Spleef of Police

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Spleef of Police

The League of California Cities and the California Police Chiefs Association have come out in support of SB 1262, introduced last month by State Sen. Lou Correa that would regulate medical marijuana in the state.

This marks a significant shift in the groups’ stance since just last year, when the two groups helped kill at least four similar bills in legislation. But in August last year the U.S. Department of Justice said it would not enforce federal laws in cases of medical marijuana, and a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California shows 60 percent of likely voters in the state support legalization.

“We could . . . not ignore that the political landscape on this issue was shifting,” say the groups in a press release from Feb. 21. “Our two organizations independently came to realize that although we remain strongly opposed to marijuana use, it is increasingly likely that in the near future some statewide regulatory structure for medical marijuana could be enacted.” While that’s not exactly a cry to “legalize it,” it’s the first pro-marijuana stance by either group.

SB 1262 would require in-person doctor evaluations and automatically audits doctors who recommend over 100 patients per year for medical marijuana use. It would also assign the Department of Public Health the task of ensuring that all marijuana sold at dispensaries is pesticide-free, and that proper security measures are in place at dispensaries throughout the state. It also upholds local governments’ authority to permit or disallow dispensaries in their jurisdiction. A ballot measure is expected in 2016 that would expand legalization and regulate the industry.

Readers Picks: Romance

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Readers Picks: Romance

Best Place
for Singles
to Meet

Marin

Nickel Rose

848 B St., San Rafael.
415.454.5551.

Napa

Carpe Diem
Wine Bar

1001 Second St., Napa.
707.224.0800.

Sonoma

Underwood
Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Honorable Mention

Hopmonk Tavern

230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol.
707.730.7308.
691 Broadway Ave., Sonoma.
707.935.9100.

Best Romantic Dinner

Marin

Vin Antico

881 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.721.0600.

Napa

Bouchon

6534 Washington St., Yountville.
707.944.8037.

Sonoma

Farmhouse Inn
& Restaurant

7871 River Road, Forestville.
707.330.3300.

Honorable Mention

Madrona Manor

1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg.
707.433.4231.

Best Staycation

Marin

Nick’s Cove

23240 Hwy. 1, Marshall.
415.663.1033.

Napa

Hotel Yountville

6462 Washington St., Yountville.
707.967.7900.

Sonoma

Bodega Bay Lodge

103 Hwy. 1, Bodega Bay.
707.875.3525.

Honorable Mention

Hotel Healdsburg

25 Matheson St., Healdsburg.
707.431.2800.

Best Boutique Hotel

Marin

Panama Hotel

4 Bayview St., San Rafael.
415.457.3993.

Napa

Mount View
Hotel & Spa

1457 Lincoln St., Calistoga. 707.942.6877.

Sonoma

Hotel La Rose

308 Wilson St., Santa Rosa.
800.678.8946.

Honorable Mention

Hotel Healdsburg

25 Matheson St., Healdsburg.
707.431.2800.

Best
Couples Spa

Marin

Shibui

19 Tamalpais Ave., San Anselmo.
415.457.0283.

Napa

Lavender Hill Spa

1015 Foothill Blvd., Calistoga.
707.942.4495.

Sonoma

Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary

209 Bohemian Hwy., Freestone.
707.823.8231.

Honorable Mention

The Spa Hotel Healdsburg

25 Matheson St., Healdsburg.
707.431.2800.

Best
Lingerie Shop

Marin

Pleasures of the Heart

1310 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.482.9899.

Napa

Pleasures Unlimited

1424 Second St., Napa.
707.226.2666.

Sonoma

Ma Cherie et Moi

2332 Magowan Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.573.1103.

Honorable Mention

Spice Sensuality Boutique

6597 Commerce Blvd., Rohnert Park.
707.588.0525.

Best Erotica Store

Marin

Pleasures of the Heart

1310 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.482.9899.

Napa

Pleasures Unlimited

1424 Second St., Napa.
707.226.2666.

Sonoma

Spice Sensuality Boutique

6597 Commerce Blvd., Rohnert Park.
707.588.0525.

Honorable Mention

Milk & Honey

123 N. Main St., Sebastopol.
707.824.1155.

Best Event Planner

Napa

Sasha Souza
Events

609 Cabot Way, Napa.
707.253.8160.

Sonoma

Clementine Eco Events

40 Fourth St. #215, Petaluma.
707.290.6723.

Honorable Mention

Leyla Hobbs

Best Bridal Shop

Marin

Celebracion

1406 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415.457.7137.

Napa

Betty’s Girl Boutique

1144 Main St., Napa.
707.254.7560.

Sonoma

Brides ‘n Maids

621 College Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.545.2772.

Honorable Mention

Starlet Bridal

730 Village Court, Santa Rosa.
707.544.0334.

Best Bridal Beauty Salon

Napa

Flaunt Makeup Artistry

www.flauntmakeupartistry.com

Sonoma

It’s a Date at the Powder Room

2560 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.537.7968.

Honorable Mention

Flaunt Makeup Artistry

www.flauntmakeupartistry.com

Best Wedding Reception Venue

Marin

Deer Park Villa

367 Bolinas Road, Fairfax.
415.456.8084.

Napa

Calistoga Ranch

580 Lommel Road, Calistoga.
707.254.2800.

Sonoma

Paradise
Ridge Winery

4545 Thomas Lake Harris Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.528.9463.

Honorable Mention

Vintners Inn

4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.
707.575.7350.

Writers Picks: Romance
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Writers Picks: Culture

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Writers Picks: Culture

Best Nontelevised Technology Program

Television is on its way out. Streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV and even some TVs themselves bring the internet’s best offerings in an on-demand format to living rooms across the world, broadcast time be damned. Some shows aren’t even broadcast at all, like the Emmy-winning House of Cards, which was released only on Netflix. And for those looking to get the real scoop on technology news, it’s a sure bet that CNN doesn’t delve deep enough. For that, viewers and listeners can tune in the TWiT Netcast Group online or on the radio.

Formerly a local talk radio and television personality, Leo Laporte felt there was a better way to connect with his audience. So in 2004, he founded This Week in Tech, a program that has since blossomed into 26 video and audio shows broadcast to an audience of 6 million through the internet and to over 170 cities on radio every Saturday through Premiere Radio Networks (locally, it’s broadcast on 910-AM). “We’re able, from the middle of Petaluma, to do an international television and radio show,” Laporte says after hosting his radio program, The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte, on a recent Saturday afternoon. He hosts nine shows each week, but the Tech Guy is the only one on broadcast radio.

The vibe of the internet media station, which has 25 employees, is that of a small radio or TV station—stuffy corporate jargon and FCC regulations don’t stifle the creativity in the building. There’s a whole wall of silly hats, and a shelf of obsolete technology serves as a reminder of how far computers have come since the early days of transistor radios and the Apple IIG. Broadcast quality of online programs has come a long way, too. Several HD cameras record the live broadcast, and guests can be brought in via Skype for audience interaction.

Since online traffic can be tracked, Laporte knows that about one-third of his audience is not from the United States. They tune in to the show, broadcast from “the northernmost tip of Silicon Valley,” as Laporte says, to keep on the cutting edge of technology. “The stuff we do isn’t really well covered in television and radio,” says Laporte. “Technology coverage in mainstream media is weak. They don’t know what they’re talking about a lot of the time.” The information is often dumbed down, and TWiT’s audience wants the gritty details that might turn off the casual listener or viewer, says Laporte.

Eventually, Laporte envisions a 24/7 technology news network broadcast from locations around the world through the central hub of his downtown Petaluma office. “There’s nobody doing what we’re doing now, so I feel like we’re way ahead of the curve already,” he says. twit.tv.—NG

Best Way to Watch Video and See a Play at the Same Time

From the name alone, the Paradyne Projection System sounds like it could be something in Disney World’s Futureland. But the Paradyne System was actually created in Rohnert Park for the Spreckels Performing Arts Center. Initially introduced for a production of Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical, the idea was to use vivid projections (of streets, the evening sky, various Victorian interiors) instead of actually building sets. Instead of forcing the audience to cool their heels while stagehands wheel off one set and race another into place, a simple click of a mouse can change the setting from the laboratory of Dr. Jekyll into a foggy London back alley.

Today, the Paradyne’s multiple projectors have become the proudly touted star of the company, used to project more than just static background slides. It can record and project actual moving shots, animations, special effects, subtitles—pretty much anything artistic director Gene Abravaya can dream up. In Camelot, it transformed Paul Gilger’s towering castle set into a leafy, magical forest. In Young Frankenstein, it turned a roll in the hay (in a horse-drawn cart) into a thrill ride. In Brigadoon, it expanded the size of the cast, adding moving, waving people for crowd scenes. In Scrooge: The Musical, it gave audiences a talking Marley doorknocker, floating specters, enormous animated coins stacking up in Scrooge’s counting house and even the flickering flames of hell.

Will the Paradyne Projection System eventually be adopted by other theater companies? Well, that possibility is not difficult to picture. 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. 707.588.3434. www.spreckelsonline.com.—D.T.

Best AARP-Qualifying Musician Still Ahead of His Time

He looks like he might be a derelict and sounds like he sips whiskey at a dive all night long. Tom Waits is perhaps the North Bay’s most famous nighthawk, though he goes largely unrecognized in Sonoma County, where he’s lived for years. Nobody wears the cloak of anonymity with more panache. While Waits trades on his image as consummate bad boy—Bad As Me is the title of his most recent CD—no celeb does more good for his fellow citizen. Not long ago, he helped out with a benefit for the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Last fall, he raised money for the Bridge School, the nonprofit that provides education for students with impediments. Waits isn’t trying to prove anything, except perhaps that he does it his way and makes it look easy. He’ll celebrate his 65th birthday this year, but he’s never outgrown his youthful persona as the crown prince of cultural nonconformity.—J.R.

Best Place for the Old to Rub Elbows with the New

Penngrove’s legendary Twin Oaks Tavern has been serving serious drinks and toe-tapping tunes since the 1920s, when the roadside honky-tonk was a major stopping spot alongside the pre–101 Old Redwood Highway. Over the years, it’s become a haven for local ranchers, cowboys, bikers and businessmen. Now under the management of new owner Sheila Groves-Tracey, longtime music booker at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma and the Uptown in Napa, the historic Twin Oaks is enjoying a bit of resurgence. Retaining the funky Steinbeckian décor it’s had for years, the place is seeing a return to its reputation as the place to go for hot local music. It’s not unusual to see young couples at the bar sipping boutique wines side-by-side with old-timer cowboys tossing back a bourbon or a cold Budweiser. The Twin Oaks Tavern is edging into the future, while still staying firmly ensconced in the glow of its glorious past.
5745 Old Redwood Hwy., Penngrove. 707.795.5118.—D.T.

Best Reincarnation of Jack London

“I would rather be ashes than dust,” Darius Anderson says, quoting Jack London. He means it, too—no one knows London from the inside out better than Anderson, and no private individual has a more impressive collection of London’s books and letters. Similar to the Call of the Wild author, Anderson, a major lobbyist and principal owner of Sonoma Media Investments (Press Democrat, Sonoma Index-Tribune), knows what it’s like to be wild. And like London, he doesn’t understand average and normal. Born and raised in Novato, the Santa Rosa Junior College graduate has raked in more money for more California Democrats than any other fundraiser in the Golden State. Name one, and Anderson’s sure to know have a connection, from Sens. Feinstein and Boxer to Gov. Jerry Brown. Thanks to Anderson and his friends at Station Casinos, the new Graton Casino outside of Rohnert Park found a home in Sonoma County rather than in Lake County. When he’s not wheeling and dealing in Sacramento, or at home with his wife in Kenwood, he’s in Cuba buying up some of the island’s best art, smoking its best cigars and carousing with the young and the restless. Like London, Anderson embraces success, and both share an affinity for the underdog.—J.R.

Best Sound Creation Laboratory

Back in 1978, director George Lucas bought a parcel of land in the hills of Marin. The director was fresh off a little sci-fi opera called Star Wars and was looking for a haven to continue his innovations. Named after the hero of his story, Skywalker Ranch eventually expanded to a 2,000-acre compound that’s a world unto itself. After the advent of THX sound technology, Skywalker Sound was established on the ranch in 1987 to provide post-production audio services for film, television, video games and more. Now one of the largest such facilities in the world, Skywalker Sound is where the T. rex from Jurassic Park got his roar, where the robotic friends of Wall-E acquired their blips and beeps and where explosions in The Avengers got their earth-shaking rumble. One of three major campuses under the Lucasfilm umbrella, Skywalker Sound is housed in the ivy-covered Technical Building and boasts six mixing studios, several editing rooms and a world-class scoring stage, capable of housing a 130-piece orchestra. The Marin County institution, which employs around 100 staffers and works on over 20 films every year, is one of the most sought-after production houses in the world. Yet even after 25 years, Lucas is still struggling to see his full vision become a reality. Earlier this year, proposed construction of the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in San Francisco fell through when the Presidio Trust rejected the plan to build it at Crissy Field. But not all is lost for the educational center, as Oakland councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan recently wrote to Lucas offering her city as the new site. As the road to the Cultural Museum stretches out, the talented innovators of Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm continue to advance the movie-going experience, telling stories with pioneering technology.—C.S.

Best Use
of Cloning Technology

I call him Harold—the wire man hanging from the top of a three-story building in downtown Santa Rosa, at Mendocino and Seventh. But, really, Harold is more than one man; he’s two—a virtual clone always stands beside him. The snazzily dressed duo oversee the hustle and bustle of city life, and probably have more than one story to tell about late-night debauchery.

In reality, it’s a shadow that appears because of the sculpture’s proximity to the building, but the way it’s cast makes it appear just slightly different from the original, with one looking right and one looking left. Harold (as well as his shadow-clone) was born in 2009 as part of Santa Rosa’s public art program, says coordinator Tara Matheny-Schuster. Created by Seth Minor after he won an Emerging Artist Award from the city, Wire Guy is made from one continuous piece of wire. It’s now part of the city’s Artwalk program, on loan through the end of this year.

No word yet on a possible extension, but since it’s already installed, it certainly would be a shame to have to remove it—especially considering it would be like removing two pieces of public art instead of one.—N.G.

Readers Picks: Culture
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Writers Picks: Everyday

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Writers Picks: Everyday

Best Green in Sonoma County

The future is green.

That’s not glib wishful thinking, it’s a cold fact. As we burn through natural resources such as oil, gas and water, and suffer the consequences of their overuse, going green presents itself not as a groovy alternative, but as the last, best choice. The planet can only take so much abuse, and it should be abundantly clear that it’s growing increasingly pissed off (see climate change, super storms, ocean acidification and mass extinction).

To our little corner of the world comes Sonoma Clean Power (SCP). The newly formed public agency will begin offering an alternative to PG&E’s monopoly through greener and more competitively priced power. Starting in May, the agency’s default “Clean Start” service will provide power from 33 percent clean-energy sources (compared to PG&E’s 20 percent) to 14,000 commercial customers and randomly selected residential users in the participating cities of Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Cotati, Sonoma, Windsor and unincorporated areas in the county. Sonoma Clean Power will roll out service
to more residents and businesses in the months and years to come. The cost of this electricity is estimated to be 2 to 3 percent cheaper than PG&E.

There’s also a second option called “Ever Green” that will cost about 20 percent more. For that premium rate, users will get 100 percent renewable, volcano-spawned steam power from the Geysers. Residents who want to opt out and stick with PG&E can do so.

Will SCP’s rates stay competitive with PG&E? Will the agency be as lean and locally accountable as it claims? And, more important, will the utility’s green power help cool our warming planet? No one knows for sure.

But what’s encouraging about the creation of SCP is that we get to ask these questions and find out. Locally sourced power that doesn’t come from fossil fuels or dammed rivers is the future. How we get there and how we pay for it are critical questions we and other communities will soon have to answer. Our advantage is that we’re not putting these questions off. We’re tackling them now. sonomacleanpower.org.—S.H.

Best New Life for Old Wood

Heritage Salvage in Petaluma is a like a thrift store for lumber. The wood there has been used or reclaimed, and is waiting for someone to come along and find a new use for it. Judging by the long list of restaurants that buy Heritage’s stuff, reclaimed lumber is a hot commodity. As with thrift stores, you don’t always find what you want, yet for builders and DIY-ers with an eye for beauty-in-the-rough, the yard invites exploration and repeat visits.

Much of the wood is pulled from tumbledown barns, water towers and other old structures from the North Bay and beyond. A lot of the lumber has a story to tell, like the slabs of fir pulled from the Napa River—the wood reportedly sunk at Mare Island Naval Station during World War II. I found a hundred-year-old slab of redwood felled from West Marin long ago that I turned into some burly kitchen shelves. Try finding that at Home Depot.

Heritage Salvage also makes gorgeous tables, cabinets, chairs and barn doors, if that’s what you need. There’s something very satisfying about giving old wood new life. 1473 Petaluma Blvd. S., Petaluma. 707.762.5694.—S.H.

Best ‘Freaky Friday’ Moment-That-Could-Have-Been

I was walking out of Mac’s Diner in downtown Santa Rosa when it happened. Like a sign of the times or a whiff of the economic Zeitgeist or two ships passing in the night, there it was: Doug Bosco, former congressman, Efren Carrillo advisor, part-owner of the Press Democrat and corporate attorney, nattily dressed in a V-neck sweater and slacks, heading west on a Fourth Street sidewalk just as the disheveled homeless man who lives in his car with his girlfriend on the streets around the Redwood Gospel Mission walked east. They practically rubbed elbows, the rich and poor, the man with barely a penny to his name and the man with more pennies than most of us combined. What a perfect moment for a bit of Freaky Friday magic to occur. Suddenly, Bosco looks down at his formerly Italian leather clad feet to see dirty white sneakers, frayed around the toes, the slight hint of a gray-white athletic sock peeking through the nylon. And the other man—whose name I do not know—suddenly finds himself wearing a soft, delightful cashmere, a sweater unlike any he’s known before; he understands that he’s walking to a meeting with some Important People in the Community, that he bears influence, that people will listen, that what he thinks and feels has suddenly become something with weight and heft . . . He can almost taste the power . . . —L.C.

Best Tax-Deductible Picnic Table

The term, “Redwood Empire” is giving way to the more marketable “wine country” tagline, and in truth, these days the North Bay produces a lot more wine than lumber. While the empire’s reign may be over, you can still get a taste of what it was like at Occidental’s Sturgeon’s Mill Restoration Project. The hundred-year-old lumber mill is now a nonprofit organization that showcases the way it used to operate. Sturgeon’s hissing, steam-powered mill chugs to life four times a year in highly recommended free “public demonstration” events rife with old-timey charm and knowledgeable docents who all seem to favor snappy green suspenders. Watching the mill come to life and turn hulking redwood trunks into tidy stacks of lumber is like closing your eyes and waking up in the ’90s—the 1890s. But Sturgeon’s Mill is more than a trip down memory lane. If you’re looking to build a picnic table or a redwood slab bench,
you can order tax-deductible timber grown and milled on-site, a process that’s so old-school it’s downright artisanal. 2150 Green Hill Road, Sebastopol.
www.sturgeonsmill.com. —S.H.

Best Way to Enjoy Nicotine in a Safe, Tasteful Way and Still Bug the Hell Out of Everyone Around You

There was a time when the host or hostess at a restaurant asked two questions, “How many in your party,” followed by, “Smoking or non?” Now that question seems absurd in smoke-hating California, but social expectations are being pushed thanks to eCigs, the hand-held, smokeless, vaporizing nicotine inhalers gaining popularity. Since they expel only vapor, are they legal for indoor use in public spaces? What about patio spaces? If the popular Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa is any indication, they are not welcome, even on an outdoor patio. Like their cancer-inducing cousins, eCigs are not allowed within 10 feet of the entrance. Though it’s not unheard of to see someone puffing away at the nico-stick after a big meal, it’s unnerving to see a green light at the end of it instead of a red ember, and though it’s just vapor, that stuff still smells and looks weird.—N.G.

Best Use of Facebook

The internet is a ubiquitous presence connecting people socially and professionally around the world. Yet it connects us to more than just people. When I wanted to make the leap to canine companionship, I looked where any animal-loving person looks nowadays: the internet. I met my puppy on the digital pages of the Marin Humane Society. There she was, looking at me with precious puppy-dog eyes. Without even leaving the house, this dog and I connected in my mind, and within five minutes, we were inseparable. Just a few years ago, this would not have happened so easily. Dogs and cats had to stay locked away and alone. Now they’re on Facebook, thanks to agencies like the Petaluma Animal Shelter, which shows off its dogs and cats, and finds them forever homes much more efficiently and quickly. On Twitter, organizations like Napa Humane can promote events and fundraisers to keep the doors open and the animals safe. There are even sanctuaries devoted to our equine friends, like Sadie’s Haven in Santa Rosa, a horse rescue center and adoption center run by volunteers.—C.S.

Best Honor-System Bookstore
(And Town)

The Bolinas Book Exchange offers a suggested pricing plan that sets the price of a book based on its prospective literary value to you. It’s a pretty incredible gesture that gives voraciously reading vagabonds the opportunity to find great books on an honor-system payment plan. It’s not a huge surprise that this sort of forward-looking, post-capitalist act of kindness would be taking place in the free-spirited village of Bolinas, which also has a 24-hour honor system farm-stand and a free box whose recent offerings included a cassette copy of The Best of Kansas, a treasure whose value may well rival that of a bottle of Bryant Cabernet. A perusal of the selections at the Book Exchange reveal a wide reach of pleasurable subject matter, heavy on literature and localism and art books. I recently went there with a buck in my pocket and spied a copy of Günter Grass’ Tin Drum. I felt a wee bit guilty as I slipped the buck into the store’s lockbox and stuck the book in my pocket. The Tin Drum is quite clearly more valuable than that. Won the Nobel Prize for literature and all that. But I can return the book to the Exchange once I rise above the noise and confusion and finish that mutha. This is the pay-it-forward village, and Bolinans take their karma quite seriously. About a year ago, some idiot decided to rip the lockbox off the wall at the Book Exchange, an event captured by a surveillance camera and sent to the YouTube universe of shame-vids. They never caught the guy—he had pulled his sweatshirt over his head—but rest assured, that dastardly deed will catch up with him. Only thing is, it would be great if that pay-what-you-wish honor system extended to the Bolinas gas station, where a “regular” gallon of the energetic elixir will set you back—please wait for it—$5.26! For that kind of coin, you can hook yourself up with the entire frickin’ omnibus of Proust at the Exchange.—T.G.

Best Cooking Store for Professionals & Enthusiasts

They don’t even have a Facebook page, but Shackford’s Kitchen Store in Napa has a thriving customer base, nonetheless. Perhaps it’s due to their knowledgeable staff or wide variety of cooking tools for both home cooks and professional chefs alike. They carry beautiful knives that will dazzle dinner guests and durable knives that can withstand the wear and tear of a commercial kitchen. They carry bright colanders in several colors and chef coats in white. And they’re the first place to check when seeking out unpronounceable gadgets necessary for making delicate and traditional dishes. 1350 Main St., Napa. 707.226.2132.—N.G.

Best Place to Find Out if a New Car Is Evil or Not

In the gas-guzzling, fossil-fuel-worshipping past, new cars were rated on many elements: speed, comfort, aesthetic appeal and, usually, safety records. But what about the other elements that go into car manufacturing? Sustainability? Gas efficiency? The safety and quality of the work environment for the folks who put the cars together in the factory? The Automotive Science Group aims to change the way we look at, and judge, car companies and the vehicles they produce in a way that takes into account the pressing environmental concerns of the 21st century. Founded by Eco-Innovations, the Santa Rosa–based group rates cars by a complex automotive performance index using something intriguingly called “ecological economics.” The index rates cars by looking at manufacturers’ labor practices and efforts to use low-impact technologies, and the automobiles’ environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, among other things. The result is a score that helps consumers figure out how to buy a car that doesn’t totally conflict with their values, and maybe even makes the world a greener place.
www.automotivescience.com.—L.C.

Best Possibility for Eternal Life

Think you’re “over the hill” at age 40? That landmark is closer to 50 now, thanks to the work of these scientists. Perched atop a hill off the freeway in Northern Novato is the Buck Institute, a research facility dedicated to exploring why people die of “old age.” It’s housed in a building designed by renowned architect I. M. Pei, who also designed the Louvre in France, and hundreds of incredibly smart people are employed there. Everyone’s looking, basically, for a cure to old age. So far, the Buck Institute has focused largely on the gut of flies, recording the reactions of certain types of bacteria in certain conditions to give a better understanding of how similar circumstances might translate to humans. Why don’t aging tissues regenerate? Why do stem cells lose their functionality with age? And how do tissues change to no longer support regeneration? These are the
foci of the Buck Institute, but they’re not alone in their mission—the institute is one
of seven making up the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research.
www.buckinstitute.org.—N.G.

Best Crime Blotter

It’s an unfortunate reality that the most interesting part of many local community papers is the weekly police blotter. But there’s a local paper in our midst that not only provides a steady supply of interesting, in-depth stories—it offers the best police blotter we’ve ever seen. The Pulitzer Prize–winning Point Reyes Light‘s “Sheriff’s Calls” sets the bar for any and all future attempts at doing a crime blotter correctly. The beauty of the Light‘s log is that it’s an exercise in poetic restraint—whoever is putting this weekly digest together understands that readers’ interest in the items lies not in the writer’s take on them (we’ve all seen those parenthetical asides in crime blotters that try to get all cutesy with the crime), but on the calls themselves and the story they tell, or imply. In keeping their blotter clear of editorial asides or other pointless fluff, the paper provides a clear and weird underbelly narrative of West Marin. A representative sample from the Light‘s March 8 log is a classic of the genre, with a number of short items punctuated by a wryly understated description of a completely bizarre and stupid crime:

DILLON BEACH: At 1:35pm, a resident reported that a neighbor had sawed off part of his or her deck, the safety of which was the source of ongoing debate.

BOLINAS: At 7:07pm, a school window appeared to have been tampered with, as though someone had tried to break in.

OLEMA: At 7:30pm, a car drove down an embankment.

INVERNESS: At 8:07pm, a dog was barking.

BOLINAS: At 8:07pm, someone reported a beach party and bonfire.

MUIR BEACH: At 9:30pm, a car drove into a ditch.

LAGUNITAS: At 9:55pm, a woman heard explosions across the creek.

MUIR BEACH: At 10:41pm, a SkyWest jet traveling at 11,000 feet reported that someone had shone a laser into the cockpit.—T.G.

Best Tiny, Free Communal
Art Space

It’s a revolutionary concept: open a workshop space that provides room for all types of artists, be open to new ideas, host musical and information events as a community hub, and do it all for the sake of art.

“It’s kind of a space we’ve been robbed of,” says owner Malcolm McGowan (pictured) of Penn’s Edge. “It’s a space to be creative.” Artists can borrow tools, use the space and even set up shop for their own work. If they decide to leave it set up for others to use, all the better, says McGowan. The shop is open during the day for artists to use, free of charge.

McGowan and his girlfriend, Dahllia Fawsy, are artists themselves, working with leather and jewelry, respectively. There’s a small, soundproof spot for musicians to hone their craft, materials for artists to purchase and make their own pieces, and, of course, creative and functional works made by local artists for purchase as well. The spot opened about seven months ago, and it’s open floor plan and shelf of records (just above functioning turntables) make for an inviting feel.

The communal art space hosts music events and seminars in the evening. The art space hasn’t quite caught on as much as originally hoped, and for the seven months it’s been open, it’s been funded by McGowan and Fawsy’s art sales. “Everything that we’ve been doing is just being open to people if they want to use it,” says McGowan. 10009 Main St., Penngrove. 707.242.6866.—N.G.

Readers Picks: Everyday
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Readers Picks: Food & Drink

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Readers Picks: Food & Drink

Best Farmers Market

Marin

Farmers Market at Marin Civic Center

Civic Center Drive, San Rafael.
415.472.6100.

Napa

Napa Farmers Market at Oxbow Public Market

500 First St., Napa.
707.501.3087.

Sonoma

Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market

50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa.
707.522.8629.

Honorable Mention

Sebastopol Farmers Market

Downtown Plaza, Sebastopol.
707.522.9305.

Best Organic Farm

Marin

Green Gulch Farm

www.sfzc.org/ggf

Napa

Boca Farm

www.bocafarm.org

Sonoma

Laguna Farms

1764 Cooper Road, Sebastopol.
707.823.0823.

Honorable Mention

Green String Farm

3571 Old Adobe Road, Petaluma.
707.778.7500.

Best Bakery

Marin

Bovine Bakery

11312 Hwy. 1, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.9420.

Napa

Model Bakery

1357 Main St., St. Helena.
707.819.8192.

Sonoma

Village Bakery

1445 Town & Country Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.527.7654.

7225 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol.
707.829.8101.

Honorable Mention

Wild Flour Bread Bakery

1409 Bohemian Hwy., Freestone.
707.874.2938.

Best Barbecue

Marin

Roadside BBQ

5000 Northgate Mall, San Rafael.
415.479.7200.

Napa

Smoakville

1755 Industrial Way, Napa.
707.363.3447.

Sonoma

BBQ Smokehouse

6811 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol.
707.575.3277.

Honorable Mention

The BBQ Spot

3448 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.585.2616.

Best Burger

Marin

Phyllis’ Giant Burgers

2202 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.456.0866.

Napa

Gott’s Roadside

933 Main St., Napa.
707.963.3486.

644 First St., Napa.
707.224.6900.

Sonoma

SuperBurger

1501 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.4016.

10070 Main St., Penngrove.
707.665.9790.

Honorable Mention

Phyllis’ Giant Burgers

4910 Sonoma Hwy., Santa Rosa.
707.538.4000.

1774 Piner Road., Santa Rosa.
707.521.0890.

Best Pizza

Marin

Ghiringhelli’s Pizzeria

45 Broadway Blvd., Fairfax.
415.453.7472.

Napa

Ca’ Momi

610 First St., Napa.
707.257.4992.

Sonoma

Mombo’s Pizza

1880 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.528.3278.

560 Gravenstein Hwy. N., Sebastopol.
707.823.7492.

Honorable Mention

Rosso Pizzeria
& Wine Bar

53 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.544.3221.

151 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma.
707.772.5177.

Best Frozen Dessert Shop

Marin

Swirl

417 Miller Ave., Mill Valley.
415.388.2636.

Napa

Frati Gelato

670 Main St., Napa.
707.265.0265.

Sonoma

Screamin’ Mimi’s

6902 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol.
707.823.5902.

Honorable Mention

Yogurt Farms

1224 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.576.0737.

Best Cupcakes

Marin

Susie Cakes

310 Bon Air Center, Greenbrae.
415.461.2253.

Napa

Sift

3816 Bel Aire Plaza, Napa.
707.240.4004.

Sonoma

Moustache Baked Goods

381 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
707.395.4111.

Honorable Mention

Sift

404-A Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.703.4228.

7582 Commerce Blvd., Cotati.
707.792.1681.

401 Kenilworth Drive #920, Petaluma.
707.200.2202.

Best Candy/Chocolate Shop

Marin

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe

879 Grant Ave., Novato.
415.898.6160.

Napa

Anette’s Chocolate Factory

1321 First St., Napa.
707.252.4228.

Sonoma

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe

151 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma.
707.765.9866.

Honorable Mention

Viva Cocolat

110 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma.
707.778.9888.

Best Chocolatier

Napa

Anette’s Chocolate Factory

1321 First St., Napa.
707.252.4228.

Sonoma

Sonoma Chocolatiers

6988 McKinley St., Sebastopol.
707.829.1181.

Honorable Mention

Recherche du Plaisir

3401 Cleveland Ave. Ste. 9, Santa Rosa.
707.843.3551.

Best Cafe/Coffeehouse

Marin

Dr. Insomniac’s

800 Grant Ave., Novato.
415.897.9500.

Napa

Ritual Coffee

610 First St., Napa.
707.253.1190.

Sonoma

Flying Goat Coffee

324 Center St., Healdsburg.
707.433.9081.

419 Center St., Healdsburg.
707.433.8003.

10 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.575.1202.

Honorable Mention

Taylor Maid Farms

6790 McKinely St., Ste. 170, Sebastopol.
707.634.7129.

Best Breakfast

Marin

Half Day Cafe

848 College Ave., Kentfield.
415.459.0291.

Napa

ABC Bakery

1517 Third St., Napa. 707.258.1827.

Sonoma

Howard Station Cafe

3611 Bohemian Hwy., Occidental.
707.874.2838.

Honorable Mention

Dierk’s Parkside Cafe

404 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.573.5955.

1422 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.545.2233.

Best Brunch

Marin

Crepevine

908 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415.257.8822.

Napa

Napa General Store

540 Main St. #100, Napa.
707.259.0762.

Sonoma

Willow Wood
Market Cafe

9020 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.0233.

Honorable Mention

Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa

2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.545.8530.

Best Diner

Marin

Pine Cone Diner

60 Fourth St., Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.1536.

Napa

Buttercream Bakery

2297 Jefferson St., Napa. 707.255.6700.

Sonoma

D’s Diner

7260 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol.
707.829.8080.

Honorable Mention

Hallie’s Diner

125 Keller St., Petaluma.
707.773.1143.

Best
Sandwich Shop

Marin

Perry’s Deli

1916 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax.
415.456.3580.

Napa

Genova Delicatessen

1550 Trancas St., Napa.
707.253.8686.

Sonoma

Ike’s Place

1780 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.293.9814.

Honorable Mention

Mac’s Deli

630 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.6545.3785.

Best
Outdoor Dining

Marin

Station House Cafe

11180 Hwy. 1, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.1515.

Napa

Angèle

540 Main St., Napa. 707.252.8115.

Sonoma

Rustic

300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville.
707.857.1485.

Honorable Mention

Campo Fina

330 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
707.395.4640.

Best Dining After 10pm

Marin

Sol food

901 & 903 Lincoln Ave., San Rafael.
415.451.4765.

811 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.451.4765.

401 Miller Ave., Mill Valley.
415.380.1986.

Napa

Morimoto Napa

610 Main St., Napa.
707.252.1600.

Sonoma

Underwood Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Honorable Mention

Mary’s Pizza Shack

www.maryspizzashack.com

Best Spot
to Dine Solo

Marin

Sol Food

901 & 903 Lincoln Ave., San Rafael.
415.451.4765.

811 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.451.4765.

401 Miller Ave., Mill Valley.
415.380.1986.

Napa

Carpe Diem
Wine Bar

1001 Second St., Napa.
707.224.0800.

Sonoma

Peter Lowell’s

7385 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol.
707.829.1077.

Honorable Mention

Willow Wood
Market Cafe

9020 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.0233.

Best Caterer

Marin

Deer Park Villa

367 Bolinas Road, Fairfax.
415.456.8084.

Napa

Smoke

2766 Old Sonoma Road, Napa.
707.927.5070.

Sonoma

Preferred Sonoma Caterers

416 East D St., Petaluma.
707.769.7208.

Honorable Mention

Park Avenue
Catering Co

591 Mercantile Drive, Cotati.
707.793.9645.

Best Server

Marin

Steve Schaefer,
Nickel Rose

848 B. St. , San Rafael.
415.454.5551.

Napa

Allison McDow,
Carpe Diem Wine Bar

1001 Second St., Napa.
707.224.0800.

Sonoma

Alan Luzmoor,
John Ash & Co.

4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.
707.527.7687.

Honorable Mention

Jessica McMillan, Underwood Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Best Chef

Marin

David Haydon,
Il Davide

901 A St., San Rafael.
415.454.8080.

Napa

Ken Frank,
La Toque Restaurant

1314 McKinstry St., Napa.
707.257.5157.

Sonoma

Duskie Estes & Doug Richey, Zazu Kitchen
& Farm

6770 McKinley St., Sebastopol.
707.523.4814.

Honorable Mention

Mark Stark, Stark’s Steak & Seafood

521 Adams St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.5100.

Best Sommelier

Marin

Eric Grasser,
123 Bolinas

123 Bolinas St., Fairfax.
415.488.5123.

Napa

Jordan Nova,
1313 Main

1313 Main St., Napa. 707.258.1313.

Sonoma

Christopher Sawyer, Carneros Bistro

1325 Broadway, Sonoma.
707.931.2042.

Honorable Mention

Stuart Morris, Hana Japanese Restaurant

101 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park.
707.586.0270.

Best Restaurant

Marin

Buckeye Roadhouse

15 Shoreline Hwy., Mill Valley.
415.331.2600.

Napa

Celadon

500 Main St., Napa.
707.254.9690.

Sonoma

Stark’s Steak & Seafood

521 Adams St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.5100.

Honorable Mention

Underwood Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Best New Restaurant

Marin

Saltwater Oyster Depot

12781 Sir Francis Drake, Inverness.
415.669.1244.

Napa

LuLu’s Kitchen
at 1313 Main

1313 Main St., Napa.
707.258.1313.

Sonoma

Woodfour Brewing Company

6780 Depot St., Sebastopol.
707.823.3144.

Honorable Mention

Belly Left Coast Kitchen & Tap Room

523 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.526.5787.

Best Chinese

Marin

Jennie Low’s
Chinese Cuisine

120 Vintage Way, Novato.
415.892.8838.

Napa

China House

2940 Jefferson St., Napa.
707.226.8881.

Sonoma

Gary Chu’s
Chinese Cuisine

611 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. 707.526.5840.

Honorable Mention

Kirin Restaurant

2700 Yulupa Ave., Ste. 3, Santa Rosa.
707.525.1957.

Best French

Marin

Left Bank

507 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur.
415.927.3331.

Napa

Bistro Jeanty

6510 Washington St., Yountville.
707.944.0103.

Sonoma

Bistro 29

620 Fifth St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.2929.

Honorable Mention

Chloe’s French Cafe

3883 Airway Drive #145, Santa Rosa.
707.528.3095.

Best Indian

Marin

Lotus Cuisine of India

704 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415.456.5808.

Napa

Taste of the Himalayas

376 Soscol Ave., Napa. 707.251.3840.

Sonoma

House of Curry & Grill

(formerly sizzling tandoor of santa rosa)

409 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.579.5999.

Honorable Mention

Pamposh Restaurant

52 Mission Circle, Santa Rosa.
707.538.3367.

Best Italian

Marin

Fradelizio’s Ristorante

35 Broadway Blvd., Fairfax.
415.459.1618.

Napa

Oenotri

1425 First St., Napa. 707.252.1022.

Sonoma

Lo Coco’s Cucina rustica

117 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.523.2227.

Honorable Mention

Riviera Ristorante

75 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.579.2682.

Best Japanese/Sushi

Marin

Sushi Ran

107 Caledonia St., Sausalito.
415.332.3620.

Napa

Morimoto

610 Main St., Napa. 707.252.1600.

Sonoma

Hana Japanese
Restaurant

101 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park.
707.586.0270.

Honorable Mention

Osake

2446 Patio Court, Santa Rosa.
707.542.8282.

Best Mediterranean

Marin

Insalata’s

120 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo.
415.457.7700.

Napa

Tarla Mediterranean
Grill

1480 First St., Napa. 707.255.5599.

Sonoma

East West Restaurant

557 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa.
707.546.6142.

Honorable Mention

East West Cafe

128 N. Main St., Sebastopol.
707.829.2822.

Best Mexican

Marin

Celia’s

1 Vivian St., San Rafael. 415.456.8190.

Napa

Tanya’s Taqueria

1601 Jefferson St., Napa.
707.224.9000.

Sonoma

Mi Pueblo Taqueria

800 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma.
707.762.8192.

108 Kentucky St., Petaluma.
707.769.9066.

Honorable Mention

Martha’s Old Mexico

305 N. Main St., Sebastopol.
707.823.4458.

Best Seafood

Marin

Fish

350 Harbor Drive, Sausalito.
415.331.3474.

Napa

Morimoto Napa

610 Main St., Napa.
707.252.1600.

Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar

403 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
707.433.9191.

Honorable Mention

The Tides Wharf

800 Hwy. 1, Bodega Bay.
707.875.3652.

Best Thai

Marin

My Thai Restaurant

1230 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.456.4455.

Napa

Mini Mango Thai Bistro

1408 Clay St., Napa. 707.226.8884.

Sonoma

Sea Thai Bistro

2323 Sonoma Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.528.8333.

Honorable Mention

Thai House

525 Fourth St. #2, Santa Rosa.
707.526.3939.

Best Vietnamese

Marin

Saigon Village

720 B St., San Rafael.
415.453.3505.

Napa

Bui Bistro

976 Pearl St., Napa.
707.255.5417.

Sonoma

Simply Vietnam

966 N. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.566.8910.

Honorable Mention

Goji Kitchen

1965 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.523.3888.

Best Vegetarian

Marin

Radiance

923 C St., San Rafael. 415.686.3442.

Napa

Small World Cafe

928 Coombs St., Napa. 707.224.7743.

Sonoma

Gaia’s Garden

1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.544.2491.

Honorable Mention

The Sunflower Center

1435 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma.
707.792.5300.

Best Bartender

Marin

Steve Schaefer,
Nickel Rose

848 B St., San Rafael. 415.454.5551.

Napa

Nick Hammond,
Carpe Diem Wine Bar

1001 Second St., Napa.
707.224.0800.

Sonoma

Frank Dice,
Underwood Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Honorable Mention

Chrysti Kehr,
John Ash & Co.

4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.
707.527.7687.

Best Bar

Marin

Mayflower Pub

1533 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.456.1011.

Napa

Norman Rose Tavern

1401 First St., Napa. 707.258.1516.

Sonoma

Underwood Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Honorable Mention

Stark’s Steak & Seafood

521 Adams St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.5100.

Best Dive Bar

Marin

Nickel Rose

848 B St., San Rafael.
415.454.5551.

Napa

Henry’s

823 Main St., Napa.
707.257.3008.

Sonoma

Wagon Wheel

3320 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.546.1958.

Honorable Mention

440 Club

434 College Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.542.2550.

Best Happy Hour

Marin

Flatiron

724 B St., San Rafael.
415.453.4318.

Napa

Barolo

1374 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga.
707.942.2233.

Sonoma

Stark’s Steak & Seafood

521 Adams St., Santa Rosa.
707.546.5100.

Honorable Mention

Jackson’s Bar & Oven

135 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.545.6900.

Best Cocktails

Marin

Hilltop 1892

850 Lamont Ave., Novato.
415.893.1892.

Napa

Goose & Gander

1245 Spring St., St. Helena.
707.967.8779.

Sonoma

Underwood
Bar & Bistro

9113 Graton Road, Graton.
707.823.7023.

Honorable Mention

Spoonbar

219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
707.433.7222.

Best Brewpub

Marin

Moylan’s Brewery
& Restaurant

15 Rowland Way, Novato.
415.898.4677.

Napa

Downtown Joe’s
Brewery & Restaurant

902 Main St., Napa.
707.258.2337.

Sonoma

Russian River
Brewing Co.

725 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.545.2337.

Honorable Mention

LaGunitas Brewing Company

1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma.
707.769.4495.

Best Microbrew

Marin

Moylan’s Brewery
& Restaurant

15 Rowland Way, Novato.
415.898.4677.

Napa

Napa Smith Brewery

1 Executive Way, Napa. 707.254.7167.

Sonoma

Pliny the Elder, Russian River Brewing Co.

725 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
707.545.2337.

Sonoma

Honorable Mention

Little Sumpin’, LaGunitas Brewing Company

1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma.
707.769.4495.

Best Micro Distillery

Napa

Charbay Distillery
& Winery

4001 Spring Mountain Road, St. Helena.
707.963.9327.

Sonoma

Spirit Works Distillery

679 McKinley St. #100, Sebastopol.
707.634.4793.

Honorable Mention

HelloCello

21877 Eighth St., Sonoma.
707.721.6390.

Best Wine List

Marin

123 Bolinas

123 Bolinas St., Fairfax.
415.488.5123.

Napa

1313 Main

1313 Main St., Napa.
707.258.1313.

Sonoma

Willi’s Wine Bar

4404 Old Redwood Hwy., Santa Rosa.
707.526.3096.

Honorable Mention

John Ash & Co.

4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.
707.527.7687.

Best Winetasting Room

Marin

Trek Winery

1026 Machin Ave., Novato.
415.899.9883.

Napa

Palmaz Vineyards

4029 Hagan Road, Napa.
707.226.5587.

Sonoma

Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens

5007 Fulton Road, Fulton.
866.287.9818.

Honorable Mention

Francis Ford
Coppola Winery

300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville.
707.857.1471.

Best Sauvignon Blanc

Napa

Cakebread Cellars

8300 St. Helena Hwy., Rutherford.
707.963.5221.

Sonoma

Merry Edwards Wines

2959 Gravenstein Hwy. N., Sebastopol.
707.823.7466.

Honorable Mention

Matanzas Creek Winery

6097 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa.
707.528.6464.

Best Chardonnay

Napa

Grgich Hills Estate

1829 St. Helena Hwy., Rutherford.
707.963.2784.

Sonoma

La Crema

235 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
800.314.1762.

Honorable Mention

Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens

5007 Fulton Road, Fulton.
866.287.9818.

Best Sparkling Wine

Marin

Heidrun Meadery

11925 Hwy. 1, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.9122.

Napa

Schramsberg Vineyards

1400 Schramsberg Road, Calistoga.
707.942.4558.

Sonoma

J Vineyards & Winery

11447 Old Redwood Hwy., Healdsburg.
707.431.5479.

Honorable Mention

Korbel Champagne Cellars

13250 River Road, Guerneville. 707.824.7000.

Best Rosé

Napa

Azur

www.azurwines.com

Sonoma

Kokomo Winery

4791 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg.
707.433.0200.

Honorable Mention

Unti Vineyards

www.untivineyards.com

Best Cabernet

Marin

Trek Winery

1026 Machin Ave., Novato.
415.899.9883.

Napa

Ca’ Momi

610 First St., Napa. 707.257.4992.

Sonoma

Silver Oak

24625 Chianti Road, Geyserville.
707.942.7082.

Honorable Mention

Jordan

1474 Alexander Valley Road, Healdsburg.
800.654.1213.

Best Syrah

Marin

Trek Winery

1026 Machin Ave., Novato.
415.899.9883.

Napa

Four Cairn Wines

www.fourcairn.com

Sonoma

Longboard Vineyards

5 Fitch St., Healdsburg. 707.433.3473.

Honorable Mention

Radio Coteau

www.radiocoteau.com

Best Pinot Noir

Marin

Easkoot Cellars

1115 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo.

Napa

Hill Wine Company

1001 Silverado Trail, St. Helena.
707.963.7000.

Sonoma

La Crema

235 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
707.525.6244.

Honorable Mention

Kosta Browne Winery

www.kostabrowne.com

Best Zinfandel

Napa

Turley Wine Cellars

www.turleywinecellars.com

Sonoma

Seghesio Family Vineyards

700 Grove St., Healdsburg.
707.433.3579.

Honorable Mention

Carol Shelton Wines

3354 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa.
707.575.3441.

Writers Picks: Food & Drink
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Readers Picks: Culture

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Readers Picks: Culture

Best Art Gallery

Marin

Gallery Route One

11101 Hwy. 1, Ste. 101, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.1347.

Napa

Slack Art Collective

964 Pearl St., Ste. B., Napa. 707.344.7133

Sonoma

Sebastopol Gallery

150 N. Main St., Sebastopol.
707.829.7200.

Honorable Mention

Sebastopol Center
for the Arts

282 S. High St., Sebastopol.
707.829.4797.

Best Museum

Marin

Bolinas Museum

48 Wharf Road, Bolinas.
415.868.0330.

Napa

Napa Valley Museum

55 President’s Circle, Yountville.
707.944.0500.

Sonoma

Charles M. Schulz Museum

2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa.
707.579.4452.

Honorable Mention

Sonoma County Museum

425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa.
707.579.1500.

Best Outdoor Art Event

Marin

Sausalito Art Festival

www.sausalitoartfestival.org

Napa

Riverfront
Chalk Festival

588 Main St., Napa.

Sonoma

ARTRAILS Open Studios

www.artrails.org

Honorable Mention

Bodega Seafood Art
& Wine Festival

www.winecountryfestivals.com

Best Movie Theater

Marin

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.454.1222.

Napa

Cameo Cinema

1340 Main St., St. Helena.
707.963.9779.

Sonoma

Rialto Cinemas

6868 McKinley St., Sebastopol.
707.525.4840.

Honorable Mention

Summerfield Cinemas

551 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa.
707.522.0719.

Best Film Festival

Marin

Mill Valley
Film Festival

www.mvff.com

Napa

Napa Valley
Film Festival

www.napavalleyfilmfest.org

Sonoma

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

www.sebastopolfilmfestival.org

Honorable Mention

Sonoma International Film Festival

www.sonomafilmfest.org

Best Ballet Company

Marin

Marin Ballet Co.

100 Elm St., San Rafael.
415.453.6705.

Napa

Napa Valley
Dance Center

950 Pearl St., Napa.
707.255.2701.

Sonoma

Sebastopol Ballet

390 Morris St., Sebastopol.
707.824.8006.

Honorable Mention

Petaluma City Ballet

110 Howard St., Petaluma.
707.765.2660.

Best Performing Dance Company

Marin

Stapleton School
of the Performing Arts

118 Greenfield Ave., San Anselmo.
415.454.5759.

Napa

Napa Valley
Dance Center

950 Pearl St., Napa.
707.255.2701.

Sonoma

Sebastopol
Ballet School

390 Morris St., Sebastopol.
707.824.8006.

Honorable Mention

Risk Dance Company

riskdance.wix.com/risk-dance-company

Best Dance Studio

Marin

Roco Dance
& Fitness

237 Shoreline Hwy., Mill Valley.
415.388.6786.

Napa

Napa Valley
Dance Center

950 Pearl St., Napa.
707.255.2701.

Sonoma

Move2Change

6780 Depot St., Sebastopol.
707.823.1074.

Honorable Mention

The Dance Center

56 W. Sixth St., Santa Rosa.
707.575.8277.

Best Place
to Dance

Marin

George’s Nightclub

842 Fourth St., San Rafael.
415.226.0262.

Napa

Empire Napa

1400 First St., Napa.
707.254.8888.

Sonoma

Hopmonk Tavern

230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol.
707.829.7300.

691 Broadway Ave., Sonoma.
707.935.9100.

Honorable Mention

Ellington Hall

3535 Industrial Drive, Santa Rosa.
707.545.6150.

Best Media Personality

Marin

Lyons Filmer,
KWMR 90.5-FM & 89.9-FM

State Route 1, Ste. 1, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.8068.

Napa

Bob St. Laurent,
KVYN 99.3-FM

1124 Foster Road, Napa.
707.257.8463.

Sonoma

Brent Farris,
KZST 100.1-FM

3392 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.528.4434.

Honorable Mention

Bill Bowker,
KRSH 95.9-FM

3565 Standish Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.588.0707.

Best Festival

Marin

Fairfax Festival

www.fairfaxfestival.com

Napa

Napa Valley
Film Festival

www.napavalleyfilmfest.org

Sonoma

Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival

www.sebastopol.org

Honorable Mention

Rivertown Revival

www.rivertownrevival.com

Best Music Festival

Marin

KWMR Far West Fest

State Route 1, Ste. 1, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.8068.

Napa

BottleRock

www.bottlerocknapavalley.com

Sonoma

Russian River Jazz
& Blues Festival

www.omegaevents.com

Honorable Mention

Petaluma Music Festival

www.petalumamusicfestival.org

Best Charity Event

Marin

Gallery Route One’s Latino Photography Project

11101 Hwy. 1, Ste. 101, Pt. Reyes Station.
415.663.1347.

Napa

Auction Napa Valley

www.auctionnapavalley.org

Sonoma

Calabash! (Food
for Thought)

PO Box 1608, Forestville.
707.887.1647.

Honorable Mention

Human Race

www.volunteernow.org

Best Performing Arts Center

Marin

Marin Center

10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael.
415.473.6800.

Napa

Napa Valley
Opera House

1030 Main St., Napa.
707.226.7372.

Sonoma

Wells Fargo Center
for the Arts

50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa.
707.546.3600.

Honorable Mention

Green Music Center

1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park.
866.955.6040.

Best Theater Troupe

Marin

Marin Shakespeare Co.

890 Belle Ave., San Rafael. 415.499.4488.

Napa

Lucky Penny Productions

www.luckypennynapa.com

Sonoma

6th Street Playhouse

52 W. Sixth St., Santa Rosa.
707.523.4185.

Honorable Mention

The Imaginists

461 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa.
707.528.7554.

Best Band

Marin

Soul Pie Band

www.soulpie.com

Napa

Voltones

www.voltones.com

Sonoma

Wonderbread 5

www.wonderbread5.com

Honorable Mention

Pat Jordan Band

www.patjordanband.com

Best Music Venue

Marin

Sweetwater Music Hall

19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley.
415.388.1100.

Napa

Uptown Theatre

1350 Third St., Napa. 707.259.0123.

Sonoma

Hopmonk Tavern

230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol.
707.829.7300.

691 Broadway Ave., Sonoma.
707.935.9100.

Honorable Mention

Mystic Theatre

23 N. Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma.
707.765.9211.

Writers Picks: Culture
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Bottlerock It, Man

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Bottlerock It, Man

Bodacious Bottlerock

Welcome to Bottlerock, 1999! On Friday, the Napa music festival announced the lineup for its second annual concert, and it’s full of ’90s and ’00s nostalgia acts.

Weezer, LL Cool J, Outkast, Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, Smash Mouth. Although Smash Mouth played at the Sonoma-Marin Fair three times in the past eight years, big-time headliners like the Cure and Eric Church didn’t, and probably won’t any time in the near future.

Want more ’90s? Blues Traveler. De La Soul. Spin Doctors. Gin Blossoms. Camper Van Beethoven. Rumored, but not confirmed, are the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (featuring Zordon), the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a special 45-minute hologram set by that dancing baby from Ally McBeal.

All in all, it’s an exciting lineup, if for no other reason than to see what all these bands look and sound like today, 15 years after their prime. And local groups will be performing as well: Trebuchet, Moonalice, the Incubators, the Graveyard Boots, Cosmos Percussion Orchestra, Grass Child, the Bell Boys, the Sorry Lot, the Deadlies, Irontom, Breakaway Patriot, Major Power & the Lo-fi Symphony and Kingsborough. Also included are hip indie acts like Robert Delong, Empires and Deerhunter. Spread out over three days, this will make for an interesting concert.

Bottlerock takes place May 30–
June 1 at the Napa Valley Expo Center.
575 Third St., Napa. $129–$3,000. www.bottlerocknapavalley.com.—Nicolas Grizzle

Best of 2014: Back to the Future

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Best of 2014: Back to the Future

Best Of Winners! Claim your awards by clicking here!

Order high-quality plaques of your awards by clicking here!

Order “Best Of Winner” Photos clicking here!

We’ve always been fascinated with the future. From the smartphone of tomorrow to the sci-fi world of intergalactic space travel, we are drawn to speculation about what could be. In this year’s Best Of issue, we celebrate forward thinking with our theme of Back to the Future—we’re getting back to looking ahead.

Unlike the movie of the same name, we don’t get to see what’s next, but we do analyze the past to shape the future. Not coincidentally, 2015 is the year the young Marty McFly travels to in the sequel to his history-altering hijinks—watch it again and compare reality today with what it was envisioned to be just 30 years ago. As you’ll see, it’s pretty much spot-on, right down to the power laces. (But not that part about the Cubs. Don’t ever put money on the Cubbies.)

The future is also about accepting people’s differences, conserving energy and making sure the energy we do use comes from sustainable sources. The world wouldn’t be the same without innovators in the arts, technology, media, industry, food, transportation and even romance. For that reason, we celebrate pioneers—futurist thinkers of their time—and draw inspiration from their radical ideas.

Leilani Clark, Tom Gogola, Nicolas Grizzle, Stett Holbrook, Brooke Jackson, James Knight, Jacquelynne Ocaña, Jonah Raskin, Charlie Swanson and David Templeton contributed to the writers’ picks in this issue, and their initials are inscribed at the end of their pieces like carvings in a park bench. But their contributions will exist digitally beyond the lifespan of a slab of treated wood (unless, of course, that slab is picked up at a reclaimed salvage yard and made into something new and beautiful). —Nicolas Grizzle

Readers Picks

Culture | Everyday | Family | Food & Drink | Recreation | Romance

Writers Picks

Culture | Everyday | Family | Food & Drink | Recreation | Romance

Bohemian “Best Of Winners 2014” from jon lohne on Vimeo.

Writers Picks: Romance

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Writers Picks: Romance

Best Wedding Everyone Can Attend in Their Underwear

Imagine an online world (turn away now if you’re already lost) that’s part Sims, part Minecraft
and part real, human existence. Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Second Life is a global online game that allows users to create avatars and live in a user-created digital world. Now in its 10th year, Second Life gets an average of 400,000 new registrations each month, according to the game’s website, with 36 million accounts created in its history (though some estimates put the actual number of users at about 1 million). In this fantasy world, users can exist without society’s slings and arrows (or gravity, for that matter, since Second Life avatars have the ability to fly). Currency exists as Linden dollars, which have a current exchange rate with real dollars at about 250 to 1. They can also be earned in the game just like they would in life: by working, selling goods or paying for a premium account that refreshes your Linden dollar stash each week.

Why would one desire an alternate life? Well, companionship, for one. It’s easier to meet people online these days, and over 41 million have tried online dating. But even then, there’s the awkward real-life meeting, and maybe it turns out he hasn’t been 28 years old for a while or maybe her laugh makes Fran Drescher sound angelic. In SL, avatars are user-generated idyllic versions of their creators; everyone is beautiful, so personality becomes the only compatibility test. For $L10, users can officially “partner” with another user—though, as in real life, separation costs more ($L25).

But there are some twists, as one might imagine, to this alternate universe.

For starters, SL relationships sometimes exist simultaneously with RL (real-life) relationships. This can cause problems with RL couples, though sometimes one type of relationship can lead to the other. And forget seeing your sweetheart during a power or internet outage. There have been reports, as well, of NSA agents creating online personae in games like Second Life to infiltrate potential terrorist organizations. Without a face-to-face meeting, who’s to say if
the blushing bride isn’t really Agent Smith from The Matrix?

But the positives are wonderful. Four hours of SL time equates to one hour of RL time, so relationships tend to bloom faster on the screen than in person. And when the wedding takes place, everyone looks fantastic, the weather is impossibly gorgeous and floating hearts emanate from a grand piano played by the bride and groom on a tropical beach. People do spend money on this, and there are a handful of wedding services available in the SL marketplace. But the cost is nowhere near the $28,000 average for an American wedding. After marriage comes babies (seriously, there are videos of SL births), and after that, who knows. Here’s to love, both in the physical and digital realms.—N.G.

Best Place to Spot Celebs in Love

For the record, the best celebrity to have walked the sidewalks of Railroad Square in Santa Rosa is, and will always be, Steve Martin. But this year, the cozy, downtown shopping district seemed to have transformed into a haven for celebrity couples out for sweet afternoon dates. In late November, Renee Zellweger shopped for trinkets with her boyfriend, musician Doyle Bramhall, at Whistlestop Antiques after attending a KRSH radio station party the day before (Bramhall performed live). But in even more exciting news for rabid Parks and Recreation fans out there, Nick Offerman (better known as Ron Swanson, the meat-loving, woodworking, Libertarian county employee on the Amy Poehler–helmed show) and his wife, the equally talented and hilarious Megan Mullally (Will and Grace, Party Down), were spotted shopping at Skirt Chaser vintage. They graciously agreed to a photo with a friend of mine, who happened to stop by the store at the same time, and her Instagram feed blew up with comments like “Oh my god. Ron Swanson!” If this trend continues, I may need to start running a romantic celebrity date star map tour that starts and ends on Fourth Street.—L.C.

Best Place to Talk Dirty

There is a place in Petaluma where a group of adults gather once a week to talk dirty. They do it in a well-lit room, they do it fully clothed, and they do it in front of each other. This isn’t 900- number material; it’s intimacy therapy. The group goes by “O,” and is part attitude adjustment, part playful distraction. Professional life coach Elizabeth Wolfe facilitates the sex-positive conversations in a safe environment. Sessions consist of three games, played each week, to the tune of participants’ prowess. The games are a psychological framework for breaking down taboos about sex while practicing vulnerability. Risqué questions and words of desire fly about even as people blush and squirm. “I encourage people to play hard, to speak the first answer that comes to mind and not to filter,” says Wolf. “You never know, if you say something kind of edgy, it may free your neighbor to do the same!” Check it out. You may come out feeling a little more kinky than usual. eSensum.com.—J.O.

Best Rooftop Graffiti (From the Future?)

I should have done it a long time ago, when you first walked away. All you wanted was to know that I loved you. And of course I did. I still do. And I never forgot you. I never stopped regretting my silence. And I never forgot the metal roof glimmering in the sunshine across the parking lot in downtown Santa Rosa where we stood when you said goodbye. When I first discovered the time vortex last year, and realized I could only use it once, I knew I had to go back to that day, that moment, and tell you how I felt. It took me till now to figure out how. I haven’t tagged a building in decades. We don’t do it like that in 2067. But I knew I couldn’t walk up to you, the young us and say, “Hey, I’m you from the future! Tell her how you feel! Tell her you love her, and will never stop loving her!” We’d both be terrified. So instead, I wrote it down for you. There on the roof of that abandoned building. In great big letters. “I STILL LOVE YOU.” It may be too late to matter, too late to change the future. But maybe it’s not. Maybe you’ll walk by that lot, see those words, and somehow know they’re not just the random ravings of a daredevil artist. They’re from the future. They’re from me. I still love you. If you still feel the same way, leave me a message. I’ll find a way back. I’ll find the message. Then I’ll find you. And I’ll never stop telling you. I love you. I love you. I love you.—D.T.

Readers Picks: Romance
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Writers Picks: Food & Drink

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Writers Picks: Food & Drink

Best Plan to End World Hunger

Excess is so 1980s. Today, the most forward-thinking folks are all about eliminating excess and cutting down on the waste stream, in turn strengthening community, bolstering local food systems, building social safety nets and making some friends along the way. That’s why CropMobster, the community food exchange dreamed up by Nick Papadopoulos, the general manager of Bloomfield Farms in Petaluma, has leapt to the head of the pack.

The story began with Papadopoulos searching for a way to distribute surplus produce left over after a farmers market. He posted a message on the Bloomfield Farms Facebook page offering the leftovers at a reduced price, but he didn’t stop there. With help from his wife, event planner Jess Flood, along with Joanna and Gary Cedar of Press Tree, he established CropMobster, a hub where producers, farmers and regular folks can advertise their surplus in a way that’s easy, manageable and gets the food to someone who will use it.

As Papadopoulos told the Bohemian last October, “We wanted to address food waste and loss, and help people who are hungry or just priced out of the good stuff. But we also wanted to help people in the cottage food industry and the gleaning industry, and build trading relationships.”

Once a producer—farm, ranch, grocer or grower—posts an alert regarding surplus goods, it’s automatically spread to all members of the CropMobster community. What’s truly innovative about the project is the way the founders use social media like Twitter, Facebook, email and website alerts, plus a thriving online community, to get the word out, utilizing the idea of “going viral” for the good of the community and not just to spread the word about the latest crazy cat playing piano upside down.

With coverage on the Huffington Post, Fast Company, PBS and in Time magazine, CropMobster has gone national, which is a good thing, since the model they’ve created is something that should be realized on a global level. In January, they were added to Food Tank’s “Organizations to Watch” list, and the next step has become helping other communities develop their own versions of CropMobster. As the website states, “What started on one farm just a few months back is turning into a movement to transform food waste and surplus into value and community.” How’s that for one to grow on? cropmobster.com.—L.C.

Best Celery Root Schnitzel

Imagine a TV show devoted to farming. Hell, imagine a whole network devoted to how food actually gets to the kitchen in the first place. In a world in which chefs are hailed as cultural icons, John McReynolds insists that farmers ought to be applauded as the real all-stars. As culinary director at Stone Edge Farm in Sonoma, he has authored a new innovative cookbook that offers stunning recipes for mouth-watering dishes like celery root schnitzel, orange and beet salad with black olives, and feta and cabernet-braised beef short ribs with green onion mashed potatoes. His dishes look gorgeous and taste scrumptious, and long before it was cool to shop at farmers markets and roadside stands, McReynolds beat a path to organic produce and foraged for herbs, flowers, nuts and leaves in meadows and vineyards. Like the great jazz musicians, McReynolds riffs on the familiar. Not a slave to menus or a prisoner of classic recipes, he shares kitchen secrets and demystifies the art of gastronomy. In The Stone Edge Farm Cookbook, McReynolds shows foodies that he’s still on the cutting edge of contemporary culinary art.—J.R.

Best Green Grapes

Just when you’ve figured out that organically made wine is not the same as wine made with organically grown grapes, along comes certified biodynamic, certified fish-friendly and sustainably certified by this, that or the other. Many of these designations are backed up by organizations that employ independent verification; others, not so much. And the dregs of the barrel simply claim they’re “sustainable because we said so.” Recognizing that a future crowded with different standards and claims can only confuse conscientious wine shoppers, the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission announced in January a plan to require all Sonoma County growers to conform to a single sustainable standard by 2019. Instigated by a board member and pursued by SCW president Karissa Kruse, the five-year plan would make Sonoma County the first 100 percent sustainable county in the nation. “Greenwashing” is not part of the plan; independent verification will be implemented on a multi-point list of environmental, energy and social and economic targets. Unlike in organic and biodynamic farming programs, some chemicals would likely be allowed. However, sustainable standards also address erosion issues, energy conservation and the welfare of farmworkers. But for some, it just might make Sonoma County wines shine a little bit brighter on the shelf.—J.K.

Best Otherworldly Sandwich Combinations

When the hankering strikes for a two-fisted meal, head down to Davey Jones Deli in Sausalito. Inside a bait shop just off the 101, this eatery has all kinds of futuristic combinations cloaked in spinach tortillas or on a choice of breads and rolls. The bestselling vegan wrap contains hummus, raw almonds, avocado, quinoa tabouleh, gomazio and a garden patch of fresh herbs, veggies and sprouts. Punjabi pulled pork adds gravitational heft on the porkslaw, a curried mouthful-of-Iowa-meets-New-Delhi. The house-made sauces, sprinkles and spreads are what make Davey Jones Deli ahead of its time. The likes of almond pesto, sesame salt, pumpkin butter, maple chipotle butternut spread, roast garlic with red pepper and cranberry Dijon are just a sampling of the trippy flavors that complement the meat and veggie fillings. Garlic sesame kale, roasted beets, radishes, fresh pineapple and other crazy additions take the term “deli” to new heights. The waterfront is in back of the shop, making for a great picnic spot to wolf down one of these massive meals in a sandwich. 1 Gate 6 Road, Sausalito. 415.331.2282.—B.J.

Best Use of Biogas —for Beer!

Bear Republic Brewing Company is a business on the forefront of sustainability. The family-owned company has held environmental stewardship as a cornerstone of their business, and earlier this year became the first brewery in California to install the EcoVolt wastewater system. In a state with drought woes, beer makers feel the pinch all the more—it takes between three and 10 units of water to make one unit of beer—so Bear Republic stepped up its game with the installation of the EcoVolt system in its Cloverdale brewery. It’s a unique take on a biogas system—the process uses bioelectrical microbe organisms to convert the carbon elements in wastewater into electricity, simultaneously cleaning water for reuse and creating energy to offset production costs. Water
is treated and reused on-site, easing the impact on sewage and utilities for the city while cutting electricity and water costs for the brewery.
—C.S.

Best Food Alchemist

Tom Boyd and his wife, Deanna Dennard, together with longtime research and development associate Jeffrey Edelheit, have become modern-day food alchemists. Specializing in eccentric organic elixirs inspired by nature’s own engineering, their biomimetics laboratory, of sorts, the Kefiry, sits in a cozy shopping plaza just south of downtown Sebastopol. It is part testing room and part tasting room, featuring 12 elaborately infused kefir flavors.

“We are able to pull the most subtle aromatics out of the herbs without destroying them with heat,” explains Boyd. The result is a bubbly, soda-like drink—minus the unpronounceable preservatives and gobs of sugar.

“These are the most important herbal formulas from the past,” he says, pulling out a long glass flute filled with ruby red liquid and white sediment. By angling it against the light, the tiny crystalline structures become visible. “We are producing this for people to increase their wellness and happiness.” The crystals are probiotic kefir “grains,” which are actually strains of bacteria and yeast, and have been used to ferment fruits and herbs for centuries. This drink is Flower Power, a hibiscus and cinnamon blend that smells like sweet summer tea.

And because they’re made with water kefir instead of milk kefir, as found in yogurts, the beverages are lactose-free. The result is a nonalcoholic, probiotic and lacto-fermented drink that fills the belly with all the good bacteria needed for healthy digestion. 972 Gravenstein Hwy. S. #120, Sebastopol. thekefiry.com.—J.O.

Best Carbon Message in a Paper Bottle

If you want to make the attendant at a recycling center cross with you, bring in your empty wine bottles. It’s not that in the year 2014 we don’t possess the technology the recycle them, and it’s not that recycling an ex-vessel of Pinot Gris saves any fewer resources than an empty IPA bomber. It’s just that people don’t get money for turning in empty bottles of Pinot Gris like they do from beer and soda bottles—gotta keep ’em separated! Better yet, skip the heavy glass. Sure, we’ve been hearing about the future of alternative wine packaging for years now, but consumers haven’t taken to bag-in-a-box wine with gusto. So one winery had a lightbulb moment—an energy-saving, LED lightbulb, of course—and put the bag in a bottle. Truett-Hurst’s 2012 Mendocino Chardonnay ($13.99) and 2012 Paso Robles Red Blend ($14.99) were released last November in lightweight, plastic-lined cardboard “bottles.” Truett-Hurst shipped 250,000 bottles in the first 60 days of sales, representing a saved weight of 280,000 pounds over the equivalent in glass bottles. By mid-December, they’d loaded up 20 trucks at seven tons per truck, and estimate they saved 20,000 pounds of carbon emissions. Designer Kevin Shaw, who created sister winery VML’s witchy-cool biodynamic-inspired labels, worked with the U.K.’s Green Bottle to create the package. After the wine is drunk, “PaperBoy,” as it’s known, can be disassembled into recyclable components. Sadly, it cannot be reused as a shabby-chic wine bottle candle holder.—J.K.

Best Sausage Made from Life’s Lemons

Yanni’s Sausage Grill is exactly what you want it to be: a small, mom-and-pop shop in an out-of-the-way location that does one thing really well—sausage. John Vrattos and his wife, Francesca, run the shop on Penngrove’s main drag from a 270-square-foot storefront. It’s hard not to be charmed by the couple. After he lost his job a few years ago, John decided to turn a sausage-making hobby into a business. When Francesca lost her job, too, she joined her husband. Life gave them lemons, but instead of lemonade, they made sausage.

John, who is proud of his Greek heritage, works flavors from the old country into his links—try the orange-and-anise-flavored loukaniko, if it’s available—but he also tries newfangled creations like the Aloha (teriyaki pork sausage with grilled onions, jack cheese and grilled pineapple) and the popular “jalapeño popper” (pork sausage seasoned with pickled jalapeños). Grab a seat in the cozy dining room or head next door to the Penngrove Pub for the ultimate combination—beer and sausage. 10007 Main St., Penngrove. 707.795.7088.—S.H.

Readers Picks: Food & Drink
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Spleef of Police

The League of California Cities and the California Police Chiefs Association have come out in support of SB 1262, introduced last month by State Sen. Lou Correa that would regulate medical marijuana in the state. This marks a significant shift in the groups' stance since just last year, when the two groups helped kill at least four similar bills in...
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Readers Picks: Romance

Best Place for Singles to Meet Marin Nickel Rose 848 B St., San Rafael. 415.454.5551. Napa Carpe Diem Wine Bar 1001 Second St., Napa. 707.224.0800. Sonoma Underwood Bar & Bistro 9113 Graton Road, Graton. 707.823.7023. Honorable Mention Hopmonk Tavern 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 707.730.7308. 691 Broadway Ave., Sonoma. 707.935.9100. Best Romantic Dinner Marin Vin Antico 881 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415.721.0600. Napa Bouchon 6534 Washington St., Yountville. 707.944.8037. Sonoma Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant 7871 River Road, Forestville. 707.330.3300. Honorable Mention Madrona Manor 1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg. 707.433.4231. Best Staycation Marin Nick's Cove 23240 Hwy. 1, Marshall. 415.663.1033. Napa Hotel Yountville 6462 Washington...
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Writers Picks: Culture

Best Nontelevised Technology Program Television is on its way out. Streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV and even some TVs themselves bring the internet's best offerings in an on-demand format to living rooms across the world, broadcast time be damned. Some shows aren't even broadcast at all, like the Emmy-winning House of Cards, which was released only on Netflix. And...
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Writers Picks: Everyday

Best Green in Sonoma County The future is green. That's not glib wishful thinking, it's a cold fact. As we burn through natural resources such as oil, gas and water, and suffer the consequences of their overuse, going green presents itself not as a groovy alternative, but as the last, best choice. The planet can only take so much abuse, and...
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Readers Picks: Food & Drink

Best Farmers Market Marin Farmers Market at Marin Civic Center Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. 415.472.6100. Napa Napa Farmers Market at Oxbow Public Market 500 First St., Napa. 707.501.3087. Sonoma Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. 707.522.8629. Honorable Mention Sebastopol Farmers Market Downtown Plaza, Sebastopol. 707.522.9305. Best Organic Farm Marin Green Gulch Farm www.sfzc.org/ggf Napa Boca Farm www.bocafarm.org Sonoma Laguna Farms 1764 Cooper Road, Sebastopol. 707.823.0823. Honorable Mention Green String Farm 3571 Old Adobe Road, Petaluma. 707.778.7500. Best Bakery Marin Bovine Bakery 11312 Hwy. 1, Pt. Reyes...
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Readers Picks: Culture

Best Art Gallery Marin Gallery Route One 11101 Hwy. 1, Ste. 101, Pt. Reyes Station. 415.663.1347. Napa Slack Art Collective 964 Pearl St., Ste. B., Napa. 707.344.7133 Sonoma Sebastopol Gallery 150 N. Main St., Sebastopol. 707.829.7200. Honorable Mention Sebastopol Center for the Arts 282 S. High St., Sebastopol. 707.829.4797. Best Museum Marin Bolinas Museum 48 Wharf Road, Bolinas. 415.868.0330. Napa Napa Valley Museum 55 President's Circle, Yountville. 707.944.0500. Sonoma Charles M. Schulz Museum 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa. 707.579.4452. Honorable Mention Sonoma County Museum 425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. 707.579.1500. Best Outdoor...
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Bottlerock It, Man

Bodacious Bottlerock Welcome to Bottlerock, 1999! On Friday, the Napa music festival announced the lineup for its second annual concert, and it's full of '90s and '00s nostalgia acts. Weezer, LL Cool J, Outkast, Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, Smash Mouth. Although Smash Mouth played at the Sonoma-Marin Fair three times in the past eight years, big-time headliners like the...
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Best of 2014: Back to the Future



Best Of Winners!:
* Claim your awards here!
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Writers Picks: Romance

Best Wedding Everyone Can Attend in Their Underwear Imagine an online world (turn away now if you're already lost) that's part Sims, part Minecraft and part real, human existence. Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Second Life is a global online game that allows users to create avatars and live in a user-created digital world. Now in its 10th year,...
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Writers Picks: Food & Drink

Best Plan to End World Hunger Excess is so 1980s. Today, the most forward-thinking folks are all about eliminating excess and cutting down on the waste stream, in turn strengthening community, bolstering local food systems, building social safety nets and making some friends along the way. That's why CropMobster, the community food exchange dreamed up by Nick Papadopoulos, the general...
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