This Shack rocks

We think of cocktails as a phenomenon of the past hundred or so years, but journeyman bartender Brian Scanlan at Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in Sonoma serves one that dates back 300 years. He calls it the Barnacle.

It’s made with lemon juice, rum and a touch of maple syrup — just what the sailing ships of the early 18th century would have been carrying back and forth between Boston and the Caribbean.

Such a drink is a little odd, kind of fun, and quite tasty, very much like Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack itself. The mistress of all the gaiety is Emily Kaplan — a hometown Sonoma girl who went off to the big city to seek her fortune, and a decade ago opened Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in the Bernal Heights district of San Francisco. A friend described it as “a restaurant version of a good dive bar.”

That must be just what those wacky San Franciscans were looking for, because most nights you have to wait an hour or so to get a table. So with her success there, she decided to start a second Shack and returned to Sonoma to open up the town to her good times. Here’s what she has to say on her Web site: “We shouldn’t have to leave our town for some fun. I’m creating an atmosphere coming from the needs and spirit of my generation. Sonoma is ready for this type of establishment.”

Evidently it is.

The place has been swamped since it opened almost a month ago. As in the city, it’s first come, first served, and there’s usually a wait for a table at the height of the dinner hour, although not nearly as long as at her city venue.

A slightly louche atmosphere pervades the place, which may be part of its charm. A picture of a Bettie Page type pin-up hangs in the main dining room. A photo of Motley Crue graces a hallway. Even the sign outside announcing Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack has an image of a tousled Kaplan looking very relaxed. And to cater to Sonoma’s “night people,” it’s open to 11 p.m. all nights except Fridays and Saturdays, when it’s open to midnight.

The restaurant occupies the building that was Deuce. If you know that place, you’ll remember its late-hippie era architecture — swirling arabesques and mandalas — created in the early 1970s by Sausalito woodsmiths. A mix of country music and rock plays on the sound system. Gone are the white tablecloths. In their place, bare tables and paper napkins. The waitresses wear tank tops. A row of old-fashioned, flouncy aprons hangs from the ceiling in the dining room.

As for the food, let’s strike for the heart of the menu, the Spaghetti and Meatballs ($12.50, 2½ stars). It’s a mountain of food, easily enough for two unless the diner is a lumberjack. Three meatballs the size of handballs have the texture and flavor of meatloaf. A huge pile of big, thick spaghetti is doused with not quite enough red sauce, sprinkled with chopped parsley, and topped with shavings of parmesan cheese. OK, it’s not the greatest spaghetti and meatballs in the world, but it’s good in the kind of way that will please folks who are having a good time and aren’t too picky.

The place is about fun, remember? The menus are hand-scrawled and smothered with Emmy love, including lipstick impressions, hearts, XXXs and OOOs, and exclamation points. If you bring the kids, you’ll find a kids’ menu where the entrees are $6 each and include all the classics like spaghetti and meat ball, mac-n-cheese, burger with fries, mini meatball sandwich, and grilled cheese.

The wine list is short and inexpensive, but there are some good bottles. The 2007 Clarbec Pinot Gris is $30 a bottle, and for a wild blend of red grapes, who can resist the 2006 Homewood Flying Wizzbanger for $30? Beer and ale run the gamut from the dark, heavy, alcoholic Old Rasputin ale for $5 a bottle to light and frothy Jamaican Red Stripe at the same price. If you want to go downscale, Pabst Blue Ribbons are $3. The emphasis, however, is on Scanlan’s cocktails, each $9. His mint julep, made with sweet black tea, fresh mint, and a lot of Maker’s Mark bourbon, is fabulous, if dangerous. A cucumber gimlet sounds refreshing, and a layered black raspberry lemon drop sounds tutti-fruiti.

A Summer Corn Soup ($6.50, 3 stars) is one of chef Eric Center’s best creations. It’s a fresh-tasting sweet soup with pancetta and avocado topped with a drizzle of basil oil. A small order of Garlic Bread ($4.50, 2 stars) is a simple three slices of toasted Italian bread smeared with garlic butter. Nothing out of the ordinary, but if you like garlic bread, this will fill the bill.

Snap beans are dipped in batter and deep fried to make Fried Green Beans ($8, 2 stars). They’re served with a romesco dipping sauce made of tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil and almonds. If the price seems a little steep, remember that portions at Emmy’s are very generous, and a light eater might find the bean dish all that’s needed for dinner. You might also consider the Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad ($9, 3 stars) light fare, but be aware, it eats a little more robustly than it sounds. That’s because the earthy beets, both red and yellow, are interspersed with pebbly red mustard leaves and joined by pickled carrots and marcona almonds in a truffle vinaigrette.

The Flat Iron Steak ($18, 3 stars) may well be the best steak deal in the area. The inch-thick, tender steak is big enough to satisfy just about anyone. It comes with a load of mashed potatoes, a braised leek, and very spicy sautéed broccolini. Everything is given a royal trumpet mushroom demi-glace.

You’d expect a place like Emmy’s to offer a burger — and you’d be right. A current TV ad for a fast food hamburger chain shows a woman eating a hamburger in a manner so sensual that modesty requires one to avert one’s eyes. That may be the way to approach Emmy’s Burger ($11, 3 stars), an inch-thick burger cooked medium as ordered on a big crunchy bun. It’s so juicy you’d best hold it over your plate when you bite into it. To heighten the experience, cheddar or blue cheese, bacon and caramelized onions are available for a dollar more.

Betcha can’t finish the huge bowl of Orecchiette ($14, 2 stars), which is filled with “little ears” pasta disks mixed with a creamy sun-dried tomato and pesto sauce, and sprinkled with pine nuts.

The desserts are as good, if not better, than the appetizers and entrees. A Chocolate Truffle Cake ($7, 3½ stars) was decadently gooey and rich, served with almond brittle and a scoop of vanilla. Blueberry Bread Pudding ($7, 3 stars) featured a sweet bready biscuit stuffed with blueberries and finished with a sidekick of vanilla ice cream. The desserts are house-made.

To sum up: Emmy’s is down-home fun with good old Ital-American food and lots of it. The staff is out to make you comfortable, and if you can’t relax in this flamboyantly inelegant atmosphere, don’t blame Emmy.

Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for the Sonoma Living Section. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.