San Francisco - Alison Bing [214]
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WINE COUNTRY CHEFS REVEAL ALL
Ramekins Culinary School ( 707-933-0450; www.ramekins.com; 450 W Spain St, Sonoma) is Wine Country’s premier workshop venue for home chefs, with hands-on cheesemaking seminars, knife-skills boot camps and demos by Sonoma’s award-winning Mediterranean cookbook author Paula Wolfert. At the Culinary Institute of America ( 707-967-1100; www.ciachef.edu; 2555 Main St, St Helena; cooking demonstration $15, mains $21-34; cooking demonstrations at 1:30pm & 3:30pm Mon & Fri, 10:30am & 1:30pm Sat & Sun, restaurant 11:30am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat), set in an 1889 stone chateau, you can watch acclaimed chefs do demos and chef-trainees impress instructors in an open kitchen.
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Eating
Vineyards Inn Bar & Grill ( 707-833-4500; www.vineyardsinn.com; 8445 Sonoma Hwy 12, Sonoma; mains $8-20; 11:30am-9:30pm) If you try only one Wine Country burger, make it the Jake Steak: a half-pound of succulent certified-organic chuck on ciabatta. Seafood is fresh, wild and line-caught, and most produce comes from chef Esteban’s certified-organic and biodynamic Rose Ranch.
Café la Haye ( 707-935-5994; www.cafelahaye.com; 140 E Napa St, Sonoma; mains $17-25; from 5:30pm Tue-Sat) In an open kitchen, this tiny bistro whips up big-city cuisine from ingredients grown within a 60-mile radius.
Fig Cafe ( 707-938-2130; www.thefigcafe.com; 13690 Arnold Dr, Glen Ellen; mains $15-20; 5:30-9pm daily, 10am-2:30pm Sat & Sun) Sonoma’s take on comfort food: organic salads, Sonoma duck cassoulet and free corkage on Sonoma wines, served in a converted living room.
El Dorado Kitchen ( 707-996-3030; www.eldoradosonoma.com; 405 1st St W, Sonoma; mains $7-15; 11:30am-2:30pm & 5:30-9pm; ) Biodynamic salads and gargantuan pastrami sandwiches with parmesan-dusted truffle fries are big enough to split in this sunny corner kitchenette, but get your own soft-serve ice cream topped with BR Cohn olive oil and sea salt.
Red Grape ( 707-996-4103; www.theredgrape.com; 529 1st St W, Sonoma; pizzas $10-16; 11:30am-10pm; ) Thin-crust pizza with local cheeses and cured meats, plus small-production Sonoma wines by the half-bottle.
Sonoma Market ( 707-996-3411; 500 W Napa St, Sonoma; sandwiches $6-9; 6am-9pm) Superior deli with hot pressed panini created by the in-house chef.
Drinking & Entertainment
Sebastiani Theatre ( 707-996-9756; www.sebastianitheatre.com; 1021 Central Ave, Sonoma; adult/senior & child under 12yr $9/6; ) Sonoma’s single-screen art deco movie palace spots Oscar contenders early and runs them longer than multiplexes, along with film festivals, concerts and musicals.
Wine Exchange of Sonoma (800-938-1794; www.wineexsonoma.com; 452 1st St E, Sonoma; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 7pm Sat & Sun) Come for the wine, but stay for the four microbrews on draft in the speakeasy-style rear tasting bar, plus another 250 beers ‘at last count’ along the wall.
Sleeping
At the northern end of Sonoma Valley, Santa Rosa offers affordable chain motels along Cleveland Ave, west of Hwy 101.
Beltane Ranch ( 707-996-6501; www.beltaneranch.com; 11775 Hwy 12; r incl breakfast $150-220; ) The graceful yellow 1890s homestead once belonged to Mary Ellen Pleasant, daughter of slaves, former brothel owner and California pioneer. Now guests enjoy ranch-raised meals and can hike trails, play tennis and sit on the porch swing and watch horses graze.
Gaige House Inn (707-935-0237, 800-935-0237; www.gaige.com; 13540 Arnold Dr, Glen Ellen; r $229-289, ste $359-459;) Sonoma’s sleekest inn, with Zen-chic rooms in the historic main house and spa