Page 10 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-18.indd

WERO (Werowocomoco)
American Native Food
Virginia Dare Winery
22281 Chianti Road, Geyserville
(707) 735-3575 - www.virginiadarewinery.com Friday – Sunday from 11am–5pm
By Peter Posert & Friends
It must have been 4th or 5th grade. We were studying the local Native Americans, a prelude to anthropology much much later. We made tule canoes and read about the genocide and one day we were taken out of the classroom to gather a pile of acorns and told acorns were the staple food. We all peeled our acorns and mashed ‘em up and took the precious acorn powder home in a little sack with directions for our Moms.
We all had to do it back then, every one of us.
Here now comes a unique restaurant to Sonoma County, Werowocomoco, based upon Native American flavors and I think, “OK, I’m in. Let’s go check it out.” The restaurant is housed in Virginia Dare Winery, one of Francis Ford Coppola’s wine empire’s flagship wineries. There is a big Teepee out front. It’s enough to excite on the one hand, and give a bit of trepidation on the other. “Is this just an amusement park restaurant?” I thought to myself as I walked up the stairs to the entrance.
Turning Point
There is a lot not to like about Werowocomoco, but really, the main thing is, nobody is going to complain about the food quality. It is an outstanding restaurant in our midst. It has a theme, there are culinary places to land that are challenging and wonderful, it is decorated tastefully with twinkling lights on the ceiling, and the staff is efficient, attentive and friendly.
During the solar eclipse of August 2017, over half a million cars entered Wyoming and jammed roadsides and towns along the path of the total blackout. Afterwards, when organizers tallied incidents of road rage, theft, or conflict, there simply were none. In the presence of the larger order and mystery we are part of, wonder and connectedness eclipsed divisions and fears.
Werowocomoco is a very good restaurant.
During the wildfires here in California last year, and in the recovery efforts since then, large amounts of people have spontaneously joined in peaceful cooperation, to help and support those who suffered from the fires. When reminded that larger forces of the cosmos and nature hold us in their sway, our instinct is to go for unity with others, not separation, to ensure our survival and well being as individuals and as a species.
After ordering, the waitstaff gave out a small little taster cup of nicely flavored popcorn. Popcorn at a nice restaurant! That’s just awesome no matter what language you speak or where you come from. More popcorn!
Fry bread tacos. ‘Nuff said. Worth the trip alone.
Sweet potato fries with little dried berries in the mix. Great flavor. Bison burgers. Healthier than beef and more delicious.
Salads that satisfy with plenty of ‘stuff’ for flavor - very very good.
If it is true that species stay the same until suddenly a great deal of evolution happens in a short amount of time, then the rapid and intensifying changes in culture, technology, climate, biodiversity, water and food happening right now indicate a possible turning point in our evolution. We are presented with many moments of choice between continuing to act out of habit, or acting from a new level that truly benefits ourselves and others. Pema Chodrin says “Almost every moment of your life, you have a choice whether to open or close, to hold on or let go, to harden or to soften, to step up or pull back...the choice is presented again and again and again.” Every daily action and choice builds the future.
The centerpiece of the whole experience is fall-off-the-bone tender, juicy, deeply flavored bison ribs.
Buying beef ribs has gotten to be a joke - the butchers around here cut all the meat off! It’s hard to find great ribs, but these... Werowocomoc’s ribs take the dish to a whole new dimension with the more deeply flavored bison meat.
The unimaginable stretches of distance and time beyond Earth, the confounding nature of energy, the astonishing beauty of our little planet, the mystifying combination of brokenness and grace in the human spirit - these perceptions promote humility and surrender to our need for connecting with others and with Nature herself. In this upcoming season of holidays celebrating gratitude and miracles and transformation - I wish for all of us the courage to keep faithful to the deeper dimensions of experience and to keep our hearts open to our gifts and possibilities!
The BBQ sauce on the side is nice, but just to savor the richness of real bison meat, in a native American restaurant, with the twinkling lights like the stars above is a sort of primeval treat.
The thing is though, there aren’t any bison in this area save the pen in Golden Gate Park. This isn’t a local native American restaurant at all, it’s about the mid-west or Virginia or somewhere else. While Werowocomoco is totally good and highly recommended, I was wondering where on the menu are the local nuts, berries, shellfish, roots, venison, elk, etc. that were the foods of our local indigenous peoples?
Critics generally come in two shapes; either they are shaped by the local cuisine or they help shape it themselves. What hopefully happens is a little of both. In this case, I can only hope our Sonoma County community gets as inspired for more native foods as I was from eating the delicious foods (and those ribs!) at Werowocomoco. Maybe someone will spring into action or Weowocomoco will present more local native cuisine. Someday maybe, I’ll have a really great acorn pancake.
As the author of a calendar, five years ago I took the liberty to create a new holiday. January 12th is Universe Day - a reminder of our true place in the grand scheme
of things. For December, some of the holidays I choose to include are December 2 - Environmental Protection Act 1970, December 10 - Human Rights Day 1948 and December 26 - Endangered Species Act 1973. Other unique eco holidays, as well
10 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/18
as beautiful photos and inspirational thoughts, fill the pages of the In Love With Earth calendar. The 2019 edition can be ordered at www.earthlovinglens.com. Profits benefit Daily Acts.