Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria, Geyserville, CA., 11/27/22

building –21021 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville, CA.

Diavola Pizzeria and Salumeria is in an historic building on the main street of Geyserville.  They bill themselves as serving Califorian cuisine with an “Italian state of mine.”  Their regularly changing menu features locally sourced meats, fish and produce.  Chef/Owner Dino Bugica spent 10 years in Italy learning local methods.  They are open daily for lunch and dinner, with a bigger menu at dinner.  It’s a good sized places with 2 interior rooms, the larger one also housing a long bar with seats and the kitchen.  The second room is a good bit smaller but there is also patio seating.   There is a full bar, music in the background, lowered lighting, tin ceiling, wood floors, brick walls and parking is on the street as you can find it.   In addition to the house cured salumi they make Neopolitan style pizza in the wood burning oven.  The bread for their sandwiches comes from a bakery in Healdsburg.  We were there to try the Prime Rib Sandwich which is only available on the lunch menu but got seduced by the oven to order a pizza too.  It’s worth a visit.  The food is great.

 

Set up

sign outside
entrance
interior
to another room
second interior room
kitchen
bar area
Frankie found some art
menu
drinks
wine
wine

 

Food

The Prime Rib Sandwich comes with thinly sliced prime rib, tonnato aioli, onions, giardiniera, salsa verde, Pt. Reyes Toma and horseradish.  It also came with a good portion of chopped salad on the side.  The well-stuffed sandwich was wonderful and plenty for 2, although it did not come cut.  It was so stuffed that some of the meat and cheese dripped out into the salad which made it even tastier.  The marinated cauliflower was almost meatlike and was part of one of the sauces on the beef.  There were a lot of seasonings and some oil on the ingredients that made it pretty drippy, but also full of flavor.  As I mentioned earlier, they did not make the bread it came on but it was great and nicely toasted.  It was really good.

prime rib sandwich
turned
turned
inside
salad

 

The Boscaiolo Pizza was topped with sausage, mushrooms, house-smoked pork belly, peppers, local greens, and creamed onions.  The onions were basically the sauce for the pizza.  There was a generous amount of cheese on the pie and a lovely rise to the edge of the crust.  The fresh mushrooms were thickly cut and added a wonderful amount of flavor as did the sausage.  The pork belly melted into the cheese and onions but added even more fun flavor.  Each table has a bottle of Calabrian Chili oil if you want to add it to the pizza.  It is not too spicy, it just added even more flavor.  This was a great one too.

Boscaiolo Pizza
another angle
closer
closer Calabrian Chili oil
Frankie enjoyed the bathroom arrangement

 

Café Aquatica, Jenner, CA., 7/8/22

building – 10439 Hwy. 1, Jenner, CA, 95450

Café Aquatica is a small place with a counter where one might eat but mostly it’s deck and garden seating outside, all overlooking the water and folks launching canoes.  They serve breakfast and lunch foods in a “coastal American cuisine.”  Featuring lots of local seafood and organic ingredients.  The menu evolves with the owner’s interests.  Currently, the most popular items on the menu are crab rolls, clam chowder and crab and eggs. They have some seasonal specials and coffee.  You order at the inside counter and they give you a buzzer which tells you your food is ready to pick up at another window.    We had a cup of their Pour Over coffee and a crab roll.  It is on a toasted brioche roll filled with Dungeness crab, aioli, celery and arugula which comes with a side of pickles.  The crab was freshly picked on a soft tasty bun with just the right amount of sauce.  A winner.  The pickles were well seasoned and tasty.  It made a fun lunch in a pretty setting. Continue reading