For the second year, OpenTable.com has tapped Sonoma Valley’s St. Francis Winery as the nation’s number one restaurant, beating out culinary superheroes in New York, San Francisco and Napa Valley. 

Yup, a winery has been named Best Restaurant in America. Twice.

“We are still pinching ourselves,” said Chris Silva, President and CEO of St. Francis Winery and Vineyards. “The real irony is that we aren’t actually a restaurant,” he added, acknowledging the, well, uniqueness of his situation. St. Francis won the coveted top spot in 2013, under Chef David Bush (now of Oso).

But it also isn’t an accident that St. Francis Winery’s Executive Chef Bryan Jones’ luxe five-course tasting menu and wine pairings have attracted a lot of attention. Using ingredients from the winery’s 2-acre garden, classical fine dining techniques and presentations, and luxury ingredients ranging from local Wild King Salmon and braised duck to local blackberries, carrots and chanterelle mushrooms, this isn’t exactly picnic fodder. And then there’s idyllic scenery surrounding the dining room, with million dollar views of Mount Hood, the vineyards and historic winery. At $68 per person, it’s relative steal for this kind of dining experience.

But still, a winery?

We went right to the top Opentable.com brass for some answers.

“While St. Francis isn’t a traditional restaurant, they offer a positively magical dining experience,” said Caroline Potter, Chief Dining Officer for Opentable.com, who has dined there herself.

“It truly dazzles all the senses, from the sublime wines and delightful seasonal plates to the welcoming hospitality and pastoral setting. When you dine there, you are part of an intimate group sharing a journey through local food and wine with expert guides, and by the time you leave you feel as if made new friends with the St. Francis staff and your fellow diners,” she said. “In fact, my husband and I are still in touch with our table mates,” Potter added.

Silva agrees that the kinship, as well as the detailed wine pairings (they are a winery, after all) are really what makes the experience.

“We have received a lot of attention over the fact that one of the key themes of this experience is that of community:  16 guests sit together at a round, communal table with one of the best vineyard views in the world and share about 90 minutes of world class wine, food, and conversation—and what we hope will be a sense of awe—with  people they have never met,” he said.

So, how’d St. Francis get to #1?  OpenTable generates their list of the 100 Best Restaurants in America from more than 5 million restaurant reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between November 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015. Reps tell us that restaurants are sorted according to a score calculated from each restaurant’s average rating in the “overall” category along with that restaurant’s rating relative to others in the same metropolitan area and the average number of restaurants reviewed by diners who reviewed that restaurant.

That’s a bit too much head scratching for us, but a quick look online reveals that St. Francis has about 462 reviews, with an average of 4.9 stars. Rutherford’s Auberge du Soleil , which also made the Top 100, has over 2,000 reviews, but ranks an average of 4.7 stars. Other restaurants in the lineup Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, SF’s Benu and Acquerello, NYC’s Daniel, along with neighboring Wine Country restaurants Farmhouse Inn and The French Laundry.

Outsiders also seem to see something that maybe we natives have become all too accustomed to. 

“The experience provides a great deal of value to diners with its modest price, but they don’t skimp on time or attentiveness. You are treated with so much care, questions about the wine and the pairings are not only encouraged, they¹re solicited, and you really come away not just satiated but also enlightened,” Potter said.

“We have the dream team at St. Francis right now, and to be named #1 Restaurant in America is really the icing on the cake,” he said.

Want to see for yourself?  St. Francis Winery, 100 Pythian Road, takes reservations for food and wine pairings Friday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday). 538-9463, stfranciswinery.com.

Want some cookie baking advice from someone who’s made hundreds and hundreds of recipes? After a whole lot of trial and error, I’ve learned over the years how to get consistently good cookies every time. Or at least most every time. Follow these steps, and you’ll be golden (brown). 

1. Use Parchment or Silpats
Martha uses them and so should you. Parchment paper (or a silpat silicone sheet — though I prefer parchment) creates a barrier between the tray and the cookie, allowing for more even baking and less messy cleanup. You won’t need to grease the sheet, and the cookies will slide right off. Trust me, it’s a major time saver.

2. Use Fresh Spices
I cannot stress this enough. Spend a few extra minutes a get freshly ground spices. The stuff at the grocery store is okay, but you won’t believe the difference in flavors if you stock up on a few dollars worth of fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom. Plus it makes your kitchen smell great.

3. Use Good Flour
The cheap stuff is just, well, cheap. Use unbleached, all-purpose flour. King Arthur’s is top notch.

4. Use Unsalted Butter, The Good Stuff
You don’t need to buy that really fancy artisan stuff for baking, but don’t cheap out either. i’ve used a variety of butters, and usually settle on Land ‘O Lakes as my go to. I’m more fond of Clover, of course — and snap it up when it’s on sale. Unsalted is the best choice for baking, since it won’t add extra salt to the final product. But frankly, it’s not tragic if you have to use it.

5. Room Temperature is the perfect temperature
We all know butter needs to be softened (if you’re in a hurry, you can nuke it for a few seconds in the microwave, but don’t melt it). But eggs work better in recipes at room temp, too. Don’t let them sit out too long, but if you can let them warm up a little, your ingredients will come together better.

6. Chill
Many recipes call for dough to chill for a few hours after mixing. That’s because the butter often gets very soft, and if you pop it into the oven right away, you get the “lace effect”, where the cookies just sort of become gooey, spread out messes on the tray. It’s a good idea to let most of your drop and butter-based cookies take a little time out in the fridge before you spoon ’em out.

7. Test Your Oven
I have a cheap oven that can be 50 or more degrees off from what I set it to. I’ve learned its quirks, but investing in a little oven thermometer isn’t a bad idea so you know exactly when you’re pre-heated and what the real temperature is.

8. Don’t Guess at measurements
Unlike cooking, baking is a science. Measurements need to be as precise as possible for the best effect. I’ve learned the hard way that guessing or throwing in an extra pinch or two doesn’t usually work out well. On that note, when measuring flour, lightly scoop it into the measuring cup then use a knife across the top to get a more accurate measure.

9. Stand Mixers Make Baking Easier
Not everyone can afford these monsters, but if you do a lot of baking, they are a sound investment. The power of a stand mixer allows you to really cream butters and sugars together and incorporate ingredients faster than using hand mixers. If it’s not in your budget, maybe a friend or relative will loan theirs out for a couple days. And while you’re at it, investing in a cookie scooper is a pretty awesome idea, too. They look like little ice cream scoops, and make spooning out drop cookies a lot easier and more uniform.

10. Vanilla matters
Oh, tell me you don’t use that horrible cheap stuff that’s mostly flavoring and alcohol. Buy expensive vanilla (and other flavorings) that are extracted from actual vanilla beans. Your cookies will taste much better. i promise.