Pork Belly at Left Coast Kitchen

Raise a glass to the final days of American Craft Beer Week by heading to one of Sonoma County’s newest gastropubs: Belly Left Coast Kitchen & Taproom (523 Fourth St. at Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa) or Heritage Public House (1901 Mendocino Ave. at Steele Lane, Santa Rosa, 707-540-0395).

The food’s been getting better and better with each visit to Belly (one of the original chefs has been replaced) with happy-belly dishes like pulled pork sliders, crispy pork belly, Two Hog Mac and cheese (with twice the chorizo) along with crab cakes and a killer buffalo chicken pizza with Humboldt Fog blue cheese. The kitchen’s open until 1:30am and oh, did we mention the beers? My craft brew loving friends gave big props to the craft brew list.

Mac and cheese at Heritage Public House

We’re also loving the brotastic rumpus room vibe of Heritage Public House, which recently opened in the former Video Droid.  The renovated space (with a pool table and plenty of big screens) features a California microbrew lineup of 24 taps (rotating weekly) and more than 30 bottled selections. Chef Andrew Oldfield is ramping up the menu to include lots of gastropub faves including burgers, fish and chips, lettuce wraps, and fried chicken sandwiches. Oldfield is promising some fun additions from the smoker soon.

Finally, the insanely popular BeerCraft now offers public beer tastings each Thursday from 6 to 8pm. Recently featured: 101 North Brewing’s Stigmata Red Rye Ale and Heroine IPA, and Auburn Alehouse. 5704 Commerce Blvd., Rohnert Park.

Bunslinger Food Truck in Sonoma County

If you’ve got a hankering to pinch some soft, pillowy buns, BiteClub’s got the hookup.

Mobile foodist Jeff Tyler (from the North Bay’s Chicago-Style Hot Dogs and Palooza Catering) has launched The Bun Slinger, a bright yellow truck serving up pork belly, steak, chicken, and tofu wrapped in Chinese steamed buns.

Togarishi and kimchee fries at the Bunslinger

Taking a cue from popular SF trucks like Chairman Bao, Tyler does a tasty fusion of grilled meats, spicy aioli, and veggies on the handheld sammies along with kimchi or togarishi (a sort of sweet, salty, spicy rub) fries. For $12, you get three buns and a side of fries.

Look for the Bunslinger at O’Reilly Media in Sebastopol on Thursdays and at the Sonic.net headquarters in Roseland on Wednesdays. You can find his exact schedule and routes online.

English Pea Soup at Chalkboard Bistro in Healdsburg ©heather irwin

Over the next few months, the inevitable comparisons between Cyrus and the space’s new iteration, Chalkboard, will appear in endless food blogs, Yelp reviews, and “critical reviews” of the new Les Mars/Bill Foley restaurant. As devotees of the much-lamented Michelin-starred restaurant, we can’t help ourselves.

Ignore the blather and simply head north. Change is good, and here it’s also visually and culinarily stunning.

Sure, the ghost of Cyrus hangs heavy, as do the devotions of its diners. Chef Doug Keane’s kitchen sanctuary has been thrown open in a striking visual leveling of kitchen and dining room. A wide communal table commands the center of the space. White tablecloths have been banished. The caviar cart was literally kicked to the curb (snatched up by a former employee, we hear).

But this ain’t Chalkboard chef Shane McAnelly’s first rodeo. The small plates menu is exceptional. A mix of high- and lowbrow dishes, it includes a “snack” of warm, housemade soft pretzels with Mornay sauce, stone-ground mustard, and tomato chutney ($6). Buttermilk biscuits with maple-glazed pork belly, pickled onions, and chipotle mayo ($8) are finally given the proper execution I’ve sought for so long. Kampachi crudo with grapefruit, avocado purée, and slices of jalapeño ($12) are small summer jewels. A tiny shot of chilled English pea soup with Dungeness crab ($3) is like sipping spring. I got misty over a deconstructed dish of fresh radishes with butter and rye crumbs and pickled carrots.

Dishes get more substantial as you move down the menu. Roasted baby carrots with caraway yogurt and sesame seed brittle ($6); a hearty pasta with duck confit and mascarpone ($12); and seared scallops with risotto cake, uni sauce, and grapefruit was so good we ordered it twice ($16)–and then fought over the second order.

Meatier fare includes a delicate buttermilk fried quail with fava beans, nasturtium, and fennel salad ($15), and the entrée of the evening, crispy pork belly with triangles of fried grits, a poached egg, melted leeks, and sweet pepper purée ($12). Baskets of produce procured from restaurant owner Bill Foley’s Chalk Hill Farms makes each dish all the better.

Pastry chef Bill Woodward showers each of his desserts with sweet surprises: a donut semifreddo (frozen creaminess) with white coffee foam and mocha-glazed donut holes ($8); a towering multilayer brownie with caramel and ganache flanked by milk chocolate that’s been cooked sous vide ($8). Hold out for the warm vanilla bean cake with strawberries and crème fraîche sherbet baked to order ($8).

The bar still serves up creative libations along with regional beers. The wine list features (not surprisingly) many of Foley’s bottles along with other local superstars as well as some well-crafted white and red flights (all less than $20).

Le roi est morte, vive le roi.

Chalkboard Bistro, 29 North St. at Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-473-8030.

BottleRock may be over, but the deliciousness of the food lives on.

In case you missed my Instagrams of all the noms of the Napa music festival held May 8-12, here are the highlights:

- Fork Catering’s Pork Belly Taco with Fried Egg was Best in Show.
- Awful Falafel’s line was the longest. For good reason.
- Ken Frank of La Toque is one of the coolest chefs ever because A. He actually showed up at his own booth. B. Just talk to him about foie gras sometime.
- Huitlacoche tacos were probably the weirdest and most interesting thing (to eat) at the festival. (La Condessa)
- Never underestimate the power of strawberry shortcake on a hot day (Backyard).
- Morimoto’s tent had the precision and cleanliness you’d expect from a world-class chef. They even wiped the wax paper hot dog holder before handing it to me. Damn.
- A tiny shake is better than no shake (Gott’s)
- $200 is not enough money to eat your way through BottleRock.
- You never know who’ll sit down at your table and help you eat. And eat. And eat. (Hey Renee!)

Santa Rosa’s historic West End will soon have its own farm market.

Slated to open in mid-June, the market is currently calling for vendors and will operate from 10a.m. to 2p.m. every Sunday through the end of September next to the DeTurk Round Barn near Railroad Square.

More details at srwestendfarmersmarket.com.

Fried Chicken sandwich at Dierk’s Midtown Cafe in Santa Rosa

There’s good news and there’s, well, still pretty good news about the opening of Dierk’s Midtown Cafe (the offshoot of the brunch-tacular Dierk’s Parkside): The veggie stack is back, if you time it right you can get still-warm pie and if you time it wrong there’s still really good cold pie.

Or maybe cake.

For fans of Mark Dierkheising’s original Santa Rosa eatery, the recently-opened Midtown Cafe is familiar territory with additions like a spicy Asian soba salad with Harissa dressing, an exotic red rice salad with ginger-soy dressing that’s  healthy and refreshing, the produce-friendly Talbot sandwich with vegetarian sausage and the much-loved grilled vegetable stack (which i have been dreaming of for days) with a tower of eggplant, tomatoes, spinach and onions bathed in saffron tomato sauce. With a blob of goat cheese ever-so-slowly melting on top.

There are, of course, plenty of bacony, chicken-fried-steaky bits as well.

With both naughty and nice dishes served all day (from 7a.m. to 3p.m.) you can have your cake and five servings of veggies, too.

Dierk’s Midtown Cafe, 1422 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 545-2233.

Shrub made from vinegar and berries at Shed Modern Grange in Healdsburg

Belly up to Shed Modern Grange’s Fermentation Bar in Healdsburg

I declare the official drink of summer 2013 to be the shrub, an old-is-new thirst-quencher with the most unlikely of ingredients: Vinegar.

Far better tasting than it sounds, this Colonial-era cocktail combines fresh fruit puree (think rhubarb, strawberries or raspberries) with sugar and a light vinegar for a tart-but-sweet refresher that’s kickier than lemonade and far more refined than soda.

Already, fans are raving about Jordan Lancer’s Fermentation Bar at the newly-opened Shed Modern Grange in Healdsburg to get a taste of his homemade fruit shrubs in summer-licious flavors like blueberry red wine vinegar and pear apple cider vinegar ($4). Lancer’s also got kombucha on tap, lemon and ginger kefir water (from Sebatopol’s Kefiry) and hard ciders from Murray’s in Petaluma and Tilted Shed in Sebastopol.

Not to mention dozens of beers and wines on tap and in the bottle (I’m especially fond of the Bodkin Muscat Cannelli from Lake County). With plenty of outside seating and light plates and sandwiches from the indoor cafe (chicken liver toast with capers was a fave) folks are already flocking to this hyper-local food and drink hotspot.

25 North St., Healdsburg, 707-431-7433.

Chef Todd Davies

Chef Todd Davies has left Corks Restaurant in Forestville and will be replaced by Ruben Gomez, formerly of Applewood Inn and Iron Horse Vineyards. Davies plans to spend some time with his family while seeking out new opportunities. Gomez has also worked at the Mayacama Golf Club.

Rasta Dwight’s Barbecue Ribs and Macaroni

BiteClub stopped in for a few (okay like four) plates of barbecue at Rasta Dwight’s new barbecue spot inside Quincy’s Pub in Rohnert Park.

After all the hubbub from longtime fans, expectations were set high, but started sinking when we didn’t see or smell a smoker anywhere and got a cold corn muffin wrapped in plastic.

Rasta Dwight’s Barbecue Jerk Chicken

The takeaway? While we can’t say we were blown away by the ‘que (or the service), we did enjoy the tangy mustard greens ($2.25, homestyle mac ($2.25) and barbecue tri-tip ($10.50) enough for a possible return trip.

But purple sweet potato pie ($6.25)? That one still has us perplexed. What’s your take?

Rasta Dwight’s Barbecue at Quincy’s Pub and Cafe, 6590 Commerce Blvd  Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(707) 393-1626. Open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 3pm. Available for dine-in or takeout.

Rasta Dwight’s Barbecue Sweet Potato Pie

Rasta Dwight’s Barbecue Menu

On the roster so far from Sonoma: Awful Falafel, Fork Catering, Traxx BBQ, The Girl & the Fig and Backyard Restaurant in Forestville.

Napa represents with Mustards Grill, Oenotri, ZuZu, La Condessa, The Thomas, Mark’s The Spot food truck, Napa Valley Biscuits, Dim Sum Charlie’s, Eiko’s, Tarla, Kara’s Cupcakes, Kitchen Door, Ca’ Momi, Grace’s Table, , Azzurro Pizzeria and Enoteca, Tra Vigne, Fish Story, Farmstead, The Model Bakery, C Casa, Barbers Q, La Toque and Gott’s Roadside in addition to chef-appearances from Masaharu Morimoto, Todd Humphries and Ken Frank of La Toque. Pouring at the event (this is Napa, after all) are some 50 wineries and artisan brewers. The event, which has caused massive buzz with the inclusion of top-billed bands including Kings of Leon, Jane’s Addiction, The Shins, The Black Keyes, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and the Alabama Shakes. More details online at bottlerocknapavalley.com.