Brian- I’m glad you’ve included one of my favorites: Peter Lowell’s Restaurant in Sebastopol.
I find Lowell’s food to be superbly crafted, delicious and wine friendly. Produce is often picked same-day and the house-made pastas are outstanding. Always a succulent beef/ lamb/ fish on the evening specials menu. PL’s staff and atmosphere are friendly & inviting too.
Also, for those exploring Sonoma Coast area: Freestone Artisan Cheese is a must stop. Omar is a cheese savant and clearly loves sharing samples (gratis) and educating his customers. They also make savory and sweet crepes. A stone’s throw from Phelps/ Freestone tasting room.
The best thing I can say about Swiss: I know a few local single guys who have been known to troll each week’s fresh batch of bachelorette parties and bride’s maids that end-up at Swiss…but that would be the only good thing.
Updates on Sonoma Square:
For something different, Lauren and I ate at Delhi Belly (http://delhibellybistro.com/) for the first time a few nights ago. It’s located a half-block south on Broadway from the Square, next to the new Enkidu tasting room and across the street from the Williams Sonoma flagship store. The location seemed to be cursed in the past, with a constant rotation of ‘farm to table’ restaurants over the last five years. While not the typical cuisine that most are looking for while visiting wine country, the variety is a very welcome change for us. The food was great –a bit less spicy than I would like, but great flavor. We will be back, and hopefully they can take the heat/spice up a notch on request.
Also – Sonoma Grille opened a few months ago in the old Meritage Restaurant location, on Napa St., half block west from the Square. I’ve heard positive things, but we haven’t made it yet.
Updates on Off-Square Sonoma Dining:
Hot Box is closed. In its place is Cochon Volant BBQ Smoke House. The owner is an ‘interesting’ guy – read the Yelp reviews. BBQ style is crowd-friendly – I prefer a bolder style.
Rossi’s 1906 – for something completely different. Texas BBQ and live music in the middle of a neighborhood in the ‘Springs’ area of Sonoma. The food is great (I prefer to Cochon Volant) – but don’t go if you’re looking for a quiet night, it gets loud once the band starts playing. There are a few nights a week with no music.
Update on Glen Ellen
I don’t see mention of Aventine in Glen Ellen – they’ve been open a year or more. The best Italian food in Sonoma Valley in a very cool historic building. The location is also quite large, so it’s one of the safest bets for getting a table last minute on the weekend.
I stop at Rossi’s occasionally for lunch. Quiet time at the bar. The Chicken Sando is great.
Cochon Volante catered the 2nd HVS Tour and Dinner at Bedrock Vineyard a few years back. The brisket was tasty. O’ve been wanting to stop at the new location but it’s always mid-late afternoon when I go past and that would interfere with my dinner.
I’ll have to update the OP.
Stopped at WineBd today to pick up some stuff and almost stopped at Benchmark to pop my head in and say hi. Was running behind schedule though.
Hey Brian - good call on Rossi’s for lunch. I’m not a huge fan of loud music venues, but that would be a good way to go. I’m always a fan of the food when we go.
Cochon Volante isn’t bad, the Carolina Pulled Pork is actually quite tasty. But there seems to be a sweet edge to almost everything - even the breading on the fried chicken. Give me spice before sugar!
You need to come by and browse the Bottleshop - stock levels go up and down, but there is usually some screaming deals to be had on drinkers that aren’t posted on the website.
You need to include Warren’s place BurtoNZ Bakery in Windsor. He was the viticulturist for the Hambrecht properties, Grist and Floodgate. I participated in his kickstarter after he left the industry and went back to baking school. Amazing pies(Steak and Mushroom is my favorite) as well as sausage bread, and NZ dessert favorites like Lambingtons. And that does injustice to the incredible bread he makes. It is next to the Safeway on the opposite side of the freeway from old town. Make sure to ask for the NZ “keeechup” with your pie.
There is not a lot mentioned/recommendations about staying in Glen Ellen in the thread (one mention of The Gaige House). I was looking at Glen Ellen for its central location but is it not the best place to stay?
Wow, this is a great guide, thanks for compiling it! My wife and I are going to be doing 2 days in Sonoma 2 in Napa in August and so far day 1 is going to be Selyem, Carlisle, and Copain, maybe one more if we can swing it time wise, but not expecting to. Any suggestions for another group of 3 or 4 clustered together for day 2? Maybe the Plaza/Sonoma Square and do Girl & the Fig for lunch? I think we’ll be doing Ridge LS on its own the afternoon we get into town (prior to day 1).
Glen Ellen is central to the Sonoma Valley, Santa Rosa central to the County. I live here so I don’t have experience at any of the lodging locations. That’s where I rely on suggestions and recommendations from other berserkers who have visited. I hear the Gaige house is very nice. Very expensive too.
Kenwood Inn & Spa and Gaige House would be your high end options for mid-valley. The Jack London Londge (I think) is on the low end of the scale - their bar is a favorite locals dive, but I’ve never been in the hotel. There’s not much else mid-valley unless you go the VRBO route.
New addition for the Sonoma Square: Tasca Tasca - Portuguese Tapas and Wine Bar. I’ve always believed that La Salette doesn’t get it’s fair share of praise as one of the best restaurants in Sonoma, some of our most memorable meals in Sonoma have been there. We were excited to see the same owner opened a tapas bar on the other side of Sonoma Square so we stopped by last night.
La Salette has always had a tapas menu that we often ordered from for appetizers, and we were happy to see the menu at Tasca Tasca was basically that same thing in a new location. Anchovies, whole sardines, chourico, escargot, etc. We had seven items and all were great, paired with a fantastic Alvarinho from the wine list.
The vibe is much more casual than La Salette, but the food quality is just as good. They are also open until midnight - which makes it the only late-night option on the square after Girl and the Fig closes their bistro menu at 10pm.
Thanks all for the suggestions in this thread (as well as some that were sent privately)
We visited the commercial yet charming sites of Ch. St Jean, Rodney Strong, and Kunde while enjoying great food at Spinster Sisters (in Santa Rosa), and the above mentioned La Salette, in the square. I wouldn’t go raving about the DoubleTree, but its consistent, and given that weekends in wine country don’t get discounted much in the summer time, it was fair enough value. (Not much Diamond level amenities for Hilton guests surprisingly)
Also stopped in at Siduri’s warehouse/tasting room, where we learned a lot from their knowledgeable staff. The SO and I thought that was the best visit, in terms of both the wines we enjoyed, and what we experienced, perhaps because we had called ahead and were the only ones at the appointment.
Taking our 25 year old daughter with us to Napa/Sonoma. She has recently acquired a taste for wine and pretty much is open to anything. She does like lighter reds, but will drink a zin. Thinking she might like Rhone wines. We are members at Tablas Creek, but that’s a bit too far to go for a tasting.
Any similar style wineries in the area? Would prefer drop in.
Imagery has a broad assortment of wines to offer.
On the lighter side there is Wind Gap, lots of Rhones. Check hours and days open.
DaVero is fun as well. Carignano, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Albarińo etc…
Fogline is drop in also. Pinots, Syrah, Zin, Chard, Rosé
Got it though!