April 22 will be the opening day for Little Saint, the hotly anticipated restaurant, bar, cafe, mercantile and creative space collaboration between Single Thread’s Kyle and Katina Connaughton, philanthropist Jeff Ubben, animal activist Laurie Ubben and designer Ken Fulk.
The 10,000-square-foot space (formerly Healdsburg SHED) has been transformed into a plant-based food mecca that will highlight ingredients from the Connaughtons’ Single Thread Farm and the Little Saint Farm. The Connaughtons’ management arm, Vertice Hospitality Management, will operate the food and wine components of the space under General Manager Akeel Shah, most recently of Single Thread.
Chef de Cuisine Bryan Oliver will lead the kitchen, offering the cafe’s casual takeaway food, bento boxes and grain bowls from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Little Saint Restaurant and Bar will sell more upscale fare and will be open for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.
Sample dishes from the restaurant menu include potato and green garlic soup with lovage and caraway oil, mokum carrots and shaved red cabbage with crunchy rice and cauliflower biryani with dried rose petals.
A bar menu from Matthew Seigel will follow the same plant-based idea with both spirits-based and nonalcoholic drinks.
Chef Baruch Ellsworth will head the pastry program, with sweet morning treats and vegan desserts including a chocolate torte with hazelnut praline and miso caramel or carrot cake with walnuts and vanilla.
The wine shop, under director Alexandria Sarovich, will include a selection of wines from sustainable winemakers throughout the world.
Little Provisions mercantile will be open daily for the purchase of fresh farm produce and flowers, snacks, coffee, teas and books.
There will be 72 seats in the downstairs restaurant with 16 seats at the bar. The second-floor lounge, when it opens in June, will have cocktails and a limited menu. A number of tables will be held back throughout the night to encourage walk-ins, and the bar will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We are so excited to be opening Little Saint at long last! Little Saint is here as much for the local residents as it is for the visitors to Sonoma Wine Country,” Chef Kyle Connaughton said.
“We live here, farm here and are part of the community of amazing winemakers, farmers and artisans. We really wanted to reflect that and create exciting offerings for our local community and at the same time share with the visitors how special this place that we call home is.”
25 North St., Healdsburg, littlesainthealdsburg.com