Food event promotes Petaluma artisan makers

The Holiday Food and Fun Fair is today in the lobby and ballroom of the Hotel Petaluma.|

This holiday season, in the wake of the recent fires, it is more important than ever that we stick together and shop local to support our businesses. A good holiday season really could be the difference between making it or breaking it for many of our local shops, especially as they continue to be plagued by a sharp decline in tourism.

As Lorraine Barber of Barber Cellars kept hearing more and more stories of friends in the wine industry losing their jobs due to the fire, she wanted to do something to help, so she approached friend and fellow business owner Leslie Goodrich of LaLa’s Jam Bar about creating a local holiday shopping event in order to help highlight local producers.

With the help of Hotel Petaluma, this Holiday Food and Fun Fair will be held on Monday, Nov. 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the lobby and ballroom of the Hotel Petaluma, and is free to all. Local merchants will be sampling and selling their products while piano music and the warmth from the fireplace help ring in the holiday season.

Instead of waiting until the last minute and then relying on Amazon to fill your holiday gift orders, this local fair will help you get your shopping done early, and all while supporting local businesses. Sure, it might cost a little more than shopping online, but we all are really going to need to step up in order to make sure local businesses survive the economic uncertainty brought on by the fires.

The following local vendors will be in attendance: Barber Cellars, LaLa’s Jams, F.A. Nino’s, Kiss the Flower Honey, Zoe’s Meats, Dacheva Cheese, Farm Chocolate, Thistle Meats, Marin French/Laura Chenel Cheese, Petaluma Coffee & Tea, The Shuckery, The Drawing Board, Spring Hill Cheese, O Organic Oils/Vinegars, Bump City Bakery, Clover Creamery, and Petaluma Toffee Co. For the most current list of participants, visit 2017petalumaholidayfoodfair.eventbrite.com.

Water Street eats

Seared: With a gift certificate in hand, we recently dined at Seared and were again blown away by Chef Joe O’Donnel’s creations. We had the Flannery Beef Filet Mignon, the Beeman Ranch Wagyu Ribeye, and the Stemple Creek Grass-fed Cheeseburger, plus Brown Butter Cake for dessert, along with a couple glasses of wine and a cocktail from the bar.

Chef Joe was nice enough to make us some sort of warm and spicy squash, Brussels sprouts, raisin and bacon dish that even this carnivore enjoyed. I rarely visit steak houses because I find them to be over-priced and pretentious, but that is never the case with Seared. The bill came in at well under $200 for three of us, including drinks and dessert.

Water Street Bistro: While walking around downtown, prior to the Veterans Day Parade, my hunger pangs struck just as we were passing Water Street Bistro, so we stopped in for a bowl of fresh crab chowder and a glass of Allagash White Ale. The crab chowder was super creamy, without being weighed down with heavy fillers, and the Allagash washed everything down perfectly. I often forget about the unassuming Water Street Bistro, but with its home cooking and European vibe, it’s a real gem.

Ice cream in November?

Yes! It’s always ice cream weather, especially if we are talking about Mariposa Ice Creamery. They are holding another warehouse sale just in time to stock up for your Thanksgiving guests, starting on Friday, Nov. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. and continuing the next day from 10 to 3 p.m. Pilar has not yet posted the flavors, but there are always too many to choose from.

We never leave without at least a quart or two of Brandy Caramel and Mexican Chocolate, but were blown away at the last sale by Mariposa’s licorice. I’m not even a fan of licorice so was surprised by how much I liked it.

Basically, if Pilar has a new flavor, we buy it. I encourage everyone to have at least a quart or three of Mariposa’s ice cream in their freezer, but if you are visiting as a guest on Thanksgiving, you may want to pick up at least a quart or four to share with your host.

At only $7 to $8 per quart, Mariposa is a bargain. Sharing Mariposa’s commercial kitchen, at 431 Payran St., are the rest of the warehouse sale’s participants, which will include Creativ Cashew Cream, Big Table Baking, Mama Mel’s and Liberty 5 Bakery.

I was lucky enough to receive samples of Creativ Cashew Cream and Big Table Baking at the last warehouse sale and was impressed by both. Big Table Baking offers both gluten and gluten-free baked goods and Creativ sells both sweet and savory variants of this dairy alternative, including the savory Himalayan Salt and Ancho Chile and the sweet Mexican Chocolate or Caramel Churro.

Hospice fundraiser

The Elks Lodge will hold their “Light Up a Life” Baked Chicken dinner on Nov. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for kids. See www.elks901.org for details.

Strudel Café

If you are looking for something interesting to serve your Thanksgiving guests, I’d recommend visiting Jarret, owner of Simply Strudels, at his newly opened Strudel Café in the old Millie’s Chili Bar, at 600 Petaluma Blvd. South, across from Charley’s Wine Country Deli, where the strudels are available when Simply Strudel is closed.

Whether you want something sweet, like his award winning vanilla bean, Meyer lemon or chocolate peanut butter strudels or are looking to surprise your guests with something savory, like his bacon potato cheddar or sweet potato pulled pork strudel, Jarret has something for everyone. And now that his café is open, you can enjoy a cup of coffee and sample the strudels before buying.

Chicken Pharm

Chicken Pharm has finally opened in the old Tuttle Drug Company space, vacated a couple years ago by the Social Club restaurant. Many have written to me saying the name leaves a bit to be desired, but at least the food looks like it is going to be a hit.

Although owned by a restaurant company out of San Diego (the same one that opened Cultivate by Sugo), they have hired local talent in the kitchen. Chef Adam Mali comes by way of Nick’s Cove, and from the looks of things, knows all about sourcing locally. With ingredients from the likes of the Petaluma Creamery, Rocky & Rosie, and Fallon Hills Ranch, and a chef who has lived in Petaluma for years, I look forward to trying Chicken Pharm in the near future.

Lagunitas crab feed

For the first time in several years, it appears our Dungeness crab season is going to going to be timely and fruitful. The recreational season is already underway, and the commercial fisherman have just started pulling in their crab pots too. Of course, this gets me to thinking about two Petaluma traditions – crab on the Thanksgiving table and crab feeds. For good locally caught crabs, I recommend Petaluma Market.

For crab feeds, they’re all good, but most aren’t held until the New Year. The first crab feed of the season, and one that I can proudly say I helped create, is the Lagunitas Crab Feed to benefit Cinnabar Theater. It will be held on Monday, Dec. 11. Guests will enjoy loads of freshly caught Dungeness, cole slaw, bread, holiday desserts and of course, beer from Lagunitas, along with great auction items. Tickets are $55 and must be reserved prior to 4 p.m. on Dec. 10 in order to guarantee your crab is the freshest around. See www.cinnabartheater.org for more.

Spectacular Czech Pilsner

Always supportive of my partner’s interests, I’ve been grabbing any European beer I can get my hands on to help her study for the Beer Judging Certificate Program. As the Czech Republic is one of the historic epicenters of beer, I was on the hunt for an examples of Czech beers, other than Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar, which is known as Czechvar here in the U.S. to avoid trademark issues with the younger Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser. Sure enough, while shopping Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, I came across the very generic looking Praga Czech Premium Pilsner.

Although much more full-bodied than our light U.S. lagers, Praga is crisp and refreshing, and at just 4.7 percent ABV and 150 calories, it is easily an “all-day” drinker. Petaluma’s BevMo! was kind enough to order a case so I could buy a six pack or two, and the rest sold out immediately.

At last check, they have about two cases on hand, although I’m burning through those pretty quickly myself. So, if you want to try a great Czech Pilsner, I recommend getting over to BevMo! before they’re gone. It’s a nice change of pace from the ordinary beer choices around the holiday table. As far as the improvised shelf tag reading “Excellent Czech Pils,” with arrows pointing up at the Praga, I don’t know what you are talking about.

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

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