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Howdy Rhonda, and welcome to the wiki! My name's Evan, pleased to meet you! I have to say, as an ex-patriated Davisite living in Nashville, I am coming to Monticello when I visit town just because of your awesome replies on the Monticello entry. And because you have arugula pesto... which is not to my personal taste, but I really like the style it hints at. —Evan 'JabberWokky' Edwards
2011-03-28 20:54:59 Hi Rhonda—just want to echo Evan. I like your replies! Regarding the seafood, I imagine you're probably already familiar with it, but just in case: the Monterey Bay Aquarium has a "Seafood Watch" list rating the sustainability of different kinds of seafood based on fishing/farming practices. If you haven't already seen it, there's a handy little guide (PDF) for the west coast. —TomGarberson
2011-03-28 20:55:58 welcome to the wiki, I can't wait to stop by and try! —StevenDaubert
2011-04-23 22:56:51 Hi Evan, Tom and Steven. Pleased to meet ya! Actually, I know Steven Daubert, as he went to elementary school with my son. How goes it Steven? Good, we hope. Stop by anytime and say hi. @Tom, Thanks for the info. We are familiar with "Seafood Watch," and even have the pocket guide. It is an excellent resource. However, while there is some seafood in the "best" category out there, it is still not as sustainable as the chicken, beef and pork supplied by our local farmers who we know personally. However, we will serve the occasional sustainable seafood dish and are working to add some to the menu here and there. San Francisco magazine also came out with a great issue in February about sustainable seafood. We have it on hand for reference as well. You should check it out. @Evan, no barnyard animals were sacrificed or harmed in any way to make the arugula pesto dish, however we still seem to have managed to nail the essence of the dish! It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance (and re-acquaintance) A sense of humor is always welcome here.
Ciao, Rhonda —RhondaGruska
2011-06-04 12:44:14 Hi Tom,
We have been serving local halibut and Tomales Bay mussels this month and they have been a big hit (with the exception of the wiki writer who sent it back saying it had no taste. She really should have put some of the kumquat current salsa we served on the side on it). We will continue to feature sustainable seafood based upon availability.
Hey Steven,
If you have come in, I must have missed you. Please be sure to say hello when you have a chance.
Hi Evan,
We still have arugula pesto, however, if we ever get some sun, we will transition to basil pesto, which might be more to your liking.
Sorry for taking so long to write, but I couldn't remember what I clicked on the first time! —RhondaGruska
2011-06-16 23:32:53 Hi Rhonda! I took the comment bar off the beer page because, aside from your post yesterday, it hasn't been used in years. It looks like you've already posted your event to the events board, which I think is the right place. It will be displayed on the front page that way which will probably draw more attention than the beer page. Anyhow, I really should have posted it on there myself after I removed the comment bar. Sorry about that! —JonathanLawton
2011-06-17 10:06:44 Hey, Rhonda — you don't need a comment bar to add content to the wiki. Everybody can edit anything using that "Edit" icon right next to the title of each entry (everybody can create or delete whole pages too!) If you know something cool about or happening in Davis, feel free to add it to the wiki! —JabberWokky
2011-06-17 12:30:57 Thanks JabberWokky. —RhondaGruska
2011-08-12 17:10:28 FYI: The .pdf files associated with the "menu" links on Monticello's own webpage (not the wikipage) currently download on Macintoshes as blank pages with a few horizontal black streaks. —JudithTruman
- uh-oh, that doesn't look too delicious! RaoulDuke
2011-08-19 22:36:16 Sorry about that! We clearly just need to get a mac next time we are in the market for a computer. We will see if we can get that fixed soon.
2011-08-28 21:56:13 Rhonda, and I clarified it from the point of view of someone who reads the Enterprise and was not privy to what you said and what Dunning said, i.e., a community point of view, which is how the wiki is written. —CovertProfessor
2011-09-24 23:05:11 Hey Rhonda: Killer stand-in-for-BD article in the Enterprise. Who knew? You once had "a punk rock drummer boyfriend."? I'm impressed. Maybe you can get him to sit in on a live music session at Monticello? But seriously, I agree Davis is ready for mobile food (and I don't mean that which is still moving under its own power, haha) What will it take to change the law so the food trucks can stay in one place for more than ten minutes? Perhaps "food truck zones"? Far from the bricks and mortar eateries, but close to office workers? Seems to me that there's really no competition between the food trucks and bricks and mortar anyway. They appeal to separate demographics. It just so happens office workers have a taste for a little culinary adventure once in a awhile. They're not interested in hanging around the parking lot or whatever and schmoozing for a couple-three hours, like they probably do a Monticello because you provide such a great atmosphere in which to do so. — RaoulDuke
2011-10-15 21:53:31 Hi RaoulDuke,
Thanks. Glad you liked it. New York food trucks recently had brick and mortar joints in a uproar, trying to make it harder for them to operate. However, they have organized and have quite a bit of support from the public, so they ironed things out with the city and have agreed to a few terms that appear to be appeasing the opposition. Food trucks do exist in Davis, they just lay low. The higher end "gourmet" food trucks don't appear to have not come our way yet. I have a feeling it may not be long, as the food trucks in Sac are getting more organized and would love to come here. We contacted one of the organizers about trying to do something here in our parking lot, but even though it is private property, they said there are probably ordinances preventing them coming here. I am going to check into this more when I have time. And you are correct, someone who wants to sit at a table, chat, and have a glass of wine/beer etc. is probably not a food truck customer. If anything, food trucks are going to be competition for corporate fast food places and might help eliminate some C02 emissions from people waiting at a drive-through.
Ciao, Rhonda —RhondaGruska
- As someone who eats out a lot and gets take-out a lot, I have to disagree. I eat everything from Hotdogger and Redrum through the best restaurants in town (you know, the ones you don't think we have a lot of), but I don't eat fast food. I can easily see myself eating food from a cart, gourmet or otherwise, rather than getting take-out from a sit-down restaurant or eating at some place like Hotdogger. Now, of course, that doesn't mean the carts shouldn't be in Davis, but I think the field needs to be reasonably level. That is, if we're going to have the carts in Davis, they need to be charged appropriate fees for the city services that they are using, just as brick-and-mortar business owners pay rent and taxes on their spaces. —CovertProfessor
2011-10-15 22:42:10 *I said corporate fast food.
Regarding fees, etc. we certainly pay quite a few of them as a brick and mortar business and I am sure some of the same fees would have to be paid by food trucks, ie: a Yolo County Health Permit, a City of Davis Business License, etc. If we explore opportunities to allow them, then we can regulate them and generate income from them, just like we do from brick and mortar businesses. Did you read the editorial in the Enterprise about how Strelitzia started off as a flower cart in Davis? They also got some flack back in the day, but are now contributing quite a bit to our local economy and are always making various contributions to non-profits, etc. Everyone knows the playing field is not reasonably level in the U.S. so why work to hamstring the food truck guy/gal at the expense of the guy/gal who can afford (or who is crazy enough to put every resource they have on the line) for a brick and mortar place in this crazy expensive to do business and live in town? (And don't tell me to move, even if there is not a lot of good food here ;)
- I understand that you said corporate fast food. My point was that, for better or for worse, the carts will likely take some business away from both lower-end and higher-end non-corporate non-fast-food Davis restaurants. Again, I just don't think it's fair if they come and use city services without paying for them, and thus gain an unfair advantage over those who are paying; I am fine with the carts if they are charged appropriate fees. What the current laws are about the fees, I don't know, but I don't think it's right to advocate for the carts without also advocating for the fees. I think we basically agree on this. —CovertProfessor
- I get the sense you think the pie is only so large and won't get any larger. I happened to be in Midtown Sac the other day, sitting in a cafe on L and 22nd Streets when up rolled a brand-new Wicked 'Wich food truck. They were serving up amazingly huge sand'wiches with the sides (onion rings, coleslaw) right in between the bread. This is a Philadelphia sandwich, because that's where the owner is from. He says there's lots of transplanted Philadephians in Sac. Anyway. The bakery owner didn't squawk; in fact he had given permission to the Wicked 'Wich people to park on L Street. People were ordering/eating the huge sand'wiches then going into the bakery for dessert. People who might not have gone into the bakery at all otherwise. Food trucks growing the pie, not taking away from it. It could happen in Davis too, food trucks parking in front of Monticello and offering synergistic menu complements to the Monticello menu perhaps. Also, just off the top of my head, I could see food trucks parking in front of bars downtown after last call...offering alcohol-soaking-up munchies for perhaps the teensiest bit tipsy folks before they hop in their cars...a public service presence... —RaoulDuke
- Primanti Bros.. I think you're right that there are some potential synergies, and food trucks outside of downtown bars is an excellent idea. However, I doubt that a sandwich truck parked outside of Zia's would make for much synergy, and I for one am not going to eat our more simply because there are more options. —CovertProfessor
2011-10-15 22:52:36 Yes we do. Did you know that restaurants, even though they have a Yolo County Health Permit, must also pay for a temporary permit when they sell food at another venue, such as the Davis Farmers Market, the Cool Davis Festival, etc? This did not used to be the case, but they keep finding ways to create fees to make up for the money that the state keeps taking from local govt. I say, let's generate another source of revenue (and possibly more good food in Davis) with food trucks! There must be a bureaucrat out there up to the task. —RhondaGruska
- That sounds unfair to charge an additional fee for those are are already paying fees, I agree. Here's to fees that make sense. —cp
2011-10-19 13:01:37 Should this discussion about food trucks be on the food truck page? —RhondaGruska
- Probably, yes. —CovertProfessor
2013-10-15 17:22:08 It was nice to chat. Next time my folks go to Monticello I will try and tag along —StevenDaubert
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