Kathleen Hill: Bastille Day and other reasons to live the good life
Happy Friday the 13th!
Don't hide under your pillow today. Instead, make Friday the 13th your good luck best day, like Marcy Smothers says Walt Disney did. Check out his theory of the number 13 in her book, 'Eat Like Walt,' in which she tells the history of Disneyland food and restaurants.
Bastille Day in Sonoma
Chefs Liz Payne and Sarah Pinkin will celebrate their first Bastille Day, Saturday, July 14, at their Frenchie Picnics & Provisions take-out food shop on Broadway. In addition to their other food to go, including the closest thing to real French baguette sandwiches in town, they have added a BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) sandwich on sliced levain bread and an heirloom caprese salad. Plus they just got their beer and wine license.
Join in the celebration with sips of sparkling wine, snacks, a balloon animal artist, and madeleine cookies. 3 to 5 p.m., 521 Broadway, Sonoma. 343-7559. Frenchiesonoma.com.
Sarah Anderson's Chateau Sonoma hosts a Bastille Day FĂȘte on Saturday, July 14, with champagne and macarons (not macaroons) and Piaf-like music from French chanteuse Arabelle. 1 to 4 p.m. 23588 Arnold Dr., Sonoma. 935-8553.
Carneros Wine Alliance hosts winetasting & Cornhole Tournament
The Carneros Wine Alliance will host its second annual Cornhole Tournament & Wine Tasting on Saturday, Aug. 11 (note new date), probably having nothing to do with Bastille Day. The whole thing takes place at ZD Wines' Private Carneros Estate on Cuttings Wharf Road, technically in Napa.
It all starts with a walk-around wine tasting of Saintsbury, Artesa, Etude, Liana Estates (Peju daughters), ZD Wines, Bouchaine and Schug Carneros Estate wines, plus small bites. Then comes the cheering for a community cornhole tournament with proceeds going to the Carneros and Schell-Vista fire departments. $40. 4 to 6 p.m. 1080 Cuttings Wharf Rd., Napa. Carneros.com.
Oyster Girls' shucking workshop
Don't say it too quickly, but you can attend the famous Oyster Girls of Petaluma Oyster shucking workshop on Saturday, July 14, at Abbot's Passage in the downtown Red Barn. Aluxa Lalicker will lead the hands-on oyster workshop where guests will learn about oyster farming with a shucking demo and instruction, then get a dozen oysters to shuck and swallow with a glass of Katie's 2017 Sightline Chenin Blanc and Verdejo field blend. $85, or $76 for Gundlach Bundschu wine club members. Sign up at abbotspassage.com.
Reminder: Schell-Vista Chicken BBQ
We all needed all of our firefighters during the October fires, and someone among us needs them every day for all sorts of services. Locals from throughout the Sonoma Valley loyally support all of the fundraising barbecues and pancake breakfasts, especially those of the fire departments that specifically worked to save their neighborhoods.
For this Sunday, July 15, locally-owned Broadway Market passes on its best prices for barbecue chicken, served with beans, salad and Basque Boulangerie rolls. You can go for lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner, or ask for foil and take the whole caboodle home. Fun for kids with games and fire engines, silent auction and lots of beverages of all sorts. $15 at the door. Noon to 6 p.m. 22950 Broadway, Sonoma. 938-2633. P.S. Kudos to Anna Nobles for coming home and stepping into Broadway Market management to keep it local.
Katie Bundschu expands Abbot's Passage
As a multi-generational member and heir of the Gundlach and Bundschu families' traditions, Katie Bundschu has caught the winemaking bug. She says, 'Drawing on my family's knowledge of every peak and valley in Sonoma, the vision behind Abbot's Passage is to highlight storied vineyards from which to make distinctive field blends firmly rooted in place.'
They've just released their 2017 Sightline Chenin Blanc x Verdejo blend from the alluvial soils flanking the Sacramento Delta in Clarksburg â California's newest AVA for chenin blanc.
Says Katie: 'We also just received our fifth 91 point score⊠on our 2014 Points Unknown Rhone field blend from Steel Plow Vineyard at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in Sonoma.'
Check them out at Katie's Abbot's Passage shop in the Red Barn off Broadway and Napa Street.
One door closes, another door opens
As you read here a couple of weeks ago, Pearl's Diner also closed rather abruptly on a recent Sunday. I commented that two sources had told me it was going to be a Mexican restaurant and an offspring of Maya on Sonoma Plaza.
This is why I always double check rumors, even if they come from good friends. The Mexican restaurant part was correct, but the Maya part was not.
La Hacienda Taqueria Bar & Grill will be going in, but not for three to four months from now, according to owner Juan Sahagun. He envisions a shorter menu than he offers at La Hacienda on Sonoma Highway with lots of organic and more healthy ingredients, seating with the same colorful furniture he has at La Hacienda, and lots of convenient to-go offerings.
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