Forget Your Cleanse...the Fremont Diner is the Bomb!

Been driving by the Fremont Diner for a number of years...

and today, after a six hour flight from New York, en route to 

Napa, the stomach growling reached a feverish high-point 

just as the diner came into view.  And what a treat!  

Totally unexpected to find a Zagat-worthy meal inside.

This place is full of charm, and on the weekends you need

to come with a hefty dose of patience as the lines are long

and the parking lot full.

Quirky vintage hip.

Being a native North-westerner, the vintage Olympia beer sign

was a cool sighting.

 (And how about the doll head in the vice??)

Thinking Olympia beer was long extinct,

naturally we had to order one.

Nostalgic as a can of Oly causes one to be,

it still tastes like it did when Domino's Pizza 

was the weekend highlight. 

 The Scrimshaw, however, was a delightful refreshment.

So many choices....

Settled on the Oyster Po'Boy,

...and the Andouille Hot Dog with Hush Puppies.

Both incredibly yummo.

Funky photo booth.

 And you can thumb-tack your end product on the restroom wall.

 Plenty of overflow seating, no matter the weather.

 This is my dream truck.

 (Until I saw the driver ).

Located on the Carneros Highway in Sonoma, 

the Fremont Diner is an absolute gem.  

Farm-to-table eats, and a seductive-smelling

smoker out back....straight-forward goodness all around.

www.thefremontdiner.com

Anatomy of a Fireplace (or two).

For the last three years we have been building

a little sanctuary on a remote island in Washington's 

San Juan Island chain, on one of the outermost

of the "out islands" before Canadian waters.

It's a 2700 square-foot home, but because

of the vast 24-foot ceiling and bigger-than-life

windows, it feels much larger.  In deciding to 

place a fireplace smack in the middle of that 24-foot 

vastness, it was a puzzle how to do that without it

looking ridiculously obnoxious.

Luckily, I have a very talented friend.

Establishing the base, fireboxes and foundation.

Sneak-peek at the chandelier that will eventually go up.

Choosing colors from sample boards for 

the plaster treatment the chimney will get.

Stone, hearth, and lintel in place.

The living room side

The dining room side.

In comes my friend, ready to work her magic.

Artist Donna von Holdt and her assistant (husband)

Mark Waring build scaffolding and begin filling cracks.

Long first day.

Mark begins applying the burlap that will cover the entire chimney.

Donna is fast on Mark's heels applying her

ingenious plaster mix over the burlap.  

Color check with the stone.

Plaster on, dry, sand, repeat.

Plaster all on.

Then the tedious job of applying the wax.

And buffing the wax.

Standing back to admire.

The last patch of wax goes on.

Detail.  

Metal sample that will adorn the mantle,

picking up the deeper hues of the wax. 

Day Seven, completion.

Bringing in nature...

...Madrona branch, Wild Currant and Ocean Spray.

Well-deserved meal off the land:

Dungeness crab, morel toasts, greens.

After Donna and Mark packed up and left,

the carpenters came back and finished the mantle,

made from Douglas fir from the property.

 The living room side.

The dining room side with wood stove.

Metal artist Tom Brumm adds metal

detailing on the mantle, and behind wood stove.

 Tom Brumm builds a stunningly beautiful screen.

It does get chilly in the islands when outside,

so up goes an outside fireplace.

Incredible piece of Montana Stone (found in Montana) for the hearth. 

Hearth cut and placed just so.

The mantle is a piece of driftwood found on our beach...

 ...complete with bolts, iron bits, and beach pebbles.

This side looks like a whale to me.

It is fulfilling and deeply satisfying to create 

beautiful things out of the land we inhabit, 

especially when those things are made with

 the skills and love of artists and craftsmen.

Architectural designs by Jeff Hope, Hopehaus Design.

Construction by Tom Nolan, Island Shelter Co.

Plaster treatment by Donna von Holdt, artist.

Metal work by Thomas Brumm, Blue Rock Studios.