Marin Magazine November 2019

Early eyes on your home.

Features

44 All Locked Up

California is still addicted to prisons.

48 Facing Death

Why do we avoid talking about the end of life?

52 Sustainable Seafood Locally caught food from the sea tastes great and makes better sense for the environment.

In Marin

33 Currents

Save the newts, local elections and more.

36 Fashion

Mix and match for a layered fall look.

38 FYI

California’s new Chief Service Officer.

40 Conversation

Keeping your finances in order with James Demmert.

Destinations

67 Go Escape the cold in one of these five faraway places.

Out & About

73 Calendar

A roundup of things to do in Marin and beyond.

80 Dine An insider’s guide to restaurants and food in the Bay Area.

90 On the Scene

Snapshots from events in Marin and San Francisco.

Marin Home

97 Backstory

A forever home in Tiburon took six years to update.

For our cover image and also the opening of the table of contents, art director Rachel Griffiths worked with photographer Joy Coakley and stylist Stella Kim at Rule & Level Studio to produce these painting-like images.

LENNY

Noche Flamenca’s

Timeless happens here.

Sometimes unplugging can make you feel a whole lot more connected.

PUBLISHER / EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Nikki Wood

Editorial EDITOR

Mimi Towle

MANAGING EDITOR

Daniel Jewett

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Kasia Pawlowska

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Christina Mueller

DIGITAL EDITOR

Jessica Gliddon

COPY EDITOR

Cynthia Rubin

SENIOR WRITER

Jim Wood

FASHION EDITOR Leah-Marie

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Diane Cirincione, Jeanne Cooper, Joe Eskenazi, Maria Finn, Melanie Haiken, Jerry Jampolsky, Kirsten Jones Neff, Dawn Margolis Denberg

Art ART DIRECTOR

Rachel Gr iffiths

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Alex French

ILLUSTRATOR

María Hergueta, Sam Rowe

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Marla Aufmuth, Joy Coakley, Mo DeLong, Lenny Gonzalez, Alfred Yan

Administration / Web

CONTROLLER Maeve Walsh

CHIEF VISIONARY OFFICER

Susan B. Noyes, Founder

Volume 15, Issue 11. Marin Magazine is published in Marin County by Marin Magazine Inc. owned by Make It Better Media LLC. All rights reserved. Copyright©2019. Reproduction of Marin Magazine content is prohibited without the expressed, written consent of Marin Magazine Inc. Unsolicited materials cannot be returned. Marin Magazine reserves the right to refuse to publish any advertisement deemed detrimental to the best interests of the community or that is in questionable taste. Marin Magazine is mailed monthly to homes and businesses in Marin County. Marin (USPS 024-898) is published monthly by Marin Magazine Inc., One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sausalito, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Marin Magazine, One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965.

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For me, the change of personnel (via death, divorce, moving) is felt most deeply as I unpack holiday decorations.

Fest-of-Us

How can we learn to celebrate the passing of loved ones and see it as a positive part of life?

AS NOVEMBER ROLLS in and kicks off he holidays, we are all reminded that it’s a time of appreciating family, friends and community. Unfortunately, we can often lose focus on the part where the holidays are supposed to be fun; instead, we might pile on expectations so high we feel like a human Jenga tower. Or is that just me?

Around the county, there are food drives to make sure local at-risk families have enough to eat, toy drives run by fi refighters and churches, and then there’s the kids. It’s safe to say many humans under the age of 12 are amped up with the prospect of endless sugar, school vacation and presents. However, it’s also a notoriously stressful time for many, especially if it’s the fi rst time going through the holidays without a loved one.

For me, the change of personnel (via death, divorce, moving) is felt most deeply as I unpack holiday decorations. There’s the ceramic mini Starbucks cup that brings back my standing date with Lisa Bacino as we waited to drop off ur girls at Tamalpais Preschool (now they are off o college); the one-legged glass ballet dancer (tape never held); and the elegant handmade beaded bulbs a great-grandmother made for her tree nearly a century ago in San Francisco. And fi nally there’s the pine wreath from Mrs. Z at St. Hilary school. I even have a gorgeous porcelain nativity scene I erect every year in honor of my grandmother, as well as one made out of coconuts and shells from Hawaii, not because I am religious, I’m not, but because it brings back a deep sense of peace and belonging. Basically, every ornament or knickknack connects me to loved ones.

The topic of death surprised me this sum mer at a lovely lunch hosted by my friend Paige Peterson. I usually don’t take the time for lunch on a weekend, but if you get an invite to one of Paige’s, say yes. One time I sat next to Jay Levy and casually learned he had discovered the

AIDS virus, and another time I was seated next to Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who climbed up onto the back of JFK’s car after he had been shot. It’s that kind of table.

At this particular meal, I sat with the Jampolskys, Jerry and Diane, frequent contributors to the magazine, including in a feature in this issue. The topic of dying came up out of the blue, and I squirmed. I didn’t want to mention that my precious dog had died the day before (huge kudos to all at San Rafael’s Pet Emergency, who made the process of letting go so gentle and loving). At lunch, sitting there in the benign beauty of a Belvedere garden, I couldn’t breathe. “This sucks,” I thought, looking for an exit.

However, I got out of my head and listened to Diane tell stories, smiling, about patients she and Jerry had worked with during the AIDS pandemic, how they trained not only the doctors but family members and entire hospital sta ffs to view death without so much fear or judgment. That allowed both the Jampolskys and their dying patients to have peace of mind as their main goal and be open to the soul’s next adven ture. Death is not an ending, Diane emphasized that day at the table; it’s a beginning. Absorbing this perspective, I felt a deep comfort despite our family’s loss of a treasured pet, followed by gratitude for the 12-plus years we’d spent with this creature on the planet together.

I asked the Jampolskys if they would share their experiences and findings with our readers. They agreed, and we settled on the November issue for their story, in honor of the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. And it didn’t hurt that it would also be a nice message for those starting the holiday season without a departed loved one.

As we start this holiday season, let’s all lift a glass and toast those souls who have shaped our lives and are no longer with us — and then let’s make another toast to the Restofus.

Mimi Towle, Editor

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Bay Area events you’ll want to attend

PNOC FOUNDATION GRATITUDE GALA

WHEN WHERE WHY YOU SHOULD GO

November 22; 6 p.m. VIP; 8:30 p.m. general Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley

Attend this fun-filled gala to help push for breakthroughs in the figt against children’s brain cancer made possible by PacificPediatric NeuroOncology Consortium (PNOC) researchers and clinicians. Enjoy a festive VIP cocktail reception, a delicious seasonal-inspired seated dinner, exclusive auction items and dancing to Notorious. $100, VIP $200 323.696.5639, pnocfoundation.org

Friend us to share and view RSVP Hot Ticket photos at facebook.com/marinmagazine

Want to see all the images from our RSVP Hot Ticket events? marinmagazine.com/hotticket

Nonprofits, Charities & Foundations:

Will your assets be robust in 10 years?

It’s a struggle for nonprofits that contribute so much benefit to the world! Your mission is critical, but you cannot stay in business without sustaining your endowment. And a healthy endowment depends not only on the annual donations you receive; it also requires SMART investing to maximize returns and grow your funds year in and year out.

In The Sustainable Endowment, James Demmert shares his deep knowledge of investing on behalf of foundations and nonprofits. You will learn a proven process that has weathered many financial markets over the past decades. The book details 10 principles on how nonprofits can operate successfully to ensure your endowment grows to accomplish your lofty goals.

An engaging breakdown of investment strategies for maximizing security and growth in nonprofit endowments . . . This work employs an earnest, thoughtful tone . . . clear and understandable to those outside the finance world. Even nonprofits with less substantial endowments will benefit from the organizational structures that he suggests. Kirkus Review

WE KICK OFF features this month with a compel ling look at California’s prisons and incarceration rates. Writer Joe Eskenazi asks why it is that with more than 125,000 men and women currently jailed here, this deep-blue state can’t seem to stop locking peo ple up. He also points out that the amount paid to guards is larger than any other category of state salary spending.

We continue with a story that isn’t always people’s fi rst choice of topic: death and dying. But maybe it should be. Writers and Attitudinal Healing founders Jerry Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione discuss how we can move beyond end-of-life fear and anxiety to focus on gratitude for all that life offers.

Finally, a writer with years of experience fi shing in Alaska addresses the matter of why, even though we live right by the Paci fic Ocean and the largest estuary on the West Coast, we stil l fi nd imported, farmed fi sh here. Maria Finn (yes really, Finn) offers tips for fi nding local, sustainable choices — it’s better for the environment and the flavor can’t be beat.

Up front we’ve got stories on what you can fi nd on your local ballot this November, how some locals are saving the newts, and fall fash ion advice. We talk to former Novato mayor Josh Fryday, recently appointed California’s Chief Service O fficer by Gov. Gavin Newsom, about goals for making public service more a part of our lives, and to Tiburon’s James Demmert, whose recent book explores how nonprofits, foundations and individuals can mitigate risk in a volatile economy. And for tantalizing winter escapes, Destinations dishes details on five exotic places far, far away from the cold. Bora Bora, anybody?

It’s a big issue covering a range of topics. We hope you enjoy it and all the year-end activities ahead — whether close to home or off n a tropical paradise.

Daniel Jewett, Managing Editor

SET IT UP For this month’s cover photo celebrating the bounty of local seafood, art director Rachel Griffiths called on photographer Joy Coakley and stylist Stella Kim. They all went to Rule & Level Studio to create the beautiful images you see on the cover and in the table of contents. Our staff loved how the main image looks like a painting. Here is the crew working behind the scenes.

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Contributors

María Hergueta

Illustrator, “All Locked Up” (p. 44)

What did you find most challenging about this assignment? What I enjoy the most about my job is the variety of assignments I get, especially learning from new subjects and topics from the articles and essays I have to illustrate. I knew very little about San Quentin prison before this commission, so I watched some interesting videos I found online. There wasn’t anything particularly challenging about this commission, but it was important to me to emphasize the overcrowding in prisons and be able to reflect the feeling of lack of space in cells.

How did you initially get into illustrating?

I studied fi ne arts and discovered illustration the last year of school. That’s when I realized it could actually be a profession. Since then I’ve been working as a freelance illustrator, working mainly in editorial and books.

Where has your work appeared before? The New York Times, Wired, Vanity Fair and several university magazines and medical journals.

Joe Eskenazi

Writer, “All Locked Up” (p. 44)

What was the most interesting thing you learned from this assignment? While I’d known about the meteoric rise in prison population through the years, I had no idea how extreme it was, even within my own lifetime. Also, Professor Pfa ff ’s revelation that nonviolent drug criminals comprise just 15 percent of the inmate population was a real surprise. Have you visited San Quentin? What strikes you the most about it? I have not. I have always been surprised by the Disney-castle-like architecture of death row. What is the goal here?

Where has your work appeared before? My work has appeared in SF Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco magazine and the London Guardian, among other publications. I am the managing editor and columnist for Mission Local (missionlocal.org).

Writer, “Sustainable Seafood” (p. 52)

What sparked your interest in fishing? After college, I wanted to travel around the world and be a writer, so I thought I’d go work in Alaska in the canneries. The canneries weren’t hiring, so I got a job cooking on fi shing boats and then crewing on an all-female salmon seining crew. My fi rst long, hard, wet day out there, I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” I worked in Alaska for nine years, traveling in the winter months. I came to deeply respect salmon and fell in love with the Paci fic Ocean. This love has shaped my life and writing.

Favorite local fish recipe? I love to cook spot prawns over a fi re at Muir Beach.

Where has your work appeared before? I’m the author of five books, including Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home and The Whole Fish. I’ve written for Sunset Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Saveur, Eating Well, Women’s Health, Gastronomica, Civil Eats, Edible Marin & Wine Country and many others.

Maria Finn

New in Town

EAT & DRINK

Soccarat, the golden crunchy rice that underpins the seafood paella, invokes the Mediterranean at San Rafael’s Revel & Roost Kitchen , located downtown in the former Atalaya spot. The buttermilk fried chicken, artichoke salad and avocado hummus, however, are pure American. revelroostkitchen.com

Sausalito resident Blair Warsham is chef at San Francisco’s Wildseed , the latest entrant in the plantbased restaurant fray. Part of Adriano Paganini’s Back of the House restaurant group (Super Duper Burgers, Uno Dos Tacos), it serves impeccably sourced cocktails, two burgers and a sizable menu of shareable plates (the Belga fries are named for the former restaurant occupant) and entrees. wildseedsf.com

Thanksgiving Brunch

Tree Lighting Celebration

Frozen Holiday Tea

Christmas Brunch

Santa

Princess Elsa

December 25th

6th

December 14th

Tucked into the Red Hill Shopping Center in San Anselmo, Jillie’s Wine Bar opened quietly this summer. Jill Cordova-Holt and Michael Holt’s venture offers wines from Italy, Spain and France by the bottle, a rotating bar list of more than 20 by-the-glass choices from around the globe, and small bites like a cheese and charcuterie board and black truffle potato chips. jillieswine.com

With a built-in bar, integrated lighting and sound, a disco ball and two bubble machines, Hornblower Party Trolley debuted this summer and now redefines “motorized cable car” just in time for the holidays. hornblowercablecars.com

SHOP

The Mill Valley Lumber Yard recently welcomed Mad Dogs & Englishmen , the second location of the Carmel-by-the-Sea favorite from Jennifer Blevins and her British husband, Martin. It offers unique bikes,

New in Town is an ongoing bulletin on new businesses throughout the Bay Area. To be considered for future listings, email christina@marinmagazine.com.

Wildseed

e-bikes, bicycle sidecars, accessories and apparel. Shop dog E.J. is our online dog of the month for November. maddogscarmel.com

Longtime local Cheryl Popp launched Sausalito Books by the Bay on the waterfront, using the same community-centric model as area CSAs to help keep bookstores both local and independent and paper backs available. sausalitobooksbythebay.com

European- and American-sourced sustainable kitchen and garden items, made without a stitch of plastic, are the focus of Sundry, the latest from Kelly Scott, who also owns and curates for The Goods in downtown Mill Valley. sundrymv.com

BEAUTY & WELLNESS

Trained in integrative, Eastern and Western methods, Christina Lisac opened Apricot Forest Chinese Medicine in Mill Valley to help adults and children overcome insomnia and other sleep disorders through acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatments. apricotforest.com

DESIGN

Kim Eagles-Smith recently moved and rebranded his San Francisco gallery to Mill Valley, where he’s lived since 1976. Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery features rotat ing exhibits, represents emerging and established artists, and buys and sells work with an emphasis on modernist, abstract expressionist and Bay Area figurative art. kesfineart.com

Kim EaglesSmith Gallery

The Workroom is a Mill Valley design studio and shop where co-founders Stephanie Thill and Jennifer Tidwell offer a collaborative project workspace and a selection of furniture, custom upholstery, lighting, kitchenware and items for home decor. theworkroommv.com

CONNECT WITH US

TOP GRAM

Our top Instagram post this month is by Nate Rogers, @natethaaaagreat. “Before sunrise, I met up with a few friends at the trailhead. At first light, some of the heavy fog began to lift and revealed a group of elk grazing in the grass next to the trail. I felt it was a great scene to capture and the fog and early morning atmosphere provided a dreamy feel to the moment. This entire hike was stunning all the way to the end but witnessing elk run across the fields showcased how powerful but peaceful they are. It was an unforgettable experience.” Want to see your photo in print? Tag us @marinmagazine with your best snap.

Top Five Online Stories

1 “Tupac Shakur’s Life in Marin” (September 2019) On the 23rd anniversary of his September 13 death, we look at the rapper’s short but meaningful time as a Bay Area resident.

2 What’s Hot: Presidio (September 2019) A neigh borhood just over the bridge offers a plethora of new dining options.

3 “Trial Separation: Trailside Killer” (September 2019) A first-person account by the son of one of the defense attorneys working on the serial killer’s case.

4 New in Town (September 2019) The latest happenings in Marin, including the newest eateries, shops and wellness establishments.

5 Corinthian Island (September 2008) Marin’s tiniest community is a true tale of two cities. (A Corinthian Island resident is in the news after being charged with manslaughter.)

Follow Us on Social Media

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the LOOK

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MOONSTRUCK FINE JEWELRY

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BOSSA NOVAFASHION CONCEPTS:

Our Winter Sale is On! Come by both our Mill Valley and Sonoma stores for deals! Bossa Nova; Inspiring clothing for daily life.

BOSSA NOVA

11 Throckmorton Ave Mill Valley CA 415.888.3595 bossanovaclothing.com

THESIS GEMS & JEWELRY

Bespoke finejewelry offering mine-to-market Colombian emeralds.

THESIS GEMS & JEWELRY 510.556.6443 cate@thesisgems.com thesisgems.com

www.marincf.org 415.464.2507

u so

Their passion is clean water. Their resources are significant. Their giving is through Virtuoso.

The modern alternative to a private foundation.

In

CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE, PLACES AND CAUSES OF THIS UNIQUE COUNTY

STROLLALONG

An interactive family walk at Bothin Marsh.

BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA

WHAT’S BETTER THAN spending time with your loved ones? Doing so while simultane ously being active, learning and enjoying nature — and thanks to a recent powerhouse creative/public partnership, you’ll be able to do just that. Until the start of 2020, peo ple walking the path at Richardson Bay’s Bothin Marsh will be able to read A Stone Sat Still, a new book by award-winning children’s author and illustrator Brendan Wenzel. Enlarged book pages have been posted near the path, beckoning passersby to look, listen and interact with the area while they learn about the stone in the book. And there’s plenty to take in — the 106-acre marsh hosts a wide range of wildlife, including over 400 species of migratory birds traveling on the Paci fic Flyway. The half-mile walk is not strenuous and takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. marincounty.org

Probation Help

In September of this year the County of Marin received a large grant to help expand restorative justice ser vices. Restorative justice helps offenders take responsibility for their wrongdoings, make it right for those hurt or a ffected, and engages the community in helping both the victim and the offender. The program acknowledges that those convicted need healing as well. Another benefit is the possibility of more case resolutions outside of courtrooms. The pro bation department, the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office all collaborated on procuring the three-year $439,515 grant. Research shows that restorative justice reduces recidivism, saves counties money and results in positive out comes for those directly involved. New legislation in California is expanding the role of restorative justice, and the grant will help Marin’s probation department meet the new goals set by the state.

KASIA PAWLOWSKA

Delivery Deconstructed

At the end of a long workday, the last thing many of us want to do is start chopping veggies and preheating the oven. Here are some details about popular delivery services to help you decide what’s best when cooking is out of the question. K.P.

Service CAVIAR DINE IN MARIN DOORDASH POSTMATES UBER EATS

Pros Some restaurants deliver through Caviar only. Easy and unique category sorting options.

No service fees. Phone ordering available. Free delivery with DashPass subscrip tion on orders $15 or more for $9.99 a month.

Restaurant, fast food, grocery and convenience store options. Free deliv ery on orders $15 or more with $9.95 monthly Postmates Unlimited membership.

Restaurant, fast food, grocery and convenience store options. Uber Rewards members can apply credit toward Uber rides or food orders.

Cons Varied delivery fees of up to $8.99, service fees up to 18 percent. Higher order minimum for busy times.

For more

$8.95 phone delivery fee, $6.95 online fee. A 22 percent surcharge for orders from non-partner restaurants.

11 percent service fee.

Small cart fee for orders under $12. Varied service fee, up to 19.99 percent, for non-partner restaurants.

Small $2 fee for orders under $10; 15 percent service fee added to all orders.

trycaviar.com 415.927.9007, dineinmarin.com doordash.com postmates.comubereats.com

*Keep in mind that service fees are used to cover company operating costs and do not replace tips.

Save the Newts

Newts are not only cute, but they’re pretty astonishing creatures. These small sala manders can live up to 20 years, produce a strong toxin — which is only dangerous if they’re ingested — and are even fire resistant: when California newts are close to fire, their skin foams up and crusts over, creating a protective insulation from the flames. While statewide they are not protected, they are considered a “species of special concern,” and local ones are in trouble. Every winter newts migrate from the Chileno Valley hills to Laguna Lake, where they breed, but they have to cross Chileno Valley Road in order to do so. After seeing dozens of dead newts smashed by cars on the road, Chileno Valley residents Sally and Mike Gale decided to act, starting the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade. The group consists of volunteer environmentalists, scientists and North Bay residents who will be helping the newts this season, ferrying them across the road during peak migration time. Similar efforts have been taking place in New York’s Hudson Valley for over 10 years. K.P

NATURE’S CORNER

Be Heard

If you live in Fairfax, Novato or San Anselmo, you have some decision making to do. On November 5 residents will have the opportunity to vote on candidates for local open council seats and local measures, including these below. marincounty.org K.P.

MEASURE E, TIBURON To maintain excellent academic programs and high-quality 21st-century education by attracting and retaining highly qualified, experienced teachers; maintaining and enhancing science, technology, engineering and math for all grades; supporting art, music and library programs; and minimizing class size increases, shall a Reed Union School District measure be adopted renewing the existing $589 annual parcel tax, providing $2.5 million annually, for 12 years, with senior exemptions, 3 percent annual adjustments, no money for administrator salaries and funds staying local?

MEASURE F, FAIRFAX Shall an ordinance be adopted approving an 11-year extension of Fairfax’s special municipal services tax of $195 in the first year and increasing $5 annually to a maximum of $250 for each business occupancy and dwelling unit, raising approximately $711,000 to $912,500 annually, to: keep the local police station open 24/7; maintain/ enhance local fire services and wildfire prevention efforts; fund public works/safety projects; maintain youth/senior programs; and continue the Citizens Oversight Committee?

MEASURE M, SAN ANSELMO To restore and provide ongoing maintenance of 93-year-old Memorial Park, including replacing/repairing fields and play ground equipment for safety, installing drainage, irrigation systems and new restrooms, improving senior accessibility with safe walkways, and providing picnic areas, benches and shade trees, shall the Town of San Anselmo’s measure authorizing an annual tax of $98 per residential unit, with a senior discount, or per 1,500 square feet of nonresidential use, providing approximately $500,000 annually for 30 years, with independent oversight, be adopted?

Winter Trends

Get in touch with your wild side, or take a tamer approach.

BY LEAH-MARIE

ANIMAL

Siviglia coat , $890; Richard hat, $305; Rampante scarf, $230, all at Luisa Spagnoli (Palo Alto) luisaspagnolistanford.com;

Rosalind large link bracelet , $8,900, and Vine photo charm, $4,300, both at Rali Couture (San Francisco) ralicouture.com; Remi Leopard sneaker in tan, $150, at Vionic Shoes (San Rafael) vionicshoes.com;

Gold spangle earrings in tourmaline and gold by J.A. Lindberg, $1,900, made to order at Marin Jewelers Guild (San Rafael) marinjewelersguild.com

STYLIST TIP

Mix and match the latest trends around Époque Évolution’s work-to-out dress. Layer a turtleneck under it to stay warm during winter months.

Work-to-out dress in black, $238, at Époque Évolution (Mill Valley) epoqueevolution.com

PLAID

Double breasted plaid jacket in navy plaid, $430, at Margaret O’Leary (Mill Valley) margaretoleary.com; Burmese sapphire and ruby ring , price upon request, at Sofia Jewelry (Mill Valley) sofiajewelry.com; Bentley bar cuff in blue, $132, at Crash Jewelry (Los Angeles) crashjewelry.com; Lady Maverick boot in black, $295, available at Samuel Hubbard (Mill Valley) samuelhubbard.com

Call to Service

A former Novato mayor is head of a new state volunteering effort aimed at building community and solving problems.

BY KIRSTEN JONES NEFF

NOVATO RESIDENT JOSH Fryday believes public service is the most American and patriotic of endeavors. And as of September 3, the former Novato mayor has a position in Sacramento to help promote that message. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Fryday would become California’s Chief Service O fficer, charged with establishing and promoting community volunteer opportunities across the state.

“In a democracy, you have a responsibility to be engaged and involved at every level,” Fryday says. “If you read the work of our founding fathers, you know that we must go way beyond our current sense of service — voting, jury duty and paying taxes — in order to have a vibrant democracy. Everyone carries responsibility; that is the way democracy works.”

Over the past year, presidential hopefuls have rolled out various service platforms built on the idea that civilian public service is essential to address our most pressing social and environmental problems. These include Pete Buttigieg’s far-reaching New Call to Service, Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 10,000-person Civilian Conservation Corps, and many candidates’ ideas for a national Climate Corps.

In California, Newsom has openly praised and modeled himself after Sargent Shriver, the in fluential ’60s and ’70s politician and founder of the Peace Corps and Head Start as well as other socially minded programs. While running for governor, Newsom spoke of plans to encourage service and volunteerism and thereby make California a national model for civic engagement. Fryday caught the governor’s eye as someone suited to drive this effort, and the new post puts him in charge of California Volunteers, the state office that oversees programs like Americorps, disaster relief groups, and community corporate and nonprofit partnerships.

“Josh is a leader with a lifelong commitment to service and will be an invaluable partner as we work to increase service and volunteerism

in California,” Newsom said in announcing the appointment. Fryday grew up in Marin, aware of how living here came with privileges like a clean environment and good public schools, and he has spent his life actively giving back. As a teen he joined Amigos de las Americas and helped build an aqueduct to bring clean water to a village in the Dominican Republic. After graduating from UC Berkeley, he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Japan and at Guantanamo Bay. Returning to Novato, he joined the city council and became mayor while also working as full-time COO of NextGen Climate and then as president of Golden State Opportunity, a nonprofit assisting low-income Californians.

As Novato mayor, Fryday co-created a program with Dominican University President Mary Marcy that could serve as a template for the Sacramento work. Reimagining Citizenship provides a $100,000 Dominican academic scholarship to qualifying high schoolers who complete two summers of public service with the city. It’s a form of public-private partnership he thinks could be replicated statewide.

“We want to give young people the opportunity to serve, and also the opportunity to further their own careers and their own lives, which is something the military did for generations of Americans,” Fryday says. Since

9/11, he notes, fewer than 1 percent of the population has registered for military service. “I would argue that today individuals feel very disconnected from society and each other. There’s no sense of shared experience, and that is something service has created in our country in the past.”

The Trump administration has tried to cut funding for civil service programs, unsuccessfully pushing in its last three budgets to eliminate Americorps and the Senior Corps. Since the ’90s, when Americorps flourished,

funding shortfalls have left tens of thousands of would-be volunteers unable to serve and needy communities across the country without a program. Here in California, Fryday and Newsom will bolster student-debt-relief stipends for Americorps volunteers and expand it and other program s i nto the most underserved areas. After a month on the job, Fryday says, priorities are becoming clear. “We know we will focus on civic engagement in the Central Valley and other inland communities that have historically been left behind and left without resources.”

Besides overseeing service programs, Fryday will join the Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force led by California former First Lady Maria Shriver. It teams research scientists, business and nonprofit leaders to address issues faced by an aging population (California’s older adults will increase by 64 percent by 2035). The task force “is a perfect example of our [state-level] approach,” Fryday says. “We want to engage citizens i n fi nding solutions to our state’s biggest challenges.” m

Over the past year, presidential hopefuls have rolled out various service platforms built on the idea that civilian public service is essential to address our most pressing social and environmental problems.

James Demmert

With talk of a potential recession coming, what can nonprofits, foundations and individuals do to mitigate risk?

BY KIRSTEN JONES NEFF • PHOTO BY LENNY GONZALEZ

ACCORDING TO THE San Rafael–based Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, Marin County is home to 1,543 nonprofits contributing approximately $950 million to the economy and donating the time of 115,000 volunteers to those in need. Still, even though Marin is one of the most a ffluent counties in the country, the Great Recession of 2008 left one-third of Marin County nonprofits running a deficit, with many still struggling to recover five years later, according to a 2013 CVNL report — over one-quarter of local nonprofits surveyed reported that they did not have a reserve. Small and midsize nonprofits are the most vulnerable of organizations during a recession, struggling to stay a float right when services are needed most.

Now, with whispers of another looming recession swirling, nonprofits and individuals are getting prepared. Thirty-year vetera n fi nancial adviser and Tiburon resident James Demmert specializes in working with nonprofits and is founder and managing partner of Main Street Research investment advisers in Sausalito. He recently published his second book, The Sustainable Endowment, offering investment strategies for nonprofit endowments, and the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce named him 2018–19 Citizen of the Year, citing his fi rm’s philanthropy and his personal dedication to the community. We asked him to comment more about the fi nancial landscape of nonprofits and foundations.

What is the most important thing a nonprofit or foundation can take from your book? New generations don’t remember that in 2008 [many] people lost 50 percent of their wealth. There are a couple chapters about how foundations can miti gate the risk of catastrophic decline. It reminds people that markets go in cycles and every seven or eight years you get horrendous declines. That’s one thing if you’re an individual — not a good thing, of course — but if you’re a foundation and your assets fall 30, 40, 50 percent, a few things go wrong: one, you can’t give as much money away; two, your donors get really upset and typically stop donating; and three, if your value falls and you are still sending money out, your recovery time takes twice as long because your asset base is being nicked away as you try to recover. There is a cataclys mic amount of bad stuff hat happens. I call this the “ugly math” of catastrophic decline. But there are tools you can use to mitigate loss.

What types of alternative investments do you suggest for nonprofits and foundations when the stock market is volatile? Given the potential downside risk in stocks historically, foundations and nonprofits should avoid being in 100 percent stocks at any time. Alternatives such as bonds and real estate investment trusts, as well as defensive stocks (less vulnerable to economic downturns) such as utilities, can protect the assets from being fully exposed to the stock market, while generating positive rates of return. Foundations and nonprofits, like with family wealth, should determine their required rate of return and invest accordingly. This rate of return should be a result of determining annual expenses and withdrawals and the effect of in flation over time.

If your value falls and you are still sending money out, your recovery time takes twice as long because your asset base is being nicked away as you try to recover.

Do you have any specific recommendations for an election year? Historically, election years are positive for stock market returns. However, investors should be careful to not have expectations based on that statistic alone. In our view, the upcoming election year should be viewed through the lens of what’s happening with the global economy and policy makers. The global economy has slowed quite a bit over the last 18 months and many investors and the media fear a recession is in the offi ng — recessions bring about the worst in stock markets: think 2008 (with minus 50 percent losses). However, our research suggests

the odds of a recession are quite low over the next 12 months. Keep in mind that stocks today are pretty much at the same level they were 18 months ago, which reflects quite a bit of the recent slowdown in the economy and corporate profits. Fed policy and the potential for a mitigation of the tariff ar may make

stocks the winner in 2020, particularly companies that can deliver consistent growth, such as technology, health care and consumer staples. We would be wary of long-term bonds as interest rates may rise at some point in the coming election year, and we favor real estate investment trusts with a focus on health care, technology and storage.

By law, foundations are only required to give away 5 percent of their wealth. What is the justification for this low percentage?

Though the 5 percent figure may sound low, we think it is a practical number based on historic fi nancial market returns and [the task of] managing these funds in a prudent manner. Foundations and nonprofits have a fiduciary duty to protect these assets while pursuing risk to grow the assets. We [advisers] also have a simila r fiduciary duty. If you consider that the long-term annual return of stocks is approximately 9 percent, the 5 percent withdraw rate, plus annual administrative expenses and in flation, is attainable without taking undue risk. One of the biggest mistakes we have seen over the past 30 years is a result of endowments or families taking undue risk — particularly having too much stock exposure at the wrong time. All investors should take risk management more seriously to avoid getting hurt in the next inevitable, and highly unpredictable, big drop in stock markets. We do this for foundations and families by being flexible about the allocation to stock exposure, using alternatives such as bonds, and employing risk management

The older generation gives back more. I would like to see younger generations give more.

tools such as stop-loss orders. Stop-loss orders automatically sell securities before declines become catastrophic. By employing these kinds of risk management strategies and tools, investors can be prepared for unexpected and signi ficant risk and sleep well at night.

As someone who works closely with our local nonprofits, how would you say Marinites are doing in terms of giving? I feel like we can do better. We have pockets of underserved areas — like Marin City — that need more attention. People may give back more here in Marin than in other places, but it’s still not enough. The older generation gives back more. I would like to see younger generations give more. There are some parts of Marin where people are maybe too obsessed with what they have and are unwilling to give back. We always try to inspire families who are clients of ours to give back. Try to create a culture and a process of giving back to the community, and you gain the satisfaction of being good community members. We are doing OK, but I think we can do better.

How did you become a financial adviser? I am from upstate New York. I was lucky, my parents sent me to boarding school even though they could barely a fford it, and that got me into a better college. I went to Harvard and when I was there as an economics major, math minor, I decided to do an internship. This was 1985, when internships were unusual, but I chose to do it at an investment fi rm called L.F. Rothschild. That was a life-changing moment. That got me inspired and I worked there for two and a half years while I was still in school. When I got out of college, I already had my licenses, so it was a great head start.

What brought you to the West Coast? It was 1987 when I graduated from college, the year the movie Wall Street was popular. All of my graduating class was going to New York and I said, “I’m going to do something di fferent.” My parents brought me to San Francisco when I was 14 and I thought, “This is so beautiful. When I have my own thing, I’m going to San Francisco.” I arrived here with just a suitcase. m

MILL VALLEY

BY JOE ESKENAZI

LOCKED ALL

NEWS ANALYSIS

ILLUSTRATION BY MARÍA HERGUETA UP

Why deep-blue California, self-styled capital of “the resistance,” is still addicted to prisons.

Quentin, the namesake of San Quentin, was not a saint. But, fittingly enough, he was a prisoner.

In 1824, Quentin (or Quintin), a righthand man of the Coast Miwok Licatuit tribe’s Chief Marin, was taken in battle during a failed revolt against the mission system. He was transported in chains to Mission Dolores, but his incarceration was brief: two years, “at the end of which he was set at liberty, there being no lon ger any doubt the whites could rely on his promises,” Californio honcho Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo told the Marin Journal in December 1874.

The rocky outcropping where Quentin suffered his defeat and capture became known as “Punta de Quintin,” and, later, “Punta de San Quentin.” Why the ersatz canonization? Vallejo politely told the Marin newspaper that Anglos simply thought Latins put “San” in front of every place name.

So it was an odd concatenation of events that led to this land and prison being named after this non-saint. And the oddness continues.

Nearly 200 years after Quentin’s loss on the battlefield, the prison named after him and built atop the land where he surrendered

his freedom houses more than 4,000 inmates in a facility designed to hold only 3,000. Up and down this state, more than 125,000 men and women are incarcerated — just a shade fewer than all the prisoners incarcerated in France and Germany, which together have four times California’s population.

QCalifornia, self-styled capital of the resistance, is still locking people up at an alarming rate. Even lifelong state residents may be shocked to learn that between 1976 and 2006, our prison population skyrocketed from a shade over 21,000 to roughly 173,000. And while the state’s prison population is now declining, it’s still orders of magnitude higher than in the not-too-distant past (when law-and-order Republicans were politically relevant and actually ascendant — yet even then we locked up far fewer people).

California’s decadelong inmate popu lation decline, incidentally, came only after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 affirmed that conditions in the state’s overcrowded prisons were so bad it constituted “cruel and unusual punishment,” with an inmate “dying needlessly every six or seven days.”

Cruel and unusual or not, our prisons are certainly costly. Twenty-one have been built

since 1985 alone; decommissioning any of them remains a political pipe dream. This summer, our (Democratic) Legislature and (Democratic) governor handily approved a new contract awarding our state’s prison guards a raise. That added an estimated $195 million to the $5.7 billion this state was already putting into guard salaries — far and away the highest category of state salary spending.

The raise was approved 34–4 in the Senate and 75–0 in the Assembly. Democrats hold 90 of the 120 seats. A California Legislative Analyst report bluntly stated there was “no evident justification” for this raise.

“Most public-sector unions are pretty steadily Democratic,” notes Joshua Page, a University of Minnesota sociology professor and author of The Toughest Beat, a pioneer ing analysis of California’s prison guard union. “But the CCPOA is bipartisan. They’re perfectly happy to prop up Democrats or Republicans. Or take them out.”

In 2011, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association infamously posted a video on its website boasting that “of the 107 candidates endorsed by CCPOA this election, 104 were victorious.” (Following media scrutiny, the CCPOA took that video down.)

The California prison guard union, inci dentally, was born in Marin at San Quentin. That was in 1957, and according to Page, the guards were disgusted that an obit for a colleague who’d killed himself noted that he had earned less than the guppy keepers at San Francisco’s Steinhart Aquarium. In 1957, fewer than 17,000 men and women were incarcerated in California, and the nationwide total of 195,000 prisoners was only slightly higher than the tally would be in California alone several generations later.

Both Page and John Pfaff, a Fordham University law professor and author of Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform , say the role of prison guard unions in the nation’s imprisonment of some 2.3 million Americans has been overstated. (Not in California, however.

They really are that powerful here, as have been the victim’s rights groups they founded and funded.)

Page sees the relationship between the guard union and California’s mass incarcer ation as symbiotic, rather than a situation in which the former triggered the latter. “The CCPOA really gained their power in the mid-1990s,” he says. “But what we think of as mass incarceration started taking off in the ’80s.” Between 1982 and 1992, the union’s membership roughly tripled, from 5,000 to 15,000. By 2002, that number had doubled again, to some 30,000. It’s now closer to 40,000. “They were right there when some of the most important legislation came around,” Page says. “As the tough-oncrime regime was taking off, they really helped solidify it.”

And, lately, entrench it.

In many ways, California’s drive to mass incarceration — and cruelly and unusually crowded prisons — mirrored the nation’s. But, this being California, we did it bigger.

To start with, the rise in America’s prison population coincided with a rise in crime. The nation’s current crime levels are dwarfed by those of the 1970s and ’80s — but, in turn, dwarf those of earlier decades. And yet, Pfaffpoints out, incarceration lev els shot to in fi nity and beyond in the 1990s, even as crime began to decline.

Why? Partly because Americans react to crime and punishment on an emotional rather than a wholly rational level. For decades, no politician su ffered for espous ing a tough-on-crime message. And in California, with our well-oiled direct dem ocratic system, we got to vote on a lot of it.

As such, in 1994 we approved Proposition 184, our “three strikes” law. And in case

you’re wondering, there is no scientific reason why a third felony ought to trigger a lengthy sentence. “They literally thought it was catchy because of the baseball anal ogy,” Page says. (In our national pastime’s primordial days, it actually required four strikes to register an out; had that rule stuck, the ramifications on the criminal justice system could’ve been signi ficant.)

Prior to a 2012 ballot proposition, that third strike — triggering a mandatory term of at least 25 years — needn’t even have been a violent felony. California’s was one of the harshest three-strikes laws in America; UC Berkeley law professor Franklin Zimring estimates our state was responsible for more than 90 percent of three-strikes sentences nationwide.

The “tough on crime” attitude extends to the death penalty as well. After a failed effort by voters to abolish the death penalty in 2016, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on it in March, citing its high cost among other factors. But the ques tion remains open: the California Supreme Court has refused to block capital cases, and San Quentin’s death house may yet be reassembled under a future administration.

So, we voted for all that. And we voted for district attorneys who prosecuted more and more cases as felonies. California DAs became immensely more powerful when “determinant” sentencing became state law in 1977. Open-ended sentences (indetermi nate sentences with no fixed time spelled out) were largely curtailed, and prosecutors, rather than judges, were essentially given control of sentencing decisions — right in the midst of a national crime wave.

“That put a ton of power in the hands of prosecutors,” Page says. “They could use

severe sentencing laws to hammer people and get plea bargains.” And 19 out of 20 criminal cases are handled via plea bargains.

The pendulum has only begun to swing the other way. But it’s not swinging com mensurately hard. Proposition 47 in 2014 reclassified nonviolent property crimes as misdemeanors, and California has, for all intents and purposes, legalized mari juana, but as Pfaffhas written extensively, undoing the misbegotten legacy of the drug war, while potentially meritorious, will not make much of a dent in the prison population totals.

You might be surprised to learn that only around 15 percent of America’s prisoners are doing time for a drug rap; polls reveal Americans guess it’s closer to 50 percent.

A full 25 percent of American inmates, however, are in for murder, sexual assault or manslaughter. Around 55 percent, Pfaffhas found, are imprisoned for violent crimes.

And this is where the story of Quentin — the man, not the prison —  may be illus trative. He was imprisoned for the violent crime of taking up arms in an insurrection. But he was, for good or ill, rehabilitated. He was released after a sane amount of time served. He subsequently earned a living sailing General Vallejo’s barge from Sonoma to Yerba Buena, later known as San Francisco.

No real solution to prison overcrowding can be accomplished merely by ushering out nonviolent and/or drug criminals. At some point, Pfaff notes, you’re going to have to take a different approach to violent crime and violent felons. And that’s a politically fraught thing to do. Even in a state where the Democratically controlled Legislature didn’t just vote by a 109–4 count to give the prison guards raises without any “evident justi fication.” As this one did.

“In a general sense, we’re very support ive of criminal justice reform,” says San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the four lawmakers to vote against the guards’ raises. “But when we get to speci fic propos als” — and with this, he sighs — “the politics get very hard.” m

Up and down this state, more than 125,000 men and women are incarcerated — just a shade fewer than all the prisoners incarcerated in France and Germany, which together have four times California’s population.

Facing Death

LOCAL AUTHORS AND ATTITUDINAL HEALING CO-FOUNDERS ASK WHY DO WE SO OFTEN AVOID THINKING AND TALKING ABOUT THE END OF LIFE?

BY JERRY JAMPOLSKY AND DIANE CIRINCIONE ILLUSTRATION BY SAM ROWE

We all know that we are going to die someday, but unlike Bill, few of us consciously think about dying, and often we avoid talking about it or planning for it. Why is that? What are we afraid of?

There is an underlying fear shared by many of the whole subject of death. We may not even recognize our own avoid ance until someone close to us is sick and possibly facing his or her own death. When someone we love dies or when we are close to death ourselves, it’s normal to have all the feel ings associated with fear of loss. Underlying that fear, and actually all fears, is the fear of separation from something or from someone.

Think about it. When you are feeling fear for any reason, ask yourself the simple question, “Who or what am I afraid of being separated from?” Your answer could help you begin a process of alleviating the paralysis of fear and replacing it with a clearer, honest view of what you are really facing and feeling. It could be loss of fi nancial security, loss of a loved one, loss of a job — all fears of such events are rooted in that fear of separation.

DISCUSSING

It is our experience that even those with strong religious beliefs, ideas meant to prepare us to face the end of life, an afterlife or even reincarnation, can find it difficult to talk about death. Many who are not religious but consider them selves spiritual also find ways to sidestep the topic. Agnostics are not sure there is anything after death and atheists are quite positive there is nothing — that death is the end of the line. With all the myriad beliefs about the afterlife or lack thereof, the only thing everyone can agree upon is that you have to die to get there.

It’s noteworthy how rarely death is talked about in our homes and in our communities. The subject touches us on emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual and metaphysi cal levels. Because many of us have fears about dying, we often treat it as taboo for discussions.

And yet: at a recent luncheon for 12 on the Belvedere Lagoon, one guest offered the following question for

consideration: “What are your thoughts about death?” Not surprisingly, each well-pondered response di ffered from the others. Some of the guests may have been surprised by their own answers, but all seemed to feel positively about the fact that the subject was brought up.

PLANNING

Some people evade the subject of their own death by not having a will or trust nor financial and medical directives to follow if they are incapacitated or die. We decided to use LegalZoom. com as an economical and efficient way to handle our a ffairs. Most of us have heard someone say, “After I die, I don’t care. Let everyone else deal with it.” That may sound hostile or unfeeling toward the survivors, but deep down such remarks generally spring from fear and avoidance, an unresolved rela tionship with one’s own mortality.

“As a boy, I remember vividly, I saw that my parents feared death and suffered greatly from this their entire lives. While leaving a funeral, my father would always wash his hands with a hose at the cemetery. When I asked why he did that, he shared his belief that washing his hands would prevent him from being the next one to die. I picked up some of my parents’ fears, which lasted until 1975. It was then that I was guided to start the first Center for Attitudinal Healing, in Tiburon, for children facing critical, life-threatening illnesses, realizing that I still carried a lot of fear about my own death My work with these children, who were facing death head-on, helped me t o  recognize and to heal my own fear and to prepare me to die in peace. I will always be grateful to them.” — Jerry

“In a head-on approach to the reality of living and dying, my amazing mother, Phyllis Cirincione Girard, initiated what is affectionately known in our family as The List. Whenever any of us visited her in the decades before she passed, she would take note of a comment about any item in her home and invariably say, “Put it on The List. You

A man named Bill once told us that every single morning when he opened his newspaper, the first place he looked was the obitu aries. We assumed he was wondering whether someone he knew had passed, but he quickly corrected us. “Oh no! I read the obits every day just to be sure that my name is not there!”

may not get it in the end, but at least I will know to consider you because you like it.” In our hearts we never wanted her to die, so we joked with and cajoled with her for years about her list. After a decade or so, she gradually wore us down and we participated. I can remember her saying that she did not want her kids to fight over a saltshaker and that she would name the destination of everything she owned before she died. Well, let me tell you, as her execu tor, what a favor she did for us all. In her own caring way, our beloved mother prepared each of us for her death and gave us much to consider about our own. Her transition at 94 was beautiful and filled with peace and connectedness, surrounded by all who loved her.” — Diane

LETTING GO

Our work in Attitudinal Healing, which began in 1975, demonstrates the many benefits we experience when we let go of the judgments we’ve made about our selves and others, often because of our unhealed relationships. Forgiveness plays an essential role in our ability to experience peace of mind and, clearly, it is peace of mind that we want when we are dying.

KNOWING

One woman we remember well had stage 4 cancer and was told by her doctor in June that she had only two or three months to live. The woman said ,  “This isn’t possible. My daughter is getting married at Christmastime and I am going to attend her wedding.” As it turned out ,  shortly thereaf ter, her physician died of a coronary, but the woman lived to see her daughter married.

CHOOSING

There is something quite poignant about entering the last decades of our lives. There is a renewed sense of time, and whereas we cavalierly crossed offthe seemingly endless days from our calendars in the past, the current days become more and more precious. It often seems that somewhere along the way we come to a fork in the road of choices on how we are going to live the rest of our lives.

FEW OF US CONSCIOUSLY THINK ABOUT DYING, AND OFTEN WE AVOID

TALKING ABOUT IT OR PLANNING FOR IT. WHY

IS THAT? WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?

Some people have some foresight regarding their destiny with death. Eleven-year-old Paul Johansen was in the hos pital very close to death from advanced cancer and he hadn’t eaten in several days. He suddenly woke up and asked for a Big Mac and then shared his dream. He was talking to God and asked if he could stay here a littler longer because he wanted to help other people who were facing death like he was. God said that it could be arranged.

His energy and appetite returned and he truly felt that he had good reason to be alive a little longer. Not long thereaf ter, 60 Minutes was doing a segment on our fi rst Center for Attitudinal Healing and they decided to feature Paul and another boy, Tony Bottarini. The result was that millions of viewers, both inside and outside the U.S., were inspired by Paul and Tony’s desire to be helpful to others. Paul’s legacy was the message that as long as he was alive, it was his job to be helpful and loving to others.

Indeed, it seems our attitudes can change everything and even possibly impact how long we live. Motivation inspiring the will to live can oftentimes be beyond measure.

One choice follows our fears of stag nation, of being diminished physically, emotionally, mentally and, consequently, spiritually. As we experience loss and being “less than,” our fears can culmi nate in not only the fear of death, but the paralyzing fear of the experience of dying. Thus, we often close our hearts like a for tress to secure against further loss and to protect what we do have.

The other choice is cultivating a renewed sense of gratitude for all that life has offered on the journey of learning and there fore growing past our perceived limitations. We have stopped holding on to grievances, suspended judgments on others, and striven to forgive all that holds us negatively to the past. This frees us to live fully in love and appreciation in the present. We have a more contented sense of self, all the while remaining open to how we can be helpful to and acknowledging of others as well as the generations that follow us.

As our number of days inevitably grows shorter, it feels like going with the latter choice — to forgive unconditionally, to be grateful for everything, to love fully, and to be truly present wherever we are — truly serves us well. m

Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., and Diane V. CirincioneJampolsky, Ph.D., are co-founders of Attitudinal Healing International (ahinternational.org), which has centers in 31 countries on six continents. They are co-authors of numer ous bestsellers, including A Mini Course for Life, Love Is the Answer, and Change Your Mind — Change Your Life

Locally caught seafood is not just the environmentally friendly choice; it tastes better too.

SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD

{By Maria Finn • Photos by Marla Aufmuth}

Marin County is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, with its nutrient-rich, cold-water upwellings, and the San Francisco Bay, the biggest estuary on the West Coast. We should be a seafood-savvy region, but walk into many restaurants or grocery stores and you’re likely to find farmed salmon from Chile or Scotland, shrimp and tila pia from Asia or other imported seafoods of quality far inferior to what we harvest in our own backyard.

Imported seafood is cheaper and farmed seafood is reliably available year-round, whereas many of our local, wild species are seasonal. You may pay more for the qual ity: our fishermen and women often live in Marin and elsewhere in the Bay Area, so their living and operating costs are higher than in countries that rely on cheap or slave labor to produce seafood.

The West Coast of the United States sets standards in sustainable practices that the rest of the world would do well to emulate. Our fi shermen and women are limited in when and where they take fish and how much they are allowed to catch. They collaborate with sci entists and environmental groups to keep our waterways healthy. Many other nations often have very low or no environmental standards — some places still dynamite fi sh and chase tuna with helicopters and drop bombs on them. With no observers on board, the bycatch, or species unintentionally caught and discarded — includ ing whales, turtles and seabirds — is estimated to be 43 billion pounds a year globally. That’s far less of a problem with most fi sheries here.

Local fishermen and women use gear like hook-and-line or baited traps, they fi sh in des ignated areas, and some have observers on board to monitor bycatch. By eating local sea food, we not only eat sustainably and help the ocean, but also support our local fishermen and women, who in turn spend their money in our community. We also get the pleasure of eating the freshest, highest-quality seafood available

while enjoying a visceral connection to our natural world. Here are simple routes to doing just that.

owner of Fradelizio’s, Paul, drives to Bolinas and buys straight from the boats. He gets a good price and his customers get a great product.”

HEED THE SEASON

GO LOCAL

Ask your server or fi shmonger, “What’s local?”

If they know the name of the fishing vessel it came from, even better. Nick Krieger, who lives in Strawberry, grew up in Bolinas and

While everyone in Marin knows when aspar agus season ends and tomato season begins, there’s a lot less known about the best times for sand dabs and salmon. And while “organic” tells you something about your produce and “pasture raised” about your eggs, those labels don’t apply to seafood. If it’s in the middle of the winter and there’s no wild king salmon, order local black cod instead — it’s richly deli cious and has even more omega-3 than salmon. “Pick a few local favorites and learn the seasons and origin,” advises Kelly Collins Geiser, who heads Slow Food San Francisco and organized Slow Fish there a few years back. “Halibut and salmon in the summer, crab in the winter, and lingcod spring through fall. If it’s not local, make sure it’s domestic and buy frozen.” Her home in Petaluma is a pickup site for the Gypsy

It takes three pounds of ocean forage fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon, and 22 pounds of ocean fish to produce one pound of tuna.

in summer still teaches at a surf camp there when he’s not running his salmon sport fi shing charter company or heading offshore to com mercially pot-fi sh for black cod or Dungeness crab. With pot fishing (using a baited trap) rather than using nets or hooks, there’s virtu ally no bycatch. “Most of what I catch goes to Scoma’s and Fish Restaurant in Sausalito and the Coast Cafe in Bolinas,” he says. “This year the halibut bite in the San Francisco Bay and king salmon catches out offDuxbury Reef have been so strong that the prices are low and fi sh plentiful. Restaurants that don’t sell local sea food are really just lazy,” he adds. He also likes Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes and Fradelizio’s Ristorante in Fairfax for local seafood. “The

Fish Company, founded by Christopher Wang, a California fisherman who travels to Bristol Bay each summer to catch sockeye salmon, which he cuts into dinner-size portions, freezes immediately, and then delivers to drop sites throughout the year. “Frozen is often more fresh than fresh,” Collins Geiser notes. The process of freezing keeps the fish intact and healthy, whereas a “fresh” fish, local or not, may spend three to seven days at the bottom of a boat, one to three days in a warehouse, one day in transport, and one to four days in a mar ket or restaurant. By the time you get it, it’s not so fresh anymore. “This is why buying directly from the fi sher and understanding the seasons makes everything more delicious,” she adds.

THINK SMALL

Little fish like herring, mackerel, anchovies and herring are sustainable choices because they’re low on the food chain. By contrast, the farmed tuna or salmon that consume these little fi sh have a high conversion rate: it takes three pounds of ocean forage fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon, and 22 pounds of ocean fish to produce one pound of tuna. Smaller fish are also full of omega-3s and low in mercury and PCBs. Yet even though her ring and anchovies live in the bay and smelt are along the coast, these aren’t always easy to fi nd in stores and restaurants. Kirk Lombard, aka Sea Forager, leads tours teaching people how to harvest local seafood, has written a book on the subject and stocks CSF (community supported fishery) pickup boxes with local choices around the Bay area (including at the New Village School in Sausalito). He sings the praises of the night smelt and surf smelt: “These you might see in a restaurant as ‘fries with eyes.’ But, Americans really don’t eat small fi sh,” he adds. “They want a big piece of protein with no bones. If this was Denmark, when the herring arrive each winter, they wouldn’t call it January, but rather, ‘herring time.’ ” But while Bay Area fish ermen “catch herring by the tons, there’s only one buyer in the area, and he sends them to the Central Valley to get processed and shipped to Japan. There’s just not a system to get them to local chefs.” He recommends catching your own fresh herring in the bay — follow him on twitter @seaforager to learn when — and buying live anchovies behind Scoma’s in S.F. at Pier 47: get the small scoop for $20 cash and fry them up for dinner or preserve them in salt and lemon. The Herring Festival in Sausalito, held every win ter to raise funds for the Sausalito Community Boating Center, is another place to sample little fi sh.

GET REGENERATIVE

Regenerative foods aren’t just sustainable; they improve the habitat where they’re produced. Oysters, clams and mussels, for example, filter

A GREAT CATCH

{ wild seafood }

YEAR ROUND

Rockfis

Petrale Sole Black Cod Sand Dabs

SPRING TO EARLY FALL

Lingcod California Halibut

Anchovies May through October {S.F. Bay}

Market Squid April through October {Monterey Bay}

Spot Prawns Early spring and fall

Coon-Striped Shrimp May through October

SUMMER TO FALL

King Salmon May through October

Albacore Tuna June/July through October

White Seabass June to October

FALL TO WINTER Dungeness Crab November through April

Herring –December through March {S.F. Bay}

Mackerel December through March {Coast}

{ farmed }

OYSTERS, MUSSELS, CLAMS

These are available year round, though sometimes winter rains will shut down harvest for a few weeks. The adage that oysters are only good during months with an “R” in them comes from a time when there was no refrigeration. If you keep them cool, they do fine. During summer spawning season you may find a milky liquid inside

ABALONE

There are abalone farms in Central California that have the shellfish ear round. Wild abalone are no longer available for recreational harvesting due to low North Coast numbers.

TROUT

Trout are freshwater fish that ae cultivated inland and available year-round.

out naturally occurring algae so that sunlight reaches the bottom of the bays where eelgrass grows. That’s habitat for crab, herring and other creatures. Hog Island Oyster Co. in Tomales Bay has been working with UC Davis Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory to monitor acid levels and temperature changes in Tomales Bay and with UCSC scientists to plant and monitor seagrass that pulls carbon out of bay water, making it slightly less acidic. In 2018, the owners of Salt Point Seaweed launched a pilot program with Hog Island Oyster Farm to collaborate on cul tivating culinary seaweed among the shellfish beds, which might also sequester carbon and mitigate acidification. “Our strategy has always been to minimize our impact,” Hog Island coowner Terry Sawyer adds. “Oysters require virtually no inputs like fertilizer and fresh water to start with. We want to study and understand our impacts and improve every year.”

DIVERSITY

Try something new. Uni from purple sea urchin, shortspine thornyhead, coon-striped shrimp, McFarland Springs trout, smoked mus sels — there are many more fi sh in the sea than we see on most menus. If you check the specials board at Fish restaurant in Sausalito, you might well fi nd salmon roe on snap pea salads or fi sh skin chicharrones dusted with fennel pollen. Executive chef Douglas Bernstein has tips for getting seafood into a diet in creative ways: “Roast or char fish bones, like black cod, and make a broth out of it for dashi. Use seaweeds in your salads for ocean minerals. Sand dabs are great — pan-sear them until they are crispy and they come right offthe bone. Serve them over farro salad with almonds and fresh herbs and winter squash and fi nish with lemon and pick led onion.” And local wholesaler TwoXSea now sells sustainably farmed McFarland Springs trout, which have an algae-based diet so no fish are taken from the ocean to feed them.

With so many choices and industry pioneers in our midst, it’s easier than ever to feed ourselves and our community in sustainable ways. m

2019

RESTAURANT PROFILES

Kitchen Tips

November to December, high season for parties and get-togethers, calls for a lot of cooking. We asked some of our partner chefs and restaurant people, whose profiles appear in the following pages, how they rise to the occasion, whether it’s a quick meal at home or a last-minute fete.

Joseph Offner, executive chef at The Trident/Ondine Events A good meal always starts with quality ingredients. Build a relationship with your butcher and fishmonger and they will give you the best cuts and freshest fish. Second, use brines and marinades. They impart flavors and improve the tenderness of the final product.

Luis Martinez, chef at Vin Antico

When I cook at home, I make extra caramelized onions to have on hand for the week. It’s perfect for adding to sandwiches, omelets, pasta or pizza. They are an easy way to enhance the flavor of a simple weeknight meal

Julian Colli, chef at Piazza D’Angelo

It’s always a good idea to think ahead on what sort of pasta shapes to pair with your sauces. For instance, pappardelle or a thin flat pasta is great with ragus and Bolognese so you can have enough pasta for the sauce. Spaghetti is great with carbonara, as it doesn’t overpower the sauce and dry it out.

Roland Passot, chef at Left Bank Brasserie

Get a great chicken at the farmers market from Mark at Devil’s Gulch. Add a bunch of thyme and some garlic, salt and pepper to the chicken’s cavity. Lift the skin from the back of the breast and rub with butter and some minced fresh herbs. Make a bed of roughly chopped turnips, parsnips, carrot and rutabaga. Roast at 375°F for an hour or until the juices run clear. Let the bird rest for a few minutes while you open a bottle of pinot noir. Serve with a salad or mashed potatoes. Then serve cheese!

Daniel Tellez, executive chef, Copita Tequileria y Comida When making fresh masa for tamales, add a pinch of baking soda to the masa. It makes them fluffy instead of dense

Donna Seymour, owner at Cucina SA

A quick and easy tip for making a great entree on short notice: get a beautiful piece of fish like a side of salmon or halibut and turn the oven up hot, hot, hot. Roast the fish until it’s almost cooked through. Remove

the fish from the oven and coat with a crust of panko breadcrumbs, spices, salt and pepper. Then finish in the oven until golden. Serve with lemon wedges.

Erin Miwa, co-owner at Comforts Around holiday time when friends visit or we want something easy, I’ll make a familystyle chirashi sushi and bring home some store-bought roast chicken to accompany it. Chirashi sushi is mixed vegetable, egg and whatever leftovers you want to add to it.

José Carillo, chef at Boo Koo We rarely throw away produce, as we use the ends and stalks to make our vegetable broth and utilize the stalks of herbs to juice them for our salad dressings and marinades. The easiest and most flavorful way to drop fat content in sautéing is to replace at least 50 percent of typically used oils with vegetable broths and herbal juiced infusions

Gave Charpentier, executive chef/partner at Bungalow 44 In my house I make the pies. I make extra pie dough and make

potpies with the leftovers. A turkey dinner has everything you need for potpie: turkey, gravy, veggies and mashed potatoes for the top. Bake at 350°F until the potatoes are light brown. You can even add a touch of cranberries.

Be n B alesteri, executive chef at Poggio  White truffles make everything better. With a little butter, it’s the perfect pairing for fresh pasta. Look for a firm white truffle with no blemishes and a strong aroma. With a truffle shaver from Williams Sonoma, shave as thin as possible just before serving

Reggie Hunter, chef at Cafe del Soul

I often have a batch of cooked apples on hand, as it makes a great topping on a dessert or bowl of oatmeal, or a stand-alone treat that feels like a hug on a cold night.

I simply cut up a couple apples and sauté them in butter until they start to soften. You can add sugar, but I opt to let the apples’ natural sweetness shine with a little sprinkle of cinnamon

The Trident

558 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 415.331.3232, thetrident.net

JOSEPH OFFNER AND RICHARD ENOS

Executive Chef and General Manager

The Trident has a rich history as an entertainment venue and fun dining location on the Sausalito Waterfront since 1966 when originally opened by The Kingston Trio. Today the Trident continues to offer a varied, satisfying and creative menu featuring the best of seasonal local, organic, and sustainably produced ingredients that Chef Joseph O ff ner curates with a focus on unami and globa l flavors.

Long-time Marin resident and restauranteur, Rick Enos, manages the operation which includes Events Ondine, a private dining, meeting, and entertainment venue located above The Trident, boasting breathtaking panoramic views of The City, Angel Island, Alcatraz, and the Bay Bridge. Whether guests are looking for a relaxing lunch, weekday Happy Hour cocktails and appetizers, or dinner set against the glittering San Francisco skyline, The Trident is FUN dining with elevated food, beverage, and service, in a space that is original and unique.

Copita Tequileria y Comida 739 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 415.331.7400, copitarestaurant.com

RESTAURANT PROFILES

JOANNE WEIR AND DANIEL TELLEZ

Chef and Executive Chef

At Copita, Tellez offers inspiration from his own Mexico City roots to provide an authentic Mexican menu featuring the traditiona l flavors and spices of Mexico and utilizing modern techniques. The menu is 100% gluten-free. Copita’s bar program features over 120 tequilas and innovative tequila cocktails. Copita has been voted Best Mexican Restaurant in the Bay Area by 7x7 magazine and featured as one of the best Mexican restaurants in San Francisco Magazine. Copita was voted best Mexican Restaurant by Marin Magazine in 2019.

Copita is the vision of legendary restaurateur Larry Mindel and James Beard award-winning cookbook author and renowned chef, Joanne Weir. Located in downtown Sausalito, Copita’s Executive Chef Daniel Tellez serves contemporary Mexican cuisine in a lively, festive atmosphere. His impressive culinary resume includes time spent at Anona Neobistro, The Westin Santa Fe Hotel in Mexico City, and earlier on in his career, Tellez staged at the renowned three Michelin-starred restaurant, Quinzi e Gabrielli.

Piazza D’Angelo

22 Miller Ave, Mill Valley, CA 415.388.2000, piazzadangelo.com

FELICIA FERGUSON AND LUIGI PETRONE Owners

Piazza D’Angelo, a family owned Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown Mill Valley was established in 1981 by brothers Domenico and Paolo Petrone from Calabria, Italy. Today, the tradition continues as Domenico’s daughter, Felicia, and Paolo’s son, Luigi, carry on the family business. Piazza D’Angelo evokes a traditional trattoria dining experience with a unique sense of home comfort.

Cucina s|a

510 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA 415.454.2942, cucina-sa.com

Parranga Taqueria & Cerveceria

Strawberry Village, Mill Valley, CA 415.569.5009, parranga.com

JOSE MIGUEL SMITH Executive Chef

Chef Smith’s passion for cooking wa s fi rst sparked during his childhood in Mexico. His 13 years of culinary experience brings a diverse cuisine of Mexico to the table at Parranga, combining the rich tastes of his Mexican heritage with the freshest ingredients from Northern California. At Parranga, freshly made tortillas, along with hormone-free meats and non-GMO ingredients are sourced from local farms.

ARMANDO LOPEZ AND DONNA SEYMOUR

Chef and Owner

Cucina s|a is a friendly neighborhood spot that has been satisfying locals and visitors for over 20 years. Owner Donna Seymour recently renovated the dining rooms, enhanced the menu and expanded the space to include a full bar wit h a fi ne selection of spirits and craft cocktails - highlighting Italian Amaros. These new offerings complement award winning dishes cooked in a wood fi red oven, house made pastas, and a seasonally changing, organic-focused menu of Southern and Central Italian dishes. Chef Armando Lopez, brings fresh spins on classic dishes and innovative, seasonal fare such as goat cheese and fig salad and pan seared scallops with sa ff ron risotto. During warmer months, guests can enjoy outdoor dining on the bridge overlooking the San Anselmo Creek. For small gatherings, an upstairs lounge is available, and the two main dining rooms are perfect for larger private functions. Cucina s|a serves lunch Tuesday-Saturday, and dinner Tuesday-Sunday.

San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA

GLENN, LAURA AND ERIN MIWA Owners

Comforts began 33 years ago as a small family restaurant. Built on the success of delicious, comfort food, friendly service, and seasonal offerings, Comforts has grown into a thriving business, offering catering, take-out, a full-service breakfast, lunch and brunch, as well as holiday specials. Husband and wife, Glenn and Laura Miwa, now pass the legacy on to daughter, Erin, and grandson, Quinn.

Poggio Trattoria

777 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 415.332.7771, poggiotrattoria.com

Blithedale Ave, Mill Valley, CA 415.381.2500

JASON SIMS AND GABRIEL CHARPENTIER General Manager and Chef

Along with partners PETER SCHUMACHER and BILL HIGGINS continue to lead one of Mill Valley’s favorite places for delicious food, warm service and one of the best bars in Marin. They are excited to build a new tradition in downtown Mill Valley, expanding service to include Sunday Brunch this fall. Kickin’ Fried Chicken and Wa ffles anyone?

BENJAMIN BALESTERI

Executive Chef

Poggio is a classic Italian trattoria with comfortable neighborhood charm and destination-caliber cuisine. Executive Chef Benjamin Balesteri sources local ingredients from the best purveyors and highlights these quality products in the daily changing menu. Chef Balesteri offers a menu that features soulful classics of Northern Italy including a variety of antipasti, house-made pasta, spitroasted meats, and wood-fi red pizzas. Poggio offers a special Tuesday Night Supper menu, a series of family-style meals reminiscent of the Italian-American tradition. The notable wine list emphasizes vintages from Italy and Northern California. Poggio has earned multiple 3-star reviews from the San Francisco Chronicle and once again awarded a Bib Gourmand from Michelin and a Marin IJ Readers’ Choice winner in 2019. In 2019, Poggio was voted best Italian Restaurant by Marin Magazine.

Left Bank Brasserie

507 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 415.927.3331, leftbank.com

ROLAND PASSOT

Propriétaire/Chief Culinary Officer

Internationally acclaimed for his exceptional French cooking, Chef Passot has designed a simple, seasonally changing, French brasserie style menu. As the New York Times says, “Left Bank Larkspur represents Chef Passot’s long-time passion for a simple, friendly place where people can drop in and just have oysters and a glass of wine, or a full brasserie experience.”

Boo Koo

25 Miller Ave, Mill Valley, CA 415.888.8303, eatbookoo.com

Vin Antico

881 4th Street, San Rafael, CA 415.721.0600, vinantico.com

LUIS MARTINEZ AND KELLY PHU

Chef and General Manager

Housed in a romantic antique brick building in downtown San Rafael, Vin Antico serves California/Italian inspired farm to table cuisine. Chef Martinez brings experience and passion while sourcing local organic ingredients. General Manager, Kelly Phu focuses on creating a new bar/ event space perfect for private events. “The Loft Bar” with an intimate speakeasy vibe serving craft cocktails and a sophisticated curated wine selection.

JOSÉ CARILLO AND MATT HOLMES

Chef and Owner

Nine years ago, owner Matt Holmes created an urban inspired street food joint that can best be described as fresh, fun, and a ffordable. All entrées begin vegan. Dishes are inspired equally by the abundance of local produce and the classic recipes and cooking techniques of South East Asia. For those who desire a protein, a full gamut of steak, chicken and fi sh can be added to each dish for diners to create customized concoctions. Boo Koo’s inspirations and in fluences are immeasurable. “We are as in fluenced by chefs like Mai Pham (Lemongrass) and David Chang (Momofuku) as we are with Dr. Colin Campbell’s novel, The China Study. Our staff s having fun creating healthy seasonal dishes and new specials paired with the best craft beers.”

Cafe del Soul

247 Shoreline Hwy, Mill Valley,CA 415.388.1852

1408 4th Street, San Rafael, CA 415.457.5400 cafedelsoul.net

Seafood Peddler

303 Johnson Street, Sausalito, CA 415.332.1492, seafoodpeddler.com

CHYNA KENNEDY HONEY AND REGGIE HUNTER

Owner and General Manager

For 15 years, Chyna and Reggie have worked together serving quality, organic ingredients in an award-winning, one-ofa-kind quick-serve menu. She is the visionary and he is the master of daily operations. Together, with the help of an exceptional team of employees, they operate two locations and will unveil a new logo and a new look later this fall.

Maybeck’s

3213 Scott Street, San Francisco, CA 415.400.8500, maybecks.com

RICHARD MAYFIELD AND FIDEL CHACON General Manager/Owner and Executive Chef

Craving local, fresh-caught seafood and stunning views of Angel Island, Tiburon and Mt. Tamalpais? Located on the bay, we are a five-time winner of the Paci fic Sun award for Best of Marin: Seafood Restaurant and the Marin IJ’s 2017 Best Happy Hour in Marin. Our seafood is delivered daily with an emphasis on sustainable, and ethically sourced seafood. Stop by from 4-7pm for happy hour featuring oysters and drink specials.

COURTNEY HUMISTON Wine Director/General Manager

Located just over the Golden Gate Bridge, Maybeck’s is a classy and classic San Francisco restaurant in the trendy Marina neighborhood. Serving up great food (think farmers market produce, fresh seafood, housemade pasta) in a warm, convivial atmosphere, the team brings the high standards of the Michelin-starred Chefs they have worked with at the likes of Cyrus, Ame and Petit Crenn. Daily specials make it a destination, indeed. Tuesday is Local’s Night: three courses (that change weekly) for $40… wow! Don’t miss Maybeck’s world famous Beef Wellington every Wednesday, including the Ceremonial Slicing in the kitchen at 7:00. Half price bottles of Champagne? Yes, please! Sommelier Courtney Humiston is slinging it every Thursday all night long. Let’s meet at Maybeck’s!

Valenti & Co

337 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA 415.454.7800, valentico.com

DUILIO VALENTI Chef/Owner

Located in charming downtown San Anselmo, Valenti & Co serves farmfresh Northern Italian cuisine and small production wines in a casual yet classy setting. Everything is house made and thoughtfully sourced, from the crusty olive oil focaccia served at the beginning of your meal, to the specialty dessert made every day by Chef Valenti, a master pastry chef. A favorite of local food lovers who value the freshness of its cuisine and impeccable service, Valenti & Co offers more than 25 wines by the glass ready to be paired with house made specialties like fresh pastas, impeccably fresh seafood, and locally raised meats. Sit at the chef’s tables by the display kitchen and see how passionately Chef Valenti and his crew prepare your meal.

Angelino Restaurant

621 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 415.331.5225, angelinorestaurant.com

ALFREDO ANCONA

Executive Chef/Owner

Chef Ancona was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After working for Don Alfonso in Sorrento, Italy and at Roy’s Bar and Grill on Maui, Hawaii, Chef Ancona returned home to the appeal of Marin County to join his family in Sausalito at Angelino Restaurant. These experiences have helped develop a well-rounded, mature understanding of the possibilities of flavor combinations. Chef Ancona maintains a strong commitment to using local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients in his kitchen.

bernarduslodge.com

Destinations

THE LATEST LOCAL TRAVEL DEALS AND GETAWAYS PLUS JOURNEYS AROUND THE GLOBE

WINTER ESCAPES Five faraway places to get out of the cold.

BY JEANNE COOPER, MELANIE HAIKEN, MIMI TOWLE AND KASIA PAWLOWSKA

Bora Bora

Bora Bora

All islands have a certain mythic mystique. Isolated, enigmatic, they beg to be explored, or to be mined for storytelling — see Fantasy Island, The Blue Lagoon, Cast Away and countless other shows and movies for proof. The fascination with tropical paradise knows no bounds, and there’s no better synonym for said paradise than Bora Bora.

HISTORY Called Pora pora mai te pora (“created by the gods”) in ancient times, Bora Bora is northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Actually, the letter B doesn’t exist in the Tahitian language: when Dutch explorer Jakob Roggeveen landed on the isle in 1722 he misheard the two words. The island was a Polynesian kingdom until the French took over in 1888. In World War II the United States used it as a supply and seaplane base, storing upwards of 20,000 tons of equipment and housing some 7,000 men; the base was closed in 1946. In the 1960s the overwater bungalow concept was born here, and a great way to experience that form of heaven is at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui hotel, where the bungalows were refurbished in 2017.

ACTIVITIES A nine-hou r fl ight from SFO lands you in a turquoise aquatic playground featuring every imaginable toy. Guests at the

Conrad, considered the crown jewel of the Hilton brand, have access to guided jet-skiing, sailing, paddleboarding, snorkeling and sightseeing tours. Other adventures include glass-bottom-boat trips, fi shing and South Paci fic scuba diving. While the abundant ocean life includes over 150 species of coral, 1,000 species of fi sh, and even sharks, none of these are considered dangerous to humans. That peace of mind continues on shore: the insects and snakes here are not poisonous, and the Conrad’s private white sand beach is the island’s longest, stretching over half a mile. For those more interested in having muscles moved for them than in doing it themselves, there’s the Hina Spa: seven bungalows and an open-air treatment space atop a verdant slope with a lagoon view called, appropriately, the Hina View.

NOT TO MISS A five-minute boat ride away is Motu Tapu, the most photographed islet in the South Paci fic and home to what was once the private beach of Polynesian Queen Pomare IV. Today it’s exclusively for Conrad guests. You can book trips to explore the beaches, have private lunches, or launch from here to go snorkeling or stingray viewing.

RATES Starting rates are $690 per night including taxes and breakfast for two in a Lagoon View Suite; rates are $1,050 per night in an Overwater Villa and a lso include breakfast.

This page: Overwater villas on Bora Bora. Opposite: Lodging and beach fun in Tuamotus.

Tuamotus

It’s not often that an idyllic getaway begins with a tra ffic jam in the airport parking lot. But in the case of Ahe — one of nearly 80 coral atolls (lagoons surrounded by reefs) and isles in French Polynesia’s Tuamotu archipelago — the hourlong fl ight from Tahiti lands you near a handful of boats jockeying for position at the edge of a 53-squaremile turquoise lagoon. After the exhilarating ride to Cocoperle Lodge, on one of many motu (islets) that form the atoll, willing castaways wil l fi nd a welcoming committee of silver y fi sh, the occasional black-tip reef shark and southern stingrays.

HISTORY Claimed by France since the mid-19th century, the Tuamotus include Ahe’s neighbor of Manihi and Rangiroa, whose 558-square-mile lagoon makes it one of the largest atolls in the world. Ahe’s 550 residents, scattered across the motus, account for only 3 percent of the Tuamotu population. Some 4,000 Tuamotuans still speak the native Polynesian language, Paumotu, similar to the more widely spoken Tahitian. French is the language of education, though, so brush up on your français, or bring a pocket dictionary (remember those?); any translation apps will need to work offl ine.

ACTIVITIES Guests staying in one of Cocoperle Lodge’s six open-air bungalows have free use of paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel gear; for an additional fee, go fishing or snorkeling in the atoll’s lone ocean pass, teeming with marine life, or try wakeboarding or waterskiing. Owner Franck Testud Faatau prides himself on a Survivor-inspired beach barbecue called Cocolanta, which broadens the definition of fin ger food to include fire-charred reef fish and fluff y sprouted coconut. Guests can also arrange a visit to Kamoka, an environmentally sus tainable operation run by a couple with Marin roots. Joshua Humbert and Celeste Brash met in the late 1980s at Redwood High School in Corte Madera; after reconnecting in their college years, they eventu ally began raising lustrous black pearls in Ahe’s lagoon and designing jewelry with it. Although the farm isn’t licensed as a hotel, Brash notes, guests are welcome to stay on a casual basis, with advance notice. “We ask that people pay for food and gas, and lend a hand, and that’s it,” she says.

RATES Cocoperle Lodge bungalows with private bathrooms cost $134 per person per day, including breakfast and dinner; bungalows with external bathrooms run $111 per person. It’s about half off or children ages 3 to 12. Add another $18 per adult for lunch, and plan to pay for most beverages, too.

Belize

Imagine slowing down time and inhabiting an intimate island where your only neighbors are your traveling companions, exotic birds and attentive caretakers who prepare your meal, pour your wine or chop a fresh coconut. Sheltered behind the world-famous Belize Barrier Reef, Coral Caye is a completely private island that can be yours alone for a romantic, restorative or adventurous getaway. The twoacre isolated, private island is a 25-minute boat ride from Turtle Inn, both of which are part of Francis Ford Coppola’s Hideaways collection. The island features a coral sand beach and fascinating mangrove ecology. Once used as a commercia l fi shing camp, it has now been enhanced for travelers who want a once-in-a-lifetime experience in a place with lovingly preserved natural loca l flavor.

HISTORY In this Caribbean Sea setting, with panoramic views of the sunrise, stars and a few smaller cayes, guests feel a million miles away, though they are only 25 minutes away from the shoreline of Placencia, Belize. The island was acquired by the Coppola family in fall 2016 and feels like an extension of the charming, barefoot elegant experience of Turtle Inn.

ACTIVITIES Fishing rods, canoes, snorkeling equipment and musical instruments are just a few of the on-island amenities provided on Coral Caye. Guests can do as much or as little as they please in complete privacy and solitude with customized experiences (at extra charge) such as alfresco massages or a guided fi shing tour.

RATES Prices start from $1,899 per night for two guests and $200 additional per person for more than two guests. Rates include all meals and the round-trip boat transfer between Coral Caye and Turtle Inn.

St. Barth

Dipping so low it appears to ru ffle the hair of bystanders below, the Tradewinds Air 12-seater slips onto St. Barth’s tiny airstrip, con fi rming descriptions of this landing as one of the “most exhilarating” and “scariest” in the world. But from that point forward all worry vanishes, as this tiny Caribbean island proves its status as one of the chillest island hideaways around.

HISTORY Named by “discoverer” Columbus for his brother Bartolomeo, St. Barth (officially St. Barthélemy) was passed back and forth between French, British and Swedish colonists for 300 years, all the while providing a hospitable hangout for pirates plundering Spanish galleons. Today, with the official status of a French state, it retains a decidedly Old World vibe despite making headlines for celebrity high jinks during the holiday high season.

ACTIVITIES St. Barth doesn’t overwhelm with places to go or things to do. In fact, your biggest decision will be choosing among the island’s more than 10 powdery sand beaches. Rebuilt from the ground up to embody its historical role in St. Barth’s early bohemianism, Hotel Manapany opened in April 2018 celebrating a return “back to the roots of St. Barth.” From its open-air spa and bleached-wood yoga pavilion to the 42 color-splashed suites that stairstep up the hill, every aspect of Manapany’s decor and service reflects je-ne-sais-quoi simple and understated sophistication.

RATES Manapany’s Ocean Deluxe Suites start at $600 weekday and $710 weekend with seasonal discounts and packages available, while the fiveperson Villa Creole will set you back $2,300 a night. Breakfast included.

El Salvador

Beloved for the string of right-hand point breaks that stud the craggy shore, the area known as the Balsalmo Coast boasts two world-class waves, Punta Mango and Punta Roca, and 300 days a year of excellent sur fi ng conditions. But if you’re coming in search of a less adventuresome beach vacation, El Salvador has that on offer as well, with secluded coves, warm water and a tropical climate all year long. One of the prettiest and most private beaches is El Zonte, where two-year-old bou tique hotel Palo Verde scales the bluff ust steps from the sand.

HISTORY Since the end of its brutal 12-year civil war in 1992, El Salvador has struggled with poverty and violence, its economy so devastated that currently 17 percent of the country’s GDP comes via remittances from Salvadorans living abroad — including many here in Marin. In addition, the country’s international image has been tarnished by scenes of migrant caravans heading for the U.S. border. But when it comes to visiting, such headlines can be misleading; with the current government taking signi ficant steps to boost and enhance tourism, the areas popular with visitors such as the volcano parks and coastal hot spots feel safe, well-maintained and well-supervised.

ACTIVITIES The bustling fishing port of La Libertad is well worth a visit for its sunny, strollable Malécon promenade, craft market, and pier where fishing boats are winched up to unload glittering cascades of squid, lob ster, fish and shrimp. Sea turtle conservationists are active in El Salvador, working to tag, study and protect the endangered leatherbacks and hawksbills and vulnerable green sea turtles that feed in the mangrove marshes of Jiquilisco Bay. Sign up for a day trip with highly rated tour company GreenBlueRed and help wrangle and tag the majestic creatures, thereby supporting the work of ProCosta and other groups.

RATES El Salvador is a traveler’s bargain; rooms at Palo Verde start at $125 with weekday and seasonal discounts, while rooms at nearby hotel Acantilados start at $150. m

Clockwise from top: Coral Caye in Belize; infinity pool in El Salvador; a private deck at Hotel Manapany in St. Barth.

THEATER

THRU DEC 8 Testmatch

Colonialism, gender and power pull apart two cricket teams in India and England in this time-traveling tale. Strand Theater (SF). 415.749.2228, act-sf.org

THRU MAY 17 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child The exclusive West Coast premiere of the eighth story in the Harry Potter series. Curran Theater (SF). harrypotteron stage.com

THRU NOV 2 The Speakeasy: All Hallows’ Eve Don your best 1920s costume and enjoy an

Calendar

interactive theater experience, including tap-dancing skeletons and a playlet of ghost stories, all in Jazz Age fashion. Boxcar Theatre (SF). boxcartheatre.org

NOV 2–DEC 1

Champions of Magic Five illusionists take the stage with interactive magic, an impossible escape from

Houdini’s water torture cell, and a see-it-tobelieve-it levitation. Golden Gate Theatre (SF). 888.746.1799, broadwaysf.com

NOV 3–JAN 12 Amaluna

The latest show from Cirque du Soleil is a celebration of love and a tribute to the voices of women from Tony Award–winning

director Diane Paulus. Big Top at Oracle Park (SF). 877-924-7783, cirquedusoleil.com

NOV 3 Motown The Cole Porter Society celebrates the defi ning sound of the Motor City with tributes to Aretha Franklin, the Supremes and many more in this sing-along event. Showcase Theater (San Rafael). 415.473.6800, marincenter.org

NOV 5–10 Stomp The British street perfor mance turned global percussion sensation drops by with its high energy, idiosyncratic instruments and inimitable beats. Geary Theater (SF). 415.749.2228, act-sf.org

NOV 7–17 Cutting Ball

Variety Pack From play workshops and director-driven shorts to roundtable readings, this festival is for the

curious, intrepid theatergoers and anyone who ever wanted to explore the inner workings of theater. EXIT (SF). 415.525.1205, cuttingball.com

NOV 10 Diane Barnes

The Best of San Francisco Solo Series, in partnership with Brian Copeland, presents My Stroke of Luck, in which a single adoptive mom forges a new identity after a health crisis. Showcase Theater (San Rafael). 415.473.6800, marincenter.org

NOV 13–DEC 22 She

Loves Me Georg, Amalia and their co-workers at the perfumery remind us that the important thing in life is to take care of the people you love. Ross Valley Players (Ross). 415.456.9555, rossvalleyplayers.com

NOV 14–DEC 8 Mother of the Maid Joan of GUY

THEATER / COMEDY / MUSIC / MUSEUMS / EVENTS / FILM / TALKS EDITED BY CHRISTINA MUELLER

Arc’s epic tale is seen through the eyes of her mother, Isabelle, who 833.215.5121, palaceof fi nearts.org

Ice, Ice Baby

Grab a pair of skates and make your way to one of these spots to celebrate the season.

NorCal Ice San Rafael The former Marin on Ice rebranded last year and added after-school skate instruc tion, but the feel-good vibes, piping-hot cocoa, and all-day family-centered skating remain the same. Northgate Mall (San Rafael). officialnorcalice.com, Nov 6–Jan 5

Holiday Ice Rink Watch the Union Square tree-lighting ceremony from the ice, spin with your headphones on for the Silent Skate Party, or take free lessons every Saturday and Sunday from professionals. Union Square (SF). unionsquareicerink.com, Nov 6–Jan 20

The Winter Park On Sunday mornings, instructors from Granite Curling Club of California will visit this S.F. Civic Center landmark to give lessons in the broom-driven sport. Or stop in for the Holidaybreaker yoga and dance party on December 7. winterparkicerinksf.com, Nov 22–Jan 5

Recently renovated Snoopy’s Home Ice in Santa Rosa offers year-round skating, and Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center’s NHLsize rink in San Francisco has extended hours during Thanksgiving week and December. snoopyshomeice.com; skatebowl.com

NOV 2 Petty Theft

The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band joins up with Super Diamond to support Marin Homeless Aid with pro ceeds benefiting Ritter Center of San Rafael. Veterans Memorial Auditorium (San Rafael). 415.473.6800, marincenter.org

NOV 2, 4–5 Madonna

The shape-shifting songstress tours in sup port of her 14th studio album, Madame X Golden Gate Theatre (SF). 888.746.1799, broadwaysf.com

NOV 3 Buzzy Martin and the Trespassers

The star of the movie Guitar Man, about

Martin’s efforts to teach music at San Quentin State Prison, pairs with a bluesy, country rock band in a concert to benefit kids at risk. HopMonk Tavern (Sebastopol). 707.829.7300, hopmonk.com

NOV 3 What’s Going

On Top Shelf Classics brings the songs of two giants of American music, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, to life. Feinstein’s at the Nikko (SF). 866.663.1063, feinsteinssf.com

NOV 7 Charley Crockett/Rhett Miller

The Texas blues artist joins with the author of the children’s book No More Poems in this one-of-a-kind, holidaythemed show. Great American Music Hall (SF). slimspresents.com

NOV 8 Jerry’s Middle Finger The L.A. band celebrates the music of the Jerry Garcia Band. Terrapin Crossroads (San Rafael). 415.524.2773, terrapin crossroads.net

NOV 10 Chick Corea

The renowned jazz pianist sits down at the keys to play music from Mozart to Monk. Davies Symphony Hall (SF). 415.864.6000, sfsymphony.org

NOV 10 New Century Chamber Orchestra

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein head lines an all-Bach program of keyboard concerti highlighted by the composer’s popular Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Kanbar Center (San Rafael). 415.444.8000, marinjcc.org

NOV 10 Susan Werner

The gal who grew up on

a hog farm in eastern Iowa pays tribute to her home and her countryrock roots with Hayseed HopMonk Tavern (Novato). 415.892.6200, hopmonk.com

NOV 11 Max The singer of the smash hit “Lights Down Low” makes his fi rst appearance in the Bay Area. Rickshaw Stop (SF). 415.861.2011, rickshawstop.com

NOV 15 Preservation Hall Jazz Band Playing music from the docu mentary A Tuba to Cuba, the New Orleans jazz band pays tribute to the music of its home town. Luther Burbank Center (Santa Rosa). 707.546.3600, luther burbankcenter.org

NOV 15–DEC 7 Hansel & Gretel Fans of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and their updated Disney versions will appreciate this ren dition in a magical, fairy-fi lled forest where a candy house sits qui etly amid the trees. War Memorial Opera House (SF). 415.864.3330, sfopera.com

NOV 21 Cher With spe cial guests Nile Rodgers and Chic, the Goddess of Pop stops by on her Here We Go Again tour. Chase Center (SF). chasecenter.com

NOV 21–22 Zero The long-running jazz/ rock fusion jam band keeps on jammin’ with surprise special guests aplenty. Great American Music Hall (SF). slimspresents.com

NOV 22 San Francisco Opera Chorus The ensemble takes center stage for an evening of works by Verdi, J. S. Bach, Berlioz, and many others. Taube

Atrium Theater (SF). 415.864.3330, sfopera.com

NOV 23 Eddie Spaghetti The Supersuckers lead singer and bass player goes solo to share his love of roots music; J.D. Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers is also perform ing. HopMonk Tavern (Novato). 415.892.6200, hopmonk.com

NOV 24 Aquila & Tres

Hermanicas Combining Christian and Sephardic, this program from the San Francisco Early Music Society celebrates the sacred and secular delights of both cultures through storytelling, song and dance. Church of the Advent (SF). 510.528.1725, sfems.org

NOV 24 Cherry Poppin’ Daddies The masters of swing/jazz touch into ska/punk on their new tour. Slim’s (SF). slimspresents.com

NOV 24 Sweet Dreamz In addition to their ever-popular a cappella stylings, the Marin Golden Gate Barbershop Chorus performs a vari ety of songs all about dreaming. Showcase Theater (San Rafael). marincenter.org

NOV 25 Lukas Nelson & Friends Willie Nelson’s son, who is Neil Young’s band leader and lead guitarist, invites lis teners to turn off he news and tune into something more mean ingful. Sweetwater Music Hall (Mill Valley). 415.388.3850, sweet watermusichall.com

NOV 29 The Chainsmokers The Grammy-winning duo are joined by 5 Seconds of Summer and Lennon Stella. Chase Center (SF). chasecenter.com

MUSEUMS

MARIN

Bay Area Discovery Museum The interactive, STEM-focused, indoor-outdoor space encourages tots, toddlers and older children to play, learn and engage their senses and explore their world (Sausalito). 415.339.3900, bayareadiscovery museum.org

Bolinas Museum

Twenty-fie years of collaboration between aerial dancer Joanna Haigood and rigging designer Wayne Campbell are celebrated with video, artistic props and theater ephemera, through November 17 (Bolinas). 415.868.0330, bolinasmuseum.org

Marin Museum of Contemporary Art 50 Faces Contemporary mosaic artwork from the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in Italy allows young artists to redefine the ae-old tradition of mosaic art with innovative methods and materials, through November 10 (Novato). 415.506.0137, marinmoca.org

The Museum of the American Indian Thousands of Native American regional and cultural items are displayed, with a focus on Marin and Sonoma (Novato). 415.897.4064, marinindian.com

BAY AREA

Asian Art Museum Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan Together, the duo sought to understand the frag mented postwar world and the potential of art in reassembling it. These 80 works express their ongoing dialogue.

Through December 8 (SF). 415.581.3711, asianart.org

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film

Archive Hinges: Sakaki Hyakusen and the Birth of Nanga Painting The firt North American exhibition focused on the work and legacy of the influential apanese artist who established Japan’s Nanga School of painting in the 18th century, through February 2 (Berkeley). 510.642.0808, bampfa.org

California Academy of Sciences Skin This new exhibit explores the color-changing, toughyet-fragile, ever-evolving epidermis of humans and other creatures, through January 20 (SF). 415.379.8000, calacademy.org

Charles M. Schulz Museum Thanksgiving Feast with Snoopy Make toast, pop popcorn and scarf down a few jelly beans, just like Snoopy does in the classic televi sion special featuring the Peanuts gang, November 16 (Santa Rosa). 707.579.4452, schulz museum.org

Contemporary Jewish Museum Annabeth Rosen: Fired, Broken, Gathered, Heaped The firt major museum survey of the work of Davis-based sculptor Annabeth Rosen, a pio neer in contemporary ceramics whose works are often described as theatrical, through January 19 (SF). 415.655.7800, thecjm.org

de Young Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983 Organized by London’s Tate Modern, this exhibit looks at issues

of race and identity, November 9–March 15 (SF). 415.750.3600, deyoung.famsf.org

di Rosa Viola Frey: Center Stage Known for her larger-than-life figuratie ceramic sculp tures, the Bay Area artist had a career spanning fie decades and worked in a range of media, through December 29 (Napa). 707.226.5991, dirosaart.org

Exploratorium This learning laboratory offers experiences an a chance to explore the world through science, art and human experi ence (SF). 415.397.5673, exploratorium.edu

Legion of Honor James Tissot: Fashion & Faith Co-organized with Musée d’Orsay of Paris, this exhibition reexam ines the artist’s society paintings and cloisonné enamels to reveal a complex commentary on 19th-century society, through February 9 (SF). 415.750.3600, legionof honor.famsf.org

Museum of the African Diaspora Rashaad Newsome The New York artist explores video works inspired by vogue, a dance phenomenon that emerged from Harlem’s queer ballroom scene, through March 1 (SF). 415.358.7200, moadsf.org

Museum of Craft and Design Dead Nuts: A Search for the Ultimate Machined Object What started as a question on an online forum — What is the ultimate machine object/mechanism? — evolved into a crowd sourced list of favorites that inspire these mak ers, through December 1 (SF). 415.773.0303, sfmcd.org

SAN DOMENICO

SFMOMA Far Out: Suits, Habs and Labs for Outer Space This exhibit examines how both applied and theoretical design can advance new models for life beyond Earth, with real and conceptual ideas for space suits, habitats and laboratories and a selec tion of films and visua art, through January 20, 2020 (SF). 415.357.4000, sfmoma.org

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Bingo: The Life and Art of Bernice Bing The San Francisco native reclaims the style of abstract expressionism and redefines its ties t non-Western philoso phies, through January 5 (Sonoma). 707.939.7862, svma.org

The Walt Disney Family Museum A Powerful Force: Working to End Homelessness Through Art Featuring original works created by youth experiencing home lessness, this exhibit is open to the public to help foster community engagement with the arts, through January 6

(SF). 415.345.6800, waltdisney.org

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Leading-edge contemporary art and cultural programs that support societal move ment are the emphasis of this cultural institu tion (SF). 415.978.2787, ybca.org

EVENTS

THRU NOV 20 Día de los Muertos With more than 60 works by artists including Isidoro Angeles, Daniel Camacho and Sandy Coronado, this exhibit pays tribute to life and death and celebrates the essence of transformation through art. Marin Civic Center Bartolini Gallery (San Rafael). 415.473.6014, marincenter.org

NOV 2 Elegance at Sea Cocktails, dinner and dancing, in a scene set to resemble the golden era of travel aboard a grand ocean liner, are on tap for Hospice

by the Bay’s annual ball. The Seminary at Strawberry (Mill Valley). (415) 526.5500, hospicebythebay.org

NOV 2 John Byrne

Barry The author of When I Killed My Father reads from his book, then discusses the challenges and unexpected rewards that can occur at the end of life, as part of Reimagine End of Life Week. Tam Valley Cabin (Mill Valley). letsreimagine.org

NOV 3 EcoSail Climb aboard the schooner Freda B for a trip around the Marin Headlands and a naturalist-guided tour of local wildlife on land and in the sea. Sausalito Yacht Harbor/ Slip 465 (Sausalito). 415.331.0444, sfbay adventures.com

NOV 12 Dare to Lead This two-part series, led by Mickey Porter, will give you the skills to engage in di fficult conversations

and develop trusting relationships built on empathy and vulner ability. Marin County O ffice of Education (San Rafael). marin schools.org

NOV 14 Holiday Jam Featuring a special per formance by Grammy Award–winning singer Lisa Fischer, this annual fundraising gala helps ensure Glide can provide 750,000 meals to the hungry each year. The Masonic (SF). 415.674.6145, glide.org

NOV 15–17 Arts & Crafts Market Over 150 artists convene to showcase and sell handcrafted works of art, jewelry, ceramics and more. Marin Center Exhibit Hall (San Rafael). marin center.org

NOV 16 The Art of Accessibility Also known as Journey No. 3, this series guides you on a unique art-, design- and food-fi lled trip through some of Sonoma’s most

unforgettable homes. Sonoma Green (Sonoma). 707.939.7862, svma.org

NOV 16 Pinot Fest The bacchanal to all things pinot noir returns with over 50 Oregon and California vintners and a special pop-up from New Zealand with hors d’oeuvres to match. Farallon (SF). farallon restaurant.com

NOV 17 The Occupation of Alcatraz Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Alcatraz Occupation, this panel discussion with original occupiers Eloy Martinez (Ute) and Dr. LaNada War Jack (ShshoneBannock) explores why it remains relevant today. Presidio Theatre (SF). presidio.gov

NOV 18 Mo Rocca The CBS Sunday morning correspondent and fre quent panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! discusses his pod cast “Mobituaries,” an appreciation of the things of the past, with Adam Savage. Sydney Goldstein Theater (SF). 415.563.2463, cityarts.net

NOV 20–DEC 22 The Great Dickens Christmas Fair During weekends, this immer sive adventure-land takes visitors on a deep dive into a London Charles Dickens would recognize, complete with historically appropriate costumes, foods, games, streets and dance halls. Cow Palace (Daly City). dickensfair. com

NOV 22 Art Angels A day of festive food, music from Operation Encore’s veteran and active-duty mili tary singers, and holiday shopping benefits Operation Encore and Homeward Bound. St. Stephen’s Church (Belvedere). 415.435.4501, artangelsfair.org

NOV 22 PNOC Foundation Gratitude Gala Enjoy a seated dinner and cocktails and dance the night away to Notorious in support of Paci fic Pediatric NeuroOncology Consortium’s efforts to beat children’s brain cancer. Sweetwater Music Hall (Mill Valley). 323.696.5639, pnocfoundation.org

NOV 22–JAN 5

Night Bloom The Conservatory of Flowers lights up its iconic facade and infuses its interior landscape with sound. Conservatory of Flowers (SF). 415.831.2090, conserv atoryofflowers.org

NOV 29–DEC 1 Bolinas Open Studios View art by diverse artists and craftspeople in the studios where it is made and pick up a treasure or two. Various locations (Bolinas). coastalmarin artists.com

FILM

NOV 1–2 Coco The Academy award–winning fi lm about a boy who journeys to the Land of the Dead to reunite with his greatgreat-grandfather is enhanced with live accompaniment by the San Francisco Symphony. Davies

Madonna, Golden Gate Theatre, S.F.

Symphony hall (SF). 415.864.6000, sfsymphony.org

NOV 9 Timeless

Warren Miller Entertainment’s 70th fi lm celebrates the thrill of skiing and snowboarding with California athletes Jonny Moseley, Amie Engerbretson, Connery Lundin and Glen Plake. Marin Veterans’ Auditorium (San Rafael). marin center.org.

NOV 16–17 Shakira

This documentary follows the Colombian songstress as she toured the world in support of her 2018 album El Dorado. Lark Theater (Larkspur).

415.924.5111, larktheater.net

NOV 21 Spirits in the Forest Filmed at Berlin’s famed Waldbühne, this documentary follows Depeche Mode on its Global Spirit Tour and weaves together fan sto ries with performance footage. Rafael Film Center (San Rafael). 415.454.1222, rafael fi lm.ca fi lm.org

NOV 23 Christmas Vacation Watch the 1989 comedy, then ask questions of one of its stars, Chevy Chase. Marin Veterans’ Auditorium (San Rafael). marin center.org

NOV 23–24 Treasure Wine Fest Sip wines from four of the island’s winemakers after exploring Treasure Fest, a monthly gathering of local makers. Winemaker Studios/ The Winery SF (Treasure Island, SF). winemakerstudios.com

All listings are correct at the time of printing. Please be aware that events may occasionally be canceled or postponed. We always suggest contacting the promoter or venue to confirm details haven’t changed since publication.

Night Bloom at the Conservatory of Flowers, S.F.

Eat & Drink

by the Larkspur tasting room at happy hour, Tuesday to Friday, 4 to 6 p.m. backstagewines.com

What’s Hot

Raising the Bar

Zestier than sit-down restaurants and classier than most watering holes, wine bars inhabit a special place on the dining scene. Here are some that opened in the past two years.

BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA

Jillie’s Jill Cordova-Holt likes to take care of people. After a career in health care, including 12 years as a hospice social worker at Hospice by the Bay, she decided to pursue her other passion — wine — and opened Jillie’s Wine Bar and Shop in San Anselmo this past June. She and husband Michael Holt

offer a variety of wines from all over the world with a focus on smaller producers, many using biodynamic, organic and

certified organic methods. Check out the weekly tasting events on the website. jillieswine.com

West Coast Wine and Cheese

After a few successful years in San Francisco, West Coast Wine and Cheese owners Chris and Lindsey Wanner were ready to add a location, but wanted it close enough where they could handle both shops and a newborn son. Mill Valley proved just the place. With 24 upscale rotating wines by the glass, a world-class West Coast bottle list and a menu of local cheeses, charcuterie and baguettes from Jane Bakery in S.F., they’ve seen to every detail. And after one year in its new location the wine program here won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Cheers! westcoastsf.com

Backstage Winery Tasting Room Opened in November 2017, this place makes its wines from the grapes of 19 small vineyards it manages in different appellations throughout California. All wines are produced at the winery in Morgan Hill and are very limited in supply. For special rates on by-the-glass and small plates, swing

GATHER Want to sample wines inexpensively or find a quality bottle at a fair price? Head to this Larkspur shop that offers $5 or $10 tastings and over 300 wines, most under $50. 415.461.4475

FOOD IN THE BAY AREA EDITED BY CHRISTINA MUELLER

West Coast Wine and Cheese

Jillie’s

CORTE MADERA

BENISSIMO Italian

“Benissimo” means “really, really good” in Italian. Aside from the daily 4 to 6:30 p.m. happy hour, the menu offers a large selection of pizza, pasta and large plates, like cioppino, fresh fi shes of the day, T-bone steaks and the signature Benissimo Burger or portobello burger. Specials include all-day happy hour on Mondays, no-corkage Tuesdays, Wednesday night martinis and live music on Thursdays.

415.927.2316, benissimos.com

s $$$ S D º

BOCA PIZZERIA Italian

The Italian-inspired pizzeria utilizes Northern California’s bounty of seasonal ingredients and showcases local microbreweries and wine country’s boutique varietals. The menu includes appetizers, sal ads of organic produce when available, pastas, local free-range poultry and meats, desserts and Neapolitan-style pizzas with house-made mozzarella. Wine half off n Mondays. 1544 Redwood Highway, 415.924.3021, bocapizzeria.com

s $$ Í C LD º

CAFE VERDE California

This revamped cafe

offers wraps, paninis, salads, tea and more nearly all day long. Enjoy any of these items inside or out on the patio and be sure to inquire about the German and Belgian beer samplers. 502 Tamalpais Drive, 415.927.1060, cafeverde marin.com

b $ Í BLD º

FLORES Mexican With an emphasis on regional Mexican dishes and fl avors sourced from family recipes, the menu is based on California seasonality and revolves around masa. The daily-made tortillas are featured in dishes such as duck con fit enchiladas, Dungeness crab tostadas, and chili-braised beef short ribs. There’s a full bar to boot. 301

Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera, 415.500.5145, floressf.com

s $$$ S C LD BR º

LA MAISON DE LA REINE Vietnamese Dine on family-style Vietnamese fare in the Town Center. The crunchy cabbage chicken salad with peanuts, fresh spring rolls and pho options are popular picks. 346

Corte Madera Town Center, 415.927.0288, lamaisondelareine.com

b $$ S Í C LD

VEGGIE GRILL Vegan/ Vegetarian Veggie Grill is a fast-casual restaurant chain that celebrates the veggie by offering a variety of hot sandwiches and burgers, entree salads, bowls, home-style plates, shareable sides, organic teas and housemade desserts prepared with vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts. 147

Corte Madera Town Center, 415.945.8954, veggiegrill.com

b $ S Í LD

WORLD WRAPPS

California Owners Keith Cox and Matt Blair have revamped this “fast food” joint to feature healthy and fl avorful items like a Hawaiian poke wrap and a tahini tofu summer roll that’s vegan-friendly. Exotic

Experience elegant seated tastings of world-class Sparkling Wines and Pinot

in spectacular vineyard views from your table on the terrace

in artisan cheese and caviar to enhance

Take a behind-the-scenes Sparkling

10am to 5:30pm

800-716-2788

Duhig Road, Napa (o˜ Hwy 12/121)

www.domainecarneros.com

miles west

Napa,

miles east of Sonoma

housemade beverages include boba tea, mango lassi and Vietnamese iced coffee. 208 Corte Madera Town Center, 415.927.3663, worldwrapps.com

$ S Í LD

ZINZ WINE BAR

California Zinz is an upscale wine bar, retail store and art gallery with a cozy, sophisticated atmosphere, an eclectic array of boutique wines and craft beer, and light appetizers. The quaint neighborhood space also holds events and happy hours. 207 Corte Madera Ave, 415.927.9466, zinzwinebar.com

b $$ Í º

FAIRFAX

123 BOLINAS California

Created by four friends wanting to showcase seasonal fare in a relaxing, intimate environment, this cozy one-room eatery offers locally brewed

beer, small-production wines and seasonal food along with a view of Bolinas Park through the floor-to-ceiling windows. 123 Bolinas St, 415.488.5123, 123bolinas.com

b $$ S Í D º

BAREFOOT CAFE

American Chef Tony Senehi prepares fresh California dishes with local organic ingredients from sustainable sources. A popular brunch spot, this quaint restaurant in the heart of Fairfax serves locals and tourists everything from eggs Benedict to panna cotta dessert.

1900 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, 415.460.2160, barefootcafe.com

b $$ S BLD

TAMAL Mexican The regional cuisine here highlights coastal regions of Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula. Dine inside or on the patio and enjoy craft Mexican cocktails or some of the Bay Area’s best craft

beer. 23 Broadway, 415.524.8478, tamalfairfax.com

s $$$ LD

THE LODGE American

From the owners of S.F.’s Big Swingin’ Cycles comes this rider-friendly stop along Fairfax’s main drag. With a menu designed to power you up, The Lodge features all-American eats like a breakfast burrito stu ffed with eggs, spinach and salsa; share plates like a sausage board served with Lodge tots and slaw; and pour-over coffee and draft beer for riders and hikers alike. 1573

Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, 415.991.5625, thelodgefairfax.com

b $$ BLD

LARKSPUR

BACKSTAGE California Nestled in downtown Larkspur, Backstage is a comfortable, sociable setting for wine tasting and light appetizers.

Flights of exclusive picks from small-scale California vineyards bring wine country closer to Marin. Happy hour Tuesday through Friday 4 to 6 p.m. 295 Magnolia Ave, 415.898.6778, back stagewines.com

b $$ º

EMPORIO RULLI

Italian Renowned for its Northern Italian specialties and treats, the Larkspur location (there are four others) is a favored spot for lunch as well as coffee and a sweet treat. 464 Magnolia Ave, 415.924.7478, rulli.com

$$ S Í BL

GIA RISTORANTE

Italian Italian Fabrizio Laudati, former owner of San Francisco’s Bella Trattoria and Panta Rei, has brought his Italian style to Marin. With cochef Stefano Guasco, he offers a menu of simple, authentic dishes with a modern twist from central Italy’s Lazio region. 286 Magnolia

Ave, 415.891.3979, giarestaurant.net

b $$ Í LD

LEFT BANK RESTAURANT French

This authentically classic brasserie has been serving the Larkspur community for more than two decades. Whether on the patio, at the European-style bar or in the casually elegant main dining room, it’s a fun and French experience. 7 Magnolia Ave, 415.927.3331, leftbank.com

s $$$ S Í C LD BR

POSIE American This hip artisan ice cream shop opened by Kyle Caporicci, former pastry chef of Michelinstarred Commis, is making a name for itself with seasonal fl avors, homemade gluten-free cones and vegan ice cream. For lunch you’l l fi nd meticulously prepared open-face tartines and Instagram-ready pastries. Menu changes weekly. 250B Magnolia Ave, 415.891.8395

$ L

R’NOH THAI Thai This cozy place by the Corte Madera Creek has a reputation for clean and tasty dishes. From curries and Thai barbecue to noodle dishes and the classic tom ka (coconut lemongrass soup), R’Noh is bound to satisfy your Thai cravings. For an indulgent treat, try the fried sweet potato appetizer. 1000 Magnolia Ave, 415.925.0599, rnohthai.com

b $$ S Í LD

ROMA SF Italian Ovalshaped pizza, fried rice balls, burrata with artichoke hearts, and pasta with fresh pear and Gorgonzola are

just a few of the dishes that reflect the regional Roman ingredients and style of this sister restaurant to the San Francisco original. In Marin, look for fresh seafood pastas on the day’s specials menu, too. 286 Magnolia Ave, 415.896.4002, romasf.com

b $$ LD

RUSTIC BAKERY

California The home grown bakery is known and loved the world over: Pope Francis famously requested Rustic Baker y fl atbread and crostini when he visited the U.S. in 2015. Organic bread, croissants and pastries baked fresh each morning and salads, sandwiches, and soups for lunch make Rustic a local staple. 1139 Magnolia Ave, 415.925.1556; Marin Country Mart, 2017 Larkspur Landing Circle, 415.461.9900, rusticbakery.com

b $$ S Í BLD BR

MILL VALLEY

BOO KOO Asian This locally owned restaurant creates healthy meals that blend equal parts California fresh with Southeast Asian–inspired street food. Boo Koo offers a vibrant bar with wines and kombucha on tap as well as one of the best craft beer offerings in town. Vegan, GF and vegetarian-friendly menu. 25 Miller Ave, 415.888.8303, eatbookoo.com

b $ Í LD

BUCKEYE

ROADHOUSE American Oysters Bingo, baby back ribs and ChiliLime “Brick” Chicken are a few of the

Grilled Corn at Arguello, S.F.

satisfying comfort-food menu items that have made this classic roadhouse a favorite since the ’30s. The warm dark-wood bar with red leather booths is a popular spot for cocktails, conversations or a light meal. 15 Shoreline Highway, 415.331.2600, buck eyeroadhouse.com

s $$ C LD BR

BUNGALOW 44

American One of Mill Valley’s neighborhood hot spots, featuring contempo rary California comfort food, signature cock tails, fi ne wine, and one-dollar oysters from 5 to 6 p.m. every day.

44 E Blithedale Ave, 415.381.2500, bungalow44.com

s $$$ S Í C D

CAFE DEL SOUL

California Healthy options become addictive at this eatery that now has locations in both Tam Valley and San Rafael. Once you stop in for the deliciously fresh quinoa wrap, you’ll want to return to try the chipotle rice bowl. A casual lunch spot and great for takeout, Cafe del Soul also serves smoothies and pressed juices. 247 Shoreline Highway, 415.388.1852, cafedelsoul.net

$ S Í LD

DIPSEA CAFE American

A longtime breakfast favorite, the Dipea has been serving up tasty pancakes and egg dishes with homemade bis cuits since 1986. Lunch specialties include BLTs, tuna melts and generous Cobb salads. 200 Shoreline Highway, 415.381.0298, dipseacafe.com

b $$ S Í BLD

FLOUR CRAFT BAKERY

American The brain child of pastry chef Heather Hardcastle, this second location, in the bright and airy renovated Lumber Yard, offers not only gluten-free baked goods but sandwiches, salads and takeout. The fi rst location is in San Anselmo. 129 Miller Ave, 415.384.8244, flourcraftbakery.com

b $$ S Í BL

GRAVITY TAVERN

American Updated with ingredients to reflect modern tastes, American classics like grilled chicken Waldorf salad with pickled grapes, lobster roll with toasted challah and veggie slaw, and a land and sea pasta with house made egg pasta, pork belly and crab may have also been familiar fare for passengers of the gravity car for which this saloon was named. 38 Miller Ave, 415.888.2108, gravity tavern.com

s $$$ Í LD

HARMONY Chinese

Enjoy a lighter take on Chinese at this restaurant, nestled in Strawberry Village. The barbecue pork bun is fi lled with house-made roasted meat in a savory sauce, and signature prawns are wok seared with scallions. Pair your pick with wine, beer or tea and be sure to check out the weekday takeout lunch special. 401 Strawberry Village, 415.381.5300, harmonyrestaurant group.com

b $$ S LD

INDIA PALACE Indian

Known as “that great restaurant in the Travelodge,” India Palace is a favorite with the takeout crowd;

eating on site is also a treat. 707 Redwood Highway, 415.388.3350, indiapalace millvalley.com

b $$ S LD

JOE’S TACO LOUNGE

Mexican Joe’s serves up fi sh tacos, burritos and enchiladas as well as more unusual items like Mexican pizza, tofu tostada and crab tostadas. A colorful interior and quick service make this a fun, easy stop. If there are too many unsupervised kids for a peaceful meal, takeout is easy too. If you stay, grab a selection of hot sauce bottles from the wall and fi nd your perfect match. 382 Miller Ave, 415.383. 8164, joestacolounge.com

b $$ S Í BLD

PARRANGA TAQUERIA & CERVECERIA

Mexican Mill Valley’s Parranga serves as a gathering spot for a ffordable southof-the-border bites and beverages in the heart of Strawberry Village. The eat-in or takeout menu offers standouts such as rotisserie chicken and an extensive taco selection, along with made-to-order tortillas, ceviche and churros, washed down with whole-fruit juices, aqua frescas, Mexican craft beer or a margarita.

Strawberry Village, 800 Redwood Hwy, Ste 801, 415.569.5009, parranga.com

b $$ S Í LD º

PIATTI RISTORANTE AND BAR Italian The staff rides itself on capturing the warm and welcoming atmosphere of a traditional Italian trattoria. Get a table by the window or on the outdoor deck for a truly exceptional view right

on the water. Peruse the impressive selection of Italian wines to accompany your rustic seasonal meal.

625 Redwood Highway, 415.380.2525, piatti.com

s $$ S Í C LD BR

PIAZZA D’ANGELO

Italian Family owned for over 35 years, Piazza D’Angelo evokes a traditional trattoria dining experience. Enjoy a variety of house-made pastas, meat and seafood dishes, wood-fi red pizzas, and gluten-free offerings with organic and locally sourced ingredients. 22 Miller Ave, 415.388.2000, piazzadangelo.com

s $$ S Í C LD BR º

ROBATA GRILL AND SUSHI Japanese Robata translates as “by the fi reside”; fittingly, food here can be cooked on an open fi re and served in appetizer-size portions to pass around the table. Or simply order your own sushi or entree from the menu.

591 Redwood Highway, 415.381.8400, robatagrill.com

b $$ S LD

SHORELINE COFFEE

SHOP American This coffee shop is a funky diner with a small-town feel. Check out the mix of Mexican and traditional breakfast fare.

221 Shoreline Highway, 415.388.9085, shoreline coffeeshop.com

b $$ S Í BL BR

VASCO Italian You can expect an intimate dining experience in this one-room trattoria. Try one of the pasta dishes or thin-crust wood-fi red pizzas. 106 Throckmorton Ave, 415.381.3343, vasco millvalley.com

s $$ S D

Concierge Match Making

WATERSHED California

Gather round the fi repit in front of the restaurant or hang out at the long bar for a pre-dinner glass of wine before sampling one of the many dishes curated to reflect the bounty of Marin. The Stemple Creek Ranch burger and fresh pastas are matched with a bevy of simply prepared, easy to share dishes (like spicy rock cod lettuce cups or lamb riblets) that reflect chef Kyle Swain’s careful sourcing and focus on local fl avor. 129 Miller Ave, 415.888.2406, water shedmv.com

b $$$ LD

WEST COAST WINE

CHEESE California

Focused on small production winemakers, the wine menu features a bottle list with over 300 selections, wines by the glass that change weekly as well as California, Oregon and Washington beers on draft and by the bottle. A rotating cheese and

charcuterie menu, served with bread from San Francisco’s Jane Bakery, is also offered. 31 Sunnyside Ave, 415.758.3408, westcoastsf.com

b $$ D

or the braised beef short rib pappardelle. Weekly specials include half off all wines by the bottle on Wednesdays and half off raft beers on Thursdays. 454 Ignacio Blvd, 415.883.2302, bocapizzeria.com

b $$ S Í C LD

NOVATO

BESO BISTRO AND WINE BAR California

This Hamiton Field bistro highlights locally sourced organic produce, fresh sustainable seafood, and pastureraised and free-range meat. Wine lovers can embrace their inner Dionysus — Beso offers more than 20 selections by the glass and more than 50 by the bottle.

502 S Palm Drive, besobistro.com

b $$ Í LD

BOCA PIZZERIA Italian Enjoy authentic pizza prepared with fresh mozzarella made in house and tomatoes imported from Italy, or go for a grilled rosemary chicken sandwich

BOCA TAVERN American Bring a date here or celebrate a special event. Favorites at this classic restaurant include bigeye tuna poke, Dungeness crab cakes, mac ’n’ cheese croquettes and duck-fat fries. From the woodburning grill there’s fresh fi sh, shrimp and dry-aged ribeye. On Tuesdays wine is half off 340 Ignacio Blvd, 415.883.0901, bocasteak.com

s $$$ S Í C LD º

JENNIE LOW’S Chinese Choose from Cantonese, Mandarin, Szechuan and Hunan cuisines, and if you don’t see your favorite, let the restaurant know; whenever possible,

they’re happy to try and prepare dishes off menu. The pot stickers are the best around. 120 Vintage Way, 415.892.8838, jennielow.com

b $ S LD

RUSTIC BAKERY

California Organic pastries, breads, salads and sandwiches are on the menu here, including daily seasonal specials. Try the Marin Melt — Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam and Point Reyes Toma cheeses grilled on honey whole wheat, served with dressed baby greens and crisp apple slices. 1407 Grant Ave, 415.878.4952, rusticbakery.com

b $$ S Í BLD BR

ROSS

MARCHE AUX FLEURS

French A local favorite known for cuisine showcasing locally farmed produce, wild and fresh seafood and free-range meats pre pared with an artisan’s touch, accompanied by a lengthy wine and beer list (bacon, wine and beer are available for sale). Thursday night is hamburger night; requesting your burger with your reservation is recommended (quantities are limited). 23 Ross Common, 415.925.9200, marcheaux fleurs restaurant.com

b $$ S Í D

TONY TUTTO’S Pizza

After nine years in Mill Valley, owner Greg DiGiovine relocated to Ross, bringing his familiar pies and kidand dog-friendly vibe to downtown. The vegan pies are still here and a gluten-free crust is now available. 16 Ross Common, 415.383.8646,

tonytuttopizza.com

b $$ S LD

SAN ANSELMO

BAAN THAI CUISINE

Thai Known for its mango sticky rice, this restaurant is committed to serving fresh, local and seasonal food. Warm up with the tom kha soup or stave off he heat with a lychee iced tea. 726 San Anselmo Ave, 415.457.9470, baanthaimarin.com

b $$ LD

COMFORTS CAFE

American Established in 1986, Comforts has a cozy sit-down patio and serves breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch. A large takeout section offers fresh bakery items, seasonal salads, soups, sandwiches and even entrees for dinner at home. Besides the famous Chinese chicken salad, other winners are the stu ffed pecan-crusted French toast , fl avorful scrambles, Chicken Okasan (nicknamed “Crack Chicken” by fans) and wonton soup. 335 San Anselmo Ave, 415.454.9840, comfortscafe.com

b $$ S Í BL BR

CUCINA SA Italian Cucina SA recently ren ovated and expanded its space to include a full bar that seats 30 with an upstairs mezzanine area that will eventually become a lounge. Along with two dining rooms, a private dining option and outdoor tables on the adjacent bridge, the restaurant is a solid bet for casual after-work drinks or hosting large parties. The menu has woodfi red pizzas, homemade pastas, modern takes on Italian classics

and lots of vegetarian, gluten-free options and now a full bar. 510 San Anselmo Ave, 415.454.2942, cucina-sa.com

s $$ S Í LD º

JILLIE’S WINE BAR

Californian A rotating list of more than 20 globally-sourced and Californian wines and a few beers are on tap at owner Jill CordovaHolt’s eponymously named bar and retail shop in the Red Hill Shopping Center. Savor small bites like a cheese and charcuterie board or black tru ffle potato chips while sipping in the lounge, at the bar or one of the indoor/ outdoor tables. 906 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, San Anselmo, 415.521.5500, jillieswine.com

b $$ Í LD

SUSHI 69 Japanese Opened in 2001 in San Anselmo, Sushi 69 has been a favorite for locals looking to get thei r fi ll of no-frills sushi. The owner hails from Japan and has created an extensive menu featur ing traditional tempura and the popular Hiro’s roll (spicy tuna with avocado, salmon and ponzu sauce wrapped in sushi rice). 69 Center Blvd, 415.459.6969, shallwego69.com

b $$$ Í D

TACO JANE’S Mexican Taco Jane’s full bar features a robust tequila and mezcal selection. Its regional Mexican cuisine includes Oaxacan mole, fi sh tacos and vegetarian options. Black Gold salsa arrives with complimentary chips and is created using charred blackened tomatoes and roasted chilis.

Live music Thursdays, enclosed patio seating

Chopped Salad at Maybeck’s, S.F.

all year round, weekday happy hour 4:30 to 6 p.m. 21 Tamalpais Ave, 415.454.6562, tacojanes.com

s $$ S Í LD BR

THE HUB American

The delicious burgers and fries, like the #1 Hub Burger with white cheddar and special sauce, and seasonal focus at the former Farm Burger in the Red Hill Shopping Center haven’t changed, but the addition of an array of big salads like Thai spinach and keto cobb necessitated a rebrand ing. The chicken burger with sriracha-chile mayo is a new fave. 882 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, 415.785.4802, hubsananselmo.com

b $$ Í LD

SAN RAFAEL

BOGIE’S TOO American

Relocated from the Civic Center to downtown San Rafael after 29 years, this second coming of Bogie’s highlights breakfast, brunch and lunch. Free range, organic eggs anchor a breakfast and lunch menu of omelets, sandwiches and salads that Humphrey Bogart himself might recognize. 1335 Fourth St, 415.492.1530, bogies too.com

b $$ S BL BR

LE COMPTOIR French

The owners of San Francisco’s Gamine have opened their second restaurant, this time in the heart of San Rafael. The bistro serves up traditional

French favorites like beef cheeks bourguignon and onion soup gratinée in a chic and cozy setting. If you’re planning to go, call ahead. 1301 Fourth St, 415.454.5454, lecomptoirsr.com

b $$ Í C D

LOS MOLES Mexican Nestled centrally on Lincoln Avenue, Los Moles offers traditional pueblo Mexican cuisine, with — you guessed it — a variety of di fferent moles to enhance your dish. O ffering brunch, lunch, dinner and party options, Los Moles’ menu includes enmo ladas, tacos, pollo al horno, carne asada , fl an and much more. Don’t miss Taco Tuesday night for all-you-caneat tacos. 912 Lincoln Ave, 415.453.5850,

losmoles.com

s $$ LD BR º

LOTUS CUISINE OF INDIA RESTAURANT

Indian A “Best of Marin” poll winner since 1999, family-owned and -operated Lotus serves up organic North Indian cuisine with many vegan and vegetarian options. It is a certi fied green business with an energy-efficient kitchen and features a retractable rooftop and exotic interior decor. The reasonably priced dishes are made with local, non-GMO and gluten-free ingre dients. 704 Fourth St, 415.456.5808, lotusrestaurant.com

b $$ S C LD

MAGNOLIA PARK

KITCHEN American

This American bistro

features lots of farmfresh salads and sandwiches to choose from. The outdoor patio is well suited to sipping a glass of wine or enjoying a signature fried chicken bomb sandwich. 1016 Court St, 415.521.5591, magnolia parkkitchen.com

b $$ Í C BL

MICHAEL’S SOURDOUGH

American The bread is made on site and is said to have magical qualities. It better as it is the only holder for the overstu ffed wonders served at this Best of the County winner. Fans return over and over to the San Rafael and Novato locations for their faves, ordered by number, then swoon over the huge sandos piled with meat, cheese

and enough shredded lettuce to ooze out the sides and onto your lap,. 999 Andersen Drive, Ste. 165, 415.485.0964, michaelssourdough sanrafael.com

$$ S Í BL

RANGE CAFE American

The cuisine is local, seasonal, made with naturally raised ingredients and served in a casual, comfortable and refi ned setting, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the grand Peacock Gap lawns. An inviting cafe at lunch with ice-cold lemonade and refreshing chardonnays makes a great dinner spot once the sun sets. 333 Biscayne Drive, 415.454.6450, rangecafe.net

s $$ S Í C BLD º

Lou and Susan Preston, owners

REVEL & ROOST

Californian The sunflower-bedecked tables hint at the Spanish and French fl avors to come from the seasonally driven, locally sourced menu at this corner spot in downtown San Rafael. Artichoke salad with grilled radicchio casts an eye to Italy while a diver scallop with red curry and Thai basil looks far beyond the Mediterranean. 901 B St, San Rafael, 415.870.9946, revel roostkitchen.com

b $$ S LD

ROCKET ROLL

Japanese There are plenty of fusion restaurants around, but not many that blend Mexican and Japanese. Rocketroll offers every thing from a spicy tuna rice bowl to yellow fi n or salmon sashimi “sushi burritos.” Smoothies like the avocado fresher round out the menu. 1109 Fourth St, 415.866.0537

$ LD

a traditional Chinese menu and daily dim sum. Expect live music in the Kung Fu Lounge. 1238 Fourth St, 415.460.9883, yetwah sanrafael.com

s $$ S Í LD

SAUSALITO

ANGELINO RESTAURANT Italian Authentic Italian eatery with handmade pastas and seasonal antipasti, showcasing cuisine of the Campania region for more than 20 years. 621 Bridgeway, 415.331.5225, angelino restaurant.com

s $$$ S BLD

Mediterranean fl air. In addition to the thincrust pizzas, you can now order items like lamb meatballs, chicken shawarma and falafel wraps. 2829 Bridgeway, 415.332.6636, darios sausalito.com

b $$ Í LD

LIGHTHOUSE American A great spot to grab a classic breakfast — the fruit pancakes, omelets and Danish-in fluenced dishes will make you a return customer. It’s a small but popular space, so arrive early or be prepared for a wait. 1311 Bridgeway, 415.331.3034, lighthouserestaurants.com

can accommodate larger parties (10 to 150 guests). 777 Bridgeway, 415.332.7771, poggio tratoria.com

s $$$ S Í C BLD

SHIRO KUMA Japanese Shiro Kuma, which means polar bear, takes its inspiration from chef Yasuo Shigeyoshi’s childhood in a small rural town in the south of Japan and offers traditional-style sushi and wagyu A5 and Kobe beef to cook over ishiyaki grilling stones. Popular weekly specials include hama chi jalapeño and the omakase (chef’s choice) dinner. 1518 Fourth St, 415.295.7464, sushishiro kuma.com

b $$ S LD

THERESA & JOHNNY’S COMFORT FOOD

American A favorite with both the kids and the foodie set, this charming eatery serves food like Mom used to make. Drop by for eggs Benedict, tuna melts, coffee and some of the best milkshakes around. 817 Fourth St, 415.259.0182, theresaand-johnnys.com

b $$ S Í BL BR

VIN ANTICO American Vin Antico, “where passion meets the plate,” serves seasonal marketinspired cuisine like stone-oven-baked fl atbreads, handmade pastas and organic salads, all innovatively prepared. The kitchen is open to the dining room and there’s a full bar with artisan cocktails. 881 Fourth St, 415.721.0600, vinantico.com

s $$ S C LD º

VN NOODLE & GRILL

Vietnamese Located in Montecito Plaza, the restaurant has a robust menu of standard Vietnamese fare, including a wide selection of rice plates, pho and of course, iced coffe. 421 Third St, 415.306.8299

$$ S C LD

YET WAH Chinese Named for the founder’s wife (“Yet” refers to the moon, “Wah” to brightness), this beloved mainstay has

AVATAR’S Indian If you’re on the hunt for innovative Indian fare, head to Avatar’s. Sip masala chai sweetened with brown sugar in this casual one-room restaurant, ideal for a quick lunch or dinner. 2656 Bridgeway, 415.332.8083, enjoyavatars.com

b $$ S LD

COPITA Mexican Co-owner Joanne Weir, along with chef Daniel Tellez, presents fresh Mexican fare in the heart of downtown Sausalito. The ever-changing menu is 100 percent glutenfree, and the in-house tequila bar serves over 100 varieties and fantastic cocktails. Dine at the bar or on the outdoor patio for great people-watch ing. 739 Bridgeway, 415.331.7400, copita restaurant.com

s $$ S Í LD BR

DARIO’S RESTAURANT Italian Dario’s, a 40-year-old pizza joint in Sausalito, is shaking things up by updating the menu with a

$$ S BL

MURRAY CIRCLE American Cavallo Point’s acclaimed restaurant features local seasonal fare by executive chef Justin Everett, with pairings from an extensive wine list and tempting desserts. Stop by Farley Bar for cocktails with a view. 601 Murray Circle, 415.339.4750, cavallopoint.com

s $$$ S Í C BLD BR

OSTERIA DIVINO Italian Osteria Divino offers authentic Florentine cooking inspired by the fi nest local, organic, seasonal produce, meat and fi sh available, along with an extensive artisan pasta selection. Live music Tue-Sun. 37 Caledonia St, 415.331.9355, osteriadivino.com

b $$ S Í C BLD BR º

POGGIO Italian Executive chef Benjamin Balesteri creates Northern Italian fare using fresh and local ingredients. Private dining rooms above the restaurant

SAYLOR’S RESTAURANT AND BAR Mexican Chef/ owner Sean Saylor uses fresh local ingredients and seafood to create a distinctively Cabo combination of California and Mexican cuisine. Choose from more than 200 varieties of tequilas that are even better when enjoyed in the private Cabo Wabo room, named for (and approved by) Mill Valley’s own tequila master, Sammy Hagar. 2009 Bridgeway, 415.332.1512, saylors restaurantandbar.com

s $$ S Í C LD º

TOMMY’S WOK Chinese Fresh ingredi ents, free-range chicken and traditional dishes ful fi ll the Chinese food craving with a nice atmosphere for dining in and great takeout for a night at home. 3001 Bridgeway, 415.332.5818, tommyswok.com

b $$ S Í LD

THE TRIDENT Seafood Set in a turn-of-thecentury building constructed for the San Francisco Yacht Club, this waterfront restaurant is a shoein for date night. The restaurant, a famous 1970s hangout, is now known for supporting local farmers, fi shers and organic food producers. 558 Bridgeway, 415.331.3232, the tridentsausalito.com

s $$$ S Í LD BR º

CAFFE ACRI Italian The

Squid Ink Spaghetti with Salmon at Palio, S.F.

Dining in Style

The table may or may not be covered in white linen, but these spots have a new take on the meaning of “haute cuisine.”

Punch It Up

SELBY’S, ATHERTON A marble entry staircase, crackling fire and abstract art on black-paneled walls set the tone; the cuisine by Michelin-starred executive chef Mark Sullivan is equally sophisticated. There is Kaluga caviar perched atop a cured Hokkaido scallop, and the texture of the Alaskan halibut in beurre rouge sauce is as rarefied as the surroundings. After dinner, adjourn to the card room with a glass of rare bourbon or a martini served from a trolley. selbysrestaurant.com

Selby’s

THE TABLE AT MERCHANT ROOTS, SAN FRANCISCO Step into culinary history in a room bedecked with a glowing candelabra, custom ceramics and peacock-feather fans to honor Victorian opulence. Swan-shaped gougères, prawn consommé cooked tableside, foie gras torchon and snail caviar on the Snail Wellington all lead to the 21-layer chai Napoleon cake, a fitting ending to this 19th-century-inspired meal. merchantroots.com

Day of the Dead Comes to Life

Community is the driving force behind Taco Jane’s second annual Dia de los Muertos celebration in San Anselmo. Festivities begin October 26, when the team builds an altar in the restaurant’s driveway “to celebrate life while honoring the departed,” owner Matteo Boussina says. On November 1, a group of Aztec dancers will perform a cleansing of the spirits ceremony at Imagination Park, then parade down the avenue to the restaurant, where the altar is cleaned using copal resin or incense “to push the bad things out,” Boussina says. While the festival comes from Mesoamerica, you don’t need a Mexican background to celebrate. “It comes from the heart; you can feel the spiritual,” says Boussina. After the dancing, savor the restaurant’s Day of the Dead tamales or keep an eye out for the tamale cart making the rounds on San Anselmo Avenue. tacojanes.com

BY CHRISTINA MUELLER

Punch is having a comeback. It’s easy to make, requires no fancy ingredients (unless that’s your thing), serves a crowd, and gussies up in a flash with fresh fruit or inventively shaped ice. Jeff urkhart, the Marin IJ ’s Bar fly col umnist and author of Twenty Years Behind Bars Volume II: Parole Denied (at Book Passage and jeffburkhart.net), shares some insider tips.

What is punch?  Punches were the first cock tails, but they weren’t made individually; they were made in bulk. There are many classic recipes for all kinds: flips, eggnogs, grogs and punches.

What makes a great punch? Start with great ice. Use only water you like to drink to make your ice. Small ice will melt too fast and dilute your punch. Try making a frozen ring using a Bundt pan. Large cubes or spheres are visually attractive.

What do I serve punch in? Nothing is as retrocool as a crystal punch bowl and matching crystal ladle, but pitchers are also a great idea. A slotted spoon helps, too.

Look on our Food & Drink page online for extended holiday restaurant listings. Burkhart’s Ginger Berry Sangria and Spiced Blackberry Daisy Bowl recipes and suggested garnishes can be found at marinmagazine.com/recipes.

well-lit corner cafe in Tiburon is a go-to for bikers, city commut ers and locals. Diners wil l fi nd Italian roast espresso drinks, freshly baked pastries and eggs for breakfast and a selection of soups, salads and paninis for lunch. 1 Main St, 415.435.8515, caffeacri.com

b $$ Í BLD

DON ANTONIO TRATTORIA Italian

Located in Tiburon’s Ark Row, this trattoria serves authentic Italian cuisine in a quaint setting. Traditional selections include chicken piccata, veal marsala and housemade pesto. 114 Main St, 415.435.0400, don antoniotrattoria.com

b $$ D

MILANO Italian

Located in the Cove Shopping Center, this family-owned neighborhood spot is known for its pasta and friendly service. Favorites like the cheesy garlic bread and pesto keep customers coming back.

1 Blackfield Drive, 415.388.9100, italian restaurantin tiburonca.com

s $$ S Í LD

RUSTIC BAKERY

California This location of the beloved bakery offers the same menu as the other locations in Novato and Larkspur, as well as outdoor dining. Enjoy a wide array of fresh salads, sandwiches and pastries on the boardwalk. 1550 Tiburon Blvd, 415.797.6123, rustic bakery.com

b $$ S Í BLD BR

SAN FRANCISCO /EAST BAY

ARGUELLO Mexican Opened inside the Presidio’s O fficers’ Club by Traci Des Jardins, the restaurant serves California-inspired Mexican food and drinks. Here, Chef de Cuisine Jose Alvarez works closely with Des Jardins’ and the two draw inspiration from travels to Mexico to build the food program.

International wine is

served but it’s the over 120 agave spirits that are truly worth checking out. 50 Moraga Ave, 415.561.3650, arguellosf.com

s $$ Í LD º

AUGUST 1 FIVE Indian

A seasonal menu inspired by the regional cooking of northern and central India breaks away from staples like curry. The interior makes an inviting atmosphere for modern interpretations of Indian cuisine. 524 Van Ness Ave, 415.771.5900, august1five.com

s $$ LD º

GATHER American Nicknamed the “omnivore’s solution,” this gem gets its menu inspiration from local farmers, ranchers and artisan food produc ers, but executive chef Anthony Lee’s microseasonal fare attracts vegans too. Brunch here is a weekend favorite (Berkeley). 2200 Oxford St, 510.809.0400, gather restaurant.com

s $$ S Í LD BR

LA FOLIE French Chef Roland Passot serves critically acclaimed fare in this intimate, familyrun restaurant. It’s located in Russian Hill, but the menu highlights ingredients from farms in Marin and Sonoma and all along the Paci fic Coast and the greater Northwest. 2316 Polk St, 415.776.5577, lafolie.com

s $$$ D

MAYBECK’S American Erik Lowe and Aaron Toensing serve inventive American standards, includ ing fried chicken and bubbly on Tuesday and resurrection of Beef Wellington on Wednesdays. The chefs explore regional

culinary traditions and translate them into a Northern California lexicon, as evidenced by their playful menu and a Negroni-centered bar. 3213 Scott St, 415.939.2726, maybecks.com

s $$ C D

MERCHANT ROOTS

American During the day Merchant Roots offers pastries, sandwiches, salads, pasta, cheese, and charcute rie, as well as gourmet pantry items. By night the space turns into The Table at Merchant Roots, an experience featuring a tasting menu. 1365 Fillmore St, 530.574.7365,merchant roots.com b $$$ BLD

PALIO Italian After clos ing down to undergo an extensive renova tion, Palio d’Asti has been reimagined as Palio, and now offers a brand-new dining space, expanded bar and lounge, as well as private dining rooms. The menu features different regions of Italy while maintaining an emphasis on seasonal, sustainably sourced California ingredients. Dishes include housemade pastas, whole Mediterranean sea bass and numerous woodfi red pizza options. 640 Sacramento Street, 415.395.9800, paliosf.com s $$ LD º

KEY TO SYMBOLS

Full bar

Wine and beer

$$$

Inexpensive (entrees $10 or less) Moderate (up to $20) Expensive ($20 and over) Kid-friendly

º

Outdoor seating

Private party room Breakfast, lunch, dinner Brunch Happy hour

These listings are not intended to be a full review of the business, rather a quick guide to some of the most popular restaurants in the county. For more restaurant listings, visit us online at marinmagazine.com/dine

PROMOTION

Consistently voted “Best of Marin,” Comforts offers finecity and home-style food. Our menus change frequently to reflet what is fresh, local and in season. We offer breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch, as well as take-out and catering services. The holidays are around the corner - let Comforts provide you with an easy and delicious holiday feast! For more information, contact Comforts Catering.

COMFORTS

335 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA 415.454.9840 comfortscafe.com

Pizza Antica combines the centuries-old traditions of Italian cooking with California’s freshest and finet ingredients, creating a unique style of pizzeria in a class of its own.

PIZZA ANTICA 800 Redwood Hwy, Mill Valley, CA 415.383.0600 pizzaantica.com

Marin Matters

LOCAL PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Reading the Signs

Dr. Jei Africa, director of behavioral health and recovery services (BHRS) for the County of Marin, shares his thoughts on what steps can be taken to help prevent tragedy in our community.

BY SUSAN NOYES

How did you become an expert on depression and gun violence? My interest in mental health stems from being personally impacted by having loved ones that have mental health conditions. In spite of all the medical breakthroughs, the stigma of mental illness remains a barrier to many for seeking help. Unfortunately, mental illness has been solely blamed for the gun violence in this country. The reality is that most people with mental illness are not violent and are more likely the victims, and not the perpetrators, of violent acts. Research has shown that having a history of violence is the single best predictor of who will commit future violence. Having access to more guns, and deadlier means, makes the situation more dangerous. A study in the American Journal of Public Health found that about 30 percent of the people with mental illness surveyed were a victim of violence within the six months prior to the study.

Please tell us about your hopes for the Marin County Suicide Prevention Plan. The suicide prevention stra tegic planning process started in November of last year with a comprehensive needs assessment to identify gaps and assets in systems and supports. T his is the fi rst time we are developing a plan like this — bringing di fferent stakeholders together, see ing what we can do as a community. We have to continue talking about suicide and bring it out in the open to prevent these tragic events. We anticipate that the fi nal plan will be released by the end of the year.

What warning signs should parents, friends and others watch out for to prevent suicide attempts and gun violence against others? There’s no single cause for suicide. Warning signs to look out for in general include any changes in the way an individual talks or shifts in their behaviors or mood. These may include talking about or making plans for suicide; expressing hopelessness about the future; talking about feeling that they are a burden to others; displaying severe/overwhelming emotional pain

or distress; withdrawal from or changing social connections/situations; noticeable changes in sleep (increased or decreased); anger or hostility that seems out of character or out of context; recent increased agitation or irritabil ity; increased use of alcohol or drugs; giving away prized possessions.

How do guns factor in? Suicide and gun vio lence warning signs sometimes overlap. It is important to look at social media posts and pay attention to the signs; 80 percent of school shooters told someone about their violent plans prior to the event . Additional signs may include a strong fascination wit h fi rearms or excessive study of mass shootings; excessive overreactions and/or aggressive behavior; extreme feelings of isolation or social withdrawal; being the victim or perpetrator of bullying; sudden change in academic performance; gestures of violence.

What resources are currently available locally to help teens and others who might be considering suicide or violence against others as a result of mental health issues? Don’t be afraid to talk about it. If you are worried that someone is thinking about suicide, ask them. It’s important for youth to tell an adult who can help, and to know that they are not alone.

Anything else you want to tell us? We have to work together to prevent suicide. We need to be informed about warning signs, how to reach out, to ask for help and be aware of available resources to support those who are in need. We can’t do this alone. m

Susan B. Noyes is the founder and chief visionary officer of Make It Better Media Group, as well as the founder of Make It Better Foundation’s Philanthropy Awards. A mother of six, former Sidley Austin labor lawyer and U.S. Congressional aide and passionate philanthropist, she has also served on many boards.

On the Scene

RICHARD WHEELER (LIFEHOUSE, ART WORKS DOWNTOWN)

Paul Hawken

Helen Russell, Paul Coletta, Julia Jackson and Jennifer Bushman

• LIFEHOUSE More than 65 guests attended the September 5 launch of the campaign to a find a per manent home for Lifehouse. More than $1 million was raised.

• ART WORKS DOWNTOWN DJ music, libations and a plush VIP lounge were the highlights of the AWD Full Moon Dance Party held September 13 in San Rafael.

• FUTUREWELL This one-day educational summit held September 6 at Stemple Creek Ranch offered guest speakers an immersive experience related to human and planetary health.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Gibson Thomas and Kimberly Bakker

Steve Talan, Sara Gallagher and Elisabeth Setten

Jared Huffman, Mary Jane Burke and Jenny Callaway

SNAPSHOTS FROM SPECIAL EVENTS IN MARIN AND SAN FRANCISCO EDITED BY DANIEL JEWETT

• SAUSALITO ART FESTIVAL More than 260 artists, food and drink and live music were all part of the fun over Labor Day weekend.

HUMANE);

RICHARD WHEELER (SAUSALITO

ART FESTIVAL)

Daryl Thetford and Dolan Geiman Suzanne, Craig and Keith McAllister

• MARIN HUMANE An evening of fun, food, fundraising (and lots of furry friends) was enjoyed by all at the September 14 event held in Novato.

Bridgit Bewley, Milinda Lommer, Ashley Vellejo and Ivan

Kathryn Horton, Bob and Sue Sauter, Gail Grossman and Bill Grossy

• MILL VALLEY FALL ARTS FESTIVAL

Attendees gath ered under the Mill Valley redwoods September 14 and 15 for a weekend of art, crafts, music storytellers and more.

Eileen Goldenberg, Annemarie Cassidy, Leonard Nunez and Parviz Payghamy

TO SEE MORE EVENT PHOTOS VISIT MARINMAGAZINE.COM/HOTTICKET

• BUCKLES AND BLING Guests enjoyed music by Buck Nickels and Loose Change, auctions offering unique items and din ner September 13 at the annual Halleck Creek fundraiser held at Rancho Nicasio.

Clara Yourman, Greg Lapierre, Tom and Nicole Bachman

John Wick and Riley Binford

Dan Steadman, Sandy Webster, Brenda Falco and Molly Scannell

Marin Magazine

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation, PS Form 3526-R. 1. Publication Title: Marin Magazine. 2. Publication Number: 024-898. 3. Filing Date: September 27, 2019. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: Twelve (12). 6. Annual Subscription Price: $12.00. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965. Contact Person: Nikki Wood; Telephone: (415) 332-4800. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: Marin Magazine, One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Nikki Wood, President/Editorial Director, One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965; Mimi Towle, Executive Editor, One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965; Daniel Jewett, Managing Editor, One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965. 10. Owner: Fawkes Marin LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, c/o Make It Better Media, 1150 Wilmette Ave., Ste. 2, Wilmette, IL 60091; Susan Noyes, Sole Member, 1150 Wilmette Ave., Ste. 2, Wilmette, IL 60091. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12. (Does not apply.) 13. Publication Title: Marin Magazine. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: October 2019. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Average Number of Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months; Number of Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: A. Total Number of Copies: Average: 38,099; Actual: 38,174. B. Legitimate Paid and/or Requested Distribution: 1: Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: Average: 0; Actual 0. 2. In-County Paid/ Requested Mail Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: Average: 20,871; Actual: 20,752. 3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS: Average: 279; Actual: 250. 4. Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS: Average: 0; Actual: 0. C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: Average: 21,150; Actual: 21,002. D. Nonrequested Distribution: 1. Outside County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541: Average: 13,632; Actual: 13,833. 2. In-County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541: Average: 0; Actual: 0. 3. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail: Average: 0; Actual: 0. 4) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail: Average: 2,790; Actual: 2,852. E. Total Nonrequested Distribution: Average: 16,422; Actual: 16,685. F. Total Distribution: Average: 37,572; Actual: 37,687. G. Copies not Distributed: Average: 527; Actual: 487. H. Total: Average: 38,099; Actual: 38,174. I. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: Average: 56%; Actual: 56%. 16. Electronic Copy Circulation. (Does not apply) 17. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November 2019 issue of this publication. 18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager or Owner: Nikki Wood, President / Editorial Director. Date: September 27, 2019.

Marin

FROM TOURS AND MAKEOVERS TO DECORATIVE DETAILS AND REALTOR INSIGHTS

LABOR OF LOVE

BY DAWN MARGOLIS DENBERG • PHOTOS BY ALFRED YAN

A six-year project transforms a teardown into a forever home.

OVER THE COURSE of their 32-year marriage, Kathy and Miles Kilburn have set down roots in more than half a dozen cities and they spent a few years in Mill Valley in the ’90s. In 2012, after five years in Seattle, they decided to return to Marin.

As empty-nester house-hunters, though, they now had a wish list considerably di fferent from when they lived in Marin before. “Last time our kids were babies, so priorities were distance to the store, nearby parks, and being in the good school district.”

When a hillside Tiburon house with killer views showed up on the MLS, in an area with a desirable microclimate, they contacted their realtor. “He said, ‘Oh you don’t want that one, it’s basically a teardown,’ ” Miles recalls. “We wanted to see it anyway.”

Immediately, they were enamored of the majestic views and how the lot seemed to be perpetually bathed in sunshine. “We were looking for something with enduring value, and willing to see past the flaws,” says Miles.

The Kilburns, seasoned remodelers, knew that with help from the right creative partner, the space could be outstanding. And as it hap pened, they’d already discovered the work of interior designer Caitlin Jones. “We toured a Kentfield house that she’d designed,” says Kathy. “We loved it, but we were looking for a project, and that one was move-in ready,” adds Miles.

So they bought the “teardown” and engaged Jones to work on what they knew would be a multiphase project. Phase one was a “BandAid” remodel. “We did just enough to make it livable,” Miles says: shoring up the foundation, replacing the old sewer lines and remediat ing dry rot. They also tasked Jones with a few cosmetic upgrades. Most of these were benign — refinishing the existing hardwoods, replac ing old carpet, painting interior walls.

The next step: sit tight and live. “We wanted to wait until we had a better sense of how we were using the space before taking on additional renovations,” Miles says. Then, in years two through six, the home was perpetually under construction. Redoing the kitchen

was an early priority; other upgrades included a down-to-the studs makeover of three bathrooms, demolishing the wall between front entry and living room, and carving out a laundry area. Over time, nearly every window, door and fi xture in the home got replaced.

As did every stitch of furniture. The liv ing room is a homage to high-low design. Sophisticated yet straightforward Room and Board pieces — a dining table, sectional sofa and swivel chair — pair seamlessly with accent pieces such as a Jonathan Browning chandelier, a Meridiani cocktail table and A. Rudin chairs.

W ith just small interior details left to complete, the couple shifted focus to outside. For added curb appeal they ripped off a attered pergola over the garage, repainted the garage and replaced its doors. “We also widened the steps down from the garage to our existing front courtyard and added outdoor furniture and a ga s fi re pit,” Kathy says.

T he six-year transformation was a labor of love that’s kept paying off ong since the construction dust settled. m

THE DETAILS

WHAT THEY OWN A four-bedroom, four-bath midcentury modern

WHERE THEY BOUGHT The Hill Haven neighborhood of Tiburon

CONTRACTORS Tracy Anthony of Lafayette and Denis Murphy of Connden Construction of San Rafael

DESIGNER Caitlin Jones of Caitlin Jones Design in San Rafael

FAVORITE DETAIL “The view from our living room swivel chair,” Kathy says. “I love how I can spi n a round and take in our surroundings from every angle.”

Opener: New garage doors and updated colors add curb appeal. Opposite: Unobstructed views in the living room. This page from top: The kitchen is small, but sleek and functional; Miles and Kathy enjoying their spectacular microclimate; a master bedroom bathed in sunshine; a bathroom with a view.

Bowman Real Estate Group

Vanguard Marin (415) 755-1040

BowmanGroup@VanguardMarin.com

BowmanRealEstateGroup.com

Lita Collins Coldwell Banker (415) 515-5006

Bitsa Freeman

Vanguard Marin (415) 385-8929

Sharon Kramlich Marin Compass Founder (415) 609-4473

Katie Beacock Seadrift Realty (415) 868-1791

Conrad Gregory Coldwell Banker

OUT OF YOUR WAY TO

Marin Home Team

Sarah Wagner Rayburn Mary Thomson Victoria George Diane Wagner Michelle Reynolds

Compass (415) 819-6463 team@marinhome.team marinhome.team

Andrea Dyer Coldwell Banker (415) 786-7997

Katrina Kehl Compass (415) 378-9267

Kathy Schlegel

Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty (415) 699-7406

Chris Backer Zephyr Real Estate

Gary Newman

Holmes Burrell Real Estate

Kathleen Clifford

Compass (415) 314-6466

kathleen@kathleencliffordrealestate.com MakingMarinHome.com

Kathi Elliott

Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty (415) 235-4024

Joan Kermath Compass (415) 233-3031

Michelle Steinhart Coldwell Banker (415) 531-1384

Holly Welch Zephyr Real Estate Beth Fernbacher Compass

Cover Represented by JOHN HAMMER

The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification.

of

estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor agents and are not

Reserved.

Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Owned by

subsidiary

Coldwell Banker, the Coldwell Banker logo, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury and the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury logo are service marks registered or pending registration owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. CalBRE License #01908304

with

upgrades, private pier, Donner Lake Views from great room, kitchen & more!

Located in coveted Strawberry Point, this stunning home’s clean architectural lines, open spaces and sleek planes of glass create a home that showcases spaciousness, views and light. The exterior’s classic modernist lines and exquisite landscaping announces the impressive design that awaits inside. Expansive walls of windows throughout frame stunning Richardson Bay views and an open concept floor plan and direct access to the outside offer a sense of seamless indoor/outdoor living, ideal for entertaining and enjoyment.

39 LOCKSLY DRIVE

RESULTS AGAIN AND AGAIN

WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT OUR NEW VENTURE WITH VANGUARD PROPERTIES

With over 50 years of combined experience, we know that every client is unique and every transaction is different. We’ve learned to listen, lead, and implement effective results. We are now excited to announce our new location at 1690 Tiburon Boulevard. Vanguard has proven to us they are skilled experts, leading the real estate industry as a team, and taking everyone, including their clients, to new creative heights. Now, with our new downtown Tiburon location, we are even more accessible day-to-day to better serve your real estate needs. Stop by and see us!

Exclusively represented by

Nan Allen | 415.828.1500 nan@vanguardmarin.com DRE# 00823336

Link Allen | 415.302.8877 link@vanguardmarin.com DRE# 01378539

This project offers the opportunity to develop a state-of-the-art, six bedroom, 12,506 sq.ft. modern estate set on 1.24 acres of private waterfront on the coveted west side of Belvedere Island. Included are fully approved, permit ready construction drawings. San Francisco and Golden Gate Bridge views are featured from this incredible property. A private beach, boat storage facility and boat dock offer unparalleled access to San Francisco Bay.

Scott Woods | 415.419.4510

VANGUARD PROPERTIES scott@vanguardpmarin.com DRE# 01863705 www.ScottCWoods.com

Bill Smith | 415.902.4456

COMPASS REAL ESTATE bill@billsmithrealestate.com DRE# 012299135

A BESPOKE APPROACH TO HOMEBUYING SINCE 1977

WE ARE ENGEL & VÖLKERS.

With a history of innovation in real estate and handcrafted attention to detail, our advisors offer expert local market insights and one-of-a-kind experiences, aimed at crafting a homebuying process that is inspired by creativity and individually tailored to every client. Our ultimate goal is not just client satisfaction, but well exceeding clients’ expectations. Engel & Völkers is the ultimate platform to deliver on that promise. Engel & Völkers can only be as good and successful as its advisors. We concentrate our efforts on hiring the best and fostering their development on an ongoing basis. We are extremely proud that our managers and advisors give rise to such an open, pleasant, warm and respectful culture. We live by our core values: passion, competence and exclusivity. We are proud to be a part of the large Engel & Völkers family. Licensed partners are invited to apply.

MONICA YAZBEK

Marin County Manager & Global Real Estate Advisor +1 415 480-9424 monica.yazbek@evrealestate.com DRE# 02063023

31 WILDOMAR STREET MILL VALLEY

4 BD | 4 BA | 2,655 SF | 0.24± ACRES OFFERED AT $2,300,000

George Cagwin +1 415 388-2629 DRE# 00329059

81

3 BD | 3 BA | 1,849 SF | 0.35± ACRES

OFFERED AT $865,000

Michelle Clein +1 415 686-8544 DRE# 01194117

504 & 506

DESIGNER SUPLEX | 0.15± ACRES

OFFERED AT $2,095,000

Mike Monsef +1 415 828-3100 DRE# 01780760

STYLISH & CHARMING CRAFTSMAN

19202 TWIN OAKS LANE SONOMA

2 BD | 2 BA | 1,640 SF | 0.53± ACRES

OFFERED AT $1,530,000

Marjie Orton +1 415 279-5510 DRE# 01096842

38 WOODWARD AVENUE SAUSALITO

4 BD | 3.5 BA | 3,585 SF | 0.22± ACRES

OFFERED AT $4,595,000

Catherine Cook +1 415 260-0453 DRE# 01241641

260 MACARTHUR LANE SONOMA

260 Macarthur Lane • Sonoma, California

3 BD | 3 BA | 2,487 SF | 0.14± ACRES

OFFERED AT $1,225,000

Carol Scott +1 415 971-5676 DRE# 01117957

Engel & Völkers evokes a real estate experience with the utmost competence, exclusive expertise and passion for all that we do. Handcrafted attention to every detail and meticulous white-glove service is what each and every one of our clients deserves. It’s our standard of service that truly sets Engel & Völkers apart.

SAUSALITO

539 BRIDGEWAY SAUSALITO, CA 94965

+1 415 887-9925

KENTFIELD

636 COLLEGE AVE KENTFIELD, CA 94904 +1 415 847-4904

NOW OPEN • SAN ANSELMO

FAIRFAX

MILL VALLEY

850 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE BLVD SAN ANSELMO, CA 94960 +1 415 675-1263

44 BOLINAS ROAD FAIRFAX, CA 94930 +1 415 870-4411 marincounty.evrealestate.com

206 E BLITHEDALE AVE MILL VALLEY, CA 94941 +1 415 634-5577

©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principals of the Fair Housing Act. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. If your property is currently represented by a real estate broker, this is not an attempt to solicit your listing.

Sun-filled, Bay View Contemporary Home

Sun-filled contemporary house, nestled on Lincoln Hill with Bay views. Open living, dining and kitchen area with vaulted, open-beam ceilings, fireplace and Teak hardwood floors. The kitchen has an island, stone countertops, gas range, wine refrigerator and skylight. The master bedroom has a slider to the yard and a remodeled bathroom with tile shower, floors and skylight. 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom finish o the top floor. Downstairs has a spacious family room with fireplace and small front patio, 4th bedroom and a full bathroom. Laundry room and access to the 2-car garage. The backyard has a nice brick patio o the kitchen and small deck with overhang for a hot tub. There is a large deck up the hill with a panoramic view of the Bay, Richmond bridge and East Bay. A great commute location just moments from downtown.

105Graceland.com

Contemporary Coveted Glenwood Home

This contemporary house is in coveted Glenwood. Located up the hill, this 3 BD/2 BA home has an open floor plan, raised ceilings, views, fireplace and dark floors throughout. The kitchen has custom cabinets, movable island and opens to the family room. Updated master bathroom has a walk-in closet and hall bathroom has a Jacuzzi tub. Situated on a corner lot with a 2-tier level backyard that is great for entertaining or adding a pool. Bring your imagination. Large 2 car garage with laundry and work space/storage. Near award winning school, Golf Course, Yacht Club, parks, trails, McNear’s beach & China Camp. Highly desirable.

45WoodsideWay.com

5 Rebelo Lane, Novato

Exquisitely designed estate with spectacular privacy in the most coveted neighborhood in West Novato. This home features beachwood floors, cherry cabinets, three fireplaces, three car garage, and dramatically high ceilings. The Epicurean kitchen contains a center island and breakfast area, covered with granite counters. This 5 bed, 4.5 bath house has amazing panoramic views and a beautiful level backyard with lush landscaping, patio, & pergola.

Stafford

415.706.6025

j.stafford@ggsir.com

Lic.# 01372158

2Mora.com

415.640.4927 d.breen@ggsir.com DubieBreen.com Lic.# 01079071

Black Mountain Ranch serves as the gateway to beautiful West Marin and is located between Nicasio and the town of Point Reyes Station. The iconic ranch spans nearly 1,200 acres to an elevation (1,334± ft.). Experience spectacular views in every direction, enjoy the historic, 13,400± sf, 3-story, redwood barn, or take a swim in the 25 acre-foot, spring-fed pond. TheBlackMtnRanch.com

Rick Trono

Broker Associate 415.515.1117 r.trono@ggsir.com | RickTronoSellsMarin.com | Lic.# 01045523

A Fine Ship

Liberty ships and Peter Donahue have history in Marin.

BY JIM WOOD

THIS 1943 PHOTO has double the Marin County history. First, the shipyard is Marinship, a rapidly constructed facility on Richardson Bay in Sausalito. A typical day at Marinship saw 20,000 workers, many of them women, reporting for work on one of three eighthour shifts. During three-plus years of around-the-clock production, Marinship produced 93 oceangoing vessels, most of which were Victory and Liberty ships (the restored Jeremiah O’Brien, berthed at Fisherman’s Wharf, is a Liberty ship). Liberty ships were 440 feet long, traveled at 11 knots and brought cargo, food and ammunition to various theaters of war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nicknamed them the “Ugly Ducklings” of World War II. Regardless, the 12th of 15 Liberty ships launched at Marinship was christened the Peter Donahue — the second Marin County tie-in in the photo. Donahue was born in 1822 in Glasgow, Scotland, of Irish parents, who brought him to America as a youngster. When he was 30 he started a San Francisco gas company that eventually became PG&E. His Marin endeavors involved launching the Northern Pacific Railroad, which starting in 1884 was based in Tiburon. Donahue was behind the building of not only many of the railroads that connected Marin County with points as far north as Eureka, but also huge ferryboats, such as the Eureka, which could transport more than 1,000 passengers and 10 freight cars from Tiburon to San Francisco (the restored Eureka is berthed at the Francisco Maritime National Historical Park). With such an important maritime history, it is fitting that a World War II Liberty ship be named the Peter Donahue. m

When he was 30 he started a San Francisco gas company that eventually became PG&E.

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