April 2026
FOOD & WINE
Every time I go to Willi’s Wine Bar three things come to mind:
- How much I revered the old Willi’s on Redwood Highway before the Tubbs Fire destroyed it.
- That time I did a Pinot Noir tasting with four flights of local wines and with a woman I had a crush on who was happily married.
- I seem to always default – wait, that word choice has a negative connotation, I almost invariably choose to order the Moroccan Lamb Chops with Couscous and the Tunisian Roasted Carrots. It is like Sonny Liston in his prime, the one-two punch gets you every time.
Last night was no exception, though the arugula salad and pork belly pot stickers were splendid as starter snacks.
For wine, I was happy to see one of my wine club wines on the list, and it is one of my favorites. A Cabernet Franc from Merriam Vineyards here in Sonoma County. It paired perfectly with the lamb and highly seasoned carrots.
We are grateful for the reopening of Willi’s Wine Bar. The new restaurant is in the Town & Country Village in Santa Rosa, and the menu and service are as good as the old place on Redwood Highway.
It might be a stretch to say that Willi’s is the best restaurant we have in Santa Rosa – even if we include the broader area of Windsor and Healdsburg, but it is certainly up there in my personal rankings.
NEW IMAGE
Called Dunes, I took this shot a dozen years ago at my favorite North Bay beach – Limantour, in West Marin County not far from Point Reyes Station. I have probably walked this beach 400 times. It is a place of solace for me. At the far end of the beach is Drake’s Bay. It’s a cove named after the 16th Century explorer, Sir Francis Drake, the Englishman who circumnavigated the earth beginning on 15 December 1577. Drake and his men wintered in the cove-area at what is now known as Point Reyes National Seashore. They were the second set of explorers to circumnavigate the world.
The image is mounted on half-inch gator board and ready to hang on a wall. It measures 16” x 34” and is offered, including shipping to the lower 48 states, for $415.
TRAVEL and TOURS
We are working on setting up our first California Wine Country tour offering right here in Sonoma County.
Your curated, immersive and full-service trip is an email or call away, beginning with an awaiting SUV and driver upon your arrival to San Francisco International Airport – or San Jose, Oakland, or our local Sonoma-Santa Rosa airport. We will take you to your hotel and go from there, with dining experiences and wine tastings to create lasting memories. We will customize your trip based on the number of days you intend to be with us, number of people in your group, and preferences.
We are also preparing to offer our first trip to France in October. But first, we are doing back-to-back-back trips in three wine regions in June-July, to confirm places, hotels, ground logistics, restaurants and most importantly, wineries and vineyards for local tasting experiences. Check back for sneak previews of Bordeaux, the French Riviera, Provence, Bandol and perhaps Languedoc.
WORDS
Here’s a snippet from the book, In Between Drinks – Beaches, Bars and Other Stories.
Chapter 5, Sensing a Pivot
The next morning Henry borrowed McGann’s car to go wake Emily and bring her to town so the six of them could meet for breakfast. A big breakfast is the best cure for a hangover – potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, tomato juice, lots of water, but not coffee. Coffee is bad for a hangover. Coffee is good for when you feel good in the morning, or in the afternoon. After a night of heavy drinking coffee keeps you dehydrated and sours your stomach. Four days later Henry was on a plane out of Portland, Maine, to Logan Airport where he caught a direct flight to San Francisco and then a train to San Jose, California, where he had begun his professional career at the age of 29.
When living in Woody Creek, Colorado, Henry could not have imagined being in Maine with his high school friend John, meeting Dutch, Kristi, Kammy and Emily. The Maine episode took place a dozen years after living in Colorado, and for about 18 months Henry had a dual-coast lifestyle. He had managed to fall in love with Kristi, who had a boyfriend, and Kammy, who refused to have a boyfriend, and even their mother Katherine, who was just a lovely woman, even if she had 20 years on Henry.
During that final Indian Summer in the Colorado mountains 12 years earlier, Henry sensed that something was about to change in his life but couldn’t put a finger on it. It wasn’t long, however, before his first pivot was revealed.
