BiteClub’s been hearing news of West County Grill’s demise for a few weeks now (a few employees have been buzzing around saying the restaurant was about to be shuttered), but I’ve gotten final confirmation that the restaurant is, in fact, kaput.

It’s been a hard road for what many of us hoped would be a sort of Chez Panisse of Sonoma — based on its celeb chef, Jonathan Waxman. That never panned out and the criticism soon started rolling in: Inattentive staff, less than stellar food, Waxman’s disappearance and worst of all, pissing off a lot of locals.

BiteClub’s never glad to see a restaurant go, especially one with potential. We hope that someone else can take over the space. Farewell West County Grill.

Check out my original review, and the recent “What’s Up?” piece about Waxman going MIA.

CLOSED
Just a quick hit on the new Saigon Bistro in downtown Santa Rosa.
BiteClub and Co. hit the revamped spot on Mendocino Ave. which
previously housed the ill-fated Vivere, which was previously Nirvana,
which was previously Tahini Grill. The interior hasn’t undergone much
change, aside from repainting and the upstairs balcony is slated to be
open for dinner.
On the plus side, its open for lunch — a boon
to downtowners always looking to mix it up. Prices are reasonable, if
not cheap, making it a distinct possibility for adding into the
noontime rotation. The lengthy menu includes lots of pho
(including some more challenging “authentic” cuts); glass noodle dishes
and plenty of vegetarian options (though I always wonder about the fish
sauce and strict vegetarianism). Grilled meats include bbq pork, lemon grass chicken, Vietnamese meatballs and grilled beef. The
white tablecloth service is upscale casual, perfect for business
lunches. Service is still (understandably) rough, but attentive and
already better than the last two tenants.
On the minus side, the
dishes still need a bit of refining. BiteClub stopped in opening week
and while the dishes look perfectly delish, the meat — especially the chicken — was sawdust dry.
Peanut sauce, which for me is a deal-breaker, was bland, bland, bland.
The fowl soup that accompanied my friend’s lunch was exactly that. The
chili-fish sauce that is usually dumped over noodle bowls had barely a whisper of flavor. Spring rolls were simply ho-hum.
What makes Vietnamese food so appealing (I’m a regular at Pho Vietnam and Simply Vietnam,
who both get it right) are the kick-in-the-tastebud flavors of sweet,
salty, umami and sour, with just a pinch of heat. I live for the
lightly carbonized, sizzling meat with peanuts, noodles and fish sauce.
I would walk a mile in stilettos for warm peanut sauce kissed by lemon grass.
This
type of cooking is simple to get right. Fresh ingredients, a learned
hand at the grill and a balance of the perfumed herbs will make these
dishes sing. I’m praying that Saigon Bistro can work out the kinks and get it right. They’ll have my business back.
And I’m not alone. On opening day, the house was packed with hopefuls
slurping pho with anticipation. After talking with a few folks who
tried the spot, I wasn’t totally alone in my early disappointment, but
I also wasn’t alone in my willingness to give them another shot.

Downtown needs a little more lemon grass in the mix. I’ll keep you updated.
Saigon Bistro, 420 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, 707.528-3866

Former Lisa Hemenway collaborator Suzan Fleissner is preparing to open a new restaurant and bar in downtown Santa Rosa at the former Worth Our Weight space on Third Street. Following up on a tip from a BiteClubber, I hear that Fleissner (a vegetarian) plans to focus the menu around earth and sea — local seafood, produce and mostly meatless fare. No opening date has officially been set, but the hope is that GG’s will be ready for customers by late August or (more likely) September.

…Also from the tip line: Stony Point’s Pho Vietnam has expanded into the vacant next-door restaurant space, mercifully expanding its soup-slurping potential. The insidery pho-fix spot has always been a tight squeeze and the wait for tables can get downright frustrating. Which is why I always call ahead for takeout. But hey, now you’ve got a little more elbow room should you choose to do your spring-roll munching onsite. 711 Stony Point Rd # 8, Santa Rosa – (707) 571-7687.

…After what seems like a ridiculous amount of waiting, Elements Restaurant in Napa is set to open to the public in early September. BiteClub got wind of the restaurant early last spring, but we hear that some permitting issues kept renovations at the former PIzza Azzurro spot from getting the spot open sooner. The restaurant/enoteca has former ZuZu chef Charles Weber in the kitchen and wine and food guy Rich Poliak at the helm. The restaurant is doing a few test runs for friends in late August, so stay tuned. Elements Restaurant and Enoteca, 1400 Second St., Napa.

…Finally, Redhare101 wants to know if there’s anything happening with Cloverdale’s white-napkin restaurant scene. “All my friends would die fora great steak/chop house!!!” he tells BiteClub. I’ve heard nothing. Stark’s Steakhouse north, perhaps?

…Contact me: biteclub AT pressdemo.com

Surrounded on all sides by dairies, farms, sea and orchards, the newish idea of only eating foods produced within 150 miles of where we live seems like a gimme. It’s an experiment popularized a few years ago by a group called “Locavores” and is gaining steam with the carbon-footprint set.

So, okay, 150 miles from most of Sonoma County encompasses everything south to Modesto and Watsonville (just barely); east to Placerville and north to about Red Bluff (but encompassing the bounty of Mendocino). It excludes much of the Central Valley’s produce and cattle, any seafood caught much north of Ukiah (Oregon, Washington) and well, the rest of the world. Where we get stuff like coffee, salt, tuna and the list goes on. Oh. Hmmm. It takes more than a village to feed a village, it seems.

But two former Napa chefs are stocking their new eatery, Green Grocer in Windsor, almost exclusively with food caught or harvested within 150 miles. Joe and Susanna Rueter opened the gourmet market in late July 2008 with 95% of their inventory coming from local sources. Currently they’re working with folks like Gary Blasi, Sayre, Amstrong, Golden Nectar and Bernier Farms. Joe almost apologies for the fact that some of his pork is from 167 miles away. And the coffee (duh) isn’t local, but its fair-trade. You get the idea.

But just being local isn’t the wow-factor here. Joe is a former French Laundry alum. His wife, Susanna worked in the kitchens of Auberge du Soleil. Their “take out” dinners include dishes like beef with seared foie gras and blackberry sauce. Joe makes his own terrines, ages his own meats and hawks burritos with duck confit for breakfast. For lunch, grilled panini of local ham, salumi and jack cheese (the Cubano) and fresh corn chowder. The menu changes up depending on what’s fresh and in season. Susanna bakes fresh berry and peach pies and tarts daily. Their lemonade is infused with rosemary.

You can see how “deli” doesn’t quite explain the concept.

The young couple are still settling into the shop — the wine area is still in development, as are weekly classes (tentatively set for Monday nights, but call ahead for details) and an area for cookware. Their enthusiasm, however, is catching. Windsor locals are fixtures at lunchtime, trying out Joe’s daily specials and chatting him up about what’s for dinner. So far, they haven’t been disappointed.

Local is good. Delicious and local is even better.

Green Grocer, 434 Emily Rose Circle, Windsor Town Green, 707.837.81138:30am – 8:30pm Monday – Saturday & 8:30am – 6pm on Sunday.

Lots of buzz going on about the new French bistro under construction in downtown Santa Rosa. The restaurant is taking over the former Wolf’s coffee and Cafe Japan spots. At the helm is General Manager Justin Werth, who’s worked at Mirepoix, Monti’s and Tra Vigne. It’s a family affair, Werth tells BiteClub, with his family helping to back the project. Inside, murals and tile work are going up, along with a large bar. The restaurant will be called Rendezvous, set to open in early September. Werth is currently looking for a chef.

Also slated to open is Saigon Cafe at 420 Mendocino (within shouting distance of the PD). The restaurant is taking over the spot formerly occupied by Vivere and should be serving up casual Vietnamese dishes beginning in early August.

A bit further afield, we got an interesting tip during last week’s Taste3 conference about new inn and restaurant planned for Yountville. Located in a former vineyard, the Bardessono is going for serious green cred. The inn, spa, park and affordable housing (in Yountville?) is bucking for Platinum LEED certification — a commitment to high-level environmental safety and use of sustainable resources. The inn is set to open in Feb. 2009, but BiteClub was interested in hearing about the in-house restaurant which is currently searching for a chef. Folks involved in the project say they’re hoping to make it a destination-worthy eatery.

It was a dinner that cost as much as a flat screen television. A single meal for two at the Michelin-rated Meadowood Restaurant cost more than my monthly car payment, more than I spend on clothes, as much as a flight to New York City and more than many people earn in a week. Let’s be honest, it’s more than many people earn in a month.

The knee-jerk reaction when I tell people this fact is either “Holy #$!&, I would never do that” or “Was it worth it?” And that’s exactly the point. We can all justify why it’s a ridiculous sum of money for anyone but lottery winners and the obscenely wealthy. But the harder question is, what could possibly make it worth that much for your average person?

Let’s break it down. Here’s what you get for $661:
– Brief access to the very exclusive Meadowood Resort, a secluded retreat for the rich and famous. They have a croquet pro, if that says anything.
– Million dollar, panoramic views from the dining room, and at least four people ready to serve your every whim.
– An eight-course chef’s tasting menu ($155 per person) and wine pairing ($95 per person). Tasting menus showcase the chef’s skill and ability to weave cohesive flavors and textures from appetizer to dessert.
– Haute French cuisine from one of the fastest rising chefs in the Bay Area, Christopher Kostow, who’s been at the restaurant since May 2008.

Those are the facts. But why people spend that kind of money on a meal is a bit more ambiguous.

Kostow, who’s in his early 30s, is among the handful of chefs working in Wine Country who have mastered modern haute cuisine. This is the kind of food you eat once or twice in a lifetime if you’re lucky — plates so tweezer-precise that if feels like a sacrilege to degrade them with a fork. Radishes become art and herbs become bubbling foams and powders. Kostow stops well before reaching the silliness of gastro-tech (lasers, dry ice and the like), but incorporates elements like sous vide (a water cooking process for meat) with impressive effect.

Take for instance “Foie Gras and Strawberries”, a quartet of foie gras as a smoked custard; shaved with a peppery arugula leaf; incorporated into a mille feuille (like a layered cake) with strawberry gelee; and pan seared. On top, a pickled strawberry, foam and drips of almost imperceptible balsamic vinegar. It’s heartbreakingly good, paired with a sweet-tart Hungarian Tokaji. Would I pay what amounts to about $31 for that experience again? Yep.

Other particularly good dishes on the current tasting menu:
– Lobster in a brown butter sauce with a sweetbread ravioli, morel mushrooms and summer truffle. Four small bites of bliss paired with an unoaked hillside chardonnay.
– A barrel-shaped bite of Sonoma Poissin (a young chicken) with a single cockle, four haricot verts tied in a bundle and a splash of buttery cockle sauce and an earthy cabernet franc.
– Smoked toro (fatty tuna) sliced paper thin, topped with Osetra caviar and teardrops of craime fraiche. Paired with a cedar-aged sake.
– A surprise pre-dessert palate cleanser of sorrel fizz (sorrel is a tart herb) and plum gelee.

Two small gripes: Meadowood’s tasting menu is based on “a collection of dishes inspired by today’s finest ingredients” — a theme on the a la carte menu as well, featuring “Local Gardens”, “Nearby Waters” and “Pastures and Ranches”. Sonoma meats and cheeses and regional produce are well-represented, but there’s clearly a little wiggle room when compared to stricter devotees of farm to table eating (Dungeness crab in July? Monkfish?). At the level of complexity of Kostow’s menu, I don’t begrudge him using whatever products he likes, but I’m not inspired by what’s become an almost meaningless drumbeat.

The other problem here is the level of service which, for this price, lacked the impeccable polish and consistency (read young staff who’ve memorized the drill, but don’t seem fully invested) of other comparable restaurants. McNibs’ pretty much laid it down, saying “Uh, are we being served by the interns?” Consider this came from a man who wanted slippers and a robe afterwards.

After eight courses, three hours, eight glasses of wine and $661, I’m left wondering if I’ve truly gotten my money’s worth. Compared to the region’s other top Michelin-rated restaurants (Cyrus and French Laundry), I’d say yes. Though you can get out of Cyrus and Meadwood for far less by ordering a la carte, the $155 tasting menu is far below the $240 per person tab at French Laundry and comparable to Cyrus’ $130 chef’s tasting menu.

But this isn’t about bargain hunting. This level of cuisine is about the potential of food as sensory art. Kostow’s food pleases the eyes, nose and mouth, certainly, but wiggles deep down into the soul. If you take the time to explore each bite–to look at touch and smell; to appreciate each detail so carefully mapped out by the chef — it is transformative. Then again, I’m a giant food nerd who lives for that stuff.

Dropping a wad of cash on a single meal is a giant commitment for most of us. If you’re going to do it, Kostow’s certainly one of the best chefs around with whom to invest your palate–and your wallet.

The Restaurant at Meadowood, 900 Meadowood Ln., St. Helena, 707-963-3646.