Jimtown and Then Sum
Michelle Wood makes the dumplings by hand off her family's recipes, in a Highway 128 general store that has stood there since 1893. She sells sui mai, steamed bao and a banh mi in the middle of Alexander Valley.13
Why go
Wood did not come here for the building. She found it as a cyclist, because Highway 128 has almost nowhere to stop and Jimtown had been the mid-ride rest for riders taking in the Alexander Valley.1 Her catering company is Dim Sum and Then Sum, and she managed a lab before going full-time in food in 2021. The store was her pop-up base before she owned it.1 She took over from Carrie Brown in late 2023 and reopened on 10 June 2025.1
The store opened in 1893 as a post office and a general store.1 It had been dark since late 2019.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pork and shrimp sui mai. Dumplings are what Wood's catering company is known for and they are on the counter menu now.31
- Order: an open-faced steamed bao, or a sixteen-piece box of dumplings if you are feeding a car.3
- Order: the banh mi if you want it in one hand on the road.3
- Avoid: turning up on a Tuesday expecting the full dim sum service. Wood said only a limited selection of the popular items runs on weekdays.2
What locals & experts say
- Heather Irwin, Sonoma Magazine (10 June 2025), on the store before Wood:
Jimtown's modern era began in 1991, when Carrie Brown and her late husband, John Werner, took over the space. It became an offbeat destination for visitors who enjoyed Brown's eclectic collection of toys, candies and housewares.
Locals came for the sandwiches and Brown's Chain Gang Chili.1 - Michelle Wood, on what she was holding back for the grand opening:
The menu will highlight our dim sum service and what is to come.
2
Good to know
- The grand opening ran a $70 dim sum plate of six items from 11am to 3pm on the Sunday, and a $70 ticketed barbecue the day before. Those are July 2025 event prices.2
- Coffee and morning pastries came first, along with sandwiches, salads and sushi rolls; the dim sum arrived two weeks later.2
- You can order off the site before you get there.3
- I could not find the hours. Neither Sonoma Magazine piece carries them and the store's front page does not print them.
Verdict
should-visit — The store sat dark from 2019 until Michelle Wood reopened it in June 2025, and she runs the kitchen inside it as Dim Sum and Then Sum. She found the place on a bike, riding Highway 128 with nowhere else to stop, which is the most honest reason anyone has bought a general store. Carrie Brown had it from 1991 and locals came for her Chain Gang Chili; that is gone and the dim sum has replaced it. Nobody has written about the cooking since she reopened, so the menu on the site is the only thing to plan from.