Fried chicken at Americana. (Kelsey Joy Photography)
When it comes to Sonoma County’s constantly evolving food scene, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. With hundreds of restaurants to keep track of, chef shuffles, new menus and sharing all the tasty tea, I rarely have time to look up from my plate. But when I do, I see an impressive landscape only continuing to bring new talent and ideas to our delicious little corner of the world.
Click through the above gallery for a list of newcomers and a handful of highly anticipated openings for summer 2023. It’s a doozy of a list, so hold onto your forks, folks.
Lavender fields at Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa. (Matanzas Creek Winery)
“Lavender month” is lavishly celebrated in Sonoma County in purple fields and with lavender-infused dishes and drinks. Click through the gallery above for some of the best ways to enjoy the fragrant flower in June and throughout the year, and check out the recipes below for some lavender treats from Chef Sondra Bernstein of the Girl and the Fig restaurant in Sonoma.
Lavender Mojito by Sondra Bernstein
Makes 2 cocktails
4 ounces light rum
16–20 fresh mint leaves
Juice of 2 limes
2 ounces Lavender Simple Syrup
Club Soda
Lavender sugar rim or lavender sprigs, for garnish
Muddle the mint leaves in the bottom of a pint glass. Add the rum, lime juice, and lavender simple syrup and muddle a bit more. Add the ice, stir, and top with a splash of Club Soda. Garnish with a lime wedge, mint leaves or a lavender sprig.
Lavender Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons culinary lavender
In a saucepot, bring 1 cup of water, sugar, and lavender to a boil. simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Turn off the heat and let sit until cool. strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and discard the lavender. Store the lavender simple syrup in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Note: Adjust the amount of lavender and the steeping time based on the strength of the lavender and your personal taste.
Lavender Sugar
½ cup superfine sugar
¼ cup culinary lavender
Place lavender and sugar in a coffee grinder and grind to a fine dust.
Goat Cheese & Lavender-Honey Toasts by Sondra Bernstein
Makes about 50 nibbles
½ cup honey
1 tablespoon culinary lavender (save a pinch for garnish)
1 cup fresh goat cheese
¼ cup heavy cream
Place the honey and lavender in a medium saucepot over medium heat. Let the lavender steep in the honey until you have reached the desired intensity. Strain the lavender and set aside.
Place the goat cheese and cream in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the lavender honey to taste (about 5 tablespoons). Whisk until the mixture is light.
Place the goat cheese mixture on a toasted baguette or cracker of your choice. Drizzle with the honey and garnish with the reserved lavender.
Lavender Crème Brûlée by Sondra Bernstein
Serves 6
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
¾ cup whole milk
3 to 4 sprigs fresh lavender or 1½ tablespoons dried culinary lavender, plus additional for garnish
8 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar plus about 4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons wildflower honey
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the cream and milk in a saucepan and add the lavender. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Let the lavender steep for about 15 minutes or until the milk has a lavender flavor. (For a stronger flavor, allow the lavender to steep longer.)
Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, ½ cup sugar, and honey until smooth. Whisk it into the lavender-cream mixture. Strain though a fine-mesh sieve and skim off any foam. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Pour the mixture into 6 ramekins or brûlée dishes. Set the ramekins in a baking pan and add enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until set. (The custards are done when they stop jiggling.) Remove the baking pan from the oven and allow the ramekins to cool in the water bath for 5 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, for at least three hours or overnight.
Before serving, sprinkle the tops of the ramekins with a few teaspoons of sugar and caramelize with a small torch or under a broiler set on high.
Sofia Englund, Karen Kizer and Meg McConahey contributed to this article.
All the keepsakes and mementos may be gone. The historic ledgers and sepia family photographs, paintings of cows above the fireplace, ribbons and trophies from national cattle competitions, newspaper clippings—all wiped out in a firestorm that blew through so hard it ripped truck doors off the hinges.
But the 111-year farming legacy lives on at Oak Ridge Angus Ranch in Knights Valley, a rural Sonoma community 20 minutes east of Healdsburg. Over a century ago, Massimino LaFranchi was a pioneer in this region of the county—a Swiss immigrant who bought 500 acres in 1912 and named his ranch by looking across to the trees that dotted the hilltops nearby.
In the 1940s, Massimino’s sons—Henry, Al, and Nick—known to most simply as the LaFranchi brothers, grew a thriving dairy business from two Ayrshire heifers that Henry bought in 1936 as part of his FFA project at Calistoga High School. Riding boxcars around the country, they won prizes at agricultural fairs and made a name for Oak Ridge Ayrshires. One of their cows was named Supreme Champion at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin. But in 1975, when new dairy regulations proved expensive, the brothers made the transition from Ayrshires to Black Angus beef cattle.
Now, Cheryl LaFranchi, a pioneer in her own right, is the one to steer the family farm through its most challenging stage yet—a ground-up rebuild after the devastating 2019 Kincade fire. “We’ve never had cattle die like that, never,” she says, standing with her Australian shepherd Buster Brown in the middle of the farm, nestled in a swale between green rolling hills. To the west is Alexander Valley, and to the east Napa Valley. When flames coming from the north and east overran the farm that October night, they destroyed nearly every building on the property, including five homes for farmworkers and family as well as eight cattle and hay barns. In the aftermath of the fire, the herd was thinned from 600 to around 400. “I’ve had maybe five cows in my lifetime die,” says La Franchi. “All of a sudden, every time you turned around, they were sick. They gave up.”
The 2019 Kincade fire leveled nearly everything on Cheryl LaFranchi’s Knights Valley ranch. “You can’t rebuild those old redwood barns,” she says. “I loved all the history we had. That, you’re never getting back.” LaFranchi has yet to reach a settlement with PG&E. (Eileen Roche/For Sonoma Magazine)
But, season by season, the ranch is coming back to life. The last of the houses was just rebuilt, and the old redwood outbuildings have been replaced by shiny red metal barns. Just the other day, over by the pond, LaFranchi spotted a bald eagle. A new family of foxes made a den nearby and a flock of around 75 geese wander the ranch, looking for bits of leftover grain. Ground squirrels and deer are still scarce, but the turkeys are back, eating hay side-by-side with the cows.
As you get to know Cheryl LaFranchi, you get to know a lot of her sayings, passed down from her father, Henry, who picked them up from his father. She’ll pepper sentences with “Jesus criminy” or “holy smokes.” When things get bad, they “go sideways.” If something is high-end, it’s “Cadillac,” as in, “You might not make the Cadillac money if you do like we do, but we’re doing just fine.”
“When you farm, it’s not all sugar and roses,” LaFranchi likes to say. By the time she gets to, “I don’t need to stick the fat hog to every steer that runs through the place,” it doesn’t matter if you technically understand or not—you get it.
Every day, LaFranchi is up by 6 a.m., often starting the day bottle-feeding young calves. Until recently, she used to run a truck over each day to Bear Republic Brewery in Cloverdale to haul as much as 40,000 pounds of brewer’s grains to feed the cattle. The spent grain is a novel source of recycled nutrition LaFranchi and her husband discovered in the early 1990s, long before other ranchers took note. After Drake’s Brewing bought Bear Republic earlier this year, they now source local spent grains from Lagunitas instead. Raised at first on grass and hay, the cows will eat the barley-based byproduct for the last six months to a year of their lives. It’s what gives Oak Ridge beef its unique flavor, tenderness, and marbling—a different flavor profile from entirely grass-fed beef or beef finished on corn.
“I never thought about doing anything else,” says LaFranchi, above, with her shepherd, Buster Brown. “I love cows. I like to be outside. The cattle ranch, like we run it, is really great if you like to putter along.” Left, young Black Angus feed on spent grain, which LaFranchi sources from the Lagunitas brewery. (Eileen Roche/For Sonoma Magazine)
Their beef is sold primarily through Sonoma Meat Company in Santa Rosa, another family business with strong local ties. LaFranchi ’s husband, Frank Mongini, a large-animal veterinarian, first approached the company in 2011, and the relationship began with just a single animal. Now, Oak Ridge sells around 12 to 14 cows a month, lending their name to the beef but leaving the butchering, marketing, and sales to S onoma Meat Company. Much of the appeal of the branded campaign is the story of the ranch and its animals. Given no antibiotics or hormones, the Black Angus graze freely, from the valley floor to the hilltops. In addition to natural grass and spent grain, they also feed on leftover almond hulls brought in from the Central Valley.
It’s all part of the regenerative, sustainable farming model the LaFranchis have practiced for over a century, long before “sustainability” was a marketing catchphrase. That same appreciation for the land also translates into a love of community. That’s what LaFranchi had in mind when she dreamed up the Range to Table program in 2012 with the Redwood Empire Food Bank. The idea was to use excess brewer’s grains to help feed cattle in the region, even those from other ranches, and donate the beef. It’s a way for cattle that might otherwise go to waste—steers with one testicle, cows with blindness or ones that are too big or too small—to go to work in the community.
“Instead of just getting rid of them and not getting a lot of money for them, we said, ‘Send them up here. Frank and I will feed them, and we’ll donate them to the food bank in your name.’” Ranchers in the region jumped at the opportunity. In 2018, the last full year of the program before the fire, they donated over 22,000 pounds of ground beef.
At Oak Ridge Angus Ranch in Knights Valley, a rural Sonoma community 20 minutes east of Healdsburg. (Eileen Roche/For Sonoma Magazine)At Oak Ridge Angus Ranch in Knights Valley, a rural Sonoma community 20 minutes east of Healdsburg. (Eileen Roche/For Sonoma Magazine)
Attending a well-known industry bull and gelding sale up in Red Bluff this February for the first time since the fire, LaFranchi says she was happy “to see the bulls back in the top end of the bull sale, grading like they’re supposed to.” Breeding and selling cattle was once the lifeblood of the business. But these days, more than 80% of their revenue lies in the branded beef program with Sonoma Meat Company. Every so often, she’ ll get a text from a friend sharing a photo of a local menu, whether it’s “bacon-infused Oak Ridge Angus beef sliders” at Gravenstein Grill in Sebastopol or brisket at Butcher Crown Roadhouse in Petaluma.
Her grandfather Massimino would surely chuckle. “I think he would just be like, ‘Holy smokes!’” she says. “And my dad, too. My dad would really get a kick out of it.”
But Cheryl LaFranchi is most proud of keeping the ranch in the family so far. She doesn’t have any children of her own. Her brother works in computing. Her two nieces work at a nonprofit and at Redwood Credit Union. And her nephew is an airplane mechanic.
“But everyone still lives on the farm,” she says. “That, when it’s all said and done, will be my greatest accomplishment—that the kids were able to come back to the ranch and stay on the ranch. It’s not much of a family ranch if there’s no family.”
“To call SingleThread Farms a restaurant is akin to calling Buckingham Palace simply a house. This temple of haute cuisine in Sonoma County’s quaint town of Healdsburg delivers on the oft over-used promise of ‘farm to table,’” wrote Forbes. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
There’s a long-simmering secret behind the gilded doors of many fine dining restaurants. Inside the silent kitchens, with their exquisitely organized benchtops and lineups of tweezered plates, an increasingly vocal chorus is peeling back the truth, revealing top-heavy hierarchies and crippling financial pressures.
Movies like “The Menu” and “Burnt” shone a blistering light on soul-destroying stress and the impossible quest for perfection. And earlier this year, fine dining poster child Rene Redzepi, the man behind Copenhagen’s Noma, a restaurant that was named the world’s best multiple times, announced he would permanently close next year and reopen as a food laboratory and pop-up space.
“We have to completely rethink the industry,” Redzepi told The New York Times in January, blaming the unsustainable costs of employees, among other factors. “This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way.”
The scars of the pandemic, of course, are also lasting. As more casual restaurants pivoted to takeout, upscale restaurants did their best to accommodate diners. But many suffered severe financial losses and still struggle to find staff, as seasoned workers were forced to find jobs elsewhere.
But do these challenges mean that the highest levels of fine dining are on their way out? Should the reign of suited-up maître d’s, tableside flambés, and exquisitely foamed and dusted tiny plates take a final bow? Not quite yet—but it is time for some reinvention.
Aged gouda, pear, pretzel and mustard are plated for service by Chef Doug Keane at Cyrus in Geyserville. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Fine dining is dead. Long live fine dining
In Sonoma County, restaurants like Cyrus, SingleThread, Farmhouse Inn, and Madrona Manor have long been seen as the epitome of fine dining. Chefs create singular experiences for diners, offering curated culinary journeys and sublimely plated food.
As a restaurant reviewer, I will always believe there’s a place for this type of experience. It’s the joy of a perfectly seared piece of meaty Liberty duck with salty, crackling skin and a thin layer of unctuous fat that floods my brain with endorphins, the meticulous sourcing of a single perfect oyster, the history behind a tiny cup of mussel soup inspired by one served at Maxim’s in Paris.
Extraordinarily lofty dining like this, with wine and gratuity, can come with a price tag of $1,800 for two people. But for those who seek it out, it’s a meaningful luxury experience, no different than such indulgences as $899 Taylor Swift VIP concert tickets, $65 for infant Nike sneakers, or $90,000 for a Maserati. It all just depends on what tickles your happy button. At a time when eating fast food at a desk is normal and many everyday restaurants have resorted to pre-cooked, pre-packaged ingredients, fine dining experiences remind us that food can be magical. Food can be more than calories. Food can uplift us.
Sparkling wine and oysters in the bubble room at Cyrus in Geyserville. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
The new model
It can be easy to poke fun at some of the pomp surrounding exquisitely sourced, self-consciously described meals: Is a deconstructed plate of imported Japanese uni with cheese “snow” on dehydrated wonton crumbs better than a $5 crab puff at the local Chinese restaurant? After all, it’s just food, as chef Douglas Keane of Geyserville’s Cyrus restaurant likes to remind people.
Keane is more worried about livable wages for his staff than prancing around the kitchen with a chef ’s toque. “We’re too full of ourselves,” Keane says. “And it starts with the press talking about chefs like they’re gods, the truth is that we’re skilled labor. It’s dinner. It’s sustenance.” In the decade since closing his original Cyrus in Healdsburg, Keane has been obsessed with fixing fine dining’s most broken limb—an equitable wage structure.
In 2012, Cyrus had more than 56 employees, a model Keane says was entirely unsustainable. Waitstaff made up to $75,000 per year, while cooks made $30,000. Turnover was high in the kitchen, but front-of-house staff stayed forever.
Kitchen roles were highly ritualized and specialized, with some jobs so specific that employees had little to do for long periods of the evening. “There were so many employees doing nothing while we were finishing plating, for example. Then they’re not busy until the next fire,” Keane explains. “It didn’t seem like an efficient system.”
At the reimagined Cyrus, Keane has a lean staff of 20 cross-trained to play multiple roles in the kitchen—whatever needs to be done, from chopping vegetables to delivering plates to the table. Salaries start at $65,000 for prep cooks—more than 50 percent higher than the national average—and they also get healthcare benefits, a rare commodity.
Keane also pokes holes in other long-established structures. For one, Cyrus now offers a much shorter menu. “These huge old menus like at Chez Panisse take a lot of bodies to do, especially when you don’t know how many people are coming.” Vast menus necessitate keeping more food on hand, and a greater potential for waste.
“I think we’re still learning, but the one thing that I know is that the more you can engineer the experience with fewer variables, it’s easier to train people to get good at their jobs,” says Keane.
Nine months into his experiment, Keane feels the system is working, and hopes he can prove to others that the model is scalable. Diners seem just as happy with sous-chefs bringing plates to their tables and servers pouring drinks. “The system is phenomenal,” he says. “The guests seem super-happy, investors are happy, and I feel blessed we are able to do this.”
In Petaluma, Stéphane Saint Louis of Table Culture Provisions is part of a new generation of chefs reducing costs by running their kitchen lean. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
“16 apprentices picking flower petals”
In Petaluma, Stéphane Saint Louis and Steven Vargas of Table Culture Provisions are part of a new generation of chefs reducing costs by running their kitchen lean and mean. That doesn’t mean cutting back on creativity, just being scrappy. Saint Louis says he doesn’t see the need for all the fuss over perfection for perfection’s sake.
“If you want to be very meticulous about things, picking little flowers that all have to look exactly the same, you’re wasting product and time. Yes, that will be very expensive,” says Saint Louis. He and Vargas create their $125 tasting menu with just four cooks.
Borage flowers picked from the garden serve just as nicely as a pile of expensive blooms that, at another restaurant, would take a team of apprentices hours to harvest and tweeze onto plates. “I pick a solid crew,” says Saint Louis. “These guys bring an extra layer of tech and services that amplify what we’re serving. That doesn’t break my bank, and everybody is well paid.”
The team is having fun creating a high-end menu that includes frothed sunchoke soup or scallop crudo with coconut cream and truffled caviar—but they also offer steak frites for $48 and à la carte items from the tasting menu. It’s a way to offer more people more opportunities to try their food, and that’s precisely the point. Table Culture Provisions focuses on doing more with less.
“We’re too full of ourselves. And it starts with the press talking about chefs like they’re gods. The truth is that we’re skilled labor. It’s dinner. It’s sustenance.” – Douglas Keane
Finding balance
For other local chefs, however, doing less is more.
For years, Madrona Manor chef Jesse Mallgren focused on innovative molecular gastronomy. Liquid nitrogen ice cream was a signature dish, along with foams, creams, and obscure, lofty ingredients like minutina greens and feijoa. When the inn was remodeled in 2022, the menu simplified exponentially. Instead of five elaborate dinner services a week, they now serve 14 meals a week, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner offerings and more straightforward fare, including burgers and salads.
And Mallgren is not especially sad about it. “In some ways, it’s a relief, because we’re still cooking really tasty food,” he says. “Now The Madrona is a place I’d want to come in and eat once a month. Because for me, there are only so many tasting menus I’d eat per year—I’m busy with kids, have a lot to do, and can’t always spend three hours at dinner.”
With the change in format, some of the staffing pressures have eased, and Mallgren has become a mentor to less experienced cooks eager to learn the trade. “In the past, I had to hire cooks who knew what they were doing,” he explains. “Now I have two cooks promoted from dishwasher. It’s fun to watch these folks with no experience kicking it up and excited.”
The change has also brought food costs down to more sustainable levels. With ingredients like Japanese wagyu and truffles, Mallgren says it was difficult to charge enough to justify the expense. “No one wants to pay the prices to get a decent profit for those ingredients unless you have three Michelin stars.”
Chef Jesse Mallgren, formerly of The Madrona in Healdsburg, is now executive chef at Jordan Vineyard and Winery. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)The Madrona Salad with lettuces, fresh And pickled estate vegetables and herb Dressing from The Madrona in Healdsburg. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)
When traditional fine dining works
Reservations at Healdsburg’s much-lauded SingleThread Restaurant and Farm sell out months in advance at $425 per person. The multihour experience is perfectly choreographed, right down to the beautiful, first-course forest-floor tableau created for each table.
Owners Kyle and Katina Connaughton see the ongoing success of the restaurant as a community effort. “Some of the old models of luxury for the sake of luxury are dying and being replaced by a new model of high-end restaurants supporting local farmers, artisans, ranchers and the community,” says Kyle Connaughton. “We support good systems, reaching out for the best olive oil, a dish, a spoon, or a cup. There’s a relationship with all of those people.”
To sustain a staff of 125 people, Kyle and Katina Connaughton see their role as that of teacher as much as owner. It takes at least a year to train staff at the restaurant, a significant investment of time and resources.
“We want to do things the right way, and that isn’t easy or inexpensive,” Connaughton explains.
“There’s an impression in the fine dining space that high prices mean that profit margins are high. That’s not the case. If you look at all the food services, fine dining has a lower margin. You can’t cut corners. You can’t use cheap products, buy things that are frozen.” Sous-chefs at SingleThread make up to $80,000 with shared tips to start and are offered health insurance and paid vacations.
Kyle Connaughton acknowledges that having worked in the fine dining sphere for 30 years, he’s seen his share of bad actors and bullying. “We have very high standards, and people have to work incredibly hard, but people here want that environment. When things are difficult, when it’s busy and we’re not getting the results we want, it’s a challenge,” says Connaughton. “But screaming at people doesn’t help. That’s what I never understood.”
“Some of the old models of luxury for the sake of luxury are dying and being replaced by a new model of high-end restaurants supporting local farmers, artisans, ranchers and the community,” says Kyle Connaughton of Single Thread Restaurant in Healdsburg. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Rhubarb and green tea with almond cream from Single Thread in Healdsburg. (Single Thread)
Opting out, opting in
When Sean McGaughey came to Sonoma County to work at SingleThread, he didn’t have an end game. Maybe he’d stay a few years, see what happened, and maybe go into food research and development. Now married to a fellow SingleThread alum and with two casual restaurants of his own, Troubadour and Quail & Condor bakery, he appreciates the chance to get off the fine-dining train and work for himself.
“SingleThread was maybe a little too involved. It’s a super-great kitchen culture, and it’s a big team with lots of shoulders to carry it, but every once in a while, the responsibility multiplies exponentially,” McGaughey says. He’s currently trying to dial in the level of complexity at his own establishments, seeking the right balance of casual and high-end.
Six-course weeknight prix-fixe dinners at Troubadour allow McGaughey to spread his wings after days of sandwiches and breakfast treats. The prix fixe dinners are an imperfectly- perfect experience, with uncomfortable bar stools and narrow counters—but the food is full of joy and, at $125 per person, more approachable than a Cyrus or SingleThread.
“We look at what’s not too labor-intensive, and I’ve always cooked that way. Not everything has to be hard—but if it is hard, the diner needs to see or taste it. Cooks have a problem with overcomplicating stuff to make ourselves happy. Maybe it gives us a little self-worth,” he explains. “It’s the first time everything’s clicked, because I have a specific set of confines. Unbeknownst to myself, I created that.”
Le Diner at Troubadour Bread and Bistro n Healdsburg. (Emma K. Morris)
Talent and equity
Preeti Mistry, a chef, author, and speaker now living in Sonoma after launching two highly successful restaurants in Oakland, hopes the future of fine dining lies in authenticity and storytelling.
“If you just throw a bunch of uni, truffles, foie gras, and whatever the hip ingredient is on a plate? There needs to be a purpose and a point to it,” says Mistry. “Luxury and artifice for its own sake is becoming less popular with younger generations. It’s just acrobatics. New generations want meaning behind things.” Diners are looking for a window into different cultures, they say, and too many fine dining establishments have missed out on celebrating non-European cuisines.
Fine dining restaurants are also missing out on talented chefs who aren’t white or male. “In the past, people haven’t fostered talent,” Mistry says. “Think what kind of talent we could have had.” Instead, young, highly trained chefs turn to food trucks and pop-ups where they can showcase different cultures and techniques outside the existing system.
“There’s a deeper meaning in that experience rather than just pretty food. It has to have a deeper meaning if you ask people to pay so much for these exquisite meals. It has to have a story. It can’t just be these shallow things,” says Mistry.
“As an industry, we’re looking for our soul.”
Preeti Mistry, a chef, author, and speaker now living in Sonoma after launching two highly successful restaurants in Oakland, hopes the future of fine dining lies in authenticity and storytelling. (J Vineyards and Winery)
The end isn’t nigh
Back in the kitchen at Cyrus, chef Douglas Keane says he’s been hearing about the death of fine dining since the early 1990s. But he believes some guests will always want the experience of fine dining—the wonder and the magic of it all.
“Some people buy an economy car, and some buy the most expensive. It’s an escape and a luxury. Enough people care about good food to keep it alive,” says Keane.
As guests finish their multi-course meals at Cyrus, they’re led into a secret chamber with a flowing chocolate fountain and sweets that hover mysteriously above a small plate—yes, chocolates that actually float. The heady scent of cocoa is everywhere, clinging to guests’ clothes as they step out into the night air. Outside of candy- coated dreams, it’s the closest one can come to experiencing the wonder of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
And that creativity, that spark, that ability to transport guests into another world is still worth plenty. The magic Keane weaves into everyday life far outweighs the cost of admission.
Sean McGaughey and Melissa Yanc of Troubadour and Quail & Condor are expanding their reach with guest collaborations and a new series of baking and pastry classes. (Emma K. Morris)
The side hustle
It’s a far cry from driving for Uber, but even top fine-dining chefs seek out additional streams of income to make the main event possible. San Francisco’s Dominique Crenn teaches a MasterClass. Healdsburg’s Charlie Palmer is opening a series of food-focused hotels. And DC-based celebrity chef Jon Sybert created Moveable Feast, a fine dining experience that comes straight to your home. Here are other ways chefs are making the numbers work:
• Liza Hinman of Santa Rosa’s Spinster Sisters now holds popup dinners at Lioco Winery’s Healdsburg tasting room and sells pantry items like housemade jams and granola.
• SingleThread is a powerhouse of diversification, with income from boutique lodging, a farmstand and retail operation, consulting, and product alignments. They recently teamed up with Modern Adventure to launch Paragon, a culinary travel adventure company.
• Sean McGaughey and Melissa Yanc of Troubadour are expanding their reach with guest collaborations and a new series of baking and pastry classes.
• Stéphane Saint Louis of Table Culture Provisions takes catering gigs in the summer to keep cash flowing and skills sharp. He also offers à la carte selections from his tasting menu that encourage locals to drop by for a quick bite.
Kasraa “Kaz” Khosrowmanesh credits his father’s stellar cooking for spurring a lifelong passion for food, dining, and eventually, wine. Born in Los Angeles to a first-generation Mexican American mother and an Iranian father who worked as an executive chef, Khosrowmanesh says good food was something that piqued his interest early on— especially when his dad prepared Persian food or his grandmother’s recipe for carnitas en lechuga.
“My dad’s version of my grandma’s carnitas is amazing,” he says. “Those big chunks of braised pork—it is one of my favorite things ever.” These days, however, Khosrowmanesh’s appetite for flavor is focused on wine, which he brings to his role overseeing the drinks program at Valley Bar + Bottle in Sonoma, known for a wine list that celebrates low-intervention, sustainably produced wines.
Valley Bar + Bottle sommelier Kasraa Khosrowmanesh. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
A certified sommelier, Khosrowmanesh developed a close friendship with Valley’s owners when they worked together at Sonoma’s Scribe Winery.
“I thought it was the best restaurant in Sonoma County before I began working there, and I still do,” says Khosrowmanesh. “The owners have created a food menu that stays dynamic according to the season, but with a common thread that makes it feel cohesive. It’s such a special little place.”
Khosrowmanesh sources the restaurant’s 75-bottle wine list and small retail selection. About onethird of the wines are produced domestically, while two-thirds are sourced from Europe or beyond.
“My job is to be cognizant of what people enjoy while also introducing them to new wines,” says Khosrowmanesh.
A glass of wine, he believes, is like a time capsule of what happened in that particular vineyard— everything from the weather to the soil to the field-workers who tended and picked the fruit.
“It’s easy to wax poetic about it, but there really is something magical about the way wine can transport you to a certain place and time. It’s truly sunshine in a glass.”
Three to try
Khosrowmanesh finds these wines particularly magical for early summer. His picks focus on family-owned Sonoma labels and are part of the wine list at Valley Bar + Bottle. 487 First St. W., Sonoma. 707-934-8403, valleybarandbottle.com
Ryme Cellars, 2021 Fiano, Rancho Coda, Russian River Valley
“Grown on a vineyard perched 1,000 feet above sea level. The position above the fog line results in a crisp, refreshing and food-friendly bottle.
White peach tea and honeysuckle with mineral, textured mouthfeel. A gorgeous example of this variety’s potential within the county.”
Lotis, 2021 Vermentino, Las Brisas Vineyard, Carneros
“This wine was all I wanted to drink last summer. Whole-cluster, coolclimate Vermentino from a site at the end of the Petaluma wind gap. Laserfocused acidity, key lime, and crushed seashells.”
“This is Thomas Darling’s newest wine and possibly his best. Whole-cluster Pinot Noir grown 10 miles from the Pacific. Beautifully balanced with juicy, concentrated cherry fruit. Fragrantly spiced and ethereal.”
Geneva Melby, who pours a glass of wine, and Ryan Miller will open The Redwood, a natural wine bar, in Sebastopol in late 2022. (The Redwood)
There’s a new wine festival in town and it’s only natural. Literally.
On June 24, makers and fans of low-intervention wines will converge on Guerneville for Big West Wine Fest: a Natural Wine Festival for Sonoma County. Along with local food vendors and live music, the inaugural event will feature more than 45 local wine producers dedicated to Earth-friendly farming methods and minimalist winemaking practices.
Conceived with a relaxed, intimate vibe in mind, Big West Wine Fest will take place in a grove of redwood trees at Solarpunk Farms, a queer-run experimental farm property 1 mile from Guerneville’s downtown hub.
Big West’s walk-around tasting format may feel familiar, yet the wines will be anything but the usual suspects. Instead, attendees can expect to find wines made in a variety of styles, from grape varieties not commonly found in Sonoma County vineyards.
Among the participating vintners are many standouts in California’s natural wine scene, including Two Shepherds Wine, Little Trouble, Emme Wines, Bedrock Wine Co., Leo Steen, Scribe and Martha Stoumen.
Scribe Winery is among the participating wineries at the Big West Wine Fest in Guerneville. (Allan Zepeda/Scribe Winery)Marla Bakery will be serving up food at the Big West Wine Fest in Guerneville. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)
Food vendors will include Marla Bakery — set to take over the former Miracle Plum space in Railroad Square — along with local caterer Dim Sum and Then Some, and The Redwood, a new natural-wine bar and restaurant in Sebastopol.
“We were seeing so many awesome small wine projects popping up in Sonoma County, and I felt like the wines didn’t have enough places to be shared and enjoyed,” said Emily Weber, who co-founded Big West Wine Fest with Nina Kravetz.
Weber met Kravetz, the marketing director at Martha Stoumen Wines in Sebastopol, while working at Miracle Plum. When the Santa Rosa gourmet market and wine shop closed in early 2023, Weber and Kravetz saw an opportunity to showcase the natural wines Miracle Plum had championed.
“We wanted to create a space that celebrates these kinds of wines in Sonoma County, where they’re being produced,” Weber said.
What the producers share, she explained, is a commitment to growing grapes using practices such as organic, biodynamic and regenerative farming, as well as low-intervention winemaking.
“All of the producers we’ve invited are making very few manipulations in the cellar,” Weber said, from foregoing fining and filtration to utilizing native yeasts for fermentation.
The end result is distinct from the highly polished wines many people are accustomed to, and that’s just what Big West Wine Fest seeks to highlight. Tickets for the kid-friendly event are now available at $50 per person, not including food.
Big West Wine Fest, Solarpunk Farms, 15015 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville, bigwestwinefest.com
Summer is almost here and Sonoma County hotel properties are getting creative when it comes to new experiences. From art classes in the vineyards and one-of-a-kind sculpture exhibitions to a summer sale that could save you some cash, here a few things to add to that Wine Country to-do list. Click through the above gallery for details and a peek at the properties.
Goldfinch restaurant Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Walking into Goldfinch restaurant in Sebastopol feels a little like cheating.
The former occupant, K & L Bistro, was a hardworking, beloved community restaurant that somehow managed to elevate simple dishes into Michelin-worthy meals. It was always there for us, with strong martinis and French onion soup.
When K & L owners Karen and Lucas Martin closed the restaurant in 2022, it was a tough goodbye, the end of a lovely culinary relationship.
Less than a year later, Goldfinch has taken its place. And it’s already stealing hearts.
Crispy Fried Calamari with smoked chili remoulade and shaved parm from Goldfinch restaurant Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Lime Cured Shrimp with avocado, cucumber, jicama and cilantro from Goldfinch restaurant Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
The new restaurant is part of the in-progress Livery on Main project in downtown Sebastopol. Upon completion later this year, it will also include a food hall, event and coworking space operated by Farm to Coast Collective, a subsidiary of local development company the Beale Group.
The interior of Goldfinch, first off, got a stunning makeover with open wicker pendant lights casting a golden glow above cozy tall-back booths. The exposed brick walls and banquette of K & L remain, but the tablecloths and carpet are long gone.
It feels younger and fresher, a place for dates, with plenty on the menu anyone can enjoy. The drinks are just as strong, the staff just as experienced and the large open kitchen (with bar seating) is just plain sexy.
Chef Rodrigo Mendoza’s (formerly of Willi’s Seafood and Charro Negro) dishes are organized into Bites, Small Shareable plates and Large Shareable plates. It’s a similar format to the new Redwood wine bar nearby, which serves small-plate and main dishes to go with its natural wines.
Whole Grilled Bronzino with a side of Broccoli Tabbouleh and homemade pickles from Goldfinch restaurant Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Co-owner Nick Izzarelli serves up a plate of oysters to patrons at the Goldfinch bar Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)Fire Roasted Beets with caramelized yoghurt, pistachios and quick pickled onion from Goldfinch restaurant Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sebastopol. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Bites are $8, including focaccia pull-apart rolls with rosemary and a simple dish of cracked cucumber with tart yuzu vinegar.
Stock up on the Small Shareables ($12 to $18) like fire-roasted beets with sweet caramelized yogurt, pistachios and pickled onions ($15). Pan-seared asparagus (a seasonal offering) is cooked perfectly, with creamy yuzu miso mayonnaise and fluttering bonito flakes ($13).
Most smaller plates are plant-focused, like grilled maitake mushrooms with risotto ($18), zucchini with burrata ($15) or heirloom carrots with honey and garbanzo purée ($13).
Larger entrees are meant to share, and entrees like the vegetarian ricotta tortellini with fava beans, peas and asparagus in a delicata squash purée ($22) are as beautiful as they are delicious. The roasted lamb kofta with shakshuka and preserved lemon was flavorful, despite the kofta being a bit overcooked ($28).
The cocktail menu ($14 each) is a little heavy on rum, bourbon and whiskey, but lighter drinks, such as the Fizz Fuzz with tequila and orange flower water, are summery quenchers. The wine list is thoughtful, though not wildly imaginative, with decent by-the-glass pours.
The restaurant opened in late May, so falling madly in love with Goldfinch feels a little premature. But we’re certainly ready for a second date.
The Charlie Hustle fried chicken sandwich from Jam’s Joy Bungalow in Cotati and Sebastopol. (Courtesy of Jamilah Nixon-Mathis)
On Plaza Street in downtown Healdsburg, there’s a lot of action these days. The on-again, off-again Burdock Bar (107 Plaza St.), “temporarily closed” since late 2022, will reopen Monday, June 5, as a pop-up spot for chef Jamilah Nixon-Mathis.
Known for her Southeast Asian fusion dishes she sells through her Jam’s Joy Bungalow food truck and retail locations (101 E. Cotati Ave., Cotati and 150 Weeks Way, Sebastopol), Nixon-Mathis is bringing her Joy Bungalow menu to Burdock for takeout and to Duke’s Spirited Cocktails next door (111 Plaza St.).
Watch for longtime favorites like the mouth-bending Charlie Hustle & Hot Mama fried chicken sandwiches, banh mi and fried chicken skins. New items will include specials like Nixon-Mathis’ Crying Tiger steak frites and mochi fried oyster mushrooms.
Pop-up service begins on Tuesday, June 6, in conjunction with the weekly Tuesdays on the Plaza music events (running through late August). The pop-up also will be open 1 to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday through September.
The collaboration with Duke’s Spirited Cocktails, owned by winemaker Bill Foley’s entertainment group, will “bring our unique and affordable food to downtown Healdsburg,” Nixon-Mathis said.
Burdock formerly provided food to Duke’s, but the relaxed, munchie-friendly Jam’s Joy Bungalow menu feels like a much better fit. Nixon-Mathis will operate independently of Duke’s and the Foley organization.
Meanwhile, Goodnight’s Bourbon + Chop House will open this summer at 113 Plaza St., another Foley-owned property. The much-anticipated steakhouse promises to be “a local pioneer in a new frontier of classic Western-styling dining experiences,” according to the website. The restaurant is named for Texas Ranger Charles Goodnight, the inventor of the chuck wagon.
New chef at The Madrona: Chef Patrick Tafoya has been named executive chef at The Madrona following the departure of longtime toque Jesse Mallgren. Tafoya most recently was executive estate chef at Round Pond Estate in Rutherford. He has worked at the Duck Club and owned a restaurant called P/30 in Sebastopol, which closed in 2011. Stay tuned for an interview with Tafoya and his visions for the revitalized Healdsburg restaurant and inn.
Truffle fries from Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa. (Willi’s Wine Bar)
If they ever took the truffle fries off the menu at Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, we’d lose our minds. Same with the fig salad at Sonoma’s The Girl and The Fig or the scallops en croute at Healdsburg’s Valette.
We asked our readers what local dishes they can’t live without. Read below to find out what they said and click through the above gallery for a peek at the dishes.
Santa Rosa
Curried Crab Tacos and Truffle Fries at Willi’s Wine Bar. 1415 Town and Country Drive, 707-526-3096, starkrestaurants.com
Everything Greens and fried oysters at Bird & The Bottle. 1055 Fourth St., 707-568-4000, birdandthebottle.com
Neoclassic Buffalo Wings and Truffle Fries at Jackson’s Bar & Oven. 135 Fourth St., 707-545-6900, jacksonsbarandoven.com
Rainbow toast at Brew in Santa Rosa. (Heather Irwin/The Press Democrat)An employee of El Coqui takes plates to guests in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Chef Jackie Roman credits her culinary skills to her mother and grandmother’s cooking. From left, bacalaito, rear center, cubano sandwich, front center, canoa con carne molida, right, a sandwich containing Puerto Rican-seasoned and marinated chicken thighs, served with plantains. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Sandwich Cubano, Pollo Al Horno, Empanadas (rocky-style) and Canoas at El Coqui. 400 Mendocino Ave., 707-542-8868, elcoqui2eat.com
Tri Tip Sandwich at Canevari’s Delicatessen. 695 Lewis Road, 707-545-6941, canevarisdeli.com
Conchinita en Pibil at Delicias Elenitas. 816 Sebastopol Road, 707-575-7021, deliciaselenita.site
Tacos Al Pastor at Taqueria Molcajetes. 1195 W. College Ave., 707-544-8280
Gnocchi at Ca’ Bianca Ristorante Italiano. 835 Second St., 707-542-5800, cabianca.com
Maccabi Bowl with farro tabouleh, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, beet & walnut dip, olives, mixed greens, whole wheat crisps from Matt Spector, chef and owner of Zoftig Eatery in Santa Rosa. (photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
The Maccabi Salad at Zoftig Eatery. 57 Montgomery Drive, 707-521-9554, zoftigeatery.com
Swedish Meatballs at Stockhome restaurant. 220 Western Ave., 707-981-8511, stockhomerestaurant.com
Meatballs and mashed potatoes at Stockhome restaurant in Petaluma. (Courtesy of newrevmedia.com)The bruschetta trio at Sugo Trattoria in Petaluma. (Courtesy Sugo Trattoria)
The bruschetta at Sugo Trattoria. 5 Petaluma Blvd. S., Suite B, 707-782-9298, sugotrattoria.com
Eggplant Parmesan and Chicken Fettuccine at Mary’s Pizza on the Sonoma Plaza. 8 West Spain St., 707-938-8300, maryspizzashack.com
Glen Ellen
Brussels Sprouts at Glen Ellen Star, prepared in a wood fired oven. 13648 Arnold Drive, 707-343-1384, glenellenstar.com
Windsor
Southern Fried Chicken with garlic smashed potatoes, slaw, braised greens and a biscuit from Sweet T’s Restaurant + Bar in Windsor. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Fried Chicken and Hushpuppies at Sweet T’s Restaurant + Bar. 9098 Brooks Road S., 707-687-5185, sweettssouthern.com
Healdsburg
Scallop En Croute and Ahi Poke at Valette. 344 Center St., 707-473-0946, valettehealdsburg.com
Scampi at Baci Café and Wine Bar. 336 Healdsburg Ave., 707-433-8111, bacicafeandwinebar.com
Geyserville
Ten-layer lasagna at Catelli’s. 21047 Geyserville Ave., 707-857-3471, mycatellis.com
Ten-layer lasagna at Catelli’s in Geyserville. (Chris Hardy/for Sonoma Magazine)
Salsiccia Pizza and house-cured Salami and Cheese at Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria. 21021 Geyserville Ave., 707-814-0111, diavolapizzeria.com
Graton
Polenta and Egg Salad at Willow Wood Market Cafe. 9020 Graton Road, 707-823-0233, willowwoodgraton.com
