California restaurant pricey, not pretentious
WHEN a restaurant is as expensive and has as much hype surrounding it as SingleThread, in the charming Sonoma County town of Healdsburg, California, expectations are high. The head chef, Kyle Connaughton, who is best known for heading the experimental kitchen at the Fat Duck in Britain, and his wife, Katina, who is a farmer and a horticulturist, opened the Californian-and-Japanese-inspired restaurant and five-room inn in December. The 11-course meal costs $293 a person with service and tax, and the only way to reserve a table is to buy a nonrefundable ticket.
But writing off SingleThread as pretentious would be a mistake. The dining experience is modelled on the Japanese idea of omotenashi, in which hosts anticipate guests’ needs and treat them like friends, not customers. It’s a philosophy the Connaughtons learned during their time in Japan.
“We recognise that this is a pricey night out, and we want diners to have a meal that’s personalised for them,” Kyle Connaughton said.
He wasn’t exaggerating: Like all diners, my husband and I received an email in advance of our reservation inquiring about our likes and dislikes – then enjoyed a meal that met our pescatarian preferences perfectly.
Many of the ingredients come from a farm in Healdsburg run by Katina Connaughton. What remains is from within the region, save for a few specialty items from Japan.
Dinner starts on the rooftop garden, which Katina Connaughton mines for the menu as well. We relaxed with a drink and nibbled on a medley of snacks, including a crunchy pea pod filled with a confit of garlic scapes and topped with fresh peas.
We were then escorted down to the serene 52-seat dining room. The servers spoke in omotenashi, hushed tones as they explained each course set in front of us. Their voices may have been quiet, but the dishes were not. A mound of Dungeness crab in a pea purée, adorned with pea shoots and a purple mizuna flower, was sweet and light; a fillet of trout, topped with trout roe and served in a malted rice, scallion and ginger vinaigrette, had a rich, buttery texture.
Another fish course – a black cod steamed in a Japanese ceramic pot with leeks, heirloom carrots and baby lettuces – sang of spring, and a grains course of farro verde and Japanese barley, in a nettle purée with pickled vegetables, was creamy, crunchy and tangy all at once.