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We first fell in love with Suisun Valley on a weekend day trip from our previous home in Berkeley. We followed signs to Winterhawk Winery that was serving local wine, a funky blues band, and pizzas made fresh by Tony, Jr. of Napoli’s Pizza Vallejo in an oven fired with discarded barrel staves. Sadly, that …
Any search for Vallejo’s favorite pizza will lead to Napoli’s Pizza at 124 Tennessee Street in Vallejo. That’s where you’re likely to be greeted by the owner himself, Tony, as he kneads his house-made dough and toppings in front of the large pizza oven. He makes the sauce and ravioli himself as well, but when …
I traveled to New Orleans 4 times to enjoy JazzFest but I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t participated in BottleRock right here in Napa until last year. Given my love of far-away music festivals, I thought it would be fun to volunteer backstage at BottleRock. But they don’t take volunteers. So instead they hired me …
I enjoyed my time as a volunteer at last year’s Sonoma International Film Festival. The annual Festival features more than 100 films, representing 29 countries, screening at various venues throughout Sonoma, plus two culinary showcase events, and themed parties, panels and more. This year, the 26th annual event will be March 22-26. As a venue …
Mare Island, just across the water from downtown Vallejo, offers an amazing glimpse of its history as a vibrant warship factory. Back then, the fuel that powered the ships was stored in enormous “coal sheds” near the waterfront. Today, a couple of those sheds have been repurposed to brew and serve flavorful beer with intriguing …
Growing up back East, I remember the best ears of corn and melons were from the produce stands on the side of the road in the summertime. During the pandemic, Hiddenbrooke restaurant chef Michael Warring shared that his local source for organic produce was now selling direct to the general public. We first met Courtney …
Michael Warring and his wife Ali Gulczynski opened their Hiddenbrooke Plaza restaurant, Michael Warring, in June 2012 which is the same month that my wife and I purchased our home in Hiddenbrooke and moved here from Berkeley. After our first visit to his restaurant, we were thrilled to have a dining experience right down our …
There’s absolutely nothing glamorous about air travel these days… except for the service provided by Bruce Pollard of BAP Transportation Services. Here in Hiddenbrooke we are fortunate to live near several airports, and Bruce has transported my wife and I to many of them: San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Jose. As soon as we …
Our house is one of the closest to the Hiddenbrooke Golf Club’s banquet room. This means we hear free musical entertainment almost every weekend. It’s hard to be upset that we live in a place so wondrous that people want to celebrate here. When the special occasion music stopped during the pandemic, it was noticeable …
Picture-Perfect Pet Sitter We adopted two 11-year-old border collie sisters (Luna and Pepper) during the pandemic. The litter mates grew up on a ranch in Gilroy, California and had never been in a car, walked on a leash, or visited a vet, although they were perfectly house-broken. When their pet mom died in hospice care, …
