Glorious Fourth

Eastside Road, July 4, 2017—

IN FACT WE GOT a jump on it yesterday, when I grilled a dozen sausages over grapevine wood on the patio, and Cook made her marvelous potato salad. Then we walked up to the ridge to watch the fireworks set off a day early in our neighboring town.

     🍷Syrah; Grenache; Preston of Dry Creek

Tonight we had leftovers: the sausages cold but none the worse for that, garnished as yesterday with mustard, onion, pickle relish, and sauerkraut, and served on soft brioche rolls. On the side, along with the potato salad, Swiss chard.

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016      2015     2017

Home at the range

Eastside Road, July 2, 2017—

IN FACT we arrived home late Friday, after a fine dinner Chez Panisse, which I will not describe here — dinner with an old friend, a soprano, actress, stage director, and now teacher whom we hadn't seen in years. The evening was as much conversation as dining. Impossible to discuss such intimate evenings.

Then last night it was dinner with another old friend, a pianist whose bicultural (French and English) view of things is particularly stimulating. We settled on a local bistro where we had mussels, then steak-frites, and a bottle of Rhone. Excellent.

•Bistro 29, 620 5th Street, Santa Rosa; 📞+1 (707) 546-2929

Tonight, though, we finally ate at home, for the first time in two weeks. We returned to ground lamb for the centerpiece. I clipped some mint, parsley, thyme, and marjoram from the garden, and chopped them up with a couple of small cipollini and smaller cloves of garlic, and added cumin, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and ras al hanout; Cook pan-fried the patties in a black iron skillet. Favas with them, and Romano beans, and green salad afterward. We're home for a while!

     🍷Red, bottle-end, nvg after a couple of weeks standing!

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016      2015     2017