Try ‘Little Hill’s chicken’ at Penngrove Social Firemen’s dinner

On Saturday, Jan. 11, the Penngrove Social Firemen will hold another in its great series of food fundraisers, the Italian Night Benefit Dinner. Along with pork scaloppini, raviolis, salads, bread and live accordion music from Tony Mustaro, the PSF chefs will also serve “Little Hill’s chicken.” For those unfamiliar with the Little Hill restaurant of Petaluma’s past, it became quite the topic of discussion when PSF member and Good Egg winner Lyndi Brown posted about it on the Petaluma Foodies Facebook page. Apparently, it was a town favorite, located at 108 Petaluma Blvd. N., next to Gale’s Central Club. Linda Harris shared an old photo from the Sonoma County Library archives (see below). Liberty Duck’s Jim Reichardt mentioned that his family celebrated many special occasions there. Clairette Clementino Wilson revealed that the recipes came from Al Steffenoni and Louie Clementino, and were kept in a “journal-like book.”

A busboy in the early 1970s, John Emery has some of the old recipes, apparently. Ray Soper of Penngrove also knows a few of them, and according to Lyndi Brown, passed the restaurant’s famous chicken recipe along to PSF’s cook Kim Hanson to add to the Italian Night menu. For those who want to try making it at home, you can contact Lyndi Brown through Facebook for the recipe. It’s a truly unique way to pay tribute to our history, for PSF to revive a recipe from a beloved bygone restaurant. Thank you Lyndi for always thinking of our community and doing so much to help keep our past alive in our present.

The no-host cocktail hour starts at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. at the Penngrove Community Clubhouse (385 Woodward Ave.). This is a benefit to support PSF’s efforts around the community of Penngrove, which include maintaining both Penngrove Park and the clubhouse as well as both the summer Independence Day Parade and the winter lighted tractor parade. Having earned a reputation for great food, these PSF events sell out, so get your $25 tickets early at JavAmore Café (10101 Main St., Penngrove), or contact Kim Hanson (794-1516).

Eating events

With the holiday season winding down, many may find themselves recuperating after so many meals of fine wine and food, which means the food calendar is a bit light. Then again, the commercial crab season has finally opened, which launches the “Season of Petaluma Crab Feeds” (look to the accompanying article for all the details on those tasty fundraisers).

We do have one eating event set for New Year’s Eve, in addition to the special menus planned at various restaurants, including a crab feed at the William Tell House in Tomales and Seared’s NYE dinner, followed by live music by Choppin Broccoli. Seating is limited so reservation are required.

Yours truly will be pouring wine at the Petaluma Museum for the 10th anniversary gala concert from 6-8 p.m., sponsored by the Sky Hill Cultural Alliance. We will have reds from Kastania and a selection of local white wines, along with a selection of cheese, all included in the price of admissions. Always a great classical concert, this year’s selection will include Schumann, Bach and Brahms, performed by members of the San Francisco Symphony. They could choose to play wherever they want on New Year’s Eve, but love the intimate setting and great sound quality of our own Carnegie Hall of the west, the Historic Petaluma Library and Museum, where they have performed on New Year’s Eve for the past several years.

Following the concert, Sky Hill continues the year-end festivities with a Viennese Ball at Hermann Sons Hall from 8:30 p.m. till the ball drops at midnight. It will include a live Strauss orchestra, black-tie ballroom dancing (novices are always welcome) and a gourmet buffet of traditional Viennese dishes and desserts. The cost is $150. Visit skyhill.org for all the details.

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board has announced the dates for 2020’s Sonoma County Restaurant Week: Feb. 21 to March 1. The registration deadline for restaurants to join in the fun is Friday, Jan. 10, and can be done by visiting sonomacounty.com/restaurant-week. With lunches for $10 and $15, dinners for $19, $29 and $39 and pastry perks of $5, diners get to try plenty of new restaurants for a great deal. It is estimated that in 2019 alone, Restaurant Week brought in over $6.5 million to restaurants from both locals and visitors. SCRW helps promote the event, makes finding participating restaurants easy online and even gives away prizes to diners who help spread the word. All in all, this has been a boon to local restaurants and will be especially helpful following the fires.

Industry news

Turning back to the subject of Kastania Vineyards, Linda and Hoot Smith have sold their property, so grab your bottles of their classic Kastania’s reds while you can. The Smith’s first starting growing grapes in 1994 on property that had been in the Smith family since the 1860s. Arguably, the closest vineyard to San Francisco, Kastania has been making incredible reds, including an excellent pinot noir, for the past two decades. Wilibees has mixed cases for roughly half the normal price, making anything from Kastania a bargain buy right now at the corner of Lakeville and East D Street. I have not heard who the new owners are but I hope they keep the Kastania tradition alive for decades more to come. wilibees.com

Street Social has taken over the space formerly occupied by Twisted 2 and has been busy working on a remodel. They informed me of an upcoming friends and family night, which tells me that they should have doors open to the public early in the New Year. With just 16 seats, the space will be intimate. Owners Marjorie and Jevon hope to cultivate a communal atmosphere in the farm-to-table restaurant.

Do not panic – Rosen’s 256 will remain open. Some were concerned when they saw an ABC license notice in the window, but I have it straight from the owner, Jan Rosen, that this is merely a formality to add “Rosen’s” to the legal business name and to change the ownership to a sole proprietorship, with Jan still running the ship. And with Dungeness crab season in full swing, along with great cocktail specials, Rosen’s is serving Jan’s Cioppino, topped with fresh crab.

A reader commented recently about a hidden gem they found on the west side, out Bodega Avenue, at Bodega Avenue Market. They picked up some great pupusas at Taqueria Los Campos and Deli, which tells me that either this is a new(ish) El Salvadorian restaurant, or it is some sort of south-of-the-border mix. Either way, this particular diner thought the food was great, the prices reasonable and the people were very nice. Sounds like another one for my list of new restaurants to try.

Both the poke place near Kohl’s and the Indian place going in across the street from Wishbone are still working to get the doors open and hope to be operational soon. Rumor has it that the poke place is simply working on hiring a full staff, while the Indian restaurant is still stuck in the quagmire that often accompanies the restaurant opening process: city permits and inspections.

Sweet stories

Both figuratively and literally, Preferred Sonoma Caterers tops the list for sweet stories this week. For those in the know, PSC always has fresh-baked cookies and fresh-brewed coffee available for passersby at their 416 East D St. location, across the street from Wilibees. You do not have to order anything, simply head in for a morning pick-me-up or an afternoon treat. Along with the cookies and coffee, guests will notice a jar where they can leave a dollar or five as a donation towards Petaluma Christmas Cheer. “Christmas Cheer is an all-volunteer non-religious organization that provides food to needy families and seniors in the Petaluma-Penngrove area, and toys to their children, aged 12 and under, at Christmastime.”

The incredible part of the story is that PSC’s cookie and coffee fund raised $7,000 this year, half of which went towards toys with the other half benefitting food boxes. So, the next time you are hankering for a great snack, stop in, grab a cookie or two and drop a few dollars in the jar. Each little bit adds up to make a huge difference for the families in need.