Sonoma Restaurant Week; Oso revisited; VinOlivo next weekend; Sam Sebastiani winemaker dinner

Sonoma County Restaurant Week comes to Sonoma Valley next week, March 9 through March 15. Although fewer restaurants seem to be participating this year, the whole effort is to get us to try restaurants we may not have visited recently or ever at special prices and at the same time keeping staff working.

Participating Sonoma restaurants offer two-course lunches at $10 to $20 and three-course dinners at $19, $29, and $39. Those offering discounted lunches include the Big 3, Breakaway Café, Della Santina’s, Palm’s Grill, the girl & the fig, The Swiss Hotel and Tips Tri-Tip Trolley.

Deal dinners can be enjoyed at Breakaway Café, Carneros Bistro, Della Santina’s, Hop Monk Tavern, Palm’s Grill, the girl & the fig, Shiso Modern Asian Kitchen, The Swiss Hotel, fig café & Wine Bar and Glen Ellen Star. Café Citti provides discounted lunch and dinner in Kenwood.

Just call and make a reservation as you would normally. Get more information at sonomacountyrestaurantweek.org.

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Oso: A tale of two visits

My first impression of Oso on Napa Street was slightly underwhelming, but it may be understandable. Cathy Gellepis and Jim Ledwith and I went for our first time at 4 p.m. because we wanted to catch a 6 p.m. movie at the Sebastiani Theatre.

The deviled eggs (four halves for $10), topped with dungeness crab and paprika, seemed to have passed through a lemon squeezing machine, because all we could taste was lemon. Cathy enjoyed her salad and ate every morsel, and Jim liked his “ahi tuna” that had a slightly different texture from what I expected. We were revved up to try the lamb that chef/owner David Bush had talked about on “The Kathleen Hill Show” on KSVY, but it was no longer on the menu.

Fast forward several weeks and I had the good fortune to accompany Eva Bertran and David Brown of Gloria Ferrer to Oso recently. We all had saved up our appetites for this visit and had no movie plans afterward.

So we ordered several items. The hummus plate with grilled bread ($8) and the deviled eggs were totally delicious. The seafood platter ($34) was interesting and included a bowl of very good cod-based ceviche, excellent raw oysters, and surprisingly super-chilled paprika shrimp. All were tasty, but the cold temperature of the shrimp was almost a shock in the mouth.

We skipped the lamb tacos, but they looked good on other people’s plates, and instead ordered both the Thai chili pork ribs and the syrah braised short ribs. While there were several little pork ribs, they were so spicy that we left a few in the serving dish. The much-touted short ribs turned out to be a little dry and not exactly falling off the bone, as they should be.

The three desserts, including a butterscotch pot de crème, oatmeal dried cherry and Heath Bar cookies, and the chocolate cremeux were all divine. And $8.

Oso is now open for lunch Thursday through Sunday and I am looking forward to trying it, especially if Bush gets to open the back patio. He offers many of the same menu items as at dinner, plus a smoked salmon salad ($14), grilled prosciutto and Fontina cheese sandwich ($12), and a Banh Mi sandwich of pork rillettes, barbecued short rib, carrot, Daikon radish and herbs. ($12). Lots of interesting local small-lot wines are available such as those from Scribe, Enkidu, Dane, Gundlach Bundschu, Dunstan, Matthiasson, Barbed Oak, Ghericke, and Bedrock. 9 E. Napa St., Sonoma.

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Saddles Steakhouse at MacArthur Place has extended its “Old Fashioned Nights” through March 31 by popular demand. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings, they serve classic martinis, Old Fashioneds and Manhattans ($6), grandmother’s cream of tomato soup, deviled eggs, or oysters Rockefeller (all $6 to $7).

Salads include a Waldorf ($7) or table-side Caesar for two ($15). For your entrée, choose between chicken tetrazzini, a “Salisbury steak TV dinner,” sole Veronica, deviled crab or surf & turf ($18 to $40). And you can top it all off with a banana split, lemon pudding cake, or Nesselrode pudding ($7.50 each). 29 E. MacArthur, Sonoma. Reserve at 933-3191.

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Breakaway Café fans will delight in Bob Rice’s new special, Dungeness crab tostadas. Along with fresh crab, the two tostadas include avocado mousse, Napa cabbage slaw, radish and lime aioli ($15.95). 996-5949. Breakawaycafe.com.

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VinOlivo, Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers’ fundraiser and celebration of wine and olives, comes around again on lucky Friday, March 13, through Sunday, March 15, with the Grand Tasting at the Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa on Saturday, March 14.

A Winemaker Dinner, featuring Elizabeth Payne of Williams-Sonoma and Laura and Kenneth Juhasz’s Auteur wines, has already sold out for Friday, March 13.

The Grand Tasting itself on Saturday features more than 50 Sonoma Valley wineries and food tastes from Aventine Glen Ellen, B&V Whiskey Bar & Grill (formerly Burgers & Vine, I presume), Crisp Bakeshop, Drums & Crumbs, EDK, Glen Ellen Star, HelloCello & Prohibition Spirits, Hopmonk Tavern, Krave Jerky, Olive & Vine, Q Craft Barbecue, Sonoma Market, Epicurean Connection, the girl & the fig, the Red Grape and Wild Thyme Garden & Events. $75 advance, $85 at door. $95 VIP. Three-day ticket for valley wine tasting $50, one-day ticket $25. $130 VIP Grand Tasting and three-day ticket. Tickets at 935-0803 or Sonomavalleywine.com.

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While Sonoma Cheese Factory has been closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it has reopened seven days a week, which is good news for the coffee groups that meet there.

My late father used to hang out there every morning with a bunch of other older gents, which I was reminded by Dave Viviani when I found him fixing a Mr. Cheeso’s whirling stand that hadn’t been whirling. Viviani even named a lot of the men, and reminded me that Sonoma Cheese Factory gave them all free coffee and that sometimes there were up to 20 of them gathered by 8 a.m. Manager Mike Sarabia told me via email that, “As of right now, we will be undertaking a major remodel sometime in 2015, as to what it will become is still uncertain. What has been discussed was an Oxbow Market Place Scenario, similar to Napa’s oxbow.”

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Pam Hellen and daughter, Elizabeth Stuckey, were outside the Red Grape Monday and told me how they celebrated Rose Millerick’s 95th birthday – just the way she wanted it.

Rose is Pam’s mother and Elizabeth’s grandmother. Rose’s sister, Sylvia, married August Sebastiani the first.

Rose’s menu for the day? Breakfast of waffles, bacon and strawberries, after which Pam and cousin Mary Ann Sebastiani Cuneo took her to Graton Casino to gamble. They returned home for her favorite dinner: a salami sandwich on Wonder bread. I guess when you’re 95 and still gorgeous, you can have and do whatever you want.

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Speaking of the Red Grape, Lizzie Hulme, of Chateau Dumas (near Toulouse) in France and I enjoyed the “Sausage and Chips” thin-crust pizza with a Chipotle crème fraîche base, sweet fennel sausage, mozzarella and Fontina cheeses topped with crunchy thin housemade potato, sunchoke and beet chips. A very new and creative pizza, for sure. And yes, the salmon crab cakes are now on the permanent menu.

Other March specials at the Grape are vegetable soup, a Thai hanger steak salad with Napa cabbage, cashews, crispy shallots and rice noodles with tangy Thai vinaigrette and a Wine Country fresh strozzapreti pasta with oxtail ragu, Calabrian chiles and aged Parmesan. Check it out. 529 First St. W., Sonoma. 996-4103.

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If you followed my “Travels with Henri” or would just like to hear about this year’s Chateau Sonoma trip to France, come to meet Lizzie and listen to her tell all about her chateau at Sarah Anderson’s Chateau Sonoma on Sunday, March 8. Ask Lizzie questions, sip champagne, nibble macarons, and hear all about this September’s fresh and exciting itinerary. There were several people on the waiting list from last year, so hurry. Free. Noon to 5 p.m. 153 W. Napa St., Sonoma. Call 935-8553 for more information or to sign up or go to chateausonoma.com.

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Kathleen Weber of Della Fattoria Bakery & Café in Petaluma, our last week’s guest at the Last Wednesday Food Group at Readers’ Books, was just named a semi-finalist for Outstanding Baker in the 2015 James Beard Awards. Congratulations!

For March, we are reading M.F.K. Fisher’s “How to Cook a Wolf,” available in paperback at Readers’ Books for $16.95, minus the 15 percent discount given by Readers’ on our club’s books. As many of you know, I spent many weekdays for seven years with M.F.K. Fisher at her Glen Ellen home on the Bouverie Preserve, so we should have a good time.

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Valerie Brown, our former member of the California State Assembly and Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, announced on Facebook that she is selling her Kenwood home and moving back to her family home in Missouri. Her FB friends watched her watching the snow and helping her parents on their way to heaven during the last few months. Besides, her new Missouri home is on a golf course where she can enjoy her earned retirements. It looks lovely and peaceful.

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Chef Adam Hrebiniak, culinary services director at Oakmont’s Varenna senior residential community, was just named 2015 Best of 50+ Housing Awards Winner by the National Association of Homebuilders. Hrebiniak previously worked with Wolfang Puck and Nancy Oakes and as executive chef at Belden Taverna and the Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco.

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Tips Tri-Tip Trolley, parked Monday through Thursday lunchtime at Fat Pilgrim on lower Broadway, serves divine vegan oven roasted Brussels sprouts with Shiitake mushroom “bacon” with sweet and sour onions and topped with roasted sunflower seeds ($6). I combined them with the soup of the day ($5) for a great lunch at a picnic table beside Fat Pilgrim, and cost even less during Restaurant Week. You can text your order to 509-0078 or email info@tipstritip.com.

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Jon Bonné has decided to leave his position of wine editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and move back to New York. He will continue with a monthly story in the Chronicle as a contributing editor and will work on a new book, “The New French Wine,” which follows his “The New California Wine,” published by Ten Speed Press.

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Plan ahead:

Sam Sebastiani will appear at a rare winemaker dinner at Aventine Glen Ellen, presenting his La Chertosa Old World Wines paired with a four-course menu prepared by Chef Adolfo Veronese on Tuesday, March 31.

The evening starts with antipasto of ahi tuna tartare with shrimp, baby octopus, yellow frisée, blood oranges and lemon vinaigrette. Next comes housemade veal tortellini, English peas and fried porcini with sage cream sauce; roasted prime beef tenderloin with sun dried tomato and seared polenta; followed by cheeses such as Shaft’s Bleu Vein, Estero Gold Reserve with Mostarda di Cremosa, candied pecans and lavender honey.

Sam Sebastiani named his label La Chertosa for a 14th-century Renaissance monastery in the Farneta Valley in Tuscany where his grandfather, Samuele, learned to make “old world” style wines. He will serve his chardonnay, zinfandel, sangiovese, and cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma Valley, Amador County and Napa Valley grapes with the dinner. $100 plus tax and gratuity. Reserve at 934-8911. Aventineglenellen.com.

Sonoma artist Patti Britton designed the La Chertosa label as well as the label for Sondra Bernstein’s new girl & the fig Grenache rosé wine.

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Brilliant burglary ?or brilliant publicity?

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco’s Tenderloin made the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle last Saturday claiming someone stole the recipes out of their recipe binder. Whether it was a real theft or a great PR stunt, it left scads of regular fans waiting along the sidewalk for the bakery’s “cruffins,” a cross between a croissant and a muffin. Let’s see, how to pull off this clever caper …

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Next week: The Bocuse d’Or cooking Olympics visit Williams-Sonoma.