Savoring Sonoma: Short Takes with Clark Wolf

 
Clark Wolf publicityClark Wolf is a nationally recognized, James Beard Award-winning food and restaurant consultant, author, and columnist who now lives in what he calls “the Eden of All the Earth," in a 100-year-old logger’s cabin in the Redwoods of Sonoma County.
 
Savoring Sonoma: Short Takes is a weekly 60-second snapshot of what's importantly delicious in Sonoma County.
Each week, you'll hear two new episodes.
 
 
 

More episodes are archived here.

 
 

Savoring Sonoma Shorts

November 16, 2025

Mushrooms are wild

Once upon a time, I took a bus load of tourism ambassadors on an adventure to go gather wild mushrooms. We were taken by a wonderful local chef and we went to a secret place that they only knew. I expected us to have to be blindfolded because it was on somebody's private…
November 16, 2025

Stuff a pumpkin

A well-known chef, cookbook author, and famous entertainer once said, "I'm going to do an entirely vegan Thanksgiving meal." What's the centerpiece we all thought? Well, she stuffed a pumpkin. It was the traditional pumpkin stuffing. No, no, no, the traditional turkey stuffing,…
November 09, 2025

Pulled up vines on the side of the road

As you drive through Sonoma County, you may have seen some fields with piles of grape vines that have been pulled out and stacked up to be removed. And you know, in all worlds, things go in cycles, but certainly in agriculture. And so people have begun to kind of worry what's…
November 09, 2025

Farmers markets... again

When I think of farmers markets, I can't help but I think of the middle of summer. You know, all those berries and all those vegetables and all those lettuces and all those wonderful things. But actually, when you think of harvest season, you're talking about November. You're…
November 02, 2025

Obsessed with melons

According to my phone, there is a Charente melon 19 miles away. It's important to know these things, especially if as I am this year obsessed with melons. They are so amazing and diverse these days that I can't even believe it. Of course, we have our famous crane melon. We have…
November 02, 2025

Holiday practice time

I got to be involved in a tasting of apple pies not long ago. And one of the chefs who made apple pies for this very special event had never made an apple pie. And this was going to be in front of a lot of people who know and love her or know of her and want to love her. So,…

More Savoring Sonoma Shorts

Oct 26, 2025

Grow it to give it away

If you're smart enough and lucky enough to grow things around where you live, you know that there's always too much. Whether it be tomatoes or…
Oct 26, 2025

Oh no! The persimmons are coming!

Okay, so you've maybe left a lot of zucchini on your neighbor's porch. Maybe you had a tomato toss or visited local public speaker with ripe…
Oct 19, 2025

Use your oven!

I have a friend, a colleague, who's a talented and awarded chef in the east. Nobody local. And one of the things that people complained about with…
Oct 19, 2025

It's cheese season!

Earlier this year, a lot of our girls, a lot of our goats, a lot of our sheep, a lot of our cows had babies. And what that meant was they were…
Oct 12, 2025

Pumpkin seeds

It's coming on time to dress up silly and run around and maybe collect some candy. I know, I know, I know Halloween starts sometime in late August.…
Oct 12, 2025

Fall stir-fry

During the pandemic, I made a commitment to myself to try all kinds of things that I'd not had before or that I wasn't sure about or that Yeah, what…
Oct 05, 2025

Ranchers

Our ranchers are extraordinary people. Some three, four, even seven generations on the land raising animals carefully and thoughtfully and…
Oct 05, 2025

Pomegranates!

Every year, I get very excited when I see pomegranates. I've talked about them a lot. Not as much as I talk about peaches, let's be honest, or…
Sep 21, 2025

Cukes, peppers, and melons, oh my!

Peppers and cukes and melons. Oh my! It's that time of the year and they don't always stick together. In fact, sometimes the cuke season ends before…
Sep 21, 2025

New festivals & harvest gatherings

It's really wonderful to start thinking about the height of harvest of all sorts. And there was a time where here in Sonoma County we were home to…
Sep 14, 2025

Do we worry?

Do we have to worry? We see lots of fields, lots of vineyards where the grapes have been left to rot. We see other vineyards where the vines have…
Sep 14, 2025

The real cost of food

Is it the real cost of food or the cost of real food we should be talking about? The reality is that they're all kinds of food-like products that…
Sep 07, 2025

Tomatina at 80

In 1945, in a little Spanish town, a bunch of kids started a food fight. It was hilarious. It was fun. It relieved a lot of tension. And since that…
Sep 07, 2025

Winter Squash

It happened. I talk about it from time to time, but it's been a long time since it actually happened. I was at the farmer's market and there was a…
Aug 31, 2025

Cold soup

At the hottest time of the year, maybe in September, maybe in October, maybe in January, it's really wonderful to have the option of a cold soup. Of…
Aug 31, 2025

I like seeds

I know that people collect seeds later in the year. They have beautiful heirloom seed packets in a lot of shops all through Sonoma County. And you…
Aug 24, 2025

Too much fruit

In the category of eyes too big for my tummy, it's all about fresh fruit in the middle of summer. I mean, I can't help it. I I can't have one peach.…
Aug 24, 2025

Dinner salads

It may have taken a bit of time to get here, but summer has arrived. And it can be awfully warm. I'm not somebody who likes to cook in the warm of…
Aug 17, 2025

Coffee & Chocolate

I really have to come clean about this. I am not a chocolate person. When I was younger, I was mildly allergic, and I'm not really allergic, but I…
Aug 17, 2025

Finally, tomoatoes!

I love knowing a little bit about the origin of tomatoes. They're from South America and they were originally yellow and pear-shaped. They were…
Aug 10, 2025

Better ultra processed foods?

I'm reading way too much about the improvement of ultra processed foods. I'm laughing because it's kind of ridiculous. Ultra processed foods are…
Aug 10, 2025

Benchmarks

I like to take kids or see kids at the farmers' market. I like for kids of all ages to taste things at their peak. I remember as a child my…
Aug 03, 2025

I scream for ice cream

I read somewhere, just the other day, that they were going to take the artificial colors out of ice cream. I live in Sonoma County. We don't need…
Aug 03, 2025

Watch those apples

It is a favorite pastime to watch nature. Living in it, you know, there are critters, but there are leaves and there are trees and there are fruits…
Jul 27, 2025

Cool Summer: grill it!

I live in the woods. I have a Weber. I keep it out on the deck. I haven't used it that much for a while. In fact, I used to have a wood-burning…
Jul 27, 2025

Try it now!

This is a moment in a whole season of moments. There are so many things on those farmers' markets tables, in the grocery store, out on the street in…
Jul 20, 2025

Santa Rosa plums

Every year I talk about this. Every year I dream about this. Every year I thank Luther Burbank for Santa Rosa plums. It's one of those things that…
Jul 20, 2025

The beast of the best

I'm sure you've heard of the term listical. You know what that is? That's a list instead of writing a whole article. It's the 11 best whatever the…
Jul 13, 2025

Farm to table?

I read a social media post the other day that said that farm to table was so over. No, it's not. It never will be. In fact, it's been around forever…
Jul 13, 2025

Rolling varieties

I have some friends who have a thousand trees that give brilliant fruit. And they have a season from kind of a Memorial Day through Labor Day,…
Jul 06, 2025

Kohlrabi snobby

I happen to like vegetables that look like they're from Mars. This one is particularly delightful. It looks like a cartoon character, but it's…
Jul 06, 2025

Pickle me!

I have a friend who really wanted to make pickles. So, last fall, he said to me, "You know, you go to a lot of farmers' markets. Get me some…
Jun 29, 2025

Squash blossoms

The first time I ever had a squash blossom, it was stuffed with goat cheese and lightly fried, and it was ridiculously delicious. Squash blossoms…
Jun 29, 2025

Grilling is grrrrrreat!

Grilling is really kind of great. It just makes food delicious. But here in Sonoma County, we've got to be careful. This is fire country and fire…
Jun 22, 2025

Everything might be salad

If you think about it, almost everything could be salad. I mean, all you have to do is put it in a bowl, right? You need to have some green leaves…
Jun 22, 2025

Gleaning

Gleaning. It's not the result of a TV show where people break into song. Although, it's not a bad idea to break into song. Gleaning is ancient. It's…
Jun 15, 2025

Backyard, side yard

This is the season where we watch the porch carefully to make sure our neighbors don't drop off too many zucchinis or tomatoes. You know, I live…
Jun 15, 2025

Blossoms to leaves to fruit

There's always a moment in May, when I'm driving down the Gravenstein Highway, when the blossoms, the apple tree life is exploding in a way that the…
Jun 08, 2025

Line-caught French fries

I once had french fries that were so good. I suggested to my dinner companion, who happened to be a restaurant critic, that they tasted like they…
Jun 08, 2025

Tender leaves

This time of the year, people are arguing about the cost of food and is that farmers market more expensive? But what you have to remember is…
Jun 01, 2025

Transitional blueberries

Blueberries are one of those fruits that are just so handy. You know, you rinse them off and you put them in a bowl and you just kind of pop them in…
Jun 01, 2025

Lingering citrus

Lingering citrus, that's what I like to call it. It's still there at the farmer's market. The colors are bright and lovely. Sometimes I really do…
May 25, 2025

Watching our stone fruit

Waiting for the water to boil, the goat to blat its kid, the delivery to arrive. This is the time of the year where a lot of us are watching the…
May 25, 2025

Apricots in my backyard

A lot of folks around here have fruit trees. There are a lot of varieties of apricots and I learned more about them every year. Some are prized for…
May 18, 2025

Fresh cheese, mainly chèvre

There's fresh cheese available pretty much year round, but I really like to have fresh cheese in the spring, particularly goat cheese, what the…
May 18, 2025

Cherries

What has 7,000 and is just the pits? You guessed it, a cherry tree. I can never wait until the organic cherries are ready. So, the minute I see…
May 11, 2025

Baked!

Sonoma County is a really good place to get baked... I know what you're thinking, but no, what I'm talking about is we have really good bakers and…
May 11, 2025

New farmer, young farmer, old farmer

If you get the chance, I want to encourage everyone to talk to farmers. Sometimes people change careers at some point in their lives. Sometimes it's…
May 04, 2025

Snap peas

Here's what I like about Sugar Snap Peas. The sugar, the snap, and the peas. I mean it's really kind of funny because I mean Snow Peas are okay, but…
May 04, 2025

Another strawberry story

It's a saga about strawberries. In my own cultural lore, one of the big reasons I moved to Sonoma County 25 plus years ago was because there was a…
Apr 27, 2025

Spring!

You know what I like about spring? Everything. The sunshine, the pops of warm air, the occasional sprinkle, roses, lilacs, asparagus, new young…
Apr 27, 2025

Apple blossoms

I realize that it's not yet even close to summer, but I can't help it. I'm dreaming about apples.Maybe it's because I drive the Gravenstein Highway…
Apr 20, 2025

Rhubarb!

And now... rhubarb. My first experience with rhubarb was in a pie with strawberries. Not me personally, but you know the strawberries and rhubarb…
Apr 20, 2025

Lots a berries

We've had strawberries for a while now. Although my favorite ones are coming up soon, they're not quite here yet, but I'll be patient. But what we…
Apr 13, 2025

Spring is busting out all over

I know it's spring because I'm sneezing a lot and also there are blossoms everywhere. Every single time I go to the farmers market, there's…
Apr 13, 2025

Asparagus & peas

There are people who don't like asparagus. There are people who don't like peas. I forgive them. This is the time of the year where two of my…
Apr 06, 2025

Sign up for a CSA

CSA. No, that's not at the airport unless you're trying to, I don't know, smuggle vegetable. Don't do that. No, no. Bad idea. CSA is…
Apr 06, 2025

Farmers market high season

Spring forward, fall back. Fooey! What you need to do now is check your calendar and add to it all of your favorite seasonal farmers markets. They…
Mar 23, 2025

Sunshine means eggs

What do chickens like? They like to peck, they like to hunt, and they like to lay eggs, and they like to do that when it's warm. I keep thinking…
Mar 23, 2025

Spring milk means fresh cheese

Have you seen those videos of cute little goats hopping around, bouncing around, tumbling around, bopping into each other? Well, you know what that…
Mar 16, 2025

Sprouts and starts

Sprouts and starts and bees better scurry. It's that time of the year where things are just popping like crazy. And if you're thinking about growing…
Mar 16, 2025

Blossoms are peachy

Buds and blossoms are looking peachy. I know this because I've been sneezing for the last two weeks. It's that time of the year, although I am…
Mar 09, 2025

Eggs are precious

Eggs are precious. Let's be honest. There was a time when in New Jersey (you heard of it, it's over there on that other side) outlawed eggs over…
Mar 09, 2025

Spring is springing

I live in a cabin in the woods. So I cannot tell you how happy I am that it doesn't get dark at 4:00. It's starting to be that wonderful time of the…
Mar 02, 2025

Stir Fry

I have a friend who likes to cook. Okay, I have a lot of friends who like to cook, but one in particular cooks every day and does give me an update…
Mar 02, 2025

Peak olive oil

Have you been keeping it dark and cool? Of course, I'm talking about olive oil. The olive oil was harvested and pressed in November of last year and…
Feb 23, 2025

Finally, golden fields

Finally, our fields are going gold. Yep, gold under the vineyards, under the vines, under the fences, under the everything. Our mustard flower is…
Feb 23, 2025

We have water!

We have water. Anyone living in California who's been through a drought or three knows how important it is that we have rain. Now mind you, last…

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