Kathleen Hill: Sonoma Michelin ratings; who’s bringing home the bacon; ‘British Baking Show;’ Cathy Huyghe and Nigella Lawson

This year’s mysterious Michelin ratings are not great news for Sonoma Valley, according to Michelin’s “San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country 2016” book, now available at Readers’ Books.|

This year’s mysterious Michelin ratings are not great news for Sonoma Valley, according to Michelin’s “San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country 2016” book, now available at Readers’ Books.

The French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley joined Manresa and Saison for the coveted three-star ratings, with no Sonoma Valley restaurants making the cut, and no restaurants in either valley rating two stars.

Sonoma Valley also didn’t make the one-star cut while Auberge du Soleil, Bouchon, La Toque, Solbar Wine, and Terra in the Napa Valley did. Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Madrona Manor, and Terrapin Creek each got a star in other parts of Sonoma County.

Santé at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa got three forks, while Café LaHaye, Della Santina’s, La Salette, fig café, The Kenwood, Yeti, and El Dorado Kitchen retained their two forks. Glen Ellen Star, Oso, and Harvest Moon Café each got one set.

Only Glen Ellen Star got the nod as a Bib Gourmand (two courses and a glass of wine for under $40), which that evaluation is possible for a pizza and soup, but a little out of date for entrées. Great food, though.

Again, one has to wonder how adventurous Michelin’s reviewers are, when they still haven’t found Olive & Vine, Glen Ellen Inn, Breakaway Café, the Red Grape, Shiso, Rocket, E-Saan, or Bangkok 9 restaurants.

H H H

Beltane Ranch welcomes guests to its Zinfandel Release Harvest Dinner & Barn Party on Saturday, Nov. 7 with winemaker Kevin Holt, the whole Beltane family, roping lessons with local cowboy Tony Knecht, hors d’oeuvres, estate wines, ranch-to-table dinner, dancing to Twang Ditty and Fireside desserts.

The food and wine are always great at Beltane, and the dinner in the barn is always a hoot featuring estate veggies and olive oil. $120. $98 wine club members. 5 to 9:30 p.m. 11775 Sonoma Hwy., Glen Ellen. Reserve at 833-4233, ext. 102, stay@beltaneranch.com or beltaneranch.com/zinrelease.html.

H H H

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that processed meats such as bacon, hot dogs, bacon, ham, bacon, sausages and bacon are bad for our health and can cause cancer. While this is not new news, it seems to rise in importance if it is an international warning. Vegetarians, and most of all of us, have known this for years.

Of course the pig farmers and producers of bacon and sausage and other processed meats try to convince everyone that there are health benefits to bacon. They claim it’s low in carbs and has lots of protein, selenium, phosphorus, and Niacin, plus choline which is supposed to help our brains.

Meanwhile, there are whole bacon cookbooks and bacon clubs, for better or for worse.

H H H

Harvey’s Gourmet Mini Donuts, which most of you know from the Tuesday night farmers market, is doing bang-up service and now has eight machines making mini donuts.

They recently served 24,000 little yummies at a Dreamforce event and cater for most of the biggest tech companies in the Bay Area, as well as for the San Francisco Symphony, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Macy’s and Salesforce. Watch for them to do something exciting for locals here in Sonoma.

H H H

The newish, delightful “British Baking Show” on PBS at 7 p.m. Sundays gives civic-minded souls pause and a big decision whether to watch “60 Minutes” or the amiable British baking contest.

American cooking contest shows are called “battles” and “wars” and involve almost combative strategies reminiscent of “Survivor” or “Amazing Race” in which competitors plot to mess up their rivals. In the much more civilized “British Baking Show,” judges constantly encourage and nudge, and contestants complement each other. A much different attitude that possibly reflects what’s going on politically in the two countries.

H H H

John and Deborah Emery staged a lovely event as part of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art’s “Great Places Great Spaces” intimate fundraising events. Both hosts gave tours of rooms and art pieces they have acquired on trips to many countries. The hits of the evening were tours of Deborah’s closet, happy music from Stephanie Ozer, and the surprisingly terrific Russian food-with-a-twist created by Lidia Vargas, sister of Anya Ushakova-Crain. Vargas retired as an HR executive, but her food was always the most popular in their family.

Other Sonoma residents who have lent their homes this year to lure the curious to contribute to the museum included Suzanne Brangham and Jack Lundgren, Diane and Stephen Bieneman, Penney Magrane and Joan Howley, Cathy and David Good, Barbara and Chris Montan, Marcelo Defreitas and Scott Smith, Dana Simpson-Stokes and Ken Stokes, Dorinda Parker and Bill Blosser, Diane and Todd Garrett and Yvonne Hall, Cynthia and Ken Warnick, and upcoming Karen and George Rathman, and Ronda and Brion Wise. Svma.org.

H H H

The large and local Dierkhising family threw a surprise belated birthday party recently for Mama San Madeline, our next door neighbor. While family members own several restaurants including Café Sarafornia and All Seasons and Hydro in Calistoga, Dierk’s Parkside and Midtown in Santa Rosa, they actually hired a portable pizza purveyor to cater so no one had to cook.

First they took Madeline to Brix in Yountville for lunch and timed their arrival at home on Patten Street with others’ arrivals. As they got closer and she saw balloons, Madeline thought our neighbor on the corner was having a party. Locals who made the event included dear friends Eliza Meyn, Chester and Francis Arnold, husband Drake’s commander from his first US Naval assignment, and their best friends from the late ‘60s when they lived in Spain. Sister Holly Briwa is head of development at the CIA in St. Helena while her husband is lead chef instructor there.

H H H

Plan ahead:

Sonoma’s Best will host a book signing and wine tasting on Thursday, Nov. 12 with Cathy Huyghe, a world wine forager who has written for Decanter, the Atlantic, the BBC, the Boston Globe, Washington Post and Wine Enthusiast. She has also worked in the kitchens of some famous chefs including Alice Waters and Thomas Keller, and will be arriving at Sonoma’s Best almost directly from a trip to Bulgaria.

Huyghe’s book, “Hungry for Wine: Seeing the World through the Lens of a Wine Glass,” includes the people, business and politics of the wine industry and has been favorably reviewed already by everything from NPR to Martha Stewart Living.

Eric Louis, Kopriva, Greggarious, Albini, Enkidu, Bedrock, and Canihan wines will be poured. Proceeds from additional wine purchases will be donated to the Valley Fire Relief Fund. $45 includes meeting Huyghe, a signed copy of her book, a glass of wine, and a $10 contribution to the Valley Fire Relief Fund. 6 p.m. Reserve by calling Laura at 996-7600, Ext. 5.

H H H

Nigella Lawson, the hottest tabloid television food star, will show up on Nov. 18 for a Book Passage dinner and presentation at the fun French-ish Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur, the same place where we enjoyed Jacques Pépin.

Lawson, best known for her sexy presentations while partially reclining on chaise lounges on television’s “The Taste,” brings her new book, “Simply Nigella.” There isn’t anything simple about Nigella, last in the news for her husband’s flaming divorce accusations.

The book includes 150 comfort food recipes to “help you feel good in body and mind and remove everyday stressors,” according to Book Passage. Look for breakfasts and brunches, one-pot meals, bowl foods, stir-fries, pastas, and even dairy-free and gluten-free recipes. $125 includes dinner and signed book. 6:30 p.m. Reserve at bookpassage.com or (415) 927-0960.

H H H

Happy and safe Halloween!

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.