Chowing Down in Sebastopol

Well hello there! Long time, no blog.

The bf and I recently went away to Sebastopol for the weekend, and I was blown away by all of the awesome food there. So much so that I decided to actually write a blog post about it! Mostly so I don’t forget where we went, but also to serve as a guide for those of you searching for good eats in Sebastopol. Here’s a list of place we ate and drank, in chronological order:

Balletto Vineyards
We had a couple of hours to kill before checking in at our Airbnb, so we packed a picnic and went for a tasting at Balletto. Tastings were $10 per person, and our server (?) was generous with extra pours. Neither of us were blown away by any of the wines, but none of the wines were terrible either. In the end, we bought a bottle of the 2012 Syrah to enjoy with our picnic, which canceled out one of our tasting fees. They have a nice outdoor patio and were very amenable to us eating out there.
Bottom line: A fairly standard Northern California winery; nothing to write home about.

Cutting up a baguette to go with cheese, salami, and olives!

Ramen Gaijin
I was not excited about the name of this place because gaijin, which means “foreigner” in Japanese, has a xenophobic bent to it. Nevertheless, my neverending desire for noodles and the awesome Yelp reviews drew us to try this place out. We both ordered the spicy tan tan ramen, which came loaded with pork belly, a 6-minute hen egg, woodear mushrooms, red cabbage, greens, and a load of other things I’m currently forgetting. Maybe my expectations were super low, but this bowl of ramen blew my mind. Everything about it – the al dente noodles, the piping hot broth, and the top quality ingredients – was, in my mind, perfection. Yes, it was expensive at $15, but I thought it was worth every penny. I also had a delicious cocktail — can’t recall the details, but I think it was a bourbon and ginger beer combo. Very refreshing!
Bottom line: Probably one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve ever had. Highly recommended!

A cold cocktail and hot bowl of ramen at Ramen Gaijin.

Screamin’ Mimi’s (Ice Cream)
My friend SM, a Santa Rosa native, recommended this place to me, and it’s also one of the highest rated places in Sebastopol on Yelp. Conveniently, it was just 3 doors down from Ramen Gaijin. The bf and I, being total noobs, didn’t take advantage of one of the most unique aspects of Screamin’ Mimi’s: the ability to mix whatever flavors you want, because they sell ice cream by weight. We were boring and each got a single scoop of ice cream, which was good, but I regretted not being more creative and mixing it up. Next time!
Bottom line: Try all the flavors and mix to your heart’s delight!

Hole in the Wall
We love breakfast and brunch. Hole in the Wall had fantastic reviews on Yelp and was recommended to us by our Airbnb hosts, so we were stoked. Maybe we didn’t order the right things, but neither of us thought the food was better than the average diner. I got 2 eggs over medium (bland) with potatoes (even blander) and bacon (not that exciting), with one of their famous biscuits (really disappointing, but I’ve found it’s very hard to find good biscuits outside of the south). TC got the biscuits and gravy, which he thought was just OK. There was quite a bit of Italian sausage in the gravy, and since he’s not a fan of fennel, it didn’t go over very well with him. We saw some fancy cast-iron thing that other people got (the internet tells me it’s a Dutch cake with caramelized apples), so maybe that’s what we should’ve ordered too.
Bottom line: Pretty standard breakfast place. Don’t get your hopes up about the biscuits.

King Falafel
After a heavy breakfast, we wanted something lighter and more casual for lunch, so we decided to try King Falafel, another Yelp favorite. This is one of those places that, if not for Yelp, I might not have tried because of its location and the set up (there’s a small grocery section with Middle Eastern foods). We both got the regular falafel sandwich, which was SO GOOD. Unlike most of the falafel sandwiches I’ve had, which were bland and dry, King Falafel’s signature sandwich was the perfect blend of textures and flavors.
Bottom line: Highly recommended! I would love to go back and try non-falafel items.

Wild Flour Bread (Freestone, CA)
Another recommendation from SM, this renowned bakery was on our way to Occidental (see below), so we made sure to stop by and take a look. After trying their famous sticky bread, which we thought was good but not great, we decided to get a loaf of their just-as-famous fougasse bread with cheese, garlic, and rosemary (I think). Apparently, they change the “filling” of the fougasse; various Yelp reviews have listed items as varied as potatoes, cheese, garlic, mushroom, peppers, and rosemary. It’s pricey at $7 a loaf (cash only), but well worth the money. Plus, they’re pretty generous with free samples and really friendly too!
Bottom line: Unique bakery in a tranquil setting. Worth the drive!

Barley and Hops Tavern (Occidental, CA)
We went to Barley and Hops in the hopes of killing 3 birds with one stone: (1) a place to watch the Warriors playoff game (2) with good food, and (3) located in a cute, small town (i.e., not Santa Rosa). Unfortunately we were thwarted by some local regulars commandeering the remote control, who kept switching back and forth between the Giants baseball game and the Warriors playoff game. This was particularly frustrating given that TC had called in advance to confirm that they would be showing the Warriors game. We didn’t end up eating there, but from what I could see (and smell), the fare looked quite good. They also had a large selection of beers on tap.
Bottom line: Cute pub, but not ideal for watching sports (lesson learned).

Viva Mexicana
TC loves Mexican food, so we searched Yelp and came upon Viva Mexicana. True to the reviews, the food was great and the owner was super friendly. We also enjoyed the vibrant decor. I got the chicken mole, while TC ordered the cod special. We were both really happy with our food.
Bottom line: Great Mexican food, served with a smile. If we lived in Sebastopol, we’d probably be regulars.

The best chicken mole I’ve had in the U.S. (The best mole ever was in Mexico – of course.)

Enjoying a coconut horchata at Viva Mexicana!

Don Julio’s Rincon Latin Grill and Pupusa’s (Rohnert Park, CA)
We were intrigued by Don Julio’s super high Yelp ratings, so we decided we’d stop there on our way home (it’s 5 miles south of Sebastopol in Rohnert Park). We both ordered 1 pupusa each, and TC got the sopes while I tried the sweet tamale. TC loved his sopes and thought the pupusa was just OK, whereas I really enjoyed my pupusa, but wasn’t a big fan of the sweet tamale. Pupusas sometimes don’t agree with me (and I’ll leave it at that), but I had no issues with the pupusas at Don Julios. I appreciated that our server (maybe the owner?) warned us that the horchata was made with cow’s milk and not from rice milk or powder. (Lactards beware!)
Bottom line: Don Julio’s is located just off of US-101, so if you’re driving through the area and you’re hungry for some authentic El Salvadoran cuisine, definitely stop by.

Did I mention that we ordered way too much food? Clockwise, from top left: sopes, pupusa, curtido (“slaw”), chips, plantains, beans, sweet tamale with mango salsa, pupusa (with beans, cheese, and pork), and hot sauce.

Rasta goats near our Airbnb. No, we didn’t eat them, but we were pretty fascinated by them!

Beautiful Santa Barbara

Last weekend, TC and I drove down to Santa Barbara to visit N & M, two good friends from my grad school days. When N & M moved to Santa Barbara 5 years ago, I promised to visit. Well, 5 years later, I still had not made the trek down to see them. With my POU in full swing, I finally had the time to make good on my promise. And I’m so glad I went. We had a great time visiting with N & M and seeing all of the beautiful sights that Santa Barbara had to offer.

Our drive down to Santa Barbara was going very smoothly… so smoothly that we were ahead of schedule. We decided to stop by the super weird town of Solvang, 35 miles north or Santa Barbara. For those who haven’t heard of this, er, quaint? town, all of the buildings have a traditional Danish influence: there are windmills, a Hans Christian Anderson library/museum, and horse carriage rides. Needless to say, the Danes are probably horrified that this tourist trap is marketed with their country as its theme. After walking around for about 10 minutes, we were both bored. I suggested we go get a beer and TC heartily agreed. So we used my Yelp app (which has come in SO handy, btw) and located the Solvang Brewing Company.

A couple pints of refreshing beverages after a long drive

According to Yelp, their house brews are not great. However, according to a flyer I saw in the women’s room, they hired an award-winning brewer to come in and improve the brews. One other thing they could change is the ambience. The place looks like a 70’s style brew pub (e.g., lifted straight out of Three’s Company), which is cool if that’s what it is, but it’s not. It was built in 2010. Usually, I like this kind of kitsch, but something about it seemed weird. But whatever — a beer is a beer, and this one satisfied our needs.

After finishing our beers, we headed to our destination: N & M’s place in Santa Barbara. They live close to Old Goleta, a low-key, diverse area with ethnic restaurants and shops. We had dinner at their favorite Thai place, Pattaya. My vegetarian pad kee mao was just so-so, but TC’s shrimp and pineapple curry was delicious. Also, M’s pineapple fried rice came in a pineapple!

Our gracious hosts!

On Saturday morning, after a breakfast of pancakes, TC and I went off on our own to tour downtown Santa Barbara. We walked along the beach and down Stearns Wharf (the pier). It was cloudy and gray but still quite beautiful. One important thing we did was to stop by the Tourist Information Center. There, we got some valuable coupons for wine tasting (see below).

Goofing around in downtown Santa Barbara

Wine tasting is a popular thing to do in the area, as made more famous by the movie Sideways. Since neither of us had done any research on the area wineries, we picked our first place, Gainey Vineyard, based on the “2 free tastings” coupon we got from the Tourist Info Center. $20 saved! Ch-ching! I wasn’t impressed by any of the wines we tasted, but the tasting room was quite nice, with huge wine barrels lining the walls. Our pourer was also very friendly and generously asked us if we wanted to re-taste anything (we passed). Oh, and there were bread sticks! Very helpful for staving off the wine buzz.

Next up was Kalyra Winery, started by an Aussie ex-pat. We had a 2-for-1 coupon, saving us another $10. Ch-ching (again)! Also, we got to keep the wine glasses. Score. The wines here were better, and they even threw in a couple of dessert wines, totaling 8 tastings in all (I think). We ate a bunch more breadsticks but the wine buzz was inevitable, so we went to sober up with a late lunch.

For the second time, the Yelp app came to the rescue. We had a great lunch at Dos Carlitos, a nice sit-down Mexican restaurant in Santa Ynez. Since we were supposed to sober up, I skipped the hibiscus margarita and went instead for the grilled vegetable tostada. TC ordered a chile relleno. We were both exceedingly pleased with our food. My tostada was super fresh, tasty, and healthy! Unfortunately, it was also gigantic, so I only ate about 2/3 of it.

The chile relleno at Dos Carlitos.

Grilled veggie tostada, with avocado dressing. Nutritious and delicious!

I surrender!

For dinner that night, I made BBQ noodles with assistance from N. It was one of his favorites from our grad student days. I gave N the recipe years ago, but he had a lot of trouble recreating it. Now that we’ve cooked it together, hopefully he’ll have lots of successful noodle ventures in the future.

Sunday morning, the four of us headed to Camarillo, about 45 minutes south, to get dim sum at Peking Inn. No photos, unfortunately, but trust me when I say that the food was good and the drive scenic. After lunch, we went with N to UCSB campus. While he worked, (A postdoc’s work is never done!) we took a brief walk around campus. Whereas we weren’t impressed by the buildings or the layout, the beach adjacent to the campus took our breath away.

Such a beautiful beach, only a few minutes from campus. Ah, to have such distractions...

We finished off the afternoon by revisiting downtown Santa Barbara. First, we had to go see the world’s biggest fig tree. It supposedly shades up to 1000 people at noon. Our assessment: yes it’s huge, but we were skeptical that it would shade that many people. Then again, I’ve always been terrible at estimating volumes and areas, so I’m probably wrong about this too.

me and the giant fig tree

Next, we strolled along State St, the main thoroughfare. It’s very upscale and reminded me of Palo Alto, only bigger and prettier. For dinner, we relied on our friend the Yelp app, yet again, to point us somewhere delicious. And again, it came through! We had dinner at Zaytoon, a cute Lebanese restaurant that doubles as a hookah bar. Even though we were there before sunset, it was easy to imagine going there with friends for a relaxing evening of drinking wine, smoking hookah, and staring into glowing warmth of the fire pit in the middle of each table. Alas, we wanted to get a quick dinner and get on the road, so no meandering for us. Both TC and I ordered the vegetarian choice, which was a platter of hummus, baba ghannouj, falafel, grape leaves, tabouli, and fatoush salad. So yummy! And just the right amount of food to satisfy without sending us to food coma.

Vegetarian Choice at Zaytoon

All in all, a wonderful trip! I’m thankful for the fun time, good food, beautiful scenery, and great friends.

A Gastronomic Tour of Seattle, part I

A beautiful view of Downtown Seattle from Kerry Park

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to get out of Berkeley for the weekend and visit friends J & B in Seattle. Having lived there for 3 years now, J & B were awesome tour guides, especially since they love to eat and drink (and be merry!) just as much as I do.  I have many photos, so I’ve divided them into two posts for easier consumption. Enjoy!

Friday, 19 June
I awoke (at the very late hour of 10:30am) to the delicious smell of sausage and eggs. J whipped up breakfast: a delightful scramble of eggs, sausage, avocado (yum!), tomato, and onion, served with ripe peaches and toast. The contrasting textures and flavors, especially the sausage and avocado, were so delicious — definitely one of the best scrambles I’ve ever had.

A great start to the day!

After breakfast, J took me downtown to do some sightseeing. First stop: Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, home of fish-throwing fishmongers. We didn’t witness any fish throwing, but we did walk the seemingly endless rows of stalls selling fresh produce, fish, flowers, and other goodies. EF tipped me off to a tiny donut stand that makes miniature donuts, selling for $2.70 for half a dozen.  Despite the grunginess of the stand and of the dirty, apathetic punk rocker who worked there, we were delightfully surprised by how good the little fried treats were. Thanks for the tip, EF!

Not Krispy Kreme, but pretty good nonetheless!

"Fancy Jumbo Grilling Scampis," where Jumbo is an understatement.

A beautiful bouquet for the bargain price of $8. One thing I loved about the market was the abundance of affordable, beautiful flowers. If I lived close to this market, I'd definitely have to set aside a monthly flower allowance!

One of the top Seattle tourist stops: the very first Starbucks.

For lunch, we met up with B near his work for Mexican food at the Agua Verde Cafe (and Paddle Club!). Because we had been nonstop eating, J and I shared the Bacalao, fried cod in a coconut beer tempura with shredded cabbage and creamy avocado sauce. B also ordered fish tacos, but went with the Dorado, grilled mahi mahi. I have to say that, while both were good (especially the avocado sauce), the fried cod was definitely superior.

Fried cod with avocado sauce. Yum.

Grilled mahi mahi soft tacos.

Lunch must have triggered our appetites for more fish, because we headed to Kisaku for dinner, one of J & B’s favorite sushi restaurants. To start, we ordered sunomono, cucumber and seaweed salad, with octopus (my choice), and tofu dengaku, fried tofu with sweet miso sauce (J & B’s choice).  Usually, sunomono is a fresh mix of sweet and sour, but this particular salad was watery and lacked flavor.  However, the tofu was really good (as are most fried foods).

Disappointing sunomono. I really wanted to like it.

Fried tofu with delicious sauce.

For the main course, we went with a mix of nigiri, rolls, and fried shrimp heads! All of the fish was fresh and tasty, and the portions were generous. I really enjoyed Kisaku!

The rolls: the Wallingford roll (top left), Alaska roll? (bottom left), spicy tuna (middle), and Green Lake (right). The Green Lake was my favorite -- I loved the marinated seaweed on top.

Nigiri (from top to bottom): sweet shrimp, tuna, salmon, and scallop.

Eating fried shrimp heads: 3 portraits. Despite my expression, it was actually really delicious. Again, you can't go wrong with fried food!

My very gracious hosts and tour guides, B & J.