Kyle and Katina Connaughton during the grand opening of Little Saint in downtown Healdsburg on April 22, 2022. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Healdsburg’s Single Thread is the only California restaurant to make this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, as announced Monday at a live ceremony in London.
Though the Michelin-starred restaurant slipped from last year’s No. 37 position to No. 50, it bested San Francisco’s Benu and Atelier Crenn, which made the top 50 list in 2021. (Benu came in at No. 97 and Atelier Crenn at No. 72 on a 51 to 100 ranking released before the awards ceremony.)
Single Thread’s top ranking comes on the heels of pandemic challenges for the industry and just five months after the fine-dining destination was forced to close for two months due to a duct fire.
“I’m incredibly proud. It was such a tough year for everyone last year. We’re really honored to have made (the list). It’s such an incredible community of people and friends,” said Single Thread owner and chef Kyle Connaughton from London.
Single Thread is one of only three U.S. restaurants included in the highly competitive awards this year. New York’s Atomix (No. 33, up from No. 43) and Le Bernardin (holding at No. 44) also were on the list.
The Art of Plating dinner with Single Thread’s Kyle and Katina Connaughton in 2018. (Courtesy of Single Thread)
A luxurious dining experience
Opened in 2016, the 55-seat Single Thread restaurant is known for its luxurious dining experience presented over nearly a dozen courses. Chef Connaughton’s painstakingly plated dishes are as much pieces of art as they are food. His menu is inspired by Japanese cuisine and the micro-seasons of the local farm he owns with his wife, Katina, who manages the farm and creates dynamic floral centerpieces for each table in the restaurant.
Each guest receives a bespoke experience, with a custom menu that in past years has included homemade tofu with Osetra caviar, black cod with squash blossoms or kanpachi with wild seaweed and oyster emulsion. The price tag per person can range from $325 to more than $500 with wine pairings. Reservations typically book out months in advance.
“It was just an amazing experience,” said Timo Rivetti, a real estate broker in Petaluma who visited the restaurant recently. “The first impression with the 17 small bites in a floral arrangement was incredible. The combinations of food just melt in your mouth.”
“The service was impeccable, the waiters are impeccably dressed and just everything had an exquisite taste,” he said.
Rhubarb and green tea with almond cream from Single Thread in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of Single Thread)
International spotlight on Healdsburg
This is the fourth time Single Thread has made the top restaurants lists released annually by the organization The World’s 50 Best.
The restaurant debuted on the 51-100 list in 2018, taking the No. 91 spot. That year, it was noted as “One to Watch,” which recognizes “rising star” restaurants. It leapfrogged to No. 71 the following year and then to No. 37 in 2021 (the event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic).
As Single Thread has continued to garner international acclaim — from the Michelin Guide’s three-star rating to a recent Grand Award from Wine Spectator magazine — it has brought more attention to Healdsburg and other restaurants in the city.
“They have really changed the town. For us to have such a big spotlight just opens the lens for all of us,” said Melissa Yanc, a former Single Thread employee and the co-owner of Healdsburg’s Quail and Condor Bakery and Troubadour Bread and Sandwiches.
“Kyle and Katina’s level of hospitality isn’t just being nice, but being genuine and sincere. They just breathe that,” she said.
Before receiving this year’s World’s 50 Best recognition, the Connaughtons were the driving force behind the highly anticipated, plant-based restaurant Little Saint, which opened in April in the 10,000-square-foot building in downtown Healdsburg that once housed SHED Modern Grange.
Copenhagen restaurant tops the list
Copenhagen’s Geranium was named the best restaurant in the world at Monday’s awards ceremony in London. The Danish capital continued its run as one of the top dining destinations in the world, with three restaurants among the top 50, following last year’s No. 1 ranking from Chef Rene Redzepi’s Noma restaurant.
European restaurants in Italy and Spain were among the most celebrated, though showings from South America (notably Peru), Tokyo and Mexico were strong, too. Pujol in Mexico City was this year’s “Best Restaurant in North America” at No. 5 on the list.
Actor Stanley Tucci hosted this year’s awards ceremony and described Single Thread as “a destination for transportive, seasonal tasting menus as well as for its adjoining, upscale, five-room inn.” The Connaughtons were in the audience in London and shared a hug when their No. 50 position was announced.
The restaurants featured on the coveted list are chosen by a collective of 1,000 international restaurant experts and gourmets, according to The World’s 50 Best group. The list has repeatedly been criticized for its lack of diversity. Male-run restaurants in Europe and North America have dominated the list since it launched 20 years ago, while certain regions and continents, such as the Middle East and Africa, and restaurants run by women have remained absent or underrepresented on the list.
Some also view the individual award “Best Female Chef” as an outdated categorization. This year, Leonor Espinosa of Leo restaurant in Bogotá, Columbia, won the controversial honor.
World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022
50. Single Thread, Healdsburg, California (down from 37)
49. Ikoyi, London, United Kingdom (up from 87)
48. Leo, Bogota, Colombia (down from 46)
47. Oteque, Rio de Janiero, Brazil (new entry)
46. Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal (down from 42)
45. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan (down from 19)
44. Le Bernadin, New York City (same)
43. Boragó, Santiago, Chile (down from 38)
42. Quique Dacosta, Dénia, Spain (up from 74)
41. La Cime, Osaka, Japan (new entry)
40. Schloss Schauenstein, Furstenau, Switzerland (up from 59)
39. Sorn, Bangkok, Thailand (new entry)
38. Jordnær, Copenhagen, Denmark (new entry)
37. Fyn, Cape Town, South Africa (new entry)
36. Odette, Singapore (down from 8)
35. The Clove Club, London, United Kingdom (down from 32)
34. Hisa Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia (down from 21)
33. Atomix, New York City (up from 43)
32. Maido, Lima, Peru (down from 7)
31. Arpege, Paris, France (down from 23)
30. Florilege, Tokyo, Japan (up from 39)
29 St Hubertus, San Cassiano, Italy (new entry)
28. Le Clarence, Paris, France (new entry)
27. Hof van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium (up from 36)
26. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin, Germany (up from 31)
25. Frantzen, Stockholm, Sweden (down from 6)
24. The Chairman, Hong Kong, China (down from 10)
23. The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium (new entry)
22. Septime, Paris, France (up from 24)
21. Mugariz, San Sebastian, Spain (down from 14)
20. Den, Tokyo, Japan (down from 11)
19. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy (down from 18)
18. Alchemist, Copenhagen, Denmark (new entry)
17. Nobelhart & Shmutizg, Berlin, Germany (up from 45)
16. Elkano, Getaria, Spain (same)
15. Reale, Castel Di Sangro, Italy (up from 29)
14. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina (down from 13)
13. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria (down from 12)
12. Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy (Highest Climber; up from 52)
11. Maido, Lima, Peru (down from 7)
10. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy (up from 26)
9. Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico (up from 27)
8. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy (up from 84)
7. A Casa do Porco, Sao Paolo, Brazil (up from 17)
6. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain (down from 3)
5. Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico (up from 9)
4. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain (up from 20)
3. Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain (up from 5)
2. Central, Lima, Peru (up from 4)
1. Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark (up from 2)
Ned Hill, owner of La Prenda Vineyard Management has his workers till his vineyard near Glen Ellen so the drip systems penetrate the soil in the correct location. (John Burgess/Sonoma Magazine)
Residents of Sonoma Valley are on the front lines of a reckoning with new regulations to manage the state’s well water. But even in a community that prides itself on sustainability, the long-term path to a healthy aquifer is full of challenges.
One morning in the summer of 2018, Kelly Stober woke up and started to get ready for work. But when she turned on the faucet in her shower, no water came out.
Stober lives in a rural neighborhood a few miles east of downtown Sonoma. Like her neighbors, she relies on a well for drinking water, household uses, and irrigation. And her well, sunk 800 feet into the ground, had run dry.
It was a startling revelation about an unseen and scarce resource. Groundwater runs deep below the Earth’s surface, stored in the cracks between soil and rock, collecting slowly over eons in aquifers that resemble a layer cake.
Experts, though, are fond of another metaphor to depict how that finite resource is at risk of exploitation. They liken groundwater held in aquifers to a big milkshake, with each well a straw. The more straws, the less milkshake to go around.
Sonoma County has among the highest concentration of those straws in California–up to 45,000 registered wells. And Sonoma Valley, one of the world’s prized winemaking regions and home to some 41,000 people from Kenwood to Schellville, has long been singled out as the local area most at risk of depletion.
At the southern end, near San Pablo Bay, saltwater intrusion—the underground creep of brackish water into freshwater stores—has long been a key concern. But the alarms grew last summer as Sonoma Valley’s aquifer showed declines of 15-20 feet in places. That deficit, after another winter of lackluster rains, is part of a long-term pattern of aquifer depletion, fueled by unchecked pumping for irrigation, homes, and other purposes.
Now, amid California’s worst drought in over four decades–and the most pronounced arid streak in the western U.S. in 1,200 years–more of the valley’s wells are turning up dry, say residents and officials who represent the area.
That has heightened fears for residents like Stober and presented new challenges for the region’s winemakers and elected officials, making Sonoma Valley a microcosm of the wider drought-plagued West. The questions being raised here, among neighbors and farmers, government panels and private industry, could have wide ranging implications for the future of development and agriculture in a place that cherishes its rural identity.
The stakes have only grown in the face of new state-mandated regulations that require local commissions to study groundwater use and develop plans to ensure sustainable groundwater supplies in their communities.
“People are being dragged kicking and screaming into having to regulate something that’s been unregulated so far,” says Fred Allebach, a Sonoma Valley resident who leads an advisory panel helping to implement a local plan for groundwater regulation. “There might have to be some limits. I think that’s just a fact in a world of finite resources and a growing population— we have to deal with that.”
Supervisor Susan Gorin, who has represented the valley on the Board of Supervisors for a decade, suggested something drastic may be needed: Halting approvals for new wells entirely.
“Maybe it’s time to stop, take a pause and say, ‘No more wells in our basin until groundwater starts to recover,’” says Gorin, offering up the idea of a moratorium in a May interview. At the very least, she says, “it’s about time that we get serious about more requirements: where the wells are located and the impact they might be having on neighboring wells.”
People are being dragged kicking and screaming into having to regulate something that’s been unregulated so far. There might have to be some limits. I think that’s just a fact in a world of finite resources and a growing population—we have to deal with that.
–Fred Allebach, Chair of the Groundwater Advisory Committee in Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley is one of three groundwater basins in Sonoma County—the others are in Petaluma and along the Santa Rosa Plain. Of the three, the 44,000-acre Sonoma Valley basin, with an estimated 900-1,250 domestic wells, is the only one classified by the state as “high priority,” due to the degree of the valley’s dependence on groundwater supplies, its population, and other factors.
But the valley is unique in that it began piloting voluntary groundwater management as far back as 2007, after a study demonstrated signs of aquifer depletion due to overpumping.
“Sonoma Valley was very much the pioneer for the other basins in Sonoma County,” says Caitlin Cornwall, vice chair of the committee advising the Sonoma Valley on its groundwater plan and a senior project manager at Sonoma Ecology Center.
Caitlin Cornwall is a senior planner with the Sonoma Ecology Center and the vice chair of the groundwater advisory committee in Sonoma Valley. (John Burgess/Sonoma Magazine)Wendy Hayes, a watershed ecologist with the Sonoma Ecology Center, measures the depth and flow of Sonoma Creek in Glen Ellen to gauge the amount of water in relation to groundwater stores. (John Burgess/Sonoma Magazine)
Across the state, there are far worse cases of groundwater overuse, and more protracted fights over how to resolve it. South of Stockton, the vast San Joaquin Valley, with some of the nation’s most prosperous farmland, serves as one cautionary tale. Years of overextraction have caused land to sink in some places by as much as 30 feet.
Climate change has posed new threats, too, and not just to groundwater supply. During a drought, the concentration of pathogens and other contaminants in drinking water can increase. Heavier rains, floods and mudslides also impact water quality, and fires can damage well systems, leaching toxic chemicals and leading to costly repairs.
California’s response to those alarming trends was to turn a century and a half of hands-off groundwater management on its head. Under a 2014 law seen as then-Gov. Jerry Brown’s most aggressive move against the drought during his tenure, well water use will be regulated and monitored going forward, part of a new framework of government intervention meant to stabilize underground water levels in the state’s 515 groundwater basins within two decades.
“California was, famously, the last state in the West to adopt a state-level requirement for management,” says Ellen Hanak, vice president and director of the PPIC Water Policy Center and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. “That said, our law is a lot more comprehensive … We’re starting late, but it’s kind of a nice law in allowing for a lot of local determination of how folks are actually going to do this, but with a backstop”—the state—that’s “actually got teeth.”
The ‘local’ involvement comes in the form of over 260 new public entities, known by the unwieldy common moniker Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, or GSAs. The appointed bodies, each managed locally, are tasked with ensuring the health of the state’s most endangered groundwater basins, including Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Valley’s GSA includes a board of directors representing local water agencies and county government, as well as an advisory committee representing a gamut of interests, including farmers, rural residents, and the environment.
“The GSA’s job is to make sure that there’s still some milkshake there for everybody in the future,” says Allebach, who chairs the Sonoma Valley groundwater agency’s advisory committee.
Critically, however, there is no built-in state financial support for implementing the plans each agency needs to craft. They must find that funding mechanism, a politically fraught task that could result in annual fees never before paid by well users. Elected officials are scrambling to delay that scenario, at least for rural residents, and pony up taxand ratepayer money that would temporarily cover the cost of groundwater management.
But it is likely that one way or another, well owners—residents, farmers, and business owners—will eventually foot the bill.
A pressure gauge in the pump house on the rural property of homeowner Kelly Stober. (John Burgess/Sonoma Magazine)
The water level in Kelly Stober’s rural Sonoma well had been dropping for years by the time it ran dry in late summer of 2018. She was forced to have water delivered by truck as much as twice a week, each delivery costing $250. The following year, despite a long wait list for well drilling—a result of high demand—she had a second 500-foot well installed, at a cost of $65,000. She also installed a system to monitor leaks, pump rates, and water levels.
For the moment, her well is stable. It provides enough water for about two acres of landscaping, with a hundred olive trees, a garden, and some rosebushes. Strober has already removed half her lawn and uses drought tolerant native plants when possible. “We try to be conscientious about our water use,” she says.
Data on the viability of Sonoma Valley’s domestic wells is hard to come by, but Stober’s experience is likely not a rare one. Supervisor Gorin, who lives in a Santa Rosa subdivision at the northern end of Sonoma Valley, says “we know anecdotally that wells are drying up. Residents are having to drill deeper wells at great expense, and when they do drill, they are not finding the water availability.”
Stober is very concerned, as are many other rural residents, about the idea that she might soon be paying money to pump water from her wells. Under the current proposed regulatory fee, residential well owners in the valley’s management zone would pay a flat rate between $48-$80 per year.
Like other local groundwater agencies across the state, Sonoma County’s proposals have included various options: a parcel tax, per-well fees, regulatory fees, and a benefit assessment district, which would require voter approval. But some of the proposed fee rates in the three Sonoma groundwater basins differ widely. In Petaluma, the most sparsely populated basin, for example, some fee options are significantly higher per household, because there are fewer residents to share the cost.
So who carries the burden? And who decides what’s fair?
Some residential well owners like Stober wonder whether additional fees put undue strain on them, pointing to the high cost of well maintenance that they already pay. The $65,000 Stober spent on her second well, she says, doesn’t count the ongoing costs of labor and maintenance.
Many Sonoma Valley residents have voiced concern the proposed fees are just a baseline and may go up, particularly if large-scale aquifer restoration projects are needed in the future. “What I saw proposed didn’t seem like a very high amount,” says Schellville resident Terry Crisler, who needed to drill a new well at her home in November of 2020. “My concern is, what’s the next step?”
But rising fees are not a foregone conclusion, says Sonoma Valley’s groundwater agency administrator Ann DuBay, a longtime spokesperson for Sonoma Water, the county’s main drinking water supplier. The current fees will fund monitoring, data collection, and planning for five years. After that, specific groundwater projects may need additional funding, but that money could come from grants, member agencies, or from well owners. That’s a decision for the next rate and fee study, she says.
“We don’t own the water; we understand that,” says Stober. “We need to come up with a plan.” But, she says, it needs to be fair.
It’s like a prisoner’s dilemma. If somebody thinks someone else is cheating, then they won’t cooperate–and so then everybody loses.” –Fred Allebach
What seems fair to many policymakers is to require those who use the most groundwater—mainly farmers—to pay in a way that covers their majority share of the milkshake.
But Taylor Serres, a sixth-generation wine grape farmer and appointee to the advisory panel for Sonoma Valley’s groundwater agency, argues that adding another financial burden for farmers already operating on tight margins is too much of a strain. She contends that step poses serious risks to the viability of agricultural operations and the rural character of the valley. “There are a lot of extremely unhappy people, both residential and in agriculture,” Serres says.
Supervisor Gorin believes the costs of managing the valley’s groundwater should not be borne entirely by urban residential users—nor entirely by agricultural or rural residential users either. “But for those water users above two acre-feet per year, they have an obligation, a moral obligation, to be part of the community that safeguards the basin,” she says.
Ultimately, says the PPIC Water Policy Center’s Ellen Hanak, the problem is straightforward. “Agriculture is the biggest user,” she says, “and if they’re not paying, then someone’s subsidizing them. It comes down to this question: Who is willing to subsidize ag?”
There don’t appear to be a lot of volunteers, and that’s not just in Sonoma, says Hanak.
Across California, local groundwater agencies have been wrestling with how to assign fees in a way that doesn’t place undue burdens on any one group of users. An in-depth academic study of the first five years of the state law’s implementation across California found the most common obstacles agencies face across the board are lack of trust and divergent interests among stakeholders.
“It’s like a prisoner’s dilemma,” says Allebach, who rents a home on a property where the well went dry for several months in 2005. “If somebody thinks someone else is cheating, then they won’t cooperate—and so then everybody loses.”
Sonoma grapegrower and viticulturalist Ned Hill manages a number of local vineyards with his company, La Prenda Vineyards Management. Here, Hill tuns on the drip irrigation at his family vineyard to check for faulty emitter heads. (John Burgess/Sonoma Magazine)
Just how much of the milkshake do Sonoma Valley farmers use? And how would that translate to fees?
There isn’t data available yet to say for certain about use, but roughly 44% of Sonoma Valley land is under active cultivation. Vineyards are the largest water users, relying not just on groundwater but surface water impounded from streams and runoff into ponds, along with recycled water. (Cannabis, a water-intensive crop, is currently not widely grown enough in the valley to have a significant impact on groundwater, county officials say.)
Most farmers have known for a long time that they’d have to pay for water eventually, says Mike Sangiacomo, a third generation grapegrower and board vice chair of the Sonoma Valley groundwater agency. “Agriculture in general knows that they could potentially carry the lion’s share of the fees,” he says. “We just don’t want to carry it all.”
Ned Hill, the owner o f La Prenda Vineyards Management, agrees. “Every year, there are more regulatory burdens,” he says. At the same time, having been born and raised in the valley, he acknowledges the vital importance of managing groundwater: “You’d be sticking your head in the sand to say that it’s not an issue.”
“You’d be sticking your head in the sand to say that it’s not an issue.” – Vineyard Manager Ned Hill
Hill wonders, however, whether policymakers are unfairly penalizing farmers, when homeowners could pay lower rates to maintain a green lawn, for example. “If you’ve got 20 rose bushes, I’m using more water than you are,” he says. “I can’t argue with that. But an acre of grapes is going to use less water than an acre of lawn.”
Stober, who works in real estate, says residents can’t deny that one of the reasons Sonoma Valley is so desirable is because of the vineyards. “So if you start penalizing them, like making them pay for their water— that affects Sonoma County overall.” If vineyards can’t be successful here, she says, “then what are we going to do?”
Caitlin Cornwall echoes her point. If groundwater becomes a limiting factor for viticulture—either because of cost or due to depletion—that land could be put to other uses. “We could see that land abandoned, homes being built, or something else we can’t imagine yet. It’s not a future that anyone wants.”
Sonoma Valley’s long-term housing trends are another unknown factor in the debate over how to balance demands on groundwater. Both Hill and Stober say they’ve seen an influx of new residents in their neighborhoods. Sonoma Valley has gained more part-time residents and more vacation rentals, too, reflecting a pattern that’s playing out in the most sought-after corners of Wine County.
Housing, meanwhile, remains in short supply for middle and working-class families, posing another dilemma with implications for groundwater: More development means less surface area for rain to be absorbed into open ground, reducing the recharge needed to replenish aquifers.
The development tradeoff doesn’t get much mention in public disputes about new construction.
But, Ned Hill points out, “You can’t have it both ways.”
Though the pace of residential growth in Sonoma Valley was dealt a major setback by fires since 2017, it remains a major factor in the long term, with a key underlying question: How many wells can the basin sustainably support?
Supervisor Gorin hinted at that overarching issue when she indicated support for study of a short-term ban on new wells—a possibility that the Board of Supervisors has yet to discuss. At the very least, following a 2021 executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Sonoma Valley groundwater committee is likely to begin involving itself in a more rigorous permitting process for new commercial and agricultural wells.
Acknowledging that the issue may be politically fraught, Gorin says, “Nothing about this is easy.”
For Cornwall, a well moratorium isn’t the answer. The real issue, she says, is not the number of wells, but total water use across the basin. To address that, she points to a groundwater trading model, which caps total groundwater use, but allows water users to buy and sell water allotments, not unlike the state’s credit system for carbon emissions.
Advocates say the model incentivizes conservation and while allowing for individual flexibility. But the idea is still very new: water agency managers in Ventura County launched the state’s only groundwater trading model just two years ago.
In Sonoma Valley, where the groundwater agency is still focused on implementing and funding its initial sustainability plan, any serious consideration of such a novel program is still a long way off. But, says Ann DuBay, the groundwater agency’s administrator, it’s an intriguing possibility, even as residents’ sense of urgency increases.
“Last summer we saw what happens in a drought without resources to protect groundwater,” says Cornwall. “The drought continues. Delaying action will only make things worse. It’s going to take a funded GSA to reverse the alarming trend that we’re in.”
We’d like to see a future with abundant groundwater, abundant stream flow, oak groves that are going to be able to find water even in a multi-year drought.” – Caitlin Cornwall
With some of the biggest questions still unresolved, Sonoma Valley’s groundwater officials are set to vote this summer on a stopgap measure: a temporary fee for one year, based on groundwater usage and a minimal agency budget. If that compromise stalls, the program will continue to tap funds from participating public agencies, including the city of Sonoma, in effect subsidizing the cost of groundwater regulation from a wider pool of city residents.
The continued struggles, now more than seven years into the new era launched by California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, illustrate the political challenges inherent in marshaling support for government action that too few stakeholders see as a direct benefit.
That perspective often gets lost in the tug-of-war over fees, says Cornwall, who sides with those contending that groundwater management, while costly, also offers long-term assurances for every resident in the valley. “It means well owners won’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars deepening their wells. It means they won’t see their wells depleted by neighboring agricultural wells. It means that the water suppliers— the city of Sonoma and Valley of the Moon Water District—also won’t have to deepen their wells and pass those costs onto their customers. It means that we won’t have to worry about the land sinking. It means that the wells near the southern part of the valley will keep pumping fresh water—and the quality of their water could improve.”
Board members agree there’s a need to better articulate these benefits to those leery of rising costs. Even so, some are wondering if and when the finger-pointing —homeowners vs. grapegrowers, vineyards vs. cannabis operations, new residents vs. longtime ones—will end.
Fred Allebach, the advisory committee chair for the valley’s groundwater agency, says those interests should focus on cooperation, “rather than have it be a circular firing squad.”
Others are more hopeful that constituent groups will be able to work together. They emphasize that with the state law’s requirements laid out in no uncertain terms, there’s really no alternative. “The goal,” says Mike Sangiacomo, is “an equitable and sustainable solution both for the groundwater and for everybody’s businesses and livelihoods.”
“What we pull off here can offer lessons to a lot of other groundwater basins around the state,” agrees Cornwall. “We’d like to see a future with abundant groundwater, abundant stream flow, oak groves that are going to be able to find water even in a multi-year drought. We see benefits to people and to nature. Higher groundwater levels are worth aiming for.”
“Up to this point, we have all thought that it was free, that this was our private water source. But aquifers are the great connector,” says Gorin. The question now, she says, is: “What is right, what is fair, and what is equitable to safeguard the common aquifer that we need?”
Groundwater By the Numbers
40%
Amount of California’s water supplied by underground aquifers in a year of normal rainfall
60%
Amount supplied by underground aquifers in a drought year
15-20 feet
The decline in the level of certain sections of Sonoma Valley’s deep aquifer in 2021, a result of extreme drought combined with unchecked pumping
900-1,250
The estimated number of domestic wells in Sonoma Valley
2,000
The approximate total number of wells in Sonoma Valley, including domestic, agricultural, and public supply wells
94
The number of high- or medium priority groundwater basins across California, accounting for 98% of all groundwater pumping
$727,600
The total spent by the Sonoma Valley groundwater agency in 2020-2021
Smash burger from Sonoma Burger in Sebastopol. (Courtesy of Sonoma Burger)
Looking for a bargain meal in Sonoma County? Sure, there are plenty of usual suspects (taco trucks, fast food) but we spent some time digging a little deeper for some surprisingly delicious picks at restaurants of all stripes — from an Ethiopian vegetable sampler to barbecue, burgers and much more.
Cheap, of course, is pretty subjective. My rubric includes value, quality and quantity. There are also some towns–like Healdsburg–where affordable food can be a challenge to find unless you eat fast food. I’ve personally eaten at all of these spots (and for the most part all of the dishes) and feel pretty confident in my recommendations. Enjoy!
Korean Carrot Salat at Sashinka in Sebastopol. (Sashinka)
It took a war for Chef Sasha St. Germain to realize his dream of serving the Ukrainian food he’s loved since childhood.
Born in the Eastern European country now being battered by ongoing conflict, St. Germain remembers that dishes like pelmeni, piroshki, smoked fish and pickles were familiar favorites in his household, even after his family moved to the United States in 1991.
But until recently, promoting a Ukrainian restaurant was a bit of a hard sell.
“Unfortunately, it took a war,” St. Germain said. “People went from asking me ‘Where is that country?’ to ‘I’m so sorry.’ Well, people know where it is now.”
In late June, St. Germain launched Sashinka at Jasper’s Pub in Sebastopol. (Editor’s note: St. Germain is married to the executive director of Sonoma Family Meal, a nonprofit founded by Heather Irwin.)
Black Sea smoked fish dip and chips at Sashinka in Sebastopol. (Sashinka)Chef Sasha St. Germain of Sashinka in Sebastopol. (Sashinka)
From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Ukrainian food pop-up features approachable but elevated dishes including Chicken Pelmeni (a filled pasta) with black pepper fondue and rye crumbles ($13), eggplant caviar ($9) and crisp cabbage piroshki (a pocket pie) with caramelized “everything” onion dip ($13). For under $30, you can get dinner and a beer.
Summer favorites include Korean Carrot Salat ($9) with grated carrots and sunflower seeds (yes, that’s what Ukrainians call it) and seasonal salat with cucumber, snap peas and caraway ranch dressing ($9).
Trained in fine dining, St. Germain recently moved to Sonoma County from New York, where he worked at several Michelin-starred restaurants focused on more traditional European cuisine. But casual bar dining is truly where his passion lies.
“I’ve always wanted to have a bar with really elevated cuisine. Those are the places I love to go,” he said.
That also means preparing dozens of dine-in and to-go orders from a shoebox-size bar kitchen with a toaster oven and two burners.
“Representation of (Eastern European cuisine) hasn’t always been there. I just want to show people that Eastern European food is approachable if you give it a chance,” he said.
As one of the world’s largest producers of wheat and sunflower seeds, Ukraine has native dishes that St. Germain describes as “humble.” For his menu, he uses dark bread and sunflower oils and seeds.
“We love our bread. It’s not a meal without bread,” he said. The Odesa Open-Faced Sandwich ($12) is a hearty slab of brown bread slathered with cheese, then topped by creamy egg salad. It’s richer than Warren Buffett, but a lot better-looking.
As for the restaurant’s name, St. Germain said it’s a term of endearment. “It’s what my mom calls me when she’s not mad at me.”
St. Germain still has extended family and friends in his war-torn native country, and he feels for both his homeland and Russians who have family members fighting.
“I feel for everyone losing people. There are both sides to every story, but war is never the answer,” he said.
Diners at Shashinka are encouraged to donate to Razom, a humanitarian organization in Ukraine, through razomforukraine.org. Jasper’s Pub, 6957 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, sashinkaeats.com
Cocktail lineup at Third Pig Bar in Sebastopol. (John Wesley Brewer)
Opening a new craft cocktail bar during the uncertainty of COVID-19 may seem as unstable a proposition as building a house of straw.
But for Alex and Katie Bowman, who just launched Third Pig Bar in Sebastopol, the hope is that their new bar’s foundation of creative cocktails, affable service and playful aesthetic will ensure it’s built to last.
The Bowmans, who own Bowman Cellars winery in Graton, both have long ties to the local community. Alex, whose father founded Bowman Electric, is a third-generation Sonoma County native, and Katie’s grandparents founded the well-known Andy’s Produce Market in Sebastopol.
“In the wine industry, we’re always worried about something, whether it’s fire, the pandemic or the economy,” Alex Bowman said. “But you can’t let that deter you. You just need to know what your bottom line is and weigh your risk.”
Katie, from left, and Alex Bowman, owners of Bowman Cellars, have opened Third Pig Bar in Sebastopol. (John Wesley Brewer)Piggy Punch at Third Pig Bar in Sebastopol. (John Wesley Brewer)
The couple hadn’t considered opening a craft cocktail bar until a wine club member approached them about leasing a vacated space in a building the club member owned in Sebastopol on South Main Street.
Neatly tucked between Bank of the West and Sebastopol Sunshine Café, the narrow space was previously occupied by Ruin Cocktail Bar, an aptly named victim of the pandemic that had sat empty since March 2020.
While the Bowmans considered opening a second tasting room for Bowman Cellars, the idea of a cocktail bar energized them.
“We’ve witnessed a shift in Sebastopol and have seen great demand for craft cocktails,” Alex Bowman said. “There are a few great places in town, but none of them stay open past 9 p.m. We want to give people more options, so we’ll be open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.”
Coming up with a name for their new venture wasn’t easy. But he says the idea hit him one evening like a ton of bricks.
“I was staring at this pile of bricks in my yard when I suddenly thought of the Three Little Pigs,” he said. “The third little pig built a house of bricks that withstood all the trials and attempts of the Big Bad Wolf. Right now, we don’t know what to expect with everything going on in the world. So let’s build something that is going to last.”
To develop the cocktail menu and oversee back-of-the-house management, Alex Bowman sought the talents of Danielle Peters and Erin Clossey of Good Folks Hospitality, a beverage consultancy based in Sonoma County.
Formerly of (now-closed) Whisper Sisters Cocktails and Provisions in Petaluma, Peters oversees creative development and training at Third Pig Bar, while Clossey manages the back of the house.
“During the planning phase, we spent a lot of time with Alex and Katie to understand their vision and aesthetic,” Peters said. “After that, they gave us creative control.”
The cocktail menu at Third Pig Bar highlights local spirits, bitters and syrups, along with fresh seasonal ingredients from Andy’s Produce Market.
Some cocktails indulge the Three Little Pigs theme, like the tiki-inspired Piggy Punch ($14) and the dark, brooding Big Bad Wolf ($14): a rye-driven elixir with restrained undertones of bergamot and mint. Embracing a spectrum of spirits, the menu also includes classics like the sazerac and mai tai, as well as a few nonalcoholic options. Local beers and wine are also for sale.
“I’ll be the first to admit I have a lot to learn about the bar industry,” Alex Bowman said. “But Katie and I know how to be authentic, provide great hospitality and hire a great team. If you come into any Bowman establishment — whether it’s our winery, our bar or our house — you’re going to get great service and feel at home. That’s our ultimate goal.”
Third Pig Bar: 116 S. Main St., Sebastopol. Open 4-11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 2-8 p.m. on Sunday. thirdpigbar.com, instagram.com/thirdpigbar
Chef Perry Hoffman at Boonville Hotel Lucille Lawrence.
When people head to Mendocino, most make a beeline for the coast. From botanical gardens and ocean-view hikes to train rides through the redwoods, it’s is a dream destination for nature lovers. But there are places along the road that are worth exploring, too.
In Mendocino’s Anderson Valley, low-key towns like Philo and Boonville offer something a little different, from cider tastings in an orchard to multi-course meals by former SHED chef Perry Hoffman. Here’s what not to miss on a visit.
Hendy Woods State Park
Mendocino County is home to a whopping 24 state parks. An ideal spot to stretch your legs, Hendy Woods State Park protects two redwood groves: Big Hendy Grove and Little Hendy Grove. Big Hendy Grove, which covers 80 acres, is the largest and most popular of the two and has a wheelchair-accessible trail.
All cider tastings at Gowan’s in Philo are held outdoors in one of the family’s apple orchards. (Courtesy of Visit Mendocino)
Gowan’s Cider Tasting in the Orchard
Relax in the shade of century-old apple trees while tasting your way through a flight of Gowan’s ciders. The Gowan family has grown apples in Philo for six generations, since 1876. They started making ciders seven years ago and also operate the iconic Gowan’s Oak Tree Fruit Stand just down the road on Highway 128. The family uses a variety of heirloom apples, including Gravenstein, Macintosh and the rare Sierra Beauty, to craft a half-dozen ciders.
Tastings take place in the orchard, Friday through Monday. More opening days may be added later in the summer, so make sure to check the website. A flight of six ciders is $15. Reservations are preferred.
Anderson Valley’s Roederer Estate is the California outpost of France’s family-run Louis Roederer champagne house. Toast to the winery’s 40th anniversary this year with a glass of bubbly — there’s also pinot noir and chardonnay on the tasting menu but it’s the sparkling wine that draws crowds. Since there are only a half-dozen tables on the winery terrace, reservations are recommended.
The Classic Sparkling Flight (Brut, Brut in Magnum, 2015 L’Ermitage Brut, Extra Dry) is $20; the 40th Anniversary Flight (Brut, Library Reserve, 2015 L’Ermitage Brut, 2003 L’Ermitage Late Disgorged Brust, 2013 L’Ermitage Brut Rosé) is $40.
Foursight Wines is a true family affair: Husband and wife Bill and Nancy Charles grow the grapes while their daughter Kristy Charles and her husband, Joseph Webb, make the wine. Taste the family’s pinot noir, semillon and sauvignon blanc in the winery’s shaded backyard Friday through Monday.
Tastings ($20) typically include six to eight pours. Reservations are preferred; limited walk-in appointments are available.
Wine and cheese tasting at Pennyroyal Farm in Boonville. (Courtesy of Visit Mendocino)
Pennyroyal Farm
If you only have time for one stop in Anderson Valley, make it Pennyroyal Farm. Guided tours of the creamery and vineyard include the farm’s solar-powered barn, where you will meet some of the most social goats around. Be prepared to make new friends — every goat has a name.
After the tour, a wine and cheese pairing ($30) is served on a patio overlooking the vineyards. Tours are offered 10:30 a.m. Thursday through Monday; reservations are required.
This casual wine and specialty food market, owned by fine wine and specialty food expert Wendy Lamer, serves up a combination of local and imported wines and artisan food, from tapas like piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese to smoked duck breast sliders with sour cherry jam. The wine list is extensive and circles the globe: from right around the corner in Anderson Valley to France’s Rhone region.
The talented team at Boonville Hotel have added yet another delicious reason to spend time in their neighborhood: Offspring Pizza. Watch pizzas slide in and out of the wood-fired oven at this new restaurant, located across the street from the hotel in the Farrer Building.
On a typical day, you’ll find a handful of pizza options on the menu at Offspring. Open Tuesday through Sunday. BYOB.
Pizza from Offspring Wood Fired Pizza at the Farrer Building. (Courtesy of Offspring Wood Fired Pizza)
Make it a Weekend
If you’d like to spend the night, the rooms at Boonville Hotel are dreamy and Instagram-worthy. The hotel restaurant serves multi-course meals by Michelin-starred chef Perry Hoffman, formerly of Healdsburg SHED. A four-course prix fix menu ($68 per person) is served Thursday, Sunday and Monday. On Friday and Saturday, the menu consists of five courses and is $86 per person. Dinner menus for the week are posted every Wednesday on the hotel website. Save time to explore the hotel garden, which is also impressive. Rates start at $195.
The Madrones is another excellent place to rest your head in Anderson Valley. The Mediterranean-inspired resort has nine rooms. Its sister property, The Brambles, is located just next door and has another five rooms. Rates start at $250. The striking compound also boasts a restaurant, a pair of wine tasting rooms, an herbal apothecary and shopping.
A hot air balloon floats over Windsor vineyards. (Kent Porter)
Sure, you could take your special someone on a classic Wine Country date, like a fancy dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant or a wine tasting for two at a gorgeous vineyard. But if you’re looking for a more out-of-the-box date that the two of you won’t be able to stop talking about, then your search is over.
We’re compiling lively and memorable date ideas across Sonoma County. First up: Santa Rosa. This vibrant city in the heart of the county was ranked among the top 10 “fun places to live in the U.S.” by U.S. News & World Report last year. An abundance of arts, dining and recreational activities — from outdoor excursions to cozy indoor retreats — makes this city a great spot for any type of romantic rendezvous.
Here are 12 fun dates you can only experience in Santa Rosa.
Romance on ice — Snoopy’s Home Ice: Dress in layers to get ready for one of the coolest date night spots in the county — Snoopy’s Home Ice. Whether you’re a novice in need of a partner’s guiding hand on the rink or a skating savant hoping to impress your date on the ice, there are plenty of opportunities to get close and have fun. General skate sessions are $11, plus a $4 skate rental; late-night skate sessions are $9, plus a $2 skate rental. Check the calendar for skate times. After your skating session, snuggle up together with a cup of hot chocolate at the rink’s Warm Puppy Cafe, or head across the street to Kettles Vietnamese Bistro to share a large, steaming bowl of phở and a cocktail.
Art and brews — Museum of Sonoma County: Show off your cultured side and take your date on a saunter through the sculpture garden and art exhibitions at the Museum of Sonoma County. The downtown Santa Rosa museum houses diverse mixed-media art exhibits, drop-in art making classes every second Saturday of the month and a carefully landscaped sculpture garden perfect for a hand-in-hand promenade with your artsy partner. General admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, students and disabled people. After your museum trip, head to the nearby Brew cafe to discuss the artwork over a specialty coffee or craft beer.
425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa, 707-579-1500, museumsc.org
Food, fun and farmers — Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market: To get your meal, drinks, dancing and other exciting activities in one location, take your date to the Wednesday Night Market in downtown Santa Rosa. From 5-8:30 p.m. every Wednesday in summer through August, the grand community farmers market and street fair boasts rocking live concerts (with ample room to dance), exhibits and entertainers, art and clothing vendors, and of course, dozens of local farmers and food concession stands. Plus, there’s a dedicated Kid Space with plenty of fun activities for the young ones if you couldn’t get a sitter in time for date night. Where else can you stuff your face with Peruvian food and juicy, farm-fresh pluots while jamming to a Tom Petty tribute band?
Rose garden strolls — Luther Burbank Home & Gardens: You could buy your date a dozen roses or, better yet, bring them to a lush garden brimming with hundreds of them. Luther Burbank Home & Gardens has a vast assortment of colorful flowers and plants, from year-round roses and hydrangeas to horticulturist Luther Burbank’s own hand-bred plum trees and Shasta daisies. Garden and museum tours are held 1-4 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, and the gardens are open to freely roam around every day until dusk. Tours are $10 for adults and $8.50 for seniors, college students and children ages 12-18. If your visit is timed just right, head to Juilliard Park across the street after your garden gallivanting to enjoy free music as part of the annual Live at Juilliard Concert Series, from 5-7 p.m. each Sunday, July 17 to Aug. 21.
Indie darlings — Summerfield Cinemas and East West Cafe: Switch up your typical dinner-and-a-movie night with an indie film at Summerfield Cinemas followed by a fresh Mediterranean meal at the nearby East West Cafe. Summerfield specializes in independent, art-house and foreign films — perfect for those with eclectic tastes. If you haven’t filled up on popcorn, walk over to East West Cafe to share a colorful Mediterranean Platter and baklava or vegan chocolate cake for dessert. Bonus: The charming Howarth Park is right across the street to walk around and discuss the film.
Walk on the wild side — Safari West: If you’re dating a zoophilist (a lover of animals), treat them to a wildly fun time in Sonoma’s Serengeti. From antelopes to zebras, Safari West’s 400-acre preserve is home to hundreds of animals, and there are plenty of ways to experience the wildlife, Wine Country-style. You can book a private safari, such as the Winos & Rhinos Safari Adventure, where you and your partner can sip wine while touring the preserve and learning about its amusing animals. Don’t forget to reserve a spot at the estate’s Savannah Café for a South African-inspired meal, or book a romantic overnight stay in a luxury glamping tent or cottage.
3115 Porter Creek Road, Santa Rosa, 707-579-2551, safariwest.com
Be kids again — Poppy Bank Epicenter: Relive your childhood with an exhilarating date at Santa Rosa’s epicenter, jammed-packed with exciting activities. The epicenter is home to an arcade, bowling alley, trampoline park, laser tag arena, virtual reality platform, a 3D interactive theater and even an axe-throwing arena. Plus, there are regular weekly events like comedy shows, musical acts, bingo, karaoke and paint nights, which can all be enjoyed along with a meal from the epicenter’s Victory House Sports Bar & Restaurant.
Take to the skies — Wine Country Balloons: Those with vertigo need not apply, as this stunning date will take you over a 1,000 feet in a colorful hot air balloon, with sublime views of vineyards, pristine pastures, oak woodlands and redwood forests. Rest assured the balloon pilots are highly-experienced — chief pilot Scott van der Horst has logged over 8,000 hours of flying hot air balloons, personally hosting more than 50,000 passengers. Reserved flights are $275 per person, and other amenities are available for additional fees, such as a cake for a special occasion or a custom DVD video of your ballooning experience. Wine Country Balloons also offers transportation to and from the launch and landing sites, ending at Kaffe Mocha & Grill for a post-flight champagne brunch.
Get theatrical — 6th Street Playhouse: Let the talented theater company at 6th Street Playhouse dazzle you and your date with a captivating show in the renovated cannery near historic Railroad Square. The playhouse will open this season with its production of Jane Austen’s classic witty romance Pride and Prejudice, beginning Aug. 11, followed by an intimate and sultry performance of the Broadway hit Cabaret beginning Sept. 15. Ticket prices vary. After the play, you and your date can recite show tunes while strolling along the Santa Rosa Creek or treat yourselves to a romantic dinner at the nearby French eatery La Gare.
Climb time — Vertex and Session climbing centers: Get your heart pumping with an adventurous date of bouldering, rope climbing and other physical activities at Santa Rosa’s two climbing gyms. The tall rock climbing walls at Vertex and Session provide a perfect opportunity to support your partner as they find their footing and scale their way to the top. Vertex has aerial skills classes (starting in August) to fly in the air with silk bands, and both centers provide yoga classes for a more relaxed workout together. Day passes at Vertex are $20 for adults, $18 for youth and $16 for the early bird special (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday). Day passes at Session are $25 for adults, $22 for youth, seniors and military, and $20 for the early bird special (before 4 p.m. Monday through Friday).
Vertex, 3358a Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa, 707-573-1608, climbvertex.com; Session, 965 South A St., Santa Rosa, 707-852-1040, sessionclimbing.com
Scavenging sweethearts — Operation City Quest: Work together, and become closer in the process, to solve riddles and hunt for items around downtown Santa Rosa using Operation City Quest’s scavenger hunt app. The organization features fun photo scavenger hunts in cities across the nation, but just one in Sonoma County, starting in Old Courthouse Square to hunt for items within a two-mile radius. There’s even a special date version of the scavenger hunt, with six additional challenges to bond over and learn more about each other. To plan your couple’s scavenger hunt, purchase and redeem tickets on the website (original version is $20 per person and date version is $22 per person), download the app and begin your hunt at the suggested starting location (detailed instructions and a game code will be sent to your email).
Dance the night away — Monroe Hall: Chassé into each other’s hearts at this 2,700-square-foot dance hall that’s been a dancing and social gathering spot since 1922. Monroe Hall has daily events along with exercise and dance classes — from folk dancing and jazzercise sessions to square dancing and hoe downs. Swing, cha-cha and waltz with your partner into the night in this charming and lively hall, learning some new impressive moves along the way. Vaccination is required but masks are optional. Prices range from free to $20 per session, depending on event or class type.
1400 West College Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-824-1008, monroe-hall.com
Jeremiah Kahmoson mountain biking in Annadel-Trione State Park, Santa Rosa, California. (Jerry Dodrill Photography)
Call it the bond forged on two wheels. Rooted in the ruggedness of the local terrain, Sonoma’s bike community is both tight-knit and super-welcoming. Whether you’re a stoked beginner or a grizzled pro, a road warrior or a queen of the mountain, here’s a handle on the rides, the gear, the eats—and some of the outstanding local riders you’ll meet along the way.
Home-Grown and Growing Huge: Sonoma’s Own Grasshopper Race Series
Miguel Crawford has a knack for seeing around corners, glimpsing the future. The former elite mountain biker is the man behind the Grasshopper Adventure Series, a string of uniquely fun, slightly sadistic, gravel-centric sufferfests he describes as “magical mystery tours through the diverse, challenging, and eclectic hills of Sonoma County and beyond.”
The casual, lo-fi, friendly vibe of “Hoppers,” as they’re known, have now beguiled generations of riders, from weekend warriors to rising local stars to world champion mountain biker Kate Courtney and former pro road racers such as Alison Tetrick, Peter Stetina, and Ted King, who describes Crawford’s series as “the OG”—the Original Gangster of the gravel events that have spiked in popularity over the last decade.
The elite riders taking the start at Crawford’s events don’t need to register for Grasshopper events. But they want to. “No one’s telling me to be here,” says top rider Alex Wild. “I don’t have to put them on my schedule. But Mig just puts on such good events, it makes people want to ride them.” The season-opening Low Gap Hopper is a mixed terrain, technical climbing course.
February’s Huffmaster Hopper is 90 miles of rolling gravel roads and tarmac, with fewer climbs. April’s Lake Sonoma is a classic mountain biking track. The person who wins the overall series, Wild concluded, “is an all-around great bike rider.”
Sitting on the ground near the finish of April’s Lake Sonoma race, a portrait in exhaustion, was 60-year-old Erik Schmidt, an environmental consultant from Fairfax. Schmidt returned to the Grasshopper series this spring after a 20-year hiatus. Back then, when Hoppers were in their infancy, they had had a more underground feel. “There was no entry fee, no race numbers. You showed up, they gave you a scrap of paper so you knew the course, and off you went,” he recalled. “Now it’s an official event, it’s a big deal. But the vibe is as cool as ever.”
Sonoma’s own grasshopper race series. (Kim Carroll)
Pump It Up
A pump track is a series of rollers and berms that you wheel around, ideally never having to actually pedal, instead using your momentum, center of gravity, and the angle of track features to “pump” your way around the track. Want to try it? There’s a free public one at Northwest Community Park in Santa Rosa.
“It’s really fun to watch the kids out there,” says Doug McKenzie, who helped create it. “Once kids get the hang of it, they’re whipping around the track.”
2880 W. Steele Lane, Santa Rosa.
Hall of Fame: Riders Who Put Sonoma on the Map
Laura Charameda: A member of the US National Team from 1993 to 1998, Charameda won two National Criterium Championships and a bronze medal at Worlds. @lauracharameda
Larissa Connors: A pro mountain biker and Montgomery High School graduate, Connors won the grueling Leadville 100 in Colorado—twice. @larissaconnors
Steven Cozza: The former pro road cyclist also helped spearhead the overturn of the ban preventing LGBTQ+ people from openly participating in the Boy Scouts. @stevencozza
Yuri Hauswald: The former Petaluma teacher was a two-time solo winner of the 24 Hours of Adrenaline and 9th place finisher at the 2006 24-Hour World Championships. @yhauswald
Ted King: The Professional World Tour road racer divides his time between Healdsburg and Richmond, Vermont. @iamtedking
Luke Lamperti: Sebastopol-born Lamperti won seven agegroup youth national championships and this April, at the age of 18, was the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. men’s pro criterium. @lukelamperti
Levi Leipheimer: Olympic bronze medalist, three-time winner of the Tour of California, and the man behind one of Sonoma’s best-loved charity rides, Levi’s GranFondo. @levileipheimer
Top rider Peter Stetina. (Kim Carroll)
Peter Stetina: A Grand Tour road racer turned top-level gravel and endurance mountain biker, Stetina also partners with Healdsburg hotels to offer one-of-a-kind cycling adventures. @pstetina
Alison Tetrick: The Petaluma High School grad rode in prestigious road cycling races including the Tour of California and is now burning up the gravel circuit nationwide. @amtetrick
Tyler Williams: Williams moved to Santa Rosa to train when he was 19 and has been here ever since. Currently, he rides for UCI Continental team L39ION of Los Angeles. @twcycling
High-Viz Jerseys
Rick Pepper of Windsor runs Elevengear Cycling, with a line of U.S.-made cycling kits based off high-visibility patterns used on emergency vehicles in Europe. “They’re like Listerine for the eyes,” Pepper says. “When you’re out riding on the road, being outlandishly, garishly visible is great.” 707-824-2007, elevengear.com
Ron Murdock-Perriera at his Smith & Bergen bike shop in Petaluma. (Courtesy of Ron Murdock-Perriera)
Gear with a Mission
As a native of Guyana and more recently a resident of Brooklyn, Ron Murdock-Perriera brought a fresh perspective when he opened the Smith & Bergen bike shop in his adopted hometown of Petaluma in March 2021.
In addition to selling gear and servicing bikes, Murdock-Perriera hopes to put a dent in cycling’s reputation as sport that needs to work on its diversity. So far it’s been a bumpier ride than he expected, and he’s working hard to source from brands that share his value of inclusiveness. But business is picking up, and he greets everyone who walks in with a friendly hello.
“I don’t break people into categories,” Murdock-Perriera says. “If you ride a bike, you’re a cyclist.”
Sonoma’s own Team Swift, coached by former national champ Laura Charameda, is one of the top road cycling development programs anywhere—notable alumni include Tyler Williams and Luke Lamperti.
“We use the bicycle and their love of the bike to teach life skills,” says Charameda. “They have to talk to the public and write reports.
They’re great ambassadors for our community.” Five top Team Swift riders are traveling to the Junior Tour of Ireland this summer, and the entire team is looking forward to the local Cycle with Champions fundraiser in October, open to all. facebook.com/TeamSwift
Two area mountain bike teams, the Annadel A-Team and the West County Composite, also help shape young talent. Pro rider Larissa Connors is one of the coaches of the 90-member-strong Annadel A-Team, and the West County Composite squad, coached by elite racer Mike Warren, recently won their division at the NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League championships.
Jeremy Sycip, builder of custom bikes. (Chris Hardy / For Sonoma Magazine)
The Frame Maker
For cyclists who have unusual sizes or specific needs, buying bikes off the rack doesn’t always cut it. That’s where Santa Rosa’s Jeremy SyCip comes in, measuring device in hand.
SyCip has built a cult following for his custom bikes, helping thousands of cyclists of all shapes and abilities ride better. Store bought bikes, explains SyCip, are made for the masses. Assembly-line manufacturers can’t know who’s going to ride a bike, “so they have to kind of overbuild it.”
SyCip’s frames start at $2,500, with wheels and other components additional. That’s not wildly more expensive than comparable retail bikes, and with custom made, you know the bike is going to feel right from the first pedal stroke.
Long before adventure racing really took off, Tom “Snap” Gonnella dreamed up the now-legendary Ring of Fire mountain bike race. “It was like Bikestock,” says Gonnella, who owned Gianni Cycling in Occidental at the time and ran the race on mostly private lands west of town from 1993 to 1998.
The archway atop the starting line was wrapped in a thick blanket of poison oak. Huge stands of the noxious weed had to be cleared by hand along the 4.5-mile singletrack course. “That’s why we called it the Ring of Fire,” says Gonnella. The race’s main sponsor was Tecnu, the poison oak remedy. The National Off-Road Bicycle Association refused to partner with Gonnella because they thought the course was too dangerous. “Everybody kept saying, ‘You can’t do this,’” Gonnella remembers. “So I presented a plan and went to the county and they gave me a permit and I bought my own insurance and I did it myself.”
Every race started with a cannon shot, usually blanks, except for one year when organizers shot a real cannonball through someone’s truck. They roasted pigs. They cooked beans in a giant cauldron to supply endless burritos. Kegs of beer flowed nonstop and so did live music. Volunteers lined the dam of a pond with haybales so they could “snowboard” down the face and dive into the water. And it wasn’t uncommon to see racers fly by buck naked, Gonnella says.
“I don’t think it could ever be replicated,” he says. “It was like the renaissance of biking was really coming alive in West County. It was pretty epic.”
Top 5 Indie Bike Shops
Russian River Cycle Service: Owner Brian Borchers builds frames as part of his B-Side bicycles line, but his focus is renting bikes. 6559 Front St., Forestville. 707-887-2453. russianrivercycles.com
Spoke Folk Cyclery: Building upon the legend of the “Healdsburg Wheelmen” formed in 1895, this Healdsburg favorite sells, rents, and customfits bikes – and shares all their favorite local rides. 201 Center St., Healdsburg. 707-433-7171. spokefolk.com
The Hub Cyclery: From shock overhauls to custom builds, this locally owned Cotati treasure will take care of your ride. Owners Chaz and Claire Fetrow always have a tip for a new route. 7880 Old Redwood Hwy., Cotati. 707-795-6670. thehubcyclery.com
Windsor Bike and Sport: Open since 1999, this downtown Windsor hub lives by the motto: “Never leave your bike at home.” 9078 Windsor Road, Windsor. 707-836-9111. windsorbikeandsport.com
Sebastopol Bike Center: Selling new and used bikes and renting cruisers, this downtown Sebastopol shop is a perfect starting point for West County routes. 6731 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol. 707-829-2688. sebastopolbike.com
Spoke Folk bike mechanic Drew Merritt installs new cabling. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Santa Rosa’s bike share program is finally set to launch later this fall, with e-bikes available at area SMART train stations. (Courtesy of Sonoma County Transportation Authority)
GOOD NEWS: Santa Rosa’s bike share program, stuck in limbo due to supply-chain issues, is finally set to launch later this fall, with snazzy turquoise e-bikes available at area SMART train stations.
The Helpers
Redwood Trails Alliance: “More trails, better trails” is the unofficial motto of this volunteer trail-building, outdoor advocacy, and environmental stewardship organization. trailsalliance.org
Operation Bicycle: A program of Teen Services Sonoma, this community bike shop sells bikes and offers maintenance and repair services to both local teens and the general public. 207 Nino Marco Square, Sonoma. 707-343-7223
Community Bikes: Founded in 2003, this nonprofit offers classes in bike repair and maintenance to anyone regardless of age, skill level, or financial status. Restored bikes are sold to the public. 4019 Sebastopol Rd., Santa Rosa. 707-579-5811, communitybikessantarosa.org
Best Beginner Rides
On a Road Bike: Santa Rosa to Sebastopol via the Joe Rodota Trail, 8.5 miles. If you’re feeling ready, continue towards Forestville another 5.5 miles via the West County Regional Trail.
On a Mountain Bike: In Windsor’s Foothill Regional Park, the 3-mile loop from the Oakwood Trail to Alta Vista to the Three Lakes Trail has around 500 feet of climbing, perfect to get your tires dirty for the first time.
On a Gravel or Adventure Bike: The Willow Creek Trail fire roads run 18 miles from outside the town of Occidental all the way to the coast. Make an out-and-back ride of any distance you like.
On an E-Bike: Kenwood’s vineyard-studded Lawndale Loop, about 7.5 miles: Warm Springs Road to Lawndale Road to Schultz Road and back to the start via a short stint along Highway 12.
Jeremiah Kahmoson mountain biking in Annadel-Trione State Park in Santa Rosa. (Jerry Dodrill Photography)Romany McNamara mountain biking on Willow Creek trail in west Sonoma County. (Jerry Dodrill Photography)
Best Apps
Sonoma County has a dizzying array of routes that can make trip-planning a challenge—these tools can help riders navigate.
Ride with GPS: Features hundreds of crowd-sourced routes in the county, including the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s entire library of rides. Navigate turn by turn and pinch to zoom in on elevation gains ahead. The app can be used offline, a major plus when exploring Sonoma’s wild places. ridewithgps.com
Google Maps: The gold standard for automotive maps also comes in handy for cycling adventures. Pick a destination, select the bike icon, press start and away you go. If you sync to headphones, you can listen to the directions as you ride. maps.google.com
Trailforks: Particularly great for mountain bikers, this app includes more than 160,000 trails sourced from riders around the world. Maps can be downloaded for offline use, and there’s an emergency function that will generate your GPS coordinates and the name of the nearest trail should you get too far out there. trailforks.com
Strava: Most useful for keeping score and showing off. All uploaded rides deliver automatic rankings of your times, which others in your network can view and comment on. Route planning functions and the app’s real-time locator feature are behind a paywall. strava.com
The Advocates
The Sonoma County Bike Coalition was founded after several cyclists were hit by cars in high-profile accidents. “They got together and said, ‘We need an advocacy group to make cycling safer and to get our elected officials to take this seriously,’” says executive director Eris Weaver.
Over 20 years later, the nonprofit has 900 paid members and “we don’t have to go begging anymore–jurisdictions come to us to ask our input.”
On July 17, the group presents Ciclovia, a freewheeling celebration of everything bike in Petaluma. bikesonoma.org
Santa Rosa’s Taco Tuesday Rides
When buddies Juan Chavez and Chad Hunt started Taco Tuesday bike rides in downtown Santa Rosa in the spring of 2021, it was mostly to offer friends something different to do and to provide some social engagement after a year’s worth of pandemic isolation. “We started just to get people outside, get people together, have a good time,” Chavez said. “We started because people were bored.” But a year in, this weekly ride is regularly pulling in somewhere close to 70 riders on some evenings and couldn’t be contained if you tried. “It’s its own beast now,” he said. “Why stop having a good time?”
It works like this: Riders of all skill levels, aboard everything from stretch cruisers to beach bombers, many laden with boom boxes and portable speakers, meet at a downtown park before heading out on a meandering, musicfi lled roll through town. They point west to Sebastopol Avenue, where they stop in Roseland for a taco truck dinner at a 25-foot communal table, before returning downtown. The rules are simple: Be safe, be courteous, be friendly, and have fun. That last part is the easiest of all requirements.
Neighbors along the route have come to expect, and love, the weekly rolling parade. “They will literally be sitting on their front porch waiting for us to come by,” Chavez says.
The whole concept has lasted longer than Chavez expected. With its growing numbers and contagious fun, the event has clearly met a community need. “Sometimes I’m in awe of what’s happening,” he said. “We have such stressful lives with everything going on in the world. Let’s listen to good music, get on a bike, have good food, and be with good people.”
Rides open to all. Meet at Santa Rosa’s Humboldt Park, 1172 Humboldt St., every Tuesday night at 5:45 p.m. Wheels up at 6:15 p.m.
Riders heading down McDonald Avenue on their way to the taco trucks in the Roseland neighborhood during the Santa Rosa Taco Tuesday Bike Ride in Santa Rosa. (Erik Castro/For The Press Democrat)
Bikes with Soul
If you wonk out on textbook-perfect TIG welds and minute millimeters of adjustment, then Sean Walling is your bike builder.
The owner of Soulcraft Cycles, a custom workshop in Petaluma, Walling builds race-ready, steel-frame bikes with an old-school, normcore vibe. No flashy gimmicks here: just an honest, high-performance ride with a steel nameplate that oozes understated cool.
How cool was this? High up in the results list from April’s Grasshopper event at Lake Sonoma, mixed in with names widely known in American pro cycling circles, were a pair of teenage siblings from Sebastopol.
There was Vida Lopez de San Roman, a high school sophomore, third in the women’s pro category, though the 16-year-old is used to standing a bit higher on the podium. Since she started racing as a 9-yearold, she has won two age-group national championships in cyclocross and another in mountain biking.
Men’s winner Alex Wild needed a burst in the final miles to hold off Vida’s older brother Ian. The gregarious 18-year-old finished the grueling, 25-mile loop just 17 seconds behind Wild–but 6 ½ and 9 minutes, respectively, ahead of ex-pro road riders Ted King and Levi Leipheimer.
There is considerable athleticism, and some elite cycling chops, in the family tree.
Vida and Ian’s father played professional tennis. Their mother was a dancer, and their aunt twice competed for the U.S. Olympic team in mountain biking.
Despite that pedigree, Vida resisted bike racing for a long time, until a fateful Wednesday evening in Howarth Park nine years ago. “We weren’t riding very seriously,” Ian recalled, “then one of our friends told us to show up for DirtCrits” —races against other kids around a dirt track above Spring Lake. “It’s kind of like, pay $5, get destroyed.
It was super-fun,” said Ian. (DirtCrits are back this summer at Howarth Park; Instagram @thebikepeddler for info.)
Vida now gravitates toward cyclocross and mountain biking, while Ian prefers longer road and gravel events–50 miles, 100 miles or more–which reward his endurance and high threshold for suffering. As they get older, wiser, and stronger, watch out for these two. It won’t be long before everyone knows their names.
Brother and sister Vida and Ian Lopez de San Roman hit the trails at Trione-Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa. (Chad Surmick/The Press Democrat)
Bike Fitting 101
Russian River Cycle Service owner Brian Borchers says he regularly sees a lot of “smoke and mirrors” when it comes to bike fitting, with some experts charging hundreds of dollars for a fit session. “But the majority of people just need their saddle height set right,” he says. russianrivercycles.com
• Saddle height is often most important for beginners, explains Borchers. “If you’re not getting proper leg extension, it robs you of a lot of your power.” For a good fit, Borchers asks riders to sit on the seat with their feet on the ground. When the seat is at a good height, the rider should should be almost on their tiptoes, with their heels in the air and the balls of their feet resting on the ground.
• Bike fitting is a process. Borchers suggests riders make one fitting change at a time, and that they ride at least three or four times between changes to see if the fit makes a difference.
The Church of the Bike
Meet Tim Nicholls, the burly-bearded reverend behind Cycle Chvrch Cycles in Petaluma. “I work all week trying to take care of my family, and on Sundays I try not to do anything but ride. So getting out on a bike is like going to church for me,” he says, by way of explaining the name.
First set of wheels: A Mongoose BMX hand-me-down from his older brother.
Shop niche: 80% service and 20% new or used bikes.
On the walls: Old tools passed on from his grandfather, a library of old trail maps and maintenance books—and a few statues of the Virgin Mary.
Testimonial: “If somebody tries to open a bike shop to make any money, they’re a silly person and they’re in the wrong game. You’re here because you love it, and this is what you want to do.”
Tim Nicholls, the burly-bearded reverend behind Cycle Chvrch Cycles in Petaluma. (Courtesy of Matt Sharkey)
Bikes That Travel
BikePartners is a Santa Rosa bike shop that sells and rents folding bikes, perfect for commuting or for travel, from companies like Brompton, Tern, and Ritchey. Just visiting? They’ll meet you at your hotel and drop off a folding bike that can be stashed in the trunk of a rental car.
Experienced road cyclists love the challenge of Highway 1 along the Sonoma Coast, with its long descents, sharp curves, and jaw-dropping views— for many, it’s an at-least-once-in-your-lifetime kind of ride. But for a much more chill beachfront trip, perhaps one with family in tow, try pedaling along the paved beach access road at Doran Regional Park, then loop over to Bodega Bay’s tiny downtown for some fresh crab sandwiches. parks.ca.gov,parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
Tour the Vineyards
Three great rides into the heart of Wine Country.
Sonoma Valley: Begin in downtown Glen Ellen near the market, then head west via rolling Dunbar Road and Highway 12 to Kenwood, through the prettiest section of the valley. Make an outand- back loop of any length you like: it’s about 7 miles one-way to St. Francis Winery, and along the way, you’ll pass the wine caves at Deerfield Ranch and the roaring bear sculpture in front of St. Anne’s Crossing. Loop back via Lawndale Road and twisty Warm Springs Road for a change of scenery. Best eats: wood-fired pizzas and gelato at Kenwood’s VJB winery.
Alexander Valley: Begin in downtown Geyserville and head southeast via Highway 128. Along the way, take a peek at the stunning modern architecture at high-end Silver Oak or broad valley vistas at Hanna Winery. It’s a little over 10 miles one-way to the junction with Chalk Hill Road, where you can either decide to push on towards Windsor or loop back to the start, perhaps with a side trip along Pine Flat Road to Red Winery Road to mix things up. Best eats are back where you started in Geyserville at Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria.
Dry Creek Valley: Begin in downtown Healdsburg and head northwest from town on Dry Creek Road. It’s about 7.5 miles one-way through the heart of the valley, past favorites like Unti Vineyards and Mauritson, to the junction with Yoakim Bridge Road. Turn left on Yoakim Bridge Road, then left again at the junction with West Dry Creek Road. Cross back over to Dry Creek Road at Lambert Bridge Road, then back to town for a total loop of about 16 miles. Best eats along the way are fresh peaches from Dry Creek Peach and sandwiches from the landmark Dry Creek General Store.
Biking on West Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg. (Kim Carroll)A pit stop at Dry Creek General Store. (Kim Carroll)
Dream Rides
Riders come from all over to experience the best of Sonoma’s rural byways. For maps of these picks plus more dream rides, check out the top ten list from the Santa Rosa Cycling Club: srcc.com/TGR.
King Ridge: Park near Cafe Aquatica from Jenner, then take Highway 116 to Cazadero, head out King Ridge Road, to Tin Barn Road. Descend to Hauser Bridge Road, to Seaview Road (where water is available at the top of the climb). Then take Fort Ross Road, descending to Meyers Grade Road to Highway 1, and back toward Jenner.
The Geysers Loop: Take Highway 128 to Red Winery Road, then wind up Geysers Road to Cloverdale and back.
Coleman Valley Road: Starting in Occidental, ride up steep Coleman Valley Road to the coast. Ride north on Highway 1 for a bit, then loop back on Willow Creek Road.
Coleman Valley Road.Medio riders climb Coleman Valley Road during the King Ridge GranFondo. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat)
Calling All Women Mountain Bikers
Hella Joy Rides are social, nobody-left behind rides for women who love the trail, winding through Annadel for a couple of hours before circling back to the Trailhouse for sandwiches, soft pretzels—and most likely a beer. July 17, August 6, and September 10; trailhousesantarosa.com for info.
An Ode to Annadel
Mountain bike advocate Jake Bayless has been exploring the trails at Trione-Annadel State Park for over 40 years. Here, in his own words, is what the park means to generations of local mountain bikers.
Adventure reigns: “The thing that stuck with me as a kid is that sense of adventure. Annadel is surrounded on three sides by the city of Santa Rosa, but as a kid, I didn’t realize that. I just felt like it was an adventurous place to go. I still feel that every time I hit the South Burma Trail. I have that renewed sense of nostalgia, looking around and thinking ‘This is fantastic. I’m lost and I’m also safe. This is high adventure.’”
A change in perspective: “For the vast majority of people in the Santa Rosa plains, you spend your life looking up at Fountaingrove, looking up at Hood Mountain, looking up at Bennett Peak. So to be able to get way up into the hills in the park, and to have a completely different view of the mountains and the valleys around—it’s a change of perspective that I would encourage everybody to experience.”
Level up: “There are not many places that are so family friendly, a safe environment for kids to go play on bikes. Then I was also able to show my kids the next level up, the next skill set, whether it was getting over a rock or going way up into the mountains for adventure. And on a hot summer afternoon, there’s nothing quite as fun or as rewarding after a hard ride than hopping into Lake Ilsanjo. In Annadel, there’s always something more, another carrot around the bend.”
Jeremiah Kahmoson mountain biking in Annadel-Trione State Park in Santa Rosa. (Jerry Dodrill Photography)Jeremiah Kahmoson mountain biking in Annadel-Trione State Park in Santa Rosa. (Jerry Dodrill Photography)
Best Pit Stops
Stopping along the way is a must on long, grinding rides— all the better if there’s good food and coffee. After all, as the joke goes, most cyclists are actually in it for the pastries.
Clockwise from center, The Boho Bowl, gluten-free summer squash tartlets, Mochi donuts, Earl Grey polenta olive oil cakes, at The Altamont General Store in Occidental. (Beth Schlanker/Sonoma Magazine)Bread from Quail and Condor Bakery in Healdsburg. (Emma K. Morris)
Salumeria Ovello: 248 W. Napa St., Sonoma. 707-721-1478, ovellosonoma.com
Alex Rodriquez performs a wheelie on his bike while riding around with his friends at Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)Devan Tucker leans back to touch the ground while performing a wheelie on his bike at Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
The Wheelie Crew
Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square has become a gathering spot for kids involved in the “bikelife movement”—a community of riders who perform tricks in parks and on streets and post videos of their stunts to social media. Alan Cortes, who started riding and learning tricks with his buddies during the pandemic, sees the overall movement as a positive: “Most people are inside being unhealthy and staying in doing nothing, but we’re out here exercising.”
By John Beck, Kerry Benefield, Derek Moore, Austin Murphy, Abigail Peterson, and Ethan Varian
Buffalo chicken empanadas at Vinoma in Rohnert Park. (Courtesy of Vinoma)
Click through the above gallery to see the eight Sonoma County restaurants that made the Yelp Top 100 list.
Vinoma, a gourmet empanada shop in Rohnert Park, has been named the No. 1 place to eat in the Bay Area, according to Yelp.
The Top 100 list released on Monday by the review site that’s often the bane of restaurant owners said the hidden gem has “the best empanadas hands down in the Bay Area.”
The Argentinian-style empanadas are flaky, delicious pockets of dough filled with meat, cheese, vegetables and fruit. Our favorites include beef Carne Suave with scallions, red onions, olives, chopped eggs and spices; the steak and cheese empanada; the al pastor with caramelized pineapple; and the less-traditional plum and bacon empanada. Don’t miss the Apple Crisp for dessert, along with shortbread cookies (alfajores) filled with dulce de leche.
A group of Yelp’s community managers curated the list, covering restaurants from Healdsburg to Santa Cruz, based on various criteria such as “spots are undeniably the tastiest, vibiest and liveliest based on local reviews.” Other methodology included the total volume and ratings of reviews, according to a news release.
Click through the above gallery go see the eight Sonoma County restaurants that made the list. See the full list and map here.
7/15/2013: B1:
PC: Sofia Pomares, 4, reaches for a French flag waved by her mother, Fabiola Pomares- Sotomayor, while celebrating Bastille Day at Chateau St. Jean on Sunday, July 14, 2013 in Kenwood, California. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)
This Thursday, July 14, France will celebrate La Fête Nationale (or Bastille Day in English-speaking countries) with fireworks, parades, parties and communal meals. But you don’t have to be French to join the festivities. We’ve rounded up six local Bastille Day events, along with French restaurants, boulangeries and pâtisseries, to visit on France’s national day. Bonne fête nationale!
All events will be held on Bastille Day, Thursday, July 14, unless otherwise noted.
Events
Goguette Bread, Santa Rosa
Family-owned Santa Rosa bakery Goguette Bread, specializing in French-style, levain-based breads, will celebrate France’s national day with a festive Bastille Day pique-nique from 6-9 p.m. The al fresco event will include the bakery’s handcrafted, long-fermented organic breads along with other picnic accouterments, including cheese, charcuterie, croque monsieurs, wine and homemade ice cream. There is no entry fee, and guests are encouraged to bring the whole family as the soirée will include lively French music and a kids parade fit for all ages.
Soraya Salamati, 11, brushes on the olive oil over Pain aux olives before her mother Najine Shariat sprinkles a little salt on the loaves at Goguette Bread in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
the girl & the fig, Sonoma
This French-inspired Sonoma restaurant will serve a week-long special menu celebrating Bastille Day, from July 14 to July 20. The three-course, pre fixe plats du jour menu will include authentic classics, such as French onion tartine with gruyere, coq au vin (chicken braised with wine, mushrooms, carrots, marble potatoes and house bacon), and raspberry meringue mille feuille with blueberry caramel. The girl & the fig also boasts an award-winning wine list that includes plenty of Rhône varietals for those who want to celebrate the day with a French aperitif.
This Napa Valley five-star resort houses a restaurant founded by French restaurateur Claude Rouas in 1981, having earned 13 consecutive Michelin stars since. The restaurant will celebrate Bastille Day with champagne on the terrace overlooking a sprawling vineyard, along with a three-course lunch paired with French wines from the estate’s award-winning wine cellar. Hotel guests can also enjoy poolside cocktails and champagne tastings throughout the day and when checking into the resort spa. Reservations required.
Napa County’s Bouchon Bistro will host its 21st annual Bastille Day celebration from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 16. The festivities will include food, drinks, live music and children’s activities. Food and beverages at the celebration must be purchased with tickets, which can be pre-ordered here and picked up at Finesse, The Store on Washington Street on the day of the event. Prices for ticket packets range from $30-$120.
Raymond Vineyards, owned by French vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, will host St. Helena’s inaugural Bastille Day Invitational Car Show to celebrate all things French and classic automobiles. The free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes food and wine.
Left Bank will celebrate Bastille Day with authentic French dishes, live music, entertainment and festive decor. In addition to its regular menu, the brasserie will have a special Plats de la Révolution menu, including heirloom tomato salad with French feta, chicken fricassee with a summer vegetable ratatouille, steak au poivre with French potato salad, a stone fruit clafoutis with honey crème fraîche and a French champagne flight. Staff will be dressed in their best Parisian ensembles and there will be live music from noon to 8 p.m., along with a mime, stilt walker and magician to entertain guests.
If you can’t make it to one of these Bastille Day events, there are plenty of restaurants and patisseries in the North Bay where you can celebrate with French dishes and sweet treats on July 14 or any day of the year. Here’s where to go and what to order.
Sonoma County
Pascaline Patisserie & Cafe
Cannelés de Bordeaux, kouign-amann, meringue, pain aux raisins, croque monsieur, French onion soup, croissants and quiche.
Baguettes, croissants, canelés, brioche, sucre, quiche, pain au chocolat, marjolaine, éclairs, dune blanche, entremets, tartelettes and chouquettes.
52 Mission Circle, Suite 112, Santa Rosa, 707-623-9595, sarmentine.com
La Gare
Escargots de Bourgogne, cuisses de grenouille, quiche lorraine, boeuf wellington, demi canard à l’orange, vis de veau financière, carré d’agneau persillé, crème caramel beau rivage, meringues glacées chantilly, crème brulée and mousse au chocolate.
Croissants, crème brulée brioche, quiche, macarons, éclairs, madeleines and French almond cake.
828 Brown St., Napa, 707-927-3623; 3921 Broadway, American Canyon, 707-731-0948, lepariscafe.com
Angèle Restaurant & Bar
Escargot, smoked salmon mousse, pâté de campagne, beef tartare, croque monsieur, cochon in a blanket (French hot dog in a puff pastry), salade niçoise, lamb printanier, chocolate mousse gâteau, salted caramel pot de crème and vanilla bean crème brûlée.
Truite fumée pommes a l’huile, oeufs mimosa truffés, friture d’éperlans, pâté de campagne maison, escargots, parfait de foie blond, quenelles de brochet, coq au vin, cassoulet, steak tartare, tarte aux pommes, profiteroles, crêpe suzette and crème brûlée au chocolat.
Croissants, pain aux raisins, kouign-amann, brioche, quiche, salade niçoise, croque monsieur and madame, pan bagnat, French onion soup and poulet sans tête.
All cider tastings at Gowan’s in Philo are held outdoors in one of the family’s apple orchards. (Courtesy of Visit Mendocino)
