Ahead to Healdsburg

There is a municipal parking lot right off Healdsburg Avenue where you can leave your car while you explore the square

As soon as we turned the corner, we came up on Kajul , and this is when the tour became more dramatic. Suffice it to say that being there makes you feel like throwing out every piece of furniture you own. On the same theme was another shop, Options which does the same thing as Kajul, but with craft items. The merchandise runs the gamut of local American Craftsmen to jewels of the Far East. The Working Gardener with two stories filled with pottery, garden tools, working gloves, outdoor furniture, etc.. We spent an hour browsing at Evans Gallery which turned out to be the factory outlet for some of the most innovative and gorgeous decorative pieces for the home. Their products are featured in Accessory Merchandising , a trade magazine I get which is the what's/what in home accents. I found myself standing in front of many of the pieces I had seen!

Quick Tips:

We walked more in Healdsburg than any other city we visited in Northern California, so I’d say comfortable shoes are a requirement. And oh, if you want to spend the night, the only place in town is the Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza at 110 Matheson Street, and you can call for reservations at (800)431-8663. We didn’t stay there since our hotel was only 9 miles away, but it looked awfully enticing, especially since it had balconies!

If you are an esthete, you are going to love shopping or just looking at the shops in Healdsburg. The center of town is modeled after a Spanish town plaza surrounded by shops, cafés Galleries and some lodging. I researched the name of this city because it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue; I found that it was named after an Ohian gold digger called Heald. So that’s it.

Best Way To Get Around:

As with most other areas in Northern California, drive, park and walk.

For more on San Francisco and other Northern California Cities:

San Jose

Slumming in San Francisco

San Francisco II

Rohnert Park Berkeley

Santa Rosa

Sebastopol

Petaluma

Go West

This is probably the most unpretentious, down home place you can find in Healdsburg. Which told me almost immediately that the food would be exquisite. The Restaurant is fairly large, with tables that seemed to be arranged in random manner, except for the ones against the wall. There is no table service, per se. You have to walk up to a window and place your order based on what you see on the wall menu. The prices are so reasonable, it’s hard to decide how many new dishes you’re willing to try.

As Chuck was hungrier than I was, he opted for an enchilada filled with beans, rice, sauce, cheese, and the kitchen sink most likely. I decided to have a quesadilla with carne asada, something I had not had in a while. For the beverages, I had my usual Coke, and he had a Corona (it might interest you to know that Corona is the # 1 imported beer in the U.S.). The food was served hot and fresh, and naturally, all the effort here goes into the cooking rather than the décor. The restaurant was fairly crowded, and not by Mexicans only.

They offer lunch and dinner combo plates including shrimp, chicken, or meat with the prerequisite yellow rice, beans, homemade tortillas, guacamole (I die for this), pico de gallo which comes served with warm nachos (we shared this one) and I tend to stay away from the pico de gallo as it is usually pretty spicy.

Below is an English translation of those dishes we had:

Quesadilla: the prefix "quesa" indicates that this selection has cheese. It is usually made up of 2 flat flour tortillas filled with a variety of things to include chicken/cheese, shrimp/cheese, meat/cheese and in certain American restaurants, vegetarian/cheese. It is sliced into triangles to facilitate consumption.

Carne Asada : carne is meat; usually beef which is cooked very slowly in sauce and then literally shredded (asada). The cheese that usually is preferred for the quesadilla is Monterey Jack, although some places use the sharper Cheddar.

Enchilada : huge corn tortilla filled with any of the meats, rice, beans, and topped with sauce or melted cheese.

Pico de Gallo : chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro and most often Jalapeño pepper (which instantly puts your mouth on fire), served with warm toasted chips as an appetizer.

Guacamole : mashed avocado seasoned with onion, tomatoes, lime (or lemon), cilantro. Usually mild, it is also available in spicy and extra spicy.

Kajul is situated on a corner and wisely chose to install their entrance where 2 streets come together. When you enter, you are greeted with Enya type music and the gurgle of water fountains. A massive African table is not far from the door; the shop’s owner smiles from behind her counter, surveying the land, obviously familiar to her, totally foreign, but enchanting to us. You can spot here and there familiar objects of Chinese and Indonesian origin. In the very far corner of the store, there is a bed, but this is no ordinary bed. It is made by Sequoia , a California resident artist, whom I had the pleasure of meeting some years ago at the New York Gift Show, where he was exhibiting his paper lampshades. He calls this "the love nest" and I imagine that despite its frail look, it must be quite sturdy. The headboard and the canopy is made of steel branches. Since it’s hard to convey the beauty of this bed to you, you need to look at the picture below. Other objects by the same artist are also displayed, such as his paper shades, his consoles, some chairs.

This store is testimony to the fact that yuppiness has indeed crept into Healdsburg. The prices on some of these pieces will have you choking on your Chardonnay. Everything in the store is very tastefully arranged, and I am sure, hand picked by the owner. There are also a couple of leather pieces, some sculptures of wood and bronze, and wall art that has been painted by the locals.

Some pieces seem to be extremely popular: we end up spotting the same armoire in at least 2 stores in North California. As you make your way to one end of the store to the other, you are suddenly entering another store which apparently shares the space with Kajul and sells candles and other fragrant accessories. So if you exit from the second door, you are now on a different street. Interesting set-up

Kajul is the sort of place one would visit if one needed a piece of furniture that would make it the focus of a single room. You cannot have too many of these pieces in the same space, as it would simply overload the senses. You can rest assured that whatever one you pick, it will be a conversation piece for many of your guests.

They have a location in Calistoga as well at 1421 Lincoln Avenue, phone 707-942-0453.

You can only think of the possibilities when you walk into a place like Evans Design. Breaking walls down will not be uncommon, as you try to determine how to accommodate some of the larger pieces on view. What makes this place even more appealing is that they claim to sell seconds which are up to 70% off. Believe me, unless you are an appraiser for Sotheby’s, you cannot see what makes these works of art "seconds".

You will also come to understand our fickle nature: you stop in front of a blown glass dish and swear that this is the one you must have or you’ll die, only to reneg when you see the next piece. Each and everyone has a statement to make, a signature to be reckoned with. It’s almost bewitching to have inert objects throw you in a catatonic state of excessive drooling! It’s impossible to describe the dance of colors in a particular vase, or the marbleized effect on an oversized hanging charger.

Here you’ll find that the word "accent" is bolder than anywhere else. What appears to be destined only for the opulent and luxurious villas of the world are within the reach of the average citizen; I kid you not. Keep in mind that these people can also be found in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, the latter being the venue for the annual High Point Show where everything from furniture to handmade accessories is on exhibit for trade shoppers.

The Evans Design Group here will ship your piece (s) anywhere you wish. The products they represent do not follow any particular trend as they would fit any décor, any time, and they are assigned a "supporting" role in furnishings, each and very one of them is a star.

Visiting Options is fun and educational at the same time. They carry some really unique and funky crafts from all over the world. You not only get quite a global show, but for my part, I learned about some new craftsmen and how serious they are with what they do, as in knives for example.

Options carries a line of foldable knives from France, which are no ordinary knives. They can sell for over $100 a piece. Now why is that, you ask? Each handle is handmade of various natural woods such as ebony, rosewood, or fragrant juniper gnarl’s wood (imagine sniffing your knife at the table!). They all have leather sheathes, and the blades can vary in thickness but they are all made of sterling silver and signed, just like a limited edition art print. Now this is what I call serious knives. They are beautiful too.

You can also find brightly painted bowls by artist Peter Lu , who is a native and has his own gallery in Sebastopol. They are meant to be used and not just seen. You will also see kilim rugs, which are made in the traditional Afghan style. Geometric shapes are one of their trademarks. Other shapes include triangles, tulips, and diamonds. The colors are intense and bold. There’s quite a bit more as far as fabric art is concerned: Ugadan batiks which are also sold as postcards and signed by Paul Nzalamba . There are also ultra soft handpainted silk scarves with what I call "disciplined" designs in that they are not free form, but rather show large stripes, vertically or horizontally.

One of the fun things - there are the brightly colored linoleum boxes which use the same kind of lino that used to line our mothers’ kitchen floors. The boxes look like slices of watermelon! All made by hand, of course. Finally, a small selection of traditional Japanese Tansu chests; the ones they carry are refurbished, but still very much sought after by collectors. The wood is also much lighter than the ones which are recently made; they also have a lot of drawers and/or compartments. Tansu assures the buyer of excellent quality. It’s all very eclectic here at Options and very unusual.