Slow Food Sonoma County North

Passionate About Pie!
2025-01-27 13:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Passionate About Pie!

Get ready for whatever the New Year has in store—everything is better with pie! Join us for a hands-on pie-making workshop.

Monday, January 27, 1-4 pm

Cloverdale

with Chef Christine Piccin

We’ll discuss what goes into a tender, delicious crust, I’ll teach you my tricks and soon you’ll be shaping your own perfect pies. We’ll sample a chocolate cream pie (a single-crust technique) and you’ll take home a mini lattice-crust apple pie you made yourself!

If you have a rolling pin, please bring it with you – let us know if you do not.

Tickets are $35 for Slow Food members and $45 for non-members. Only current members are receiving this initial invitation

Get your ticket here!

Instructor Christine Piccin

Chef Christine Piccin has written about food and travel, cooked in restaurants for many years and now trains student-chefs in the SRJC Culinary Arts program. She has paired food and wine for wineries, was the president of the Sonoma County Culinary Guild and a Harvest Fair Sweepstakes Award winner, a competition she now helps judge. Christine credits her dad with inspiring her to try just about anything, once, and her mom with teaching her how to make the perfect pie crust.

P.O. Box 1494 | Healdsburg CA | 95448 unsubscribe

Tour of Volo Chocolate
2025-03-26 11:00 - 12:30
Tour of VOLO Chocolate

VOLO is the award-winning handmade “Bean to Bar” deep chocolate founded in 2016 by Jeff and Susan Mall, Sonoma County farm-to-table chefs.

Join us for a tour of VOLO’s small factory and learn about the process of making chocolate from Jeff Mall.

Wednesday, March 26, 11 am – 12:15 pm

399 Business Park Court, Windsor

Tickets are $30 per person for Slow Food members. Because space is limited, this invitation is going first to current members only.

REGISTER HERE!

For those who would like to have lunch after the tour, one of Slow Food’s Snail of Approval restaurants is nearby. PizzaLeah is at 9240 Old Redwood Highway, Suite 116, Windsor (in the Oliver’s shopping center). 707.620.0551.

VOLO’s Process

Our chocolate making process begins with sourcing cacao (cocoa beans) from various parts of the world. We work with Uncommon Cacao to source ultra-premium grade organic beans. They operate their business with Transparent Trade, financial transparency, a step beyond Fair Trade guidelines.

We receive the fermented/dried cacao at our little factory here in Sonoma County. The first step is roasting, which is much like roasting coffee. Time and temperature are closely monitored and adjusted during the roasting process.

Once the beans have been roasted, there are several more processes before the chocolate bars are molded and packaged. The artwork on the labels are photographs of quilts made by Cathy Shanahan, a renowned textile artist, and Jeff’s aunt!

Slow Books: Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir, by Padma Lakshmi
2025-06-23 17:30 - 19:00
Slow Books is an ongoing activity of our chapter. The group meets every 6 weeks to discuss a food-related book and enjoy a potluck dinner based on the book. We meet in people’s homes which can usually only accommodate up to 8 people. For this reason, we are usually unable to invite others than our core group of participants.

But we’re learning a lot from the books we’ve read, and thought you might want to enjoy the books as well.

JUNE SELECTION: Slow Books: Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir, by Padma Lakshmi

A vivid memoir of food and family, survival and triumph, Love, Loss, and What We Ate traces the arc of Padma Lakshmi’s unlikely path from an immigrant childhood to a complicated life in front of the camera—a tantalizing blend of Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone and Nora Ephron’s Heartburn
Long before Padma Lakshmi ever stepped onto a television set, she learned that how we eat is an extension of how we love, how we comfort, how we forge a sense of home—and how we taste the world as we navigate our way through it. Shuttling between continents as a child, she lived a life of dislocation that would become habit as an adult, never quite at home in the world. And yet, through all her travels, her favorite food remained the simple rice she first ate sitting on the cool floor of her grandmother’s kitchen in South India.
Poignant and surprising, Love, Loss, and What We Ate is Lakshmi’s extraordinary account of her journey from that humble kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges’ table of Top Chef and beyond. It chronicles the fierce devotion of the remarkable people who shaped her along the way, from her headstrong mother who flouted conservative Indian convention to make a life in New York, to her Brahmin grandfather—a brilliant engineer with an irrepressible sweet tooth—to the man seemingly wrong for her in every way who proved to be her truest ally. A memoir rich with sensual prose and punctuated with evocative recipes, it is alive with the scents, tastes, and textures of a life that spans complex geographies both internal and external.
Love, Loss, and What We Ate is an intimate and unexpected story of food and family—both the ones we are born to and the ones we create—and their enduring legacies. Amazon

Annual Summer Picnic at Gradek Ranch
2025-07-12 16:00 - 19:00
It’s Time for the Slow Food Annual Summer Picnic at the Gradek Ranch!

Saturday, July 12
4 – 7 pm

Our Annual Summer Picnic is held on the Gradek Ranch in the Dry Creek Valley. Please join us for an afternoon of friends and food in a beautiful setting: picnic tables under the shade of tall trees and a lake ready for swimming. Come at 4 pm for appetizers, followed by a Mexican Taco Bar supper with grilled steak and chicken and hand-made tortillas.
Please bring a beverage and your place-setting!

Tickets Here

Thank you for supporting our chapter’s initiatives! This picnic is more than just a fun gathering—it’s also a fundraiser that helps us keep our efforts going strong. We’re grateful for your participation and generosity. In addition, we’re proud to donate a portion of the proceeds to Farm to Fight Hunger, supporting their mission to combat food insecurity.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Slow Food Sonoma County North | PO Box 1494 | Healdsburg, CA 95448 US

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Slow Books: Epitaph for a Peach, David Mas Masumoto
2025-08-04 17:30 - 19:00
Slow Books is an ongoing activity of our chapter. The group meets every 6 weeks to discuss a food-related book and enjoy a potluck dinner based on the book. We meet in people’s homes which can usually only accommodate up to 8 people. For this reason, we are usually unable to invite others than our core group of participants.

But we’re learning a lot from the books we’ve read, and thought you might want to enjoy the books as well.

JUNE SELECTION: Slow Books: Epitaph for a Peach, David Mas Masumoto
A lyrical, sensuous and thoroughly engrossing memoir of one critical year in the life of an organic peach farmer, Epitaph for a Peach is “a delightful narrative . . . with poetic flair and a sense of humor” (Library Journal). Line drawings. Amazon

Tastes & Tales of Italy-Event Postponed
2025-08-23 17:30 - 20:30 | The Clubhouse at Tayman Golf Club, 927 S. Fitch Mountain Road, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
Event postponed, more information on new date coming soon.

Celebrate Italy, Slow Food, and Local Flavor at “Tastes & Tales of Italy” Dinner
Join Slow Food Sonoma County North Tastes & Tales of Italy, an unforgettable evening of food, stories, and community. This special event celebrates our chapter’s delegates who attended the global Terra Madre Salone del Gusto gathering in Turin, Italy last fall—an international showcase of sustainable food and farming.
Highlights of the Evening:• Italy-inspired dinner by Chef Ryan Ramey of Americana & Estero Café• Four-course meal featuring local, seasonal ingredients (menu below)• Stories & photos from our delegates’ journey to Terra Madre 2024• Silent auction featuring local experiences, artisan goods, and more• A selection of wines will be included
Menu:• Appetizers: Peaches with creamy cheese & honey, anchovy crostini, Wise Acre Farm beef meatballs• Entrée: Italian fry bread with local charcuterie• Main: Saffron risotto with Liberty Duck & gremolata, grilled summer vegetables• Dessert: Buttermilk panna cotta with candied hazelnut crunch
Tickets
Meet Our Delegates:Tiffany Holbrook (Wise Acre Farm), Samantha Ramey (Americana & Estero Café), and Donna del Rey (Relish Culinary Adventures)—all Snail of Approval awardees and leaders in local, sustainable food.
Silent Auction Highlights:• 2-night stay at an ocean-view Sea Ranch home• Wine tasting for 4 at Papapietro Perry Winery• Local olive oil basket, artisan ceramics, hand-woven Guatemalan mat• Tickets to future Slow Food dinners, including our 100-Mile Dinner (May 2026)
This event will raise funds to send chapter delegates to Terra Madre 2026. Thank you for your support!

Celebrate a Year of Slow Food With Us at Our Annual Meeting, Healdsburg!
2025-10-26 15:00 - 17:00
Celebrate a Year of Slow Food With Us at Our Annual Meeting!

Barn at Farm to Fight Hunger

Speaker Vince Trotter

October 26, 3-5 pm
Farm to Fight Hunger
12340 Los Amigos Road, Healdsburg

There is no charge for this event, but please register for planning purposes.

Register Here

Come Help Us Celebrate Our Members and Our Collective Work This Year–and Learn About North Bay Agriculture
Mingle with old friends and meet new members, have some nibbles and drinks, and find out what your chapter has been doing this year.
We will enjoy the beauty of the fields and barn at Farm to Fight Hunger and hear from owners Bruce Mentzer and Anthony Solar about their mission to provide food for those in need.
And we are excited to welcome Vince Trotter as our speaker. Vince is Sustainable Ag Coordinator and Agricultural Ombudsman with UC Cooperative Extension in Marin County and co-owner of Kibo Farm. He will give us “A Perspective on North Bay Agriculture” and answer your questions.

Special Information
Please bring your favorite appetizer to share, and label it.
Beverages provided.
Bring a friend! We want to spread the word about Slow Food and Good, Clean, Fair food for all.
If your membership has expired, attend and renew it. Not a member? Come and see what we’re all about!

Farm to Fight Hunger
Our mission is to sustainably grow nutritious vegetables, and to produce pasture-raised eggs, for donation to those in need of healthy food in Sonoma County. We donate 100% of what we grow.
The farm is a Snail of Approval – Slow Food in Sonoma County recipient.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Terra Madre Day Dinner, Healdsburg
2025-12-10 17:30 - 20:00
Terra Madre Day Dinner

This year we are again observing International Terra Madre Day with dinner at the intimate Idlewild Tasting Room. Please join us!

Wednesday, December 10, 5:30 -8 pm
132 Plaza Street, Healdsburg

MENU

Selection of Appetizers

Salad of Local Greens with Gorgonzola and Gradek Pears
Spezzatino di Maiale (Pork Stew) on Polenta
(a vegetarian option will be offered)

Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta
Idlewild Wines
Tickets are $60 for Slow Food Members and $75 for non-members
Ticket sales will end on December 6.

Get Your Tickets Here

In the Slow Food tradition, please bring your own (non-disposable) plate + silverware + napkin to help reduce waste and clean-up time. Wine glasses will be provided.

Please do not bring your own wine. Idlewild wines will be served during the evening.
Doors will open promptly at 5:30 pm.

December 10 marks Terra Madre Day, our global celebration of food, community, and the living networks that connect us all. Marking the anniversary of the founding of the Slow Food movement in 1989, this day provides us a moment for communities everywhere to celebrate local food cultures and to show how food can be a force for connection, resilience, and change.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Scone Making Class, Sebastopol
2026-01-21 09:30 - 12:30 | Patisserie Angelica, 6821 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol, CA, United States
Celebrate the New Year by learning to make scones! Join us in a fun, educational, and interactive class at Patisserie Angelica.
Patisserie Angelica, 6821 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol
Tickets
Patisserie Angelica is a locally-owned, award-winning French-style artisanal bakery. It has a Slow Food Snail of Approval. Our class will be taught by Maggie, one of the famous bakers at the patisserie. We will gather in the kitchen to learn the process and mix the dough, and then sit down in the cosy dining area to enjoy scones with a pot of hot tea.
Patisserie Angelica’s scones are unique in that they’re made only with cream. There’s no butter, unlike in many scone recipes. In a Press Democrat interview, owner Gargana Karabelov explains that “The cream makes them crackly on the outside and softer on the inside, and they don’t get dry. I like them better than scones made with butter.”Pa
Tickets for this special event are $40 for Slow Food members and $50 for non-members. The class is limited to 10 participants.

Tastes & Tales of Italy, Healdsburg - Ticket Sales End January 30
2026-02-04 17:30 - 20:30 | The Clubhouse at Tayman Golf Club, 927 S. Fitch Mountain Road, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
Please join us for an evening on beautiful Fitch Mountain for a Northern Italy-inspired dinner! The menu was planned by our three delegates to Terra Madre 2024, the bi-annual international Slow Food gathering in Torino, Italy.
Start the evening with an aperitivo, browse the offerings at our silent auction, then sit down to a family-style dinner. During the evening, we will also hear heartfelt tales from our delegates about their experiences at Terra Madre Italy.
Tickets are $80 for Slow Food members and $90 for non-members.
Tickets
This event will raise funds to send chapter delegates to Terra Madre 2026.
Thank you for your support!

Our Delegates to Terra Madre 2024Tiffany Holbrook, owner Wise Acre Farm, WindsorSamantha Ramey, co-owner Estero Cafe and AmericanaDonna del Rey, owner Relish Culinary Adventures, Healdsburg

Our delegates are stars in the Sonoma County food system. They represented our farms and restaurants, and learned about food, farming, and other practices from other delegates from around the world. They also led a workshop about Sonoma County’s Snail of Approval program.

Tastes & Tales of Italy Menu

AperitivoPolenta Squares | Tomato Jam | Valley Ford Farmers CheeseCrusty Bread | Italian Anchovy ButterWise Acre Farm Meatballs

MainWinter Greens Salad | Candied Hazelnuts | Blood Orange VinaigrettePasta al Forno | Duck RaguVegetarian Option: Pasta al Forno | Mushroom RaguRoasted Broccolini

DessertChocolate Bonet | Amaretti Cookies

Local wines will accompany the meal.

Silent Auction Items-2 nights at a 2-bedroom, ocean-view Sea Ranch home-Wine tasting and charcuterie plate for 4 at Papapietro Perry Winery in Healdsburg-Basket of 4 local olive oils-Serving bowl and salad/dessert plates by Aletha Soule Studio with accompanying hand-woven mat by AMIDI in Guatemala-PLUS you can buy a seat at our next 100-Mile Dinner, May 2026 in Cloverdale!

8th Annual Snail of Approval Awards-Slow Food in Sonoma County
2026-02-25 17:30 - 19:30 | Sebastopol Grange, 6000 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol, CA, 95472, United States
On February 25, Slow Food in Sonoma County invites you to gather at the Sebastopol Grange for an evening of connection, conversation, and celebration at our 8th Annual Snail of Approval Awards.
This year, we are honoring 21 Sonoma County food businesses—from regenerative farms and community markets to beloved restaurants and artisan producers—whose work reflects Slow Food values in action every day. These are the businesses nourishing our community while caring for the land, supporting workers, and strengthening local food traditions.
The evening will feature:

· Recognition of our 2025 Snail of Approval awardees and renewal recipients
· Opportunities to meet farmers, chefs, and food makers and hear their stories
· Light bites and beverages highlighting local producers
· A warm, informal atmosphere designed for community and conversation

At a time when small food businesses face growing challenges, the Snail of Approval Awards offer a chance to pause, come together, and celebrate what’s working—and the people making it happen.
Whether you’re a longtime Slow Food supporter or simply curious about where your food comes from, we hope you’ll join us for this meaningful community celebration.
Get Your Tickets Now!
2025 Snail of Approval Award Recipients

Ambix Spirits, Sebastopol
The Beet Restaurant & Wine Shop, Cloverdale
Ceres Community Project, Sebastopol
Chad’s Soup Shack & Catering, Sonoma County
Cloverdale Certified Farmers Market, Cloverdale
Dahlia & Sage Community Market, Cloverdale
Fishetarian Fish Market, Bodega Bay
Front Porch Farm, Healdsburg
Gabacool Provisions, Sonoma County
The Guerneville Certified Farmers Market, Guerneville
Hot Drops, Sonoma County
Jupiter Foods, Petaluma
Knight Valley Wagyu, Calistoga
Little Saint Farm, Healdsburg
Little Saint Restaurant, Healdsburg
Longer Table Farm, Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, Santa Rosa
Tenfold Farmstand, Petaluma
The Redwood, Sebastopol
Valley bar + bottle, Sonoma
Valley Swim Club, Sonoma

Also recognized during the celebration are 18 businesses receiving Snail of Approval renewals for 2025: Americana Santa Rosa, Bernier Farms, Black Pig Meat Co/Black Piglet, COOKIE…take a bite!, Corner Project, DaVero Farms & Winery, Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria, Estero Café, Gold Ridge Organic Farms, Handline, Laguna Farm, Lunchette, Red Horse Pizza, Seven Moons Farm, SingleThread Farm & Restaurant, Sunray Farm, Tierra Vegetables, Tilted Shed Ciderworks.
Visit our Snail of Approval map for a full list of local Snail of Approval awardees.
Snail of Approval is a recognition given to food businesses that pursue and practice Slow Food values of good, clean and fair food for all. As a locally run but internationally embraced program, Snail of Approval is a powerful validation for businesses. Slow Food in Sonoma County is a joint project of two local Slow Food chapters, Sonoma County North and Russian River, run in partnership with Slow Food USA.

Slow Cinema, We Feed People, Healdsburg
2026-03-25 15:00 - 17:00
More information to come!
Learn more about the film.

Ranch Tour & Lunch
2026-05-08 10:30 - 13:30
TOUR: STEMPLE CREEK RANCH
900 Burbank Lane, Tomales
Join us for a tour of Stemple Creek Ranch, acclaimed for its superior grass-fed and finished meats and regenerative and organic agricultural practices. The ranch has been home to the Poncia family for four generations. “We seek to enhance and rehabilitate our entire ecosystem by focusing on soil health and increasing carbon in our land.”
We encourage you to support the ranch by purchasing their products: meat (beef, lamb, pork, chicken) and swag (honey, tallow lip and hand balm, caps and more). Please order ahead of time and pick up at the tour.
LUNCH: ESTERO CAFE
14451 Highway 1, Valley Ford
After our ranch tour, we will drive a short distance to Estero Cafe for lunch. The menu is their signature cheeseburgers with Stemple Creek beef and Estero Gold cheese, french fries, a house-made cookie, and tea or lemonade. The vegetarian option is mushroom melt with coleslaw.
Beer and wine is available for purchase.
Tickets are $50 per person ($55 for non-members), which covers the ranch tour and lunch. Space is limited. Note that ticket sales end on May 1.
About Stemple Creek Ranch
Our goal is to work in harmony with Mother Nature to promote optimal biodiversity that ensures the long term health and productivity of the ranch. Most of our pastureland is Certified Organic, and our free range beef and lamb are 100% grass fed and grass finished. We rotationally graze our stock on open pasture from birth to harvest. They are never supplemented with grains, corn, or soy, and never receive artificial hormones, growth promotants, or antibiotics. Our pigs are humanely raised in large outdoor pens where they enjoy a vegetarian diet with plenty of room to socialize and express natural behaviors.
About Estero Cafe
Located in Valley Ford, Estero Cafe offers fresh, farm-to-table American comfort food. We are dedicated to local sourcing, by procuring locally farmed proteins and vegetables for all our dishes. In that way we also support our community by providing healthy, delicious meals. We are also happy to feature beverages from regional producers. Estero Cafe owners are Ryan and Samantha Ramey; it holds a Snail of Approval in Sonoma County.

Slow Food 100-Mile Dinner
2026-05-30 18:00 - 20:30 | Diaz Ranch/Colibri Vineyard, 26607 River Rd, Cloverdale, CA, 95425, United States
Experience the flavors of our region in their purest form. A 100-mile dinner celebrates ingredients sourced entirely from within 100 miles—highlighting the farmers, producers, and artisans who make our local food community so vibrant.
Join us this May for an intimate and memorable evening at a beautiful private estate in Cloverdale.
Enjoy a thoughtfully crafted five-course menu with wine pairings, created and served by members of our chapter’s Events Team. Each dish will reflect the season at its peak, showcasing the very best of what our region has to offer.
With just 16 seats at the table, this is a rare opportunity to gather, connect, and savor a truly local dining experience.
$165 per person | Limited seating
Proceeds from the evening support our Slow Food projects, including initiatives that uplift local farmers and food businesses.

Tabling at Cloverdale Certified Farmers Market
2026-07-19 09:30 - 13:00 | Cloverdale Certified Farmers Market, West 2nd Street, Cloverdale, CA, 95425, United States
Come to the market and stop by our booth, we would love to see you!

Riverfront Park Potluck
2026-08-19 17:30 - 19:30 | Riverfront Regional Park, 7821 Eastside Rd, Healdburg, CA, 95448, United States
More information coming soon.

Tabling at Healdsburg Farmers' Market
2026-08-22 08:00 - 12:00 | Healdsburg Farmers’ Market, 3 North St at Vine, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
