Caroline, Maynard and Lu get creative
How do you make Placewares even better? Have a dinner party and invite Caroline Ducato over and by the end of the evening you have decided to open The Market at Placewares: Essentials for the Curious Palate.
Caroline Ducato and Maynard and Lu Lyndon
The Market at Placewares
As the fates would have it, I again was going to Gualala for a sticky piece of business. My first stop was Placewares, and I was looking forward to meeting Caroline Ducato. Caroline, along with Maynard and Lu (the owners of Placewares), is the brain child of The Market at Placewares. I am not kidding when I use the word brain. Caroline is a virtual walking, talking food enthusiast who knows her products frontwards and backwards. Her love of all things food is immediate, in her language and in her experiences. And she shares it all so effortlessly.
Caroline Ducato
Caroline has credentials. She was a school teacher for many years in Sausalito, and then an apprentice at Chez Panisse for several years before becoming a personal chef for a family in Atherton. Caroline now lives on the North Coast and is sharing her love for food with those who venture into Placewares.
O Olive Oils and Vinegars
My partner and I met Caroline formally at Placewares. I had a few email conversations with her and then a chat on the telephone to set up our interview. We walked in and immediately were transported into the wonderful world of food.
Our first stop was O, Placewares carries their olive oils and vinegars. The star, O Cassis Vinegar. We found out it is amazing in Martini’s. Apparently it is just the perfect whisper for the iconic cocktail.
479° is the optimum temperature for perfectly popped corn. The crunchy treat is organic and although we did not taste it, we are told the combinations are out of this world.
Caroline and I share the same ethos around food. It is meant to bring people together, to be delicious, but communal and it is that philosophy that makes The Market such a special place. Caroline has a wonderful story to tell about Anna’s Daughters Rye Bread. Actually the way Caroline has procured her food finds is quite interesting, she runs a ‘food cartel’. She’s had her honey dropped off at a clinic in Ukiah, then delivered to her by her partner. She has picked up her rye bread by the side of the road, with arrangements made for future drop offs that give the bread even more allure, and one of her clients will ship only when the temperatures are guaranteed to be at a certain acceptable level.
This is jam to die for, the cherry/apricot being one of the finest. This company hails from the East Bay in California. Which leads me to one of Caroline’s passions, source as much as you can locally. She was spoon fed this at Chez Panisse, and she bends the rules a bit, but for the most part, almost everything in Placewares can be found very near Gualala. We love Jam has a terrific story, their website is a fantastic read.
This is the infamous honey. Caroline’s cartel. Lover’s Lane Honey hails from Ukiah, and is made by a husband and wife team. The honey is made from north coast wildfowers. The lovely bee raw honey is style varietal, beekeepers from different regions are used for individual varietals, and each varietal has its own distinct flavor.
The Market at Placewares has McEvoy Olive Oil. Caroline also features vinegar and olive oil from Stephen Singer, AcetoVivo and Olio, Bark by Anna’s Daughters Bakery, a wonderful combination of chocolate and rye, and ‘candies’ and syrups by June Taylor. Caroline calls June an alchemist, and June is always finding the gold, with each new and delightful combination of flavors. A drop or two of her syrups can transform just about anything.
These jams are from Oakland, California, made is small batches in gleaming copper kettles. I am dying to try the pink grapefruit-blood orange marmalade. And finally INNA jam. The fruits for her jams are found within a hundred mile radius of her operation. Inna and her crew deliver their product on bicycles. Just such a lovely image and a fitting one to leave you with.
We are coming to the end of our ‘food tour’ with Caroline, and I know I have left some wonderful vendors out of this story. You all will just have to take a glorious Sunday drive, with an empty tummy and visit Caroline. There will be new items, as well as some I haven’t mentioned, and I would be remiss if I did not tell you about Lu and Maynard’s favorite chocolatier, B.T. McElrath, absolute to die for butter toffee, with almonds and sea salt. As soon as I said my fond farewells, I opened my box, and split it fairly down the middle, half for me and half for Ken. Sweet endings.
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July 13th, 2011 at 3:13 am
Wow – what a fabulous shop stocked with some really quality products too – yum! We could so do with one of those near here .But we’re in Dubai – don’t suppose there’s a plan for that too? Shah .X
July 13th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Very interesting. Will stop in and check out the goodies. There’s another wonderful place in Sonoma County that produces pure unfiltered raw honey. They’re called “Honey Bee Mine” Located on Mystic Oaks Estate. 707-525-1029. Also, my sister was one of the originals at Chez Panisse, buying the wines and doing the financials – way back in the first years of operation. Many stories of those formative years. She’ll be visiting me for the open studios in September and I’ll be sure she comes to Placewares.
July 14th, 2011 at 6:41 am
come here for a foodie visit, Shah!