It’s another crazy busy weekend, with ARTrails, Zone Love Party, Chipfest, Oktoberfest and countless other harvest events competing for your precious time. What to do? Ms. Mouthful suggests putting one of the musical events — her first choice is Chipfest — on your calendar and building your weekend around it. And be sure to grab an
ARTrails map and stop at studios as you head from one fete to another.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Big Oktoberfest Bash: The Sonoma County Museum is hosting its third annual Big Oktoberfest Bash tonight from 5 to 9 p.m. If you’ve attended in the past, please note that the location has changed. Instead of taking place at the museum, this year’s celebration will be at the Flamingo Hotel (2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa).
The party features both microbreweries and wineries, with Lagunitas Brewery, Russian River Brewery, Third Street Aleworks, Moonlight Brewing Co., Ace Cider and Acorn Winery among those joining in the fun. Food vendors include Ruthy’s Real Homemade Meals, Out to Lunch Catering, Oliver’s Market and several others. There will also be demonstrations of beer making, a raffle, a photo studio and live blue grass music.
Admission is $40 for the general public and $30 for museum members. For information about group discounts and to print out your online ticket, visit sonomacountymuseum.org. Tickets will be available at the door for $40.
All proceeds benefit the museum, which welcomes more than 25,000 visitors each year, which includes nearly 6,000 schoolchildren, who are admitted free and participate in curriculum-based activities presented by trained volunteer docents.
Big Oktoberfest Bash is a 21-and-over event.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Michael Bernard Grand Opening: On Saturday from noon to 4 p.m., Michael Bernard Wines (779 Westside Road, Healdsburg, located directly across from the new Davero Farms Tasting Room (766 Westside Road), hosts a grand opening celebration at their new hospitality center, a remodeled Craftsman-style house built in the 1920s. The party will include complimentary tastings of limited-production wines and Greek and Italian foods, along with live music.
The project is a join venture between the Kuimelis and Orsi families. Michael Kuimelis and Bernard Orsi have shared a love of wine since the two met at St. Mary’s College five decades ago. For complete information about this endeavor, visit michaelbernardwines. com.
Davero Farms Tasting Room is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Tuesday so be sure to allow time to visit this great addition to the Healdsburg scene. And if your olive oil jug needs a refill, don’t forget to bring it with you.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Harvest Party at Old Roma Station: The tiny “wine district” of Old Roma Station on the edge of downtown Healdsburg by Memorial Bridge is hosting a harvest party on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participating wineries include Camellia Cellars, Sapphire Hill Winery, Harts Desire Wines, J. Keverson Winery, Bluenose Wines, Willowbrook Winery, Sadler-Wells Winery, Teira Wines and Rocking Z Vineyard. The fete includes entertainment, food, a drawing and, of course, plenty of wines for tasting, include J. Keverson Zinfandel, which received a Best of Class award at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.
Tickets, available at the door, are $15 each.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Celebrating the Italian Way: On Sunday, the North Bay Italian Cultural Foundation is hosting its 20th annual Festa Italiana from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Santa Rosa Veteran’s Memorial Building (1351 Maple Ave.). You’ll find delicious Italian foods, good things to drink, a classic car show, a silent auction, face painting, travel education programs, a market, cooking demonstrations and more. This year’s theme is “Naples & the Region of Campania” and so it should be no surprise that the Don Giovannis are among the featured musical guests. The band is based in Sebastopol and takes its inspiration from Italy, with a special focus on the music of Napoli. The Dons perform from 2:30 to 3:15 and again from 4:15 to 6 p.m. If you have not yet seen this fabulous band, Festa Italiana is a perfect opportunity.
Other entertainers include The Hot Frittatas, another Mouthful favorite, the Red Suspender Band, Tom Cordoni, Coro Allegro and Zighi Baci and Michael Van Why. Admission is just $5 in advance and $8 at the door. Tickets are available at Traverso’s and Cafe Azul in Santa Rosa, Haus Fortuna in Petaluma, Costeaux Bakery in Healdsburg, Fiorini’s Cakes & Cookies in Sonoma and at People’s Music in Sebastopol.
For more information about the North Bay Italian Cultural Foundation, visit nbicf.org.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
More Los Muertos, Better Los Muertos: Petaluma’s monthlong celebration of El Dia de Los Muertos continues this weekend with an artists reception on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Petaluma Arts Center (230 Lakeville). The show, “Rio de las Vidas/River of Lives,” features work by Latino artists from throughout the Bay Area.
The official opening of the Los Muertos celebration takes place on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church Square (35 Liberty St.). There will be music, dance and good things to eat at the celebration.
The opening is sponsored by the Redwood Community Health Coalition and includes a health fair as part of Health Week of the Americas. For a complete schedule of Los Muertos events, visit petalumaartscouncil.org.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Fall Fiber Fest at Windrush Farm: On Sunday, Mimi Luebbermann hosts a fete celebrating all manner of things fiber, along with yummy pizzas from her brick oven. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sales booths will be open throughout the day. Scheduled activities include learning about wool at 10:30 a.m., color carding at 11 a.m., felting at 11:45 a.m., natural dying at 1:30 p.m. and sheep walks at 2 and 3 p.m. There will also be spinning, knitting and weaving demonstrations throughout the day.
There is no admission charge and reservations are not required.
Mimi’s Windrush Farm is located in southwestern Petaluma at 2263 Chileno Valley Rd.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Canning Workshop with Merrilee Olson: Next Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Merrilee Olson will teach a canning workshop at Viva, the center for Italian food, wine and culture located at 7160 Keating Ave. in Sebastopol.
This hands-on workshop will take you through all the steps you need to master to preserve your own garden’s bounty with ease and confidence. Viva will provide pint canning jars and produce, though participants are encourage to bring homegrown tomatoes and apples, too. Cost of the workshop is $55, which includes lunch and a glass of Italian wine.
Olson was the opening chef at Viansa Winery and worked as culinary director of Bon Appetit Management Company. She has recently founded PreserveSonoma, which focuses on educating people about preserving the local harvest.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Happy Birthday, Jacques Pepin: One of the most charming and talented gentlemen in the entire world of food and cooking is turning 75 and there’s a big celebration taking place next Thursday at San Francisco’s Waterbar (399 The Embarcadero South, San Francisco).
From 6 to 8 p.m. there’s a special reception with wine and sustainable seafood appetizers, though the best part is the opportunity to raise a glass and sing “Happy Birthday” — or, more fittingly, “Joyeux Anniversaire” — to Jacques. The menu includes oysters on the half shell with Champagne granite, truffled Montasio cheese sandwiches, fried black caviar with creme fraiche, lobster bisque with chestnut essence, foie gras torchon with mango, sea bass ceviche and more.
Cost of the reception is $125 per person person. Part of the proceeds will benefit KQED, where Jacques is currently filming a new TV series.
Waterbar will also offer a special dinner, complete with a beautiful hand-drawn menu by Jacques himself — he is an accomplished artist — throughout dinner service next Thursday. The $60 prix-fixe menu includes a poached ranch egg with black caviar, petrale sole stuffed with Dungeness crab and topped with sea urchin sabayon and a tarte tatin with creme fraiche.
For reservations, visit waterbarsf.com and follow the prompts or call (415) 284-9922
In keeping with the event’s spirit of sustainability, you might consider taking the ferry to San Francisco. You’ll find the schedule at goldengateferry.org.
Michele Anna Jordan hosts “Mouthful” each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 & 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@micheleannajordan.com.
