Just for the halibut

Halibut cheeks, fava beans, garlic toasts; green salad

ONE FIXTURE AT THE HEALDSBURG FARM MARKET is the fish guy, who goes out fishing every week off the Sonoma coast. Last year and the year before we depended on him for our salmon, and he never let us down. We had salmon almost every week that we were in town.

This year, though, no salmon. The season was cancelled for lack of fish. It's a disaster, one of the worst years on record for salmon. Some people blame the sea lions; some blame over-fishing; some blame the spoiled and insufficient rivers: probably all these things contribute to the problem. The fish guy says Well, one thing, we've seen this world at its best, that's some consolation. Not much, though.

But if he's not able to provide us salmon he does have some nice fresh halibut. Lindsey sauted it in olive oil, then used the pan scrapings as garnish on top, along with a nice Meyer lemon fresh from the tree. With the fish, our first favas of the season, in a little butter; and garlic-olive oil toasts, and afterward our usual green salad.

Pinot grigio