Culture

The best things to do in Livermore in 2024, from flower wine to seafood to e-biking the countryside


Cured: Fish Bar co-owner Joe Tomaszak brings Anchovy toast with Wingen semolina, tomato “butter,” celery and scallion, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Livermore, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 

Small bites are the name of the game, and they arrive like intricately constructed sculptures. The uni toast ($25) combines lobes of briny urchin with green-garlic confit and myoga atop startlingly purple milk bread. Bluefin tuna crudo with roasted Anaheim chile and pickled shallot doesn’t need any help to be an umami bomb, but do yourself a favor and “cowboy up” for a few bucks extra to add smoky A5 wagyu drippings ($20-$25).

A couple of warm plates are great to finish, either the Dad’s Red Potatoes with Cajun spices and optional cold-smoked salmon roe ($12-$17) or the Roasty Toasty Mushrooms ($16) that mixes tenderly cooked Monterey maitakes with miso butter and melty egg yolk. For dessert, there are warm chocolate-chip cookies with milk – who can say no to that?

Anchovy toast with Wingen semolina, tomato “butter,” celery and scallion at Cured: Fish Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Livermore, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 

Winding down an evening in Livermore is easy to do at the Almost Famous Wine Company, a tasting room and

Of all the cities in the Bay, Livermore and its wine country may be the one most conducive to frequent check ins. There’s plenty that’s new or just popping there in 2024, from a flower-wine tasting room to e-cycling the countryside to dining at an elevated raw bar with a killer sake selection.

Given Livermore can get as hot as the surface of the sun, even during fall, you might start a day trip gathering provisions so you don’t wither down to nothing. A good place for caffeinated beverages is Story Coffee, a local favorite with intriguing mix-ins. The cafe has a bucking bronco on the sign – Livermore loves its Western vibes – and a drink called Rodeo Water that’s Mexican Coke mixed with cold brew and whiskey syrup. (Don’t worry, teetotalers, they cook off all the alcohol.) The lattes have farmland flavors like a cardamom-lavender-wildflower honey and, right now, a harvest chai with pumpkin cold foam.

Next door is The Cheese Parlor, run by Brandon Wood, a self-professed “punk-rock kid turned professional cheesemonger.” (Meant seriously: He’s a certified cheese professional, with a certificate from the American Cheese Society.) The charming shop has some of the best cold sandwiches in town – available Tuesday to Friday – that change every week, like a Boats and Goats hoagie with Laura Chenel chèvre, capocollo, arugula and pickled goathorn peppers. On weekends, turophiles can buy picnicking supplies including cold beer and local wine – including local brands like Blindwood Cider and 3 Steves Winery – plus boxes of the monger’s favorite cheeses and charcuterie.

There are a couple of uniquely chill ways to explore the area’s natural beauty. Los Vaqueros Reservoir is a 1,900-acre lake north of town surrounded by protected watershed property and trails for hiking, cycling and horse riding. It’s a steep and rugged, sun-washed territory inhabited with wildlife from snakes to kit foxes to golden eagles – and now regularly, bald eagles, which show up in the winter.

The reservoir is stocked with trout, largemouth bass, stripers and catfish. You can rent electric boats to fish for them from the Los Vaqueros Marina on the lake’s south side. If you’re not into fishing, just take one of these eco-friendly vessels out — a 16-footer ($50 for a half-day) that seats four, perhaps, or a pontoon boat ($115) that seats eight — and putter around the scenic waters to your heart’s content. (Rentals are first-come-first-serve and are sometimes canceled in windy weather, so call ahead at 925-371-2628.)

Another electric excursion: Exploring Livermore Valley’s well-regarded wineries on a self-guided e-bike tour. The Pedego Electric Bikes rents single and tandem bikes ($70 and up) that make you feel healthy and planet-friendly, while also eliminating the nuisance of pedaling up hills. Screenshot a map of local wineries – or just grab one at Pedego — hop on your electric steed and enjoy a bit of adventure.

Jared and Kate …read more

Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment

      

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