Sonoma County.
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143 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
El Molino CentralBibjust added?
Destination · Mexican, regional · Sonoma · $$
walk-in
Karen Taylor Waikiki nixtamalizes and stone-grinds her own corn, then cooks whole lamb over maguey leaves in a Caja China.
Joseph Swan Vineyards
Destination · Forestville
walk-in
Joe Swan's own Pinot Noir selection is now a registered clone at UC Davis, and Rod Berglund has made the wine off it since 1988.
Kistler Vineyards-Trenton Roadhouse Tastings by Appointment
Destination · Forestville
booking essential
They buy French oak as wood, air-dry it in St Romain, and coopered barrels arrive three years later.
Littorai
Destination · Sebastopol
booking essential
Ted Lemon ran a Meursault estate at 25 and came back to farm 30 acres of Sebastopol with cows, sheep and a barn full of drying chamomile.
ValleyBibjust added?
Solid · Californian, natural wine · Sonoma · $$
book ahead
Emma Lipp and Stephanie Reagor cook here and own it, with Lauren Feldman and Tanner Walle, and they have taken three Bib Gourmands since 2020.
Terrapin CreekMichelin
Destination · Bodega Bay
booking essential
Andrew Truong will not serve fish and chips in a fishing town, and people have walked out over it.
New & next.
Joseph Jewell Winesjust added?
Listed · Wine, Russian River Valley and Humboldt County · Forestville · $$
book ahead
Adrian Manspeaker drives three hours north to Humboldt County for 40 percent of his grapes and pours the result in downtown Forestville.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
For the night you're planning.
A table for eight, a quick lunch, something still cooking after eleven: tap the one you need and it opens the rooms that do it. Every time below shows the date it was last checked, so look at that date before you plan an evening around one.
The heavyweights
Every room here has won a Michelin star or a place on a 50 Best list, or has simply been running for decades. 1 here.
Hirsch Winery
Cazadero
booking essential
David Hirsch planted a sheep ranch above Fort Ross in 1980, three miles from the ocean, and the soils changed so fast he ended up farming sixty-odd separate parcels.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 32 here.
Quail & Condorjust added?
Bakery, viennoiserie, sourdough · Healdsburg · $$
walk-in
Melissa Yanc won Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship in 2019 and turned the $25,000 into this bakery the next year.
Diavola Pizzeria & SalumeriaMichelin
Geyserville
walk-in
Dino Bugica cures prosciutto, salumi, sausage and lardo on the property, and the board of it costs $30. There are pig skulls in the back garden.
Downtown Bakery & Creamery
Healdsburg
walk-in
Kathleen Stewart opened this on the Healdsburg plaza in 1987 with Lindsey Shere, Chez Panisse's pastry chef. The sticky bun is $4.50 and there is a line out the door at weekends.
Jordan Vineyard & Wineryjust added?
Wine, Alexander Valley · Healdsburg · $$$
booking essential
Tom and Sally Jordan built a Bordeaux chateau in Alexander Valley in the 1970s and have made two wines ever since, chardonnay and cabernet.
BarndivaMichelinjust added?
Californian · Healdsburg · $$$
book ahead
Erik Anderson stuffs the burger patty with Gruyere and the Bordelaise goes over it at the table. Barndiva dropped its tasting menu in January 2024 and moved into the gallery next door.
Russian River Brewing Company (Windsor)just added?
Brewpub, IPA · Windsor · $$
walk-in
Nine pounds of hops go into every barrel of Pliny the Younger, three in the kettle and six across a triple dry-hop. This is the Windsor brewery, where the tour runs daily from noon.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 103 here.
Bravas Bar de TapasJeff ★★★☆☆ 2017?
Spanish, tapas · Healdsburg · $$
book ahead
Mark and Terri Stark toured Spain and came home with a tapas bar for Healdsburg, open since 2012. Jamón Ibérico and paella come out to a back garden that holds most of the room.
Healdsburg Bar & Grill
Healdsburg
walk-in
Charlie Palmer put Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon on the menu at $25 and deglazes it with beef stock instead of red wine. He cooked next to her on PBS.
Horse & Plow Tasting Roomjust added?
Wine and cider, Sonoma County · Sebastopol · $$
walk-in
Suzanne Hagins presses cider from over thirty apple varieties grown around Sebastopol and Chris Condos makes the wine. You taste in a converted barn, four wines or four ciders.
Bacigalupi Vineyards & Winery
Healdsburg
booking essential
Charles Bacigalupi was a Healdsburg dentist who planted Chardonnay on Westside Road in the early 1960s, using budwood from Karl Wente.
Bird & The Bottle
Santa Rosa
book ahead
Mark Stark cooks over a custom grill that weighs 1,600 pounds and runs near 800 degrees, with a V-channel cut into it to catch the fat and baste the meat back.
Corner 103
Sonoma
booking essential
Lloyd Davis pours five wines seated, one on one, with a bite of food against every glass.