Santa Rosa - Occidental - herring in SF
We are planning a 2-3 day vacation in Santa Rosa. Any suggestions or tips on special things to do in the neighborhood (beyond the usual winery tours etc) would be most appreciated, as would be recommendation on where to eat.
Talking of where to eat: Some of you elderly chowhounds may remember a restaurant in Occidental which was famous for serving nothing but huge platters of delicious chicken dinners, all you can it (was it called Juanita's or am I mixing up 2 memories...?). Is it still going and is it still good?
And finally: looking again for herring (in sour cream or wine sauce) in SF. COSTCO used to carry it but discontinued (not enough Jewish customers?) and so did Smart & Final.
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I don't remember any all you can eat chicken dinners. Occidental used to have three places...1 Union Hotel, 2 Negri's and 3 Fiori's. In the 70's Fiori's moved to Santa Rosa, near Mendocino Ave near the Civic Center. They all had similar menus,,,Basque type family style. Usually Roast Chicken, Duck and Steak (adjusted for price). Usually served with minesrone, peppers olives and salami, salad, ravioili, chicken giblets or beef tips and the traditional banana fritters. It was not the greatest food, but the ambiance was great. Sometimes, you got an old 7-up bottle full of jug wine. Them was the days!
By the way, Costco has great wine marinated herring, very reasonable. -
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re: Alan408
Both Union Hotel and Negri's are still going strong, but neither sounds like the place the OP remembers. They are both old school Italian American. While neither is AYCE, you would definitely not leave hungry from either place. As sort of an aside, I think that the Friday farmers market in Occidental is the best farmers market around. There is always a variety of prepared food, including the famous Gerard's paella (famous because he won a "Throwdown" against Bobby Flay) and excellent Indian food. It's a fun little town to wander around, and if you feel like something a bit more refined than old school Italian American, Bistro des Copains is quite good.
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I spotted some Vita herring in sour cream in the Jewish foods section of the Safeway on Church and Market in SF tonight. I'd think that if they carry it, you could find this kind of thing pretty widely. That said, I much prefer it unadulterated and the best places for plain salt herring in SF are the Russian markets out in the Richmond district.
