Local food community impacted by fires

Before the fires, an incredible weekend of great food, great people and fundraisers.|

I thought I was prepared for the drive up Highway 101 through Santa Rosa this past week, but nothing really compares to seeing things with your own eyes. Although I couldn’t see Coffey Park or the majority of Fountaingrove from the freeway, what little I could see was horrific and heartbreaking.

Due to road closures, I had to wait until Tuesday evening to attempt my regular trek to Mendocino for work. As I approached Bicentennial Way in northern Santa Rosa, traffic slowed, immersed in an unimaginable scene.

Guard rails curled like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. I imagined other drivers were in the same state of shock. I have driven through fire-ravaged areas before, but this was my own backyard. In the bizarre, confusing scene, iconic structures, like the historic Round Barn, no longer dotted the landscape.

I immediately thought of the many meals I’ve attended at the Steakhouse at Equus and a lunch meeting with one of my mentors at the Hilton’s Nectar Restaurant & Lounge, which was particularly pivotal to my career.

Of course, this got me to thinking about Petaluma, my hometown, and the incredible weekend I just had prior to the fires, which included a lot of great food, great people and fundraisers. What has been remarkable, yet not surprising, is that the zeal with which my fellow citizens strive to help others never wanes, even during a disaster like none we have seen before. We casually raise funds for all sorts of causes year-round, but when it comes time to act, I have seen nothing quite like the fervor with which Petalumans responded to the current crisis.

A weekend of crying, eating, drinking

The weekend prior to the fires started on Friday night at the Petaluma Woman’s Club. It was their annual Spaghetti Feed scholarship fundraiser, and after a successful stint a couple fundraisers ago as their auctioneer, I was invited back to cry the dessert auction.

The spaghetti was as good as ever, but it is always the company that makes these events so great. With communal tables, we always get a chance to meet new people, including many readers. Thank you for coming up and saying “hi.” I truly appreciate it.

Although tempted by all the homemade desserts, it wasn’t until I was handed a slip of paper stating “three gallons of lemon ice cream” that my interest was really piqued. Even after hearing oohs and aahs at announcing this was from Petaluma Creamery, nobody raised their hand to bid, likely in large part because they were intimidated by the challenge of fitting three gallons of ice cream into their freezer. I was the high bidder and walked out with a big tub of ice cream and an even bigger smile on my face.

Sonoma County Home Brew winner

The next day found us on the industry judging panel at the 2017 Sonoma County Home Brewers Competition. We were split into three groups, the IPA, the light and the dark beer judges. Not being a big fan of IPAs, I was relieved to be chosen as a dark beer judge. This year’s judging consists of searching out each brew on my assigned list, tasting them, and then rating them for things like clarity, aroma, flavor and whether they represented their particular style accurately.

Although not judging the same style of beers, my partner and I were lucky enough to team up with “Check Please! - Bay Area” host and Petaluma resident, Leslie Sbrocco. Tasting dozens of craft beers and enjoying lunch from the Bodega – CA and Rocky food trucks would have already made this a great day, so getting to visit with and learn from Leslie was an unexpected bonus, and a true honor.

She was so down to earth that it wasn’t until I overheard several people in line for food talking excitedly about having seen Leslie Sbrocco that I remembered just what a celebrity she is. She is yet again another great example of why we love Petaluma so much. The people here tend to be genuine, no matter what their walk of life.

For the third year in a row, the winner of the Home Brewers Competition was not an IPA, which puts a grin on my face. It is great to see plenty of people embracing beers other than the hop teas we call IPAs. This year’s winner certainly did a great job of creating a beer well within the style guidelines of what he was shooting for.

The Grand Prize winner was Cody Kay, whose Durstlosher was one of my favorite beers of the competition and surely would have garnered my vote had it been in my judging category. If I recall correctly, it was brewed as a Helles, which is a traditional German pale lager beer, particular to Munich.

We have been sampling a lot of Helles during Oktoberfest, and Cody’s was as good as I’ve tasted so far. We look forward to his collaborative brew with 101 North’s Joel Johnson. Fresh, mildly sweet, with low bitterness, I think that the Durstlosher is going to help introduce a lot of people to a European style of beer that they might not otherwise have tried.

I’m sure it will be a hit when it celebrates its release party at Taps Beer Co. & Kitchen around the beginning of the year, before rolling out to pubs around the North Bay.

Rock solid beer buy

Although I always prefer to buy local, I would be remiss if I failed to mention an excellent import beer I recently discovered at Groco, which is what my family calls the Petaluma Grocery Outlet. (When I was a kid, all but the “Groc” and the “O” were burnt out on the sign. Ever since, we have affectionately called it “Groco.”)

At just $4 per six-pack, Hacker-?Pschorr Original Oktoberfest is an excellent example of a German Amber Märzen. In fact, the Beer Judge Certificate Program lists this beer as one of the commercial examples of a Märzen, so clearly it is on point within that category.

For you hop tea folks, this might not be the beer for you, but then again, if you haven’t tried a Märzen, I recommend that you expand your horizons.

Mac n’ cheese

Last, but certainly not least, we volunteered at the Petaluma Animal Service’s Mac n’ Cheese Challenge fundraiser on Sunday, where I also ran a judging panel. Looking over the 15 vastly different mac n’ cheeses, we quickly realized this was going to be harder than we thought.

We all picked what appeared to be the most plain looking one to taste first, figuring it would easily rule itself out as a top contender. As luck would have it, not only could we not push it aside, but in the end it received top honors, earning the Judges’ Award for best mac n’ cheese.

So, whose mac n’ cheese was it? None other than Crocodile restaurant. Celebrating their one year anniversary since opening up on the corner of 2nd and C streets in Petaluma’s Theater Square, the breadth and depth of cheese flavors was sophisticated in its simplicity.

An extremely close runner-up for the Judges’ Award was Petaluma’s own Chef Brenda of Trade Secret, who was able to fit this competition in between her travels teaching about food. She says she will always do this competition because she loves the cause and loves the vibe, so we hope to see her again next year with yet another creative mac n’ cheese.

The People’s Choice for first place was an excellent green pepper mac n’ cheese created by Joe Garcia of the Petaluma Police Department, with privateer Johnny Marrs taking second place and Sarah’s Eats & Sweets taking third. But all 15 mac n’ cheeses were worthy of recognition.

As a reminder, the Petaluma Animal Shelter is still accepting donations of all pet-related items, from food to toys to beds, as it is housing a lot of pets displaced by the fires.

Cancellations

Double-check your upcoming events because many are being canceled due to smoke and fire. A couple of biggies include the cancellation of the Rohnert Park’s Funkendank Oktoberfest beer and music festival and the Lagunitas Beer Circus, both of which were slated for Saturday, Oct. 21. Lagunitas has asked to donate ticket purchases to local fire relief efforts for those that can afford to go without their refund.

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

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.