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Just off Bodega Highway, to the west of downtown Sebastopol, you'll encounter a tiny trailer underneath a sign of a doe-eyed salmon smoking a pipe. You've found Greg Brummett, the salmon czar of Samnzar Smoke Shack, who has been peddling his salty-smoky-sweet wares by the side of the road for more than 50 years. His terrier Nudge has been by his side for a good few of them, and he might bark a "hello" as you pull into the gravel lot to claim your sample. A 10-ounce bag of five smoked salmon nuggets ran me just under $30, and I've been happily flaking pieces into scrambled eggs and on top of toast for days.
Samnzar Smoke Shack. 9100 Bodega Hwy., Sebastopol. samnzarsmokeshack.com
My colleague Cesar Hernandez has raved about the beach pita at Lightwave Coffee & Kitchen - a sabich bursting with tahini-dressed eggplant - and I agree that messily tucking into one under the redwoods is an essential Russian River summer experience. Equally essential: saving room for pie. Lightwave's pies, available weekends only, are not rustic, fruit-filled double-crusts, but tangy, cloudlike cream pies in all manner of flavors. During my visit, it was baklava cream pie, silky smooth with a crunchy pistachio and kataifi topping.
Lightwave Coffee & Kitchen. 9725 Main St., Monte Rio. lightwavecafe.square.site
Last year, Crista Luedtke, the hospitality impresario who transformed Guerneville with her hotel and restaurants, sold one of her businesses to two of her longtime employees, Carlos Mendez and Rosy Ortega. They've transformed Road Trip Kitchen into Three Cultures Kitchen, assembling a menu that nods to Mexico (chicken in mole negro), El Salvador (pupusas) and the United States (Niman Ranch steak with cowboy butter). That chicken mole, sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds, is a standout, complex and nutty with a thrum of slow-burn heat.
Three Cultures Kitchen. 16218 Main St., Guerneville. threecultureskitchen.net
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