An Italian Dish, Ellen Shick

Ellen is a travel and food writer, an Italian food enthusiast and a Slow Food supporter. Her website and blog include recipes and much more! You can subscribe to her newsletter/blog by going to her website. An Italian Dish
“I live in California and travel to Italy to conduct my food research. By research I mean eating Italian food, drinking Italian wine, visiting farms and markets. Life is good.”
Bernier Farms, Geyserville – Yael, Paul & Zureal Bernier

Bernier Farms is a small certified organic farm nestled north of Healdsburg, California with several sites in the Dry Creek and Alexander valleys. The farm specializes in garlic varietals for seed and market, and produces fruits and vegetables for local farmers’ markets and restaurants throughout the year. Their wine grapes sell to several local wineries. You can find them at the Santa Rosa Original Farmers Market at the Luther Burbank Center every Saturday throughout the year; the Healdsburg Farmers Market on Saturdays and Wednesdays from May until the end of December; and the Cloverdale market Tuesdays, from April through December. Grower of Ark products. Snail of Approval recipient.
707-849-7592 Email: bernierfarms@gmail.com
Black Pig Meat Co, Black Piglet, Farm to Pantry – Duskie Estes & John Stewart

Bacon! Where to find it? Right here. Black Pig Meat Co
Snail of Approval recipient.

You can find the Black Piglet food truck around Sonoma County and beyond. Local, seasonal food, mostly pork, and the best BLT during tomato season. Snail of Approval recipient.

“Farm to Pantry is committed to rescuing food that would otherwise go wasted and getting it to people in need. The food is out there; all we have to do is go get it. No one should be left behind.”
— Duskie Estes, Executive Director
707-955-9898 Email: gleaning@farmtopantry.org
Farm to Fight Hunger, Healdsburg – Bruce Mentzer

Farm to Fight Hunger is a non-profit organization that grows, harvests and delivers fresh nutritious produce, free of charge, to those in Sonoma County in need of healthy food. Eggs layed by happy pastured hens are also donated to local food banks. We farm in an earth-friendly sustainable manner and work to improve the soil health, therefore improving the nutritional content of the food we grow, increasing the amount of carbon the soil can hold and reducing greenhouse gases. We will work to make the farm its own healthy balanced ecosystem, with habitat for both native plants and beneficial insects. Snail of Approval recipient.
Email: farmtofighthunger@gmail.com
Gradek Family Farm, Healdsburg – Ken Gradek

The 10-acre orchard at the Gradek Family Farm in the Dry Creek Valley contains over 600 trees producing multiple varieties of peaches, nectarines, figs, apples, European and Asian pears, persimmons, and citrus. The Farm’s fruit appears on the menus of major restaurants in Sonoma County and is sold in grocery stores and farmers’ markets. They are especially known for the 12 types of Asian pears they grow. Snail of Approval recipient.
707-217-7393
Jackson Family Gardens, Fulton – Tucker Taylor

Located in Fulton, Jackson Family Gardens grows specialty produce for the culinary team at Jackson Family Wines as well as several other chefs in the San Francisco Bay Area. The four acre culinary garden is an educational space that speaks to the importance of fresh food in hopes of inspiring people to grow some of their own food and support local farmers. Being soil-farmers, the focus is primarily on building soil organic matter through composting, crop rotations and cover cropping which results in nutrient-dense produce. Through Farm to Pantry and the Redwood Empire Food Bank, some of this produce makes its way to those in need in our local community. Grower of Ark Products. Snail of Approval recipient.
Open daily 10-5 5007 Fulton Rd, Fulton, CA 95439
tucker.taylor@jfwmail.com Instagram: @farmert
Kitchen Table Advisors, California – Paige Phinney, North Bay Director

Kitchen Table Advisors support farmers and ranchers who use regenerative agricultural practices, and are leaders for social and environmental change within the food system. They prioritize work with communities that have historically been excluded from resources and recognition within our food system — namely the BIPOC, women, low-income, immigrant, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Kitchen Table supports Northern California producers to reach new milestones, from hiring their first employees to buying property and beyond. They provide personalized bilingual business advising on topics such as setting up and using Quickbooks (or another financial management tool); preparing for and connecting with a lender; and analyzing sales channel profitability.
Kraut Source – Karen Diggs

Kraut Source is an innovative kitchenware for making fermented foods like sauerkraut, natural pickles, and kimchi in a wide-mouth mason jar. The stainless steel unit is dishwasher safe and easy to use. Kraut Source is designed for singles and families of all sizes. The unit fits on wide-mouth mason jars so you can make pint, quart, or half-gallon sized batches. Unlike traditional stoneware fermentation crocks, Kraut Source takes up little space so you can have several batches fermenting simultaneously, and they’ll be ready in a fraction of the time. The glass jar enables you to observe your progress. Its elegant, streamlined design also means it will look nifty on your countertop.
Customer service SERVICE@KRAUTSOURCE.COM Fermentation questions KAREN@KRAUTSOURCE.COM
Lantern Farm, Cloverdale – Rebecca Bozelli

Lantern Farm is a small family farm in Cloverdale. They believe in growing clean, fair, and healthy fruits, flowers and vegetables. Lantern Farm believes in biodiversity and growing food without the use of chemicals. Their goal is to create an organic small viable farm to satisfy the need for local and fresh food in the area. Visit them Saturday mornings at the Santa Rosa Original Farmers Market at The Luther Burbank Center or shop online at farmandflourboxes.com. Grower of Ark Products. Snail of Approval recipient.
707-404-8016 Email: lanternfarmcloverdale@gmail.com
Moon Dog Olive Farm, Cloverdale – Chris and Dawn Lindelof

Planted and farmed by two crazy people that didn’t think about the work–they just wanted to make their slice of the world a little more delicious! Moon Dog Olive Farm is planted to traditional Tuscan varieties; Leccino, Frantoio, and Pendolino. The 280 trees are organically farmed by Dawn and Chris Lindelof in their “spare time.” Moon Dog Olive Farm is located in the Northern part of Alexander Valley in Cloverdale, not far from the Russian River. This Extra Virgin Olive Oil is only available at the farm and at local markets and special events. Every vintage is a little different. But the fruity fragrance and spicy finish is definitive in every bottling.
Email: Dawn@grapevinesgalore.com
Oddone Vineyard, Healdsburg – Pier and Barbara Oddone

The Oddone family has grown grapes in the Piedmont region of Italy for over 400 years. That tradition continues in Dry Creek Valley where, nearly 30 years ago, Pier and Barbara Oddone found the perfect place to grow premium wine grapes. In 1998 they planted the family vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon and a field blend of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Oddone Vineyard is sustainably farmed and certified by California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA).
Email: oddonevineyard@gmail.com
Oz Family Farm, Valley Ford – Kelly Osman

OZ Family Farm is nestled amid the rolling hills outside the small community of Valley Ford, California, a few miles inland from the Sonoma coastline. The heritage breeds of turkeys the Osmans raise–Midget Whites, Narragansetts, Blacks, Bourbon Reds, Royal Palms and Slates–and the critically endangered American Buff and larger Embden geese are a good fit for the cool coastal climate. The farm also raises ducks and rabbits. OZ Family Farm rabbits are the staple of the farm, with a mix of endangered heritage breeds such as the Blue and White Americans and the American Chinchilla rabbits, along with commercial breeds such as New Zealands and Californians. They round off their offerings with some of the best fertilizer available: vermicompost from their rabbits, described time and again by Master Gardeners and other specialists as ”Bunny Gold.”
Email: kelly@ozfamilyfarm.com
Pappa’s Pizza Café, Cloverdale – Mike and Denaire Nixon

Pappa’s Pizza Café is a family owned and operated business. The café has a bar with 10 taps, and offers a full menu of appetizers, sandwiches, calzone and more than 13 types of pizza. There is also a gluten-free menu. The pizza dough is made daily from scratch, hand rolled and left to rise naturally. Many of the fresh toppings are sliced in house, including California mozzarella cheese, and marinara and ranch sauce are also made in house. “Pizza the old fashioned way!”
707-894-4453, 707-894-4454, Online ordering
Patisserie Angelica, Sebastopol – Gergana Karabelov

Patisserie Angelica is a cozy, Parisian-style café serving delectable pastries, coffees, and High Tea. Specialty cakes artfully and custom designed. Non-GMO & organically focused. 95% of all our products are house made. It’s really true; baked goods, cakes, fillings, buttercream, curds, preserves, jams, jellies, to name a few. We even make our own mocha mix for coffee. No artificial preservative laden synthetic food colors are used, ours are all natural plant based colors. Snail of Approval recipient.
707-827-7998 Email: info@patisserieangelica.com
Relish Culinary Adventures, Healdsburg – Donna Del Rey

Relish combines talented chefs, fabulous cuisine and captivating rural settings, including the beautiful Relish Culinary Center in downtown Healdsburg, to create one-of-a-kind authentic food experiences, including cooking classes, tours and other creative culinary events for individuals, groups, and businesses.
Our goal is to celebrate seasonal, local food and provide a fresh and inspiring learning experience for everyone at every event. Snail of Approval recipient.
707-431-9999 Email: info@relishculinary.com
Single Thread Restaurant, Healdsburg – Katina and Kyle Connaughton

In the heart of downtown Healdsburg, one of the country’s most accomplished chefs Kyle Connaughton, along with wife/farmer Katina Connaughton, bring you SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn. A distinctly Japanese ethos is the common thread that binds the entire enterprise: from the warm hospitality in anticipation of every diner’s needs, to the chef’s 11-course kaiseki-style menu designed to highlight Northern California’s seasonality. Their farm supplies vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, honey, eggs, and olive oil to the restaurant kitchen. Snail of Approval recipient.
Email: info@singlethreadfarms.com
707-723-4646 Bookings
Strong Arm Farm, Santa Rosa – Heidi Hermann

Strong Arm Farm wild-harvests Sonoma Coast Seaweed, leads seaweed forage experiences, and grows CCOF certified organic tuberose lilies. Heidi Herrmann began Strong Arm Farm in 2009. Originally with a focus on vegetables, the farm now offers seaweed and tuberose. Heidi is a Sustainable Agriculture Instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, at their renowned Shone Farm facility. She has an Ornamental Horticulture degree from Cal Poly University, with an emphasis in pest management and nursery production, and a Master’s from Sonoma State University, thesis: Experiential Agriculture Education. She teaches ‘Native Plants in Restoration’ focusing on habitat/mitigation plantings at Sonoma State University. Running Strong Arm Farm is truly a ‘practice what you preach’ example. Heidi is a strong-armed woman producing an array of beautiful and nutrient-dense delectables.
Email: strongarmfarm@gmail.com
Tallgrass Ranch Olive Oil, Sonoma – Nancy Lilly

Tallgrass Ranch Olive Oil is a small producer of Extra Virgin olive oil in Sonoma. Locally my oil can be purchased at The Epicurean Connection in Sonoma. Our newest oil (2015) has been certified by the COOC and we are recipients of the Good Food Award for our oil for 2014. I am a Sonoma native, lifelong farmer (grapes in addition to the olives) and a founding member of the Panel of Tasters for the California Olive Oil Council as well as Paul Vossen’s UC Extension Research panel. Snail of Approval recipient.
Wine Country Cafe & Deli, Santa Rosa – Enrique Alvarez

Wine Country Cafe serves Organic Coffee and Tea, Fresh Pastries & Baked Goods, Sandwiches, Hot and Cold Breakfast Items, Salads and more. Swing by our drive-thru before work or come hang out for lunch! P.S. Try the House Made Kombucha
707-230-2462 Email: hello.winecountrycafe@gmail.com