May 23, 2022 Breakfast - Maple Cafe, Ukiah. Lunch- Pub Republic, Petaluma. Dinner with Johal in Green Valley

May 23, 2022 Breakfast - Maple Cafe, Ukiah. Lunch- Pub Republic, Petaluma. Dinner with Johal in Green Valley

I watched the news for a bit and went back to sleep for another 15 minutes.  Then I showered and packed and we looked for breakfast.  We decided to try a different place and ended up at the Maple Cafe across State street from the park.

I ordered a three egg chorizo omelet and Suzette ordered Corned Beef hash topped with poached eggs.  They were served with a pile of Maple’s Home made Fries, which were cottage fries that were not very well fried and rather soggy and lacked crispness.  Both of our dishes were just okay, but the restaurant appeared to be the most popular in town if filled seats was an indicator.

After we finished breakfast we drove to Costco to fill the tank with gas and we did a little shopping.  We bought Mohan a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black label and five pairs of men’s dress shorts for me.  So my wardrobe is expanding dramatically.

Suzette then took the wheel and drove us down US 101 and 116 to Petaluma. At 1:00 Suzette wanted to stop to drink a beer because her stomach was still unsettled from the chilis in the wrap she ate at Windbourne Winery yesterday.

We stopped at the next brew pub named Pub Republic.  It turned out to have a large patio facing a wildlife zone abutting a creek.  This area near the San Francisco Bay has lots of deltas from the creeks and rivers that terminate into the Bay and this was one of them at Petaluma.

Suzette ordered a Pilsner made at Fort Bragg and I ordered a pineapple cider that was the only cider on tap. Both turned out to be quite good.

Then we looked at the menu and I immediately saw that they served a Caesar salad made with the restaurant’s own homemade dressing with which you could order extra anchovies. I was intrigued, so I ordered that. Suzette was not hungry and only wanted to treat her stomach ache with beer, so she sampled a bit of my salad.

It turned out that this was the best Caesar Salad I have ever eaten in a restaurant.  It used fresh Romaine hearts chopped, the salad dressing was creamy and lightly applied so as not to drown the lettuce, there was not a speck of black pepper, the anchovies were crisp and salty, and the restaurant used a Parmesan cheese grated into thin stands that lovingly embraced the lettuce rather than distracted from the overall effect.

This Caesar Salad was a revelation of what a Caesar salad can be.  It was as if the chef had learned how to make it under the tutelage of Caesar in Tijuana. 

We then drove to the hotel in Bernicia, a lovely new Holiday Inn. Thanks to Karim for helping us by reserving the room.

After a short nap and a shower we dressed and drove to Il Fiorello Olive farm in Suisun Valley.  We arrived at 4:50 and they had shut the door, but Suzette called and they opened the door.  We tasted three olive oils and bought two balsamic vinegars, two bottles of olive oil, three soaps, and a jar of of orange marmalade made from the oranges from the tree in front of the tasting room.

The farm uses the most modern equipment, such as a centrifugal press that strips the olive fruit from the seed by tumbling at high speed rather than a press.

The oil was surprisingly volatile with deep flavors and amazing mouthiness.

It was not like any oil I had tasted before.

We then drove the few miles through Suisun Valley to Rockville Road and over the hill to Green Valley Rd. to The Johal Farm.  Mohan greeted us and we went inside to admire all the improvements made to the house.  The occasion for our visit was the baby shower for Pavn’s first child. That was celebrated yesterday by over 150 relatives from mainly Vancouver and Toronto. Pavn married a girl from Toronto and many of Mohan’s family still live in the Surrey suburb of Vancouver.

We were served successive offerings of food.  Surjit, Mohan’s wife, was cooking with many of the women.  For appetizers, we were served sautéed breaded chicken breast with a lovely tamarind, catsup, and chutney salsa, guacamole and chips, mixed nuts, and little crackers.

We then went outside and admired the 8 acres planted in Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and Mohan’s garden and listened to his chickens cackling.  We sat at a table on the patio beside the kitchen.

The electricity had gone off and the women were cooking by candle light on the gas burners on the top of the stove, but that did not diminish their effort.

Mohan opened a bottle of his 2019 Cab and it was surprisingly good. It was smooth and had no harsh after taste. He is a lucky man.

He has an interesting contract with a producer that provides full services to land owners with grape vines. The arrangement he has is he split the cost of planting the vineyard on his land. His production partner then took over and provides all the maintenance and picking of the grapes and produces the wine and Mohan pays the partner it’s usual fee of $13.00 per bottle to ferment and bottle the wine. The 2020 crop resulted in Mohan’s share being 840 cases or 10,080 bottles. I don’t know what he is going to do with the wine but he can never drink that much wine.

After a bit Pavn set up the propane grill with the help of some of the younger cousins from Canada and BBQ chicken legs and then boneless thighs were grilled.  Then the food was laid out on a table, corn on the cob, a lovely salad and Cole slaw mixture made with fresh lettuce from the garden, amazing potatoes that Surjit made on the stove by slow cooking potato slices in milk and then adding cheese, a rice and vegetable risotto or biriyani, and lovely sautéed carrots.  I need to mention that Surjit is a wonderful cook. 

Mohan opened bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and a Steep Ridge Cab, so there was lots of wine for the few of us who were drinking. We were introduced to over a dozen relatives still in town.  It was another one of those large Indian family festivities; the baby shower for Pavn’s first child.

We brought a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black label.  If the baby does not drink it, Mohan surely will.

Mohan was raised on a large farm in Punjab and lives close to the land.  He has turned the property into a beautiful and productive property, for which I am very proud of him.

There is a big issue we discussed concerning an easement on the land that will be fun to work on. I helped create it and I think I can help fix it.

At 8:30 as the sky was darkening we said goodnight just as a large cake was being brought out for dessert, and drove the 15 miles back to the hotel inn Bernicia and fell asleep pretty quickly.

Bon Appetit