More Petaluma restaurant/bar closures, some temporary, others permanent

What started as an announcement that they would close for dinner service quickly turned into a temporary closure for Dempsey’s. Although there has been little activity on the social media pages, an announcement on their website landing page that due to the challenges of COVID and impending winter weather, they will stay closed through the rest of the year and into the New Year, with plans to reopen “at the beginning of spring…”

Although I hadn’t noticed it until recently, across the Balshaw Bridge from Dempsey’s, Incavo Wine Tasting & Collective didn’t seem to post anything to social media about its closing. I don’t recall even seeing a sign in the window, but a quick glance inside and they have clearly cleared out. That was a short-lived venture. Thankfully, good wine can still be purchased across Petaluma Boulevard at Vine & Barrel and can be enjoyed along with food at La Dolce Vita in Theater Square.

Out in Penngrove, YiaYia's The Grateful Greek announced through Facebook that they will be closing their “sedentary storefront and going mobile for pop ups, delivery and everything in between.” On Dec. 4 they announced that they would be open “this week and next for sure,” which sounds like you Greek food fans have just one more week to nab something excellent in downtown Penngrove.

The topic of Greek food came up recently in the Petaluma Foodies group on Facebook. Some simply couldn’t believe that a town the size of Petaluma doesn’t have a Greek restaurant anymore. Others pointed out that the last couple of iterations couldn’t make it, so along with the latest announcement from YiaYia’s, it seems pretty clear that Greek food is a challenge here. However, Dino’s Greek Food Truck makes regular visits to the Block and gets excellent reviews so I guess that is our best bet for Greek food right now. (Dino spent his summers in Greece and Friday nights at Papa Taverna’s so knows a thing or two about Greek food.)

Not to be missed chicken

If there is one thing Petalumans seem to crave, and our chefs seem to take great pride in producing, it’s fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. To that end, if you have opened your newspaper the morning it arrived, there are still two days left for Butcher Crown Roadhouse’s three-days-only crispy chicken sandwich lunch special, which through Friday, Dec. 11, qualifies for free delivery through Petaluma Food Taxi.

While on the topic of special finds, keep an eye out for Trade Secret’s pop-ups as they appear to be on the rise. This is Chef Brenda La Noue’s (formerly of Secret Kitchen) current project and is as delicious as ever. Marta Shannon stumbled across Chef Brenda and her wonderful food at the Red Barn Studios outdoor holiday sale. Marta posted at 10:30 a.m., we saw it at noon and 15 minutes later we had Chef Brenda’s food in hand. We went with a tropical chicken tamale and a Mahn Bun (kind of like a pirogi) filled with beef stroganoff and mushrooms. (She was out of her “Papi Chulo Nacho” Mahn Bun, which is filled with spicy taco flavored beef and is also at the top of our list for names if we ever get a Chihuahua again.) Oh, but the hot chocolate! This hot chocolate, made with Guittard Chocolate, was on par with the thick almost chewable stuff that we have with breakfast when in Spain.

Central Market pasta

Jupiter Foods continues to wow us with its great local produce and is rumored to be looking for a downtown space to call their own so that they can start offering more pantry items. They are currently still holding pop-up farmers market Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the corner of Western Avenue and Petaluma Boulevard. One of the things that has us shopping there regularly is that once on the email list, we receive an accurate/extensive list of what they will be carrying for the week. This helps us plan our meal prep ahead of time, as well as gives us a heads up if they have something special that we want to nab before it goes out of season. (Currently, we are riding a wave of great apple varieties.) They are also carrying pasta from Chef Tony at Central Market. We got it, prepped it and ate it the same day and it was everything we had hoped for.

Holiday treats

As we have all come to expect prior to the holidays, Bert’s Desserts will anchor a holiday goodies sale on Saturdays, Dec. 12 and 19, at 501 Lakeville St., along with Golden State Pickle Works, Awesome Bars, Petaluma Creamery and Vicki Martinelli (jewelry). Yes, health safety precautions will be in place, but it’s still a good idea to order ahead for pick-up.

And down the street, Mariposa Ice Creamery will announce its holiday pick-up and delivery dates and times, as well as the new holiday-only selections, such as spumoni and eggnog flavors, in the coming days. They are also offering gift certificates as well as a boozy collection of ice creams. The moment I tried Mariposa’s spumoni, it became my new favorite flavor, but then again, that’s how it seems to go with every new flavor I try.

Although not a warehouse sale, per say, Lala’s Jam Bar always has great local products for sale, which currently includes the most impressive chocolate Santa I have ever seen. It stands a couple of feet tall and is hand painted, which owner Leslie Goodrich can tell you all about. It certainly isn’t cheap, but what with all the holiday cutbacks, why not splurge on something that will make this one of the most memorable holiday seasons? Leslie is also putting on her own “Festival of Tree,” in association with the Fabulous Women (who usually put on the “Festival of Trees”), to help a local charity (the name of which escapes me right now). The single tree, ornaments and one of just about everything in Lala’s shop are included in this auction item. The bidding starts at $100.

Another creative way to help local purveyors during this holiday season is check out and support the members of Farm Trails. By visiting farmtrails.org you can sign up to receive updated information as local “Farm Trails members will feature special holiday offerings including farm-fresh food and drink for holiday meals and entertaining, unique ag-centric gifts, and local wreaths and decor. There will also be safe, family friendly holiday experiences, such as cutting your own Christmas tree.”

Cheers to our first-responders

On Friday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m., everyone is invited to join in for a virtual “cheers” to all the first-responder heroes in our community. Sponsored by Clover Sonoma, Kendall-Jackson, Griffo and Lagunitas Brewing, revelers are asked to share their drink-time posts on social media with the hashtag #cheerstofirstresponders.

COVID reopening

Sax’s Joint just came out of a rough patch after closing down for two weeks due to a COVID test concern. They reopened only after thoroughly sanitizing their entire restaurant and every employee returned with a negative test result. However, they missed out what would normally be two very busy weekends so let’s do what we can to show our support for them and the fact that they are taking public safety concerns seriously. Unfortunately, there are restaurants in the area that are not, so all the more reason to support and encourage those that do. Sax’s recently joined Petaluma Food Taxi, which is great, but keep in mind that those kids serving tables rely on tips so visits to dine outdoors are greatly appreciate. Personally, we try to tip the same on take-out as we would in-house. During normal times, we wouldn’t tip the same, but anything we can do to help these restaurants and their staff survive until normal times roll back around is worth it to us.

That said, if you aren’t fond of the idea of wearing masks and taking other precautions to help slow the spread of COVID, here is another way of thinking about it. Would you wear a mask if it meant your favorite restaurant survived the pandemic? Regardless of your political leanings or your general disdain for politics all together, would you embrace safety protocols if it meant your favorite restaurant owner and staff made it out the other side? I certainly would. Marin County just shut down their outdoor dining again, which is sure to drive some restaurants out of business. If we each do our part, we can help keep Sonoma County’s restaurants open for at least outdoor dining, which is likely going to help them survive what is sure to be a rough winter.

New hours, opening, delivery

April Pantry has announced new hours (7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays for brunch) and that they will be closed for the two weeks following Christmas Eve, reopening on Jan. 6, Epiphany Day. (They will be delivering pre-ordered meals on both Christmas Eve and Day.)

While it already has a sign up next to Sugo’s (in SlamBurger’s and Gator’s old space), I could find little info about Tortilla Real Mexican Kitchen. With their polished logo, a company listed out of San Leandro and an attorney out of Burlingame, this may be the latest in a string of planned chain restaurants that have tried to make this side of the building work. However, as much as I love good tacos and burritos to go, I would love to try something a little more in line with what you might find at a sit-down restaurant in the heart of Mexico City. I had heard rumors that someone was coming to town with this kind of concept, so maybe this is it. Only time will tell.

Speaking of Sugo Trattoria, they are the newest addition to the Petaluma Food Taxi family, having added their menu to the home-town food delivery service just last week.

Corrections

I mistakenly posted last week that Stockhome would again be offering a Julbord holiday special dinner, only as a to-go option for this year. However, this take-out dinner is actually only available from their San Francisco restaurant, Plaj. Even so, Stockhome’s Julbord has become one of our family holiday traditions so we are likely going to pair up with some others and get in on an S.F. to Petaluma delivery on one of the many dates available for pick-up of this incredible Swedish smorgasbord.

I also posted last week about delicious smelling, but non-edible “soups” from Lala’s Jam Bar in last week’s column. I have never had soup from Leslie and am guessing it would be great, however, what I meant to type was “soaps.” She is making bar soaps that smell so good I want to eat them.