Ukiah: Schat’s Bakery Cafe; restaurant review

101 North

Schat’s Bakery Cafe 

113 W. Perkins St., downtown, (707) 462-1670. B-L; $. 

Located across from the town’s court house, the popular Dutch-heritage Schat's Bakery Cafe makes everything from scratch. Step up to the counter to order. For breakfast it’s omelettes, waffles, burritos, and plenty more; for lunch think soups, salads, stuffed baked potatoes, and sandwiches (including a build your own) made with delicious organic bread—do try the whole-grain sunflower seed or the cloud-soft sheepherder. Popular bakery items include Dutch crunch bread, fruit pastries, oversize macaroons, and hunky muffins. Goods are well priced to begin with, but leftovers become half-price after 5:30 p.m.



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Ukiah: Branches Wood Fired Chop House (CLOSED) + Hampton Inn; restaurant review + hotel review

101 North

Branches Wood Fired Chop House  

CLOSED  1180 Airport Park Blvd., 2 mi. S of town, (707) 468‐5400. $$. Reservations taken.

This gargantuan space houses a retail area with a butcher shop and bakery, plus an upscale restaurant, a traditional Irish-style pub and sports bar (it is well-insulated so the noise does not spill over), and an adjacent quiet “grown-ups bar.” Diners can eat and then gather more goodies for their next meal at home. The wide-open main dining room at Branches Wood Fired Chop House has an extremely high ceiling with open rafters, plenty of comfortable booths, and a menu that offers dishes made from the freshest local ingredients. Almost everything is made in-house in the semi-open kitchen behind an outcropping of decorative reeds. The restaurant also has its own gardens. Though the menu changes regularly, popular items include a pepper-crusted filet mignon with Jack Daniels demi glace, a sourdough-crusted pizza, and some vegan items. Order one of the delicious sausages when available (the curried lamb and angry pig are superb). Pastry chef Debbie Coenen formerly cooked for the royals in Buckingham Palace, so be sure to try one of her delicious creations—perhaps an old-fashioned cream puff or an apricot tart.

Hampton Inn

1160 Airport Park Blvd., (800) hampton, (707) 462-6555. 3 floors; 76 rooms. Some fireplaces. Pool; hot tub; fitness room. Full breakfast.)

Though usually there are no surprises in franchise lodgings, this boutique Hampton Inn is next door to Branches and the only one in the U.S. with private patios and balconies. It features a nicely landscaped pool area with two koi ponds, and all rooms are oversize.



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image ©2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Ukiah: Ukiah Brewing Company & Restaurant; restaurant review

101 North

Ukiah Brewing Company & Restaurant 

102 S. State St., downtown, (707) 468-5898. L-D daily; $$. Takes reservations.

Do your body a healthy favor and have a brew and a meal at the first certified organic brewpub and the second certified organic brewery in the U.S. At the Ukiah Brewing Company & Restaurant, beers are not filtered and available only on site. Everything on the eclectic menu here is made in the kitchen except the bread and buns, which come from Schat’s Bakery next door. The Orr Springs IPA is the most popular brew, but many also favor the Sunhouse Amber, Doppel Dunkel Weizen, and dark Coops Stout. Menu favorites include a burger, fresh fish & chips, a Sloppy Joe with caramelized onions and side of mild red cabbage slaw, a beet-walnut salad, and garlic fries. Housemade cucumber pickles are available in summer, and daikon radish pickles the rest of the year. The funky warehouse-style space offers seating in several areas and also outside, and live music is scheduled most evenings.



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Ukiah: Patrona; restaurant review

101 North

Patrona 

130 W. Standley St., downtown, (707) 462-9181. L-D Tu-Sat; $$$. Reservations advised. 

Locally sourced California cuisine is served at Patrona in a serene atmosphere featuring rustic brick walls nicely accenting a chic decor of black leather hi-back chairs and tables of polished pepperwood repurposed from a nearby ranch. A creative cocktail is the perfect start—perhaps a pisco mojito with cucumber, lime, and mint--but the large Mendocino County wine list is also worth a look. The menu changes regularly, so there is no guarantee it will offer a tangy, finely chopped gazpacho soup, or a crunchy flash-fried cod with a sweet chili sauce, but fish here is generally very good.



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Ukiah: Vichy Springs Resort; things to do

101 North 

Vichy Springs Resort  

2605 Vichy Springs Rd., 3 mi. E of town, (707) 462-9515. 18 rooms, 8 cabins; $$-$$$+. No TVs; some kitchens & gas fireplaces. Solar-heated mineral-water pool (avail. summer only); mineral springs hot tub; 14 hot springs soaking tubs. Full breakfast. No pets. Day use: $30-$50/person.

Founded in 1854, the 700-acre Vichy Springs Resort still has three renovated cottages from that era--they are the oldest still-standing structures in Mendocino County--plus two strips of redwood hotel rooms that date to the 1860s. The resort has the only naturally carbonated warm mineral baths in North America and is named for the famous French springs that have the same kind of alkaline waters and were discovered by Julius Caesar. In its heyday the resort attracted guests from San Francisco who endured an all-day journey to travel the 100 miles to get here--by ferry across the bay, by train to Cloverdale, then by stagecoach to the springs. They came in search of curative powers attributed to the waters that continue to bubble up from 5 miles underground at the rate of 65 gallons per minute. Among the famous vintage guests are writers Mark Twain, Jack London, and Robert Louis Stevenson, and presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Vichy’s concrete "champagne" tubs, which date from 1860 and fill continuously with tingling 90-degree naturally carbonated water, are situated in several wood bathhouses as well as outside in a shady area overlooking Little Grizzly Creek. Swimsuits are required. Guests can also swim in a 130-year-old Olympic-size pool filled with unchlorinated mineral water, schedule a treatment in the massage cottage, and hike to a 40-foot-high waterfall or mountain bike over dirt roads. Picnic lunches can be arranged.

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video ©2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Ukiah: City of Ten Thousand Buddhas; things to do

101 North

City of Ten Thousand Buddhas  

4951 Bodhi Way, 4 mi. SE of town, across 101, (707) 462-0939. Daily 8-6.

One of the first Buddhist temples and monasteries built in the U.S., the 448-acre City of Ten Thousand Buddhas operates on the grounds of a former state mental hospital. After passing through the ornate gate onto the property, stop at the office for a map and visiting rules. Monks and nuns are spotted walking and riding bikes, and peacocks roam freely. The temple (in the former gymnasium) has walls lined with perhaps 10,000 golden Buddha figurines in various sizes, and good-timing presents the opportunity to witness chanting. The property also houses a K-12 school and a university. A gift shop sells Buddhist souvenirs, including newly made carved-stone amulets.

Jyun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant  

(707) 468-7966. L W-M (12-3); $. Cash only. Reservations taken.

Jyun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant operates in one simple room with round tables. Decoration is limited to sporadic touches of lace. The name translates as "to your health," and the kitchen serves an Asian-style vegetarian/vegan lunch. Dishes are prepared without MSG, onions, garlic, scallions, leeks, shallots, or egg, but they do use hot red peppers and warn that the food is spicy but not hot. Recommended items include broccoli with cashews, mushrooms with greens, eggplant with basil, veggie noodles, veggie fried rice, curry noodle soup, mushroom and tomato soup, and sweet and sour tofu. Servers sometimes speak little English. When the restaurant gets crowded, diners are doubled-up at one table. Frozen food is available to go.



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video and image ©2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers