Zocchi & Associates
Knowledge, connections and proven results are just some of the reasons that the clients of Teresa Zocchi seek her out and are happy that they worked with her for their home or investment property purchase.
She has worked hard over the years to make valuable connections in the communities of Central Contra Costa where she serves, including Alamo, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez. Her background growing up in the area, coupled with her energy and assertive nature, has allowed her to make key connections in the area, which helps to speed the process of uncovering the ideal home or investment property for her clients.
While she works with a variety of clients, she has an affinity for investment real estate. She has her own portfolio of investment properties and she likes to work with other investors to help with buying and selling strategies, while focusing on delivering quality services and creative solutions to meet their needs.
The proof, though, is in the pudding, so to speak, in that her efforts have reduced “Days on the Market” and provided sales “Above Listing” for those that are selling while her background in the area allows to find that ideal property for her buyers based on their needs and wants.
Teresa is a Member of the Contra Costa Association of Realtors, California Association of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, Contra Costa Realtors In Motion, and Women’s Council of Realtors.
Give her a call and discover why our readers have chosen her this year for their Local’s Choice.
1910 Olympic Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA, 94596
(925) 360-8662
zocchirealestate.com
Nicole Solari
Nicole Solari is recognized as one of the top one percent of agents nationwide, top 100 agents in the Bay Area and #1 producing agent in her local market. Clients say that Nicole is a dedicated, attentive, highly skilled negotiator that has their best interests at heart and the knowledge and connections to make their housing dreams come true. Nicole takes her continuing education seriously and holds many designations that includes GRI, CRS, SRS, SPRES, and CLHMS, and she is a GUILD member of the Luxury Home Marketing Institute. Nicole runs her business with honesty, integrity, and discretion while priding herself in being a problem solver, highly skilled negotiator, and master of contracts. Level Up Realty is a full-service brokerage providing services to home buyers and sellers, property management, first-time homebuyer services, and has VA-assistance programs for active and retired military clients. Outside of her work, she is devoted to her family, her husband Neil (who also works with her), her son Evan, and two rescue dogs: Aubie and Oakley.
1700 2nd St., Ste 222, Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 486-5400
levelupbrokerage.com
Jordan Real Estate
Renee Marie Jordan is a third-generation Realtor®, who started her career in residential lending. Jordan Real Estate was established by her grandmother, Jean Kotwitz, who was one of the first female real estate brokers in Solano County! The company was then passed down to her mother, Diane Jordan, over 40 years ago. Renee Marie then took over the company 29 years ago and in 2015 joined forces with RE/MAX Gold.
Regarded as one of Northern California’s most dependable brokers, Renee Marie has gained industry respect for creating a successful brokerage company.
Renee Marie’s unique blend of negotiating expertise, innovative thinking, and belief that the client always comes first has resulted in an extensive client base with many satisfied homeowners.
Renee Marie specializes in residential sales, first-time buyers on all levels from starter homes to luxury living, short sale, luxury, investment, foreclosures, and 1031 exchanges. Renee Marie has also been the HUD specialist in Solano County since 2009.
Renee Marie gets to the heart of her client’s wants and needs. She attributes a great deal of her success to the many referrals she receives from clients who appreciate the care and thoughtfulness that she puts into every transaction. Friends and family members can count on the same excellent service when they are referred to “Renee Marie.”
1038 1st St., Benicia, CA, 94510
(707) 746-4864
remax.com/real-estate-agents/benicia-ca-94510-reneemariejordan-id28888970.html
Bonehead’s Texas BBQ
Since 2007, Bonehead’s Texas BBQ has been smoking meats for friends, family, churches, and corporate groups. “We opened the restaurant in 2015 and continue to cater for up to 2,000 people,” owner Dave Roberson said.
All meats take days to prepare even before they’re cooked. The meats are rubbed with spices and marinate for up to 72 hours before being placed in the smoker. All meats are cooked at a very low heat and for up to 18 hours. “That’s what makes Bonehead’s different—we’re slow—low and slow smokin’,” its operators said. “We use wood fired smokers only—no natural gas or charcoal. We believe natural gas and charcoal leave a flavor that isn’t compatible to tasty food.”
Brisket is smoked a minimum of 15 hours; it’s a process that is required to create a wonderfully smoked piece of beef with a beautiful red “smoke ring.”
All side dishes, salads, and desserts are prepared fresh daily. Every Saturday is “Prime Rib Saturday.” Live music each Saturday and 1st Sunday of each month.
Online ordering is available as well as delivery.
3422 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA, 94549
(925) 262-4227
boneheadsbbq.com
Frida’s Mexican Grill
Named after Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter known worldwide for her self-portraits, Frida’s Mexican Grill provides an authentic Mexican dining experience. Their fajitas are a constant crowd-pleaser, presented on a sizzling platter complete with onions, green peppers, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, rice, and whole beans. Get them with steak, chicken, camarones, or vegetarian style. They serve breakfast from 8 to 11:30 a.m., including traditional options like Eggs Benedict, Huevos Rancheros, a breakfast sandwich, Scrambled Burrito, Open-Face Burrito, and much more––even pancakes! The wide variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options keeps patrons coming back time and time again. “Everybody here, our employees and our regulars, are like a family,” said General Manager Martin Aguilera. “We’re happy to see our customers with their kids coming in; and after 10 years here, we’re happy to see those kids growing up, coming in on their own now as teenagers.”
Another thing their customers are excited about is that they have happy hour every day! Yes, you heard right: Every. Day.
They cater as well, and an exciting addition to their restaurant is that they now have a food truck to take their great food on the road. Martin added, “We’re a local restaurant and we want to provide food of excellent quality at prices that our locals can afford.”
Come see why this is the second year they have been voted Local’s Choice!
1533 Trancas St., Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 252-3575
fridasmexicangrill.com
In 2018, Chaunté Crockett remembers how alone she felt as a soon-to-be single mom. When she was six months pregnant with her life about to dramatically change, a colleague recommended that she visit Solano Heals, a multipronged coalition supported by Solano Public Health with the mission to promote equity in healthy births for black babies and their families in Solano County.
After sharing her story with someone in the program, she met other soon-to-be mothers in a discussion group. The highway patrol dispatcher soon found that many were working moms like herself, running 12 hour shifts from morning to evening.
“Everybody came from a different perspective and had their own insight into my situation,” she said, “and there were others who had gone through it before me.”
The discussion group provided her a therapeutic space where she received useful information, such as helpful breastfeeding tips, and played games with the group based on what they had learned.
“Whenever you needed something, whether it was a good or a bad day, the staff was always available by phone or text,” Ms. Crockett remembers. “I had to reach out to them a lot, and after I had my baby, we would do home visits to follow up.”
After she had her son, she and the other mothers continued to meet on their own for walks on the Vallejo waterfront and birthday parties, even open mic nights. Her time in the program had helped her build a community, and her son has friends to grow up with straight from the womb.
“I saw her just sprout up and become a better mother and stronger woman, so the support and encouragement in this program is awesome,” her mother added. “I’ve never seen her happier than this.”
“We’re not a cookie cutter program, explained Angelique Anderson, a social worker at Solano HEALS. “Most people think (black infant health) outcomes have to do with socioeconomic status, but it’s not that at all. The toxic stress levels are very unique to being a black mother in America.
“Moms who’ve had masters level degrees in our program find it very beneficial,” she continued, “especially when we get them the information that they’re just as at risk in comparison with white mothers with no high school diploma.”
The people at Solano HEALS provide the education that new mothers need to make healthier lifestyle choices, in addition to addressing the broader social determinants of health that the organization is trying to change. Each aspect is designed to give every baby and family the resources, support, and environment they deserve at the start of life.
According to the CDC, approximately 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications, with 47.2% of them being black/African American. Most of these complications develop during pregnancy, and most are preventable or treatable, stressed Ms. Anderson.
“In 2020 you wouldn’t think that’d still be an issue, but it’s still very much an issue,” she said.
Solano Heals helps women advocate for themselves with health care providers by partnering with Kaiser and La Clinica de la Raza to provide group prenatal care for African American women where they can discuss their health and well-being throughout pregnancy in a nurturing environment.
In addition, Touro University California (TUC) has partnered with Solano HEALS to provide Race Equity Training to health care providers in Solano County to help unpack how to approach matters like implicit bias, which have had a historic impact on the black community that is still felt today.
Another objective to address these inequities is an online toolkit for community members that aims to de-stigmatize mental health in the black community and provide local resources for mental health support and services. TUC was also able to help secure a grant for Solano HEALS to extend its reach online with the creation of a mental health toolkit. As part of the effort to normalize the conversation around mental health, the site will provide visitors a mental health screening as well as a platform for mothers to share their stories and hear from people in the same shoes, much like with Ms. Crockett and her mothers’ group.
“Women who experience untreated mental health issues such as depression and anxiety during pregnancy are at greater risk of having a preterm delivery or delivering a low birth weight baby” explained Dr. Carly Strouse, Assistant Professor of Public Health at TUC. “This can have negative impacts on the developing child with a risk of poor mother-infant attachment as well as long term emotional dysregulation for their child.”
Preventing these effects means addressing the cultural biases that prevent many African Americans from accessing care due to things like prior experience with misdiagnosis, inadequate treatment, or lack of cultural awareness.
“We’re trying to de-stigmatize support and mental health services,” she said. “The important thing is that (mothers are) being seen and followed so if anything happens, they’re already connected to a provider.”
If you are interested in joining the Solano HEALS coalition or their resources and training, visit solheals.wixsite.com/solanoheals.
“The First Blooms of Spring Always Makes my Heart Sing” S. Brown
That is a fitting sentiment for our thoughts of spring. We enjoy the sun creeping up on the horizon ever so slightly and then lingering just a bit before it sets. Seeing the buds form on the trees and plants and warming temperatures just brings a smile to our faces. We both enjoy spending time in our gardens as we commune with nature there and spring brings the promise of the summer to our days. We like to commune with nature with more than just ourselves, having a few friends over is better but going to an outdoor event for music, food, friends and adult libations is even better. The fact that we can enjoy outdoor events here in much of the Bay Area from February until at least November is what really makes this part of the country so special. Many times we can revel in “outdoor” events earlier but February is generally a safe starting point to start thinking about the great outdoors. Hiking, running, drinking wine, outdoor cooking, a walk on the beach, or just taking a stroll in downtown – now is the time to get going…before the crowds pick up.
February and March are also great Home Improvement months, so take stock and make your list and then be sure to head to the Total Home & Garden Show in Vacaville in April so you can get the best deals on all of your projects this summer! You can be ready for your first BBQ of the season before Memorial Day which sneaks up on us every year.
In addition to the increasingly longer days, we’re even more excited since now is the time we unveil our 9th annual Local’ Choice Award winners. Did your favorite win? Were there some surprises? Whatever the results, they come from you, our readers. If you are not seeing your favorites there is always next year (actually our voting and nominations open in September) so you can plan ahead to campaign for your special choices. Until then, take a look at this year’s winners and stop by and learn why our readers chose them as the Local’s Choice!
We would like to send out a few birthday wishes for the coming months. Our oldest brother Larry is always high on our list, so we will start there, then on to Stephen, Megan, Jo-Ann, Mars, Marco, Tracey, Johnny, Myrna, Judy, James, Askari, John, Gary, Marc, Socorro, John Troupe, Louise, Betsey, Tim, Erin, Shane, Jenny, Kathleen, Rafaela, Christina, Patti, Chris, Dennis, Bill, Elizabeth, Judi, Dalia, Uncle Gabe, Frank, Francis, Raymond, Dennis, Hima, Louise, Reyna, Judy, Liz, Manuel, Eric, Daisy, and Juanita.
We hope all of you enjoy our upcoming spring season to the fullest. Cheers!
Robert Briseño & Deanna Troupe
By Nate Gartrell
What happens when you take world-renowned musicians and put them in the backdrop of the beautiful Napa Valley, along with the fine wine and cuisine this area is known for? You get what’s become known as a luxury event, a unique getaway designed for intimate, up-close, views of artists and chefs who typically showcase their work on television, or in multi-thousand seat arenas. It all started in 2008, with a Jason Mraz performance in the Napa Valley around the time he released the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated hit “I’m Yours.” Nowadays, Napa Valley has three such events each year, all put on by FF Entertainment, and starting this year with Yountville Live. The four-day event is a celebration of food, wine, and music, and surrounds the popular annual Taste of Yountville Festival.
“Yountville Live was, hands-down, the most incredible festival experience of my life,” popular singer/songwriter Marc Broussard said in a testimonial on Yountville Live’s website. “The food, the wine, the hospitality, and the music were of a caliber unmatched by any other event I’ve ever been associated with. If I’m not invited back as an artist, you can bet I’ll be buying a ticket as a fan.”
For this year, Yountville Live will stretch from March 19 through March 22. The 2020 lineup hadn’t been finalized at the time of publication, but in the past the festival has pulled in some of the musical artists in the country—David Hodges, the Goo Goo Dolls, Colbie Caillat, O.A.R., X Ambassadors, Foy Vance, Blue October, and the Plain White T’s, to name a few.
“We try and find the next artist who’s about to break and also the artists who are very talented and have big personalities who can perform acoustic guitar with no amplification at a wine dinner,” said FF Entertainment President Bobbii Hach Jacobs. “They’re just very much in that creative tip.”
One of the secrets to pulling this talent, Bobbii said, is simply to extend the Napa Valley’s hospitality to the performers as well as the audience. “I think what’s really awesome is when artists are on the road or on tour—it’s their job—but what we try to do is we not only have them perform and entertain but to enjoy themselves while they’re here and take it all in,” Bobbii said. We encourage them to bring their spouse or significant other. They just don’t have a great experience; they say, ‘Wow I’m all in. Everyone here is so welcoming and engaging—it’s amazing.”
Bobbii said the Live In The Vineyard concept stems from the desire to bring “current pop music” into the area; however, in a way, that’s designed to make the audience members feel connected with the performer, as opposed to being one in a sea of people or watching a singer from two football field-lengths from the stage.
“When you’re at Yountville Live or Live In The Vineyard you don’t need a set of binoculars,” Bobbii said. “You’re right up close and personal with the best chefs, winemakers, and artists right there at your fingertips—to talk to, to see, to be right up there with.”
Yountville Live is still going strong after five years, and the fall Live In The Vineyard event will turn 12 this year. Bobbii says her group will follow Yountville Live with a “Live In The Vineyard Goes Country” event that she said will “come back for a third year with a vengeance” just six weeks after Yountville Live, in partnership with CMT.
“Everything we do is curated,” Bobbii said. “I work off the current releases of artists releasing new music. It’s never about big, big, big, it’s about the sexiest and most authentic experience that my team and I can create.”
“It’s very special; it’s one of the most beautiful little towns in the United States. And you put in the chef component and the picturesque backdrop—it’s really amazing. We took our special sauce, which is music, and put it all together and stirred the pot.”
The musical performances are acoustic or acapella, which Bobbii said adds to the intimate feeling of the show. “Personally, I think [acoustic performances] show the artist’s true raw talent,” Bobbii said. “Anyone can go see a live band plugged in, but very few can see that grit of the artist, where they’re singing their heart out with acapella or an acoustic guitar. It just makes it that much more special.”
Bringing rock stars to the Napa Valley seemed like a “natural fit,” Bobbii said.
“I think music, food, and wine are the perfect combination, and Napa Valley is such a beautiful backdrop. If you take great music and put it in the Napa Valley, it will be even better,” she said. “You throw that in with an acoustic performance and something really authentic and all of a sudden you have this amazing once in a lifetime performance.”
The mood at Live In The Vineyard shows varies greatly from what one might picture when they see lineups containing world-famous musicians. The crowds might be excited, passionate, and engaged; however, when the music is playing, the audiences usually remain silent, Bobbii said.
“You can hear a pin drop when the artists are performing,; it’s very respectful,” she said. “Our return rate is so high for people coming back year after year, that we constantly have to deliver that highest level and never take anything for granted.”
Yountville Live will start Thursday, March 19 and run through Sunday, March 22. The bulk of the four-day festival will be held at The Estate Yountville. Tickets for four days are currently going for $2,750.00 and can be purchased by visiting: eventbrite.com/e/yountville-live-2020-vip-weekend-tickets. For additional information about the festival, including past lineups and a list of wineries and restaurants, visit yountvillelive.com.
For information about Live In The Vineyard Goes Country—running from April 29 through May 1 in Napa (Brad Paisley headlined last year)—visit liveinthevineyardgoescountry.com.
Nate Gartrell grew up in Benicia, studied journalism in college, and has written for a handful of media outlets since age 15. He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and to hit the trifecta at the horse track.
