We just stayed there this last week. We had booked on Groupon and after reading the other reviews were worried. We had no problems. They did ask us about having dinner there and we made reservations for the next night and were so glad we did. The food was excellent. It was so nice to have a wonderful dinner then just walk right down the hall to our room. We had excellent service and everyone was so nice. The first night we were there everyone was in the wine bar talking about all the wineries they had visited that day and it was so enjoyable. 

We enjoyed ourselves so much we booked a return trip. The breakfast was wonderful too.

What is olive oil?

Most people don’t realize that olive oil is actually a fruit juice made by mashing or pressing the olive. Olive oil is well known for its distinctive flavor and aroma. In their natural form, olives are very bitter and nearly inedible. To achieve the amazing flavor and taste, olives traditionally are cured in brine or oil.

Are all olive oils the same?

ABSOLUTELY NO. In fact olive oil comes in virgin, extra virgin, pure and light versions. Virgin means that no chemicals were used in the process of extracting the oil from the olive. Extra virgin means that the olive oil has gone through several tests to confirm its taste and to verify that it is free of defects. Light olive oil is a blend of pomace olive oil, which is olive oil that is extracted from the olive using chemicals and heat, and virgin olive oil.

Are all oils fattening, including olive oil?

Extra virgin olive oil contains some of the highest amounts of monounsaturated fats compared to other oils. These fats actually help lower a person’s total cholesterol level and LDL cholesterol level, or bad cholesterol. When olive oil is used in moderation it provides more health benefits than negative health issues. 

Can you use olive oil to deep fry foods?

Even though olive oils has a lower fat content compared to other oils and therefore, a low smoke point, olive oil is an excellent option for deep frying. Even though it would be more expensive than with other oils, it is possible and would add excellent flavor to your foods.

Olive oil versus butter:

Olive oil contains only 33% saturated fat while butter is composed of 66%  saturated fat. Olive oil has no cholesterol, while a serving of butter has 33 mg of cholesterol.

At the Stevenswood Wine Bar, we offer our special selection of unfiltered cold press assorted flavored olive oils. Our selection includes:

1. Tarocco Italian Orange
2. Rosemary
3. Verna Spanish Lemon
4. Key Lime
5. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Here is a chart of the different oils for cooking  and comparison to olive oil

Mendocino Film Festival playing May 31 – June 2

This year’s independent films will screen in the Mendocino village at the Festival Tent (across the Hill House Inn, Mendocino), Matheson Performing Arts Center (Mendocino High School) and additionally, in Fort Bragg (Coast Cinemas), Point Arena (Arena Theater), Willits (Noyo Theatre) and Anderson Valley (Balo Vineyards), 

This year the Mendocino Film Festival’s TAKE 8 KICK-OFF EVENT will be at the MacCallum House on Wednesday, May 22, with dinner beginning at 5:00 pm. Located on Albion Street in Mendocino where dining on Executive Chef Alan Kantor’s delicious meals has become an annual tradition for the Mendocino Film Festival kickoff. Dine in the comfy cafe, have libations at the Grey Whale Bar, or in the dining room. Proceeds benefit the Mendocino Film Festival. Tickets to the Festival’s films will be available for early purchase at the kickoff event. For reservations call 707-937-0289.

Enjoy wine tasting Event & Special Screenings with Jason Wise’s film, SOMM, which is a documentary following four friends quest to pass one of the most difficult and secretive tests on the planet: The Master Sommelier exam. Fewer than 5% have passed the infamous exam in its 40 year history. Wise’s film follows the four across the globe as they prepare for the most difficult challenge of their lives. 

 Mendocino Event: Wine tasting & screening of the film SOMM wine tasting, Saturday, June 1, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm., at Glendeven Inn, 8205 North Highway 1, and in Mendocino on Saturday, June 1 at 8:00 pm., at the Festival Tent, with Goldeneye winery pouring prior to the screening. Tickets $35 wine tasting and film screening ( in advance only; no passes ) or $11 film screening only ( in advance ). Winemakers from Bink Wines, Drew Family Cellars, Knez Winery and Signal Ridge will be pouring their wines. Both the Sommeliers and winemakers will be having fun with their evaluation notes. In addition there will be sweet and savory bites from local purveyors. 

 Anderson Valley: Will also be doing wine tasting & screening of the film SOMM on Sunday, June 2, at 3:00 pm., at the Balo Vineyards, 9001 Highway 128, in Philo, California. Balo Vineyards will pour wine prior to screening. Post-screening tasting reception, Sunday, June 2, at 5:00 pm., at the Madrones, 9000 Highway 128, Philo, California. Tickets $35 wine tasting and film screening ( in advance only; no passes ) or $11 film screening only ( in advance ). Winemakers from Bink Wines, Drew Family Cellars, Knez Winery and Signal Ridge will be pouring their wines. Both the Sommeliers and winemakers will be having fun with their evaluation notes. Attendees get to match their wine sensory evaluation skills for prizes. Food will be provided by The Madrones new restaurant, Barlow, by Chef Patrick Meany. 

Special Invitation: In honor of the Mendocino Film Festival’s first foray into the Anderson Valley, The Madrones Vintners, Balo Vineyards and Goldeneye Winery will be hosting open houses on Sunday, June 2 from noon to 4:00 pm. 

Opening Party: Will be on Friday, May 31 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm., at the Hill House Inn, Mendocino. They will kick-off the 8th Annual Mendocino Film Festival immediately following their first screening at 6:00 pm. in the Festival Tent. This party will bring together Mendocino Film Society Members and our talented filmmakers and industry guests over Blue Angel Vodka cocktails, brews from North Coast Brewing Company and wines from Jeriko, Patianna, Breggo and Roederer Estate. 

TICKETS for this party are not available for purchase. The opening night party is one of the benefits of the Mendocino Film Society membership. 

Click here for the list of the 2013 selected films.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

EMAIL

MAIL
Mendocino Film Festival
P.O. Box 1843 
Mendocino, CA 95460

PHONE
707-937-0171

Stevenswood Spa Resort is only 2 minutes south, of Mendocino. Plan on coming to the coast and enjoy one of our suites, dinner and relax and get pampered in our spa.

For dinner phone 707-937-2810 or online at urban spoon.

For lodging phone 707-937-2810 or online at reservations.

For spa reservations phone 707-937-2810 or online at Indigo Eco-Spa.

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens has a new exciting fundraising event called “My Garden”. This new event is expected to become one of the top fundraiser events here in Mendocino county. Plan on attending this event on Saturday, May 25 at 3:30 pm., Memorial Day Weekend at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens beautiful Perennial Garden.

There will be award winning premium local wines, beers and cocktails offered while you stroll through the beautiful gardens and previewing hand crafted one of a kind items built exclusively for the My Garden event by local Mendocino county craftsmen. In addition to a planned gourmet farm to table dinner for 300 people which will be highlighting the best of what Mendocino county offers, there will be the live auction of the craftsmen items you observed while you strolled the gardens.

Kate Frey

For this first event Kate Frey will be the featured guest speaker. She is a world class garden designer and consultant, specializing in sustainable, bio-diverse, ecological gardens and landscaping. Kate has won the very prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London, receiving a Silver Gift in 2003 and receiving Gold Medals in 2005 and 2007.

She currently directs and teachers at Sonoma State University’s Sustainable Landscape Program with extended education, as well as consulting for various wineries and residence’s around California, such as The Melissa Garden Healdsburg and Lyn Mar Winery in Sebastapol. Kate and her husband Ben, consult and work part time in Saudi Arabia on a small, organic farm near Riyadh for one of the Saudi Princes. For more information about Kate Frey, visit her website at freygardens.com

Contact: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, 18220 North Highway 1, Fort Bragg, California.

Telephone: 707-964-4352. Fax: 707-964-3114. Email: info@gardenbythesea.org.

Stevenswood Spa Resort is only 15 minutes south, of Fort Bragg, and the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Plan on coming to the coast and enjoy one of our suites, dinner and relax and get pampered in our spa.

For dinner phone 707-937-2810 or online at urban spoon.

For lodging phone 707-937-2810 or online at reservations.

For spa reservations phone 707-937-2810 or online at Indigo Eco-Spa.

A Taste of Chocolate, Wine and Ale

Come enjoy an afternoon on Sunday, May 26, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. of exceptional food, chocolate, wine and ale presented by the Mendocino Music Festival and the Mendocino Art Center with all proceeds from this event will be used to support the Mendocino Art Center and the Mendocino Music Festival.

In addition this joint fundraiser consisting of socializing, eating and drinking, will also be a silent auction and a raffle. This collaboration of A Taste of Chocolate, Wine and Ale will feature 12 wineries, 6 breweries, and 14 food purveyors featuring ice cream, fudge truffles, chocolate tarts, jams, sea vegetables, oysters and designer chocolates which all goes good with wine and beer. 

This event will be held at Heider Field in Mendocino form 1:00 – 4:00 pm. The price is $25 online purchase or $30 the day of the event. For additional information call 707-937-4041.

Stevenswood Spa Resort is only 2 minutes south, of Mendocino. Plan on coming to the coast and enjoy one of our suites, dinner and relax and get pampered in our spa.

For dinner phone 707-937-2810 or online at urban spoon.

For lodging phone 707-937-2810 or online at reservations.

For spa reservations phone 707-937-2810 or online at Indigo Eco-Spa.

We would love to make this an annual trip and hopefully wont wait 4 years to do it again!

Bertie M.

San Bruno, CA,   4/22/2013

On a sunny Tuesday at the Evergreen Cemetery in Mendocino, a crowd of about 40 people, including California State Park officials, was paying their respects to an anonymous young man, who was likely a sailor who never received a proper burial when he died, likely from drowning, more than 150 years ago.

The burial plot where the skeletal remains were lowered in a small plywood coffin, has a great view of the coastal town and the bay where it is thought the man perished. As the bagpipes sounded, playing a song written by a Vancouver composer “High Winds and High Waves” as mourners took turns shoveling dirt and redwood that had been saved from the original burial site. Albion stonemason and sculptor Robert Milhollin fashioned the headstone with a wave and a star in a nod to a sailors’ traditional navigational aids. The headstone reads: “Unknown. A Casualty of the Sea, c. 1860.”

This story started when a hiker discovered the burial site on April 21, 1986 on the western outskirts of Mendocino. The bones were intact, all except the hands and feet which was theorized the man drowned because of his missing hands and feet, which is typical in such circumstances. The site also contained 6 brass buttons or snaps for trousers or bib overalls, and porcelain buttons for a collared shirt. 

The bones were sent to Sacramento for further review. But in a mix-up that may have been related to the state’s efforts to identify the remains of Native Americans, Mendocino’s mystery man languished in a Sacramento facility until only a few years ago when there was an inquiry about the bones. 

Emily Carleton, an archeology specialist with state parks who examined the bones, was present for Tuesday’s ceremony. She estimated that the man was in his 20′s and stood about 6 feet tall. She also theorized he was a sailor or logger, based on his skeleton showing he was strong in parts of the body used for pulling or hoisting sails. There was darker sand, that he may have collected as his body lolled about in the surf, also was found where his trousers pockets would have been. Carleton’s analysis showed the man was of Northern European ancestry. 

He may have been among seven crew members aboard the J.S. Cabot who drowned on November 15, 1860 after the vessel struck a rock while trying to get into Mendocino Bay, or he could have been of the five men who rowed out to assist with the rescue and drowned when their boat capsized.

Everything, aside from the $300 price tag for the bagpipe players and the staff time related to the study and transport of the man’s remains, was donated. That includes the plot at the cemetery, which normally goes for $1,400.

R.I.P.

Having lived in the Bay Area for 20 years and visiting Mendocino often, and being a fine arts photographer who has travelled North America and Europe alone; I was pleasantly surprised to find Stevenswood.  Everyone was wonderful from the owners to the helpful housecleaner.  They went out of their way to be kind to me.  The food was very good and the room and view spectacular.  It’s kind of hidden away alone which makes it very quiet.  I would stay again in a heartbeat.

Suzanne H.

Altadena, CA,  4/4/2013