Restaurant Review: Ten Restaurant- A Perfect Ten?

Sure, if it’s a scale from one to 50. The newest addition to the Inner Sunset’s list of Japanese restaurants is Ten Restaurant, occupying the space of the now defunct Mae-Thip Thai restaurant at 524 Irving St. The only way it is going to avoid the fate of its predecessor is if drastic improvements are made at this upscale Japanese restaurant. Fighting for a slice of the upscale Japanese sushi market, Ten has stiff competition from the wildly popular Ebisu and notable Koo. But it may not be much of a fight, as an anemic menu offering middling food at inflated prices may have Ten committing seppuku.

The décor of the restaurant is chic with its dark red walls highlighted by sconce lighting. The black granite floors made the room feel dramatic and expansive until you notice that the tables are actually quite close together. Anime played on mute on three televisions stacked horizontally in the corner while music by Utada Hikaru and other J-pop artists with a dance beat filled the dining area.

I expected to wait awhile since it was 7pm on a Friday night at a newly opened restaurant. However, we were seated by our friendly waitress promptly, as only a quarter of the tables were occupied, not including the backroom for larger parties (which was also unoccupied). We perused the expansive menu, which offered a wide variety of options. Appetizers ranged from $3.75 to $11.75, offering anything from the usual edamame, tofu and miso soup to oysters on half shell. Assuming that their strengths lay in fish, we chose between the Sal & Man and the spicy hamachi. The first was described as smoked salmon and mango. My pal Lucky and I were uncertain if it was lox or some other way of preparing salmon. After all, how often do you get lox at a Japanese restaurant? We asked our waitress, who had a hard time describing what it was. When I asked if it was lox, her look said, “Your guess is as good as mine.” Had I noticed that baby back ribs ($16.75) was one of the selections in the a la carte menu, I would not have questioned that lox was being served under the guise of sushi. Instead, we opted for the spicy hamachi.

For our main entrees, we had the option of choosing among donburi (rice dishes for $8.75 to $13.50), soba or udon (noodle dishes from $7.25 to $8.75), sushi ($8 to $12), or sashimi ($17 to $25). The rice and udon selections available were quite ordinary, even mundane, for such a well dressed restaurant. Unfortunately, the sushi selections weren’t much better- it took a few minutes to choose an item, not because they all sounded delectable and appetizing, but because we couldn’t decide which sounded least uninteresting. Many seemed to be California rolls topped with fish; a few others were either crab salad or spicy tuna topped with fish. We settled on the spicy tuna tempura. We couldn’t find another roll that was either different or interesting, so we decided on a simple, unadulterated plate of sashimi.

As we sat drinking our lukewarm tea (not because we had been waiting a long time, but because the tea being served was lukewarm), we overheard the neighboring table complain that one of the items ordered had not yet arrived. At this point, all we could do was cross our fingers and hope for the best. The spicy hamachi arrived first. The presentation was pretty, with red and green peppers contrasting the five pale pink pieces arranged like leaves of a petal around the centered shredded daikon in a puddle of yuzu sauce. However, even my pal Lucky, whose tolerance for spiciness is quite low, did not once reach for the tea to put out any fires in her mouth. Within a couple of minutes, we polished off the average appetizer and started on our roll. Stuffed with tempura battered shrimp, rice and spicy tuna, I was expecting a contrast of textures. Instead, the sauce that was drizzled over the top made the entire roll uniformly soft and mushy. My hopes for a decent roll were further dashed by the fact that it tasted like one homogenous roll- we couldn’t distinguish the spicy tuna from the tempura shrimp.

The one good thing about the place was that the food came out in a timely manner, at least for us. However, at a nearby table, we heard them complain that the kitchen had forgotten one of their dishes. After finishing our spicy tuna tempura roll, our sashimi moriwase came out. Pieces of ahi, hamachi, salmon, hamaguri (clam), and maguro were arranged on a platter served over ice to keep the fish cool. The pieces of fish were of decent quality- firm yet sufficiently soft. However, the sushi chef’s precision with a knife was sorely lacking as the pieces were far from uniform thickness and consistency. Even worse, the hamaguri was surprisingly fishy and did not taste fresh.

Close to forty dollars later and twenty minutes later (that must have been the fastest sushi meal we’d eaten), we were still hungry. Rather than take a chance on ordering another disappointing dish, we went home to eat the leftover chili that we had eaten earlier that day for lunch. I hope that my dining experience will be different from yours, but if I were you, I would spend my ten dollars someplace else.

Ten Restaurant

524 Irving St.

San Francisco, 94122

Open: Mon., Wed.–Fri. 11:30-2:30pm and 5-10pm

Closed Tues.

One star out of five

Theatre Review: Berkeley Rep- Argonautika Sets Sail on Tale of Humor and Adventure

The story of Jason and the Argonauts is a staple in Greek mythology. The fearless leader, aided by his band of testosterone laden men, seeks out the Golden Fleece, encountering lusty sirens, a formidable sea monster, menacing harpies and a fierce dragon along the way. While many retellings portray our protagonists as courageous men with nary a blemish, Mary Zimmerman’s Argonautika, playing at Berkeley Rep’s Rhoda Theatre, paints a more human picture, using a palette filled with deceit, love and betrayal to paint on a canvas of humor and adventure. The result is a complex masterpiece that tells us a bit about mythology and a lot about human nature.

Zimmerman’s Argonautika is a triumph on multiple levels. Using creative yet relatively simple puppets and a talented cast of 14, many playing various roles, the audience is successfully transported to a world of gods and mythical creatures. Once that reality is established, the individual actors do an amazing job of fleshing out the characters, recreating them with distinct personalities with unique quirks and attributes. The fact that the several actors successfully play multiple characters with differing personas is a testament to the high caliber of their ability. One of the most striking examples is Søren Oliver, who plays both the strong yet dense Hercules as well as the conniving antagonist King Aieetes. The characters are diametric opposites, yet Oliver plays both perfectly.

The source material already makes the story a classic, but the nuances woven into this production make it a worthy retelling. For one, this is one of the most human renditions of the tale. The protagonists are portrayed as a ragtag group of competent yet somewhat bumbling he-men who growl and beat their chests. Jason, meanwhile, is their charismatic yet ultimately self-serving leader. We see their blemishes and realize they are human (or at least half-human, half-god). Even the gods are anthropomorphic: Manipulative, nepotistic and meddlesome as they are, they hardly seem the detached entities that watch from above. Instead, they abet their favorite humans through complicit interventions to the harm of others. The most onerous example is Aphrodite and Eros’ role in influencing Medea to betray her father and her countrymen. Somehow we are able to forgive the likable characters and hope they make it home to their families with the Golden Fleece. Despite their flaws and shortcomings, the audience finds itself rooting for them in the face of danger and trouble.

But perhaps the most entertaining aspect of this extremely entertaining play is the adventures and exploits of the Argonauts. It is always curious how one can relay the epic scope of the story in a medium as limited as a play. Zimmerman’s staging and direction keeps the story majestic and sweeping. Even when using miniature scale props, the magnificence and grandeur of the scene is apparent to the audience. Zimmerman shows why she has won numerous accolades, including the 2002 Tony for Best Director.

The humor is yet another layer of this production, keeping the story from becoming too heavy or serious. And still, Zimmerman adds yet another layer by cleverly pointing out a few similarities between our current president’s foray into Iraq and Jason’s quest, which brings him to the unwelcome shores of Colchis.

Human, humorous, exciting and timely, Argonautika is another feather in Berkeley Rep’s exciting 40th anniversary season. Take some time to see it before it closes on December 23.

Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Nov/29/argonautika.html

Performance Review: SF Symphony- More Than Meets the Ear

I think of myself as representative of the average classical music listener. I have taken a few music appreciation classes in college. I enjoy hearing live performances by the San Francisco Symphony. I’m familiar with the biggies – Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. But within the past few years, I have made an attempt to expand beyond my musical “comfort zones,” choosing programs featuring composers that I may know by name, but not necessarily by ear. On occasion, this has resulted in some less than satisfying results. But the majority of the time, my curiosity and adventurousness are rewarded: Last week’s all-Shostakovich program is one such example.

To be honest, my prior exposure to Russian composers did not extend far beyond Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. But several factors made me interested in this program in particular. First, I had been told on several occasions that Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony was a must-hear. Also, these performances were being taped for Keeping Score, a national program aimed at making classical music accessible to all people hosted by the symphony’s maestro Michael Tilson Thomas.

The three pieces performed were as varied and storied as the composer himself. The first consisted of three pieces that made up the suite from a ballet entitled The Golden Age. The next was an 11-song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry, featuring a soprano, a mezzo-soprano and a tenor. The last was the most famous of the three – Symphony No.5 in D minor, Opus 47. Each piece was stunning and lush in its own way. But knowing the historical context in which these pieces were written made them that much more exciting and fascinating because of the added meaning, nuance and character.

In order to get the most out of the performances, it helps to become familiar with the music on different levels. Sometimes that means listening to the music beforehand. However, the pieces are not always readily accessible. Often, reading the program notes about the history surrounding the pieces provides great insight. Doing so in this case was almost integral to really appreciate the music.

Shostakovich wrote the pieces during Stalin’s regime in the USSR. On several occasions, his work was censored and criticized as being against the state. Fearing reprisal, Shostakovich was forced to temper his condemnation, hiding it under a guise of mock admiration and faux nationalism. This is quite evident in music from The Golden Age, which tells the tale of a Soviet soccer team that travels to a Western city.

The thundering beats representing the power of the communist ideology nonetheless provided a rousing piece that was exciting and fun to listen to. Dance of the Black Man and two Soviet Footballers, which was heavy on the percussion instruments, timpani and triangle and included parts for tuba, bassoon and saxophone, was reminiscent of a march at a college football game rather than a ballet.

That Shostakovich even dared to write From Jewish Folk Poetry in 1930s Russia is a testament to his commitment to humanity in the face of an overtly anti-Semitic totalitarian dictatorship. Everyday pain and suffering is Jewish life in Russia was represented in works with names such as Lament for a Dead Infant and A Song of Poverty. The pieces provided snapshots of Jewish life through a Klezmer-influenced lens. Soprano Oksana Dyka and mezzo-soprano Elana Manistina sang with great power and emotion, providing even more depth and substance to the music. Tenor Vsevolod Grisnov, however could not match their vocal clout.

The 5th Symphony was an epic piece, soaring and jubilant, but often interspersed with stretches that seemed uncertain and stunted, particularly at the end of the first movement. The way Shostakovich juxtaposed these two motifs heightened the disparity. It can be interpreted as his attempt to please Stalin while stealthily injecting his veiled venom. Historical context aside, the 5th is also technically interesting because he splits the violins into three sections (typically there are two), and the violas and the cellos into two sections (rather than the usual single section for each). The result is a complex mélange that is expertly handled by the San Francisco Symphony.

The symphony allows not only for the enjoyment of the tried and true, but offers opportunities to sample lesser known composers. Some may scoff at the notion of Shostakovich being lesser known, but that is just proof of my musical naïveté. Fortunately, the symphony provides the opportunity to grow through these types of performances and programs like Keeping Score.

Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Dec/6/shostakovich.html

Performance Review: Cirque du Soleil- KOOZA Will Take Your Breath Away

Several weeks ago, as I was riding the T to Mission Bay, I remember seeing another “building” going up. Several stories tall, this one seemed a bit different. First of all, it was going up in the AT&T parking lot. Second, this one had a festive blue and yellow motif to it. And then it dawned on me … the circus was back in town: Cirque du Soleil, that is!

Every time Cirque du Soleil rolls into town, one can expect an amazing show filled with gorgeous costumes, magnificent sets, original music and some of the most entertaining acts around. Cirque’s latest, "Kooza," which started its tour of the US here in San Francisco, is no different. Or rather, I should say, it is just as stunning and entertaining as previous Cirque performances.

"Kooza," inspired by the Sanskrit word for treasure chest, tells the tale of the Innocent, a melancholy loner who encounters strange and enchanting characters including a wand-wielding wizard called the Trickster, the wily Pickpocket and the burlesque King. Rather than follow a coherent storyline, it is actually a montage of death-defying acts, clowning and audience interaction pieces stitched together. Add costumes that allude to Alice in Wonderland, Baron Munchausen and the Wizard of Oz, set it to music blending and inspired by ’70s funk, orchestral music and traditional Indian music played by a live band, and the result? A veritable treasure trove for the senses to be enjoyed by kids of all ages.

Packed with some mind-blowing stunts, the over 2½-hour evening began with 19 artists that performed Chairvari, a combination of acrobatics, trampolines and human pyramids. Based on the Inuit game of “blanket toss,” performers took turns flying through the air and diving into a fabric held by the others (think of how firefighters catching someone jumping out of a burning building). Other acts, though less elaborate, were equally stunning. One such act, which was my wife Lucky’s favorite act, was by the three female performers in Contortion. Flexible beyond belief, these women take turns balancing on one another in unimaginable configurations and positions. Even as we watched them bend and move, it was often difficult to comprehend how what they did was humanly possible.

There were also acts that are seen at most any circus, including trapeze, highwire and unicycle. But if you’ve ever seen a Cirque du Soleil show, you know that even the most ordinary is made extraordinary. In the case of the highwire act, two taut wires cross diagonally at 15 and 25 feet above the stage with a total of four walkers performing. One frightening moment came when one of the walkers lost his balance and fell, grabbing the wire just in the nick of time. It was a frightening reminder of just how difficult and dangerous these acts were.

My favorite act was the Wheel of Death, in which two artists leap and counter-rotate in a three-story tall, 1,600-pound contraption consisting of two opposing large metal wheels spinning on its axis at dizzyingly high speeds. Inside, and occasionally on, the two wheels are two crazy men balancing on either side. I apologize to the children who sat within earshot – expletives accidentally left my mouth on more than one occasion as we watched in both amazement and terror as these fearless men thumbed their noses at gravity and laughed at the laws of physics while using their weight and movements to make the contraption rotate. For the most part, I was transfixed on every move. But part of me wished they would just finish the act and put an end to their flirtations with death.

Bits of clowning were interspersed between death-defying acts to allow the audience to catch its collective breath. While I admit that I am not a big fan of most of it, when it was mixed with audience interaction, it was very entertaining. The Pickpocket, in particular, was just phenomenal. It was amazing that he was able to remove a patron’s wrist watch without his cognizance. But it was absolutely mind-boggling that the Pickpocket was able to remove the man’s tie without him being any wiser. The Obnoxious Tourist was on the other side of the spectrum – an annoying character with few, if any, endearing characteristics or skills.

Any evening out is likely to cost a pretty penny, especially for the starving student, but here are a few tips you may want to consider to keep the cost down. 1) Take the N to the end. You can then jump on the T or take a 10-minute walk to the Grand Chapiteau (the blue and yellow tent). Either way, a $3 roundtrip Muni ride beats the price of gas+parking ($20 at AT&T Park’s lot A). 2) Eat before or after the show. A hotdog meal was selling for about $12. 3) Cirque du Soleil offers student discounts for those with a valid ID for shows on Tuesday through Thursday as well as the 4 p.m. shows on Friday. Discounted prices range from $49.50 to $81, not including any handling charges.

Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA
Under the Grand Chapiteau at AT&T Park
Through January 20
$55-90 for adults; $38.50-$63 for children under 12
www.cirquedusoleil.com or call (800) 361-4595 for tickets

Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Dec/6/kooza.html

Restaurant Review: Bouchon Bakery- Disappointment at Bouchon Bakery

With two restaurants in the top 100 restaurants in the world – French Laundry in Yountville and Per Se in New York – Thomas Keller is a culinary genius. Call him King Midas because anything he touches turns to gold, or so it would seem, considering the success of his other Yountville restaurants Ad Hoc and Bouchon. A natural assumption is that his Bouchon Bakery would also serve manna from heaven. Rave reviews from websites such as Yelp and Citysearch reinforce this belief. But is this just hype that has spilled over from Keller’s other successes? Or is Bouchon Bakery as good as its brethren? My wife Lucky, our pal Grady, and I were in Napa this past weekend and thought that perhaps we would make a jaunt over to Yountville to judge for ourselves.

Located right next to Bouchon, the bakery is a tiny place busting at the seams with people coming to and fro like ants at a picnic. Those in line either talked excitedly about what they were going to get this time around or studied the beautiful contents behind the glass case. Lucky stood in line for a good 15 minutes, which was ample time for Grady and me to decide on a few treats to take with us on our road trip through the Wine Country. Grady’s shirt, as usual, was soaked with drool as he watched patrons carry their delectables out the door.

At last, Lucky finally reached the counter. Shouting over the din from the other customers, I gave Lucky a list of items that caught my eye. Grady, however, only looked at me with those sad eyes, knowing that his diet precluded him from any of the bakery’s offering. A little under $30 later, we walked out of the bakery to the patio in back with our bag of baked goods in tow.

$30 bought two sandwiches, two chocolate bouchons, a citrus pistachio brioche and a pear tart. Lucky’s Jardiniere sandwich was compact yet dense. Filled with eggplant, red onion, cheese, artichoke, and dressed with a pesto sauce on wheat bread, it did a fine job of satisfying her hunger. My goat cheese and turkey served on a grilled baguette was simple yet flavorful. However at $15 for the two, it had us wishing we had packed our own sandwiches and saved the money to buy more pastries. Maybe on my next trip to Napa, I’ll stop in and try the chocolate caramel ganache ($6) or the mango mousse triangle ($6.50).

Up to this point in our meal, the Bakery had not lived up to our expectations. True, it was known for its baked goods and not its sandwiches, but even the baguette on which my sandwich was served was overtoasted, making it too dry and crunchy. Nonetheless, we were willing to let bygones be bygones and make peace with the desserts. The first to go were the chocolate bouchons, dense bite-sized brownie-like morsels. A somewhat hard outside gave way to soft, almost chewy inside with chunks of dark chocolate. Lucky likened them to a less sweet version of the chocolate chewy cookies at Safeway. Although I agree there were some similarities, namely the consistency, the quality of the bouchon’s ingredients was far superior. The result was a more chocolatey dessert that wasn’t so blindingly sweet. “But the Safeway cookies go for $3.50 for 12. These are $2 apiece,” Lucky countered. Yes, the bouchons were good, but not that good.

The citrus pistachio brioche was a delicate, light bread with distinct candied lemon pieces throughout. Usually I am not a fan of lemon rind in my baked goods, but in this case it was not too overpowering. Added to it were tangy cranberries that contrasted the citrus. Carmelized sugar bits sprinkled on top along with the pistachios added a nice crunchy texture. At $3, this was perhaps my favorite of them all.

It was a nice touch that they used Asian pear in their pear tarts, resulting in a pastry that was neither heavy nor overly sweet. Underneath the generous helping of pear slices was a vanilla pudding containing an ample amount of blueberries. Just under the size of a CD, it was a nice way to end the meal.

While Bouchon Bakery undoubtedly serves up tasty morsels, I think it benefits from the associated success of Keller’s other restaurants. How else can one explain why one patron shelled out $150 at a recent visit? Or why there was a 15-minute wait. Or why people travel from across the bay just to try the place. If you are in the area, by all means try Bouchon Bakery. But you don’t have to leave the city to find equally delicious offerings if you know where to look (hint, La Boulangerie at Pine).

Bouchon Bakery
6540 Washington St
Yountville, CA, 94599
(707) 944-1565

Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Nov/1/bouchon.html

Restaurant Review: El Beach Burrito- The End of the Quest

My quest for Baja-style fish tacos in the Bay Area is finally over. After visiting El Beach Burrito (EBB), I have decided to hang it up and go into retirement. What? The best are in the Outer Sunset? Could it be that those delicious Baja style fish tacos – corn tortilla tacos stuffed with a light, crunchy beer-battered filet of tender flaky whitefish topped with just the right amount of cabbage and tangy sauce – have been at Judah and 44th Avenue all along? On the contrary, these were so far from Baja style that I’ve decided to throw in the towel.

Coming from San Diego, a staple of my diet was fish tacos. At least one dinner a week consisted of fish tacos. Back there, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill was the backup plan for Baja-style fish tacos, if you were desperate for a quick fix. Upon coming to San Francisco, there were plenty of burrito joints, but nowhere for Baja style fish tacos. In fact, the word Baja hardly ever turns up on the menu, even in the Mission. So for the past three years, I’ve been searching high and low for the Holy Grail. The closest entrant came from Flying Fish Grill in Half Moon Bay, but everything else has fallen disappointingly short.

I should have learned from the time that we went to La Playa Taqueria (also in the Outer Sunset) that proximity to the ocean has no correlation with quality of fish tacos. But this time I had heard that EBB served good Baja style fish tacos even if the menu didn’t specifically say Baja-style. (Then again, Flying Fish Grill didn’t specify Baja-style either.) My fingers and toes crossed, I approached the uninterested lady at the register and asked, “Are the fish tacos Baja style?” “Yeah, sure,” she replied while cleaning her fingernails. “Ummm, yeah. Run out of here while you still can,” the voice of reason within me cried. Throwing caution to the wind and listening instead to the growling of my stomach, I ordered the Two Tacos Dinner (8.95). Lucky opted for the regular chicken burrito after learning that they were out of carnitas ($5.85). Strike one! As we waited for our food, I went to the salsa bar, which is sometimes the make-or-break determinant at a Mexican food joint. Even if the food is just average, fresh salsa can bring almost anything back to life. But they were out of pico de gallo. Strike two! We hadn’t even eaten and already this place was on the ropes. Ten minutes after ordering, we took our food to go because the décor, or maybe I should say lack thereof, with fluorescent lights and several unbussed tables would have made me lose my appetite.

Lucky’s burrito was one of those average burritos that could have benefited from some salsa. It was priced like a super burrito at La Fonda (let’s not even compare the price to burrito shops in the Mission) but stuffed unimpressively with beans, rice and tomatoes. While the chicken did have that tasty chargrilled flavor, it was overly dry and not so generously present. Though unscientific in its measurement, it is quite simple to tell whether Lucky likes her burrito. If she does, she can finish the whole thing no matter how big it is. Let’s just say I had the other half of it for lunch the following day.

As for my meal, it was strike three! The dinner was advertised as including rice, beans, tortillas and a salad. The rice was dry and flavorless, so I had to mix in the refried beans to make it somewhat edible. The salad did not even deserve to be called that. When I saw it, I thought it was just lettuce and sour cream that was supposed to be added to the tacos. The only tortillas that it came with were the ones used to wrap the tacos. And the tacos themselves were not Baja style. No light batter, no cabbage or tangy white sauce. Defeated, I took a bite hoping that the fish tacos were at least OK. Well, they were just that: OK – small filets of white fish grilled and placed in corn tortillas, As I quietly ate my tacos, my inner voice laughed, “I told you so.”

And so, I’m calling it quits. If I’ve learned anything from my quest it is: 1. Don’t ignore that inner voice of reason. 2. Good Mexican food does not exist in the Outer Sunset; and 3. Good fish tacos do not exist north of Half Moon Bay.

Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Nov/15/elbeach.html

Road Trip: Drink in the Fall Colors of Wine Country

When you think of fall colors, I’m sure that New England comes to mind. But how about California? “Huh?” That’s right – California has its share of beauty in the fall. I won’t exaggerate and say that it rivals the display back east. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have our own supply of golden yellow, intense red and vibrant orange-leaved trees dotting the area right in our own backyards: Wine Country.

In addition to the color that the trees in the area provide, you can also catch some of the leaves of the grapevines changing color. While opportunities are available, a disclaimer: The fall displays in California can be finicky in terms of quality and quantity and timing. We went up in mid-October this year and saw a mix of colors, but still quite a bit of green, suggesting that there would be plenty left to see in early November.

Another year we went up for Veteran’s Day weekend and some of the trees had lost a good amount of leaves. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a regularly updated website that keeps tabs on the fall foliage in these areas.

Here are a few routes we took and some of the places you might want to check out. They make great trips on their own or can be combined depending on how much time you want to spend. Included in the routes are a few places you may want to check out. Lastly, you may want to allot some extra time for wine tasting.

Note: there are several routes to take to get to the various areas. A suggested itinerary of the area begins after the asterisk (*)

Route 1: Traveling through Napa Valley

Take the 80E over the Bay Bridge to the 37W.

*Driving north on the 29, you will pass several wineries, the majority of them can be found north of Yountville. Take CA 29 (also called St. Helena Highway) for about 30 miles until you come to Calistoga. Return south on the Silverado Trail, a less traveled road with more wineries. Of the three suggested routes, this route has the fewest trees on view. However, each winery has plenty to see.

Places to check out:

Nickel and Nickel Vineyards @ 8164 St. Helena Highway, Oakville. Along with its 42 acres of vineyards, a collection of historic farmstead buildings from the late 19th century can be found on the grounds, including the Sullenger House and the Gleason Barn (see accompanying photograph by Raymond Ng).

COPIA @ 500 1st St., Napa. Mentioned not necessarily for the colors, but for the variety of activities offered here. From Winetasting 101 to daily food classes to art exhibits with a culinary focus, it has something for everyone.

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. This park is known for its big leaf maples and black oak trees along its 10+ miles of hiking trails.

Route 2: Traveling around the Alexander Valley/ Dry River Valley

Take the 101N to Asti, just south of Cloverdale. Exit east on Therese Dr. and

*Head south on Dutch Creek Rd. and then go south on Dry Creek Rd. or West Dry Creek Rd. (which is joined by Yoakim Bridge and Lambert Bridge Rd.) Both roads have a handful of wineries. If you have time, take West Dry Creek Rd. south to Westside Rd. Go west until you hit Guerneville. You can then make it back to the 101 by going east on River Rd. This area has the most scenic drives of the three routes. Quiet two-lane roads take you past farms and vineyards with quite a few oaks and maples make this bucolic area a rewarding trip if you have the time and patience to drive under 35.

Places to check out:

Ferrari-Carrano Winery @ 8761 Dry Creek Rd, Healdsburg. Beautifully landscaped grounds include a 5 ½ acre garden complete with 2000 species of trees and shrubs, foot bridges over streams and waterfalls. The garden holds 10,000 tulips and daffodils in the spring.
Healdsburg Plaza. The heart of downtown Healdsburg looks like a throwback to yesteryear, though it is a Wi-fi hotspot. A nice quiet place to stop for a bite to eat or a bit of shopping or some art gallery browsing.

Route 3: Traveling through Sonoma Valley

Take the 101 N to the 37E. Then head north on the 121. At the fork, take the 12N towards Sonoma (or else you’ll end up going east on the 121 toward Napa).

*Once you get out of downtown Sonoma, you will pass several wineries on the 12. The 12 loops around and drops you off on Bennett Valley Rd. Take this south to Warm Springs Rd. Go south on Warm Springs Rd onto Arnold, which will bring you back to the 121. While this is the shortest of the three routes, it balances the number of wineries with the number of trees displaying their fall colors.

Places to check out:

The stretch of Arnold Dr. within the Sonoma Development Center. This area has some huge oaks that provide the most color you’ll see on this route. It is a short but concentrated stretch. Get out and stretch your legs with a walk under these beautiful trees.

Jack London State Park. If you’re a fan of the author, you might be interested in the land that contains the cottage in which he resided in the last decade or so of his life. It also holds his gravesite and some views of a nearby winery. Otherwise, you may want to keep the $6 parking fee.

Viansa Winery @25200 Arnold Dr., Sonoma. Situated on a hilltop, it affords a sweeping view of its vineyards and olive trees. It has also been noted for its 90-acre duck preserve. You can enjoy this over a sandwich or artisan offering from their marketplace.

A trip to Wine Country is always pleasant, but the temperate weather, the diminished crowds and the beautiful colors make a fall trip all the more enjoyable. Cheers!

Originally printed: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Nov/15/winecountry.html