Thin places — where heaven and earth come closer or the veil between the here and the otherworld is especially thin — is beloved lore for thousands of years. On California’s breathtaking Mendocino Coast, easily some of the most beautiful and mystical coastline in the world, the couple thousand acres of private coast and redwood forest that is home to The Inn at Newport Ranch since owner Will Jackson bought the land in the 1980s is just such a thin place. Read more →
My article on 10 of Sonoma/Napa and Mendocino Wine Country’s best bars (Duke’s Spirited Cocktails, Fern Bar, Barber Lee Spirits, Mario & John’s, Bird & the Bottle, Fog Eater Cafe, The Charter Oak, Miminashi, La Taberna, Solbar)…
In the Fall 2020 print issue of Distiller Magazine: Read more →
Published at Haute Living Magazine, the November-December 2019 issue includes my feature on Wine Country Inns — from Mendocino to Sonoma Counties — that offer exceptional, world class dining and grow their own produce in their gardens or farms: SingleThread in Healdsburg, Harbor House Inn in Elk, Boonville Hotel in Boonville. Online here. MY HAUTE LIVING ARTICLES— A visionary San… Read more →
It’s always a pleasure to return to the breathtaking, restorative Mendocino Coast and Little River Inn (my past Mendo love/articles here) amid ocean cliffs & redwood forests. I just returned to Little River Inn, May 10-12, for their Forage & Ferment Experience, a weekend of cooking demos, coastal and forest foraging, picnic lunches and eating Mendo’s spectacular seaweed, urchin, scallops,… Read more →
In my latest Time Out column, my top openings of the month join other recent standout newcomers for a top 10 on where to eat now (article here): Che Fico 838 Divisadero St., SF, 415-416-6959; chefico.com. Tuesday-Thursday 5:30–11:00pm, Friday–Saturday 5:30pm–1:00am. Che Fico is the new “it” spot (and one of the toughest reservations) in town, garnering national press and celebrity… Read more →
Mendocino remains one of our most magical NorCal getaways. The craggy coast, majestic redwood forests, the Victorian village of Mendocino itself — a weekend in Mendo, as locals call it, is always a relaxing proposition. The pace slows down, and the spirit of the hippies who popularized the town in the ’60s and ’70s remains, while dramatic vistas from forests, farmlands and hills to the rugged shore and deep blue sea all refresh from city life and a long work week.
As if the Neapolitan, artisanal, wood-fired pizza wave of the past decade weren’t enough, pizza openings continue to come on fast and furious. A recent interview I read with a New Yorker said they couldn’t live on the West Coast because they’d have to miss pizza. Having grown up in NJ (near NYC) and California both, and as a frequent… Read more →
On a beautifully moody, rainy weekend this November, I trekked up to brand new Branches in the gorgeous farmland and vineyards of Ukiah that were aflame with red, orange and yellow leaves this time of year. Branches is a chophouse/restaurant, bustling fireside pub, bakery and butcher all rolled into one large space. Unusual for these parts, it was already mobbed… Read more →