Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar
Fried chicken coated in arborio rice flour, on smashed potatoes loaded with butter and cream, under a caramelized pancetta glaze. $27, and Sonoma Magazine puts it in the writer's twenty best meals in the county.1
Why go
John Franchetti came out of Tra Vigne and opened Rosso with Kevin Cronin in 2009, insisting that the kitchen make everything in the building, down to the burrata.1 Franchetti left in 2015. The restaurant closed in March 2025. Then John and Linda Ahmadi took it over and reopened it in under seven months with the room, the menu and a lot of the old staff intact, and Sheryl Chapman's illustrations still on the walls.1 Sonoma Magazine went back on 30 September 2025 to find out whether the food had survived the handover. It had.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the fried chicken, $27. Arborio rice flour on the crust, butter and cream in the potatoes, pancetta glaze over the top.1
- Order: the veal and pork meatballs, $16, in a chunky tomato sugo.1
- Order: the Caesar, $14, dressed with lemon and anchovy and warmed up with Calabrian chili.1
- Avoid: the Fungi di Limone at $26, on the current evidence. The wood-fired crust was still right and the toppings were not.1
What locals & experts say
- Sonoma Magazine, on a visit of 30 September 2025:
Rosso's fried chicken with smashed potatoes and a sweet caramelized pancetta glaze ($27) continues to rank among my top 20 favorite meals in Sonoma County.
On the mushroom pizza the same night:there were too many thinly sliced mushrooms piled on top, detracting from the taleggio cheese's hint of funk,
andA key finishing drizzle of citrusy lemon oil had accidentally been omitted, leaving the flavors somewhat muted.
1
Good to know
- Book by phone, 707-615-7893. The restaurant takes parties of any size.2
- The wine list runs local and Italian, and there is Lambrusco on it.1
- Eggplant Parmesan and new desserts were on the way as of that visit.1
Verdict
should-visit — The fried chicken is the argument. It is coated in arborio rice flour and fried crisp, it sits on smashed potatoes loaded with butter and cream under a caramelized pancetta glaze at $27, and Sonoma Magazine puts it in the writer's top twenty meals in the county. John Franchetti opened the place in 2009 out of Tra Vigne and made everything in house down to the burrata. It closed in March 2025 and came back under John and Linda Ahmadi within seven months with the same room, the same menu and much of the same staff. One review is thin evidence for a higher rung, and that review also found the mushroom pizza overloaded.