Michael Bauer Finds a Happy Place in Sausalito

Joinery Beerhall + Rotisserie

In Sausalito, Michael Bauer heads to the new fast casual watering hole from the same people who bring you Fort Point Beer Co. and Mill Valley Beerworks. The Joinery Beerhall + Rotisserie has a “homey spirit,” Bauer says and the simple menu of roast chickens, salads and “carefully conceived” pub fare that “many people want on a casual night out.”

Bauer gives his stamp of approval on the brined and seasoned Mary’s rotisserie chickens, the “exceptional” fried chicken sandwich, an “exceptionally juicy” kielbasa and a dish of burrata piled on with sugar snap peas. Add it all up with “sharp” service and “reasonable” prices, and Bauer thinks the Joinery could surpass Fish as the popular spot for locals. Two and a half stars.

Dry Creek Kitchen

Now that Charlier Palmer is splitting his time between a dozen restaurants and six hotels, Bauer dropped by Palmer’s original introduction to Sonoma County, Dry Creek Kitchen, to check up on his lieutenant, chef Scottie Romano. In the year or so since arriving in Healdsburg, Romano has made himself a fixture at both the local markets and in the dining room, where he makes the rounds nightly during service.

On Bauer’s visit, Romano’s market trips resulted in a roasted game hen with fiddlehead ferns, morels and fresh mulberries that, “clearly spoke to the season.” Other Dry Creek Kitchen standbys like rabbit with pappardelle, the Palmer-staple tuna tartare or the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin also got Bauer’s seal of approval. Even though Bauer recognizes some faces from years ago when the service was “shaky,” things are now “smooth and effortless” and the 16-year-old restaurant that Bauer has been following for more than half his career at the Chronicle gets a solid three stars.

The Kebabery

In Oakland, Pete Kane drops by Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain’s meats-on-a-stick spot The Kebabery and finds the titular menu items are all “awesome, up and down.” The grilled king trumpet mushrooms stood out from the lamb and chicken, however, and “there’s not a trace of rubberiness.” Likewise, the “salads give the meats a run for their money” and Kane recommends the turnip pickles, the shredded carrot salad and a “thick and umami-rich” chickpea soup of the day. Kane’s only real quibbles are the lack of falafel and hummus — which Moore and Hopelain specifically avoided putting on the menu — and the shoestring fries that went mushy a little too fast.

Paradita

In Emeryville’s public market, Express contributor Momo Chang finds skewered meats of a different sort at Paradita, the latest casual Peruvian spot from chef Carlos Altamirano (Mochica, Parada). With an extensive menu, Altamirano has room to play around with classic Peruvian dishes like a lomo saltado sandwich or rotisserie pollo a la brasa, but Chang gravitates toward the non-traditional fried chicken sandwich spiced with rocoto peppers grown in Altamirano’s own garden. Pair it with a pisco sour and the whole thing “makes for the ideal lunch break.”

• Joinery Beerhall + Rotisserie in Sausalito a prime spot for locals [Chronicle]
• Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg regains luster with chef Romano [Chronicle]
• Grillboss [SFWeekly]
• An Ideal Lunch Break at Emeryville’s Paradita [East Bay Express]