I’ve written about my nostalgia for dessert trays, and so there was no question that I would sign up for a cheese course during a recent meal at Gary Danko ($130 for three courses, $158 for four, $178 for five). If you choose cheese, your server will wheel over a cart positively heaving with, by my count, 17 wheels and wedges from European and North American producers. You can pick four, and apologies to my server for making him discuss each and every possible option with me. The Chevre d’Argental, pure brie-like goat cheese goo, was served in a spoon, while the Chablis Germain, a washed rind cow’s milk cheese from Burgundy, was wrinkly like a brain and absolute luxury.
Gary Danko. 800 North Point St., San Francisco. garydanko.com
By the time I arrived at Blooms End, the adorable bakery-in-a-trailer stationed at Tenfold Farmstand, Mary Denham was nearly sold out of pastries. “Oh no,” she fretted. “I hope you didn’t come to Petaluma just for this.” As if Tomato Days weren’t reason enough to make the drive! The second annual festival, which continues today, Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., is a celebration of late summer tomatoes in all their glory. There’s a Tomato Days photo booth, a Tomato Days mixtape playing on the boom box (side A begins with Mia Wallace’s “ketchup” joke from “Pulp Fiction”) and, of course, a panoply of tomato-based pastries. Of those I sampled, the tomato pie croissant ($9), an homage to Southern mayo-and-cheddar tomato pie, was the belle of the ball. Get there early if you want your pick of the menu, and be prepared for a line; Denham, who with her vintage style reminds me of one of the more charming characters from “Anne of Green Gables,” runs the whole show on her own.
Blooms End at Neighboring Fields. 5300 Red Hill Rd., Petaluma. blooms-end.com
The Spanish Table announced it would close its 24-year-old Berkeley storefront earlier this month, a casualty of Trump’s tariffs. For now, the San Francisco location is staying open, and I stopped by for lunch to offer a sandwich-sized show of support. The pig and fig ($14), a savory-sweet combination with Serrano ham, Campo de Montalbán cheese, arugula and orange fig jam, is served pressed and hot. The orange adds an unexpected and lovely zip…