It was excellent, and my choice of a cool Trumer Pils matched perfectly. I went with the daily special, an Italian sausage sandwich, which had enough sausage to feed an army. I love Dutch crunch bread, but dislike how it treats the roof of my mouth, but discovered while tasting someone else’s sandwich that opting for it as part of a panini sandwich works well. Sunday started with an early hike with family at Tolay Lake Regional Park, just up and over the hill from Keller Estate, followed by lunch at one of our favorite outdoor dining spots – Charley’s Wine Country Deli (We love their sandwiches and sides, but also thoroughly enjoy the relaxed setting and that they have both an on-sale and off-sale liquor license, so we can either buy pints of beer from their speakeasy-ish bar, or choose something from the cooler. The waiting list is now longer than ever, however, you can order directly from their website or retail at shops like i Leoni, the Seed Bank and Penngrove Market. Since cooking their beans ourselves, they have introduced us to a whole new appreciation for how good beans can really be. After several excellent Rancho Gordo cassoulets at Pearl, we knew we were on to something. It was only later when we kept seeing their name on more restaurant menus that when we started to take notice. We saw Rancho Gordo listed on the menu but did not know who they were and frankly, even after devouring the dish, did not think much about the beans’ contribution. We never thought about the bean part of any given recipe until we ordered a dish containing these beans at Estero Café a few years ago. This was particularly flavorful and a nice treat, especially for our guests’ first try of his restaurant’s food.Īlso on Saturday, we received our second order from the Rancho Gordo Bean club (out of Napa, which took us close to two years to get in on. And owner Louis wanted us to try his special, a chile relleno with flavors borrowed from his home region of Oaxaca. Everything was excellent, as usual, but we were particularly impressed with the shrimp tacos, which we had not tried before. On Saturday night we helped a friend bartend at the Petaluma Yacht Club and decided that was as good a time as any to introduce some folks to Petaluma’s newest Mexican restaurant, Tortilla Real (Although we love everything on the menu, this time around we went with the fish tacos, shrimp tacos, the huichola de tinga (Oaxaca cheese crusted taco), queso fundido (chorizo and melted cheese dipping dish) and a couple of quesadillas. to 3 p.m., for all those customers who love their food but could not make it downtown during the week. Lunchette has recently expanded its hours to now include Saturdays from 10 a.m. This was our first try of the farro salad since Lunchette added Stemple Creek to the menu and it was no surprise that it was excellent. Others ordered the kale and kelp noodle salad, the Caesar with chicken and my favorite, the farro salad, with added Stemple Creek Ranch steak. Pizza is by the slice and was available in four options – veggie, pepperoni, margherita and mushroom pancetta. Most opted for salads, but it had been a while since having their pizza, so two of us went that route. November is a bit difficult due to the holiday but were able to squeeze in Lunchette (the Friday before my birthday. We try to support both our staff and our local eateries by ordering in lunch at least once a month. My birthday week started a bit early with a workplace lunch. However, during my birthday week, things get even more culinarily impacted as we tend to celebrate with friends and family over great food. As a food writer, it is not unusual for my weeks to be filled with great food, from both new restaurants and old favorites.