Adobe Road winery races open, and other Petaluma food news

Adobe Road Wines and founder/co-owner Kevin Buckler never do anything halfway, thankfully. Because of the new requirement that wine tasting rooms also offer food for guests, Kevin didn’t just reopen the regular downtown tasting room. He contracted with Ayawaska SF for food and opened up the future riverside location as an interim tasting room. Because of Adobe Road’s close affiliation with Kevin’s Petaluma based The Racing Group, they have access to race day tents and trailers which transition perfectly for an open-air tasting room.

A great preview of the future Petaluma waterfront location, reservations are required, in large part because food arrangements need to be made online at adoberoadwines.com. “Your unique tasting experience will include two souvenir logo glasses with purchase of any bottle, plus the tasting fee. ($35 non-members, $20 members). One tasting fee will be waived per $100 wine purchase.”

New to the neighborhood

Ambrosia Indian Cuisine is the latest newly opened eatery to enter the mid-SIP restaurant scene here in Petaluma. Many might ask why open now, but we diners have to keep in mind that we never know what is going on behind the scenes with leases, permits, etc. Anyway, the long wait is over as Ambrosia has opened at the corner of Petaluma Boulevard North and Payran Street, in the former Mike’s burger location.

Although I missed it, they had a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce on Monday, June 1, and are now open for regular take-out and delivery. It appears Ambrosia is the sister restaurant to Taj Grill in Vallejo, which according to Taj’s website is “a cornerstone in the Vallejo community and has been recognized for its outstanding Indian cuisine, excellent service and friendly staff.” This certainly sounds promising. And something exciting on the vegan front is that Taj is known for its “All-Vegan Night Buffet” dinners. Maybe they can be convinced to offer the same thing periodically for our local vegan crowd.

Ambrosia’s website proclaims to be “a progressive Indian Cuisine Restaurant where we bring you the regional Indian flavors brought to life using fresh local produce.” As with most international cuisine, it is great to see our local restaurants integrate our locally available fresh flavors to their traditional recipes. For hours and menus, visit ambrosiaindiancuisine.com.

Coming Up

War Wagon BBQ’s fundraiser for the Petaluma Active 20-30 Club is quickly approaching with the order deadline being June 8 for pick-up on June 14 between noon and 2 p.m. at the Maselli & Sons Hardware north parking lot (519 Lakeville St.). War Wagon is putting on this fundraiser in order to help the 20-30 Club make up for the loss in donations after canceling the Ribs for Kids fundraiser normally held in June. The pre-order menu is $40 for a rack of ribs, smoked mac-n-cheese and cowboy beans, which is enough to serve four people. All proceeds benefit local youth.

Small bites

A stalwart for both contactless pick-up and delivery through SIP, Butcher Crown Roadhouse recently announced the reopening of its back patio, which is one of our favorites in town. It is simple, comfortable and relaxing and on Thursdays, from noon to 3 p.m. is reserved for seniors only, to offer a little more safety to those who have been cooped up longest and who may be looking for some good food away from home. Due to limited seating, reservations are recommended. With lagging sales, many local shops are trying to get creative but for Leslie Goodrich and her LALA’s Jam Bar (720 E. Washington), carrying local products is a natural fit. Along those lines, she has turned her back room into a local Sonoma County artisan food and gift room. Her list of purveyors is expanding every day but so far she is carrying Marposa Ice Creamery bars and pints with new flavors each week, Wm Coffield cheddar cheese, LALA’s Petaluma Olive Oil, Angel’s garlic mustards and salsas, Barber Cellars chocolate zinfandel sauce, Handsome Carver’s nut butters, Petaluma Toffee Company, River Road fig and lemon balsamic vinegar, Bernie’s Organic Apple Cider and Apple Cider Vinegar, PURE raw honey and Zoe’s salamis. And of course, LALA Jams, as always.

Using LALA’s strawberry rosemary jam on its Monte Cristo sandwich, Wine or Lose Board Game Café is opening back up next week with a whole new menu, after closing down just after the original SIP Order.

Late night was always Speakeasy’s thing and SIP has not changed that. Speakeasy is now offering delivery until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. The full menu is available for outdoor dining, pick-up and delivery Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. until midnight.

In the sweets category, Sweet Zone is offering Fudge S’mores kits, which includes everything you need to make four s’mores in your own backyard. This week’s flavor is milk chocolate, while supplies last. Check back with them for future flavor options.

Stockhome now carries Mariposa Ice Creamery’s bars in a rotating selection of flavors, which currently include lemon zest, chocolate dipped vanilla, cookies and cream and chocolate malt. Stockhome is one of Mariposa owner Pilar McGoldrick Bernard’s favorite restaurants so she is particularly excited about this addition.

The City of Petaluma announced this month’s virtual special event and it is a cupcake decorating contest. Contestants have from now until June 15 to decorate their cupcakes and submit photos to rbeer@cityofpetaluma.org. The official categories are Petaluma Proud, Summer Fun, Sports Mania and Faces of Quarantine, but judges encourage participants to decorate outside these categories, too. The winners will be posted on Tuesday, June 16.

Sweet Story

As many may have heard, Bryan Cacy was hit and killed by a suspected impaired driver while biking to work last week here in Petaluma. He was taking advantage of the nice weather when he was struck while riding over the Corona freeway overpass. Bryan left behind his partner, Sarah Paine, as well as their two young children, and Sarah’s three other children, who Bryan treated like his own.

The first post I saw was a delivery of cupcakes to the family from the ladies at Sax’s Joint. Sarah’s sister Kristy Paine Cruz posted a photo to Facebook. “Sax’s Joint in Petaluma delivered a massive amount of wonderful yummy cupcakes for all stopping by. Just want to thank them. My two nieces are servers there and are grieving the loss of their step-dad Bryan. I’ve been so overwhelmed with the PURE kindness of our Petaluma community. Thank you.” (While on the topic of Sax’s, they have extended their hours to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day of the week and if you can’t make it down, they do several fun videos on Facebook each day.)

In conjunction, Jacqui Goff posted to Petaluma Foodies with a link to a “meal train” website that Kristy set up for her sister. For those who might not know either, a meal train is a scheduling of daily meal deliveries from family and friends for those going through a grief period. In this case, the link at mealtrain.com/trains/q46911 leads to a site where concerned community members can either volunteer to drop food off for Sarah and the kids, arrange for a food delivery through one of our local restaurants and can even donate money to help the family get through these devastating times.

“The last week has been a blur for her,” says Kristy. “She just said that she is so overwhelmed by the generosity coming from every angle. All the messages even on the Foodies group. I’ve been telling her about all of the sweet condolences on there. Bryan was the kindest hardworking dad and stepdad to all of them. Petaluma is the greatest little town and it’s amazing how we come together to help each other.”

Giving Back

In case you missed it in the newspaper, Stefano’s Pizza posted an invitation to anyone who is currently in need of food. Their ad was for June 2 only, but is worth mentioning because Marin and Petaluma pizzeria deserves recognition for the efforts. “Anyone out there who is in need of food, can’t afford groceries, or has young children, please come see us during this crisis. We will provide the best we can, no questions asked. Hospitals that need food for clinicians on the front lines, please call one of the stores.”

Now Closed

Ever the eagle eye on the north end of town, up into Penngrove, Petaluma Good Egg Lyndi Brown let me know that she had been in contact with Chef Pon of Thai Essence who told her that the Orchard Shopping Center Thai restaurant is closed permanently.