Dining out from Petaluma to Jeonju
OK, the French and Italians are pretty good, too – but talented chefs are pleasing palates further afield than Europe
SONOMA: FARM-TOTABLE CALIFORNIA
It doesn’t get more California-dreamy than a food-fuelled escape to Sonoma County, a pastoral fantasy of laid-back vineyards, boutique farms, and the nation’s freshest, finest meals.
WHY IT’S SPECIAL
Farm-to-table is an overused phrase, but in Sonoma County it’s a way of life. This is where back-to-the-land hippies flocked when San Francisco’s Summer of Love soured from psychedelic utopia to full-blown drug epidemic, seeking refuge in the fresh air and the simplicity of pastoral life. Today, that ethos remains, albeit much more polished: restaurant-farms turn out Michelinstarred fare, and everything is heirloom or rare breed. Increasingly, the hippies are hipsters, outrunning corporate burnout. But for all the sleeve tattoos and boutique vegetables, the scene here is genuine, rooted in real working farms that are seldom further from your dinner table than a half-hour drive.
In sleepy Healdsburg, three-Michelinstarred SingleThread serves “micro-seasonal” menus: a miso-filled baby turnip may have been plucked from the farm hours before. Down the road, Noble Folk Ice Cream and Pie Bar concocts sweet treats using speciality fruits from orchards within 10 miles, so you might taste the floral notes of a Seascape strawberry picked that day. And don’t forget the vineyards – from poolside wine cocktails at Francis Ford Coppola’s estate, to 20-somethings picnicking under peach trees at new-wave winery Scribe.
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET…
The drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. As San Francisco peels away, freeway turns to two-lane highway, green hills rise, vine rows stretch into the distance… and suddenly running away to start a pig farm seems plausible.
INSIDER TIP
Don’t limit yourself to farm-to-table food. At Sebastopol’s beautiful Fern Bar (fernbar.com), farm-to-glass cocktails are mixed with house spirits made from local mandarins and roasted squash.
HOW TO DO IT
Driving between farm towns – hipster Healdsburg, hippie Sebastopol, antiquers’ hub Petaluma – is the best way to appreciate the landscape, punctuated by stops at a never-ending supply of top-notch eateries and vineyards.
“Budget” isn’t really a word associated with California, but decent midrange accommodation options include Petaluma’s French-themed Hotel Metro (metrolodging.com), and revamped motel The Sandman (sandmansanta rosa.com), just outside Santa Rosa.
Sonoma County has a small airport, but it makes more sense to fly into San Francisco and hire a car. The drive from SFO to, say, Healdsburg, takes about two hours and is straight along Route 101.