Page 41 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

SoCo Restaurant Week Back on the Table

Weeklys Staff

Feb 18, 2026

There’s a kind of hunger that hits Sonoma County in late February—and it isn’t for another glass of pinot noir (although that helps). It’s the hunger to taste this place.

To sit at a table where every bite tells a story about soil and season, that quietly sings of vineyards and orchards sprawling in foggy morning light. That’s what Sonoma County Restaurant Week feels like: an invitation not just to dine, but to come home to food that tastes like it belongs here.

From Feb. 23 through March 1, restaurants across the county are rolling out prix-fixe menus designed to spotlight local producers, growers, ranchers and winemakers—and in 2026, the spotlight has never been brighter on the farm-to-table ethos that defines Sonoma’s culinary identity. The official Restaurant Week site now prominently calls out a Sonoma County Grown list—eateries offering entrées made with 100% Sonoma County-sourced ingredients and/or pouring Sonoma County wines—making it easier than ever to plan a week of meals that are as ethical as they are delicious.

No tickets or passes? No problem. There’s no festival wristband one has to flash, no password or secret handshake required. Restaurant Week (now more than a decade old) simply asks one to show up, sit down and engage with the best of what this place grows and makes. Make a reservation. Order the prix-fixe. And eat like this is home—or one wishes it were.

Winter-ish Feast

January and February are historically slow months for restaurants up and down the West Coast, and Sonoma is no exception. As hospitality consultant Clark Wolf has observed, February sits in that culinary in-between moment—after the indulgence of December and the dining momentum of January, but before spring ingredients begin to roll in. That said, “It’s always an opportunity for people to try a new restaurant they’ve been wanting to try,” he says. The timing is strategic: Diners are still socializing, but restaurants are looking for ways to spark traffic during a quieter stretch.

Sonoma County Restaurant Week keeps things refreshingly straightforward when it comes to pricing. Participating restaurants offer structured prix-fixe options designed to make planning easy and dining accessible. Sweet Perks—typically desserts or small indulgences—are priced at $6. Breakfast features one-course options at $15 or $25. Lunch also offers one-course menus at $15 or $25, with a shared two-course lunch for four available at $50.

Dinner includes three-course menus priced at $30, $40 or $60 per person, while a shared three-course dinner for four is offered at $70. The tiered format allows diners to budget comfortably while sampling Sonoma County’s culinary range—whether stopping in for a casual bite or settling in for a full evening out.

“You can make a plan; you can budget; you can go and have fun and … be alive, be in the community,” Wolf says.

His take—that the week is designed to be affordable, adventurous and communal—is the spirit at the heart of the promotion.

River to Ridge

What sets this iteration of Restaurant Week apart isn’t just price or convenience—it’s the focus on the county’s farm-to-table network. The Sonoma County Grown designation highlights restaurants that are sourcing every ingredient from inside the county borders or pairing plates with Sonoma wines, making the week not just a celebration of chefs, but also of stewards—farmers and vintners who make food that tastes like place. This isn’t culinary tourism—it’s culinary homecoming.

Take, for example, restaurants like Bloom Carneros in Sonoma, a wine garden and restaurant focused on seasonal dishes and locally inspired ingredients. Or Petaluma’s Stockhome, where Swedish classics meet hearty local vegetables and seafood, turning cold-weather comfort food into something that feels intrinsic to the West Coast terroir. Both are part of the county’s yearly Restaurant Week roster, offering prix-fixe menus that reflect their deep sourcing commitments.

And then there are places like Cibo Rustico Pizzeria and Wine Bar in Santa Rosa—featuring unpretentious, sumptuous fare like the spicy Luciano pizza, made with a parmesan cheese sauce, prosciutto, calabrian chilis, fresh onions, garlic, basil and cracked pepper—or The Lodge at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville, which balances elevated cuisine with unstudied excellence. Their meals aren’t just dishes. They’re narratives: orchard to plate, pasture to fork, and vine to glass.

Why This Matters

One can feel the impact on the ground. Sonoma County’s restaurant scene isn’t just surviving in these winter months; it’s being energized by community participation. Restaurant Week gives diners reasons to say “Yes” to a place they’ve been meaning to try—and gives restaurants a chance to show off their roots, literally and figuratively.

This is economic support in its most delicious form. One isn’t just eating a meal; they’re sustaining jobs, backing small farms and strengthening an entire local ecosystem that thrives on quality, not volume. They’re making Sonoma more resilient by spending their dollars where they live—and this week in particular, they get more in return: meals that speak of forest floors and river valleys, of heirloom carrots still dusty with morning soil and olive oils pressed just up the road.

What Sonoma County Restaurant Week offers isn’t just deals—it’s an ecosystem of connection. From tiny cafes to celebrated kitchens, from $6 dessert deals to three-course dinners paired with local pinots, each restaurant tells part of the story of this place we call home. And the farm-to-table focus this year makes that story explicit: This is food by the hands of this land, for the people of this land.

Pro-Tip: Make a reservation (seriously—places fill up). And sit down for a meal that tastes like the Russian River at dawn or the sunlit slopes of the Dry Creek Valley. Because that’s what Restaurant Week has become: not just a winter promotion, but a celebration of Sonoma County itself.

More at socorestaurantweek.org.

Magical Realism: Bidding Farewell to Artist Charles Becker

Mark Fernquest

Feb 17, 2026

Magical Realism: Bidding Farewell to Artist Charles Becker

Some people create magic, and some people exude magic. And some people, like late Sonoma County painter Charles Robert Becker, synergize both qualities to an uncanny degree.

Born in 1952, Becker grew up in Millbrae and spent most of his adult life in the North Bay. As a 19-year-old hippie, he met and studied under Italian still-life master painter Roberto Lupetti. From that experience, he developed his own unique style of painting, which eventually brought him international recognition.

His work defied easy categorization. Some called it still life, or nature morte—“dead nature”—but that description didn’t do justice to the unusually lustrous quality of the imagery he painted.

Said San Francisco-based Weinstein Gallery proprietor Rowland Weinstein, who signed Becker on as his first living artist and sold Becker’s paintings exclusively from 1993–2009: “… Charles’ work was so alive to me—you could take the strawberries right off the canvas, you know. You could pick up the doily. There was something so beautiful, so complete to me; it almost wasn’t like he was painting a strawberry. He was painting a portrait of a strawberry; he was painting a portrait of a plum. He was painting them like he was painting individuals.”

In time, Becker’s style came to be termed Magical Realism. In 1986, a painting of his appeared on the cover of Southwest Art Magazine, giving him widespread recognition, and in 1990 Absolut Vodka commissioned him to paint four pieces for a highly successful ad campaign, further vaulting him into the spotlight. He was featured in Time magazine, USA Today and many more publications, and his paintings appeared in galleries, exhibitions and private collections both nationally and internationally.

Those close to Becker make it clear that the magic in his paintings stemmed from him; that the man and his art were inextricably linked, each as extraordinary as the other.

“Any discussion of Charles’ work has to start with who he was as a person,” said Becker’s partner, Amanda Roze. “Each of his actions originated in love—each gesture, brushstroke and communication was filled with beauty and heart… He tried to translate all of his emotions onto the canvas and reach the hearts of the viewers. He used art as a means to connect with people.”

The effect of Becker’s paintings on those who owned or worked among them can’t be overstated.

“Charles’ work can’t disappear into the wall,” Weinstein said. “Once you had a painting of his, it brought you back into it every time you walked by it. It wasn’t on the wall to be a beautiful decoration to complete a corner.”

For many years, Becker operated two studios in Graton, while living in Sebastopol. From one, he taught Bay Area students in-person and distance students online, and in the other, he painted and displayed his work. He lived in Santa Rosa in his later years.

“The task I have undertaken, the journey I am on, is to question, to use all of my emotions, be they joy or pain, peace or passion, to believe in the creation of magic and record it on canvas,” he said. “This is what it means to be an artist. This is what it means to be alive.”

Charles Robert Becker died Jan. 21 at age 73, surrounded by family in Sonoma County. He leaves behind a lasting legacy to the many people, near and far, who marveled at the magic that flowed through him and his art. A Celebration of Life was conducted on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Harmony Elementary School in Occidental.

To learn more about Charles Becker, visit charlesbecker.com.

Pickup Line: ‘Hands on a Hardbody’ Staged at Spreckels

Caitlin Strom-Martin

Feb 17, 2026

Pickup Line: ‘Hands on a Hardbody’ Staged at Spreckels

Get those minds outta the gutter, y’all… This is a musical about a hardbody truck.

Based on true events featured in a 1997 documentary of the same name, Hands on a Hardbody is the musical journey of 10 souls seeking salvation and a free truck: the symbol of a better life. In order to attain that, all they have to do is be the last one standing in a contest of endurance held at their local Longview, Texas, Nissan. The Sheri Lee Miller-helmed dramedy runs at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park through March 1.

Featuring many Spreckels regulars as well as some refreshing new faces, Hardbody brings together a diverse, though thinly written, group of characters who sing about their deepest desires and darkest thoughts, all while keeping one hand on the titular hardbody at all times.

Some characters are underdeveloped and aren’t very memorable. As a singing ensemble, the cast sounds fantastic and supports one another beautifully throughout. A live orchestra under the direction of Lucas Sherman sounded great. Though between them being set onstage with the action and the actor’s mics, a lot of the songs in the first act were overpowered and many lyrics lost.

The songs themselves can be very memorable, with the standouts being showstopper “Joy of the Lord,” led by Serena Elize Flores, and “Stronger,” performed with heartfelt emotion by Jake Druzgala as Chris. Other notable vocals, and sweet chemistry, come from Mallory Gold and Orion Pudoff in the beautiful, “I’m Gone.”

However, the show belongs to Flores as Norma, a woman of unrelenting faith. Flores has the strong vocals to carry the deeper feelings she’s living onstage straight to one’s heart. She makes one feel what would happen to their body if they were indeed to stand and barely sleep for five days. By the end of the show, it’s obvious who the winner should be.

Flores’ efforts are matched by Keith Baker as antagonist Benny. While he benefits from being the main character, Baker is full of strong choices and commitment that often carry all of the show’s momentum. His voice sounds like early Blake Shelton, and he never takes a moment for granted. Both Flores and Baker are veteran performers, carry the ensemble and never let up.

These strong performances alone make Hardbody worth one’s time.

‘Hands on a Hardbody’ runs through March 1 in the Codding Theater at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Ln., Rohnert Park. Fri–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $16–$44. 707.588.3400. spreckelsonline.com.

An Art Showcase ‘Celebrating Women’ and ‘Imagined Worlds’ at A Cedars Gallery

Crush

Weeklys Staff

Feb 17, 2026

Healdsburg

Celebrating Women

Upstairs Art Gallery marks Women’s History Month with “Celebrating Women,” a vibrant showcase of watercolor paintings by Sonoma County artist Tosya Shore. Her works honor women in all their facets—capturing fleeting, intimate moments with bold shapes and interlacing patterns that elevate the everyday. Also featured in the Stairway Smallworks Showcase is Donna Schaffer’s “Ooh La La, Plein Air,” a collection of oil paintings created on a recent trip to France. Schaffer roamed the streets of Paris with palette in hand, rendering café culture and iconic landmarks—including an evocative take on the Eiffel Tower—in brisk, atmospheric strokes. Reception 4–6pm, Saturday, March 7; exhibit runs Feb. 23–March 29, Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center St., Healdsburg. Open daily 11am–6pm. upstairsartgallery.net.

Petaluma

Art & Poetry

The Petaluma Library hosts an exhibition of art and poetry by Duane BigEagle, an Osage Native American from Oklahoma who has lived in California since 1964 and taught Native American studies at San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University and College of Marin. The show pairs visual work with poetry rooted in history, identity and lived experience, offering a reflective lens on culture and continuity. An opening reception, poetry reading and artist talk invite the public to engage directly with BigEagle’s work and voice, bringing the written word into shared space. Opening reception, reading and talk 5:30–7:45pm, Wednesday, Feb. 18; exhibit runs now through March 19, Petaluma Library.

San Anselmo

Imagined Worlds

Dragons, enchanted trees and intergalactic visitors take over Artist Within – A Cedars Gallery this month as “Imagined Worlds” opens with a celebratory reception. The effervescent group exhibition spotlights the boundless creativity of Cedars artists, whose work conjures fantastical landscapes and story-rich scenes that blur the line between dream and daylight. Beyond the painted and sculpted realms, the show also features storytelling in motion, with animated films and written tales expanding these invented universes. It’s a reminder that imagination isn’t an escape—it’s a practice. 5–7pm, Friday, Feb. 20; exhibition runs Feb. 20–June 12, Artist Within – A Cedars Gallery, 603 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo. Free. cedarslife.org/events.

Tiburon

Angel Island

Angel Island isn’t just a scenic silhouette in the bay—it’s a layered archive of immigration, military history and windswept trails with some of the best views around. Ranger Casey Dexter-Lee brings it all into focus at the Belvedere Tiburon Library with an in-depth look at Angel Island State Park, weaving together stories of the island’s past, its natural landscapes and the recreational riches waiting just offshore. A state park interpreter with more than 20 years dedicated to the island, Dexter-Lee connects visitors to Angel Island’s preservation efforts and hidden corners alike. Expect history, insight and perhaps a renewed urge to catch the next ferry. 6–7:30pm, Thursday, Feb. 26, Belvedere Tiburon Library, 1501 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon. Free.

Empathy Machines. Can Films Increase Compassion?

Movies

Joe Mulcaire

Feb 17, 2026

Empathy Machines. Can Films Increase Compassion?

Screenwriter Will Tracy is nominated for an Oscar for his script for the film Bugonia, released in theaters last fall. Bugonia follows a disaffected paranoiac named Teddy (Jesse Plemons), who kidnaps Michelle (Emma Stone, also Oscar-nominated). Teddy, gripped with a fanatical mistrust of society at large, has convinced himself that Michelle, the wealthy CEO of an unethical pharmaceutical company, is actually an alien in disguise who plots to destroy all of humanity.

Through this narrative lens, Tracy’s screenplay indelibly, if uncomfortably, examines several contemporary social maladies like polarization, echo chambers and a lack of empathy for our perceived enemies.

Oscar nominee Tracy visited the local Mill Valley Film Festival when Bugonia screened there last October, and I was lucky enough to attend the film and the following Q&A. The moderator’s first query: How on Earth did Tracy write a character as unhinged as Teddy?

Tracy gently came to his character’s defense: “Honestly, there are days where I feel like Teddy.” This was a bit of an alarming admission to make to a room full of people who had just watched Teddy’s increasingly deranged actions on the big screen for the preceding two hours. But Tracy was merely revealing that he, like any good writer, couldn’t help but feel empathy for the characters he gives life to, no matter how questionable their actions may be.

The matter of empathy is at the heart of Bugonia—key to its narrative, and its effectiveness as a work of art. Wealthy elites like Michelle ruthlessly pursue their objectives with no empathy for those who suffer the collateral damage; in turn, Teddy’s capacity to empathize with her erodes to the point where he no longer affords her basic humanity. As the mind games between Teddy and Michelle escalate, and the stakes become increasingly high, the question of empathy for those who have done terrible things becomes central to the film’s conclusion.

Empathizing with those who have done something wrong, or who hold objectionable beliefs, can be hard to do—and socially risky. Tracy even took a risk by confessing compassion for his screenplay’s demented lead character. But, of course, empathy is essential to a healthy society; we wouldn’t want to live in a world dominated by Michelles and Teddys.

Roger Ebert once said that “films are like machines that create empathy.” I would suggest that if he was right, films are the perfect tonic for many of our current social ills.

‘Bugonia’ is nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Beasts of the Pacific: Northern Elephant Seals at Home in Drakes Beach

Cole Hersey

Feb 17, 2026

Beasts of the Pacific: Northern Elephant Seals at Home in Drakes Beach

I was at Drakes Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore on a day in late December. The day was notably warm for the coast, with a soft breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The water moved calmly, softly, as small waves crashed on the shore.

I looked onto the sand, trying to make out the movement of the mounds I saw resting there, camouflaged. The mounds themselves were northern elephant seals. These lumbering animals, ranging from 10 to 13 feet and weighing from half a ton to more than two tons, will call Drakes Beach home until the winter fades into March.

Before their arrival to Drakes Beach, they would only stop by for a day or two but not, as now, stay around to breed, as they are likely to do this very month. However, a combination of the pandemic, and calmer waters along the shore, brought with them these beasts of the Pacific.

“In 2019, that’s when they decided to move right in front of the visitor center,” Sarah Codde, marine ecologist for Point Reyes National Seashore, said. “And there was a media blitz, because that was during the government shutdown at the time.”

This shutdown, and therefore the park employees’ inability to intervene, meant they couldn’t do the work of deterring the seals, usually by waving a giant tarp at them, from moving in front of the main visitor center.

Then, the pandemic hit, also thwarting more work to prevent the seals from getting too close to the more populated areas of Drakes Beach. This essentially, in the seals’ eyes, solidified this stretch of sand as their new home.

Since this occurred, the park has now raised a small fence to deter the seals from lumbering onto the parking lot and destroying the pavement with their weight. This, along with a robust docent program of around 140 volunteers, has kept Drakes Beach accessible to visitors, still as there are hundreds of seals on its shores. It has become, according Codde, one of the best places to see elephant seals up close in the wild.

“If we didn’t have those docents, we would have to close the entire parking lot and not have people go down there at all for the whole winter,” said Codde.

It’s important to remember that, while this population of seals is increasing, some other beaches, like the smaller one near Chimney Rock at the head of Point Reyes, have a population that is at times decreasing. This means that overall it is hard to determine just what the growth of the population at Drakes Beach means for the growth of elephant seal populations broadly. Although, scientists we spoke with did indicate that the population is, currently, fairly healthy.

But why are they here? To answer this question, we need to understand how we almost lost this species well before the Point Reyes National Seashore was considered a park.

After decades of thoughtless hunting for their blubber to be used as an oil, in the 1880s elephant seals had been so thoroughly killed off that most believed the animal to be extinct.

“Their population was decimated,” Milagros Rivera, elephant seal researcher at UC Santa Cruz, said. “The species had completely died out, but there was this very small subset hiding off the coast of Mexico.”

It wasn’t until 1892 when a team of scientists with the Smithsonian discovered a grouping of elephant seals living on Isle de Guadalupe off the coast of Mexico. Promptly, the team from the Smithsonian decided to kill seven of the eight seals they discovered. The government of Mexico, later in 1922, decided to protect the elephant seals, under law, initially stationing troops on the island to protect the last living 264 beasts of the Pacific.

As time passed, this population grew, eventually expanding their numbers to other islands off the coast of Mexico and beyond. And while the population did well, eventually ballooning to the tens of thousands in the 1950s, it wasn’t until decades later, in 1972, when the United States passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, that elephant seals began to really bounce back, expanding their populations across the entirety of their historical regions.

As a reminder, it is only due to humans ceasing to hunt the elephant seals that these remarkable creatures have bounced back in numbers. There has been, unlike with other endangered creatures, no robust breeding program—just a touch of restraint from humanity was all it really took.

What makes the story of this rebound quite odd to scientists is that elephant seals have not historically ever lived on the coastline of Point Reyes.

“We do know that they were seen in Point Reyes, but that was likely the Point Reyes Headlands,” Codde said, noting that we don’t know if they spent long periods of time there.

This is why, if one visits Drakes Beach, they may hear some docents say that there has never been evidence of elephant seals on the coastline.

Not only have they historically been absent from the coastline, but they were seldom if ever seen on any mainland continent at all, preferring, it seems, living and breeding on offshore islands. And while this is incredibly difficult to prove with fossil evidence—as elephant seals more often die in the open ocean, where they feed and are preyed on by great white sharks—it’s generally accepted as probable.

One potential reason why elephant seals may not have lived on Point Reyes, and instead lived on islands—such as Ano Nuevo, where they have one of the largest breeding populations in California, with more than 10,000 individuals—is that perhaps they were prey to a once large predator that is now nearly wiped out across North America: the grizzly bear.

And though this is only a hypothesis, and is not at all close to scientific consensus, it does seem to add up to seeing these animals, who are not particularly agile on land and are full of fat, and therefore would have been easy pickings on land. But, once again, this is only a best guess at this point, with no proof historically to call it true.

While these hulking creatures are not the most agile on land, this does not mean they are to be treated as unthreatening if one happens upon an elephant seal at Drakes Beach, or anywhere on the coast, for that matter.

Because of the potential danger that elephant seals pose to people, and tragically the danger that humans still pose to elephant seals by our own prodding of them, Point Reyes National Seashore enlists a large group of volunteers to monitor the parking lot during the winter to ensure everyone’s safety when going to Drakes Beach.

“With this docent program we have, we might just have one of the best views of elephant seals in the country,” Codde said. “It’s just so easy to see them. You just drive to that parking lot, and they’re right there.”

Growing up in Marin County, all this open wilderness was what made childhood full of wonder and curiosity for me. This included my early years wandering around the small trails near my childhood home in San Anselmo, to heading into Point Reyes via the bus to hike at Bear Valley, to high school spending long nights out at Limantour and, yes, Drakes Beach.

At Drakes, sometimes kids would try to have bonfire parties, which were always quickly broken up by the rangers. Today, and likely for the best, those late night long drives out in the darkness to the quiet coast have ended. Instead, the Drakes Beach of my high school days has already vanished, but not to be lamented.

Instead, at night, with fog or clear skies, northern elephant seals take their rest from the turbid waters of the Pacific, safe on the shore from human hunters and the jaws of white sharks, where we residents of the North Bay may, in the morning, stare at these beasts and admire them, in awe.