Wanted to thank everyone for the recs! We just got back this past weekend, and we spent about 2.5 days in Sonoma (the city itself). I’ll write a full report later (at some point…). Briefly, we went to
- Benzingers (@robert: your assesment was right on; the tour was perfect for partner, who wanted to see pretty grounds)
- Sojourn: my wine palate is pretty poor, but even I could tell the stuff was good. Partner LOVED it
- La Salette: low-key, delicious
- Fremont Diner: AMAZING and, IMHO, a must-go if you’re in the area
- Cafe De Haye: fantastic; the sourdough bread (from Full Circle Bakery) was particularly yummy
- Friday Farmer’s Market: delicious homemade donuts; a baker who brings his own portable (sort of) wood burning oven!
- El Brinquito: the quintessential chow-ish place
- Hippies Brew (Hayward): it’s kinda like Sqirl in LA, except it’s affordable and not just for hipsters (and thus it’s actually nothing like Sqirl)
Writing a review (even a short ones) for the restaurants in one sitting seems a bit daunting, so I’ll be doing it piecemeal…
La Salette
Upscale ambiance, but we felt fairly comfortable on the patio dressed relatively casually. Housemade dinner rolls are good but are served w/ chilled butter (a pet peeve of mine for more upscale places). Amuse was heirloom tomato water w/ bacon and some small pieces of fruit (not pictured). Surprisingly refreshing. We started off w/ the sea scallops (there were originally 3) on Japanese sweet potatos. Can’t remember what the crust consisted of, but the scallops were perfectly seared. I had the Portugese stew. Very tasty, but the Portugese chorizo (aparently made in-house) was almost bizarrely sweet. Is that typical of Portguese sausage? Partner had the branzino. He thought it was too plain; I thought it was lovely. Dessert was the chocolate trio (ice cream; souffle; mousse). Partner thought the ice cream was too intense (odd, since he loves chocolate); I thought it was great. Souffle and mousse were fine. The tiny cube is made from rubyport; I didn’t really see the point. The sauce underneath was basil-based and combined surprisingly well w/ the chocolate (I wouldn’t have thought that basil + chocolate would taste good).
The next morning, we went to Fremont Diner (a few miles away from Sonoma City). The cafe is apparently an unreinforced masonry building that might’ve been used a chicken coop back in the day? Holy hell, this place was good. Lemonade was fine (nothing exceptional). Biscuits were perfectly baked. I’ve never been to Pepy’s Galley; my chilaquiles were made w/ upscale ingredients, and I don’t know how they would compare. Delicious but not particularly soulful. The salad had arugula, figs, mozzarella, almonds, and, of course, the huge slice of prosciutto. It was, quite possibly, one of the most perfect bites of food I’ve ever had and a great example of how, when you have incredible ingredients, you really just need to get yourself out of their way.
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La Salette and Fremont Diner are two are our favorite places. Great pix.
