Blue Sky Hot Sauce Throwdown

Everything about our day off smacked of wonderful, awash in the vivid primary colors everyone needs in their lives right now starting with the sky, a Mayan blue with diaphanous white clouds and not a hint of smoke in the air, praise be. We were surrounded by paper bags full of the most glorious red, yellow and green peppers, all grown by our friends at Blue Leg Farms. We had plenty of Modelo and a few bottles of good Rosé we felt compelled to finish, it being the first day of Fall. And though we had an objective - to coax lingering heat with loads of complexity out of those peppers into a hot sauce worthy of Jordan and Neidy’s new brunch menu (which starts up Sunday), no one was in a rush to get there.

Lukka and Dan had set up an outdoor kitchen but with a slight wind blowing nobody felt the urge to actually start a fire and cook over wood as planned. So we pulled the old propane barbecue out and worked through the day, grilling, seeding, chopping and blending various combinations as the mobile kitchen slowly expanded, chairs flung out around the grills trailing off into the chestnut trees. We talked travel, skydiving, My Octopus Teacher (on Netflix, a must see), watched Frankie the pup tumble around on wood chips and wade through the grass. The clouds did their thing. All talk of Covid, the fires, and the election was banished.

Though we came to this impromptu food lab on the mountain with no recipes in mind, we had many years of living between us, some of it spent forming opinions on what makes a great hot sauce. We agreed on a few things: add some apples and pears from the orchards to supply subtle fruit notes, our aged apple cider vinegar and maybe some of the Datu Puti vinegar Jordan had brought (along with a mysterious jar of spices) for acidity. We had a bag full of Bernier garlic - to which we added a few heads of Preston - always good measure. No decision was pressing - scallions or onions, apple cider syrup or honey, it didn’t seem to matter so long as we recorded everything. No idea was off the table.

The only question was how to recreate whatever we fell in love with in the kitchens down in Healdsburg in the months to come. The sun moved across the sky and dipped below the ridge, the solar jam jars bursting into fairy light one by one as dusk grew to night. Hot sauce is above all things, an anomaly - insanely beautiful colors that all but disappear as you cook them down, transforming into incandescent flavors that channel other spirits. There is a reason every culture has one. At heart they are a gentle slap to the senses before you dig in to a dish, urging you to wake up, and be present.

Blue Leg Farms, a ten acre certified organic farm in the heart of Sonoma County currently has 40 varieties of peppers. They can be found at the Healdsburg Farmers Market and Santa Rosa Luther Burbank Center Market, and online bluelegfarm.com. All Photos: Jil Hales & Dan Carlson.

Photo: Paul C Mille

In Memoriam

We will always remember the day Ruth Bader Ginsburg graced Barndiva with her presence to officiate at a wedding in our gardens for two of her beloved former clerks, Miriam and Robert. You could see why she was so admired and loved in the way she treated the couple that day, honoring Jewish religious practice by inviting everyone in, yet somehow keeping it intimate and private for them. It was a masterclass in capturing the moment. This tiny woman so elegantly dressed, speaking just above a whisper, held everyone enthralled.

The secret service had swept the property several times in the days running up to the wedding, I think they swept most of Healdsburg. The whole time she was there they formed a courteous phalanx around her that somehow did not prevent her - though she did not mingle - from acknowledging everyone she came into contact with, no matter how minor to the day. Lukka is usually unflappable but his hands shook at little when she asked him to hook her collar on, a special one from her (voluminous I’m sure) wedding collection. At the end of the ceremony it was thrilling for everyone gathered to hear, probably for the only time in our gardens “By the power vested in me by the Constitution of the United States of America, I pronounce you husband and wife.”

Justice Ginsburg was the epitome of a fully engaged mind, a champion for social justice in ways that should transcend the ugly partisan divisions now driving us apart. Not above the law, but of the law, informed by the arc of history but not a prisoner to it. That she believed and protected a woman’s right to choose made her an early hero of mine, but even when I disagreed with her decisions over the years I could see how she had arrived at them. They were usually around the corner, where we needed to be.

RIP RBG.

Baruch dayan ha’emet.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg #bernierfarms #prestonfarmandwinery #ruthbaderginsburg #chef.jordan.rosas #bluelegfarms

Kiss with a Slap Days: Our Roadmap Going Forward...

Photo and Dish Credits:
Executive Chef Jordan Rosas: EGGPLANT TERIYAKI with charred shishito, nori, and shiso; HOUSEMADE RIGATONI summer squash & blossoms, calabrian chili, pine nuts, garlic, grana padano, basil / Pastry Chef Neidy Venegas: WHITE CHOCOLATE ROSE BUDINO with apple granita and dehydrated apple; BARNDIVA FARM BARTLETT PEAR FRANGIPANE with heirloom apple cider vinegar; POTATO ROLLS with fines herbes / Farm Manager Dan Carlson: Gravenstein apples / Jil Hales: All other photos

The smoke had not yet cleared from the Walbridge Fire before it began to drift back in again, shrouding Healdsburg and Philo from fires raging far to the north and east. The sky turned a frightening red, the color of dried persimmons, then into a flecked ash murky brown, which was almost worse. It has thankfully passed now, though the fires in California are by no means contained. It was certainly a week we will long remember in Wine Country, deeply unsettling. And yet, incredibly, we came out the other side, hosting a safe distance wedding rehearsal dinner Saturday night that was respectful of our current state of play, yet achingly beautiful. On Tuesday we juiced the first of our apples.

These are kiss with a slap days. Situations that start out sharp and seemingly unforgiving suddenly give way to a glimmer of restitution, a way forward. The trick is to stay open to the better possibilities, and dig deep. We’ve taken the position that we’re going to get through this year in some form that adds up to more than ‘just surviving.’ Change is in the air. When it’s not too smoky to smell it.

The truth is, no one knows what food culture, much less any patronage dependent enterprise like theater or the arts, will look like when we get to the other side of this horrible terrible year (and we will). But we keep coming back to the question of whether ‘a return to normal’ is all that’s needed. In these past months we’ve had a rare chance to stop and take stock: to discern what’s truly important, see more clearly which aspects of our lives need to be strengthened, and enriched. For our small family business that has meant gimlet eye focus on the people we work alongside who have helped us every step of the way. How do we protect these people and the things we love most about living and working in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties? 

It was so satisfying to read the Sonoma Magazine article, “How One Healdsburg Restaurant is Mastering Social Dining” by Dana Rebmann because it was further confirmation that the innovative and nuanced system Lukka and his team have put in place - and are constantly improving - is resonating beyond the gardens. We’re not taking any bows mind you, it’s been bloody hard work and it’s far from over. Not everyone gets it. Many people so hate the circumstances we all find ourselves in that their frustrations spill over. But overwhelmingly people are so pleased to be out again, in a safe and beautiful space. And Jordan’s food is remarkable.

The article was written from the diner’s perspective, but there have also been fascinating revelations for us as well as we navigate the most creative ways to deal with ‘safe distance dining’ - I mean what did that even mean, pre-March? The biggest discovery has been that in limiting the physicality of service we did not have to limit the quality of that service. No matter your age or technological inclinations, once you get into the flow of using your phone to text or call the brigade of staff just inside the Barn, all masked and communicating with you and each other over wireless headsets, the experience opens up and you can enjoy the best part of dining out in a roomful of strangers: the possibility of great flavors, the presentation of beautiful food, the excellence of a wine list, the joys of a great bar, ambiance, flowers, music. We are blessed to have large gardens and an incredibly engaging and smart food and wine team, but it’s the technology we all dreaded which has allowed us to continue to deliver anything resembling an authentic experience. The biggest surprise is that it’s come with remarkable affinity and ease. Go figure.

Speaking as a diner there are things I won’t miss if they never come back post Covid: long winded recitations of dishes which a well written menu or a diner’s question could better convey; the frustration of trying to get a busy server’s eye to order more wine or replace a dropped fork, and (unless you really crave attention) the constant interruptions just when a conversation is kicking into high gear for superfluous water service. Perhaps the biggest turn off we are currently able to avoid at Barndiva, because of the immediacy of the conversations we’re having with every guest, is the often awkward pacing of a meal. Guests let us know when they want more of anything, how they want to pace the meal according to how they feel, how much time they want to spend at the table.

This is not to say we don’t miss great front of house service - which, when the stars align, is a thing of beauty. Never obtrusive, there is that ‘queen for a day’ feeling we all crave when a dining experience is elegantly curated.

We have almost as many FOH staff now as before, they are just inside the restaurant, able to respond to guests at once. You can still flit through our 700 bottle wine list - you just need to do it on your phone - before texting or calling to talk directly with our sommelier, the wonderful Evan Hufford. Nish, who with two friends came in with Val on her birthday preferred the brevity of texting because he knew what he wanted and felt comfortable to stipulate a price range. But for every Nish there is the wine lover who expects, and still receives, an in depth conversation about a bottle, a vintage, a grape.

Without a doubt, the 20% service charge that now appears on the menu is the most important change to our service since Covid. It accomplishes long sought but hard to reach goals. We have always wanted to find the resources to provide full health care for every member of the staff. We also wanted to address the disparity of pay between the front of house and all other positions, especially those in the kitchen. We feel and express overwhelming gratitude to First Responders for the frightening work they do in keeping us safe, but as a culture we must do more for them and for people behind the scenes doing less perilous jobs that keep our lives going, often enriching them. Wrongly defined as mundane, this work force is not compensated, respected, or appreciated enough. Even a master at hospitality like Danny Meyer failed to make the reasonable case that a cover charge is a viable way to address things like health care and higher wages. Great restaurants - which we aspire to be - rise or fall on many hands, many shoulders, from somm to dishwasher.

Profound changes are now coming to the entire restaurant industry that will affect all of us, no matter where you live and dine. Fast food has ‘succeeded’ in blowing out every projected measure of exponential growth during this pandemic. Make no mistake, the big boys who sell cheap proteins which denigrate the environment, are cruel to animals, and do not respect labor have grown even stronger, while smaller independent restaurants and farms are struggling, forced to close in unprecedented numbers. The profit margins built in to this industry are not the compelling reason to give your life over to it. I hate when people say trust me, but trust me on this one.

The challenge for us - and you as a diner - is how to find a way forward which allows for both the ease and beauty of fine dining but provides true economic sustainability that takes into consideration the welfare of all of us who work hard here, and the health of the food shed. The support you show in the coming months to small independent restaurants like ours flows out into the communities we all hope to get back to soon, and be a part of rebuilding. Consider following and supporting the national grass roots organization saverestaurants.com.

If kindly intended, no matter how critical, we’d love to hear your thoughts (directly please) after dining with us. Please email owner Lukka Feldman at lukka@barndiva.com. Take care. We hope to see you soon.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg @sonomamag