Call it trickle-down cuisine, if you will. Just as Hollywood's celebrity culture tends to infuse every aspect of life in Los Angeles, and as the arts in New York find their way from the largest museums to the smallest streets, so the nationally renowned quality of culinary delights here in wine country trickles down to everyday little places and pieces of life in the North Bay.

Not everyone, we know—as we eat packed lunches from home at our desks—can indulge in our world-class, Michelin-rated restaurants. But just about anyone can afford a bowl of noodles, and you know what? Those noodles are made better simply by being in good company, as you'll find with Leilani Clark's noodle roundup. Likewise, Stett Holbrook shows that our Mexican food has gotten more creative, with fresh, local ingredients born from our farm-to-table emphasis. Fine vegan dining was once a veritable oxymoron, but Emily Hunt finds we've got a groundswell of better options. We've even refined the art of batender banter, ever the blue-collar staple that David Templeton explores as a finely honed skill. And Justine McDaniel lets us in on new restaurants blazing the way.

It's all about availability, which is why this year's Arcadia issue, devoted to the North Bay's food and wine, has gone all-access. Of course, few of us can be as alluring as model Teresa Kabba, who adorns these pages beautifully, or as talented as photographer Sara Sanger. But all of us, either well-off or with cardboard in our shoes, can find a piece of accessible culinary paradise here in the North Bay—and we're glad to be your guide.

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