Set in the Petaluma hills near the Sonoma-Marin border, the ranch provides an idyllic backdrop for tasting wine and extra-virgin olive oil.
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Plenty of Sonoma County wineries make their own olive oil, but it’s not so common for an olive oil producer to make its own wine. That’s the setup at McEvoy Ranch. Set in the Petaluma hills near the Sonoma-Marin border, the ranch provides an idyllic backdrop for tasting wine and extra-virgin olive oil.
The story
Nan McEvoy, the granddaughter of San Francisco Chronicle founder M.H. de Young, could have just kicked back and enjoyed a cushy, work-free life. She was a newspaper heiress, after all. Instead, she convinced her father to let her work for the family paper as a reporter, and she eventually became the company’s board chairman.
After retiring in her early 70s, McEvoy purchased a 550-acre property in Petaluma, thinking it would be a nice place for her city-dwelling grandchildren to run and play. The property’s zoning meant it also needed an agricultural purpose, so she planted 3,000 imported Tuscan olive trees on the ranch in 1990 and created a nursery to supply trees to growers across the region.
McEvoy’s business grew to become one of the nation’s largest producers of organic olive oil. In 2006, she added vineyards to complement the estate’s 50 acres of olive groves — though the grapes were later removed during California’s multiyear drought to prioritize water for the olive trees. Today, the late McEvoy’s son Nion and his adult children run the family operation.
The vibe
No matter how many times I’ve driven from my home to the ranch, I still have to watch closely for the McEvoy sign on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road. Pass through the Bunny Gate — named for the whimsical bronze rabbit perched at the top — and you may spot some real live jackrabbits hopping amid the olive orchards.
Tastings happen on a stone patio set with tables and lounge chairs, overlooking a lovely pond and acres of rolling hills dotted with olive trees. This is the kind of place that makes you go “ahhhhhhhhh.”
On the palate
Winemaker Byron Kosuge sources French and Italian grape varieties from growers in the Petaluma Gap and beyond, creating friendly and accessible wines. The 2024 Rosebud Rosé ($24), made from Potter Valley Pinot Noir, is pale and floral, showing off aromas and flavors of ripe strawberries. McEvoy’s 2023 Under the Willow Vermentino ($36) from Sonoma County’s celebrated Las Brisas Vineyard is a summer pleasure layered with intriguing mineral notes and citrus zestiness. Fans of lighter-style Pinot Noir will find a kindred spirit in the 2021 Evening Standard Pinot Noir ($45) from the Sun Chase Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap. Aged in neutral oak for a subtle profile, the wine is all about red berries and soft tannins. Tastings range from $38 to $48.
Beyond the bottle
There’s lots to sample at McEvoy, even if wine isn’t your thing. The ranch offers a guided olive oil flight ($35) featuring five varieties — from classic extra-virgin olive oil to “agrumato” oils made by crushing olives with whole fresh fruits and herbs. Seasonal culinary tastings ($45) include small bites made with McEvoy olive oils and condiments.
To truly have your mind blown, opt for the Olive Oil and Gelato Tasting ($35), which pairs three flavors of Fiorello’s Artisan Gelato with three olive oils. (Don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried drizzling the Chai Spice olive oil over vanilla bean ice cream.)
If you’d like to explore more of the property — including the vegetable gardens, olive oil presses and Nan McEvoy’s incredible Chinese-style pavilion — reserve a ranch tour ($55-$95).
McEvoy Ranch, 5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma. 707-769-4138, mcevoyranch.com. Open daily, reservations encouraged.
Tina Caputo is a wine, food, and travel journalist who contributes to Sonoma magazine, SevenFifty Daily, Visit California, Northern California Public Media, KQED, and more. Follow her on Bluesky at @winebroad.bsky.social, view her website at tinacaputo.com, and email her story ideas at tina@caputocontent.com.
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Sonoma County’s olive harvest kicked off in early October and continued through early December. Here are eight picks for the season.
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Olio nuovo (“new oil” in Italian) is the olive oil bottled and released immediately after the annual harvest, before the oil begins to mellow.
With a bright, lean, freshness, olio nuovo can range from robust to more mellow in flavor. The strongest are often described jokingly as “two-cough” selections, with a peppery bite that is highly prized.
Sonoma County’s olive harvest kicked off early this year, with the first of the season’s olives heading to the mill in early October. Harvest typically continues through early December. Two primary mills, McEvoy Ranch and Olivino, process olives for many of the county’s local farms, and there are also public mills in Sebastopol, Glen Ellen, Sonoma and Healdsburg. With a number of places to taste local olive oil, here are eight picks for the season.
Baker Lane Estate
Stephen Singer’s 2024 Occidental Blend is not labeled “olio nuovo” but will be available soon enough after pressing that it is a de facto nuovo, with vivid flavors of artichoke, freshly mown hay and green apple. Online sales only. singer.wine
DaVero
The benchmark estate olio nuovo is sassy and elegant, with complex bitter and pepper flavors. 766 Westside Road, Healdsburg. 707-431-8000, davero.com
Figone Olive Co.
At their small shop on the plaza in the town of Sonoma, Figone releases an olio nuovo shortly after milling their blend of Spanish and Italian varieties. 483 First St. W., Sonoma. 707-2829092, figoneoliveoil.com
Gold Ridge Organic Farms
Grower Brooke Hazen offers four olio nuovos: the classic Tuscan blend plus Picholine, Minerva and Arbequina single-variety oils. Hazen picks a bit later in the season, producing oils with a voluptuous, buttery texture. 3387 Canfield Road, Sebastopol. 707-823-3110, goldridgeorganicfarms.com
McEvoy Ranch
This olio nuovo evokes the subtle flavors of winter greens — think cardoons, chicories and dandelions — with a trail of peppery heat, a signature quality of the estate’s seven Tuscan cultivars. 5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma. 707-778-2307, mcevoyranch.com
Olivino
The olio nuovo is a blend of five Tuscan cultivars from a 2,500-tree orchard that straddles the border of Sonoma and Mendocino counties and is milled with a traditional grinding stone and gravity press. 14160 Mountain House Road, Hopland. 707-7441114, olivino.com
Preston Farm & Winery
Chaste Maiden Early Release Organic Olive Oil is a blend of 10 Italian and Spanish cultivars. Even in its youth, it is a delicate oil, with less of the peppery heat that defines many other oils. 9282 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. 707433-3372, prestonfarmandwinery.com
The Olive Press
The olio nuovo is made from the Spanish cultivar Arbequina, which hints of freshly mown grass, artichoke, apple and banana. 24724 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. 707-939-8900, theolivepress.com
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Oprah's annual holiday gift guide features favorite products from a Petaluma ranch and a Marin-based cheese company.
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Oprah Winfrey recently released her hotly-anticipated annual list of “Favorite Things.” Among them is a body butter from Petaluma’s McEvoy Ranch and a cheese from a Point Reyes company.
With over 100 items on her list, Oprah highlights several small businesses with items that make great gifts and stocking stuffers for the holiday season.
McEvoy Ranch Whipped Body Butter, $39
The family-owned McEvoy Ranch, located in rural south Petaluma, produces award-winning olive oils — and now its beauty products are in the national spotlight. Oprah called McEvoy Ranch’s Whipped Body Butter “a rich and luxurious moisturizer.”
The body butter is made with the ranch’s organic extra virgin olive oil — as well as rosehip fruit oil, hyaluronic acid and shea and cocoa butters — for a skin-nourishing, hydrating cream. Scents include citrus, lavender, unscented and an herbaceous verde. The whipped body butter is currently on sale for $39 on McEvoy Ranch’s website.
5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma, 707-778-2307, mcevoyranch.com
Point Reyes Cheese & Thank You Gift Set, $95
Among Oprah’s favorite food gifts is a cheese gift basket from Marin-based Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. The Cheese & Thank You gift set is filled with a selection of handcrafted cheeses to pair with crackers and a spread.
“Thanks to four artisanal cheeses — TomaRashi, Gouda, Bay Blue and a just-so-good Truffle Brie — sweet olive oil crackers and a sour cherry spread,” Oprah stated, “the lucky recipients of this gift box (created just for us) will use the enclosed cheese knife to dive right in.”
This is the second year in a row Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. landed on Oprah’s coveted favorites list. Last year, Oprah featured the company’s Cheese Celebration Collection.
14700 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station, 800-591-6878, pointreyescheese.com
Past Oprah-approved local products
This isn’t the first time Sonoma County products fell into Oprah’s good graces. In 2016, she selected Guerneville’s Big Bottom Market biscuits among her favorites. The market changed its name to Piknik Town Market last year, following the departure of co-owner Michael Volpatt. New owner Margaret van der Veen confirmed the market still offers the famous biscuits.
In 2021, Santa Rosa-based Sonoma Lavender Co. made it on Oprah’s list for its lineup of scented stuffed animals. The heatable plushies contain a pouch of fragrant, soothing local lavender or eucalyptus.
In Napa Valley, Model Bakery’s English muffins made it on Oprah’s favorites list four times, in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. The Napa County bakery opened a location in the East Bay in 2022.
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Rob Akins and Mark Berry fell in love with olive oil on trips to France, Spain, Greece, and Italy where they learned to appreciate the different regional styles — peppery, astringent, delicate, spicy.
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There is something indescribably regal about olive oil. From its golden hue and luxurious texture to its revered usage through millennia, the oil of this humble Mediterranean fruit has anointed a thousand kings and lit the lamps of humanity.
It also happens to be pretty great on a salad.
Taking into mind both of those things, Sonoma’s Olive Queen gives the noble olive its due with a lineup of terroir-based blends that include a gently perfumed French Picholine, a zesty Spanish blend of Arbequina and Arbosana, and the bold but dignified Estate Reserve Queen’s Blend with Puglian Coratina olives.
“Olives are truly the queen of fruits,” says Rob Akins, co-owner of Olive Queen, of the inspiration for the company name. He and partner Mark Berry say they fell in love with olive oil on trips to France, Spain, Greece, and Italy where they learned to appreciate the different regional styles — peppery, astringent, delicate, spicy. The couple also really wanted to revive their Forestville home’s history as a working orchard, and olive trees seemed a perfect crop.
“Our climate here turned out to be perfect for olives, with hot days and cool nights,” says Akins.
The couple obsessively studied olive farming and olive oil production, replanting their former apple orchard with dwarf olive trees. They also enlisted their neighbors to get involved. “We were the Johnny Appleseeds of our neighborhood,” says Akins, as we sit under a wood pergola overlooking his grove of olive trees just a few months from harvest.
After 15 years, Akins and Berry have 400 trees spread over three properties, resulting in about 1,000 bottles of estate-grown olive oil each year. They also source olives from nearby farms to make their blended oils.
“We treat every olive like a precious baby,” he says. Within 24 hours of harvest, the olives are cold-pressed and their oil ready to bottle.
“The Greek Yayas had it right. It’s an essential ingredient in daily life,” says Akins, who puts olive oil on pretty much everything he eats, including morning oatmeal. He prefers a lighter blend on that one. “Olive oil elevates everything you do.”
Olive Queen oils are available at local farmers markets, gourmet food shops, specialty stores, and many wineries. olivequeen.com
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Sonoma County olive oils are making their mark. Here's where to taste the liquid gold.
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With Sonoma olive oils increasingly in the spotlight, producers are promoting their premium goods with experiences similar to wine-tasting adventures. For a special holiday experience, check out these local tasting rooms:
TASTING ROOMS
The Olive Press, Sonoma
The Cline family cultivates 45 estate acres of Italian and Spanish olive orchards, and also presses olives for wineries, estates such as Beltane, and home growers. In 2015, the mill cold-pressed more than 500 tons of olives, and visitors can watch the mechanical grinding stones, steel blades and centrifugal spinning chambers transform the hard green and softer blackish fruit to silky gold liquid. Year-round, taste dozens of oils at the tasting bar at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. 24724 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, 707-939-8900, theolivepress.com
Beltane Ranch, Glen Ellen
Vacation in the ranch’s 1892 bed-and-breakfast and enjoy an olive oil-accented breakfast. Once fortified, wander the estate’s Mission, Sevillano, Manzanillo, Lucca, Arbequino, Frantoio and Piqual orchards to watch the workers knock fruit off the trees. 11775 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen, 707-833-4233, beltaneranch.com
McEvoy Ranch, Petaluma
McEvoy offers olive-themed tours, including an orchard and mill walk, followed by oil and wine tastings. During harvest, visitors can see the milling, which is done using McEvoy’s state-of-the-art Rapanelli frantoio, what Dorsey calls the “Maserati of olive oil mills.” Visitors learn that it takes an average of 80 pounds of olives to yield 1 gallon of extra virgin oil, and that greener fruit yields oil that is peppery, pungent and herbaceous in character, while dark olives produce milder, buttery characteristics. The prized product is olio nuovo, or unfiltered “new oil,” made from fruit harvested during the first few weeks of the season. 5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma, 707-769-4100, mcevoyranch.com
Figone’s California Olive Oil Co.. Sonoma
The orchards are in the San Joaquin Valley, but the fruit is milled, blended and bottled in Sonoma Valley. During harvest, olive-tree owners can drop off their fruit and watch the milling process at Figone. Year-round, visitors to the retail shop in downtown Sonoma can taste multiple olive and olive oil varieties. 483 First St. W., Sonoma, 707-282-9092, figoneoliveoil.com
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Owners of The Smoked Olive, an artisan smoked olive oil made in Sonoma count Chefs Tyler Florence, Michael Chiarello and Barack Obama among their culinary fans.
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When you can count Chefs Tyler Florence, Michael Chiarello, Emeril Lagasse, John Ash, Ming Tsai, and a certain President of the United States among your culinary fan-base, you know you’re onto something. But the owners of The Smoked Olive in Petaluma still say they often have to get people to stop and taste their pungent olive oils before they fully understand — and appreciate — the unique flavor.
Sitting in the smoke-scented warehouse where she and partner Al Hartman produce and bottle their oils, co-owner Brenda Chatelain explains their unusual smoke-infused extra-virgin olive oil as “a marriage of two primal things: Smoke and oil. It just creates a taste that’s a combination that I think strikes something from our cave days.”
The couple make three different oils, the most popular of which is the Sonoma Smoked Olive Oil using premium California extra-virgin olive oils. Unlike imitation “smoke” flavors that can turn acrid or have a fake barbecue flavor (or worse make you feel like you just licked an ashtray), the proprietary process of smoking gives Hartman’s oils an intense, focused wood and smoke flavor that plays with both your tastebuds and your sense memory — for me campfires and burning autumn leaves. The mellow mix of olive oils blankets the tongue for a creamy, buttery finish.
Chef Florence, an early fan of The Smoked Olive, describes their product more succinctly as, “the sexiest new flavor I’ve tasted in years.” He’s included their olive oil in his recent cookbook and served it at a $20,000 per plate fundraising dinner for the President. Reportedly, when Barack Obama got a drizzle of it on Florence’s squash and quail egg ravioli he didn’t just ask for seconds. He asked for thirds. The couple said they were also were asked to Fedex a shipment to Washington for the Inauguration. “But that’s about all we can tell you,” said Chatelain.
The idea for smoking olive oil came to Hartman in a dream, he said. The grandson of a chef, Hartman said he’s been fascinated since his teens with smoking meats and fish, building his own smoking contraptions that aren’t as much about fire (“That’s barbecuing,” he insists) but a slow, sustained infusion of wood and smoke into foods. His passion earned him the moniker “Smoke Whisperer” among his friends. So, after years of working in the real estate business, one day he just knew that smoking olive oil was his destiny. Chatelain, however, wasn’t so sure.
“Some of those first batches? Yuck.” she laughs.
Over several years of testing he got the flavors right, making sure that the oils weren’t exposed to extreme heat and light during the smoking process. “We were standing in the kitchen,” said Chatelain. “I just remember we both looked at each other and said, ‘Yes. This is it!’”. The couple began selling it at the Santa Rosa farmers’ market at the Veteran’s Hall, and found they were regularly selling out. A stint at San Francisco’s Fancy Food Show drew buyers like Michael Chiarello’s Napa Style, Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table, who all carry the oil.
Like many small business owners, Chatelain and Hartman have put in 14-plus hour days over the last five years to get their new company off the ground. But they don’t plan on letting the recent national attention go to their head. “It’s been timing, luck and hard work. We keep thinking all this is going to stop and then someone else writes about us,” Chatelain said, pointing to a stack of magazines and even a Washington Post article that gush about the oils as the “It” food product of the moment and a “new pantry essential”.
Why? Chatelain and Hartman think its a combination of a trend in food for smoked flavors, and the product being a simple luxury in a struggling economy. “There’s a curiosity factor, but then they taste it,” said Chatelain. “They are hooked.”
Another local fan, Chef John Ash, like many, were skeptical about the oil at first, but soon became a believer. “The two great enemies of fine oils are heat and light and I couldn’t imagine that one or both of those hadn’t been used. When I tasted the oils I was amazed. Lovely olive oil flavor with an interesting smokiness that those of us who like to grill are always searching for,” he said. Ash added that he recommends the oil to students of his healthy cooking classes as a way to add a grilled flavor without adding carbon to your food.
Hartman, who jumps up during the interview to check on his smoking operation, keeps a tight lid on his proprietary process and research and development. Suffice to say his smoking lab is as unconventional as his oils and there are a number of other smoked foods in the works (his smoked brown sugar is currently available). Saying anything else, well, might end us up in a whole lot of heat.
Currently the oils, which also include a stronger Napa Smoked Olive Oil and a spicy version, Santa Fe Smoked Chili Olive Oil are in approximately 600 stores nationwide and has begun shipping to far-flung places like Dubai and Australia. Locally you can find them at the Saturday Veteran’s Hall market, Sur La Table, The Olive Press, Big John’s Market and the Oakville Grocery in Healdsburg and online at thesmokedolive.com.
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Road Trip: Sunday night red-eye from SFO to JFK; mythical quantities of food and booze; a cumulative loss of sleep bordering on some chapter in FM 34-52, the field manual of interrogation techniques. Many of my best and oldest friends and much personal history remain rooted in the concrete canyons of Manhattan, so normally I’d say I get to go to NYC this week, but instead I’ll limp into this post with I have to be there, because – as I kvetched in last week’s post – I really do need to extricate myself from the ranks of the marginally attached worker; and, while I may live here in the 707 area code, Gotham City remains the undisputed mecca for my line of work, or at least for the line of work for which I may conceivably be paid.
By definition, I won’t be in my kitchen, but what are mere time and space to the dorky home cook? No, I’ll be cooking in absentia, using my downtime from the cooktop to preserve a big-ass batch of Meyer lemon confit, the acid, sugar and salt gently breaking down the fruit of its own accord, all while I suffer the indignity of 6+ hours in a middle seat. At least I’ll have something to come home to.
But the main reason to make this stuff is that it requires almost no effort, lasts for weeks, and tastes really good: I’ve served it as a garnish to Red Lentil Soup, chopped it into a Mediterranean Tuna Salad, layered it under Grilled Chicken w/ Lemons & Rosemary from My Garden, and I can’t wait to try this lemony-garlicky concoction with roasted fish, probably something baked whole in a salt crust; it’s also nice that the Meyers are in season right now, because my garden has far too many ever to eat, I know I’ll be missing them like a child gone to college once they’ve dropped to the ground.
Meyer Lemon Confit
There are endless variations on confit, but I love the simplicity of this version from Tom Colicchio’s Think Like a Chef (reprinted here in the Denver Post and below, with my notes), which gets extra kick from garlic and shallots, requires no cooking, and lets the fruit shine through. The original recipe uses standard lemons, but I especially like the Meyers because I find their thinner skins and less aggressive flavor so much more pleasant to eat; and, of course, Meyers are in season right now, while their local Eureka cousins won’t be around for another couple of months.
Ingredients: 12 lemons (NOTE: Use Meyers, if possible); 5 shallots, peeled and minced; 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced; 2/3 cup kosher salt; 1/3 cup sugar; Extra-virgin olive oil
Directions: Plunge the lemons into boiling water (this softens the outer layer of wax). Drain, rinse, then wipe the lemons clean. Dry the lemons, then slice them very thin. Discard the ends and remove and discard the seeds. (NOTE: If you’re using your own lemons or others fresh from a tree, you shouldn’t have to bother with the boiling and wiping.) Combine the shallots with the garlic. Mix the salt with the sugar. Arrange a layer of lemon slices in the bottom of a midsized container with a lid. Sprinkle the lemons first with a little of the shallot mixture, then with some of the salt mixture. Repeat, layering lemons and sprinkling them with the shallot and salt mixtures until the final lemon slices are topped with the last of the salt and shallot mixtures. Cover the container and refrigerate the confit for 3 days. The confit can be used immediately or covered with olive oil and stored in the refrigerator for about a month. (NOTE: My last batch has been in the fridge for weeks, and it just gets better and better – vastly so, after a week or two, in fact. I don’t know how long it will last, but I suspect well over a month.)
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Of the many things not to like about a crappy job market, working longer hours for less money has to be near the top of the list; worse still, however, are the all-too-inevitable hours spent working for nothing, the hours spent trying to secure employment instead of actually doing something productive, like riding your bike or cooking. I say this because neither cooks, writers, nor economists of merely mortal stature obtain any special immunity to recessions, which means I’ve spent more time at the margin fretting about paychecks than I have perusing roadside farm stands. It also means that I’ve had to do some thinking about faster, easier ways to serve good food to my family, and what’s faster and easier than the humble tuna sandwich?
Personally, I love the classic deli-style preparation, with properly-chunked tuna and lots of finely chopped celery suspended in a bed of real mayonnaise. But it can get a bit boring – even oppressive to the palate – eating mayo by the bucketful, especially to my eldest daughter, who still regards the invention of mayonnaise as a greasy, evil plot to force otherwise attractive proteins into masquerading as “salads”. My favorite alternative is to make tuna salad in what I think of as the “Mediterranean style”, using olive oil in place of mayo, adorned simply with roughly chopped olives, some of those gorgeous Meyer lemons, still bursting from their branches this time of year, and maybe a little minced red onion. The salty cure of the olives makes a good friend to the mildly bitter and orange-y Meyers, whose citrus-y tang balances out the tuna flavors nicely; add your favorite green for color and texture. And, while I hate to waste bread, I have to admit that I like the crusts cut off…
Mediterranean Style Tuna Salad with Olives & Lemons
- Flake a 6oz can of tuna with a fork in a medium-sized mixing bowl (see the note on health & sustainability of canned tuna at bottom). If the tuna is water-packed, drain it well, and then add enough olive oil to make the texture coherent enough for a sandwich; if it’s packed in olive oil, just go with it, or adjust the amount of oil to taste.
- Coarsely chop a small handful of Kalamata or oil-cured Provencal olives (regular or oil cured, pits removed) and several slices of Meyer lemon confit. (I realize that you probably don’t have Meyer lemon confit lying around, but that’s only because I haven’t convinced you to make it yet. With Meyers exploding off the trees, I made a huge batch, and I’ve been cooking the stuff into soups, chopping it into Nicoise-esque salads, and serving it with roasted fish and grilled chicken at every turn. It’s a great way to preserve a seasonal crop, and it makes a kick-ass condiment for all sorts of things. In any case, absent the confit, just squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the tuna.) If you like – I’ve done it both ways, it just depends on your predilection for raw onion – finely mince a tablespoon or two of red onion as well.
- Mix all the ingredients together and serve on toasted whole wheat, preferably with a nice green, like wild arugula (very tasty and available right now, pre-washed, from Trader Joe’s). I’m quite sure the sandwich would be just as successful on your favorite sourdough bread, and/or with spinach. If you want to be cute, and why wouldn’t you, cut off the crusts before assembly, then spear both halves of the assembled sando with toothpicks, and slice it on the diagonal (see picture inset above).
Footnote: Issues w/ Canned Tuna
Mercury poisoning and sustainable fishing are critically important issues as they relate to tuna, but they’re also well beyond the scope of this post. For those that care, however, I can recommend the excellent website for sustainable seafood published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the series of pieces by Consumer Reports discussing toxicity levels in tuna.
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Unless you’re a personal trainer or a nutritionist, it’s a safe bet that nearly every resolution list in the county has a promise to eat healthier in the coming year. And chances are you’ve stocked up on carrots, celery and diet frozen dinners to help you keep that resolve — for at least a couple weeks.
Chances are, you — like everyone else — will abandon hope at the first sniff of freshly baked cookies or leftover Superbowl snacks. Don’t despair. There are easier ways to do good for your body, as well as a few that do good for others as well. Here are some edible intentions meant to cement your willpower…
Good for Others
Hawk’s Feather Olive Oil: Nutritionists have long known that olive oil has some pretty magical properties when it comes to heart-healthiness — reducing cholesterol levels and lowering the risks of heart disease. But in Sebastopol, producer Bill Wallace is pressing his five acre grove for an even higher purpose.
Over the last five years, Wallace has donated all of the proceeds of his award-winning Hawk’s Feather Olive Oil to cancer research. It’s a very personal mission for the former office furniture exec, who himself is fighting a rare former of kidney cancer. With the help of friends, Wallace harvests hundreds of pounds of Italian olives each year, then presses the oil at McEvoy Ranch and sells the 500 or so cases at the St. Helena Olive Oil company.
Financial help from friends, who include some executives in very high places, and the sales of the olive oil have resulted in donations over nearly $150,000 directly to a single doctor researching Wallace’s form of cancer, Dr. Robert A Figlin of Cedar-Sinai. And though there’s still no cure, Wallace has been part of several medical trials and continues to raise funds toward a cure. Hawk’s Feather Olive Oil will be available for purchase in early January at sholiveoil.com.
Schools Plus Dancing Bear Salsa
Eat salsa and help Santa Rosa’s school kids fund sports, music and art. This special edition salsa is benefitting Schools Plus, a program that donates much-needed finances to programs that have fallen by the financial wayside at Santa Rosa’s public schools. Available at at G&G, Oliver’s, Whole Foods, Pacific Market and Molsberry’s.
Good for You
Spices of Life: It seems that just about every other week, another spice is added to the “healthy” list. Loaded with disease fighting antioxidants, they can do everything from lower blood sugar and cholesterol to help fight cancer — at least according to some nutritionists. On the especially nice list: Cinnamon, turmeric, rosemary, garlic, paprika, ginger and oregano. And that doesn’t mean the sad bottled dust that’s been sitting on your shelf for 10 years. Make a resolution to replace at least once spice each month, or try something new. You’ll be amazed at the difference that freshly ground, high-quality spices make in your cooking. Our special favorite: Savory Spice Shop (317 D St., Santa Rosa, (707) 284-1310) where you can pick up the basics or try some of their special blends like Shichimi Togarashi (a spicy Japanese seasoning blend with sesame seeds, orange peel and Chinese chilis) in a trial-sized bag or by the bottle. Also recently opened is Penzey’s Spices 736 Farmers Ln., Santa Rosa).
Restaurants
Ubuntu: It’s a pretty solid bet that restaurant that doubles as a yoga studio is serving up some food with good karma. Though opening chef Jeremy Fox has moved on to head the Tyler Florence food empire, the vegetarian menu still pays homage to Fox’s haute produce-centric mantra. But meat-free dining isn’t the point — owner Sandy Lawrence don’t want Ubuntu to fall into the soybean ghetto — but instead celebrate the use of local produce and the deliciousness of the seasons. 1140 Main St, Napa, (707) 251-5656.
Peter Lowell’s: A brand new chef is ringing in the new year at this popular organic eatery. Chef Daniel Kedan has done time in the kitchens of Ad Hoc, Solage and the General’s Daughter as well as Cantinetta Piero in Yountville and will bring, “old world order and new world creativity to our menu,” according to owner Lowell Sheldon. The restaurant continues to work with local farmers and foragers to keep the menu seasonal and fresh. And the unparalleled lasagna of years past has been passed along, so it’s worth another look at this Sebastopol restaurant. 7385 Healdsburg Avenue Ste. 101, Sebastopol, 829-1077.
Goji Kitchen: Steaming pho and clay pot rice are among the soul-reviving dishes at this JC-neighborhood Asian eatery. The restaurant is owned by a trio that includes local health practitioner Kimchi Moyer. The focus is on Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese classics made without any artificial stuff and without microwaves. 1965 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa.
The Garden: This vegetarian restaurant, which also features vegan and gluten-free options, strives to bring flavor to meat-free dining. Housemade breads and buns are a stand-out, and make even hardened carnivores respect the burger-free burger. 90 Mark West Springs Road, 829-1410.
Cafe Gratitude: It takes a bigger person that me to not snicker at the vegan earnestness of this raw foods eatery that forces diners into goofy affirmations while ordering. But if you can get past the feel-goodery, there are some solid health tonics here to knock some of the the holiday sludge out of your system. “Live” sprouted crackers, soups and hummus along with hearty desserts are good choices for the uninitiated. 206 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 707.723.4462.
The post Good Food, Good Intentions: Resolute Eats for the New Year appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.
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The Costco Report: A recurring, if episodic, column devoted to ferreting out the more promising offerings, as well as to warding off the worst of the hazards. This Week's Pick: Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, at about $7/liter.
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The Costco Report: A recurring, if episodic, column devoted to ferreting out the more promising offerings, as well as to warding off the worst of the hazards.
This Week’s Pick: Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (about $21 for two 2-liter bottles)
Alas, our fair county’s Autumn weather – more than a few scattered showers and increasingly chilly evenings – hasn’t been conducive to margaritas, so I’m still sitting on a healthy stockpile of the agave nectar I secured during my previous tactical assault on the Big C. On the other hand, as despondent as I may be over the faltering flow of tequila into my limeade, I do love the change of seasons and the cooking that comes with it, so that’s what I tried to keep in mind as I struggled to maneuver my Titanic shopping cart across an arctic sea of dubious pre-fab meals and food-sample ice floes. Autumn cooking, at least in my kitchen, means several things – lots of slow braises, smoke detector-hot pizza stones, and richly sauced pastas – but above all it means soups. And soups, at least in my kitchen, always get a garnish.
One of the very easiest ways to add a splash of color and spice to everything from salad to soup is with a flavored oil. Flavored oils – typically a handful of something colorful and tasty and a pinch of salt, blended with oil and then strained – are trivially easy to make, store well, and make your plates look cool. Granted, you run some risk that either Bobby Flay cites you for copyright infringement or the 80s ask for their plates back, but as a rule, flavored oils are a pretty good crutch for the home cook. And they’re almost impossible to screw up.
Flavored Oil
The possibilities really are limitless, but I generally try to use flavors that go with a wide variety of dishes, that have good color, and that I’ve already got to hand, including staple herbs, such as parsley, basil, and chives, and almost any brightly colored and sharply flavored chili peppers. Simply start with a quarter cup or so of good quality olive oil; add a handful of whichever flavoring ingredient you’re keen on; and blend or run through a food processor until smooth. I will usually, but by no means always, pass the oil through a fine-mesh strainer in order to remove the big particulates.
In terms of the base oil itself, and the subject of this Report, the olive oil in question – labeled “Organic Extra Virgin” under the “Kirkland Signature” house brand – is seriously good stuff. It’s not just cheaper (by a wide margin) than the similar product at Safeway, TJ’s, or – heaven forbid – Whole Paycheck, it’s considerably better: Bright, grassy, slightly peppery, with a nice, round mouth feel, pretty much everything you’d want in an every-day olive oil. If you really want to think about the oil you buy, check out the good review here, as well as the UC Davis study, in which the vast majority of imported olive oils fail to pass accepted quality standards (oils produced in California fared considerably better – chalk one more up for local food sourcing).
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