Jack London and Michael Mina Collaborate on “Wit & Wisdom Tavern”
Opening in September 2020

Michael Mina strikes again! Champagne is ready to pop as legendary writer Jack London’s Wit & Wisdom became an inspiration to Michael Mina, the prolific chef-entrepreneur who is celebrating the opening of “Wit & Wisdom Tavern,” his new gourmet restaurant in California’s Wine Country. Mina’s restaurant empire, which includes close to forty restaurants worldwide, stretches from Oahu to Dubai, from Levi’s Stadium to Miami Beach and now to the Lodge at Sonoma. Featuring the hearth-oven cooking with seasonal artisanal Sonoma County and Napa Valley ingredients in partnership with the local wines, the new restaurant will showcase a beautiful terrace with picturesque vistas of the wine country. The restaurant is located at the The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa.

Information
1-707-931-3405
“Wit & Wisdom Tavern” Restaurant
The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa
1325 Broadway in Sonoma

Photo courtesy of Mina Group

It’s Crush Time… From Home!
September 24, at 6 p.m.

A much as we dislike the COVID-19 nightmare, we have been benefiting from a number of virtual events, explorations, and visits to museums and theaters while being stuck at home for the past 6 months. Here is a unique opportunity to experience and enjoy Southern California’s Temecula wine country’s virtual Crush Festival events, including an evening of food and wine with South Coast Winery Resort & Spa winemakers Jon McPherson and Javier Flores and Vineyard Rose executive chef Jose Esparza – all via Zoom from your home. The $145 Tasting Package includes four bottles of wine (complementary shipping). The Temecula culinary team will lead you through gourmet cooking demonstrations and guided tastings of hand-selected wines that can be picked up or sent to your door to sip along with your presenters and fellow participants. Not as much fun as you would have stomping the grapes with your bare feet in the barrels of Grgich Hills Winery Estate in Napa Valley, but this can also be enjoyable.

Information
temeculawines.org/event

Photo courtesy of Temecula Wines

Up Up and Away in Vintage Biplanes

Time to soar away from the confinement of your home and enjoy panoramic views of the world-famous wine country, the majesty of the Pacific coastline, the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge! The views are spectacular and a few hours away from home in the fresh air will do you good. Reserve “The Wine Country” tour and catch an eagle’s view of the world-renowned vineyards of the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Heading east across the bucolic Carneros region to Napa, turn north to St. Helena, west to Glen Ellen, then back south through the lush Sonoma Valley. With “West to the Pacific,” aviate over rolling hills and open pastures of Sonoma, Novato and Petaluma, then head out to Tomales Bay and absorb the majesty of the Pacific Ocean. “Spires of The City” brings you south toward San Francisco and offers a panoramic outlook of the Sausalito and Tiburon harbors, outlying views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands, then Mt. Tamalpais en route to Point Reyes and your safe Sonoma return. All the biplanes have FAA approved front seat modifications. Come fly away!

Information
707-938-2444
vintageaircraft.com
Vintage Aircraft Company
23982 Arnold Drive in Sonoma

Photo courtesy of Vintage Aircraft Co.

Last Minute Rosh Hashana Dinners to Go
September 18 through September 20

This year’s Jewish New Year celebration is very unique and different from years past. Seeing your family, children, and grandchildren via Zoom is just not the same. The desire and motivation to cook a huge meal has disappeared. But we have to eat, right? How about we let professional chef Beth Needelman, who started “Schmaltz,” the modern Jewish food pop-up, prepare this year’s Rosh Hashanah dinner for you and me? For the month of September, Schmaltz is celebrating the new year with a five-course meal for two ($80). The meal is so delicious you may wish to eat it all year long. Delivery can be arranged via Feastin.com to most of the Bay Area. Dessert and the challah are included in the order. But I think I’ll bake my own challah with baked apple on top (my secret invention). And FaceTime with my grandkids will be a fab sweet addition to my dessert!
Happy New Year!

Information
415-772-0922
Schmaltz
For pick up: 531 Jackson Street in San Francisco

Photo courtesy of Orna Goldstof

Lina Broydo immigrated from Russia, then the Soviet Union, to Israel where she was educated and got married. After working at the University in Birmingham, England, she and her husband immigrated to the United States. She lives in Los Altos Hills, CA and writes about travel, art, style, entertainment, and sports. She hardly cooks or bakes, with no borsch or piroshky on her home cooking menu. Therefore, she makes reservations and enjoys dining out, mostly sushi.