Kathleen Hill: Easter specials, a seder lesson and more

Easter Bunny is on his and her way

Every year it dawns on us that rabbits don't actually lay eggs.

So how did we get into dying, hiding, errr finding, Easter eggs on Easter Sunday, this year April 21?

According to history.com: 'You won't find them in the Bible, but many cherished Easter traditions have been around for centuries. The most prominent secular symbol of this Christian holiday, the Easter bunny, reportedly was introduced to America by German immigrants who brought over their stories of an egg-laying hare. The decoration of eggs is believed to date back to at least the 13th century.'

Pagan history tells us that a goddess consorted with a hare sometime after Christianity banned eating eggs during Lent, since the egg was then a symbol of fertility. And we all know rabbits are prolific reproducers. Easter became a popular celebration of being able to eat eggs again.

Scattering and gobbling of Easter candy was created and promoted by American candy companies on the basis that candy eggs resemble real eggs. Retail and sugar win again.

But still, it is chickens who lay eggs, and especially good local ones.

Should you wish to go out to enjoy fertile or unfertile eggs or other treats, here are enticements some local restaurants will be serving on Easter Sunday. Make reservations as soon as possible.

From south to north through Sonoma Valley, here we go hopping through the offerings.

El Dorado Kitchen

Multiple choice prix fixe Easter Brunch menu offers a wide range of starters from yogurt parfait with granola and berries, to ceviche, roasted asparagus salad, smoked pork belly and Alaskan shrimp cocktail.

Main course selections may include smoked salmon Benedict, brioche French toast, huevos rancheros, crab salad, petrale sole, beef short ribs and mushroom risotto with spinach, asparagus and truffle oil. Dessert features tres leches cake with lemon curd and strawberries, profiteroles, and house made sorbet. $60 adults, $25 kids 10 and under. 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. 405 First St. W., Sonoma. 996-3030.

Depot Hotel Restaurant

Guests will be welcomed with a glass of champagne, a mimosa, or a glass of fresh orange juice.

The first course brings choices of berries with Jersey cow ricotta or Belgian endive and watercress salad with Marcona almonds and Laura Chenel goat cheese. The entrée course choices will be boneless beef short-rib hash, Dungeness crab cannelloni, poached filet of salmon, eggs Benedict or spinach ravioli. For dessert good luck on deciding between their tiramisu, sour cream cheesecake with passion fruit, limocello cake with mango coulis or chocolate ganache cake with Valrhona Manjari chocolate and candied orange. Regular dinner menu from 5 p.m. $45 for adults and teens, $22 kids age 5 to 11 years. 241 First St. W., Sonoma. 938-2980.

Ramekins

Large buffet with various 'stations' that will include buttermilk waffles, omelets made to order, and shellfish, called the 'Pacific Coast Station.' The carving station will offer Snake River Farm Kurobuta pork and prime rib. Enjoy a kale and roasted beet salad with chevre yogurt, as well as mini bagels, biscuits and gravy, bacon and chicken apple sausages, fruit and granola, and potato hash with asparagus and English peas.

Lots of mini desserts such as French macarons, pain au chocolat, and apple turnovers. Wine and cocktails for sale. $69 adults, $25 kids 6 to 12. Seatings at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. 450 W. Spain St., Sonoma. Reservations at ramekins.com.

Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn

For a change from its enormous buffets, Santé Restaurant will serve this Easter meal 'family style,' meaning platters of food on your table. First comes cheese and charcuterie and duck liver mousse, followed by a trio of deviled eggs, white asparagus with morels, green salad, and a vegetable fricassee with rabbit.

Third course entails roasted and stuffed leg of lamb, prime rib, whole petrale sole, mashed potatoes, roasted and grilled vegetables, and assorted sauces and condiments.

And then a giant dessert buffet with everything from passion fruit crème brûlée, dark chocolate mousse, strawberry compote with rhubarb, grasshopper cheesecake, carrot cake torte, Key Lime chouquettes, white and dark chocolate dipped strawberries, and pâté de fruit, among others. Brunch $85 adults, $42 children 5 to 12, free for kids 4 and under. Noon to 4 p.m. 100 Boyes Blvd., Sonoma. 938-9000.

Salt & Stone

Fresh fruit and coffee cake will be served to each table as you arrive. Entrée choices include three Benedicts including classic with prosciutto, Dungeness crab with spinach and tomato, veggie and tomato with avocado and spinach, all on English muffins with Hollandaise sauce and potatoes.

Other entrées will be malted waffles, three eggs with choice of bavette steak or smoked bacon, Dungeness crab omelet with tomato, spinach, and goat cheese, quiche with salad greens, duck confit Cobb salad, Shanghai chicken salad, Bay shrimp Louie salad, a lamb burger, or steak frites, with juice, coffee, or tea. $35. 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 9900 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood. 833-6326.

Tips Roadside

All you can eat brunch served 'family style' featuring grilled tri-tip, fried chicken, shrimp and grits and scrambled eggs. All this is served with sides of Brussels sprouts and root vegetable hash, house-made bacon, and house-made biscuits. Finish it off with their fabulous beignets. Juice, coffee and tea included. $34 adults, $17 ages 6 to 12, kids 5 and under free. 8445 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood. 509-0078.

Tailwags & Handbags luncheon update

The almost sold-out Tailwags & Handbags fundraiser luncheon for Pets Lifeline on April 26 has added a 'shocking' feature that includes invitations to men, just in case they want to purchase some fun handbags at Buena Vista Winery.

The Girl & the Fig will cater a menu of grilled asparagus salad with crispy quinoa, pan-seared chicken with artichokes, baby carrots, radishes and spring onions or a vegetarian entrée of crispy panisse cake of chard, toasted almonds, and chickpea purée. Strawberry tartine with pine nut crust and Grand Marnier cream, with a vegan alternative of olive oil pine nut shortbread with macerated Balsamic strawberries.

This year PLL board member Deborah Emery is organizing a fashion show during lunch featuring such models as Gary Nelson, Carolyn Stone, John Gurney and Cate Humphries modeling clothing from Helen Lyall and Scott Lyall for men. $95 on up. Tickets at 996-4577, ext. 110 or petslifeline.org.

Seder lesson in SVHS culinary classes

Leah and Rabbi Steve Schein excited Sonoma Valley High School culinary students last week by teaching them to make 'perfect' matzah, as well as a Passover and kosher meal. Everyone made traditional matzah as well as seeded matzah. While the product was not actually kosher, they did use only organic flour, filtered water, unbleached white flour, organic sesame seeds, local olive oil, and kosher salt and pepper. They worked in a clean environment and made every effort to mix and bake their matzah in under 18 minutes to ensure it is truly unleavened bread.

Matzah looks and tastes like crackers and has a slightly addictive flavor to some. To support culinary classes, you can order a box of six crackers for $10 to pick up either Thursday at the Shir Shalom office or at the Passover Seder on Saturday, April 20. Contact Tricia,shirshalom@gmail.com quickly to order. (SVHS students call their matzah 'Sonomatzah,' of course.)