Welcome to our Spring edition of the Baci Mosaic. Tax time is over so spend some of that refund at Baci celebrating with some good food and wine! Lisbeth took her money and ran away to Norway! Thank goodness she loves all of her customers, otherwise who knows if she’d ever come back! Our blog is now published quarterly, so that is why you haven’t heard from us for a couple of months. The sun is shining and April has brought an array of wonderful new colors, smells, and flavors. We have updated our menu with some new seasonal items, with more to come.
Congratulations to Kerrie Diebold for winning our Facebook Valentine’s Contest in February. To celebrate Baci turning 3 years old on April 1st, we are running another contest to win a $100 Baci gift certificate. There is a bowl on the hostess stand where you can put your business card or a piece of paper with your email address, and we will randomly choose a winner April 30th. Good luck!!!
We are very pleased that our Persian New Year celebration with Chef Shari’s Persian Feast in March sold out. We are planning another feast in the Fall for all of you that were not able to come.
BACI’S SPECIAL SEASONINGS – The Staff
Elvia Torres
Chef Shari really depends on a kitchen staff that works seamlessly, can multi-task to the nth degree, be quick and efficient, and not get stressed out. But above all else, be a great cook. That is a tall order to fill! Thankfully, Shari has found such a kitchen staff, so he doesn’t have to figure out how to clone himself. One of Shari’s essential right-hands is Elvia Torres. She came to the United States 14 years ago from Oaxaca, Mexico, with her parents in search of the American dream. Elvia has worked hard over those years, taking on 2 and 3 jobs at a time in order to help raise and take care of her little brothers, now 15 and 18 years old. After extensive restaurant experience, Elvia joined Baci over two years ago, and is one of our most essential ingredients. As well as being one of Shari’s two sous chefs, she comes in early to prepare for the evening making delicious sauces, fresh pasta, and hand stuffing all the cannelloni. Thank you Elvia for everything you do!
TASTING NOTES – Spotlighting noteworthy wines from the Baci Wine List
Mueller Winery
As most of you know, Lisbeth never travels anywhere without her Mueller Emily’s Cuvee (named after Lori and Bob’s daughter). I went out to Mueller Winery for an inside look at the husband and wife team behind one of her favorite wines and travel companion. Lori and Bob Mueller are the epitome of great teamwork. They produce around 4,000 cases including six different Pinot Noirs, two Zinfandels, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and a “Cousin’s Cuvee”, in honor of their nephews that help out during harvest.
Bob developed an interest in winemaking back in his college days, helping friends make garage wine, and eventually went on to UC Davis to get a degree in Enology. They operated a successful custom winemaking facility in Healdsburg for over 10 years before embarking on their own and have been producing their highly rated Mueller wines for 13 years now. They had the honor of being listed in James Lube’s 20 favorite Sonoma County Pinot Noir Producers, and was in the Top 100 Wines in the Wine Spectator.
Bob and Lori Mueller have just announced the exciting news that they are opening a tasting room in Healdsburg just a stone’s throw away from Baci at 118 North Street, right across from the Raven Performing Arts Theater. Congratulations to Lori and Bob on their new adventure! They plan to open around June 1st, and we will cater the Grand Opening. We will keep everyone posted when the details are finalized.
Lori and Bob say coming into Baci is like walking into someone’s home, and that is the same feeling you will get at the Mueller tasting room. We showcase Mueller as a “Featured Winery” on our wine list because we know a good thing when we taste it! They also have a Wine Club which you can find more about here: www.muellerwine.com and will be participating in the upcoming Passport to Pinot on June 8-9.
Lori and Lisbeth have a lot in common besides a mutual appreciation of Emily’s Cuvee. After all, they both have businesses where they do the “managing” while their husbands do the “creating”. I love the saying on their website, “Every good movie, great novel, grand romance has something in common… balance. An engaging beginning, fine layered nuances in the middle, and a satisfying finish.” That could also be said for the balance needed to be successful partners in marriage and in business, or in a great meal or glass of wine…
REGULAR ROUNDUP - Our tribute to some of our regulars that have become family to us here at Baci.We think they are a pretty special part of our mosaic.
Aubrey and Blake Mauritson
There are a lot of cute couples we see at Baci and one in particular is Aubrey and Blake Mauritson. They also have a very unique story of how they met. Back when Blake Mauritson was studying at Fresno State, he found himself in a “Women’s Studies” class. You would think this would be a smart way to pick up on girls, or at least to understand them better! He was actually shy about being the token guy in the class, and was just there to get some credits he needed to graduate when nothing else was available. When he spotted pretty class-mate, Aubrey, it took him four months to even speak to her! That class paid off, because they started dating after graduation. Aubrey went off to law school and Blake went back to his family winery in Healdsburg, and continued to have a long distance relationship for 4 ½ years! After law school, Aubrey moved to Healdsburg to be with Blake and it wasn’t long before he surprised her by popping the question on her birthday. They married a year later in 2011, and they still look like newlyweds every time they come into Baci.
Aubrey is a civil litigation trail attorney for Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz, LLP in Santa Rosa, and Blake is the Vineyard Manager at Mauritson Winery, overseeing 320 acres of vineyards. Blake grew up working in the vineyards with his brother Clay, and are proud to be the 6th generation to run the family business. Blake’s great-great-great grandfather first planted grapes in here in 1886! They have a beautiful winery and tasting room located at 2859 Dry Creek Road, producing incredible wines that include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, we offer several of them on the Baci Wine List! To find out more about their wines, go to:www.mauritsonwines.com
Aubrey and Blake say they are regulars at Baci because the food is great, and there is nowhere else that treats them so well and like family. Thank you Aubrey and Blake for sharing your story and brightening the restaurant whenever you come in!
BACI BITES
Upcoming Events:
Passport Weekend: This weekend, Saturday & Sunday, April 27 & 28: Baci will be catering at Gustafson Winery from 10:00am-4:00pm. 9100 Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road, Geyserville.
Mother’s Day Brunch: Please join us for Mother’s Day as we will be open for a special Mother’s Day Brunch on Sunday, May 12, 2013.
Bertapelle Cellars opens new Tasting Room: Another small, local winery that is very dear to us is Bertapelle Cellars. Dick and Pat Bertapelle are long-time friends of ours, and they have just opened a tasting room at 428 Hudson Street in Healdsburg as part of the Hudson Street wineries cooperative. We wish Dick and Pat good luck and much success!
“Team Hospice” for the Human Race Restaurant Week, May 5-May 11: Baci Cafe & Wine Bar has teamed up with “Team Hospice” and will again be donating a portion of our proceeds to Memorial Hospice, Hospice of Petaluma & North County Hospice from Sunday, May 5th thru Saturday May 11th. Enjoy a fantastic dinner AND help our hospice programs at the same time!
Midsummer Picnic at Gustafson Winery, Saturday, June 15: Baci will be catering a casual picnic celebrating the Swedish Midsummer at the beautiful Gustafson Estate. More details to follow. www.gfvineyard.com
Antinori Winemaker Dinner, Tuesday, June 18: We are honored to host a 4 course Winemaker Dinner featuring Antinori Wines. If you are not familiar with their legacy, the Antinori family has been making wine in Italy for over 600 years and across 26 generations since 1385. For reference, the Ming Dynasty in China had just risen to power. Michelangelo was born in 1475, and when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 to discover the Americas, the Antinoris had already been making wine for 107 years. Even today it’s still family owned with Marchese Piero Antinori at the helm with his daughters, Albiera, Allegra, and Alessia. The family’s Napa Valley venture was named Antica, which is a combination of Antinori and California, and the word for ancient in Italian. Antica’s Winemaker, Nate Weis, will be hosting the event. More details to follow. Limited space. $125.00 including tax and gratuity. Please call 707-433-8111 for reservations.
Check out what the Baci Boys, Julius & Lawrence, have been up to:
The Baci Boys Julius and Lawrence decided not to get into the food business like their parents and instead engaged themselves in the world of technology. They recently launched their business venture in November and they’re doing very well! Check out the very cool video that they recently came out with about their new start-up, Titaen IT Services:
FEATURED RECIPE
In honor last month’s Persian New Year, here is the recipe for Chef Shari’s delicious Persian crispy rice.
Tah-dig:
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice (not converted; preferably basmati or jasmine)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
In a large saucepan bring water with salt to a boil. Add rice and boil 10 minutes. In a colander drain rice and rinse under warm water. In a 2- to 3-quart nonstick saucepan melt butter. Spoon rice over butter and cover pan with a kitchen towel and a heavy lid. Fold edges of towel up over lid and cook rice over moderately low heat until tender and a crust forms on bottom, 30 to 35 minutes. Spoon loose rice onto a platter and dip bottom of pan in a large bowl of cold water 30 seconds to loosen tah-dig. Remove tah-dig and serve over rice.
Hope all of you are enjoying the sunshine! Lisbeth sends her “Helllllooooo!” from Norway and says to please feel free to come in and give Shari a hard time in her absence. Enjoy!