Kathleen Hill: El Molino decorations, FFA dinner and Shanghai history

Food news from around the Valley.|

Big Black Cat at El Molino

Lots of locals and travelers noticed the big black cat looming over El Molino Central in the Springs for the last week. What the heck?

Karin Waikiki, owner of El Molino, explains it simply.

'It's a Halloween decoration!'

She and artist Mark Marthaler saw an old Halloween black cat in the window of Bob Parmelee's former law office and rug collection in the Place des Pyranées alley across from the side of the Basque Boulangerie & Café.

'It spawned from there. I thought a big cat crawling down the front of El Molino would be good. Mark's middle drawing won out.' Marthaler also designs El Molino's T-shirts.

Waikiki said, 'I've known Mark since he was a busboy at La Casa and I was a cook there. He's like having an art genie to fulfill all your concepts.'

Ag and FFA barbecue rescheduled

Due to PG&E's power shutoff, the original fun and delicious fundraiser for Sonoma Valley High School Agriculture (Ag) and Future Farmers of America (FFA) programs that was supposed to be on Denmark Street, had to be postponed and relocated.

Instead it will take place Nov. 9 and welcome all future, current or wish-we-were farmers to the barn at Donnell Ranch on Stage Gulch Road. Those who have tickets, keep them and bring them along. Tickets are available at sonomaagriculture@gmail.com.

We will need farmers even more in the future. And, thankfully, we have high school students in Sonoma who want to work in agriculture. Many of them live on farms, work on family farms, grow animals, vineyards and vegetables on Sonoma Valley High School's farm, or wish they did.

Pat Stornetta, Wendy Swanson, and the rest of the Sonoma Valley Foundation for Agriculture are putting on this 11th annual fundraiser to support our High School AgriTechnology Academy projects.

Train Wreck Junction will play for the Nov. 9 dinner and auction. After oysters, FFA pork sausages as appetizers and wine, of course, Lombardi's of Petaluma will grill tri-tip and chicken and serve salad, pasta and French bread. High school vineyard wine will be served, and students will make the desserts to be auctioned. $50 to $1,000. 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. 4499 Stage Gulch Road, Sonoma. Tickets via Eventbrite.com or sonomaagriculture@gmail.com.

Golden State salmon coming to Viansa

This year the Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA) will hold its annual salmon banquet at Viansa Winey honoring biodynamic cannabis farmer Erich Pearson on Saturday, Nov. 16. Yes, you read it right.

What do salmon and pot (not a cooking implement) have in common?

Pearson is the founder of Sparc Farm at Gordenker Ranch in Glen Ellen. Sparc grows biodynamic cannabis. But he is a 'salmon supporter,' according to press materials about the event.

According to the press release, Pearson's 'water practices in Sonoma Valley are acknowledged as helping to keep the local watershed sustainable and clean.'

GSSA has also honored other local water stewards such as Sam Sebastiani, Mike Benziger, Phil Coturri, Grant Davis and the Mulas family at other banquets.

Ted Wilson of the William Tell House in Tomales will prepare a salmon entrée for the event – a remarkable treat because a few years ago at one of these dinners the salmon fishers wanted beef for a change.

John McManus, president of GSSA, said they must 'continue to fight salmon battles including government water and environmental roll-backs and ocean health while keeping salmon fishing families on the water and salmon on Californians' plates.'

The salmon group's press release continues: 'The California salmon industry is valued at $1.4 billion in economic activity annually in a normal season, and about half that much in economic activity and jobs in Oregon.

'The industry employs tens of thousands of people from Santa Barbara to northern Oregon. This is a huge economic bloc made up of commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen (fresh and salt water), fish processors, marinas, coastal communities, equipment manufacturers, the hotel and food industry, tribes, and the salmon fishing industry at large.' $125. 5 p.m. 25200 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. Tickets at Eventbrite.com.

New hours at 428 Kitchen and Warehouse

Kitchen 428 and its neighbor, Warehouse consignment, at 196124 on Eighth St. E., have both adjusted their hours.

Robyn Schultz, owner of 428 Kitchen, which sells gently used kitchenware and takeout dishes, cooks her food at the Sonoma Community Center kitchen and brings it to her shop next to her mother Jackie's consignment shop, Warehouse.

Both stores have increased their hours and are now open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

But Robyn Schultz's 428 Kitchen food availability hours have changed slightly because of outside catering opportunities. She continues to offer prepared food Thursdays through Saturdays, as always. But she will bring in flatbreads only Friday and Saturday, and can sell her frozen food products daily, Monday through Saturday.

Get on their e-blast list to learn of weekly specials. Don't miss the fun of 'dining' at the picnic table under the tree in the parking lot. Text or phone 980-1097 for the warehouse or 695-9864 for 428 Kitchen.

Shanghai Restaurant's long local history

We all have our favorite restaurants, but the sudden closing of the Shanghai Restaurant earlier this month caught a lot of fans and regulars off guard. They didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

And the Ling family, who opened it more than 40 years ago in 1978, seem to feel the same way.

Jackie Ling's paternal grandfather, Hsien Hsin Ling, came to Sonoma from Hong Kong with the help of Admiral Charles M. Cooke who employed Hsien as a jack of all trades, suit presser and cook. Hsien continued at this job when the Edmond Coblentz family took over the house that is known as the Temelec mansion that long served as a clubhouse. At age 92, Hsien can still admire his handiwork in the building.

In 1972, he was able to bring his wife Kay and son Jimmy – Jackie's father -- to Sonoma, having maximized his carpentry and entrepreneurial skills to buy old houses, fix them up, and sell them, wisely saving and reinvesting in more property.

Jimmy and wife Jully (Jackie and his sister Lisa's mother) opened the Shanghai in 1978 at 136 W. Napa St. Until then, the only Chinese food available was cooked by Freddie Wing and his wife at the Swiss Hotel.

The Shanghai opening was possibly the most splendiferous of any restaurant debut in Sonoma, thanks to grandmother Kay and her father, Pan Wan Ip, who had immigrated to Paris and had a successful restaurant in the City of Lights. Ip brought experience, elegance, Chinese lanterns, candles and more recipes. Previously the location had been Old Healthy's health food store.

More of Shanghai's history to come next Friday.

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