Who knew we’d be celebrating this year’s Independence Day by carefully tiptoeing back inside our local restaurants in face masks, absent of the holiday’s boisterous backdrop and scent and stickiness of cotton candy, turkey legs and funnel cakes?
On Monday, restaurants reached the final stage of a progression from takeout and delivery to outdoor dining and, as of this week, the opportunity to sit down and eat at tables set at a distance indoors. It presents trepidation for both diners and businesses as we experience a rising number of coronavirus cases in the county.
Don’t let caution fatigue get the best of you. Help keep the dining public eager to go out content and our challenged restaurants from getting slammed again by wearing a mask. It goes a long way. Check restaurant websites and Instagram for further information and follow the protocols outlined in marinrecovers.com/restaurants to help support a safe reopening.
If staying outside feels best, check the June 10, 17 and 24 Bread & Butter columns, as well as details on street closures covered on June 17. Most open restaurants continue to offer takeout and delivery.
Although it might seem like our national holiday festivities have been cancelled, and certainly public celebrations have been, there are plenty of local places for sweets and baked goods that are ready to provide consolation.
New bakery in Terra Linda
Maybe a jalapeno or herbs de provence biscuit or a chocolate crackle or orange mango bun? Terra Linda resident Lisa Block has uncovered her answer to high-caliber, organic baked goods free of nuts, gluten and dairy, and made with a conservative amount of added sugar at her new Biscuits & Buns.
Severe health issues necessitating a restrictive diet didn’t allay her desire for a fluffy, high-quality biscuit to “slather, smother, dunk or sandwich.” She’d always wanted to go to culinary school and has a knack for baking, so she toyed with developing her own gluten-free flour blend until she perfected the texture of her signature recipes.
Like many businesses operating in the unusual circumstances of a pandemic, her focus has had to shift from catering to a neighborhood retail outlet, where she also offers San Rafael’s Pink Owl Coffee.
Find the new bake shop at 641 Del Ganado Road. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 8 to 11 a.m. Sundays. Pre-order and check for updates at biscuitsandbuns.com or call 415-634-5560.
Ethel’s Bagels
If there was ever a time for a culinary professional to bring a food business to fruition, it’s while furloughed and staying at home during a pandemic.
For chef and former Marin resident Nicolas Abrams of the 12-week-old, delivery-based (at least for now) Ethel’s Bagels based in Petaluma, being home-bound has provided him time to focus on developing and finessing the perfect bagel and resurrect food memories of his childhood.
Inspiration came by way of his grandmother Ethel, who would gather her extended family at her West Los Angeles home to feast on the homey Jewish comfort foods from her past days in Brooklyn.
“It all just made sense and this situation gave us the opportunity to really do this,” says his wife, Clare, of the family-born business. She brings her background in retail, while the couple’s son developed the website.
Chef Abrams lends his 30-year career in restaurants. It began in San Francisco at LuLu and Rubicon before he spent time abroad working with esteemed chefs in Europe, followed by Marin’s Buckeye Roadhouse, Hilltop 1892 and Rustic Bakery. Most recently, he was head of the commissary kitchen for the Chalet Restaurant Group that includes Gravity Tavern in Mill Valley.
Courtesy of Ethel's Bagels
Ethel’s Bagels delivers its bagels, schmears and kits to Marin and beyond.The old-fashioned, small-batch technique that started at home but has since moved to a commissary kitchen, combines sourdough starter and local organic flour. The dough is hand-rolled, fermented for 24 to 30 hours, boiled in Lagunitas beer and water, and then baked the morning of delivery.
Plain, salt, sesame, poppy seed, onion, everything, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and black pepper Parmesan bagels come by the half or baker’s dozen. Or opt for a kit with organic additions such as smoked salmon, capers, prosciutto, tomatoes, shaved red onion and micro pea tendrils. Organic schmears come in plain; chive; pickled shallot and herbs; black garlic and sherry; and wild smoked lox. Whole coffee beans are from Petaluma-based Kuksa Coffee Roasters.
Place orders on the website at ethelsbagels.com or call 707-364-9926 by 6 p.m. Mondays for home delivery ($8) on Thursdays in Marin. Check the website for additional locations and expanded delivery options that are in the works, as well as updates on plans to open a booth at the Marin Country Mart’s Saturday farmers market.
Pop-up bakery
While Ponsford’s Place Bakery in San Rafael has been around for some time, owner Craig Ponsford stepped away from his small shop at 117 Shaver St. three years ago and has since been operating on a limited pop-up basis, usually on Saturday mornings. For the Fourth of July weekend, that shifts to Friday. Hanana Bread is there from 9 a.m. to noon with cheesecake with plum swirl, chocolate chunk cookies with olive oil, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, burger buns, pecan granola, scones, bread and more. Place orders by 8 p.m. Wednesday at ponsfordsplace.shopsettings.com. Find out more about Hanana Bread at hananabread.com and the latest about what’s happening at the bakery by following Ponsford’s Place on Facebook or subscribing to the email list at eepurl.com/buBNJX.
Frozen confections
The following ice cream shops are now serving in accordance with proper protocols. Many also deliver.
Lapperts Ice Cream in downtown Sausalito is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 689 Bridgeway. View the medley of flavors at lapperts.com.
Posie in Larkspur is serving its organic, inventive flavors, freshly pressed waffle cones and sweet pies at 250B Magnolia Ave. from 1 to 9 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. For more information, call 415-891-8395.
The line almost always goes out the door at 9-year-old Fairfax Scoop. With 6 feet between waiting customers, it may well wind around the corner for the organic, ultra-creamy scratch ice cream served in a house-made waffle cone or cup for which you’ll need to bring your own spoon. It’s open noon to 10 p.m. daily at 63 Broadway Blvd. For more information, call 415-453-3130.
Hand-churned frozen yogurt is made to order at Loving Cup at 298 Bon Air Center in Greenbrae from 1:30 to 6 pm. daily. Call 415-578-2541 or go to lovingcup.com.
Easy Breezy Town Center is open for organic, scratch-made frozen yogurt, custard and dairy-free soft serve and toppings at 119 Town Center Corte Madera. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends. Call 415-886-8925 or go to easy-breezy.com.
Double Rainbow in San Rafael has a full menu of savory sandwiches and coffee drinks in addition to its broad array of frozen desserts. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturdays at 860 Fourth St. in San Rafael. Call 415-457-0803 or go to doublerainbowcafe.com.
Old-fashioned, homemade Silbermann’s Ice Cream is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 196 Northgate One in San Rafael. Call 415-479-1657 or go to silbermanns.com.
La Michoacana Natural Ice Cream in Novato uses home-style recipes from Mexico, including fruit paletas, and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at 1219 Grant Ave. Find out more at shoplocalnovato.com/business/la-michoacana.
Tuttimelon at the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center in Novato has nonfat frozen yogurt and gourmet gelato and sorbets, and is open from 1 to 9 p.m. daily at 132 Vintage Way. Call 415-897-6900 or go to tuttimelonnovato.com.
The three-decades-old Gelato in San Anselmo is open from noon until sunset at 572 San Anselmo Ave. Call 415-455-8833 or go to sananselmogelato.com.
Froyo shop Swirl at Redhill Shopping Center is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily at 916 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Call 415-457-7947 or go to swirlsa.com.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer. Please email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com or follow the Marin dining scene at instagram.com/therealdealmarin.
The Link LonkJuly 01, 2020 at 02:02AM
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