Gail is a locavore; someone who eats food provided by local producers, growers and suppliers. She promotes local products in her classes and radio shows and uses local products in her recipes whenever possible. The extreme end of locavorism is “100 mile dieting” which means that all products must originate within 100 miles of the […]
VW van requires a bit more work today (new clutch). The weather is beautiful and Jon and I decide to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from Berkeley to San Francisco. To the Ferry Plaza Market for breakfast. I wait in a long line at The Blue Bottle Coffee Co. (there’s always a line […]
It’s get the van fixed day (tune-up, oil change and muffler repair followed by four new tires) and at the suggestion of the guys at Buslab (specializing in VW Westfalia repair) we go to La Note for breakfast. I admit; breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day. I love eating breakfast out […]
If your only tool is a hammer then every problem is a nail. I think about that all the time because I am a marketing guy and every issue is viewed through a marketing lens. I have been considering the wine industry for the past weeks while visiting a couple of dozen wineries. Winemakers spend […]
It’s Easter Sunday and some kids from a nearby camper are on an early Easter egg hunt. We get up, shower and enjoy a camper breakfast of Greek God’s honey yogurt, a banana and the alst of the Three Sisters Bakery Granola (it was mighty fine granola). We head to the Fairmont Sonoma Mission and […]
Drive to Berkeley in rush hour traffic and head to Peet’s for a latte. Busy place and Peet’s is celebrating 45 years in business. Did you know that Peet’s was the learning ground for Howard Schulta, the founder/owner of Starbucks?...It's less structured than Starbuck's, but just as busy. Lunch at Slow, a small bright spot […]
Travel is broadening. Despite the fact that we both intend to loose a few pounds on this trip as a result of good eating and increased exercise and therefore decrease the width of our beam, the trip has widened our minds. I already have a head full of unrelated and generally useless trivia but after […]
Hearty breakfast at Gillwoods café (multi-grain blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon for Jon and a breakfast sandwich – bagel, egg, cheese and bacon –for me). It’s off to the Rutherford area to tour some wineries: William Harrison, purchased a bottle of their cabernet franc; Rutherford Ranch, purchased their port and zinfandel; and St. […]
We continue touring wineries along the Russian River: Mill Creek (produces about 8,000 cases per year); Hop Kiln (a beautiful historic building that had been used to dry hops); Thomas George winery with a new cave that opened in 2010; and lastly Porter Creek winery (we had to stop here as Jon’s sister and family […]
Continue down the coastal hwy to Ft Bragg and purchase some smoked products (turkey and pork chops) from a local deli. We decide to head east on Dry Creek for Healdsburg (the north part of Sonoma). It’s a good thing we did this in daylight, as we climbed up to elevations of 2000 ft on […]
