Kathleen Hill: Celebrating my first 400 columns; wanton for wontons...

Wow. This is my 400th column for the Sonoma Index-Tribune. That comes to upwards of a million words in seven or eight years.|

Wow. This is my 400th column for the Sonoma Index-Tribune. That comes to upwards of a million words in seven or eight years.

Bib Gourmand taps ?Glen Ellen Star again

While the full 2017 Michelin Guide to San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country wasn’t released until Tuesday after my deadline, they did leak their Bib Gourmand nods.

To Michelin, Bib Gourmand represents their “favorites for good value. For $40 or less, you can enjoy two courses and a glass of wine or a dessert (not including tax or gratuity).” It’s hard to imagine two courses and a glass of wine under $40 per person almost anywhere here. Maybe Mary’s Pizza Shack, which happens to serve full glasses of wine.

Only Ari Weisswasser’s Glen Ellen Star fit the bill this year, as was true last year as well. Checking his menu on Glen Ellen Star’s website, no prices are listed, including for wine, although there is a $20 corkage fee. “Neighborhood Nights,” a concept he borrowed from Catherine Venturini when she closed Olive & Vine in Jack London Village, include two courses for $30, with wine extra.

Bravas, Shed and Chalkboard in Healdsburg; Ramin Gaijin in Sebastopol; Risibisi in Petaluma; Monti’s Rotisserie in Santa Rosa; and Diavola in Geyserville made it from this side of the Sonoma-Napa border. Cook, Farmstead and Two Birds/One Stone in St. Helena; and Grace’s Table and Oenotri all made it on the Napa side of the fault line.

Lots of restaurants around the Wine Country won any Michelin stars this year, but the French Laundry and Meadowood in Napa Valley each got three stars.

Single stars went to Auberge du Soleil, Bouchon, La Toque and Terra in the Napa Valley, as did Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant and Madrona Manor in Sonoma County.

Here is what it costs to dine at Bay Area three-star restaurants, as judged by Michelin:

Quince is the cheapest San Francisco three star restaurant with the full tasting at just $283 per person after tax and tip with a more affordable option offered weeknights. Dinner at Manresa costs at $303. The French Laundry starts at $337, and Meadowood costs $359. These prices are before wine.

Olive & Vine – Crush update

For all of us chomping at the bit to race to Catherine Venturini and John Burdick’s new Crush Roadhouse replacing Kenwood Restaurant in Kenwood, idle your engines for a couple of months, to mix metaphors.

Now that they are into their new location and starting to work on painting, ordering new chairs, and much more, they are now predicting their opening for January. See you there and then. Will keep you posted.

Fall kitchen and ?other garden advice

Sonoma Mission Gardens’ Lydia Constantini offers lots of fall garden advice that includes fall and winter vegetable garden information.

For fall and winter gardens, Lydia recommends planting onions, garlic, shallots and garlic bulbs, all in stock.

If you are not into planting seeds inside or out, ready-to-plant starters are available in kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, peas, radishes, carrots, parsnips, turnips and most lettuce and leafy crops.

SMG also recommends planting cover crops now to replenish your soil and even enjoy some wild-looking flowers. Plant fava beans, which draw nitrogen from the air into the soil, mustard, or vetch for soil health.

For fun prettiness, scatter California poppies (our state flower), and wildflower mixes that include Sonoma honey bee attractant, deer resistants and more.

How about planting a bare root fruit tree if you are thinking of a new tree. Plant it in front, side, back and share the fruit of its labors. SMG will have bare root roses and fruit trees in January, and now has berries and other fruits. Pre-order now and get a 20 percent discount.

Wowee Wonton

On a lark recently I went back to the Golden Spring restaurant in the same strip mall as Palms Grill and ordered their vegetable wonton soup. Actually, vegetable won ton soup isn’t on the menu, but I asked for it anyway. It was so light and lovely, with no MSG, that I returned on rainy Monday to get some more to take home. Equally good, especially with a little added hot mustard (careful), which they will give you if you ask. Wonton soup is not vegetarian because there is pork in the wonton. Golden Spring offers 12 soups including sizzling rice or egg flower soup, seaweed and bean cake soup, veggie bean cake soup and others with pork, beef or chicken, plus four noodle soups from veggie to barbecue pork (all under $9 and shareable). Open Monday to Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9:30 p.m. 18991 Highway 12, Sonoma. 938-1275.

Dive Walk Café ?adds new dishes

Apparently Dive Walk Café has started to serve a vermicelli with Asian-style barbecue pork and chicken on it. Robert Arnold, whose Chandelle Winery office is in the same building (formerly Nicholas Turkey’s offices), said it smelled fabulous.

Here is co-owner Marc Sloop’s response to my enquiry about the vermicelli:

“We’ve added a new Vietnamese dish called Bún which comes in a bowl with shredded lettuce, rice vermicelli, grilled lemongrass beef, grilled five-spice chicken and grilled garlic shrimp garnished with pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, mint and peanuts, served with Nuoc Cham – a chili garlic fish sauce dressing. $11.”

Dive Walk also now serves a new Sunday hit of French toast at $6.50.

Sonoma Market loss

While many of us miss some of the checkers and staff we got to know at Sonoma Market, the whole staff has mourned the loss of Donna Avila, who passed away last week. She was the sort of Swedish looking woman with a long braid who often worked one of the quickie computers at what I used to call the concierge desk just to the right of the door where Arlene used to work. Donna was a real in-control manager and dog lover who also seemed to have a smile and a heart of gold. RIP, Donna.

Meanwhile, manager Al Minero is recovering nicely from a little surgery. You know, surgery is always “little” when it’s someone else’s. We look forward to seeing Al back soon.

San Francisco ?Williams-Sonoma aftermath

I had a fabulous time on a recent Saturday at Williams-Sonoma’s flagship San Francisco Union Square store having been invited to make a presentation on the history of Williams-Sonoma to celebrate the chain’s 60th anniversary and what would have been founder Chuck Williams’ 101st birthday. Store chefs made Chuck Williams’ Glen Ellen Potato Pancakes, madeleines, and a red, white and blue molded Jell-O salad, all to represent the 1950s with recipes available in his “Merchant of Sonoma” biography. Well, not the Jell-O salad.

I tried to get executive chef Samantha Petty to make a period perfect tuna casserole, but instead she gave me a somewhat aged tuna casserole kit in a slightly dusty box that Nancy Lang found on the sale rack. Tuna casserole kit?

It was an honor to have been invited to tell the Williams-Sonoma story, and am equally proud to be asked to come back. Starting early next year I will be doing bits on the utensils, history and recipes of each decade of the last century.

First and only floor party

Michael Muscardini and Kate Eilertson threw a “First Floor and Only Floor” party at their Jeff Zimmerman-designed house under construction in the George Ranch hills amid drizzle and few walls. Tips Tri-Tips sent one of its trolleys up the winding drive to feed the crowd cubed beef, mac ’n’ cheese, raw veggies, wines and apple juice, which were enjoyed by loads of artists, architects, arts supporters, winemakers and others, all huddled near a fireplace in the center of the big open (no walls) room. Great fun.

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