Hello Friends,

What is on your mind this week? Could it be pumpkin pie and turkey? Or maybe something a little less….large? I cooked a turkey and all the trimmings for years, even for my family’s typically small gathering of 4 to 8 people. Some years ago, my family gave up turkey in favor of raclette. It is the name of a Swiss cheese and the grill it is cooked under. The size is ideal for small groups and you can make turkey sausages on top while the cheese heats in paddles underneath. This year, it is time for another change.

Like other families’ pot luck approach to the Thanksgiving meal, everyone in my house (there will only be four of us at the table this year) is in charge of making a dish. I, too, will only be making one dish: apple pie. I have a gluten-free crust recipe I know works and the apples are still in abundance at the farmers’ market. I may get talked into a Caramel Apple Pie, recipe courtesy of Alanna Taylor-Tobin. It is the start of something exciting and an effort to get my boys into the kitchen even more. We’ll see how this turns out. …

1. What’s Hot

Did you see the protestors blocking the Bay Bridge last week? That took serious chutzpah. Luckily, if you do end up spending time in the East Bay. there are plentiful places to while away a few hours. Berkeley’s Wine Block is one of them and I wrote about the neighborhood’s epic eating scene for SFGATE.

In my latest Field Notes column, I attempt to capture these new or one-off ventures and share them with my community. They are a chance to explore a different side of a restaurant, experimental dishes and flavors, or an entirely new chef.

In San Francisco’s Union Square, the Beacon Grand Hotel opened The Post Room, a restaurant poised above the lobby with retro-fabulous decor. In Pac Heights, Sorrel is hosting truffle and Barolo dinners. The Jay Hotel in the FiDi reopened with The Third Floor restaurant from the Omakase Restaurant Group. And in North Beach, Hilda and Jesse is hosting pop-up dinners with chef Iliana Regan of Michigan’s Milkweed Inn.

In the North Bay, Geyserville’s Cyrus is double-doubling your chance to eat truffles of all kinds, sushi is FINALLY back at The Matheson in Healdsburg and Foley Wines is not only opening a tasting room for Banshee in Geyserville, a one-stop tasting room for its many brands is opening in Healdsburg.

And in the East Bay, the good people behind ROOH opened Pippal in Emeryville.

Links to each of these places and to each event are included in my Field Notes column.

2. Marin’s Amber Waves

Digging deep into the food scene is what I love most about my work. For this story on Honoré Farm and Mill, I found the words to bring the story of an ancient grain to light. What’s growing in your local food shed? How are you nourishing the soil for the future health of your community?

(In print, the story title is “Marin’s Amber Waves.”)

3. Current Obsession

After eating a terrible beef carpaccio in Florida (it was cooked ground beef, for godssakes!), I find myself loving the exceptional versions I’ve eaten around the Bay.  At the top of the list, Original Joe’s in San Francisco’s North Beach. The beef was a brilliant cerise color, its edges slightly crisp from its short time in the pan. The arugula towered over the beef – a meal unto itself – and was dressed with just enough oil to make it glossy, not soggy. Perfect.

In Yountville, Chandon California is offering a streamlined carpaccio with crispy capers on its new Culinary Journey tasting menus, paired with the best bubbles, of course. Carpaccio, you see, knows no season.

4. Coming Soon – Holiday Guides and Best Bites

As we draw ever closer to the end of the year, I’ll be rolling out my holiday gift guides — Foodie, Boozy, Bubblicious (sparkling wines for New Year) and, new this year, Cookbooks. Wrapping up the year will be my Best Bites of 2023. (Here are my Best Bites of 2022.)  While I focus on all things holiday, Field Notes will pause for December.

5. About That Image

I recently stopped in at il Fuoco in the Boyes Hot Springs neighborhood of Sonoma. With tomatoes still in abundance, thanks to our long, not-too-hot summer/fall, owner Rob Larman asked me to try a classic summer dish, burrata with tomatoes and basil. It was a dish representative of California Cuisine — beautiful, local ingredients, simply prepared to showcase their flavor. Did you notice I did not say “in season?” Because it’s November, people! Tomatoes this good belong to August, maybe September. I’ll need to adjust my thinking around the seasons…

Until the next time, take care and eat all the things,

Christina