New oyster bar coming to Petaluma

The Shuckery, a new oyster bar and seafood restaurant, is set to open very soon in the corner retail space at Washington and Kentucky streets in the Hotel Petaluma.|

Seafood fans rejoice. The Shuckery, a new oyster bar and seafood restaurant, is set to open very soon in the corner retail space at Washington and Kentucky streets in the Hotel Petaluma.

No strangers to coastal delicacies, sisters Jazmine and Aluxa Lalicker are the dynamic duo behind Oyster Girls, an oyster shucking catering company that has enamored guests of Bay Area wineries, weddings and parties for nearly a decade.

Last week, a select group of food writers were treated to a tasting preview at The Shuckery in anticipation of their participation in this year’s Taste of Petaluma. The early reviews are glowing, but you too can taste for yourself as The Shuckery is sure to be one of the highlights of this year’s Taste of Petaluma, scheduled for Aug 20.

In another encouraging sign that the sisters get what being local is all about, I ran into Jazmine at Barber Cellars - her future Hotel Petaluma neighbor - where Mike and Lorraine Barber are helping the Oyster Girls put together an appropriately local wine list for the new restaurant.

Bay Area fisherman harvest some of the best seafood in the world, and adding local libations to the menu not only advances the credibility and authenticity of a restaurant like The Shuckery, but takes the dining experience to a higher level.

Visit The Shuckery on Facebook for updates, as well as information about their current Kickstarter campaign, offering rewards such as Oyster Girls’ swag, artwork and delicious oysters at the new bar.

Petaluma Hills turns 2

Petaluma Hills Brewing Company pulled its first pint at its North McDowell Boulevard taproom two years ago. To celebrate, all customers who stop in for a brew from July 29 to July 31 will receive a limited edition 2nd anniversary pub glass.

Summer pruning

Many of us have planted fruit trees on a whim, hoping that someday, maybe, we’ll get an apricot or two that we can brag about having grown ourselves. But with our great weather and soil, at least on Petaluma’s west side, these trees prosper, growing faster and taller than we expected, often putting the fruit out of reach.

It doesn’t take long to realized that there is more to a healthy fruit tree than simply adding water. Pruning is an integral part of the process and not only leads to more rewarding harvests, even for the urban farmer, but also leads to healthier and better-looking tress.

This is where the SRJC Petaluma campus’ one-day, hands-on “Summer Pruning and Espalier” class comes into play. Instructor Ellen Solomon is a certified arborist, home orchard and garden consultant and successful four-season gardener, so she is more than qualified to guide home pruners, whether beginner, intermediate or expert, to update and enhance their skills.

The class is on Tuesday, Aug. 16, and at $74 is a real bargain compared to hiring someone to prune your trees year in and year out. Solomon’s motto is “tree-wise, water-wise, earth-wise,” and as the owner of NorthBayHorticulture.com, she is committed to learning about and teaching sustainable and regenerative practices that will help preserve our food resources.

Salad-bration continues

Once Suzanne Alexandre’s creative juices got flowing, she couldn’t stop at just one month of Free Range’s “Salad-bration,” and it will now continue into August. Offered only on Fridays, and in limited quantities (and with a home-made dessert), you will want to visit the Free Range Facebook page in order to reserve your salad for pickup between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Even this dyed-in-the-wool carnivore finds Alexandre’s salads so hearty and flavorful that I haven’t missed one yet.

Finishing out July, Free Range offers its flagship salad – the Silo & Sea. This salad was my downfall, and got me to give salads a second chance.

Simply put, it is spectacular, and if all salads tasted this good, I’d eat them regularly. Aug. 5 is the Haystack, Aug. 12 the SuperGrain, Aug. 19 the aptly named Butter & Eggs and Aug. 26 finishes out the month with the Harvest salad.

(Contact Houston Porter at houston@avant-larde.com.)

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