Cittaslow Sebastopol 2013 Open House & Workshop

Over 150 people recently attended this Cittaslow workshop at the Vets Building.  This new group is focused on helping Sebastopol participate in the 'slow city' movement, which started in Italy.  The club supports their efforts for slow food, local farms, and generally, a  gentler, mellower world.  Our 2 club locations are in 2 of only 3 cities in the US that are currently part of Cittaslow - Sonoma Valley, Sebastopol and now Fairfax.

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 At this open house and "workshop", the Cittaslow folks categorized and  prioritized a number of recent suggestions already received from its members.  During the event, attendees could 'vote' by sticking little green labels on the ideas they liked the best.  Categories included 'Home Stay', 'New Business', 'Policy and Culture' and more.  It was a fun event as there were lots of great folks to chat with, and great ideas to choose from! 

Thanks to sponsors including Patisserie Angelica's, Village Bakery,   Joe Mato's Cheese, Fiscalini Cheese, Achadehna Cheese, Redwood Hill Farm.

Mitcho the Great attended the event, donating the flower arrangements from his The Shamanastary in Sebastopol. His herb garden is a wonderful resource for local chefs. He served a fantastic apple/rose/lime water refresher.  Very simple, very nice! Apparently someone also voted for him!

Thanks again so much for the support from Redwood Hill, Achandina and Fiscalini for donating to this event.  Meekk served TONS of these local cheeses along with Rick's soon to be famous Sebastopol sourdough.  To make sourdough, one takes local grapes which already have some wild yeast on the skins. Those grapes are used to make the sourdough 'mother', which can be reused over and over to make more bread.  Like making 'wild yeast wine', these local yeasts strongly influence the flavor of the bread so this is truly "Sebastopol" sourdough.  

Our wine club operates on the principles of Cittaslow.  We buy wine direct from local producers.  We buy cheese direct from local dairies.  We buy produce direct from local farms or farmer's market.  We often pick up wines, foods and more in our own Subaru.  We bake our own breads.  From scratch applies to pretty much everything that gets served - We make hand-made ravioli, pasta, soups, salad dressings, cookies,  tiramisu and desserts and much much more in our 2 kitchens.  We use locally made ice cream from Sebastopol's Screamin Mimi's and gluten-free desserts and Patisserie Angelica's  Mostly, our wine and dine club is laid back, relaxed and meant to encourage slow enjoyment of a night's repast. Cittaslow's principles and ours are well in sync to share the things that take a bit of time, and are worthy of slowing down a bit to enjoy them.

As we often joke, "We are NOT a Restaurant".  Instead, we are a club made up of diverse people who share our passion for great local wine, food, and sharing with friends.