Over the phone, chef Rochelle Burgess says she wasn’t looking for a restaurant gig after the abrupt closure of her former post, the Angelina Inn, in Fernbridge. Her work as a personal chef was going well enough and she wasn’t eager to work for someone else again. But after a friend tipped her off to a Craigslist post that sounded right up her alley, she got curious. A meeting with Carriage House owner Shannon Yodowitz and a cooking test later, and Burgess says, laughing, “It’s just been both feet and arms in.” The restaurant at 937 10th St. in Arcata (formerly The Griffin), is set for a soft opening Sept. 30, followed by a few days closed to fine tune the menu using diner feedback before opening for good.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
The soon-to-open Carriage House location in the former home of the Griffin.
That cooking test, held in Yodowitz’s home kitchen, was indicitave of the Carriage House menu and Burgess’ style: udon with preserved lemon butter and shaved fennel, and, per Yodowitz’s request, a BLT. The former served as an example of Burgess’ interest in international influences and local ingredients, as well as her love of a thick noodle. (She is an unreserved fan, she says, of the underappreciated bucatini.) The latter was to see if she could perfect something simple and classic.
The revolving door spot on Eureka’s Fifth Street Los
Sinaloenses and its marvelous white menudo occupied has flipped again. Alfa
Torres and her husband Bosacio Villagrana have opened their first restaurtant Paco’s
Tacos Taqueria (1134 Fifth St., Eureka) in the spot, bringing big flavor in the
form of its salsa bar. A Southern California standard, the array of self-serve
salsas has thus far eluded us on the North Coast, and the couple weren’t
finding the level of spice they wanted. “It’s something different in Humboldt;
no one has it,” says Torres.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
A rainbow of salsa options at Paco's Tacos Taqueria.
Salsa aficionados, your moment has arrived. Lift the
stainless steel lid of the salsa bar and reveal a dozen options from dark and
oily to bright and creamy. On a recent visit, they included: freshly made chipotle,
verde, habanero, pico de gallo, chile de aceite, roja, chile de arbol and guacamole
salsas, fresh lime and habanero slices, sliced pepperoncini and pickled
jalapeño. Somewhere in that field is the tang and heat you have been looking
for, the oily chile de aceite — spiked with chile japones and chile de arbol —
and the habanero being closest to the top of the Scoville chart.
Even in a rainy
month, Auto Spa in McKinleyville still sees a little traffic since the bright
blue Auntie Hao’s truck is parked out front Thursday through Saturday (1642
Holly Drive). The trim menu of Chinese crepes, dumplings, fried noodles and tea
stands out amid bumper-to-bumper taco and sandwich trucks, and it’s likely the
only one with a punch-card that gets you a free carwash.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
Pork dumplings from Auntie Hao's truck.
Co-owner
Michael Evenson is part owner of Auto Spa, too, hence the deal and the
permanent parking spot. But his wife, Xuanli “Shirley” Hao, is the one rolling
thick, homemade wrappers and stuffing the juicy pork dumplings. She’s
tight-lipped about the filling, but it’s a simple, straightforward pork mixture
with mushroom-y earthiness, wrapped, sealed and pan fried to toasty brown on
the bottom. Splashed with an unfussy soy dipping sauce, they’ll steam up your
car nicely while you shelter from the rain.
After 21 years, Jim Becker and Patricia Cambianica, husband and wife owners of La Trattoria in Sunny Brae, are bidding farewell, shuttering the little restaurant after service Saturday, April 1.
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Orchette and kale at La Trattoria.
“We've been doing this for 21 years," says Becker over the phone. In that time, La Trattoria has built a loyal following with its traditional, seasonal Italian fare in the incongruous Sunny Brae strip mall location. Throughout, it's been a tight operation, with Cambianica as chef and line cook, creating the menu and cooking everything that comes out of the kitchen. Becker, who formerly handled both prep and front of house labor with a pair of servers, was down to one server and finally on his own recently.
There’s a lot going on at Overtime Eatery and Games. In the
lot, where the old Angelo’s sign still stands, noodle bowls are steaming from
the red Nou Nou’s truck. Inside, basketball plays on a massive TV, the beer
counter is hopping and cabinet video games flash from a side room, beyond
which, a couple of parents are playing pool while their kids scramble around
the air hockey table. But Brett’s Pizzeria — phones ringing, a quick-moving
line and a pair of cooks racing from oven to counter — is where the action is.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
A thick Detroit pizza from Brett's Pizzeria.
Raised in Detroit, owner Brett Obra (also of Humboldt Bay
Bistro) brings two Midwestern pies to our neck of the redwoods, offering thick
Detroit and deep-dish Chicago pies, as well as hand-tossed Californian for
localists.
The opening of Curry
Leaf (2335 Fourth St., Eureka) in the former location of Gonsea is happy news
for fans of noodles of many stripes but especially fried. There is more on the
menu — a lot more, in fact, as the pan-Asian offerings span from kimchi fried
rice to Malaysian curries to tempura and walnut shrimp, all before you read the
specials board — but even co-owner Joe Tan, when pressed, will steer you to the
fried noodles.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
Classic beef chow fun from Curry Leaf.
Beef chow
fun stalwarts, I recognize your numbers and your loyalty to slippery, flat,
rice noodles fried with bean sprouts, green onions, beef and Cantonese magic. Your
reward arrives on a platter of gleaming noodles, browned by soy sauce and what
I imagine is a wok of supernatural heat. This kind of wok hei flavor, lighter
than a full char but imparted with more fire than can be summoned by any of the
home gas stoves for which some folks are evidently ready to water the tree of
liberty, enlivens the humble sprouts and scallions, too. Along with deft
seasoning and a generous helping of tenderized beef, it adds to a depth of
flavor often missed
If you came to El Chipotle (850 Crescent Way, Arcata) in the mood for a torta, the prize specimen isn’t listed with the others served on bolillo rolls. Flip to the house specialties page of the menu to find the showstopper pambazo.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
The dipped and grilled, tinga-filled pambazo at El Chipotle.
Three-year-old Leilani Valverde held a partly unwrapped burrito sideways in both hands, took a bite out of the middle and came up smiling. According to her father, Christian Valverde, who brought her with him to the Rio Dell fire department Thursday morning, it was her first hot meal in two days, ever since a 6.4 magnitude earthquake near Ferndale knocked out power and water to their home.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
Three-year-old Leilani Valverde has a burrito sponsored by World Central Kitchen in Rio Dell.
Following the Dec. 20 temblor, chef José Andréas’ international relief organization World Central Kitchen mobilized quickly to feed residents without access to food, water and other utilities. Because power and water were up and running in other parts of the county, the nonprofit, which responds to humanitarian disasters all over the world, did not need to set up whole mobile kitchens. Instead, it reached out to deploy a local resource that was ready to help: food trucks. By the end of the day Dec. 21, they’d served an estimated 1,700 meals.
It's a Humboldt-heavy month at the Food Network. First it was Big Island Kine's feature on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and now a special Guy's Hometown: From Ferndale to Flavortown episode is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on Dec. 30. Many fair-goers will recall Fieri's crew hauling cameras and equipment around the Humboldt County Fairgrounds, where they filmed the special this past summer. It showcases a couple more local businesses, including Big Island Kine and Fry Burger, Fieri's barbecue lunch for veterans and first responders, and his hosting of the Humboldt County Fair's Chili Cook-off.
Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
Guy Fieri and his crew filming at his free barbecue lunch for veterans and first responders during the Humboldt County Fair this past summer.
Guy Fieri fans and poké enthusiasts, you'll want to tune in for this week's episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, when the Humboldt-raised host features local food truck Big Island Kine. The episode "Burgers, Bowls and Bangers" airs Friday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, Saturday, Dec. 24.
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The Yamamoto family, Isaiah, Echo, Renee and Ender, with Guy Fieri at center.
"Guy Fieri pops into a poke truck he found at the Ferndale County Fair for some island-inspired flavors," according to the teaser for the episode on the Food Network website, which also features recipes for the truck's popular California Dreamin' and Sweet Heat bowls. We know, it's the Humboldt County Fair.