The Spinster Sisters, Santa Rosa

The Spinster Sisters, or Spinstuh, as I call it, is one of my favorite Santa Rosa restaurants, and not just because my sister-in-law mentioned it to me after reading Gwyneth Paltrow’s glowing recommendation in a certain magazine I’ve long since forgotten the name of.

Was a time when I lived nearby and walked to Spinstuh on Sunday mornings for brunch, but brunch is no longer served there and I now live farther away. Thank heavens Spinstuh survived COVID and still offers dinner, now with the added flare of outdoor seating in a truly beautiful garden-like setting.

In addition, Family Meals To Go are available by pre order, and takeout is offered until 15 minutes prior to closing. Raising my holy hand, I now command everyone who has never been to The Spinster Sisters to indulge themselves before next fall.

The Spinster Sisters, 401 South A St., Santa Rosa. Dinner hours: Tue–Sat 5–9pm. Reservations recommended. 707.528.7100. www.thespinstersisters.com. — M.F.

Criminal Baking Co., Santa Rosa

“If I were a scone, I’d get baked at Criminal Baking Co.,” I think as I sit on a bench near a dog park six blocks from Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square. Which isn’t to say I’m not a scone, in some other parallel universe. Or that I’m not baked, for that matter.

I am baked, actually, in the other way. Right here and right now, I’m a real-as-can-be, flesh-and-blood dude; a glassy-eyed, dry-mouthed fooligan sitting in a thinning cloud of state-legalized blue smoke. A simple psychonaut who imagines simple things, like where he’d get baked if he were actually a tasty pastry.

Perhaps I’m following the wrong lines of logic, though. Perhaps the apropos question of the moment is: Where did I get baked, just a couple of minutes ago, before doughy thoughts began dancing dreamily through my dizzy head? Why, I probably got baked right here where I’m sitting now, on this beautiful bench somewhere very, very near Criminal Baking Co. Because Criminal is red hot in this universe and parallel universes. And for anyone who wants anything to do with baked goods for any reason whatsoever, it’s one of the best places to go.

A word of warning, though: On a hot summer day, this neighborhood gets very, very hot. So hot that if I wanted to overheat I’d simply plant myself on a bench like this one and let the sun, well, bake me. Thankfully today is the perfect temp for this neighborhood. It’s just shy of cool. And ahhh, what a bench. And that smell in the air. Pastries! Hmmm. I reach for my vape, puff mightily and exhale.

If I were a scone, I’d get baked at Criminal Baking Co, I think as I sit on a bench near a dog park six blocks from Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square …

Criminal Baking Co., 808 Donahue St., Santa Rosa. Hours: Mon–Sun 7:30am to 3pm. 707.888.3546. www.criminalbaking.com — M.F.