The official news of Michael Mina’s taking over the restaurant at The Lodge at Sonoma has finally been released. The celebrity chef will open Wit & Wisdom in early 2020, featuring hearth-oven cooking. News had been circulating for months among staff that the Bay Area toque would be opening a space at the resort, but Mina reps denied the news until this month.
“A Wine Country project has been a long time coming,” says Chef Michael Mina. “I’ve always wanted to expand to this incredible part of Northern California.” We’ll look forward to more news as the restaurant develops.
It’s a hot and cool new happy hour in Sebastopol as Ramen Gaijin serves up deals on raw oysters ($1.50), karaage (fried chicken) with miso ranch and lemon ($6), togarishi fries, grilled trumpet mushrooms ($3), saimin noodles with “house spam” ($10) along with sake, cocktails, beer and wine from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Deal! 6948 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, ramengaijin.com.
More Sebastopol food news: Lowell’s is changing up things, closing on Tuesday and Wednesday and ending breakfast service. They’ll be open from 11a.m. to 2:30p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9p.m. for dinner. Brunch will be available on the weekend. One of the biggest changes, however, is the abandonment of the 20 percent service charge. Owner Lowell Sheldon hoped that the charge would allow for better wages and benefits for restaurant employees, but the upcharge irritated many customers. Instead, they’ll be reducing it to a 3.5 percent charge for healthcare and sustainability charge. 7385 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol, lowellssebastopol.com.
