Supper Club Classics Julia Child Would Love at Soon-to-Open Healdsburg Restaurant

This new Healdsburg restaurant features menu staples of the Julia Child era - brought back to life for new generations of diners.


Healdsburg’s newest restaurant, The Brass Rabbit, is slated to open May 12, featuring “supper club classics” in the former Bistro Ralph space.

At the helm is Chalkboard Restaurant’s Shane McAnelly, who has been working on the menu for months. Expect a protein-focused menu that showcases the restaurant’s six-foot Argentinian-style wood-burning grill, along with a a rotisserie and plancha in the open kitchen. Daily menu specials are slated to include Lamb Wellington ($33), Lobster Thermidor ($46), Bouillabaisse ($28) and Peking Duck A L’Orange ($32), old school menu staples of the Julia Child era brought back to life for new generations of diners–something we find rather charming.

Other entrees include plancha-griilled Alaskan Halibut with baby artichoke, Gulf shrimp, nicoise olive, Romano bean and buerre blanc ($35); grilled ribeye with red wine braised cipollini onions, duck fat potatoes and Bordelaise sauce ($39); English pea, morel mushroom, Gruyere and carrot pot pie ($24) and both raw and cooked seafood including oysters, a grand platter of shellfish and a selection of caviar and roe.

Much of the restaurant’s seasonal produce will come from Chalk Hill Vineyard’s 4.5 acre organic farm. Farmers and ranchers including Marin Sun Farms, nearby Front Porch Farms and Preston Farms will also be showcased. The restaurant’s owners, Robert, Patrick and Courtney Foley, are the children of entrepreneur and wine enthusiast Bill Foley, who owns Chalkboard Restaurant, the Les Mars Hotel and Chalk Hill Winery among other investments.

Sweets and libations don’t get second class billing here. Pastry chef William Woodward’s opening dessert menu includes a chocolate hazelnut tart with buerre noisette ice cream, frozen grasshopper souffle with mint granita and raspberry gelee, along with a rotating cheese selection.

A full bar under the management of Nathan Grise Myers includes classic Americana cocktails including the Mint Julep, Manhattan, and Moscow Mule, along with a dedicated martini menu with add-ins like foie gras-stuffed olives and black truffle tincture. The wine list will focus on California vineyards (with a curated list of 50 bottles, and six by the glass).

Indoor seating for 40, with a few seats on the front patio as well. Opens May 12 daily for dinner from 5:30pm to 10pm, 109 Plaza St., Healdsburg, thebrassrabbithealdsburg.com.

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