We Found One Mean Tagine in Healdsburg

Spoonbar’s weekly Moroccan night is a culinary journey to the spice-laden land of clay tagines, preserved lemons and perfumed couscous.


A Moroccan Julep, made with the North African country’s beloved mint tea, cinnamon, lime and whiskey, sets the mood for Spoonbar’s weekly Moroccan night.

The three-course prix-fixe meal ($39, Thursdays only) at the Healdsburg restaurant is a culinary journey to the spice-laden land of clay tagines, preserved lemons and perfumed couscous. Inspired by Healdsburg Hotel General Manager Aziz Zhari’s homeland, the menu is executed beautifully with a summery first course of red and yellow peppers, strips of zucchini and eggplant topped with Provençal herbs, crisp croutons and nibs of goat cheese.

Moroccan chicken at Spoonbar in Healdsburg. (Heather Irwin/The Press Democrat)
Moroccan chicken at Spoonbar in Healdsburg. (Heather Irwin/The Press Democrat)

A thigh and breast of crispy-skin chicken is a rare example of poultry perfection, seasoned with piquant herbs and bits of preserved lemon atop piles of savory couscous. Typical of Moroccan cuisine, the dish has a mix of sweet and savory, with cherry tomatoes, almonds and golden raisins studding Middle Eastern semolina pasta.

The star, however, is a tagine (a domed clay pot) filled with duck leg, apricots and soft chickpeas in a turmeric and ginger bath. It’s stomp-your-feet-and-lift-a-hand-to-heaven good. Meskouta cake, a Moroccan orange cake, is almost too generous in its serving (take some home for breakfast). To end the meal, you get a soothing cup of mint tea as fragrant as a sultan’s garden.

219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-7222, spooonbar.com. Reservations recommended.