Petaluma restaurants pitched in to feed evacuees

Local establishments rallied to the aid of those fleeing wildfires.|

As I watched a dozen volunteers scurry around the large commercial kitchen at Preferred Sonoma Caterers at the crack of dawn Sunday morning, I could not have felt more proud of the place I call home. I was there to interview owner Amber Balshaw, but it came as no surprise to see Amber Driscoll, owner of Speakeasy in Petaluma and Fog’s Kitchen in Inverness, and Carolyn Williams, former owner of Bovine Bakery also leading the charge.

When it comes to big hearts, great food and organizational skills, these three are stalwarts. However, most important to the current effort, and to the character of our town, is their unhesitating dedication to our community. It is the people that make Petaluma great.

“I’m ‘Amber a.m.’ and she is ‘Amber p.m.’” said Balshaw, referring to her normal early morning shift and Driscoll’s late night schedule.

With that, she immediately turned my attention to the names of people who she thought really deserved to be mentioned. This has been the going theme throughout this adventure – the deeper someone is involved, the more finger pointing they do in an effort to draw attention to others that they believe deserve the credit.

As Mike Barber, owner of Barber Cellars, pointed out almost immediately after evacuees began arriving, “it would be easier to make a list of Petaluma people and places that aren’t participating in the relief efforts.”

Balshaw immediately mentioned that the person who should really get credit is Ken O’Donnell of McNear’s, who along with son and Seared co-owner Joe O’Donnell, have been providing hot meals to evacuees since day one.

Driscoll said the real hero is Miriam Donaldson of Wishbone. Another volunteer in Balshaw’s kitchen makes a point to tell me that Mark Malicki, out at the Casino Bar & Grill in Bodega has been providing meals to industry folks and volunteers all week.

And Brian Tatko points to Maguire’s, across the street from his Jamison’s Roaring Donkey donation center site, and says they deserve a pat on the back for all their hard work.

The effort to feed evacuees, volunteers, and first responders was immediate on the Monday morning after the fires started, although admittedly it was a bit disorganized. As soon as the Lucchesi Center opened its doors, food and drink started flowing in from Don Panchos, Simmer, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and just about every coffee place in town. Others, like McNear’s, Nopalito and Quinua offered free meals at their restaurants in order to make the fire victims feel welcome.

Having grown quite fond of Juan Gutierrez, owner of Quinua Cucina Peruana, for all his efforts here in Petaluma, my mom and I volunteered to help him serve lunch on Tuesday. Only a few people trickled in for his free lunch, so we pulled up a seat and ordered up lunch for ourselves.

It was phenomenal, as always, and we took great pleasure in immediately supporting someone who was reacting straight from the heart for a community that he has only lived in a short time, but has quickly fallen in love with.

Food providers quickly realized that they needed to get the food to the shelters, because most of the evacuees were not venturing out. This is when the Ambers stepped in and started coordinating meals for all the shelters around town.

“Brewsters and I were about to provide food on the same night for the same shelter,” Balshaw said. “That’s when we realized we needed to organize food prep and delivery. The response has been incredible with locals like McNear’s, Wishbone, Sax’s Joint, Sauced, Cucina, Brewsters, Drawing Board, Pizza Politana/Lunchette, Sally Tomatoes and Paella Del Rey really stepping up.”

Other names in Balshaw’s spreadsheet include folks from as far away as San Francisco, and include BBQ Rescue, Uma Casa, Castagna, Assalina, Andytown, Little Windows, Kokkari, Oren’s Kitchen, Chef Trace and Bay Laurel. When I posted to the Petaluma Foodies group on Facebook, the list of food support grew even more massive, and included Sarah’s Eats and Sweets, Lombardi’s Deli, Michael’s Sourdough, Brixx, Della Fattoria, Mi Pueblo, Ray’s Deli, Rustic Bakery, Traxx, Volpi’s, 101 North, Lagunitas, Slamburger, El Roy’s and The Bodega - CA. Bellyfull Dinners canceled their regular delivery schedule so they could help with evacuation centers.

Balshaw credits on-site chefs, like Terry Velasco, owner of Velasco’s Mexican Catering, for keeping the fires burning in the kitchen at the Veteran’s Building, which means one less location her team had to prep food for.

Balshaw also showed me her walk-in cold storage, which was piled high with donations from Petaluma Poultry, Cowgirl Creamery, Clover, Daily Acts, Palace of Fruit, Petaluma Bounty, Open Field Farms, Two Rock Pastures, Santa Rosa Meat and Poultry, just to name a few donors.

“Only in Sonoma County are you going to get a donation of 500 pounds of grass-feed beef,” Balshaw said. “Bulk donations are best because those are the ones we can legitimately turn over to the Red Cross, once they arrive.”

Although thoughtful, donations of random household food items are not helpful when preparing meals for hundreds of people.

Petalumans are knowns to literally give you the shirt off their back, as fire victims found out when they visited Vici Moto Café for free coffee, pastries, and custom designed shirts, which is Vici’s other business. Sax’s Joint was another one of many locations collecting clothes, along with Jamison’s Roaring Donkey. JRD owner Brian Tatko said it best when he passed on something he overheard while running an around-the-clock donation center out of his bar.

“Whatever the disaster, just fly in a plane full of Petalumans and they’ll get the job done.”

Leland Fishman provide support behind the scenes.

“We couldn’t do this without the help that Fishman Supply has been giving us,” Balshaw said.

No doubt there is not a food preparer or evacuation center in town that has not benefited from Fishman’s generosity.

All of this was a small part of the food-related efforts to help the fire victims. There are plenty of other groups doing everything necessary to make sure evacuees want for nothing, including the Petaluma Active 20/30 Club getting school supplies for displaced children to Jamison’s Roaring Donkey making deliveries all the way up to Mendocino County, which has also been devastated by fires.

Sara Sass, owner of Boulevard Barbers, launched the Petaluma Proud Facebook page, in order to keep an ever-updated list of evacuation center needs, including volunteer shifts. Jennifer Pritchard has been an absolute inspiration, working around the clock to help organize relief efforts at the Petaluma Community Center while Elece Hempel is doing the same at Petaluma People Services.

The work that all these volunteers are doing, when they could easily turn their backs and simply go about their business, is a confirmation that Petaluma is truly unique. Even though many of these folks are not life-long Petalumans, they moved here and set up shop because they found a town that embraced and encouraged their ideals, and clearly they have returned the favor in spades.

Even after speaking with both Ambers, I am still not exactly sure how they, and all the other volunteers and donors are doing what they are doing. They start off at 6 a.m. prepping 250 meals, only to get a call just before 9 a.m. asking if they can bump that up to 450.

What I do know is that they saw a need and immediately filled it. When the scared and huddled masses flocked to Petaluma for sanctuary, they found solace, even when the rest of their lives were filled with uncertainty. Most telling of how connected our community is, when the Ambers, or Sara Sasses, or Brian Tatkos needed something, they simply tossed it out to the community and we filled in the gaps.

To help in this effort, we can support those businesses and restaurants that are lifting up our community. This means shopping local, whether that is buying supplies for Fishman Supply, heading out to enjoy a meal at one of our many locally owned restaurants, or using local caterers the next time you plan a party.

I write about people who truly inspire me to be better and who make me truly thankful to be where I am. Because I live for food, that is where I meet most of these people, and thankfully, I have a great venue to help promote them and their dreams. Just as Petaluman restaurants, caterers, food trucks, grocers, brewers and wineries give us way beyond simple sustenance, I implore Petalumans to do more than simply add these venues to your bucket list.

The list of “dine and donates” is likely to grow over the coming weeks and months, making for a great way for us to support our restaurateurs while they support our community and the victims of the fires. We have already dined at Twisted 2, where owners Dick and Julie Warner are donating a massive 40 percent of the check to the Redwood Empire Food Bank at least through this upcoming weekend.

If you have always wanted to try Twisted 2, this is as good a time as any. Other dine and donate options that I have seen so far include Pongo’s, Mary’s Pizza Shack, La Dolce Vita and Lunchette.

Get out there today and support those that are doing the heavy lifting. Whether it is a dine and donate, or simply visiting a restaurant that is making a difference during these trying times, every penny matters. Even just an extra date-night out per month or extra cup of coffee per week, when taken collectively, will mean that these Petaluma heroes will be willing, ready and able whenever Petaluma is called upon again.

And last, but certainly not least, thank everyone who is making a difference. These is no way to hold a thank you party to honor all those that have stepped up during this crisis, but I would venture to guess that none of them would ask for or expect one either. What keeps them going is that they know we have their backs.

This list is by no means complete, so please email me with any local businesses or restaurants that you see doing an incredible job to make sure that all those displaced by the fires feel more like our guests than evacuees.

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

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