Kathleen Hill: La Hacienda opens, lobster sale and another brunch
La Hacienda Mexican Grill opens
Run, don't walk. But not all at once.
If you enjoy the food at what we have known as La Hacienda Taqueria or Bar & Grill in the Springs, you will love the new La Hacienda Mexican Grill on Fifth Street West in Sonoma.
Gone are the sticky chairs and tables of Pearl's Diner. With huge investment, the entire restaurant space is new, from floor to kitchen to ceiling, including new walk-ins, beautiful hand-carved wooden chairs with comfy cushions, tasteful tables, large paintings and a wall decoration with the logo painted on a Chevy hood.
Just opened this Tuesday, the new restaurant is owned by Maria and Juan Sahagun of La Hacienda, Beronica Perez and Carlos Rubio of Maya, and Juan Valdivia, and the food seems even better than the Springs location.
Chefs Joaquin Arevalos, Ricardo Sahagun and Jose Fernandez whip up the best of everything from the La Hacienda menu, plus some. This menu is only two pages, with a short wine list from Mark Lyon's Eco Terreno winery and the Robledos.
Lots of appetizers from super nachos to guacamole and Mexican pizza, sides, tortilla and meatball soups, tacos with seven meat choices or fish and shrimp, seven burritos from regular to macho prawn and chile verde, and many choices of seafood as interesting as Mariscos Jarochos with sautéed prawns, octopus, scallops crab legs, fish and green mussels, their seven fishes with broth, and large seafood cocktails.
Check out both sides of the menu for specialties from arroz con camarones to carne asada platters. Save room for Maria's flan and arroz con leche, a rice pudding with cinnamon dust. Mexican sodas and beer available. ($3.25 to $24.99.)
Breakfast is also available. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 561 Fifth St. W., Sonoma. 996-1783.
Soroptimist lobster sale deadline
Every year Soroptimist International of Sonoma Valley takes orders and sells 1.5-pound lobsters flown fresh from Maine as their annual big fundraiser. You can get yours either live or cooked but you have to order by Sept. 26.
You pick it up between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at 670 W. Napa St., Sonoma in rear of building.
According to Cynthia Morris of Soroptimists, Tickets are $26 each for either a live or freshly cooked lobster. The lobsters are caught early on the day of delivery off the coast of Maine, shipped live to the vendor at SFO, and if they are cooked, they are cooked at the SFO vendor's site.
Orders need to be pre-paid; call Cynthia Morris at 939-1602 or Juliette Andrews at 338-1874.
Feeding your worms?
Super organic backyard farmer Barbara Heiman has created a hand-written chart of what to feed your garden worms to make them happy. Those worms should be in the ground, not in anyone's intestine.
According to the chart, worms love fruit (no citrus), vegetables, egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds and leaves. Do not feed meat, dairy, fats or oils, plastic, metal or bones.
Trouble is, raccoons and other creatures seem to like the same foods.
New weekend brunch at Santé
With dine-in breakfast and brunch opportunities having dwindled in Sonoma Valley, there's a new brunch in town on weekends at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn's Santé restaurant.
The Dutch Baby looks like the best around, while chef Marcellus Coleman offers fried green tomatoes and a Sonoma duck confit hash and divine brunch burger. I can attest that Coleman's burger at lunch by the pool is possibly the best anywhere.
Guests can start off with Mamma's warm banana bread for the table ($8).
These aren't just Fanny Flagg's fried green tomatoes. These come with Dungeness crab and remoulade. Other selections include lemon cottage cheese pancakes with crème fraiche, caramelized brioche French toast with Bananas Foster and maple syrup, a healthy California scramble, Jalisco chilaquiles, eggs Benedict where you can substitute Dungeness crab for Canadian bacon, huevos rancheros, an omelet of three egg whites, kale Caesar salad, avocado toast and steak frites. ($14 to$35.)
And for $9, you can add sides of thick-cut bacon, chorizo sausage, duck-fat fried potatoes, a roasted Maitake mushroom steak, corn soup with lobster and mushrooms, or double smoked bacon. Saturdays and Sundays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Regular breakfast menu served Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Other restaurants serving breakfast or brunch on weekends include the Girl & the Fig and El Dorado Kitchen; and daily at Picazo Kitchen, Palm's Grill, Black Bear Diner, Picazo Café , Sunflower Caffé, Garden Court Café in Glen Ellen, and Tips Roadside and Salt &Stone in Kenwood.
Sonoma agriculture students shine at fairs
Sonoma Valley 4-H and Sonoma Valley High School FFA joined together to create a prize-winning garden at this summer's Sonoma County Fair.
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