Three Fat Guys offer tons of Halloween fun, and they’re not the only one. The upcoming holiday has something for everyone, for sure.
Pumpkin & Pinot: It all starts with Pumpkin & Pinot on Wednesday, Oct. 28, where you and the kids can carve pumpkins, enjoy pizza from the Red Grape, and have a glass of pinot noir while classic Halloween movies play in the background. After all this you can take photos with your pumpkin at their hay bale “selfie stations.” Reservations are required and you have to buy at least one pumpkin per child ($8 each) and one glass of pinot per adult ($12 each). Optional pizzas are $20 each. Chief “Fat Guy” Tony Moll, one of our newest volunteer firefighters and former Green Bay Packer, happens to be married to Megan Morphy Moll, daughter of Red Grape owners Sam and Carole Morphy.
Trick-or-Treat: Three Fat Guys’ wine drive-through turns into a sanitized Trick-or-Treat drive-through from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on our full moon Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31. Everyone is welcome to dress up in costumes or not. As Tony says, “Just pull up and have the kids give a good old fashioned trick-or-treat scream and we will come running out with candy.” Fat Pilgrim and Harvest Home next door will also give away candy.
The HalloWine Release Party will also be on Halloween itself for wine club members (it’s never too late to join) with wine tasting, a costume contest with a prize, and food prepared on site for purchase from Belfare Catering, Halloween music and lots of selfie opportunities.
No reservations are required for the Trick or Treat drive-through, but reservations are required for the other two events. Call 938-7211 or go to threefatguyswines.com/visits for more info and reservations. 20816 Broadway, Sonoma.
Forks up for Wit & Wisdom
For those of us who have wondered about the re-do and opening of Michael Mina’s Wit & Wisdom at the Lodge at Sonoma, I have heard nothing but raves about it, from the first night on.
I have not been there for a variety of reasons, but have heard from lots of friends from chefs to wine fans to travelers and local folks that it is very good.
Many people’s favorite seems to be the Dungeness crab and endive Caesar, which means leaves of Belgian endive leaves are filled with Dungeness crab with caper aioli ($18), and the duck-fat fried potatoes ($9). MFK Fisher and Paula Wolfert always extolled the benefits of duck fat over other fats. Thank heavens!
Having written about most of the rest of the dinner menu before, the new brunch menu is also interesting. It includes a green goddess salad, oatmeal, chia seed pudding, toasts with avocado, mushrooms or banana and blueberry; short rib pop tarts, duck wings, pizzas, burgers and lots of sides.
Then we get to egg dishes: crème brûlée French toast; Benedicts, leek and mushroom quiche, buttermilk pancakes with huckleberry jam, corn flake streusel and spiced maple syrup, two eggs with thick-cut bacon and duck fat potatoes, a scrambled egg sando, and King salmon with toasted farro and wild mushrooms ($14 to $29). Lots of cocktails and Michael Mina’s wife Diane Mina’s famous Bloody Marys ($12). Apparently she grows lots of organic vegetables on their West Marin farm and combines them carefully and creatively to form her special mixes. Brunch: Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner daily 5 to 10 p.m. Outdoor seating only now. 1325 Broadway, Sonoma. 931-3405.
Jack London Lodge brunch
Now the Jack London Lodge is calling its weekend brunch service “Alton,” where you might delight in a new brunch menu. Lots of locals and tourists have their favorites at the saloon from the salads to burgers and pizzas.
But on the weekends you can enjoy Alton’s housemade “everything bagel” with lox, country toast with housemade ricotta, preserved apricots and honey; a cheddar biscuit and egg with sausage; mushroom pâté with grilled toast; smoked pork belly hash; French toast with pear butter, pecans and whipped cream; or a big ol’ country breakfast with eggs, hash browns, toast and choice of bacon, sausage or sautéed mushrooms ($12 to $15).
Alton is also bringing bar food to the saloon daily from noon to 8 p.m. Brunch Saturdays and Sundays 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Great Creekside patio. 13740 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. 938-8510.
Has Palms Grill closed?
In the last couple of months Palms Grill, which has had a steady business with good basic food for a few years, set up tables outside their front door in the walkway to try to serve a few devotees and keep some staff working.
Now they appear to have shut down completely, even though there is a sign facing Verano Avenue saying the dining room is open.
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