasonal flavors and ingredients. Alongside classics like chocolate and maple-bacon, you can find intriguing offerings like orange-blossom ginger, PB&J, tropical glazes, Black Oak Coffee glaze, and Overtime Brewing Milk Stout. New creations like jam-filled donuts, apple fritters, cinnamon rolls, and donut bread pudding have been well received, and more new offerings are on the way, including cake donuts and Portuguese malasadas.
The shop is open Thursday through Sunday. Heidi serves the donuts from 8 am until the donuts sell out, often with the help of her boyfriend and her 14-year old son. Don’t forget to Drop In next time you’re in Fort Bragg.
Drop In Donut | 132 East Redwood Ave, Fort Bragg
(707) 962-3010 | DropinDonut.com
Disco Ranch
This Welcoming Boonville Wine Bar is a Groovy Combination of Fun and Fancy
by Holly Madrigal
Wendy Lamer is the kind of person you meet and think, “We should be friends.” She has a warm, welcoming smile and a serious passion for wine. This passion has led her from Georgia to Phoenix, finally luring her to Anderson Valley, where she opened the Disco Ranch wine shop.
You can tell from the name that this place is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. “The name comes up a lot,” quips Wendy. When she lived in Georgia, she was part of a group of wine and food enthusiasts. She enjoyed many a dinner party and wine tasting at multiple stunning homes on Lake Lanier, down the road from her own modest place, a farm house straight out of the ’70s with llamas gracing the front pasture. The décor was so dated that “the house had a powder blue toilet, sink, and bathtub,” she groans, adding that she did not want any of her friends to see it.
But eventually, they insisted that she host the party, letting her know that she could no longer be part of the supper club if she didn’t step up. Dreading the inevitable embarrassment, Wendy finally agreed to host an evening, and a bit of magic happened. As the night went on and the guests ambled in, the music changed to disco. Folks pushed the couches to the walls and set up an impromptu dance party. A fabulous evening was had by all, and they danced well into the early morning hours. Wendy had to go to work the next morning, but when she returned home, her friends had installed a disco ball in the middle of her living room, renaming the space the Disco Ranch. The name stuck, and Wendy has brought this name—symbolizing a fun and delicious appreciation of food and wine—to Boonville.
And a visit to Disco Ranch is fun, with not a hint of pretension or snobbery. Wendy and her brother Gregg, currently hospitality director at Roederer, previously owned a bistro in Phoenix that had a wine bar component. “But the fine-dining part began to overshadow the wine,” laments Wendy. When the chef proved unreliable, disappearing for hours at a time, she found herself frantically running the kitchen while simultaneously being asked by a server to recite all the grape varieties that makeup Port. “It was just too much! That is why, when I decided to open this place, I just wanted to focus on wine. Anderson Valley has so many excellent wineries, so I’ve further focused my offerings. I sell imports from France and Spain as well as some smaller local wines that do not have tasting rooms.” The imported wine has been a huge draw. “Local winemakers hang out here,” Wendy continues, “and I would bring in these new wines and we would taste and enjoy. You can travel the world with wine and food.”
Wendy sees her spot as a complement—not a competition—to the larger wineries in the area. “I want to highlight the lesser-known boutique winemakers, some of whom are just really excellent.” When asked who she is excited about at the moment, she references Minus Tide and Waits Mast. “They are fantastic,” she muses. She also encourages guests to visit the local tasting rooms to experience those wines and hear their stories. The wineries, in turn, often refer their patrons to Disco Ranch for those hard-to-find wines like Black Kite and Maggie Hawk.
Despite not wanting to have food overshadow the wine, pairing great wines with excellent food is another of Wendy’s talents. The Disco Ranch offers a variety of Spanish tapas and specially chosen small plates. Wendy explains, “I have a background in specialty foods, so I choose to offer things with lots of flavor that go well with the wine, which was my biggest focus. It all came together. I think of this as a well-stocked pantry. After a hard day of work, when you don’t want to go to the drive-through, you can stop here for a simple dish, like shrimp and grits, that comes together quickly and tastes so good. That is how I do the tapas. I pull great ingredients off the shelf and whip up these small bites.”
The spicy pulled pork slider is a soft pillowy Hawaiian roll with richly spiced pork, topped with a creamy slaw flecked with red peppers. The effervescent glass of Raventos Spanish Cava (founded in 1497) is bone dry and stands up to smoky bites of chorizo topped with the contrasting creaminess of a marinated gigande bean. Each plate seems to hold the perfect amount to whet the appetite but not overfill, which is good because it would be easy to reach decadence by ordering one of everything. Piquillo peppers stuffed with fresh goat cheese? Yes, please. Shrimp that is bright and lemony with a delicious herbal mustard depth? I’ll take ‘em.
Along with your wine purchase, you can pick up treats like premium cheeses (including some vegan choices), spicy tomato vodka chutney, or tinned Ortiz Yellow Fin Tuna. “I stock some simple pastas and goodies that I enjoy, quality basics,” says Wendy, in addition to a cold case full of grab-and-go picnic items and well-curated shelves of local pantry staples and specialties.
The Disco Ranch has been required to “do the hustle” in its first year of business. Shortly after their grand opening, Mendocino County experienced multiple Public Safety Power Shut-off events due to area wildfires. Christina Jones, the prior chef at the Disco Ranch location, had helped bring the weekly Farmers Market to the parking lot. When Wendy purchased the business, she looked forward to catching up with friends on the sunny outdoor patio, listening to live music, hosting impromptu tastings, and providing recommendations for a bottle to enhance dinner. But then 2020 brought its next curveball with COVID 19. “It has oddly worked out,” Wendy explains. “It let me stay focused on what was important. If people were not going out, they were drinking twice as much at home. I brought in more specialty foods.”
Wendy continues, “I added to the ‘Cheap and Delicious’ section, which has become really popular. I like wine for everyday enjoyment. When I was first starting out at Happy Herman’s in Georgia, my pay was so low that I needed to find what was cheap and delicious. You don’t need to spend $100 for a good bottle of wine. I have 30-40 wines under $15, a large portion of which score between 90-92 points.” She keeps that section varied and lively. “The fact that I had charcuterie and products in tins with a long shelf life helped. We have some really fun offerings, like our selection of vermouths and bitters. The whole cocktail scene is hot right now,” she adds. “I have a beautiful Henren Miniz Spanish vermouth, infused with twenty-four botanicals, which is then stored for eight years under the floor in a sherry cask. What’s crazy is that we sell it at a great value.”
The depth of knowledge at Disco Ranch is revealed the more Wendy talks. When asked if she has a red or white preference, she clarifies that it depends on the region and what you are eating it with. “The Loire Valley and Rhone Regions are certainly the best value in the world. And I am a huge bubble fan.” She has curated collections of assorted champagnes, cavas, and prosecco in case you might be a kindred “bubble-head.”
Wendy eagerly awaits the time when she will be able to offer flights and wine education. “Part of the fun is getting to sample food and try out wines in a casual way. I miss having the smaller winemakers here doing pop-ups. I miss Pinot Fest. I would love to expand the patio.” But meanwhile, she is stocking up the take-away and preparing for the holidays. A stop at Disco Ranch could check everyone off your list. You can buy a home tasting, an aromatic whites 6-pack, six different Spanish wines, or a S.I.P. Survival Pack. Name your style or interest, and Wendy can find the perfect match. And if you want to be really socially distanced, you can order online for curbside pickup.
No matter what new adventures are over the horizon, Wendy and the Disco Ranch will adapt with good humor and good taste. “This community has been so welcoming,” adds Wendy. “We help each other out.” With any luck, she will be dancing into the future to the sound of that disco beat, the community by her side.
Disco Ranch Wine Bar + Specialty Food Market
Thu – Sun 11-6, Monday 11-3
14025 Hwy 128 Boonville | 707-901-5002 | discoranch.com
Wickson
Food from the Heart
by Torrey Douglass
The month of March started normally enough—there were commitments to fulfill, goals to pursue. Life rolled along merrily until … it didn’t. All our plans took a sharp turn off a high cliff, as the county ordered us to park at home and once-crowded calendars were wiped clean. Suddenly, for a lot of folks, there wasn’t much to do but sit around and fondly remember a time when venturing out into public didn’t feel like a Darwinistic game of Russian roulette.
For Rodney Workman and Alexa Newman, March was supposed to include the opening of their new restaurant, Wickson. Launching a nascent business is always a stressful enterprise, and the pandemic compounded the difficulties. County staff were largely unavailable to finalize permits in process, so they were unable to offer even the to-go meals that other restaurants were scraping by on. And as a new venture, they did not qualify for any of the grants or loan options available to other small businesses.
Yet even though it was frustrating to have their opening postponed, the extra time did offer some benefits. Alexa reflects, “We’ve saved on overhead, and we’ve had time to test and experiment.” Rodney agrees. “We’d been rushing to open the restaurant. Now we have had time to reflect. And we developed skills we wouldn’t otherwise have.”
One of those new skills includes the quarantine craze of making sourdough bread. But baking their loaves has an extra challenge thanks to the wood-fired oven at the heart of their restaurant’s kitchen. Wickson is located in an intimate space inside The Madrones visitor complex just outside of Philo, and the oven serves as both focal point and primary cooking source. So on top of getting the starter right and determining rise times that can fluctuate with temperature, humidity, and the Dow Jones, they faced the added challenge of baking with the imprecise temperature wood heat provides. “It has to be preheated for hours,” says Rodney. “Then we pull out the coals, clean the floor of the oven, and let the temperature equalize for about an hour until we bake in it. So every time we bake the result is a little different. It’s been a really fun learning process.”
The delay also allowed Alexa and Rodney to refine their menu, an important task since the county has placed a number of new requirements on food businesses. Rodney reflects, “With only 50% occupancy permitted, we have less staff, so everything has to be more simple logistically.” Their food style has evolved as well, responding to the emotional strain of the times with dishes that are lighter, simpler, and, above all else, comforting—like roast chicken, vegetable ragouts, and platters of smoked fish.
Caring for others through food is a natural impulse for the pair, as each found their way into the restaurant business through the world of non-profits. After attending university in Davis, Alexa moved to San Francisco where she worked for a variety of organizations. She soon discovered that food education programs were her favorite, and she realized that, to truly be effective, she should up her cooking game. By then Rodney was in her life, and he advised her to find a staging gig—the practice of working in another chef’s kitchen for free in order to learn new cuisines and techniques (based on the French word stagiaire, meaning trainee or intern). As a result, Alexa spent time at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where she was inspired by the emphasis on sourcing seasonal produce directly from farms in the area. This approach immediately jived with her personal love of farmers markets, a passion she’d retained since her days in Davis.
In contrast, Rodney’s education focused on environmental science, after which he spent time working on restoration projects managed by non-profits. It became increasingly clear to him that food systems contribute a significant portion of humanity’s harm to the planet, and that making thoughtful choices around what we eat and how it’s sourced can play a role in its repair. Rodney, then in his mid-twenties, shifted his attention to cooking, and he’s been working in kitchens ever since.
For both Rodney and Alexa, the restaurant is a way to put their ethics into practice. They get to work directly with farmers, support a smaller food system, and use humanely raised animals, all while letting seasonal vegetables drive the menu. Both are inspired by Bay Area culinary heroes. Rodney admires Michael Tsai, formerly of Camino in Oakland, whom he describes as “the most thoughtful cook I’ve ever cooked with. He showed me that the small details add up to be a lot.” He considers Stuart Brioza of San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions to be a role model as well, based on his creativity and his ability to ignore the rules of cooking to let the flavors dictate his choices. Alexa looks to the impressive legacy of Judy Rodgers, award winning chef of San Francisco’s iconic Zuni Cafe from 1987 until her passing in 2013, and a key player in the popularization of California cuisine.
The Bay Area certainly has a phenomenal food culture with an abundance of talented chefs to inspire developing food professionals, but life in the city can grind a person down. Rodney and Alexa would escape to Anderson Valley to mushroom hunt and fish on their days off, so when burnout began creeping in and a couple of positions opened up at The Boonville Hotel, they decided to pick up stakes and move there for good.
After a couple of years cooking in the restaurant at The Boonville Hotel, Rodney and Alexa felt ready to strike out on their own. Wickson offers a house menu four nights of the week, featuring dishes that rotate and evolve throughout the season. Then, each weekend, guests will get a completely unique menu based on some faraway (and undoubtedly scrumptious) locale they’ve visited. For both menus, the primary influence on the pair’s culinary creativity will be the availability of local vegetables.
The rural setting has brought them closer to the people who grow those vegetables. “Anderson Valley is great for accessing farmers,” comments Alexa. She and Rodney have spent time in the field with Pam at Blue Meadow Farm in Philo, and also love working with the meat, fruit, and vegetables provided by farms like The Apple Farm, Filigreen Farm, and Petit Teton. Their plant-forward approach leads Rodney and Alexa to classify their cooking as California Cuisine, but they incorporate flavors inspired by their travels as well. Their albacore on a sourdough cracker with aioli and crispy onions, for example, was inspired by the fish tostada from the Contramar restaurant in Mexico City.
While the weather and health orders allow, diners can sit outside at safely spaced tables under umbrellas. One recent meal had a distinctive Mediterranean tone, beginning with peppery marinated olives. A smoked salmon rillete on crostini was indulgently rich, with the exquisitely fresh salmon flavors taking center stage and refreshing contrast provided by gently acidic marinated cucumbers and a green tomato pickle. For the main course, slices of beautifully prepared leg of lamb with the perfect amount of pink arrived on a plate with roasted eggplant flavored with Mediterranean herbs and enhanced by lovely smokey undertones no doubt added by the wood-fired oven. A chopped olive relish delivered a briney tang to balance the plate.
Promoting food based on the use of fresh, locally sourced, and seasonal ingredients has become so common as to feel cliché. That does not reduce the heart-opening bliss that one can experience when consuming a dish prepared with genuine dedication to those values. There’s food that just stops you from being hungry. Then there’s food that stops you from being hungry and also tastes good, so there’s a nice component of pleasure with your meal. But beyond that, there’s food that makes time stop for a moment, that gently insists on all your attention because it has unveiled some ingredient used at the apex of its existence, whose preparation and coincident elements cooperate to offer a flavor experience that is both multifaceted and elemental. It is the culinary equivalent of a expertly executed acapella harmony—all the voices must be perfectly pitched, with no extraneous noise to distract, in order to create the transcendent sound that, for just a moment, fills one’s soul with delight.
High-falutin’ words, to be sure, but each one is sincere. This is what Wickson does well, as evidenced by their Romesco, Tomatoes, and Scallions dish. The smoky sauce has just a bit of texture, and is thick enough to be scooped up with a fork. The scallions add a fresh note of onion-y green, but the full-bodied tomato flavors in both the sauce and the additional chunks are truly summer on a plate.
When asked how they’re feeling about the upheaval brought about by the pandemic, Rodney says, “It’s scary. Restaurants are hard enough, but we are hanging in there.” Alexa adds, “The pandemic changed our plans, but we’re excited.” Her excitement is well founded. The restaurant allows them to put their ideals into action while pursuing their favorite parts of the food business: developing relationships with farmers and simply bringing people joy through good food. “I really like going to the tables,” says Alexa. “I like to see how people’s faces and expressions change when you bring food out to them.”
It’s a complicated time to be alive, with a long list of problems to which we must set our minds and shoulders. Taking a moment to savor the simple joy of wonderful food prepared with care and attention seems like an excellent strategy for getting through it all. And Wickson is here to help us do just that.
Wickson at The Madrones
9000 Hwy 128, Philo, CA | (707) 895-2955 | WicksonRestaurant.com
Open Thursday – Monday. Check website for hours.
The Mendocino Grain Project Changes Hands
by Rachel Britten
photos by Ree Slocum
In March of this year, with the onset of a global pandemic, Americans returned to the pastime of home baking in unprecedented throngs. As many witnessed empty shelves in the flour aisles of supermarkets both big and small, The Mendocino Grain Project’s sales grew more than ten-fold, and April doubled that. The company grows grains in Mendocino county like wheat and rye, which are then stone milled into whole grain flour, providing flavor, nutrition, and as it turns out, local food security.
In 2009 the project’s founder, Doug Mosel, set out with a vision to provide locally grown grain to Mendocino consumers. His vision was in part a response to an assessment of local food security by the Anderson Valley Foodshed group. They determined that, while Mendocino County was providing local sources of fresh fruit, produce, meat, and wine, there was a notable gap in our local food system—grains. Or in other words, high calorie, staple crops.
In different times, it might take more nuanced convincing to assert the importance of local production of these crops. Given the current reality, the precarious nature of how food gets to our supermarkets and, in turn, on our plates is a personal experience for many. Why has the Mendocino Grain Project been able to stock shelves when larger flour producers have not?
It is not just an issue of inventory. First, hyper-localized production means that local distribution is prioritized. In times when a company with a larger distribution network is dividing their limited product to outlets all over the U.S., our products are delivered straight to shelves in the county. Second, a David and Goliath phenomenon allows the relatively small scale project to respond quickly to major shifts in demand. When demand skyrocketed and inventory projections ran low, it took three phone calls to local farmers the project has worked with to restock the inventory and ensure supply through the next harvest.
Unfortunately, inventory is not the only limiting factor to getting flour to supermarket shelves. The whole grains need to be milled. The Mendocino Grain Project is only able to mill about 150 pounds a day before the millstones heat up too much to make high quality, nutritionally dense flour.
On Tuesday, April 28th, Rachel Britten, the new owner of the grain project, found herself on the side of Highway 101 putting a spare tire on a 4,000-pound custom-built trailer. Inside was a mobile flour mill on loan from Honore Mill, a non-profit project in Sonoma County that promotes the use of local grains. The local grain network, a mutually supportive relationship with Honore Farm & Mill, and the borrowed mill has allowed the Mendocino Grain Project to double their daily milling capacity, the final piece in responding to the surge in demand.
This experience has been a lesson in nimble response, the power of relationships in local food networks, and the actualized importance of keeping at least some of our staple food production in our backyards. It has also been a lesson in what is left to learn. While the above helped aid a rapid, scaled-up response to local need, the amount of available local grain is still relatively small.
For the Mendocino Grain Project, this is just the beginning. The company is on track to harvest 30,000 pounds of grain this year. Because the project has the capacity to harvest and clean grain for other farmers, the ultimate goal is to provide what is necessary so that other local farmers can join the effort to grow more staple crops in Mendocino County.
Products of the Mendocino Grain Project can be found through the MendoLake Food Hub, the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op, and are available with a CSA membership
Northspur Brewing Company
by Holly Madrigal
photos by Matthew Caine
The ten-foot-tall train-shaped arrow catches the eye as you pass Northspur Brewing Company, Willits’ fun new watering hole. The striking visual design continues inside, where giant train axles have been repurposed into tables, and rails have been incorporated into the bar and the railing. The appearance of the place is not the only thing being done differently here. I caught up with owner and friend Jakob Foley to learn about what is afoot.
WOM: How and when did you start brewing beer?
NBC: I started brewing longer ago than I care to admit. I think my friend’s dad first introduced us to brewing well before we were old enough to drink. I can remember a bunch of us standing around in my friend’s garage while his dad made an early attempt at brewing beer. My interest in the process stuck with me, and I think by my second year of college I was making beer in the kitchen of our Santa Cruz rental house. I don’t recall anything I made there being particularly drinkable, but it was a start. And it was free to my roommates who, as a result, happily consumed it and encouraged me, regardless of how bad it was.
WOM: Why did you choose Willits to open Northspur Brewing Co.?
NBC: Because I’ve thought for years that Willits needed a brewery. Mendocino Country was the birthplace of some of the earliest craft breweries, and I felt as though it was getting left behind by the current craft beer boom. I’ve been seeing successful craft breweries pop up in towns much smaller than Willits for years now. I looked into starting one in Willits seven years ago but was not able to get anything off the ground. Then a chance meeting and a lucky set of circumstances just dropped an opportunity into our lap in late 2017. My wife, Sarah, and I decided we needed to take advantage of it, and by early 2018 we were starting the paperwork for what would become Northspur Brewing Co.
WOM: Where do you see yourselves fitting into the local craft beer scene in Mendocino County?
NBC: I think we’ve filled a vacancy by opening up in Willits. Ukiah has had a brewery for years now (they had two while Mendocino Brewing Company was still operating). Fort Bragg, of course, has North Coast Brewing, and while we were building out, Overtime Brewing opened up over there as well. Even Potter Valley has a little commercial operation. The breweries that have opened up in Mendocino County over the past few years, us included, I think have helped our area catch up to the craft brewing scene in the rest of the state.
WOM: What is the hardest part of owning a brewery?
NBC: Paperwork. Always the paperwork. And the juggling. There are so many things going on at once, and we’re way too small to hire people for specific jobs. I’ve already cut back my time behind the bar so I can focus on other tasks, and we’re still perpetually behind.
WOM: Will you have a kitchen?
NBC: We are still in the process of building out our kitchen. Until then, patrons are welcome to bring their own food.
WOM: What is your favorite part of brewing beer and/or having a brewery?
NBC: Free beer. That’s really the only reason we did this in the first place.
WOM: What surprised you about what you do?
NBC: Holy Sh*t, people actually like what we’re making! It is so hard tasting your own stuff, and not everyone will give you an honest opinion when you stick a free beer (or anything) in front of them and say “Hey, try this, I made it. What do you think?” So its been really nice to see people come back frequently and discover and really care about a favorite beer. If we run out of something now, we’ll even get phone calls asking when that beer will be back on tap.
The other thing that really got our attention was the Willits community. People here care so much about this little town and its success. While we got a ton of support from the beer community, we’ve also received a tremendous amount of support from people who don’t even drink beer. For just about everyone we’ve met, what’s most important is that Willits succeeds as a town and a destination. It’s really refreshing to see how many people care about this place.
WOM: What is the most popular beer, and which do you enjoy making the most?
NBC: The Blonde (insert blond joke here). Style-wise, we sell more IPA than anything else by a wide margin, but the Blonde is our single best-selling beer. I love (and hate because it takes me ALL day) making IPAs. So many new great hops have been introduced in the past decade or so, and that gives us, as brewers, the opportunity to experiment endlessly with IPA styles and get all sorts of fun flavors into our beers. We’re even getting flavors such as coconut and whiskey from some of these newer hops.
WOM: How did you design the interior of the place?
NBC: The idea from the start was to have an open floor plan. Sarah and I have visited lots of breweries over the years, and the ones that have the brew-plant and fermenters front and center were always our favorites. We’ve also seen a number of breweries with large shared tables and found, from observation and experience, that shared tables are a great way to meet new people. Having a space and seating to foster that was really important to us from the start. There were a few practical design choices as well, such as having the walk-in cooler directly behind the bar, which makes getting beer to the bar taps super simple. Other than that, we wanted to create a warm, comfortable space for people to hang out (and drink beer, of course). We were lucky to get a space with lots of natural light, a garage door that opens onto the patio, and a classic wood truss warehouse ceiling, all of which contributed to that goal. The train theme was put together by Stu and Seth at Pinwheel. I’d asked them to help build a a square tube metal railing to separate the brewhouse from the tasting area. Once Stu saw the logo, though, he started trying to convince me that he could get an old rail for the top part. I let him roll with it and shortly after, he suggested the axles as a table base. At some point, I just started nodding my head “yes” to all of his ideas (which was his plan to begin with), and the result was the amazing industrial train theme that dominates our tasting area.
WOM: Dog friendly?
NBC: Yes. We love dogs. Unfortunately, when we open our kitchen, they’ll be relegated to the patio to comply with health department regulations.
WOM: Future plans?
NBC: Take over the world, of course. Before that happens, though, we hope to be able to get our beers out of just the taproom and into pubs and restaurants in Northern California. We’re also looking at a very small canning line so we can get our beers on the shelves of local retailers. And the kitchen.
For craft brew fans in Mendocino County and beyond, Northspur Brewing Company is a welcome addition to the scene. We’re so glad Jakob decided to turn his passion into this local gem producing truly tempting beers.
Northspur Brewing Co
Northspurbrewing.com | 101 N. Main St. Willits
Open 11:30am-9:00pm Wed-Thurs, 11:30am-10:00pm Fri-Sat,
11:30am-7:00pm Sun. Closed Monday & Tuesday for Brewing
Little Green Bean
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
Tom Neth’s biggest surprise on opening Little Green Bean, a Mendocino Coast Coffee Roastery located on Highway 1 in Point Arena, was “how welcoming the community was.” He realizes that his timing was perfect. The Shop Local movement was growing in popularity, and his venture, initially launched from his grandparents’ garage, fit beautifully. Still, Tom appreciates how the community has been “very positive and extremely supportive”—not surprising since the business contributes an essential element to Point Arena’s beauty and charm, and, for coffee lovers, roasts with taste unrivalled by competitors.
Though Tom grew up in LA, he visited his grandparents in Point Arena regularly and loved it so much that he moved up full time after he finished college. Initially, Tom worked in the Point Arena schools in the Home Study program and lifeguarded in San Diego during the summers. He then accepted a position as a lifeguard at Salt Point State Park, working nine months of the year for the next fifteen years, until an injury and the too-frequent casualties of the abalone season “took a toll” on him, and he left the park system.
Tom worked for friends for a while, moving between small jobs, until he decided to experiment with something he had always wanted to try—roasting coffee at home, just for fun. He started out with a Behmor 1600 roaster (similar to a toaster oven, says Tom), and he traded the results with neighbors for goat cheese and eggs. Tom recalls how his kids hated it when he was roasting coffee at home, as they often came home from school to hear the fire alarm blaring and the house smelling like smoke. This encouraged him to consider finding another location and take his hobby to the next level.
Tom’s wife, Rebecca, a teacher at Point Arena Elementary, had worked for Taylor Maid coffee, and it was she who suggested that Tom seriously consider roasting coffee as a business venture. She pointed him in the direction of the Diedrich Roasters (the gold standard of coffee roasting machines), and Tom took a 3-day class in Sand Point, Idaho, learning the basics of coffee roasting and making life-long connections with other neophyte roasters. They formed a collaborative and supportive Facebook group to share ideas and coffee notes, and the members started small businesses all over the country.
For the first year, the business was housed in his grandparents’ garage, and any money earned was poured right back into the operation. Tom decided to purchase specialty coffees (arabica beans are his preference) from all around the world, using a couple of different importers. All the coffee beans he sources are certified organic, fair trade, or Rain Forest Alliance, where the farmers are paid more and the focus is on sustainability of the forest, the farmers, and the the workers.
Tom had never run a business before, and he soon discovered what most small business owners know—“Money is just numbers moved back and forth . . . we don’t receive too much out of it.” The business was originally wholesale, with no public access, and Tom used that time to suss out the possibilities of growth and to see if he enjoyed all aspects of it enough to make it his daily work.
When Little Green Bean first expanded, they moved the operation into a space in the Outback Building across the street from their current location. Tom continued to refine his roasting techniques, preparing and tasting different coffees at various stages (called “cuppings,” somewhat like wine tasting) to discern the best flavor point for himself and for customers. He focused on growing his wholesale customer base, slowly beginning to add pour-over coffees so that they could sample his offerings.
In the meantime, Tom, also an avid chocolate fan, became curious about the process of roasting cacao beans and crafting chocolate. After visiting a cacao farm in Kauai, he began experimenting with roasting cacao beans, and decided to expand his business to include “bean to bar chocolate.” He initially roasted the cacao beans at home (sorry, kids!), working with information provided by the Chocolate Alchemy website and related YouTube videos. He quickly learned that “there are no shortcuts to making good chocolate . . . but I tried them all anyway.” (Seriously folks, there are no shortcuts.)
After experimenting with multiple bean varieties, Tom decided that Haitian chocolate was his favorite for it’s very fudgy flavor and feel. Little Green Bean partnered up with The Singing Rooster, a non-profit which sells Haitian cacao beans in a way that benefits both the farmer and the field worker. The beans might be more expensive, but as Tom says, “We use organic beans and want to support the small farms around the world . . . We are GREEN as our name suggests!”
Their Outback Building space was not set up for a retail business, so in order to create chocolate and expand their pour-over opportunities, they decided to grow again. The store-front next to Franny’s Cup and Saucer went on the market, and they purchased it in July of 2018, renovating the space and passing all the necessary building and health inspections to qualify them as a restaurant. They moved into the new space in February of 2019.
With the addition of the retail aspect, Little Green Bean has become a full-fledged family affair. Tom manages all aspects of the business himself. He spends 4 days a week in summer and 3 days in winter roasting coffee, and he handles all packaging, shipping, marketing, and deliveries. Tom’s wife works in the shop during summer break, and his sons help out regularly after school and on weekends. Tom’s mom designed the company website and works the shop whenever Tom is roasting, as well as on Sundays, coming in almost daily to help with operations. The addition of chocolate has only added to the schedule complexity.
The new location was a great success; Tom says that their business has increased by 50%. The challenge is to accommodate the increased foot traffic with a temperamental roasting schedule, which requires 30-second monitoring and recording. Even 15 seconds away from the roast-in-process at the wrong time can result in a burnt final product, so they will likely have to hire a second person to be in the shop so that Tom can dedicate himself to roasting both coffee and cacao beans to perfection.
The new shop boasts glass-fronted display cases, stainless steel counters, cork and vinyl flooring, Bunn coffee grinders, and drip coffee makers (for morning folks in a hurry). There are five pour-over stations for coffees and loose-leaf teas, and they also offer cold-brew coffee, where the grounds are soaked in cold water overnight, yielding a smoother, less acidic flavor. Little Green Bean merchandise is sold, including their own chocolates and bulk coffees, as well delicious treats from Franny’s Cup & Saucer on Mondays and Tuesdays when that bakery is closed.
Adjusting to a retail shop has been a process. Tom notes that he had no posted hours in the first five years of his business, so he had more freedom to come and go. When customers depend on your presence, it can feel a bit more “tied down.” An avid and excellent surfer—one community member states that “Tom is the best long-board surfer there is”—Tom’s least favorite part of the job is “having to work when the surf’s good.” The Point Arena cove is his favorite surf spot. One day this summer, the cove had the best swell in years. Tom closed the shop and went down to catch the waves, finding himself in good company with “the tile guy and a few local contractors.” Still, he opened the shop by noon—such is his dedication to his customers.
Point Arena is famed for its wild beauty and for its resilient and supportive community. Tom says he feels more at home in Point Arena than any other place he has lived. Little Green Bean filled a niche in the community, which has welcomed the venture with open arms. Local restaurants and cafes—Franny’s Cup & Saucer, Bird Café, Cove Coffee, White Cap, Gualala Hotel, and Headlands Inn—serve his coffee to customers, as do many AirBnBs and VRBOs in the area. Little Green Bean coffee can be purchased by the bag at Arena Market, S&B Market (Manchester), Surf Market (Gualala), Matson’s Mercantile (Elk), Harvest Market (Fort Bragg), and, soon coming to Boonville with the new pizza joint, Uneda Eats, which got its start in Point Arena.
Little Green Bean chocolates are only sold in their storefront in adorable, seascape-themed molds or by the bar. Also offered is various logo-themed merchandise featuring the rip-curl surf mashup of the Little Green Bean, created by a buddy of Tom’s, who “got it right on the first try.”
Tom says that roasting beans—coffee or cacao—has been a process of learning the craft, though he says, “I still don’t think I’m a master of it yet.” A modest man, indeed, as his coffee is pretty close to perfection.
Little Green Bean Roastery is open M-F 9am-4pm; Sat 10am-4pm; Sun 10am-2pm. 211 Main Street, Point Arena (on Hwy 1). Order online at LittleGreenBeanRoastery.com
Dawn Emery Ballantine lives in Anderson Valley, where she sells books in her boxcar bookshop, Hedgehog Books, edits this magazine and other wordy tomes, and fights a losing battle with her addiction to good coffee.
The Mendocino County Homebrew Festival
by Scott Cratty
Q: What’s more fun than barrel full of Stickee Monkee?
A: The 3rd annual Mendocino County Homebrew Festival! The Fest is an informal, low-key, but serious competition, brimming over with unique taste experiences all crafted with passion by equally unique, sometimes slightly off-beat people. In other words, this is a very Mendocino event, full of real people, taste, and life.
The Mendocino Homebrew Festival features original homebrew from throughout Northern California and offers more taps than you can get to, full of quality brews that you can get nowhere else. Think you have tried it all before? Here are a couple of last year’s brews: “A complex mix of malted grains, rye, and wheat, with fresh honey at EOB, along with an addition of fresh roasted coconut and fresh ground Fijian Kava added in secondary fermentation,” or “Light wheat beer with home grown red beets cooked/mashed and strained into secondary fermentation, along with a few ounces of agave nectar, and dry hopped with fresh whole Centennial.” You can’t get these creative combinations just anywhere.
It is a great vibe for sure, and a worthy memory, but this competition will also have amazing beer because it has one of the best prizes on the planet. The winner of the Brewer’s Choice Award gets to hang out at Anderson Valley Brewing Company, brew their beer at scale with the Brewmaster, and have it served at the Tap Room and likely elsewhere as well.
The Winners’ Circle at the Mendocino Homebrew Festival
For a humble admission price, your ticket includes a tasting glass, beer, your chance to cast your three votes for the People’s Choice Favorite, live music, and a room full of exemplary people and discussion. Farm-to-Table food and other merchandise, as well as the warm feeling of knowing you are scoring a great time while also supporting an important cause, just adds to the bounty.
It all happens November 2nd from 3-6pm at the Conference Center in downtown Ukiah. (If you are really into great beer and fun times, you can get in an hour early, along with the Brewmaster panel, by purchasing a Very Important Taster Ticket.) Brewer sign-up information can be found on the website.
All this fun has the compounded benefit of supporting one of the best local nonprofits around. All proceeds from this event go to the Good Farm Fund, a community nonprofit which produces several of Mendocino County’s most enjoyable events. Good Farm Fund came into existence as a way for local small farms to support each other so that they can survive, inch toward thriving, and produce more sustainable, top-quality food to create a more resilient community. It provides direct economic development support to small farmers in Mendocino and Lake Counties, as well as funding ‘Market Match’ programs, which help low income customers shop at local farmers markets, increasing local food security for all members of the community.
If you are not a Ukiah native, it helps to stay the night so you can experience downtown Ukiah and the rest of the Feast Mendocino festival. The Homebrew Festival is a kick-off for this annual celebration focused on fun and food, particularly mushrooms, running November 1-10. For overnight attendees, I recommend starting with a visit to the Saturday Farmers Market just a block from the Festival from 9am–noon. Weather permitting, Ukiah’s downtown merchants will be putting on sidewalk sales, and the Fest will feature an outdoor entertainment lounge.
If you love great beer, make sure you check out the Fest’s major sponsor, Draft Punk in Laytonville. While you are in the county, you should also investigate Ukiah Brewing (Ukiah), Anderson Valley Brewing (Boonville), North Coast Brewing (Fort Bragg), and Overtime Brewing (Fort Bragg). If you enjoy the Mendocino experience, join the Homebrew Festival email list so you get a heads-up about their always-sold-out events.
To purchase tickets, for more information, to see the video of last year’s winner brewing at Anderson Valley Brewing, or to enter a brew, visit MendoHomebrewFest.com. Email ExploreUkiah@gmail.com or call 707.467.5766 for room deals.