March 23, 2025 6:00PM PST
In-person dinner at The Old Clam House
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For our March meeting, we will gather for an in-person dinner at The Old Clam House, another of the restaurants claiming to be the oldest in San Francisco. The Old Clam House says that they started in 1861 and have been serving seafood at the same location ever since. The sticklers among us will note that it did change its name from the original “Oakdale Bar.” Nonetheless, it is among the contenders for the oldest, depending on your perspectives as to location, name, and ownership.
This dinner will be on Sunday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m. Note that this is our usual 4th Sunday, but one hour later than the typical 5:00 p.m. While we will start dinner at 6:00 p.m., several of us are planning on arriving at 5:30 for cocktails, and the restaurant is open all day, so you are free to arrive any time and wait in the bar area.
Unlike our prior restaurant foray, there is no set menu; attendees will order from the restaurant’s standard menu, which you can check out here: https://theoldclamhouse.com/menu. We will be keeping a single tab so reimbursement is expected at the close of the evening. Note too that there is no speaker for this event; we will simply be gathering to try another of San Francisco’s earliest dining establishments and enjoy each other's company.
This event is limited to twenty (20) people.
Register for the dinner on Eventbrite. Note that there is a $5 registration fee.
As always, it is helpful if you can indicate your interest on the BACH Facebook Events Page as well as on Eventbrite.
April 21, 2025 10:30AM PDT
In-person tour of M.F.K Fisher's Last House in Glen Ellen, CA​
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Please join us Monday, April 21, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. PDT, for an in-person tour of Last House, the home of legendary author M.F.K Fisher in Glen Ellen, CA. [Note that this is not our usual 4th Sunday event time.] Following the guided tour we have been welcomed to stay onsite to share a boxed lunch together.
Tour of M.F.K. Fisher House
"The sunset was strictly Maxfield Parrish. Thanks to the smatter of rain last week, there's the sound of many frogs... Always amazing to me..." - letter to Norah Barr, 1973
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Picture M.F.K. Fisher writing this note from her desk in the modest home she lived in located on the 500-acre Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County.
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Fisher treasured her two-room 'palazzino,' which features a simple design, her signature Chinese red walls, built-in bookcases which held approximately 2,000 books, and arched porches that look west to Sonoma Mountain and east to the preserve protected by Audubon Canyon Ranch.
It was here that she wrote thirteen books during 21 years of residence and where she welcomed friends such as Julia Child, James Beard, and Maya Angelou for conversations around her table. Since 2016, Audubon Canyon Ranch [https://egret.org/] has been restoring Last House to capture the spirit and the flavor of her life on the preserve and as an exclusive destination honoring her love of food, wine, literature, and nature.
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This approximately one-hour tour will take you through M.F.K. Fisher's modest home where she spent the last 21 years of her life. Learn about Fisher's time in the Sonoma Valley, experience her special brand of simple elegance, and soak in the views she enjoyed from every angle.
Location: M.F.K. Fisher's Last House on the Bouverie Preserve, 13815 CA-12 Glen Ellen, CA
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Parking is limited, so carpooling is appreciated as we try to limit human impacts on the preserve.
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Lunch
Following the tour, we will have a boxed lunch at Last House.
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Cost
The price for this event is $25, which will cover the lunch. In addition, Audubon Canyon Ranch, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, requests (but does not require) donations from visitors of $20 per person / $15 ACR Members, though no one is turned away. Donations can be made on the day of the event directly to ACR by QR code, check, or cash.
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Tickets available on Eventbrite
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As always, it is super-helpful if you indicate your interest on the BACH Events page on Facebook in addition to registering here.
May 25, 2025, 5:00PM PST
Online presentation: Tracy Johnston - The Spanish Cook Without Equal- My Adventures in Translating Encarnación Pinedo’s 1898 Cookbook.
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Please join us, Sunday, February 25, 2025, at 5:00pm PST, for an online presentation by Tracy Johnston on The Spanish Cook Without Equal- My Adventures in Translating Encarnación Pinedo’s 1898 Cookbook.
In 1898, Encarnación Pinedo published a cookbook, written in Spanish, and compiled from recipes she had gathered throughout her life in the San Jose area. It was the first cookbook published in the United States written by a Latina, and it represented the California Rancho culture she grew up in and inherited from her Berryessa ancestors.
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It is not just a cookbook but a historical document, a record made during the transition of California from the Rancho period through the Gold Rush and beyond. Further, it was written from the point-of-view of a woman, in a way that society accepted from women.
Tracy Johnston, an avid foodie, food history buff, and long-time food blogger, translated all 900 of Miss Pinedo's recipes in parallel text format, making it simple to compare Pinedo's words directly with the translation; this includes recipes not found in Strehl's 2003 book. Also, Tracy has been redacting the recipes and reports them on her blog, The Spanish Cook Without Equal. Her talk shares the adventures she has had during this journey and highlights the questions and mysteries that remain.
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As always, it is super-helpful if you indicate your interest on the BACH Events page on Facebook in addition to registering here.
~~~ 2025 ~~~
We are very excited about our upcoming events for the rest of the 2025 season!
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Watch this space for future event postings.
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I know, I know, this space looks blank, but we really do have a full
and interesting season coming up! We just need to adjust the
seasonings and add some frosting.
We will serve no events before its time.
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See you then!