We’ve seen friends nearly come to blows over where to find the best burritos in Sonoma County — everyone has a favorite taco truck or hole-in-the-wall taqueria they’re convinced has the secret sauce for making the world’s best burrito.

To settle this once and for all, we’ve created the ultimate guide to the best burritos in Sonoma County — from the obvious to the undiscovered, including one that weighs 8 pounds. Along with our opinions, we’ve included direct quotes from Bite Club readers and foodies who responded to our callout for “the best burritos in Sonoma County.”

Sonoma

Juanita Juanita: Go for the Garlic Garlic Burrito and never worry about vampires again. “I’m partial to their Carnitas Pastor Tacos,” said Tony. Their Super Burrito is a favorite among locals; the next level up is the Big Ranch and the Super, grilled and topped with melted cheese and ranchero sauce. 19114 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, 707-935-3981, juanitajuanita.com

La Bamba Taco Truck: Locals swear this is the ultimate nighttime spot for tacos and some of the best burritos the town of Sonoma has to offer. Open from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Cash only. 18155 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 707-322-1070. Find them on Instagram.

Santa Rosa

Chelino’s: Chelino’s Super Wet Burrito is as flavorful as it is filling. Readers recommend carne asada for this large burrito, which is topped with a spicy verde sauce or a rich mole. 1079 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-571-7478, chelinosrestaurant.com

Cielito Lindo: “We ordered burritos (the super chicken burrito and a carnitas burrito),” said Elisa O. “They were both huge — stuffed with a lot of fresh deliciousness! We will definitely go again!” Come for the burritos and stay for the birria tacos and fresh ceviche. 52 Mission Circle, Suite 110, Santa Rosa, 707-978-2070. Find them on Instagram.

Delicias Elenita Taco Truck: Authentic Mexican food served under the stars makes Delicias Elenita a fiesta after dark. “Their super steak burrito is not only mouthwateringly delicious, but is also cheap and affordable,” said Paul. 816 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa, 707-575-7021. Find them on Facebook.

El Patio: “Burritos and breakfast burritos are probably some of the best in our great city of Santa Rosa,” said Brooks. “My burrito was practically the size of a brick,” said Ricardo, who ordered the Pork Chile Verde Super Burrito. “They did not skimp on anything, including the star of the show, which was the pork.” 425 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, elpatio1.com; 901 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-571-2222, elpatio2.com

La Palapa: “By far the best burrito I have ever had anywhere is the wet Terminator with Diabla Sauce at La Palapa. It is enough for two people and then some,” said Bite Club reader PepperHead. 590 Lewis Road, Santa Rosa, 707-569-9210, lapalapamexicanrestaurant.com

La Fondita: This downtown cantina brings the fiesta (and some of the best burritos in Sonoma County) to downtown Santa Rosa. The shrimp burrito is awesome, along with the Mole burrito. La Fondita is open until 1 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 816 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa, 707-526-0881

Los Arcos: Los Arcos receives high praise from Facebook fans for its satisfying meat, egg and potato-stuffed breakfast burritos, with the chorizo breakfast burrito among the most highly recommended. The McDougall Deluxe Burrito is a great veggie option. 1791 Marlow Road, Suite 6, Santa Rosa, 707-545-5858, losarcosrestaurantsr.com

Los Tres Chiles: The grande burrito is like the super wet burrito, but bigger. Made with a 14-inch tortilla and stuffed with, well, everything, this burrito can easily last for two filling meals. 2765 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-304-5724, lostreschiles.com

Taqueria El Favorito: If you’re looking for Mission-style burritos, head to El Favorito on Sebastopol Road. “Get the super burrito al pastor,” said Crystal. “I would show you a pic, but I ate it with the voracity of a honey badger eating a cobra. Sorry.” 565 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa, 707-526-7444

Taqueria Las Palmas: This unassuming taqueria off Santa Rosa Avenue is a sleeper but popular among authentic Mexican street-food fans and off-duty chefs. Carne asada and al pastor burritos are go-to choices. “It is HUGE and packed with perfectly tender and flavorful asada, refried beans, rice, avocado, sour cream and salsa with a hint of fresh lime juice,” said Walt about the Super Burrito with carne asada. 415 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-546-3091

Zoftig Eatery: Zoftig’s Korean BBQ Burrito is a food truck mashup stuffed with Stemple Creek Ranch grass-fed ground beef, kimchi, daikon, avocado and short-grain brown rice wrapped in a tortilla. It’s rib-sticking and hearty — not for dainty eaters. Our never-quite-full-enough digital editor gives it a thumbs up. 57 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, 707-521-9554, zoftigeatery.com

Rohnert Park

Don Julios: This secret little gem is well-known for its pupusas, but readers really love the burritos as well. “You MUST try their al pastor. I’ve eaten at a lot of burrito spots and drive further for this place. Please. Try it,” said Brent. The Camarones Tropical Burrito with sautéed prawns, homemade Spanish rice and fresh tropical mango salsa is pretty delish, too. 217 Southwest Blvd., Rohnert Park, 707-242-3160, donjulioslatingrill.com

Cotati

Galvan’s Beer Garden: Opened earlier this year in time for the Super Bowl, the game-day hangout by local food-truck favorite Galvan’s Eatery offers a variety of burritos alongside its popular quesabirria and carne asada fries. Also, find the pop-up food truck at local breweries such as Parliament, Old Caz Beer, Cooperage Brewing, Lagunitas and Petaluma’s HenHouse. 500 E. Cotati Ave., Cotati. instagram.com/galvanseatery

Petaluma

Mi Pueblo: The Macho, with meat, rice, cheese, sour cream, onion, cilantro, salsa, tomatoes, refried beans and guacamole, gets the wet treatment with a splash of “burrito sauce.” The Padre doubles the amount in the Macho; the Gordo triples it. Also found in Cotati (at 7384 Commerce Blvd.). 800 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, eatmipueblopetaluma.com; 108 Kentucky St., Petaluma, 707-769-9066, eatmipuebloelcentro.com

Chunky’s Taqueria & Grill: Nestled in the Leghorn Marketplace, near the Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma campus, Chunky’s is a Mexican-food mainstay in east Petaluma. The wet super burritos with pollo rojo or carne asada are a local favorite. 701 Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Petaluma, 707-775-3325

Healdsburg

Agave: This restaurant from brothers Octavio and Pedro Diaz serves up a Diego’s Burrito, a favorite among our Facebook followers. It features al pastor, grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, organic potatoes, sour cream, guacamole and melted Monterey jack cheese. Regular and super burritos are available, too. 1063 Vine St., Healdsburg, 707-433-2411, agavehealdsburg.com

Casa del Mole: The Super Burrito Al Pastor is a favorite at this market and taqueria from the Diaz brothers. But you’re really here for the mole, which is prepared the old-fashioned way with dozens of ingredients, including Mexican chocolate. 434 Center St., Healdsburg, 707-433-4138, casadelmoletogo.com

Gallina D’Oro: The owners of Healdsburg’s El Farolito have renamed (and revamped the menu) of the longtime restaurant to Gallina D’Oro. The Barbacoa Burrito, with slow-cooked shredded beef and all the fixings, deserves a spot on our list of best burritos. 128 Plaza St., Healdsburg, 707-433-2807, gallinadoro.com

Taqueria Guadalajara: “Try the Burrito Manadero! It has the best mole sauce!” said Sue. “It rivals a Mission (San Francisco) burrito — the gold standard,” said Christopher. “Chili Verde Burrito, best avo-green salsa,” said Tina. 125 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-1052, ordertaqueriaguadalajara.com

Sebastopol

Viva Mēxicana: While this Sebastopol eatery is known for its pop-up Persian nights, it’s also regarded for its breakfast and vegan burritos, among other hearty Mexican classics. 841 Gravenstein Highway S., Sebastopol. 707-823-5555, vivamexicana.com

Guerneville

Guerneville Taco Truck: No one really remembers what this popular food truck is actually called (it seems almost too easy that it’s simply the “Guerneville Taco Truck”). What they do remember is that they have the best burritos around. Usually parked in front of Safeway. 16405 Highway 116, Guerneville, guernevilletacotruck.com

Multiple locations

El Roy’s: “Finally, a burrito spot that lives up to the hype,” said Damien. “I’m only mad about the fact that I didn’t eat here sooner. It’s practically perfect; I can’t think of a bad thing to say.” Shrimp Super Burrito and Carne Asada Super Burrito are popular picks. Find food trucks at 401 E. Washington St. and 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma; 1569 Sebastopol Road, 2728 Santa Rosa Ave. and 505 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. Brick-and-mortar restaurant at 602 Elsa Drive, Santa Rosa. elroysxpressmex.com

Lola’s Market: Latino grocer with family-friendly prices and solid carnitas. “Huge and great prices, too,” said Michelle. Locations in Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Healdsburg. lolasmarkets.com

Maci Martell and Owen Ruderman contributed to this article. 

The post Where to Get the Best Burritos in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

When you live in Sonoma County, you’re never lonely for out-of-town visitors. Family, friends, college roommates, even casual acquaintances are all eager to catch up with you and take in all that the region offers.

Now through New Year’s is high season for house guests, with the number of invading out-of-towners larger than the kids’ gift lists. For local hosts, it can be a challenge deciding where to take restless visitors, especially those on a budget. Farm-to-table restaurants and taquerias are a given. Winery tasting rooms? Natch.

Go any direction in Sonoma County, and you will wind up somewhere intriguing. You’re never far from good food, natural beauty and wine tasting. But with so many choices, we’ve creamed off a few foolproof excursions that will fill up a day and make your guests’ stay in Sonoma County more memorable.

Click through the gallery for a four-day itinerary that includes some not-so-obvious explorations of Sonoma County, guaranteed to please your guests as much as you.

Meg McConahey contributed to this article. 

Day 1: Into the Armstrong Woods and to the coast

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in Guerneville is a great place to introduce visitors to the natural superlatives of Sonoma County. Magnificent, 1,200-year-old Sequoia sempervirens, commonly known as coastal redwoods, tower in a way that makes humans feel very small and very serene. Redwoods are among the natural wonders of the world and among the planet’s oldest living organisms. And they’re an easy drive from anywhere in the county.

The Armstrong reserve features a 1½-mile, ADA-accessible trail, making this an easy outdoors experience for everyone in your group. Arrive early and with jackets to combat the marine chill. At 7:45 a.m., you’ll find an empty parking lot and the quiet woods, sans Segways and smartphone selfie-taking hordes. By contrast, visitors to Marin’s Muir Woods have to make a reservation.

After an hour among the gentle giants, depart as the parking lot begins to fill. Those arriving have had their breakfast, so now it’s time for yours. Coffee Bazaar in Guerneville provides house-roasted coffee and pastries. Or drive a little farther west, along the Russian River, to Duncans Mills’ Gold Coast Coffee and Bakery.

Founded in 1877, Duncans Mills is a quaint station on the way to the coast from the river towns, with a charming general store and a depot museum next to where the Northwestern Pacific Railroad once ran. If you still have Christmas shopping to do, then Duncans Mills is a good place to browse. Don’t miss Jim Raidl’s Jim and Willies, a real curiosity shop of quirky antiques and curios with a friendly proprietor.

On the road again, continue west. For some sea air and wide-open ocean views to amaze visitors from land-locked places, stop at the Vista Trail in Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot some harbor seals.

After watching waves crash in the fresh sea air, you’ll be ready for the drive south on Highway 1 to Bodega Bay. This is the classic Sonoma Coast scene of crashing waves, and trails along the bluff are accessible to most people. Check out the whimsical wind spinners at Candy & Kites, the colorful array of saltwater taffy at Patrick’s and the Japanese prints at Ren Brown Collection Fine Art Gallery.

Start heading inland for a hit of Alfred Hitchcock in the tiny town of Bodega. Snap a “The Birds” selfie outside the old Potter School, immortalized in the scene where schoolchildren run screaming and flailing from their classroom. It’s a private residence, so stay on the road. Then swing by the nearby Saint Teresa of Avila Church, also featured in the film.

You’ll be hungry by now. For lunch, consider the Estero Cafe in Valley Ford just a few minutes’ drive away. The restaurant pays homage to local farmers with its hand-lettered chalkboard menus and homestyle food. Its inventive brunches, sandwiches and salads make it one of the county’s top foodie destinations.

Day 2: Healdsburg for the holidays

Start your day by taking in one of the most spectacular gems of Sonoma County — Lake Sonoma. Then head to Healdsburg (a 10-minute drive) for a leisurely breakfast at Costeaux French Bakery.

Costeaux French Bakery is a frequent winner in baking competitions, and its fresh breads are served in Sonoma restaurants. But not many people know that Costeaux serves great breakfasts and lunches.

After breakfast, let the bookworms and audiophiles in the group browse the fiction, vinyl and CD selection at Levin & Company. Take the stairs to the mezzanine for its collection of local art, jewelry and crafts. Next, visit the antique markets — like Shoffeitt’s Off the Square and Antique Harvest — all within easy walking distance of the plaza.

No Healdsburg visit is complete without a winery stop, or two. Lambert Bridge boasts a tasting room with a large fireplace, making it a cozy place for sipping wines in colder months. The Healdsburg Bubble Bar, nestled in a quaint 1906 Queen Anne Victorian near the plaza, offers a wide assortment of sparkling wines.

As the sun goes down, head to Barndiva for a craft cocktail and dinner, and watch the outdoor lights twinkle over the quirky art on the patio. Don’t miss the eclectic collection of British Cigarette Cards at the Gallery Bar.

Day 3: In search of lost time, and more wine, in Sonoma Valley

Winter is a good time to check out the new museum exhibit in Jack London State Historic Park. Even if it’s too cold or wet to hike, you can take cover in the House of Happy Walls museum dedicated to the great writer and his wife, Charmian.

Right outside the park gate, Benziger Family Winery offers vineyard tram tours that will get you out of the tasting room and among the vines, which have their own sculpted beauty in winter.

Make it an outdoorsy day at Sonoma Botanical Garden, one of Sonoma County’s secret spots. Few travel writers have discovered it, meaning you may have this 20-acre garden of rare Asian plants all to yourself. Easy paths wind past ponds and through dense plantings of trees and shrubs with something of interest in every season. There is a nice gift shop for garden lovers as well as golf cart tours by arrangement for those with mobility problems.

In the town of Sonoma, the walkable square offers places to sip, shop and dine. For celebratory sparkles during the holidays, there’s SIGH Champagne bar. No reservations needed, and they always offer three flights of French, Californian and other tantalizing sparklers. If you have teetotalers or beer drinkers in your party, this is a great tasting room option. They also offer draft beer, regular wine and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as snack-sized bites, both savory and sweet.

Sonoma Plaza offers holiday cheer and attractions for history buffs, from the Sonoma Mission to the barracks and Toscano Hotel, all within two blocks. There’s a big parking lot behind the barracks on First Street East.

When you’re ready for a bite to eat, consider Tasca Tasca (TT Tapas). Tasca stands for tavern or pub in Portugal. Chef Manuel Azevedo offers updated Portuguese tapas with a fresh Sonoma spin. They’re also open late. Or head down Broadway to HopMonk Tavern for bar bites and beer, washed down with live music on the weekends.

Day 4: Petaluma, Sebastopol and a farm-to-table finale in Forestville

The age of Petaluma, settled in the 1850s, might not impress visitors from Europe, but the downtown’s quaint storefronts, heritage homes and retro memorabilia will make even your English uncle or Swedish aunt melt. But first, start with breakfast at Della Fattoria, one of the country’s finest bread bakers, famous for its Meyer lemon rosemary boule. Try the breakfast toast with ricotta cheese, banana slices, toasted pecans and honey.

Downtown, check out the vintage guitars and mandolins at Tall Toad Music and the 1,800 varieties of heirloom seeds at The Seed Bank, owned by Baker Creek, one of the country’s leading purveyors of heirloom seed.

For the afternoon, get behind the wheel and drive the 17 miles to Sebastopol’s The Barlow. Designed to look like old farm industrial buildings — without the dirt and rust — this marketplace is good for browsing. Watch local makers in action at restaurants, wineries, breweries and cideries, and art, jewelry, glass, crafts, design and clothing studios.

If you want to arrange for a farm-to-table grand finale, you could make reservations at Farmhouse Inn’s upscale but surprisingly low-key Michelin-starred restaurant in Forestville. For a more affordable but still delicious option, Farmhouse Inn’s casual eatery Farmstand serves woodfired dishes and pizza.

The post Holiday Guests Coming? Here Are 4 Perfect Sonoma County Day Trips appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

As a symbol of renewal, fresh eggs get a lot of attention this time of year. Their sunny yolks and over-easy dispositions make them inescapable breakfast workhorses. Here are our favorite egg breakfasts. Click through the above gallery for more.

The Log Lifter

Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy with Scrambled Eggs
Baker & Cook

Originating in 19th century lumberjack camps, this gut-stuffing breakfast warms the heart and fills the belly for a long day of timbering—or couch surfing. $18.

18812 Highway 12, Sonoma. 707-938-7329, bakerandcooksonoma.com

Greet the Meat

Midtown Corned Beef Hash
J&M’s Midtown Cafe

House-cured corned beef, crisp hash browns, and melted cheese lay a tasty base for gooey poached egg yolks that slowly drizzle over the beautiful mess. Chef’s kiss. $16.

1422 Fourth St., Santa Rosa. 707-545-2233, jm-midtowncafe.com

Bling Your Benedict

Lox and Latke Benedict with Caviar
Grossman’s Noshery & Bar

This bougie breakfast substitutes crisp potato latkes and luxurious lox for the usual Benedict players. A schmaltz Hollandaise and caviar pile on the posh. $32.

308 Wilson St., Santa Rosa. 707-595-7707, grossmanssr.com

Hugs and Quiches

Deep Dish Quiche
Costeaux Bakery Cafe

The Godzilla of quiches, this mighty mountain of eggs, ham, bacon, cheese, and crust at this local institution absolutely crushes the competition. $15.

417 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 707-433-1913, costeaux.com

Morning Nachos

Chilaquiles
La Texanita

Somewhere between crispy and soggy is the perfect texture of tortilla chips smothered in salsa rojo, cotija cheese, and onions, and topped with scrambled or poached eggs. Add carnitas if you’re feeling sassy. $20.

1667 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa. 707-527-7331, latexanita.com

The Mix Don’t Lie

Shakshuka
Pearl

The Arabic origins of this roiling red dish mean “mixed up,” but the piquant (not hot) combination of paprika, chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, grilled Halloumi cheese, and baked eggs is more beauty than beast. $25.

500 First St., Petaluma. 707-559-5187, pearlpetaluma.com

Morning Motivator

Breakfast Sandwich
Americana

Greet the day with this easy, handheld traveler of a sando. Two overhard eggs, Estero Gold cheese, spinach, and housemade aioli on buttery toasted sourdough.

$15. 162 N. Main St., Sebastopol and 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. 707-827-3309, americanasr.com

Très Français

French Folded Eggs
Willow Wood Market Cafe

Velvety curds of steamed egg stippled with fontina cheese and basil will leave you wondering why Americans insist on overcooking and overstuffing this breakfast classic.

$16.75. 9020 Graton Rd., Graton. 707-823-0233, willowwoodgraton.com

The post 8 Favorite Breakfasts in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Weary, somewhat bleary of the spin-sniff-sip-swallow-or-spit wine tasting experience? These Sonoma and Napa wineries offer a little something extra to pair with your cabernet.

Medieval fortresses and parterre gardens, swimming pools and outdoor art galleries, riding horses and trolleys — there’s plenty of reason to venture outside the tasting room on your next Wine Country trip.

A trip to Germany at Schug Carneros Estate Winery

French, Italian and Spanish accents abound at Sonoma and Napa wineries, so a visit to Walter Schug’s German-styled winery in Carneros is as refreshing as a trocken riesling.

Schug, who died in 2015 at age 80, grew up at Staatsweingut Assmannshausen in Germany’s Rhine Valley. Bit by the winegrowing bug, he eventually made his way to Napa Valley, as winemaker for Joseph Phelps Winery. In 1983, he founded his own winery estate yard in Sonoma Carneros, the production facility and tasting room designed with the peaked roof and timber framing typical in the Rhine. All the original winemaking equipment came from Germany and some of it remains, most strikingly the 669-gallon wood oval aging casks, some of them elaborately carved.

Riesling is no longer in the Schug repertoire, the grape not ideally suited to Sonoma’s sunny climate. Instead, Schug took the pinot noir (spatburgunder) route, adding chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and other varietals to the mix. His children continue the business, with German-American Johannes Scheid the winemaker.

The Cave Tour & Tasting Experience ($75) includes a walk around the property and through the production area and caves, followed by a seated tasting of current-release and Heritage Reserve wines, served with snacks.

602 Bonneau Road, Sonoma, 707-939-9363, schugwinery.com

Outdoor art gallery at The Donum Estate

Wineries have long been places for visitors to view art and photography on the walls of tasting rooms. Sculptures welcome guests at estate entrances and within sight of tasters.

Now, Donum has taken artistic displays well beyond the usual, dotting its 200-acre Carneros estate with 50-some large-scale, open-air sculptures from artists including Ai Weiwei, Keith Haring, Subodh Gupta and Doug Aitken. Adding to the high-end artistry: the tasting area designed by Danish architect David Thulstrup, known for his interior design of world-class Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.

The basic way to enjoy Donum is to book its Carneros Experience ($95), which includes a walking tour of the estate and tastes of its rosé, chardonnay and pinot noir. The Explore Experience ($175) is a two-hour, all-terrain-vehicle tour of the estate and tasting of wines served with seasonal bites and, of course, views of the artwork.

24500 Ramal Road, Sonoma, 707-732-2200, thedonumestate.com

Living history at Buena Vista Winery

Founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy, Buena Vista is the second-oldest winery in California and is often referred to as the oldest premium winery in the state. (The oldest winery in California is D’Agostini Winery, which was founded in 1856.)

Haraszthy, a vivacious and eccentric pioneer, immigrated from Europe in 1840 in search of the good life. Following in the footsteps of the forty-niners, he found the perfect terroir for “purple gold” and, as the self-proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista,” he established a reputation as an experimental vintner, a shrewd businessman and a flamboyant evangelist. (He died as he had lived — dramatically — in an alligator-infested river in the jungles of Nicaragua.)

The legend of Haraszthy and his winery is now recreated by Buena Vista owner Jean-Charles Boisset, a modern-day version of the eccentric count. The best way to get a taste of the winery’s history (and some wine) is to reserve the Barrel Tasting & Winery Tour ($50), which takes visitors on a stroll through the winery grounds and into the Champagne Cellar for a taste of current release wines. Next, the tour continues into the wine caves where guests can sample wine from the barrel.

18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, 800-926-1266, buenavistawinery.com

Horsing around among the vines at Jack London State Park

They say, “don’t drink and drive,” but can you drink and ride?

At Triple Creek Horse Outfit in Glen Ellen, the riding is sensibly taken care of before the drinking. And what a ride it is. Triple Creek offers guided horseback tours at Jack London State Historic Park in the magical Valley of the Moon. The park features fine riding trails through Jack and Charmian London’s Beauty Ranch, which wind around acres of vineyards, through open oak woodlands and under shady groves of majestic redwoods.

All Triple Creek Horse Outfit rides include a complimentary wine tasting at nearby VJB Cellars in Kenwood. The winery also has a gourmet Italian deli and sells wood-fired pizza, gelato and more. Private rides (one hour to two hours) are $145 to $225 per rider. Questions are best addressed via email at triplecrik@gmail.com. Bookings can be made online.

2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, 707-888-0034, triplecreekhorseoutfit.com

Humming bees and lavender fields at Matanzas Creek Winery

Matanzas Creek Winery in Bennett Valley has been a haven for wine enthusiasts and lavender-lovers since 1991. Guests to the winery can sip sauvignon blanc on a terrace overlooking fields of lilac and amethyst; the soothingly seductive perfumes wafting in the breeze to the hum of bees shifting busily among the blossoms.

The end of June/beginning of July is prime lavender season at Matanzas Creek Winery. The fields are organically farmed and are cut, bundled and hung to barn dry after reaching full bloom. Then the dried blossoms are used in culinary, bath, body and home products sold in the winery’s lavender market.

Tastings (from $35) are by appointment. Picnic tables (with bottle service) can be reserved for two hours ($25 on weekdays; $50 on weekends). Bocce courts can be rented for two hours daily ($20 per person).

6097 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa, 707-528-6464, matanzascreek.com

An all-terrain adventure at Chenoweth Wines

Of the more than 400 wineries that call Sonoma County home, the grand estates have a knack for getting all the attention. But when you make the turn onto the retired tractor-lined driveway at Chenoweth Wines, it’s the unpretentious setting that makes you happy you’ve arrived.

With 800 acres of land, from redwoods to vineyards, the Chenoweth estate offers plenty to see. But it’s how you get to see it — buckled into an all-terrain vehicle — that adds even more bragging rights to a busy day of wine tasting.

ATV tours ($125 per person) take about 1 1/2 hours and traverse the Chenoweth ranch, redwood grove and vineyards and make stops for wine tasting outdoors. At tour’s end, guests can stay and enjoy their own picnic in the redwood grove. Tours are limited to eight guests and can be booked by calling 707-829-3367 or emailing joinus@chenowethwines.com.

5550 Harrison Grade Road, Sebastopol, 707-331-2734, chenowethwines.com

A taste of history at Three Sticks Wines

The historic Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe is the longest occupied residence in Sonoma and one of the town’s few remaining buildings from California’s Mexican period.

Constructed in 1842 by Captain Salvador Vallejo (the infamous brother of General Mariano Vallejo), the adobe has been carefully restored by Three Sticks owners Bill and Eva Price, who now house a private tasting room for their Three Sticks wine label in the historic building.

Visitors can tour the adobe and take in its history while tasting a flight of pinots and chardonnays ($65) or finish the experience with a food and wine pairing prepared in partnership with the celebrated chefs at El Dorado Kitchen.

New this season is the Oysters & Chardonnay pairing ($95) that includes a flight of three single vineyard chardonnays and half a dozen oysters on the half shell (three types of oysters). Guests get to learn about terroir (how environmental factors like soil, topography and climate impact the wine) and merroir (how the bivalves’ marine surroundings influence their flavor).

143 W. Spain St., Sonoma, 707-996-3328, threestickswines.com

Cabernet on a cable car, Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley

Lack a designated driver? Think limousine tours are for tourists? Biking and wining a precarious pair? The Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley might just be what you’re looking for.

Built from the blueprints of an 1890s San Francisco cable car, the trolley safely trundles wine enthusiasts on a six-hour ride through Sonoma Valley.

The journey begins at Sonoma Plaza and then makes three stops at local wineries for private tasting experiences (the stops change with the seasons and include wineries such as Ravenswood, Imagery Estate, Paradise Ridge, Gloria Ferrer and B.R. Cohn).

Included in the package is a guide, a boxed lunch, views of the bucolic Wine Country landscape and plenty of bottled water. Daily Sonoma tours begin at 10:15 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. The tour is $125 and reservations can be made online. Tasting fees at the wineries range from $30 to $40 per person.

sonomavalleywinetrolley.com

Wine wonderland at Francis Ford Coppola Winery

Bringing the kids on a wine tasting trip may not seem the best of ideas, that is unless you are destined for Francis Ford Coppola’s winery.

The famous filmmaker’s Geyserville estate is a wonderland with wine: film memorabilia (including Don Corleone’s desk from “The Godfather”) and Oscars are on display; its two swimming pools (3,600 square feet in total) are surrounded by chaise lounges, cabanas and bocce courts; and there is always plenty of wine for the adults.

Seated tastings on the terrace are $40. Bocce courts can be reserved 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday-Monday. ($50 per person, plus tax; available for parties of eight to 24 guests).

Cabana reservations, which is the only way to access the pool, become available on the winery’s website in late spring. (The pool is typically open from mid-June to early October.) It is a popular place to be during summer in Wine Country, so make sure to make your cabana reservations early.

300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville, 707-857-1400, thefamilycoppola.com

Tulips and trees at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery

Ever experienced a tulip emergency? Healdsburg’s Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery has a tulip hotline set up in the late winter/early spring months for fans eager not to miss the winery’s 10,000 tulips in bloom.

The five-acre winery gardens also feature over 2,000 species of trees and shrubs, a variety of perennials and annuals (the tulips and daffodils take center stage in the spring), waterfalls that flow into fish-filled ponds and bronze sculptures from renowned artists Dennis Smith, Douglas Van Howd and Jane DeDecker.

The Italian/French parterre gardens accentuate classic geometric shapes. The enclosed garden at the front of Villa Fiore (the estate winery) has a parklike setting, its design more relaxed and its emphasis on color and texture.

Take in views of the gardens and surrounding vineyards from the winery’s Sycamore Grove terrace during the Wine & Brunch experience (10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays; $85 per person).

The brunch includes a flight of reserve wines paired with a seasonal, Italian-inspired menu with dishes such as Prosciutto Benedict with roasted potato and estate garden greens; Yannis Sausage & Farm Fresh Egg Strata topped with Valley Ford Estero Gold Cheese; and TCHO Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta for dessert. Advance reservations and prepayments are required (reservations are refundable up to 72 hours prior to visit).

8761 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-6700, ferrari-carano.com

Portal to the middle ages at Castello di Amorosa

It’s no surprise that some refer to Dario Sattui, a fourth generation vintner and the man behind Castello di Amorosa, as a modern-day Don Quixote.

Some 20 years ago, Sattui began a 15-year quest to build a medieval-style Tuscan castle in Napa Valley as a place to showcase his wines. The result: a 107-room, eight-level, 121,000-square-foot castle complete with drawbridge, secret passageways, torture chamber and tasting rooms.

Seated and standing tastings ($60 and $50) give visitors access to the two main levels of the castle via a self-guided tour (strategically posted QR codes make it easy to learn about the winery at your own pace).

The Diamond Estate Tour & Reserve Wine Tasting ($70) and the Cheese & Charcuterie Wine Pairing Tour ($85) include guided tours that take visitors through the two main levels and also into the production area, underground cellars, torture chamber and armory. Reservations required for all tastings.

4045 St Helena Highway, Calistoga, 707-967-6272, castellodiamorosa.com

Gondola glides to the tune of old English bells at Sterling Vineyards

A one-of-a-kind aerial tram glides you on a 360-degree scenic ride up a tree-covered hill to the winery. Debarking at the summit, visitors can then begin to explore the chalk-white stuccoed, many-verandaed winery. Its architectural inspiration? The Greek villages on the island of Mykonos where Sterling founder, Peter Newton, once lived.

High in the towers at Sterling Vineyards are eight bells that once hung in London’s Church of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East. When the Anglican church, founded in the Saxon 10th century, was badly damaged by the Great Fire of 1666, it was repaired and a Christopher Wren steeple added. (St. Dunstan’s was much later mortally damaged during the London Blitz in 1941.)

The bells found their way to Calistoga in the 1970s and soon visitors can continue to enjoy the timelessness of their reverberations at Sterling Vineyards.

1111 W. Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga, 800-726-6136, sterlingvineyards.com

Linda Murphy and Dana Rebmann contributed to this article. 

The post 12 Unique Winery Experiences in Sonoma and Napa Wine Country appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Forestville’s unofficial motto is “The Good Life,” and it’s not hard to see why. A summer destination for bohemians and artists since the early 1900s, the rural town has majestic redwoods and river access, great restaurants, and laid-back, small-town style. Click through the above gallery for a few of our favorite things to do in Forestville.

Josephine Clements, Sofia Englund and Claire Weber contributed to this article. 

The post 14 Things to Eat, Drink and Do in Forestville, CA appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Ready to ditch 2021 and say hello to 2022? Here are some spots to dine deliciously and celebrate the New Year.

Santa Rosa

Epicenter: Family party 5- 9 p.m. with laser tag, bounce houses, video games, magic show and bowling. Watch the ball drop at 9 p.m. and celebrate with a sparkling cider. Buffet menu includes cheeseburger sliders, pizza, chicken wings, fruit platter, fries and chocolate-topped cream puffs. 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa.

John Ash & Co.: Four-course dinner with choice of pheasant and quail terrine, beef carpaccio, avocado and tofu poke stack, baked rock shrimp cannelloni, portobello Wellington, Liberty duck breast, diver scallops, beef filet, blood orange creme brulee and huckleberry pavlova. Book at vintnersresort.com. 4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa.

La Gare: Four-course dinner with potato leek soup and Caesar salad, followed by choice of chicken cordon bleu, beef Wellington, prime rib, Australian lobster tail or surf and turf. For dessert, chocolate caramel cake. Three seatings: 5 p.m., 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. For reservations, call 707-528-4355. 208 Wilson St., Santa Rosa.

Ricky’s Eastbound: Pick-up dinner of herb-roasted lamb shank, au gratin potatoes, honey-roasted Brussels sprouts, salad and rolls. $110 for two, $215 for four. Email order to rickyseastboundorders@gmail.com. 5755 Mountain Hawk Drive, Santa Rosa.

Healdsburg

Matheson: Two New Year’s Eve parties at the tri-level restaurant. Downstairs, the menu includes caviar on smoked brioche with whipped tofu; seafood matsutake chawanmushi with Maine lobster and sea urchin; aged Sonoma duck with salsify, chard and mandarin; beef Wellington with whipped potato and Périgord truffle. Also a few specials, including Alba white truffle (additional cost) and house-cured foie gras. The Chef’s Tasting Menu Dinner is planned for the dining room and mezzanine for $175 per person (5 p.m. seating) and $275 per person (8 p.m. seating). Tickets available at exploretock.com.

Upstairs, Roof 106 will have an a la carte menu for walk-in customers (you can queue up at the host stand in front of the restaurant) from lunchtime to midnight. The menu includes wood-fired pizzas, appetizers, sushi rolls and deserts from the dinner menu.

The Matheson party continues with a ticketed New Year’s Eve celebration from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. for $100 per person (must be 21 years and older). Music from the band Notorious, a DJ on Roof 106 and a midnight toast. The Matheson will have a la carte food, champagne, wine and cocktails available to order. Find details at exploretock.com/thematheson or by calling 707-723-1106. 106 Matheson St., Healdsburg.

Valette: Six-course tasting menu with caviar ($95 extra), Dungeness crab tartare, scallop en croute, mushroom gnocchi with prosciutto and truffle, maple-glazed Liberty Farms duck breast, American wagyu filet and Million Dollar Bar. $150 per person. Reserve at valettehealdsburg.com/reservations or 707-473-0946. 344 Center St., Healdsburg.

Rohnert Park

Sally Tomatoes: Served buffet dinner with salad, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, prime rib and chocolate bourbon torte. Stand-up comedy show and live music. Tickets at bit.ly/32rFUbQ. 1100 Valley House Drive, Rohnert Park, sallytomatoes.com

Sebastopol

Blue Ridge Kitchen: Enjoy dinner and a party at The Barlow. Three-course meal includes oysters and shrimp cocktail starters and entrees of braised Kobe beef short ribs, cioppino or butter-poached black cod. Lavender panna cotta or Mississippi mud pie for dessert. $95 per person, including admission to the after-party. Call 707-222-5040 for reservations. 6770 McKinley St., Sebastopol. brkitchen.com

Gravenstein Grill: Winter vegetable croquette, root vegetable salad, French onion soup, Dungeness crab salad, New York strip steak, Liberty duck breast, wild mushroom gnocchi and Meyer lemon tartlet. $150 per person; call for reservations, 707-634-6142. 8050 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol. gravensteingrill.com

Sonoma

Glen Ellen Star: New Year’s Eve menu starts with a sparkling wine toast and housemade Parker House rolls with brown butter. For dinner, choose between wood-baked halibut with slow-cooked fennel and saffron, sultanas, toasted pine nuts and sauce Maltaise or New York strip steak with Romanesco sauce, caramelized shallots and pomegranate Bordelaise. Entrees come with rigatoni cacao e pepe, 24North Parmesan Reggiano and grated Perigord truffles, served family-style. $100 per person. 13648 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. Reserve through resy.com or at glenellenstar.com. 707-343-1384.

Kivelstadt Cellars Eatery: Truffle fries and a glass of 2020 Carignane Pet-Nat Wondering for $15 on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Josh Yenne will play live from 1- 3 p.m. on New Year’s Day. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Year’s Eve and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Year’s Day. Reserve at kivelstadtcellars.com or exploretock.com. 22900 Broadway, Sonoma, 707-938-7001.

Layla at MacArthur Place: Dungeness crab cakes, warm Berkshire pork belly, stuffed Sonoma quail and a choice of two seasonal desserts. $110 with wine pairings available for $60 extra. Seatings at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 29 E. MacArthur St., Sonoma. Reservations at macarthurplace.com, 707-938-2929.

Picazo Kitchen & Bar: Traditional Mexican chile en nogada with poblano chile stuffed with veggie peccadillo, vegan walnut sauce, pomegranate and parsley, all served with cilantro rice and corn flour tortillas. Other options include lobster tail pasta with fettucine Alfredo or 6-ounce steak frites with chimichurri. Reserve ahead both for dine-in and take-out. $45 for one, $85 for two. 19101 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 707-935-3287.

Sonoma Grille and Bar: Three courses include choice, for the first course, of raw Royal Miyagi oysters, chilled baby scallops with sweet and spicy sauce, lobster bisque drizzled with basil oil or blood orange salad with feta, pistachios, frisée and Champagne vinaigrette. Entrees are a choice three-cheese ravioli with tomato sauce; spinach fettuccine with sea scallops; Blue Nose seabass with Tuscan lentils or tenderloin filet with grilled asparagus and crispy shoestring potatoes. For dessert, choice of chocolate torte with gelato and chocolate sauce, cranberry pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce or strawberry cheesecake with strawberry Champagne sauce. $80 per person. 5 -10 p.m. Also open New Year’s Day. 165 W. Napa St., Sonoma. Reserve at 707-938-7542.

Wit & Wisdom: Multi-course meal includes a caviar amuse bouche of Yukon gold roti with crème fraîche and Mina Reserve Osetra caviar and dill. A la carte first course includes choice of smoked burrata with Burgundy truffle and shaved Alba white truffles ($35) or ahi tuna tartare with quail egg. Additional courses include scallops, wild mushroom tagliatelle, lobster pot pie, eye of ribeye steak with potato puree and creamed spinach. Add a black truffle to any course for an additional $65. For dessert, a “Farewell to 2021 chocolate extravaganza” consists of Valrhona milk chocolate cream, brownie bar, gold leaf and Champagne gelée. Reserve at opentable.com/r/wit-and-wisdom-sonoma. Dinner is 5 -9 p.m., and the bar will be open late for a complimentary Champagne toast at midnight. 1325 Broadway, Sonoma, 707-931-3405.

Valley Ford

Dinucci’s: Antipasti plate, minestrone, salad, ravioli with Bolognese sauce, filet mignon or Alaskan halibut, mashed potatoes and cheesecake. $42 per person. Music from Nick Foxer. Book online at dinuccisrestaurant.com or call 707-876-3260. 14485 Valley Ford Road, Valley Ford.

Kathleen Hill contributed to this article.

The post 16 Spots to Celebrate the New Year in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

In search of a great meal to enjoy outdoors? Here are a few of our favorite alfresco dining spots, featuring shaded, covered and heated patios and sun-dappled gardens. Click through the above gallery for details. 

Grace Yarrow contributed to this article.

The post 50 Top Restaurant Patios in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Executive chef Armando G. Navarro of Sonoma’s El Dorado Kitchen will never forget the moment three decades ago when he applied for one of his first restaurant jobs. He was working his way through a top Bay Area culinary school when he and a classmate applied to a Napa Valley restaurant they’d heard was hiring.

“I went in first and they said, ‘No, we don’t need people. We’re not hiring.’ And then my friend from the same classroom went the next day, and they hired him,” says Navarro.

At the time, he was frustrated and confused. Looking back, he believes he knows exactly what was goingon: Navarro, who grew up in Mexico, was brown, and his friend was “a white boy from Wisconsin.”

It’s no secret that the restaurant industry can be a toxic soup behind the scenes — something most diners never see.

Over the past year, calls to correct biased hiring practices, harassment, and unequal pay have grown more urgent.

Inequities once ignored are now being magnified — and the fallout has prompted a sea change across the industry.

The needs are clear. Last year, a Michelin Guide survey of its more than 1,500 recommended restaurants throughout North America found that just a fraction of Michelin-recommended restaurants boast a person of color as the head or executive chef. When the selections are narrowed down to restaurants that are owned by people of color, the figures drop even further. And a joint study by UC Berkeley and the nonprofit Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found widespread economic and racial segregation between front of the house servers and bartenders and back of the house kitchen workers in Bay Area restaurants.

But here in Sonoma County, a new wave of young chefs of color are at the forefront of a paradigm shift that aims to create a more enlightened and forward-thinking kitchen environment. Here, young, highly trained chefs are striking out on their own to open new establishments, while also working to increase equity in local fine-dining kitchens and advocating for better pay.

“Sometimes when you’re doing what you love and you’re paying your dues, you allow things to happen that should not happen,” says chef Jevon Martin, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu and co-owner of Street Social in Petaluma. “The culture of the restaurant industry is abusive for everyone. You go into it thinking, well, everyone is getting abused. So when things happen, you go, ‘Is that because I’m Black?’” Martin says the answer too often was, yes.

So if there’s a glass ceiling in Sonoma County, where many executive chef positions at fine-dining institutions are held by white men, sometimes the best way to change the game is to open your own restaurant. That’s what Martin did at Street Social, and that’s what fellow chefs Stéphane Saint Louis and Steven Vargas made happen when they launched Table Culture Provisions last year, also in Petaluma.

“For us, it’s really a melting pot. Everybody simmers at the same level,” Saint Louis says. “It is very important, now that we’re in charge, that we create a space where everyone has a voice, and everyone is treated equally.”

“And with respect,” Vargas adds.

Born in Haiti, Saint Louis has cooked all over the world, from Shanghai to Copenhagen, and more recently at Della Fattoria and The Shuckery in Petaluma. He’ll never forget a weekly recap session with a French culinary school instructor who years ago told him, “If I’m harsh, it’s not because you’re Black.” Reflecting back, Saint Louis says, “For me, that immediately triggered, ‘What? Is it not, though?’ Because now you have that in my head, I’m thinking, ‘Why would you even say that if it wasn’t the case?’”

Bridging gaps in pay is at the top of the list for many in the restaurant industry.

“I would love to see all women in the kitchen get paid as much as the men,” says Yemi Salgado, a rising star at the Farmhouse Inn and part-time server at Hotel Healdsburg. “Men don’t want to be seen as equal with a short little brown girl that’s 5-foot-2.”

A few years back, Salgado, a single mom, discovered that in one of her roles, a male peer who had been on the job less than a year was making more money than she was. “He told me, ‘I should clock out first, because I get paid more than you,’” she remembers. “To have the audacity
to say that, it was enraging.”

In addition to the pay gap between men and women, there’s also a divide between what is earned by servers in the front of the house and kitchen workers in less customer-facing roles. At Terrapin Creek Cafe in Bodega Bay, chef/owner Andrew Truong won’t allow his servers to count their tips in front of the kitchen crew at the end of the night.

“This whole discrepancy between the front of the house and the back of the house has been so ingrained in the industry for so long, that I, as an owner, find it hard to get out of it,” says Truong, who grew up outside Atlanta, Georgia, where his parents owned a Chinese restaurant.

Truong says he is currently exploring three options to lower the pay gap: creating a new system where his servers tip out at least 5% to the kitchen, waiting tables himself (something he did while working his way through culinary school) and giving his tips to the kitchen staff, or having his cooks personally deliver plates to guests, which would entitle them to tips as a result.

At Michelin-starred SingleThread in Healdsburg, management adopted a new pay model last summer that included the culinary staff in the tip pool, says sous-chef Andrew Hori.

When he found out he would be getting a percentage of nightly gratuities, “It was a nice surprise, because I’ve never experienced that before,” says junior sous-chef Osmel Gonzalez, who grew up in Havana, Cuba, making sandwiches and pastries that his parents sold from a small cafeteria on their back patio. When Gonzalez first started cooking in Miami restaurants, he was shocked to learn servers working directly with guests could take home thousands of dollars in a single night, while he was working 15 hours a day in the kitchen and “burning my hands” for $14 an hour.

“I think if more restaurants were to do the same [with sharing gratuities], it would be a game changer in terms of culinary staff getting paid a living wage,” says Hori, who got into the restaurant business after working for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to victims of natural disasters around the world.

At SingleThread, an interesting thing happened once everyone began sharing in tips, Hori says. No servers left in retaliation. No guests objected. And the culinary staff was able to log fewer hours and make more money.

“Everybody was on board with it and realized this has always been a ridiculous thing in our industry. It was a situation where everyone wins.” SingleThread executive chef and owner Kyle Connaughton took it a step further, sharing details with staff about how exactly the new model would work for the restaurant. “It was important to him to have financial discussions with every cook,” Hori says. “Not just to tell them, ‘This is how much you’ll be making.’ But that maybe if you open your own restaurant one day, and you want to institute this model, this is exactly how you do it.”

Supporting Chefs of Color in Sonoma County

These five fine-dining restaurants are owned or run by chefs of color. And fortunately for us, there are many more examples — both at high-end, special-occasion spots and among our favorite neighborhood weeknight destinations.

Have one we should know about? Email editors@sonomamag.com.

El Dorado Kitchen, Sonoma, eldoradosonoma.com

Mateo’s Cocina Latina, Healdsburg, mateoscocinalatina.com

Street Social, Petaluma, streetsocial.social

Table Culture Provisions, Petaluma, tcprovision.com

Terrapin Creek Cafe, Bodega Bay, terrapincreekcafe.com

The post Sonoma’s Chefs of Color Lead the Charge for Better Pay and a More Supportive Environment appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

With The Matheson, Healdsburg’s homegrown star chef is trading on his family’s deep roots, reclaiming a 110-year-old building once used as a bakery by his great-grandfather— and betting that Wine Country’s hottest food town has room for ‘the opportunity of a lifetime.’

Dustin Valette was smiling, cracking wise, smoothing things over with a contractor whom he’d asked to tear down a 9-foot section of wall that was 6 inches out of place. It was mid-March, and the two men were talking on the second floor of The Matheson, Valette’s soon-to-be finished restaurant facing Healdsburg’s storied downtown plaza. The two shared a laugh, although nobody was laughing a few days earlier when Valette caught the mistake.

So why the near perma-smile on Valette these days?

Having accomplished much in the pedigreed restaurant world of Healdsburg, this homegrown star chef is wading into a risky pool with his new venture: a trilevel, 231-seat restaurant with two bars, a mezzanine dining loft, and an outdoor patio with an airy view of downtown. It will open blocks from his namesake restaurant, Valette, the rustic eatery he has owned and operated with his brother Aaron Garzini since 2015.

And the past year has not been kind to restaurants, new or long established.

“We’ve never lost so much capital, to be honest,” said Valette of his existing eatery, hit hard — like restaurants everywhere — by on-again, off-again health orders meant to keep people safe. A loyal customer base, combined with a creative takeout menu and a variety of business loans helped keep the place afloat, avoiding furloughs for the majority of the 37-member staff.

Even as he scrambled to ensure the survival of his first restaurant, Valette was putting in 18-hour days preparing for the opening of his second, a self-described “crazy vision” designed to preserve and pump life into a historic building at the heart of the city his family has called home for five generations.

Valette is co-owner of The Matheson along with his business partner, longtime Silicon Valley executive Craig Ramsey. Their brainchild is a multistory mélange of two restaurants, anchored on the ground floor by a craft cocktail bar and primary dining room, with more casual rooftop dining, including a sushi bar, above. A third story, comprising two 1,900-square-foot condos, sits well back from the street. The complex will also feature two ground level retail stores: Plaza Gourmet and Copperfield’s Books. First scheduled to open in January of 2020, The Matheson’s eagerly awaited debut has been pushed back 15 months during the pandemic.

Yet there was Valette, grinning, upbeat, bordering on exuberant while giving a tour of the new place, which he regards, in a way, as the old place.

The 41-year-old Valette and his wife, Johanna, have two girls, 5 and 4. He is currently running on four hours of sleep, but not to worry: He just downed a double espresso. Also, operating on scant rest is something of an inherited trait, passed down from his father, Bob, a longtime Cal Fire pilot whose air tanker runs have for decades arced over local skies during wildfire season. One of those flights is depicted in a large mural, painted by San Francisco artist Jay Mercado, that will hang in the new restaurant. Another of Mercado’s paintings depicts a man baking bread in a woodfired furnace. This is Dustin’s great-grandfather, Honoré Valette, who a century ago owned a bakery in this very building.

Built in 1911, the structure has been subjected to countless alterations in the intervening decades. “Few if any characterdefining features remain,” noted an architect’s report prepared for city hall on The Matheson project. Still, it was vital to Valette that the structure be renovated, rather than demolished. Such is his personal connection to the building and the town.

But that work was nowhere near complete in mid-March, as men in hard hats bustled among sawhorses, ladders and stacks of plywood. The opening date had been pushed back yet again, this time until June, as the pandemic gave some ground but still clung stubbornly to the region, clouding the outlook for any new business in the vulnerable hospitality sector.

Asked if it felt as if he was walking on a tightrope with no net, Valette again laughed.

“Well, let’s see: I have one restaurant, and I’m trying to open a second restaurant during a pandemic. What kind of f—— question is that?”

It’s not just that there’s no net, he said. “There’s a pit down there with jagged rocks, and alligators. But this is what I want.”

“This” is the most ambitious thing Valette has taken on since venturing into the hyper-competitive Healdsburg dining scene. The Matheson project includes two distinct restaurant spaces. Downstairs is a more highbrow experience. Valette and Ken Tominaga, the sushi-whispering owner of Rohnert Park’s Hana Japanese Restaurant, will work their magic in an open kitchen. Guests can belly up to the bar or serve themselves at an 88-bottle self-serve wine wall.

The upper level, named Roof 106, will offer a more relaxed vibe — along with a rooftop cocktail bar, outdoor patio and garden lounge with plaza views. The workhorse there will be the Mugnaini wood-fired pizza oven, custom-made at that company’s Healdsburg plant. “This to me is the holy grail,” says Valette, patting the 3,800-pound beast. “I’ve always wanted one but could never afford it.”

Valette comes from modest means and has turned that into a running joke: “I’ve got a lot of money,” he says, “it’s just all red, with a little minus sign next to it.” That became less of an issue when he partnered with the deep-pocketed Ramsey, a longtime employee of Oracle who founded the cloud software company Vlocity. A Healdsburg local and frequent diner at Valette, his conversations with Dustin led to a friendship, then a business partnership. Remarking on his good fortune, Valette describes himself as “the luckiest SOB in the world.”

But if the project’s upside is huge, so is the risk he’s taking. While Ramsey is writing the checks — neither partner would share the total cost of the renovation so far — there’s more at stake than money. From his days mastering Charlie Palmer’s “American Progressive” cuisine at Dry Creek Kitchen to his runaway success at Valette, Dustin has emerged, both in Healdsburg and the wider Wine Country food scene, as a gleaming success story. That aura could quickly evaporate, should The Matheson flop.

That scenario strikes Kyle Connaughton as unlikely. He is co-owner and head chef at the 5-year-old SingleThread, the county’s only three-star Michelin restaurant — but just one of Healdsburg’s top-notch eateries, an all-star cast that also includes Spoonbar, Chalkboard, Barndiva, and Bravas Bar de Tapas, to name a handful. Asked if he thought there was room, or the need, for a 231-seat restaurant – by far the biggest around the plaza – Connaughton answered with an emphatic yes, pushing back against the suggestion that the town’s restaurant scene had reached a point of saturation.

With the permanent closure of several Healdsburg restaurants during the pandemic, diners “are looking for more variety,” says Connaughton. He’s also a fan of The Matheson’s versatility – its appeal to both Healdsburg locals and those visiting. “You can sit downstairs and have more of Dustin’s cuisine” – a nice piece of halibut, for instance, done with olive oil snow, Niçoise olives, and sunchokes – or repair to the rooftop “and have a more casual experience,” Connaughton explains. Tominaga’s sushi counter has the feel, he adds, of “a restaurant within a restaurant.”

The Matheson is “an ambitious project” says Charlie Palmer, “but I think the town can absorb it.” In the two decades since Palmer opened Dry Creek Kitchen, he notes, Healdsburg has become a “world class” restaurant town. “I love that it’s grown from within, in a lot of ways,” Palmer says. “[Valette] worked here, and now [he’s] gonna do his own thing here. Not go off somewhere else and do it. It makes our restaurant and food community that much stronger.”

The Matheson made a big, if not entirely welcome, splash when the project was announced in 2018. The prospect of a large, modernist restaurant abutting Healdsburg’s beloved town square stoked anger and fear in a town that is perpetually grappling with questions about its evolving identity— and blowback over its devotion to high-dollar tourism. Healdsburg’s median home price, the highest in the county, soared amid the pandemic, reaching over $880,000.

The project faced stiff opposition from citizens who believed its sheer size would be out of scale with surrounding buildings. “It was like we were opening a Cheesecake Factory,” says Valette, recalling some of that incoming flak. Critics pointed to language in Healdsburg’s general plan, recommending that the city “promote uses that are harmonious with the special character of the Plaza, that are small-scale in nature.”

Over the course of several meetings with the Planning Commission, Valette and Ramsey agreed to shrink the number of seats, and to set back the rooftop trellis and condos, to ensure the building would not appear to loom over the plaza. When the Planning Commission approved the revised project in early 2019, former Healdsburg mayor Brigette Mansell promptly filed an appeal, signed by dozens of like-minded residents and business owners. “Dustin’s a good guy, and he knows I support his restaurant,” says Mansell, whose appeal was rejected by a unanimous City Council. “But we just didn’t think it was in line with the code [calling] for businesses to be small-scale.”

A retired teacher, Mansell expresses dismay at the rivers of “new money” flowing into Healdsburg. “We’re putting up huge buildings, big houses, creating so many changes,” she laments. “And it’s not really serving the very people that give Healdsburg its authenticity, its small-town charm.”

But part of reason he’s building a big eatery, Valette explains, is that a higher volume of customers enables him to charge less. Affordability is a key issue for many residents of Healdsburg, and often arose on the campaign trail last November, says attorney Ariel Kelley, who won a seat on the City Council. “One of the things I heard loud and clear, was that they felt our city restaurant options were not affordable to locals,” she says. Valette is determined to keep prices at the Matheson reasonable, “so I feel good about that,” says Kelley. The Matheson, with its mixed-use housing and retail stores, is far more likely to enliven and invigorate the plaza, Kelley adds, than to overcrowd and overwhelm it.

“The community bucked us at first,” Valette acknowledges. “But I never got upset. It drove me to work harder, to refine the vision even more.”

“You’ve gotta have a vision,” he adds, “something that’s bigger than yourself, that wakes you up in the morning, that makes you say, ‘God, I’m tired. But I need to get my ass out of bed and go work on this dream.’”

“I’d get up in the morning, and Dustin would already be in the kitchen, cooking,” recalls Bob Valette. “At 10 years old he was making breakfast for the family, and I’m not talking about a bowl of cereal. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, wild pork sausage, potatoes, onions, you name it. He wasn’t much on cleanup, but he sure did the meal right.”

Dustin’s parents were both professional pilots. His mother, Carol Toney, flew an air ambulance. Bob flies for Cal Fire, piloting a specialized S-2 tanker that carries up to 1,200 gallons of retardant. One of the homes the family lived in was an old hunting cabin on the grounds of what is now the Hawkeye Ranch, near the top of Geysers Road as it winds up the Mayacamas Mountains overlooking Healdsburg Bob had graded an airstrip behind the house. When it was time for the Valette kids to go to school, “I’d throw ‘em all in the airplane” — a small Cessna — “zip out of there and drop ‘em off at my cousin’s in Alexander Valley, right on Highway 128.” From there, they would catch a bus to school.

Some mornings, “if the cop wasn’t there,” says Bob, “I’d turn the plane around right there on Highway 128.”

Growing up, Dustin always heard stories about his paternal great-grandfather, a baker from the town of Decazeville in southern France. Honoré Valette and his wife immigrated to America in the early 1900s. After being processed at Ellis Island, they came by train to San Francisco, where he opened a bakery. The 1906 earthquake “knocked everything down and burned everything up,” says Bob, whose grandfather eventually made his way to Healdsburg.

At some point Honoré lived outside of town, off Mill Creek, where a road was named after him. His “Home Bakery” was located on the site now occupied by Valette. And his “Snowflake Bakery” stood within the footprint of what’s now The Matheson.

In Valette’s understanding of his family’s local roots, Honoré looms large. “I always heard the stories about this guy who left the old country with nothing in his pocket, to pursue the American dream,” he says.

While he never wanted for essentials, Valette’s family was not well off. Through high school, Valette often worked 40 hours a week. If he wanted new shoes, it was on him to earn the money to buy them. The family also seldom took vacations, so travel was a novelty when Valette embarked on his career as a chef. His job gave him a ticket to walk into a restaurant in any given city and announce: “I’m here, what can I do?”

Valette’s dedication also has roots in a more deep-seated longing. “Around 10 or 11,” he says, “my mom and dad split up.”

One of things he says he missed was sitting around the table as a family. “I liked cooking, I liked food, but I was always, from a young age, missing those days when we would sit together, breaking bread, enjoying each other’s company.

“I think that’s what got me into this industry, because now I’m able to share the thing I loved so much.”

After five years at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen, Valette gave his one-year notice. It was time, he told Palmer, “to do my own thing.” Lacking the capital to buy a place himself, he had to line up investors. Three times, with three different buildings, his plans fell through.

The third time it happened “was rough,” recalls Valette.

That third deal went sideways on a Sunday. The next day, he walked past the restaurant Zin, on Center Street. Chatting with the owners, Jeff and Susan Mall, he mentioned the latest setback. They asked him to have coffee the next day, where they told him they’d decided to sell Zin, after a 15-year run. Was he interested in buying?

Valette was. “It took about 5 minutes to negotiate the purchase,” he says. Zin became Valette, the restaurant Dustin and Aaron, by then a highly regarded server and sommelier, had long dreamed of opening. The debut was a kind of homecoming: it stood on the site of Honoré Valette’s second Healdsburg bakery.

The brothers worked hard, and Valette prospered. Dustin started looking for “a way to expand this vision we had.”

“We wanted to stay in Healdsburg, but there wasn’t a lot of opportunity.”

By kismet or coincidence, another building that loomed large in his family’s past then emerged as, possibly, an even bigger part of his future.

The first Healdsburg bakery opened by Honoré around 1911 stood at 106 Matheson Street. Old-timers remember that address as home to Garrett Hardware, then Jacob Horner Restaurant, then Italian restaurant Felix & Louie’s. In 2017, amid rumors it would be torn down to make way for another large hotel project, the building was purchased by Ramsey, who had different plans.

Ramsey was a frequent diner at Valette. A bachelor at the time, he often sat solo at the bar, where he took his dinner. Nothing if not gregarious, Valette would often sidle over and chat him up.

“We developed a friendship,” says Ramsey.

“I liked him so much, and I liked his food so much, I started thinking it might be nice to do something with him.”

Before buying the Matheson Street building, Ramsey asked Valette if he’d be interested in a partnership, “and he said, ‘Absolutely,’” Ramsey recalls. It was only after that exchange that Valette explained his family’s connection to the property, “which to me was just great,” says Ramsey.

He sees in Valette a creative chef and a man of “great energy” and work ethic, with no blind spot for marketing and sales.

“Everybody loves him,” Ramsey says. “You go into his restaurant, it feels like a family, and he’s your best friend.

“I trusted the man and believed in him. And I loved the idea of getting him into the building his great-grandfather was in.”

“My father saved four people’s lives,” says Dustin. “I cook steak.”

He and his father were recounting Bob’s heroics during a wildfire that menaced a family trapped by flames in the combustible fall of 2017, when much of Sonoma County and the surrounding region was ablaze. The fire was “north of Clear Lake, south of the Sacramento Valley,” Bob remembers. The driver of a car was trying to make his way down a dirt road, to safety, but the flames were too close.

“I don’t know how the hell they ever got in there,” says Bob, now 80, who from his cockpit on that flight could see the family — two parents, at least two children — waving and screaming for help.

Flying lower than usual — at greater risk to himself — he made six precisely targeted “little drops,” each batch of retardant making another hundred or so yards of the road passable. When he finished, the tanker was empty, but the driver was able to make his way down the dirt road to a larger, paved road, and to safety.

“Am I saving anyone’s life? No,” says Dustin, who points out in the next breath what he is doing: “Building something that will hopefully be there for my kids, and their kids; giving workers opportunities, and helping revitalize the square.”

It’s clear he sees this opportunity, to reinvigorate downtown Healdsburg while honoring his family name, as a kind of professional apotheosis — the most important work he’ll ever do.

With a crew from San Leandro installing the elevator, Valette bounds up the backstairs to Roof 106. Envisioned as an “escapist perch” over the plaza, the rooftop lounge will feature planters, fire-pits, and eclectic furniture — none of which are in sight on this March afternoon. Standing on a plywood floor — the large stone tiles have yet to be set down — he gazes out on the plaza, recalling his days at Dry Creek Kitchen. “I used to have Tuesdays off, and would sit on the grass and read a book or listen to music. And my ass would get wet.”

He’s long dreamed of giving folks the chance to experience the plaza from this vantage – without soaking their backsides.

After three and a half years of hard work, that vision is coming to life before his eyes. “To be this close,” he says, “it’s crazy, dude.” “Would I like to be getting more sleep right now? Yes. Do I miss my family? Yes.

But there are moments in life where you sit back and say, ‘This thing is bigger than me.’”

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This may be Wine Country but the green beer will be flowing on March 17. Click through the above gallery to find out where to party like the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day.

The post How to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.