Biking in Sonoma

Whenever my family spends time with our friends in Sonoma, we ride bikes. My husband and his friend, Brett, are serious bicycle geeks, and can (and do) spend hours talking about bikes, looking at bikes, riding bikes, and planning future bike trips. The highlight of a recent weekend up North was visiting The Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California. Though you cannot see their huge smiles behind their masks, Brett and Don spent the rest of the afternoon talking non-stop about their “life-changing” experience at the museum.

While they were in the museum, Lynne and I walked around Fairfax. We ended up stopping for a little snack at the charming restaurant, Amelie, and I am so glad we did. It was late afternoon, a time when I tend to become hungry. Sometimes I eat nuts and fruit when I start to get hungry (hangry?); other times I reach for chocolate. On this day at Amelie, Lynne and I drank ice tea while sharing two delicious desserts. This was one of those rare times that I opted for non-chocolate sweets. First we tasted a fresh lemon tart with a light meringue on top. It was tangy and had a short, buttery crust. Then we dove into the puff pastry-based pear and blueberry tart, which was my favorite. People tend to either love or hate pears, which I can understand if you’ve ever had a mushy or tasteless one. But they can have an almost floral note when handled by a gifted baker, as this one was. We were quite content.

That same weekend, Lynne and I poked around garage sales and antique stores, an activity we both enjoy. This trip was no different. As usual, I got hungry after an hour or so of perusing old furniture and home goods so we stopped at a place we had been to when it first opened: Baker & Cook. This is an eating establishment I would like to export to Santa Barbara. Baker and Cook is situated off of a major street, but once you step indoors, it is a quiet and comfortable oasis. Along one wall are racks of shelves containing local food items, including jam jars, special pickled veggies, and other tempting items. Opposite this wall is where you order food and get to see the mouth-watering items behind glass cases.

Lynne ordered a mushroom quiche with salad, while I ordered a lemony hummus topped with arugula in a piquant dressing, served with slices of perfectly toasted sourdough bread. Our food was both pretty and delicious and we switched plates halfway through, savoring each bite on the back patio. Ordering dessert was more fraught with indecision, but in the end we settled upon the brioche donut filled with Nutella. Now that I write it out, the choice was obvious. This confection had a soft, pillowy dough encasing the luscious hazelnut-chocolatey magic.

On another day we all rode bikes to the festively decorated El Molino Central. My daughter and I were captivated by the colorful paper flowers adorning the building’s exterior. Once our food arrived, we changed our focus. We had poblano chicken enchiladas, blanketed by a rich, savory mole sauce; crispy fried fish tacos; and beef birria tacos in salsa de árbol. Every bite was a fresh combination of well-balanced spices, some heat, and expertly cooked meat. I would make sitting at one of the picnic tables in the back of El Molino at least a weekly habit if I lived in Sonoma.

Last but not least on my list of food-related places I’d like to bring back with me to Santa Barbara is this insanely cute crepe cart in the photo below. We spotted it in the parking lot of Arnold Field (where we watched a Sonoma Stompers baseball game later that day). I am ready to return to Sonoma soon to see our good friends and to discover more fantastic places to eat.