Bay Area’s Best Restaurants Come Together for Luxe Fundraiser

Foie gras, caviar and cult wines are on the menu to help fire victims this weekend.


In an event spearheaded by Chef Dustin Valette (Valette, Healdsburg), thirty of the Bay Area’s best restaurants will come together Sunday, Dec 3 for a high-dollar fire relief fundraiser at the Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa.

With tickets beginning at $500 and topping out at $1,500 for VIP tickets, the event includes nibbles from heavy hitters like SF’s Liholiho Yacht Club, Boulevard, Jardiniere, Statebird Provisions and Twenty Five Lusk along with local restaurants Barndiva, Brass Rabbit, Farmhouse Inn, Glen Ellen Star, Ramen Gaijin, Spinster Sisters, Valette, Trading Post and Zazu, among many others.

The Starks’ Willi’s Wine Bar will also be featured, though the restaurant perished in the fires. Willi’s menu has been featured at all of the Stark restaurants as a fundraiser for fire victims.

The Rise Up Sonoma wine lineup is equally impressive, with bottles from Kosta Browne, Three Sticks, Williams Selyem and Kistler.

Musician Donavon Frankenreiter will perform, and Green Room VIP guests can take a crack at the caviar and foie gras station.

Though the price tag isn’t for everyone, the event will donate 100 percent of its proceeds to local fire relief charities. Details at riseupsonoma.org.