I wanted to highlight from the recommendations here a dinner at dry creek kitchen, Healdsburg. On the upper scale (dollar wise) but they have excellent choices, wonderful tasting menu (will try next time) and good wine list (actually we did half a bottle that worked really well). IIRC, they do allow to bring wine for a corkage fee (can someone double-check me next time?)
For Kenwood, I’d like to vote as well for St. Jean visit (the private library tasting is not on the cheap side, but is well worth it, and effectively you get a private tour because it is hardly ever booked in full). I would add a vote to Littorai and Stonestreet. I would recommend Rodney Strong, especially when certain tour guides are there (great knowledge), but I would recommend skipping J vineyards (too crowded usually and was not impressed by the tour).
Great thread, keep it update!
I have yet to eat at a restaurant in Sonoma County, or the Bay Area for that matter, that did not allow BYO. It’s common practice out here.
Just got back from a couple days in Sonoma;
Gaige House in Glen Ellen - Amazing place to stay, especially in the Suites along the creek. Great pool and hot tub, nice breakfast every morning, spa services, wine and cheese tasting every night.
Girl and Fig - Great for lunch
Glen Ellen Market - Amazing selection of sandwiches for grab and go.
Sante @ SMI - Loved the meal, nice environment for a quiet delicious meal.
Glen Ellen Star - WOW. Can’t wait to get back. Loved everything we tried. A must go to if in the area.
My wife and I visited Fisher Vineyards, on the Sonoma side of Spring Mountain, today and we highly recommend it. The property is simply gorgeous; our host, Jen, and the 4 members of the family whom we met were all warm and welcoming; and the wines were terrific.
As a cab guy, I was drawn to the three cab/cab blends we were poured (including an '06 Wedding Vineyard cab). But, the Syrah and Chardonnay were also excellent…and I say that as a guy who rarely gets excited about either of those grapes.
Definitely one to put on your itinerary if you’re anywhere in the area.
Andy
Updated OP. Added Wind to Wine Festival (Petaluma Gap Winegrowers) in August
LOVE Glen Ellen Star, and I just heard that Valette is lighting-up Healdsburg. I’m eager to go there, and to get back to Glen Ellen Star.
Best,
Kenney
Interesting - We visited Glen Ellen Star twice within six months of opening and thought it was nothing to write home about. I guess we should revisit.
One ‘new’ place that isn’t mentioned in this thread: Aventine in Glen Ellen. They opened last year in the very cool Grist Mill building. Well done Italian, great atmosphere.
There have been whispers in Sonoma that the people behind El Molino Central are in the planning stages for a wood fired pizza place…
I wait with bated breath. ![[swoon.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f425e8dac3e7344bee264da02e55428971be23a9.gif "swoon"){kind=small}
Thanks Mike, I’ll add them when I get a chance.
If this matters ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
: Glen Ellen Star’s Ari Weiswasservoted ‘People’s Best New Chef’ for Californ
Not sure it does, but in any event, there it is.
Best,
Kenney
Thanks - we’ll have to go back. Our main issue was how they utilized the pizza oven. They were roasting veggies (padron peppers, etc) in the oven next to the pizzas. It sounds like a great idea until you think about all the thermal energy that’s being taken away from the pies. We found the pizza to be almost raw in the center on the first visit - however that was about a month after opening. We gave them the benefit of the doubt 4 or 5 months later and while it was better, still not fantastic.
We are spoiled by too many restaurants around here competing in the $100-per-couple price range…and we can count on being satisfied for $50 a few doors down at the Fig Cafe. Free corkage!
Gospel! ![[worship.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/9/99a8907a1d5b3c023582052741dc72dc9823c044.gif "worship"){kind=small}
I wanted to stop by the thread to say thank you for all the good input
My few thoughts of some of the listings-
Not showing up but highly recommend, Rodney Strong @ healdsburg
Shows up and highly recommended:
Fisher Vineyards (highly recommend in every aspect, shape and form) , Stonestreet (picnic! customer service!), St. Jean (library tasting is usually ending up being a private tour), Littorai (if you have patient with some over-excessive bio-dynamic explanation, well- they have very good wine and great views),
Showed up and are nice: Arrowood (It’s hard for all to be at the very top. Maybe a library tasting would have made a difference), Ridge (I found them to be very crowded and they even overbook tours occasionally which was a surprise for me)
Showed up and I would not really recommend: Kenwood (sorry, not my cup of tea, nor my cup of customer service)
Food- Dry Creek Kitchen is a great deal. Lots of good places at the center of Healdsburg.
Sleep- The hyatt @ Santa Rosa provides surprisingly good QPR.
Thank you Brian (et. al) for the input. Good work ![[thankyou.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/df165fe9c1593d19166ae7e1ffe5e272089cc07b.gif "thankyou"){kind=small}
Hold on there Bucko… ![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
RRV>Healdsburg>Old Redwood Hwy>
Glad you found it worthwhile!
Okay, Brian, I take it back… my fading memory 
I’m visiting Sonoma in mid October. Does anyone have recommendations for fresh apple cider and/or cider donuts?
Apple season is waning. Alc or non-alc?
Non-alcoholic.
Awesome. Thanks!
Quick update on Glen Ellen Star – Lauren and I had a late Anniversary dinner there on Saturday evening. The meal overall was quite good, with the lamb ragu being the “wow this is great!” stand-out. We also enjoyed the roasted corn kernels with cotija cheese and peppers, I do that dish fairly often at home but they managed to take it to a higher level. We ordered a pizza as well – which was better than what we’ve had in the past there, but not special.
We ate at the counter which gave us a better view of the activities around the oven – it is wood fired, however I could see on the digital thermometer on the oven and it was only running at about 575f-ish. That’s pretty low for pizza; my guess is that all the other items the cook in the oven can’t do the super high temps required to do a 90 second pie. They’ve obviously decided to use the oven as a multi-purpose cooker – the negativity here is really just me being disappointed. They have the tools to be a legit competitor to Rosso, which something that Sonoma Valley doesn’t have.
But overall, I’d say they’re in the Top 10 in Sonoma Valley - maybe the Top 5.