Wickson
Food from the Heart
by Torrey Douglass
The month of March started normally enough—there were commitments to fulfill, goals to pursue. Life rolled along merrily until … it didn’t. All our plans took a sharp turn off a high cliff, as the county ordered us to park at home and once-crowded calendars were wiped clean. Suddenly, for a lot of folks, there wasn’t much to do but sit around and fondly remember a time when venturing out into public didn’t feel like a Darwinistic game of Russian roulette.
For Rodney Workman and Alexa Newman, March was supposed to include the opening of their new restaurant, Wickson. Launching a nascent business is always a stressful enterprise, and the pandemic compounded the difficulties. County staff were largely unavailable to finalize permits in process, so they were unable to offer even the to-go meals that other restaurants were scraping by on. And as a new venture, they did not qualify for any of the grants or loan options available to other small businesses.
Yet even though it was frustrating to have their opening postponed, the extra time did offer some benefits. Alexa reflects, “We’ve saved on overhead, and we’ve had time to test and experiment.” Rodney agrees. “We’d been rushing to open the restaurant. Now we have had time to reflect. And we developed skills we wouldn’t otherwise have.”
One of those new skills includes the quarantine craze of making sourdough bread. But baking their loaves has an extra challenge thanks to the wood-fired oven at the heart of their restaurant’s kitchen. Wickson is located in an intimate space inside The Madrones visitor complex just outside of Philo, and the oven serves as both focal point and primary cooking source. So on top of getting the starter right and determining rise times that can fluctuate with temperature, humidity, and the Dow Jones, they faced the added challenge of baking with the imprecise temperature wood heat provides. “It has to be preheated for hours,” says Rodney. “Then we pull out the coals, clean the floor of the oven, and let the temperature equalize for about an hour until we bake in it. So every time we bake the result is a little different. It’s been a really fun learning process.”
The delay also allowed Alexa and Rodney to refine their menu, an important task since the county has placed a number of new requirements on food businesses. Rodney reflects, “With only 50% occupancy permitted, we have less staff, so everything has to be more simple logistically.” Their food style has evolved as well, responding to the emotional strain of the times with dishes that are lighter, simpler, and, above all else, comforting—like roast chicken, vegetable ragouts, and platters of smoked fish.
Caring for others through food is a natural impulse for the pair, as each found their way into the restaurant business through the world of non-profits. After attending university in Davis, Alexa moved to San Francisco where she worked for a variety of organizations. She soon discovered that food education programs were her favorite, and she realized that, to truly be effective, she should up her cooking game. By then Rodney was in her life, and he advised her to find a staging gig—the practice of working in another chef’s kitchen for free in order to learn new cuisines and techniques (based on the French word stagiaire, meaning trainee or intern). As a result, Alexa spent time at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where she was inspired by the emphasis on sourcing seasonal produce directly from farms in the area. This approach immediately jived with her personal love of farmers markets, a passion she’d retained since her days in Davis.
In contrast, Rodney’s education focused on environmental science, after which he spent time working on restoration projects managed by non-profits. It became increasingly clear to him that food systems contribute a significant portion of humanity’s harm to the planet, and that making thoughtful choices around what we eat and how it’s sourced can play a role in its repair. Rodney, then in his mid-twenties, shifted his attention to cooking, and he’s been working in kitchens ever since.
For both Rodney and Alexa, the restaurant is a way to put their ethics into practice. They get to work directly with farmers, support a smaller food system, and use humanely raised animals, all while letting seasonal vegetables drive the menu. Both are inspired by Bay Area culinary heroes. Rodney admires Michael Tsai, formerly of Camino in Oakland, whom he describes as “the most thoughtful cook I’ve ever cooked with. He showed me that the small details add up to be a lot.” He considers Stuart Brioza of San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions to be a role model as well, based on his creativity and his ability to ignore the rules of cooking to let the flavors dictate his choices. Alexa looks to the impressive legacy of Judy Rodgers, award winning chef of San Francisco’s iconic Zuni Cafe from 1987 until her passing in 2013, and a key player in the popularization of California cuisine.
The Bay Area certainly has a phenomenal food culture with an abundance of talented chefs to inspire developing food professionals, but life in the city can grind a person down. Rodney and Alexa would escape to Anderson Valley to mushroom hunt and fish on their days off, so when burnout began creeping in and a couple of positions opened up at The Boonville Hotel, they decided to pick up stakes and move there for good.
After a couple of years cooking in the restaurant at The Boonville Hotel, Rodney and Alexa felt ready to strike out on their own. Wickson offers a house menu four nights of the week, featuring dishes that rotate and evolve throughout the season. Then, each weekend, guests will get a completely unique menu based on some faraway (and undoubtedly scrumptious) locale they’ve visited. For both menus, the primary influence on the pair’s culinary creativity will be the availability of local vegetables.
The rural setting has brought them closer to the people who grow those vegetables. “Anderson Valley is great for accessing farmers,” comments Alexa. She and Rodney have spent time in the field with Pam at Blue Meadow Farm in Philo, and also love working with the meat, fruit, and vegetables provided by farms like The Apple Farm, Filigreen Farm, and Petit Teton. Their plant-forward approach leads Rodney and Alexa to classify their cooking as California Cuisine, but they incorporate flavors inspired by their travels as well. Their albacore on a sourdough cracker with aioli and crispy onions, for example, was inspired by the fish tostada from the Contramar restaurant in Mexico City.
While the weather and health orders allow, diners can sit outside at safely spaced tables under umbrellas. One recent meal had a distinctive Mediterranean tone, beginning with peppery marinated olives. A smoked salmon rillete on crostini was indulgently rich, with the exquisitely fresh salmon flavors taking center stage and refreshing contrast provided by gently acidic marinated cucumbers and a green tomato pickle. For the main course, slices of beautifully prepared leg of lamb with the perfect amount of pink arrived on a plate with roasted eggplant flavored with Mediterranean herbs and enhanced by lovely smokey undertones no doubt added by the wood-fired oven. A chopped olive relish delivered a briney tang to balance the plate.
Promoting food based on the use of fresh, locally sourced, and seasonal ingredients has become so common as to feel cliché. That does not reduce the heart-opening bliss that one can experience when consuming a dish prepared with genuine dedication to those values. There’s food that just stops you from being hungry. Then there’s food that stops you from being hungry and also tastes good, so there’s a nice component of pleasure with your meal. But beyond that, there’s food that makes time stop for a moment, that gently insists on all your attention because it has unveiled some ingredient used at the apex of its existence, whose preparation and coincident elements cooperate to offer a flavor experience that is both multifaceted and elemental. It is the culinary equivalent of a expertly executed acapella harmony—all the voices must be perfectly pitched, with no extraneous noise to distract, in order to create the transcendent sound that, for just a moment, fills one’s soul with delight.
High-falutin’ words, to be sure, but each one is sincere. This is what Wickson does well, as evidenced by their Romesco, Tomatoes, and Scallions dish. The smoky sauce has just a bit of texture, and is thick enough to be scooped up with a fork. The scallions add a fresh note of onion-y green, but the full-bodied tomato flavors in both the sauce and the additional chunks are truly summer on a plate.
When asked how they’re feeling about the upheaval brought about by the pandemic, Rodney says, “It’s scary. Restaurants are hard enough, but we are hanging in there.” Alexa adds, “The pandemic changed our plans, but we’re excited.” Her excitement is well founded. The restaurant allows them to put their ideals into action while pursuing their favorite parts of the food business: developing relationships with farmers and simply bringing people joy through good food. “I really like going to the tables,” says Alexa. “I like to see how people’s faces and expressions change when you bring food out to them.”
It’s a complicated time to be alive, with a long list of problems to which we must set our minds and shoulders. Taking a moment to savor the simple joy of wonderful food prepared with care and attention seems like an excellent strategy for getting through it all. And Wickson is here to help us do just that.
Wickson at The Madrones
9000 Hwy 128, Philo, CA | (707) 895-2955 | WicksonRestaurant.com
Open Thursday – Monday. Check website for hours.
