Bluebird Cafe - Hopland

13340 S Highway 101
Hopland, CA 95449
(707) 744-1633
Parking: street parking

Last Visited: Food sampled January 27, 2010

Food: 3 to 4 stars

Atmosphere: N/A (see below)

Service: N/A (see below)

Price: N/A (see below)

It's an unusual story. I've never been to the Bluebird Cafe, though I'm sure I've driven past it many times. It all started with my coworker Michael driving up north to visit his friend and stopping here for breakfast. He ended up bringing a blackberry pie back to work which many people raved about, and through that process, we started to discuss what makes a good pie.

Sharon, the woman who makes the pies for the cafe and also serves as a member of its waitstaff, makes over 50 pies a week. Michael, who is quite a conversationalist, shared that his coworker loves food tastings, and after a phone call from Michael, Sharon kindly came in to work on her day off to make some more pies. Four pies were sampled: apple pie, dutch apple pie, chocolate cream pie, and banana cream pie. Thanks to Michael, many coworkers were stuffed with pie.

- Apple Pie- The apple pie had a beautiful lattice and golden brown crust. This is apparent from the photo. I enjoyed how the crust had just the right texture. It was firm when cut and flaky, but not too flaky. It doesn’t fall apart and had the right amount of salt. The juicy filling contained sliced Granvenstein apples that remained intact and had a good mouth feel without being mushy.
The flavor is sweet, but not too sweet and there is a good amount of cinnamon without overwhelming the filling. Great!
$15.50

- Dutch Apple Pie – This pie is similar to the apple pie in flavor. Essentially, the filling appeared to be the same, but there were more apple pieces than the previous pie. The topping is made with a crumb topping containing oatmeal and it is golden brown in the center with less topping on the sides. Juice from the filling peeks through the edges near the outer crust. I prefer the regular apple pie, but this was also good. $15.50

- Chocolate Cream pie – From the looks of it, it is already very appetizing. Cutting into and tasting it, I found the texture to be smooth and silky. The chocolate cookie crust was thicker than I expected it to be, but it wasn't soggy. The crust and filling combination was good (not too much crust despite its thicker appearance. The filling was light in texture and rich in taste. It was also easy to get out of the pie pan. The only thing I would do different is pack a little less crust in the bottom edge of the pie pan, but overall, a good pie. $15.50

- Banana Cream Pie – The presentation of this pie was also very appetizing. A slice of banana at the top lets you know what to expect. There are small pieces of banana chopped into the banana cream filling which was nice for texture and for a uniform banana flavor throughout the filling. Unlike traditional banana cream pie, I didn't find slices of banana on the bottom and a graham cracker crust was used rather than a regular baked crust. The flavor of the crust and filling together are great. However, the graham cracker pie crust was a little too moist and dense, making it hard to get out of the pan. When my other coworkers had finished eating the pie, quite a bit of crust remained in the pan. I could probably just eat the filling on this one and still be a happy camper. $15.50

If you're in the mood for one, I hear Sharon also makes a coconut cream pie.

Bluebird Cafe makes great pies and from overheard conversations, they have a breakfast worth looking into as well. I'll probably stop in the next time I'm in Hopland.

Small Shed Flatbreads - Mill Valley

http://www.smallshed.com/

17 Madrona St, Mill Valley CA

(415) 383-4200

Last Visited: November 22, 2009

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 2 to 3 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $$$
Parking: street parking
Hours: Sun-Wed 11am-9pm, Thurs 11am-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Alison tried Small Shed Flatbreads about five years ago and recommended it to me. It's taken me some time to get to Mill Valley since I normally don't go to that area. At last, I've tried Small Shed Flatbreads, but don't have plans to go back soon.

I was heading north on Highway 101 and had tried to find my way there in the dark, but even after calling the restaurant with my location, it was at least four trips up and down the main drag in Mill Valley to find it. Mill Valley street signs are hard to see at night because they're small, but I was determined to complete my mission.

Their website and Alison's experience made the place sound quaint and charming. Small Shed serves organic vegetables and grains. Enter the building and it's rustic with a bar and stools adjacent to the kitchen.

Upon our arrival, we were seated at a table that turned out to be quite wobbly and annoying and despite the waitstaff noticing the issue, they seemed to ignore the problem.

We chose to start with some mac and cheese. Ever since going to Beecher's at Seattle's Pike's Market, I've been craving good mac and cheese.

- Mac & Gru - Penne and gruyere cheese is served in a small dish and the cheese on top is cooked until a golden brown. This dish alone would get four stars for flavor and texture - the cheese was rich and creamy and if you like a little crunch on the top of your mac and cheese, you'll love the edges. It's a bit pricey for the portion, but worth trying. This dish alone rescured the food rating. $6.50

- Shed Med Salad - Star Route Farms mixed greens and cherry tomatoes are served with aged balsamic vinaigrette. The portion of this salad was not worth the price considering the atmosphere. Although the salad was fresh and the flavors were nice (the photo makes it look larger than it was due to the zoom), there wasn't much of it and the two tomatoes you see were all the tomatoes present. It should have been a $5 salad. $7

- Slamb - This flatbread is made with a house made Moroccan style spicy lamb sausage with roasted eggplant, caramelized onion, feta, mozzarella, tomato sauce and herbs. It sounds delicious, and they delivered on the flavors, but the flatbread could have come a little hotter. It seemed to have lost a little flavor with its temperature between the time it came out of the oven and its arrival at our table. $13.50

Service was a bit lacking throughout the evening. It took a long time for us to place our order and to receive the salad. When our salad arrived, we were given warm plates (yes, warm). And the mac and cheese followed soon after. New plates were not given to us for the pizza while other tables did receive plates (perhaps this was server-dependent). Friends of the three gals serving that night visited during their shift and that only seemed to make service even more lacking.

While I think a restaurant should make profit, considering the portion size, Small Shed charges more than what I feel is reasonable. They make a great mac and gru and have inventive flatbread flavors, but overall, there are other places that I would recommend first.

Angelo's Wine Country Deli - Deli/Smokehouse, Sonoma

23400 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 933-3688
2700 Adobe Road, Petaluma CA 94954
(707) 763-9586
Parking: in parking lot
http://www.angelossmokehouse.com/

Last Visited: December 8, 2010

Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: N/A
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$

In Sonoma, it’s a building with some picnic tables out front available for patrons to enjoy a sandwich. This place houses so many goodies that you won’t know what to choose.

Angelo’s has been around for a while with both Petaluma and Sonoma locations. The sign is simple pointing out that meats are available along with sandwiches. The Sonoma location is a good-sized shop with lots of meats available in the deli along with other deli fare including chips and snacks. The refrigerator also features meats like beef bacon, sausages, and more. However, the fresh beef jerky is available for sampling, and ooh – what a treat. My loot from the 2010 trip is shown.

- Beef Jerky – The beef jerky runs for $25 a pound, but it’s super fresh. There are tons of choices for flavorings from teriyaki to pepper to hot pepper to garlic and more. Plain is available too. Each bite is delicious. Once you’ve had Angelo’s beef jerky, you’ll never go back to the packaged stuff you find in stores. You can buy it fresh out of the bag or pre-packaged.

- Beef Bacon – Raw beef bacon is available in the refrigerator. We cooked this up and enjoyed it for it’s meaty texture and excellent flavor. Very good.

- Steak – I heard that Angelo’s had good steaks, so I visited their Petaluma location and bought a rib eye. It was absolutely delicious – great flavor, well-marbled and I met Angelo himself – nice guy. Great steak – I will definitely be back for more. In 2010, I went to their Sonoma branch for steak and was offered a different cut (can't remember which, but it was tender and delicious). This one was available in thin cut or thick cut and they also offered me some bbq spice if I wanted it. I selected a thin cut steak and pan-fried it. $15/pound in 2007

- Sausage - I purchased one of many varieties offered. I found the casing to be tougher than I liked (I sliced it up and cooked it in a frying pan), but the flavor was still good.

Look for other specialty items that Angelo’s offers including BBQ sauce, salsa, olives, pickled garlic, and the like. You can also mail order from the website. I definitely need to go back one of these days to check out their sandwiches.