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Chefs' Notes: Franco Dunn

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From the Food & Wine Section by Diane Peterson, April 12, 2006 SPRING-Holiday Lamb the Italian Way In rustic roasted dish, wine and herbs must be used with restraint to keep delicate flavor Three years ago, Dino Bugica was vacationing in Northern California when he stopped for a bite to eat at Taverna Santi, a cozy Italian restaurant in downtown Geyserville. Bugica, who had already cooked for seven years in Italy, took one bite of the Trippa alla Fiorentina and decided he wanted to join the Santi kitchen crew, whose proud motto is "Setting Italian Cooking Back 75 Years." Now, the 30-year-old executive chef at Santi spends his days massaging prosciuttos, grinding homemade sausages and creating seasonal dishes like Abbacchio Al Forno, a roast suckling lamb dish traditionally served around Easter in the region outside of Rome. "Fresh, local lamb is what everyone dreams of working with," Bugica said. "This dish is rustic, but it tastes great. It's real. It has soul." At Santi, the lamb from Bellwether Farms in Valley Ford is braised in herbs, white wine, chicken stock and onions until it falls off the bone. When served alongside fava beans or artichokes, it's spring on a plate. "It's one of the reasons I came to work at Santi," Bugica said. "It's something that you do once a year, and then it's gone. You really look forward to it when it comes around." In Italy, sheep are mostly raised in the mountainous north, the highlands of the south and on the craggy islands. You'll find them in the regions of Abruzzi and Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily, said Santi chef emeritus Franco Dunn. "I once worked in a restaurant where they only served lamb," said Dunn, a walking Italian encyclopedia who was one of Santi's founding chefs. Because the flavor of the young lamb is so delicate, the wine and herbs in the roasted dish need be used with restraint. If his chicken stock is too dark, Bugica adds water. It's all about showcasing the flavor of the young, tender lamb. "We don't debone any of it - that keeps the flavor," Bugica said. "They are not a fatty animal, so when you braise them with liquid, it gives them more succulence." Although baby lambs are traditional in this dish, Bugica said home chefs could substitute a spring lamb, which is available from local butchers like Big John's in Healdsburg or Willowside Meats in Santa Rosa. Doug Swett, general manager of Santi since it opened in 2000, bought the restaurant last year but has stayed the course with the restaurant's artisan style of cooking. "The chefs do the handmade, Old World Italian style, with everything from scratch," he said. "We make the pastas, the salumi in different styles, the sausage that we sell at the farmers market, limoncello and even homemade tripe." Since taking the restaurant's reins, however, Swett has introduced some new twists. Live jazz is presented every Sunday night, Italian specials are served on Wednesday nights and the menu changes every two or three weeks. "We like to keep it fresh, and we're focusing more on being creative," he said. "Dino is tireless and throws his heart and soul into it. He wants to be a great chef, and he doesn't take the shortcut." Bugica grew up in Reno, Nev., with Italian parents - his mother hails from Liguria, his father from Sicily - and has been cooking fresh and seasonally from an early age. His family had access to fresh ingredients from his grandfather's ranch and farm. "Every Sunday, they would braise rabbits and pigs, and they made prosciutto and salumi," he said. "For us, ravioli was no big deal. We made raviolis all the time, along with my grandmother's gnocchi." At 18, Bugica's passion for food led him back to Italy, where he eventually met his wife, Sonia, and worked his way through three restaurants, a Dutch chocolate maker and a butcher shop. "You learn a lot in Italy, because you usually work with (just) one person," he said. "Every time I go back to Italy for a visit, I work." Between the wisdom of Dunn and the talent of his chef de cuisine Ari Rosen, Bugica is part of a team that's as authentic as Santi's style of cooking. "They all trained in Italy and had Italian parents," Swett said. "It's painstaking and can be costly to do ... but they really believe in that kind of cooking and in doing it the right way." Every spring, Santi serves this delicate lamb dish using the baby lamb raised by Cindy Callahan of Bellwether Farms. This dish is traditionally made in the Lazio area around Rome, where Italians have been tending sheep for thousands of years. Baby lamb is very tender and delicately flavored, with not much fat, so be careful not to overcook it or overwhelm it with too much garlic or wine. If you don't know a rancher or a farmer with baby lamb, ask your butcher for spring lamb, and serve it with the bone-in for more flavor. If you want, you can add a few cubed baby potatoes to the pan about halfway through the baking. _______________________________________________ We get raves! August 3, 2005 Not Far From Napa, and Closing In By FRANK J. PRIAL HEALDSBURG, Calif. “…The polar opposite of Cyrus and the surprise of my most recent trip to northern Sonoma was Santi, a rough-and-tumble, red-checkered-tablecloth Italian place in Geyserville, about 10 minutes north of Healdsburg. Behind the unimposing brick facade can be found some of the most heartwarming Italian food outside the North Beach section of San Francisco. For starters, the simple platter of homemade salamis was superb, but then so were the polenta crepes with roasted corn. Florentine-style beef tripe - trippa alla fiorentina - braised with tomato, fresh basil and chili flakes and topped with Parmesan cheese was my favorite main dish, followed closely, very closely, by the homemade potato gnocchi with green olives, baby leeks and braised rabbit. Santi is still a bit of a local gem. Wednesday is locals' night, with an old-fashioned special like sausage and peppers or that not-so-Tuscan favorite, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The wines, like Santi itself, are more sophisticated than one might expect. Healdsburg (all right, Geyserville, too) is where St. Helena and Yountville and Calistoga were in the 1960's and 70's. It is an old town, too, but it manages to convey an infectious sense of adventure, of experimentation that the wine towns to the south no longer have. It's worth another 30 minutes on the road, preferably on Route 128, up through the gorgeous Alexander Valley.” An Award of Excellence from the by Ryan Isaac, August 31, 2003 "Paula Lambert, manager and wine buyer at Santi Restaurant in northern Sonoma County, doesn't need to look far for most of the wines on her list—it reads like a compendium of boutique wineries from the surrounding Alexander Valley and nearby Dry Creek Valley. 'We focus on supporting each other,' says Lambert. 'I really enjoy finding these little productions and being able to come forward with wines that no one knows about.' "Bottlings from local producers such as Bella, Rusina and Scherrer present diners with the chance to sample Zinfandels that may never leave the area. Experimentation is made easier because more than half of the 180 selections cost less than $40 a bottle. "Santi's Cal-Ital cuisine—with dishes such as risotto with braised Guinea hen, and seared pork chop with braised red cabbage—has inspired Lambert to augment her list with more than 50 Italian wines. So whether it's the Ceretto Barolo 1997, the Antinori Solaia 1990 or the Seghesio Omaggio Sonoma County 1999, Italian vintners and their American brethren have a proponent in Geyserville." Comments from the by Michael Bauer, June 29, 2003 "Geyserville is a place that even in the crush of tourist season feels like the country. And Santi is a restaurant where the chefs continue to turn out some often extraordinary Italian food — roasting young lamb and goats in the spring, throwing chops on the grill in summer and braising fatty cuts in the fall and winter. "The partners change the menu at least five times a year, but you'll always find osso bucco ($21) on the menu because it's so good that customers demand it — even in 100-degree weather. The meat, bathed in a rich veal stock studded with carrots, onions and other vegetables, begins to fall from the bone as the waiter carries the dish to the table. "Pastas also have an authentic ring. The housemade gemelli ($13.75) is simply presented with just enough olive oil, chile and preserved lemon to help flavor the twisted noodles, fava beans, morel mushrooms and scallions cut on the bias. In the ravioli ($13.75), the pasta drapes over the baby artichoke and ricotta filling like a shimmering layer of silk. It's served in a white wine and shallot sauce smoothed with a touch of cream, making the package slip down the throat like a fresh oyster. "Oden and Dunn's touch are evident at every turn and in every detail. Sugar syrup, for example, is always brought to sweeten iced tea. The well-balanced flatware feels good in the hand. Salt and pepper grinders add a savvy touch to each table. If you're willing to drive a few miles off the beaten path - through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Sonoma County - you'll be rewarded by becoming part of the dream. "The wine list of Santi celebrates the best of Sonoma and the best of Italy. "It's little wonder that the impressive 27-item by-the-glass list starts off with 1997 J Sparkling wine ($9.25), in honor of the winery where owners Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn met and both worked as chefs. "Yet from there it includes a Prosecco ($7.50), Muscato d'Asti ($4.50) and even a non-alcoholic sparkling apple juice ($3). "The bottle selections are just as diverse, offering a strong representation of Italian varietal wines produced in the area such as the 2001 Iron Horse Rosato Di Sangiovese ($22), 2002 Seghesio Pinot Grigio ($28), 1999 Ferrari Carano Siena ($48) and the 2001 Preston Barbera ($39). There's even some more unusual blends such as the 2001 Meeker Barberian ($45), a mix of Zinfandel and Barbera. "The Italian list is also well thought out and includes standouts such as 2001 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis ($45) and the 1997 Marchesy Di Gresy Barbaresco ($100)." From the by Melissa Kaman, May 16, 2003 "This Italian restaurant is excuse enough to visit the wine country. Italian-trained chefs Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn take advantage of the abundant products the area offers, resulting in a delicious menu of seasonal, local dishes made with an artisan hand. Homemade pasta, simply grilled or roasted meats, local olive oil tastings, homemade Italian liqueurs -- eating at Santi is a real treat. 4 forks." An Excerpt From by Jeff Cox, March 16, 2003 "Despite the name of the place, patrons neither fast nor pay penance at Santi (Italian for "saints") in Geyserville. This place is all about pure, sensual pleasure... "Any idolatry at Santi should be reserved for organoleptic masterpieces like the duck crepes and tagliatelle arrabbiata. I'll admit that I'm usually not a fan of bean soup because of its pasty texture and obvious flavors, but Santi's cranberry bean soup seduced me into finishing every drop... "Service could hardly have been more professional. My waiter took care to organize things exactly as I asked, and even the busboy was quick to respond to my request to identify the greens in the bean soup. Dishes came out promptly, the food was hot and obviously just off the stove or out of the oven, and finished plates were whisked away as soon as I set them aside... "The wine list is great fun, containing as it does so many Italian as well as California wines. It's rare to find Tom Dehlinger's Estate Pinot Noir on a restaurant menu, but here is the 1999 for $86. Another stellar Pinot is the 1999 Dutton-Goldfield "Freestone Hill Vineyard" for $93. "Less empyrean in price but darn good wine nevertheless is the 1999 Dry Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon for $41. I went Italian, ordering the 1999 Poliziano Montepulciano for $47, and was well pleased by it." _________________________________________________ Santi Takes Three Double Golds at 2002 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Santa Rosa, CA—October, 2002—The judges at the Sonoma County Fair voted unanimous golds to three entries by chefs at Santi. They were Franco Dunn's mouth-watering Piemontese Sausage, Thomas Oden's heavenly Balsamic Vinegar, and George Borkow's perfect Grissini Torensi (bread sticks). But there was more gold (and silver and bronze) in them Geyserville hills. Here's a complete list of the awards: DOUBLE GOLD Grissini Torensi Piemontese Sausage Balsamic Vinegar GOLD Hot Calabrese Sausage with Wild Fennel & Zinfandel Northern Italian Pear & Chile Relish SILVER Luganeca d'Agnello CK Lamb Sausage with Preserved Lemon BRONZE Rigatoni with Calabrese Meat Sauce Pizza Calzone Filled with Ricotta & Cured Meat Santi’s Osso Buco One of “Top 20 Favorite Dishes” says USA Today Geyserville, CA—January 24, 2002—Jerry Shriver, Food and Wine Critic for USA Today, has chosen Santi Restaurant’s osso buco as one of the top 20 dishes of 2001. The dish, Osso Buco di Vitellino Tradizionale, is a Petaluma veal shank, braised with aromatic vegetables, sage, white wine and tomatoes and served with soft polenta and gremolata. When contacted by telephone after the selection was announced in the newspaper, Mr. Shriver said that he wanted to “give a nod to the restaurant. I had a great dining experience there. Really good service. I liked the atmosphere. Actually, the thing I liked most was the cherry liqueur made by one of the chefs—it was outstanding. It would definitely have been included if I’d done a ‘Ten Favorite Drinks’ list.” Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn, co-chefs of Santi, attribute the acclaim for their osso buco to the care they’ve taken with each component. The veal comes from a local dairy, an advantage available only to those living in a dairy environment like Sonoma County. “The polenta is the best in the United States, delivered freshly milled every week to the restaurant,” says Oden. “Like coffee, the longer it sits in the ground state, the more the flavors degrade. I was taught to cook polenta in Bergamo, where polenta is the first solid food that babies eat.” Finally, Dunn says, “We use the classic Italian techniques, especially the slow-braising method that results in the most tender meat.” Santi expects to see more of the USA Today writer. Shriver says that north Sonoma County “is my favorite wine region in the country. I’ve been to most of them and I love that slice of the state.” And chef Dunn will be making that cherry liqueur again very soon.

From the Food & Wine Section by Diane Peterson, April 12, 2006 SPRING-Holiday Lamb the Italian Way

In rustic roasted dish, wine and herbs must be used with restraint to keep delicate flavor

Three years ago, Dino Bugica was vacationing in Northern California when he stopped for a bite to eat at Taverna Santi, a cozy Italian restaurant in downtown Geyserville. Bugica, who had already cooked for seven years in Italy, took one bite of the Trippa alla Fiorentina and decided he wanted to join the Santi kitchen crew, whose proud motto is "Setting Italian Cooking Back 75 Years." Now, the 30-year-old executive chef at Santi spends his days massaging prosciuttos, grinding homemade sausages and creating seasonal dishes like Abbacchio Al Forno, a roast suckling lamb dish traditionally served around Easter in the region outside of Rome. "Fresh, local lamb is what everyone dreams of working with," Bugica said. "This dish is rustic, but it tastes great. It's real. It has soul." At Santi, the lamb from Bellwether Farms in Valley Ford is braised in herbs, white wine, chicken stock and onions until it falls off the bone. When served alongside fava beans or artichokes, it's spring on a plate. "It's one of the reasons I came to work at Santi," Bugica said. "It's something that you do once a year, and then it's gone. You really look forward to it when it comes around." In Italy, sheep are mostly raised in the mountainous north, the highlands of the south and on the craggy islands. You'll find them in the regions of Abruzzi and Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily, said Santi chef emeritus Franco Dunn. "I once worked in a restaurant where they only served lamb," said Dunn, a walking Italian encyclopedia who was one of Santi's founding chefs. Because the flavor of the young lamb is so delicate, the wine and herbs in the roasted dish need be used with restraint. If his chicken stock is too dark, Bugica adds water. It's all about showcasing the flavor of the young, tender lamb. "We don't debone any of it - that keeps the flavor," Bugica said. "They are not a fatty animal, so when you braise them with liquid, it gives them more succulence." Although baby lambs are traditional in this dish, Bugica said home chefs could substitute a spring lamb, which is available from local butchers like Big John's in Healdsburg or Willowside Meats in Santa Rosa. Doug Swett, general manager of Santi since it opened in 2000, bought the restaurant last year but has stayed the course with the restaurant's artisan style of cooking. "The chefs do the handmade, Old World Italian style, with everything from scratch," he said. "We make the pastas, the salumi in different styles, the sausage that we sell at the farmers market, limoncello and even homemade tripe." Since taking the restaurant's reins, however, Swett has introduced some new twists. Live jazz is presented every Sunday night, Italian specials are served on Wednesday nights and the menu changes every two or three weeks. "We like to keep it fresh, and we're focusing more on being creative," he said. "Dino is tireless and throws his heart and soul into it. He wants to be a great chef, and he doesn't take the shortcut." Bugica grew up in Reno, Nev., with Italian parents - his mother hails from Liguria, his father from Sicily - and has been cooking fresh and seasonally from an early age. His family had access to fresh ingredients from his grandfather's ranch and farm. "Every Sunday, they would braise rabbits and pigs, and they made prosciutto and salumi," he said. "For us, ravioli was no big deal. We made raviolis all the time, along with my grandmother's gnocchi." At 18, Bugica's passion for food led him back to Italy, where he eventually met his wife, Sonia, and worked his way through three restaurants, a Dutch chocolate maker and a butcher shop. "You learn a lot in Italy, because you usually work with (just) one person," he said. "Every time I go back to Italy for a visit, I work." Between the wisdom of Dunn and the talent of his chef de cuisine Ari Rosen, Bugica is part of a team that's as authentic as Santi's style of cooking. "They all trained in Italy and had Italian parents," Swett said. "It's painstaking and can be costly to do ... but they really believe in that kind of cooking and in doing it the right way." Every spring, Santi serves this delicate lamb dish using the baby lamb raised by Cindy Callahan of Bellwether Farms. This dish is traditionally made in the Lazio area around Rome, where Italians have been tending sheep for thousands of years. Baby lamb is very tender and delicately flavored, with not much fat, so be careful not to overcook it or overwhelm it with too much garlic or wine. If you don't know a rancher or a farmer with baby lamb, ask your butcher for spring lamb, and serve it with the bone-in for more flavor. If you want, you can add a few cubed baby potatoes to the pan about halfway through the baking.

August 3, 2005 Not Far From Napa, and Closing In By FRANK J. PRIAL HEALDSBURG, Calif.

“…The polar opposite of Cyrus and the surprise of my most recent trip to northern Sonoma was Santi, a rough-and-tumble, red-checkered-tablecloth Italian place in Geyserville, about 10 minutes north of Healdsburg. Behind the unimposing brick facade can be found some of the most heartwarming Italian food outside the North Beach section of San Francisco.

For starters, the simple platter of homemade salamis was superb, but then so were the polenta crepes with roasted corn. Florentine-style beef tripe - trippa alla fiorentina - braised with tomato, fresh basil and chili flakes and topped with Parmesan cheese was my favorite main dish, followed closely, very closely, by the homemade potato gnocchi with green olives, baby leeks and braised rabbit.

Santi is still a bit of a local gem. Wednesday is locals' night, with an old-fashioned special like sausage and peppers or that not-so-Tuscan favorite, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The wines, like Santi itself, are more sophisticated than one might expect.

Healdsburg (all right, Geyserville, too) is where St. Helena and Yountville and Calistoga were in the 1960's and 70's. It is an old town, too, but it manages to convey an infectious sense of adventure, of experimentation that the wine towns to the south no longer have. It's worth another 30 minutes on the road, preferably on Route 128, up through the gorgeous Alexander Valley.”

An Award of Excellence from the

by Ryan Isaac, August 31, 2003

"Paula Lambert, manager and wine buyer at Santi Restaurant in northern Sonoma County, doesn't need to look far for most of the wines on her list—it reads like a compendium of boutique wineries from the surrounding Alexander Valley and nearby Dry Creek Valley. 'We focus on supporting each other,' says Lambert. 'I really enjoy finding these little productions and being able to come forward with wines that no one knows about.'

"Bottlings from local producers such as Bella, Rusina and Scherrer present diners with the chance to sample Zinfandels that may never leave the area. Experimentation is made easier because more than half of the 180 selections cost less than $40 a bottle.

"Santi's Cal-Ital cuisine—with dishes such as risotto with braised Guinea hen, and seared pork chop with braised red cabbage—has inspired Lambert to augment her list with more than 50 Italian wines. So whether it's the Ceretto Barolo 1997, the Antinori Solaia 1990 or the Seghesio Omaggio Sonoma County 1999, Italian vintners and their American brethren have a proponent in Geyserville."

Comments from the by Michael Bauer, June 29, 2003

"Geyserville is a place that even in the crush of tourist season feels like the country. And Santi is a restaurant where the chefs continue to turn out some often extraordinary Italian food — roasting young lamb and goats in the spring, throwing chops on the grill in summer and braising fatty cuts in the fall and winter.

"The partners change the menu at least five times a year, but you'll always find osso bucco ($21) on the menu because it's so good that customers demand it — even in 100-degree weather. The meat, bathed in a rich veal stock studded with carrots, onions and other vegetables, begins to fall from the bone as the waiter carries the dish to the table.

"Pastas also have an authentic ring. The housemade gemelli ($13.75) is simply presented with just enough olive oil, chile and preserved lemon to help flavor the twisted noodles, fava beans, morel mushrooms and scallions cut on the bias. In the ravioli ($13.75), the pasta drapes over the baby artichoke and ricotta filling like a shimmering layer of silk. It's served in a white wine and shallot sauce smoothed with a touch of cream, making the package slip down the throat like a fresh oyster.

"Oden and Dunn's touch are evident at every turn and in every detail. Sugar syrup, for example, is always brought to sweeten iced tea. The well-balanced flatware feels good in the hand. Salt and pepper grinders add a savvy touch to each table. If you're willing to drive a few miles off the beaten path - through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Sonoma County - you'll be rewarded by becoming part of the dream.

"The wine list of Santi celebrates the best of Sonoma and the best of Italy.

"It's little wonder that the impressive 27-item by-the-glass list starts off with 1997 J Sparkling wine ($9.25), in honor of the winery where owners Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn met and both worked as chefs.

"Yet from there it includes a Prosecco ($7.50), Muscato d'Asti ($4.50) and even a non-alcoholic sparkling apple juice ($3).

"The bottle selections are just as diverse, offering a strong representation of Italian varietal wines produced in the area such as the 2001 Iron Horse Rosato Di Sangiovese ($22), 2002 Seghesio Pinot Grigio ($28), 1999 Ferrari Carano Siena ($48) and the 2001 Preston Barbera ($39). There's even some more unusual blends such as the 2001 Meeker Barberian ($45), a mix of Zinfandel and Barbera.

"The Italian list is also well thought out and includes standouts such as 2001 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis ($45) and the 1997 Marchesy Di Gresy Barbaresco ($100)."

From the by Melissa Kaman, May 16, 2003

"This Italian restaurant is excuse enough to visit the wine country. Italian-trained chefs Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn take advantage of the abundant products the area offers, resulting in a delicious menu of seasonal, local dishes made with an artisan hand. Homemade pasta, simply grilled or roasted meats, local olive oil tastings, homemade Italian liqueurs -- eating at Santi is a real treat. 4 forks."

An Excerpt From by Jeff Cox, March 16, 2003

"Despite the name of the place, patrons neither fast nor pay penance at Santi (Italian for "saints") in Geyserville. This place is all about pure, sensual pleasure...

"Any idolatry at Santi should be reserved for organoleptic masterpieces like the duck crepes and tagliatelle arrabbiata. I'll admit that I'm usually not a fan of bean soup because of its pasty texture and obvious flavors, but Santi's cranberry bean soup seduced me into finishing every drop...

"Service could hardly have been more professional. My waiter took care to organize things exactly as I asked, and even the busboy was quick to respond to my request to identify the greens in the bean soup. Dishes came out promptly, the food was hot and obviously just off the stove or out of the oven, and finished plates were whisked away as soon as I set them aside...

"The wine list is great fun, containing as it does so many Italian as well as California wines. It's rare to find Tom Dehlinger's Estate Pinot Noir on a restaurant menu, but here is the 1999 for $86. Another stellar Pinot is the 1999 Dutton-Goldfield "Freestone Hill Vineyard" for $93.

"Less empyrean in price but darn good wine nevertheless is the 1999 Dry Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon for $41. I went Italian, ordering the 1999 Poliziano Montepulciano for $47, and was well pleased by it."

Santi Takes Three Double Golds at 2002 Sonoma County Harvest Fair

Santa Rosa, CA—October, 2002—The judges at the Sonoma County Fair voted unanimous golds to three entries by chefs at Santi. They were Franco Dunn's mouth-watering Piemontese Sausage, Thomas Oden's heavenly Balsamic Vinegar, and George Borkow's perfect Grissini Torensi (bread sticks). But there was more gold (and silver and bronze) in them Geyserville hills. Here's a complete list of the awards:

DOUBLE GOLD Grissini Torensi Piemontese Sausage Balsamic Vinegar GOLD Hot Calabrese Sausage with Wild Fennel & Zinfandel Northern Italian Pear & Chile Relish SILVER Luganeca d'Agnello CK Lamb Sausage with Preserved Lemon BRONZE Rigatoni with Calabrese Meat Sauce Pizza Calzone Filled with Ricotta & Cured Meat

Santi’s Osso Buco One of “Top 20 Favorite Dishes” says USA Today

Geyserville, CA—January 24, 2002—Jerry Shriver, Food and Wine Critic for USA Today, has chosen Santi Restaurant’s osso buco as one of the top 20 dishes of 2001. The dish, Osso Buco di Vitellino Tradizionale, is a Petaluma veal shank, braised with aromatic vegetables, sage, white wine and tomatoes and served with soft polenta and gremolata. When contacted by telephone after the selection was announced in the newspaper, Mr. Shriver said that he wanted to “give a nod to the restaurant. I had a great dining experience there. Really good service. I liked the atmosphere. Actually, the thing I liked most was the cherry liqueur made by one of the chefs—it was outstanding. It would definitely have been included if I’d done a ‘Ten Favorite Drinks’ list.”

Thomas Oden and Franco Dunn, co-chefs of Santi, attribute the acclaim for their osso buco to the care they’ve taken with each component. The veal comes from a local dairy, an advantage available only to those living in a dairy environment like Sonoma County. “The polenta is the best in the United States, delivered freshly milled every week to the restaurant,” says Oden. “Like coffee, the longer it sits in the ground state, the more the flavors degrade. I was taught to cook polenta in Bergamo, where polenta is the first solid food that babies eat.” Finally, Dunn says, “We use the classic Italian techniques, especially the slow-braising method that results in the most tender meat.”

Santi expects to see more of the USA Today writer. Shriver says that north Sonoma County “is my favorite wine region in the country. I’ve been to most of them and I love that slice of the state.” And chef Dunn will be making that cherry liqueur again very soon.