Navigating the Healdsburg food scene can be perilous for new restaurant owners. Locals have strong feelings about the lack of affordable, family-friendly restaurants in the upscale tourist mecca, while restaurant owners face steep rents and skyrocketing food costs that can easily break them.
The new owners of The Burrow (formerly The Wurst) are trying to straddle the line with their forthcoming restaurant — and after seeing a draft of the menu, things look hopeful.
David Baeli and his wife, Elise (a Healdsburg local), are transforming the longtime burger and sausage palace into a casual café with approachable yet inspired appetizers, salads and sandwiches, a handful of entrées and a weekend brunch menu. The couple also focuses on a strong craft beer selection with “only independent-certified brewers.”
This isn’t their first restaurant rodeo. David Baeli co-owned Hops and Hominy in San Francisco, known for its Southern-style cuisine (now closed). The couple moved north for a more family-centered life and now have a 3-year-old (the chief taste-tester for the kids’ menu). Baeli hopes to open the new restaurant in May. Follow their progress at theburrowhb.com or instagram.com/theburrow_healdsburg.
The Wurst will continue as a catering operation under former owner Melissa McDowell. Stay tuned for more details. 22 Matheson St., Healdsburg.
You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.