4 posts tagged “sonoma county dining”

Cuisine=*(0-20) Ambiance=!(0-5) Price=$(Simple-Full)
Approximate Price per person excluding tax, beverage + tip=$. Simple=appetizer + main course; full= best available multi-course meal.

As We Like It has been serving the gastronomically enlightened community since 1989.

    Healdsburg, Sonoma County

    Dry Creek Kitchen *(17.5) !(3.5) $(35-99) tel.=707-431-0330, Fax=707-431-8990 drycreekkitchen.com.  317 Healdsburg Ave. at the Hotel Healdsburg.  Dinner nightly from 5:30 P.M., Brunch= Fri.-Sun.
    Situated on the main street, across from the town square, the dining room has  a contemporary decor with soft colors, graceful arches and well-spaced tables with white table cloths. As you enter, there is a long bar on the left with a partially veiled open kitchen at the rear towards the right. A colorful, abstract painting by Bob Nugent graces the rear wall to the left of the kitchen. Tasty, warm gougeres are a welcome touch. The chef uses high quality, locally produced seasonal products including fish, game, meats and poultry; unfortunately, some of the plates are overly fussy and rich. Generous portions of five herb gnocchi (trumpet royale mushrooms, broccoli raab, Walla Walla onion “soubise”, pecorino) and milk-fed veal sweetbread “pot pie” (organic carrots, wild mushrooms,caramelized onions, marsala) were very tasty and filling. The bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin was delicious, but needed a simple starch for balance, rather than the accompanying currant-cous cous cake, braised chard, macadamia nuts and thyme jus. Fabulous tastes and textures in the duo of Painted Hills Natural Beef pan roasted coulotte and 60 hour short rib also needed a simple potato or rice rather than the overly rich celery root puree, roasted cauliflower and truffle jus. Tasty petits fours followed a toothsome caramel-walnut spice cake (Valrhona chocolate glaze, walnut ice cream, caramel mousse, candied satsuma segments) and terrific tasting of house made ice creams (vanilla, pistachio, dark chocolate) and sorbets (orange, grapefruit, cantaloupe) served in an ingenious 6-cup server. They have a fine selection of exclusively Sonoma district wines, and corkage is waived (maximum 2/table) if you bring your own Sonoma wine; otherwise it is $20.00/bottle. Service is efficient. Outside seating is available in good weather.

Cuisine=*(0-20) Ambiance=!(0-5) Price=$(Simple-Full)
Approximate Price per person excluding tax, beverage + tip=$. Simple=appetizer + main course; full= best available multi-course meal.

As We Like It has been serving the gastronomically enlightened community since 1989.

    Santa Rosa, Sonoma County

    La Gare *(16) !(3) $(19-42) 707-528-4355.  208 Wilson St. between 3rd and 4th Sts.  Dinner only. M-Th= 5:30-10 P.M., F-Sat=5:00-10 P.M., Sun=5-9 P.M.
    Situated adjacent to Railroad Square, this place reminds us of a simple bistro in the French countryside. It seems to be popular with the locals, for it filled up rapidly early on a Thursday night. The seating is a bit tight, to allow the maximum number of diners; however, the kitchen and pleasant, attentive service kept up with the crowd. We split an extra appetizer of Paté en gelée a la Francaise to start. The price of the entrée includes a fresh green salad, tasty soup du jour (potato-leek on our visit) and vegetables.  We substituted a delicious rice for the veggies to accompany our delightful Coq au Vin Forestiere and our cooked just perfectly medium rare Carré d’Agneau (rack of lamb) persillé, the latter coming with a tasty herb brown sauce on the side. There are even interesting old-time desserts prepared tableside; we certainly enjoyed their cherries jubilée for 2. There is an appropriate wine list and corkage is $15. Our bottle of 1999 BV Private Reserve Georges de la Tour Cabernet Sauvignon complemented the dinner quite well.

Cuisine=*(0-20) Ambiance=!(0-5) Price=$(Simple-Full)
Approximate Price per person excluding tax, beverage + tip=$. Simple=appetizer + main course; full= best available multi-course meal.

As We Like It has been serving the gastronomically enlightened community since 1989.

    Windsor, Sonoma County

    Odyssey *(14.5) !(2.0) $(32-60) 707-836-7600 .  426 Emily Rose Circle (off the west end of McClelland Drive)  Dinner 5:30-10:00 P.M. Tues.-Thurs., till 11:00 Fri.-Sat .
    Close quarters is putting it mildly when  eating at this  simple but attractive local truck stop for dinner.  Make sure they don’t seat you on a chair with the bar behind you; even a sardine would have difficulty  getting  through.  Pleasant starters included roasted beet tartare with pine nut crusted goat cheese and a slightly underdone duck terrine with a pear-raspberry salsa. Then we split a crispy but yeast flavored ultra thin crusted margherita pizza with tomato, fresh basil and mozzarella. Fresh fish and vegetables were marred by overly saucing and spicing of the pan-seared local petrale sole with rainbow chard, roasted sun chokes and black truffle vinaigrette. We would have loved Daniel’s black truffle burger with braised short ribs and foie gras enclosed with beef sirloin, had it not been spoiled by  too much mustard saucing, requiring a fresh dry roll.  We skipped the interesting sounding Italian farmstead cheeses and went directly to an underdone, uninspiring apple tart. There is an appropriate wine selection; corkage is $20.00 if you bring your own.  It was a busy night, but the service was pleasant and efficient.

Cuisine=*(0-20) Ambiance=!(0-5) Price=$(Simple-Full)
Approximate Price per person excluding tax, beverage + tip=$. Simple=appetizer + main course; full= best available multi-course meal.

As We Like It has been serving the gastronomically enlightened community since 1989.

    Forestville, Sonoma County

    Farmhouse *(18.5) !(4.0) $(42-100) tel=707-887-3300, Fax=707-887-3311 www.farmhouseinn.com.  7871 River Road at Wohler,  Dinner 5:30-9:30 P.M. Thurs.-Mon.
    Situated at the gateway to the Sonoma Wine Country, this charming country Inn and restaurant is most deserving of its 1-star Michelin rating. Reminiscent of many similar places we have enjoyed in France and Italy, the decor is charming without being too cute. Soft lighting, appropriate jazz and classical background music, appropriate glassware and utensils, as well as pleasant, knowledgeable wait staff all enhance the fine dining atmosphere. Even the fresh Della Fatoria bread with fresh, chilled unsalted butter is just the right touch. Fabulous starters included a perfectly seared chunk of Hudson Valley foie gras (poached quince, smoked duck breast, house made brioche, port gastrique) and a marvelous seared Maine diver scallop over a bed of heirloom squash risotto with roasted black trumpet mushrooms and a winter truffle beurre fondue. “Rabbit rabbit rabbit” was a very interesting rabbit trio of apple wood smoked bacon wrapped loin, roasted rack and confit of leg with whole grain mustard sauce, along with al dente fresh vegetables and fingerling potato. A nicely done, medium rare, Colorado rack of lamb came with baby artichokes, flavorful goat cheese mash potato and a bit too much of the black olive Madeira wine sauce. Make sure to save some wine and room in your belly to split one of their top notch domestic and imported artisanal cheese courses. Superb desserts of Valrhona chocolate soufflé with bourbon creme anglais and warm panatone bread pudding with poached winter fruit and Grand Marnier cream left us with a sweet taste in our mouth for the ride home. The comprehensive, reasonably priced California-imported wine list includes many fine selections by the glass or half bottle; corkage is $35.00 if you bring your own. We found a bottle of our own family 2005 Puccioni Old Vine Zinfandel (www.puccionivineyards.com) to be a perfect accompaniment to the meal. This place just keeps getting better and better; we can’t wait to return.