Sol Food has become a San Rafael culinary treasure. If you mention eating out in Marin, it's bound to come up. In my circles, anyway. There are many reasons for this: incredible Puerto Rican beans, salads, plantains, local meats, housemade hot sauce and limeade. I could go on. Sol Food is also open late which is a rarity in Marin. So not that I needed convincing, but I was excited to check out La Bodega, their new little annex right next door that boasts a seamless take-out and pick-up service along with a few special items you won't find at the other two locations. Currently, they're renovating their larger corner spot, so the pick-up annex is handling a lot of spill-over. There are lines, there is bustle, but they're all handling it remarkably well.

Market items at La Bodega

The first difference you'll notice upon walking into La Bodega is the little display of grocery items you can purchase: hot sauce, interesting olives, beans, and plantain chips. They also have their normal selection of beverages, including coconut waters, Fizzie Lizzie's and a few sodas.

Beverages at La Bodega

But one of the reasons to sneak into the new annex now is for the whole free-range roasted chicken or ribs that you can't get at the other locations. According to a few of the servers, they're going to continue to do a few distinct dishes at their new mid-block location to draw in more folks who might go to the reliable corner spot instead.

Menus at La Bodega

So when it comes right down to it:

The upside: Quick. Same, reliable (and lovable) menu.
The downside: No seating; lines.

La Bodega
Address: Map
903 Lincoln Ave
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone: (415) 451-4765
Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 8am-12pm; Fri. 8am-2am

Pumpkin hand pie at The Pie Palace

I often find myself driving to the city or the East Bay to eat out or pick up dessert. Marin has its high points, for sure, but exciting dining options don't rank up there as one of them. But I have to give San Rafael's 4th street proper credit: it's getting more and more interesting with each passing month. We have a great Arizmendi, Sol Food is expanding to an even larger location, and now we've even got pie.

Checking out the selection at The Pie Palace

Owner and baker Leslie Burnside opened The Pie Palace in late summer next to her popular restaurant Theresa and Johnny's. She makes all of the pie fillings in the big restaurant kitchen next door but bakes the pies all on site at The Pie Palace. The little five-seat spot offers sweet and savory hand-pies (although these struck me as almost too large to be called such) each day for $3.75 each. Much like Theresa and Johnny's, this is a sort of no-nonsense spot where, if they sell out of pies, that's it. And they close for the day, so be sure to call to check on the daily selection.

The menu rotates often, but generally they have close to three savory options and two to three sweet pies, all using local and organic ingredients whenever possible. Leslie also makes handmade sodas using fresh juices and flavored syrups. I'd return for the apple fried pie, which was brimming with flavorful fall apples and the perfect amount of subtle spice. And a friend brought me the cabbage and sausage hand pie the other day for lunch: a delicious, filling pocket that kept me going throughout the afternoon. I have to say, I wasn't blown away by the pumpkin pie. I found the filling to be a bit bland and sparse.

Decisions, decisions

I've spent some time trying to figure out Leslie's crusts. They're not uber-flaky like a pure butter crust might be, so I'm guessing she uses a combination of shortening and butter. It's a really good all-purpose, pleasing crust although it's not the most flavorful I've ever had. From what I hear from the folks at The Pie Palace, they're not planning on doing whole, traditional Thanksgiving pies (it's just simply not their gig), but call to chat with Leslie about larger hand pie orders anytime.

The Pie Palace
811 4th St.
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 454-8692
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 11am-7pm*; Fri.-Sat. 11am-9pm*; closed Sundays
* or until pies run out...

San Rafael's Sol Food: Puerto Rican food done right

By the time this post is published, I will have packed up a 14-food U-haul, probably strained my lower back, and sweated up and down five flights of stairs (no mom, there's no elevator) as I schlep my life's belongings into a little apartment in Alamo Square Park. I'm unspeakably excited about moving from San Rafael to the city; truthfully, this was all supposed to happen a year ago. But you know how things don't always go as planned. So as folks were busy making New Years resolutions and goals for the coming year ahead, I've been taking a moment to reflect on living in Marin and what I'll miss.

Now there's a big part of me that feels like this list is quite small. I'll be honest: I haven't been the most vocal member of Marin's fan club. In fact, I never even joined. Socially, I'm generally the youngest one at any given location by a good twenty years. I'm not raising kids, and I'm in a pretty darn low tax bracket so that makes me the exception. And heck, I often like to eat dinner after 9 p.m. Suffice it to say, I've learned to eat earlier. Not only can you not get a decent burger after the sun sets, you can barely get a gallon of milk or sack of flour. The place shuts down. However, San Rafael has a lot going for it, too. I loved getting to know all of the hiking trails with my mom's two dogs. West Marin is a quick, awesome getaway where life feels slower and somehow more conscious and deliberate. It's generally easy to park in Marin, I love my consignment store, and can't get enough of the Fairfax Scoop in the summers. And of course, you can get the best Puerto Rican food in the Bay Area. I'll miss all of those things, especially the latter.

If you haven't been to Sol Food, it's owned by Sol Hernandez, an enterprising San Rafael native who decided to bring Puerto Rican food to Marin. She lived on the island for quite awhile with her boyfriend and his mother and spent her free time learning how to cook the local dishes. The original Sol Food is a tiny little outpost on the corner of 4th and Lincoln in San Rafael. There aren't any formal indoor tables although there are stools by the window and up by the counter. When I first started hitting up the authentic eatery, I could just stroll in, order, and be on my way. Now I rarely go to this location because it's always obscenely crowded, and I can usually find seating at the other location right away. Locals differentiate between the two in size, calling the original location on 4th Street "the small one" and the newer location on Lincoln Avenue "the big one."

Regardless of which one you choose, Sol has successfully created two restaurant spaces that look and feel like Puerto Rico: colorful shutters and chairs, green plantains holding down stacks of napkins, and big leafy plants gracing every inch of usable counter space. Loud, lively music streams throughout the bustling cafe, and one of the things I love the most are the communal tables (at the larger location). Here, you may be seated next to a teacher grading papers, an older man reading the paper, gossipy college students, and tattoo artists from down the street. There aren't a lot of places around Marin where young and old, conservative and raucous, come together and chat over pink beans and rice.

Two of Sol Food's signatures: their infamous housemade hot sauce and decorative shuttered interior

Now, the food: Everything on the menu is delicious, from the Maduros (sweet fried yellow plantains) to the Bistec or Cubano sandwiches. I was a vegetarian for the first few years that I lived in San Rafael and I'd come to Sol Food often to get a side of beans. It's the best deal in town, and still my go-to meal when I'm in a hurry or want a light lunch. For a mere $3.95, you get a generous portion of pink beans, half an avocado, and a plantain of your choosing. It's delicious, it's cheap, and it's made with local and organic ingredients. Can't beat that.

My favorite Sol Food dish, Pollo Al Horno

Today though, I generally rely on the Pollo Al Horno: boneless, skinless organic chicken thighs marinated with oregano and lots of garlic. It's served with an organic salad, plantains, and rice and beans. If someone could teach me how to make chicken this juicy and flavorful, I'm not sure I'd eat anything else. Ever again. Their daily specials are something to organize your week around (check online for information). Mondays are my day of choice with the Arroz Con Picadillo, seasoned ground beef over rice served with beans, fresh avocado, fried plantain, and greens. Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and is often served with rice or used as a filling in tacos or empanadas. It sounds basic--kind of like you could whip it up at home. But you can't. I assure you. The beef is spicy and has a kick of vinegar, garlic and onion. Head over on a Monday and you can see what I mean. Order a Fizzie Lizzie, their Cafe Helado (sweetened iced espresso with milk served in a mason jar), or a coconut water to wash it all down.

So while I can't wait to live in a neighborhood where I can get a slice of pizza into the wee hours and where there will be more than two other people my age walking down the street (I'm kidding...sort of), I'm grateful that San Rafael's just a skip away. My mom lives here, so I'll come back to hike with her dogs, throw in load of laundry every now and then, catch up on Dexter, and get my fill of pink beans and rice.

Sol Food Restaurant (Small One/Original)
732 4th Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 451-4765
Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 7am-12am; Fri. 7am-2am; Sat. 8am-2am

Sol Food Restaurant (Big One)
901 Lincoln Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 451-4765 (same number as above)
Hours: Daily from 11am-10pm

Opening of Golden Orb Piroshki Shop

I first stumbled across Golden Orb as I was routinely stalking Arizmendi Bakery, trying to figure out when their San Rafael location is finally going to open. Ah yes, disappointed yet again (it's been so long). But yesterday morning, my disappointment waned when I discovered a new red and gold sign had popped up further down the street. I parked, did some exploring, and found the smiling faces of managers and adept piroshki purveyors, Ashley De Rutte and her fiancé Breeze Kinsey bustling about the Golden Orb. Ashley's father, David Daunell, is the owner--you may remember his name from Moosetta's up in Sonoma, the popular piroshki shop that his mother Caroline ran with her husband, Chef Marvin Joyce until the late 1990s.

Shop Managers Breeze Kinsey and Ashley de Rutte

Now if you're new to piroshki, they're not a light food. However, they're perfect for this time of year when the rains and gray winter days are looming. Their origin is actually difficult to trace, with Poles, Russians, Latvians, and Czechs all claiming them as their own. Regardless, the piroshki's you'll try at Golden Orb are a traditional Russian hand pie stuffed with a variety of savory fillings. While the beef or the cabbage vermicelli are certainly the most traditional, they've added more contemporary flavors such as chicken potpie and spinach parmesan--all for less than the price of a grande latte. Ashley and Breeze also offer a few salads and a small but lovely selection of baked goods, fair trade coffee beverages, and teas.

Menu Offerings at Golden Orb

I tried the two biggest sellers, according to Breeze: the beef, onion, and dill along with the cabbage, vermicelli, carrot and caraway seed. They were each placed in little bags, warm, and perfectly golden on top. The dough was much chewier than I'd expected and much less greasy. After everything I'd heard about piroshki, I was expecting a major gut bomb. And don't get me wrong: they're certainly filling, but not in a 'I need a nap' sort of way, but more in a 'wow, I just had a satisfying meal all contained in a little bread pocket' kind of way. The filling-to-dough ratio was perfect, and I obviously couldn't finish both in one setting so I reheated half of the beef piroshki later in the day and it was just as good the second time around.

Piroshki breakfast...and lunch

I wasn't planning on writing about piroshki for this week's post. But after eating at Golden Orb and talking to Breeze and Ashley, I couldn't stop thinking about the quaint and inviting space or those warm savory pies. And I'm not sure that's because they were so delicious (although they were) or because they were a new-to-me food. Even if piroshki aren't part of your cultural tradition, there's something about them that feels familiar--something you can't quite stop thinking about. At Golden Orb, Caroline's granddaughter is keeping the family legacy alive in a small but tangible way, something we should all celebrate in this season of mass consumption and big box stores.

I've vowed not to step into a mall for any of my holiday shopping this year (so far, so good), and over the past few days I've made another vow: more piroshki. Many more piroshki.

Golden Orb
811 4th Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 454-8692
Hours: 8am–6pm