Going to California / Bay Area & Napa - what "wood" to see?

[Todd Burch]

The Mrs. and I are heading to California the end of May. We'll be in Napa for a few days, then San Francisco for a couple nights.

I did a quick search for wood-related places to see, and found Baker Hardwoods down in Gilroy. Anyone ever been there?

I didn't find anything around Napa. Any ideas?

Todd

[Chris Padilla]

Ah, my town! A place to DROOL over wood is Southern Lumber in San Jose. The prices will send you running for cover but it is well laid out and has a HUGE variety. It is GREAT for looking at wood but I rarely rarely RARELY buy there.

[Brian Kent]

Some great polished burl furnishings at the Greens Restaurant in San Francisco.

[Joe Pelonio]

Stop in Berkeley, have a meal at Spenger's Fish Grotto on 4th St., then
go to MacBeath Hardwoods just a few blocks away on Ashby Ave. I used to haunt both places when we lived down there.

[Joe Cunningham]

Muir Wood(s). :p

[John Shuk]

David Marks' Gallery if possible.

[Burt Alcantara]

Armstrong Red Wood Forest

[David G Baker]

Joe,
I haven't thought of Spenger's in years. In my opinion it is the only real sea food restaurant in the Bay Area. Much better than most of the Fisherman's Wharf tourist restaurants.
Todd,
The Redwood forest in the Fairfax area is a great place to visit. It is a few miles North of SF. Don't know of any woodworking or suppliers in the Bay Area other than the ones mentioned. Napa is a beautiful area to visit especially if you are a wine connoisseur. To really appreciate the Bay Area you need to spend a lot more time there. Try to avoid the "Rush Hour" traffic or your visit will not leave you with fond memories. Be prepared for sticker shock and 8 1/4% sales tax on things you purchase.

[Todd Burch]

These are all great ideas. I have to temper my excitement about seeing all of these, since this will be our 21st wedding anniversary trip, and, well, you know how that goes.

David, I'm familiar with the Bay Area. I lived out there from '84 to '88, but wasn't a woodworker then. I dove into woodworking in '89 - and as a matter of fact, my wife bought me my first tablesaw for our 1 year anniversary present - 20 years ago this month.

Todd

[David G Baker]

Todd,
Ah, another refugee. Enjoy your trip.

[Narayan Nayar]

Agreed on MacBeaths, Sequoia National Forest. The coastal rainforests down by Santa Cruz and Monterey are also a nice place to go for a walk--try the UC Santa Cruz (http://www.ucsc.edu/) campus or a small state park called Nicene Marks (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=666).

There's a joint called Global Wood Source in San Jose. I've heard mixed reports of the management there, but I've been treated well. If you want to see some nice wood, they've got some. Amazing burls and something you should definitely see while you're out here--huge claro walnut slabs. Just have a look at their homepage (http://www.globalwoodsource.com/). I drool every time I go, but I admit I haven't been in quite some time.

[Joe Pelonio]

Joe,
I haven't thought of Spenger's in years. In my opinion it is the only real sea food restaurant in the Bay Area. Much better than most of the Fisherman's Wharf tourist restaurants.

Actually they went out of business for a while then re-opened after being bought by Mccormick and Schmicks. We have been since, the decor, food and service are very close to when it was owned by the Spenger family and still better than any other seafood restaurants there, or for that matter here.

[Roger Savatteri]

If I were up in the Bay area, these would be two must visits.......

San Francisco area.....
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/page.asp?content_id=10045

Berkley.....
http://www.hidatool.com/contact.html


cheers,
Roger

[David G Baker]

Joe,
I thought that it went out of business but the memory is getting hazy. It was in the 80s or early 90s the last time I ate there.

[Paul Atkins]

I'm with Richard! Japanwoodworker is in Alameda though, the other side of the bay from SF.

[Chris Padilla]

Japanwoodworker and Hida are interesting places but if Todd is looking for real nice wood, they are not the places to go. They are more for tool nuts...especially hand tool nuts...especially especially Japanese hand tool nuts.... :D

[Jason Beam]

I think you should take a few hours to see if you can unearth Chris's old shop curtains. Maybe he hid them under his table saw? :D :D :D

Hida tool's great if you're after some tools. Little hole in the wall shop packed to the gills with sharp bits. I second MacBeath's, too.

That's where I go when I'm over there. :D

[Chris Padilla]

My old shop curtains? Man, will that EVER die?! They are in the landfill...happy searching! :D

[Jason Beam]

Hehe! I figured it'd been awhile since they were brought up ... Ken warned me that it was a perilous idea to mention them but I felt a little spry this morning :P

[Roger Savatteri]

Japanwoodworker and Hida are interesting places but if Todd is looking for real nice wood, they are not the places to go. They are more for tool nuts...especially hand tool nuts...especially especially Japanese hand tool nuts.... :D

hmmm, he did say "wood related"

and after you get the wood, you still have to work it.

but then again I could be wrong, he could have "enough" tools.....and never "need" to look for more.........:D



.

[Todd Burch]

...but then again I could be wrong, he could have "enough" tools.....and never "need" to look for more.........:D
.

Jim Becker has been to my shop, but it' been awhile. Todd Wilhoite has also been, but not sure where he's been for last few "SMC years". Richard Hash makes it over every now and again too - probably others.

They will all attest that I have more than my fair share of tools. However, I'm always looking, either for the upgrade, or for the "gotta have - I might use it some day" tool. But, I'm actually in "downsize' mode right now. Just sold a bunch in a garage sale and on Craig's List too. And, I still have lots more to sell. I'll probably do eBay for the remainder.

Todd

[jim carter]

i would take a drive up to mendocino county and scope out some of the roadside burl shops. the carry redwood , maple, and other types of local wood. i got a couple of nice maple burls, a redwood burl and the guy threw in a gunny sack of scraps that made alot of small but very nice turnings all for $20. its not that far from napa and worth the drive.

[Mark Norman]

Ah, my town! A place to DROOL over wood is Southern Lumber in San Jose. The prices will send you running for cover but it is well laid out and has a HUGE variety. It is GREAT for looking at wood but I rarely rarely RARELY buy there.

I've been there and they do stock some real nice stuff. Its been fifteen years since but I would bet they still do.

If ya want to see some BIG trees still standing just go north of SF a few hours to Humbolt Co. Just head north on the 101 and you will soon be in some of the most awesome redwoods on the planet!

http://co.humboldt.ca.us/images/rdwtrees2.jpg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My old shop curtains? Man, will that EVER die?! They are in the landfill...happy searching! :D


Hey Padilla! I was not the person who rebirthed those curtains THIS TIME!

[Jason Beam]

Hey Padilla! I was not the person who rebirthed those curtains THIS TIME!

Though, i did blame you ... :cool::cool::cool:

[Art Mulder]

Muir Wood(s). :p

This.

Also Point Reyes National Seashore, for long walks WELL away from the crowds.

Dim Sum in Chinatown.

have fun!

[Jamie Buxton]

http://www.bayareawoodworkers.org/resources/resources.html

[Jamie Buxton]

Baker has nice stuff, but he wants remarkable prices for it -- $25 or even $100 per bdft. He mostly has great big slabs, which might be a bit difficult to take back to Texas on the plane.

[Todd Burch]

Well, tonight is my last night in San Francisco. I was able to get over to Southern Lumber in San Jose. Holy Cow - "high prices" is the understatement of the century. I realize they offer a finished product (S4S), but their prices were outrageous.

There did have some very nice wide 3/4" Cherry coards (like, 20" wide or more). I think the one board I priced out was $400, and it was < 7' long - about $35 / bf.

We had a good time up in Napa. I only bought 4 cases wine though. (hic...)

[Mark Norman]

Southern Lumber has quite the variety but they want top dollar. I got a piece of african vermillion for a mantle about twenty years ago there. It was about $300 for a 8/4 x 8" x 4' piece but it was stunning.

Have a safe trip home Todd, and enjoy the vino;)

[Eric Larsen]

Todd, if you find anything in Napa (wood wise) that catches your eye -- Please, PM me because I'll be going there again in Dec.

LOML and I took our first trip to Napa last year for X-mas. We loved it so much we booked X-mas this year as we were leaving.

I've been to a lot of nice places. Napa was the first where I said, "Wooo! I am SOOOO going back to this place same time next year."


Other than heading north to Santa Rosa and pestering David Marks during Christmas week, I can't think of anything woodworking related to do. So quench your thirst, if you know what I mean. (Hit the Schamsberg winery at least once.)


EDIT - Also, can anyone direct me to a place that sells cioppino in SF that is 1) authentic, 2) delicious, 3) doesn't require mortgaging my house for a bowl?

Fell in love with SF on the ferry from Vallejo. It was two days before Christmas, and we were walking from the ferry terminal to Telegraph Hill to see the parrots. I think somewhere around Washington square, there was a line of grandmothers (about 30 in all) queued up at a small shop with not much in the way of signage. I turned to LOML and said, "I don't care what they're selling, I'm getting some."

Turns out they were selling focaccia and all the people were queuing up for fresh focaccia for Christmas Eve dinner. The ladies told me the rules, "1) Know exactly what you want to order. If you stand around and look at the menu, you go back to the end of the line. 2) Have your money ready quickly."

I asked her what she was getting. She said "one olive, two garlic and one rosemary." So that's what we ordered, too. I think it cost like twelve bucks. We split one focaccia and ate it on the spot. Just about the best bread I've ever had. Ate another with some wine while we watched the zeppelin buzz around Coit tower. Ate the rest back in Napa with Italian nibbles we bought at Molinari's.

(Google is your friend.) The name of the place is Liguria Bakery, 1700 Stockton St., near Washington Park.

The other place we really liked was Chinatown. Stuffed ourselves silly at some tiny all-you-can-eat dim sum place. There were only about 20 seats, total, and you could see six chefs all furiously making dumplings and pot stickers. The place was full of locals, which is always a good thing. But they had an annoying tape looping through a megaphone trying to drum up business "All you can eat, five dollars, delicious Chinee food." Over and over. LOML and I still joke about it. The food was worth it, though and we'll be back for more next year.

This year, when we make our day-trips to SF, I am bringing a backpack to carry the focaccia and Molinari's salame. And I'm not going to eat breakfast, just so I have more of an appetite at the dim sum joint.

[Dave Garcia]

Stop in Berkeley, have a meal at Spenger's Fish Grotto on 4th St., then
go to MacBeath Hardwoods just a few blocks away on Ashby Ave. I used to haunt both places when we lived down there.

Joe,

Is Spengers Fish Grotto still open? It's been awhile, but the last time I was up that direction (2003) Spengers was closed. Did it reopen? If so, I'm headed that direction immediately!!! Spengers was THE place to go in the bay area for reasonably priced sea food. Please tell me they are back in business!!!

Dave Garcia :)
The Wood Block, Ltd