There are more than 300 identified pasta shapes in Italy, each with a unique history, birthplace and use — from cheese-filled tubes to ruffled ribbons that grip sauce.

Chef Shane McAnelly of Dry Creek Kitchen pays a delicious tribute to his favorites on the restaurant’s new six-course pasta tasting menu, including the street corn agnolotti that stole my heart in the summer of 2020.

It was one of my favorite dishes of that challenging year. The pillows of pasta with roasted sweet corn, shishito peppers, lime, cotija and cilantro were the essence of summer on a plate. I’ve long wondered if it was as good as I remembered. It is.

The Dry Creek Kitchen pasta tasting menu ($119 per person, $85 supplemental wine pairing) is a departure from the restaurant’s progressive American cuisine, allowing McAnelly to showcase his pasta prowess.

 

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The former chef of Healdsburg’s Chalkboard and Brass Rabbit, McAnelly was celebrated for his handmade pasta and lush, seasonal sauces. He later reintroduced many of those dishes at Bricoleur Vineyards in Windsor, where he was executive chef for three years.

More than macaroni

What sets this tasting menu apart is the joyful celebration of Sonoma County produce, made magical at this time of year.

The opening salvo is a single slice of Russian River Organics heirloom tomato atop creamy stracciatella with fresh basil leaves, Rochioli olive oil and a drip of aged balsamic. It’s almost comical in its simplicity, but a talented chef knows when to step back and let the ingredients shine.

Bellwether Farms ricotta gnudi wrapped in squash blossoms and bathed in a clear broth of tomato water and Parmesan is breathtaking. I have no idea what sorcery it takes to make umami tomato water, but bathing in it would not be out of the question.

The showstopper is a sweet-savory Cocao Trifoglio, which McAnelly has revived from the Chalkboard menu. The clover-shaped tubes of pasta are infused with cocoa, lending an earthy foundation for a nest of Liberty duck confit. The lily is gilded with rich Madeira cream sauce and crunchy hazelnut praline. This will absolutely be one of my “Best Dishes of the Year.”

Beet Gigli with short rib sugo in a zesty horseradish gremolata is the heartiest course and had me crying for mercy and a doggy bag. It was just as amazing the next day for lunch, overlooking the fact that I microwaved it. Sorry, chef Shane.

Pastry chef Taylor Kelley gets into the pasta spirit with a strawberry nuvole pasta (made with flour and strawberry powder). Shavings of white chocolate and a quenelle of mascarpone mousse add glam to this clever dessert.

While I’m all about a good plate of macaroni or a messy plate of spaghetti and meatballs, Dry Creek Kitchen’s pasta tasting menu does a deep dive into the ocean of what pasta can be in the hands of a master.

Reservations are highly recommended.

Dry Creek Kitchen, 317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 707-431-0330, drycreekkitchen.com

You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.

The post Deep Dive Into Dry Creek Kitchen’s Delicious Pasta Tasting Menu in Healdsburg appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Acclaimed Healdsburg chef Charlie Palmer has kept busy during the coronavirus pandemic with live cooking classes on Instagram and a video series, “American Artisan,” which highlights local chefs and winemakers. Now, he’s making the video series available online, and you can watch it right here, on sonomamag.com.

“I’m excited to kick off our new series, American Artisan, where we’ll be showcasing some of my favorite makers. We’ll give you a peek at some of the best products and destinations to put on your wish list when we can safely travel again,” said Palmer about the new series.

Click through the above gallery to watch episode 1-10 of “American Artisan.”

The post Charlie Palmer’s New Video Series Highlights Local Chefs and Winemakers — Watch It Here appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

As we continue to hunker down to flatten the curve, our fantastic Bay Area neighbors are doing what they do best to keep our spirits high.

Big Bottom Market co-owner and cookbook author Michael Volpatt is offering virtual cooking classes every day at 3 p.m., East Bay musician Michael Franti is encouraging us to sing and dance, and Charlie’s Acres in Sonoma is inviting us to “meet” cute farm animals.

And since we can’t lookout for him and his tidy white chef’s jacket at Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, acclaimed chef and Healdsburg resident Charlie Palmer is bringing his cooking know-how to our kitchens.

Starting today, April 9, at 1 p.m., Palmer and Chef Scott Romano of Dry Creek Kitchen will take to social media to offer home cooks a Pigs & Pinot tutorial series.

Every Thursday throughout the month of April, the chefs will host a Sonoma winemaker for a live cooking demonstration and wine pairing on Palmer’s Instagram @chefcharliepalmer. Palmer will be going live from his home kitchen; the demonstrations are expected to last 15 to 20 minutes. Winemakers will join via a split screen to maintain social distancing.

Clay Mauritson will be on hand today to help kick things off – the dish – Cavatelli and Sweet Italian Sausage with smoked bacon, fresh ricotta and basil, paired with a 2018 Charlie Clay Russian River Pinot Noir. Hungry yet?

For the month of April, 25% of proceeds from all wine sales through the Pigs & Pinot Tutorial Series will be donated to a relief fund for Chef Charlie Palmer Collective hourly employees. Be sure to use the #pigsandpinot when you checkout.

Due to coronavirus concerns, Palmer postponed his 15th Annual Pigs & Pinot event originally scheduled for March 20-21, 2020 at Hotel Healdsburg. Pigs & Pinot features bottles from more than 60 wineries and 20+ chefs, and benefits a variety of local charities.

The tutorials scheduled for the rest of the month are worth marking on your calendar. On Thursday, April 16^th, Mark McWilliams of Arista Winery will be on hand while the chefs will prepare Pork Scallopini with pan seared caramelized onion, lemon zest, and sautéed cabbage.

Diane Bucher of Bucher Winery joins the festivities on Thursday, April 23^rd to dish about vino that pairs with a Pork Parmesan-Rosemary Waffle Sandwich with basil, tomato, mozzarella, and parmesan.

Last but not least, on April 30^th, winemaker Theresa Heredia of Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery will lend her thoughts on what to sip with a Coffee Charred Pork Tenderloin, with Brussels sprout and celery salad, reed’s pickled onions, and pecorino.

If you want to help spread the word on Instagram, tag a friend in the comments on Palmer’s page and you’ll be entered to win a signed cookbook.

The post Chef Charlie Palmer Is Bringing Dinner and Wine to Your Kitchen appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Did you know one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America lives and works right here in Sonoma County? And that his nickname is “Buttercup”? Meet Robert Nieto and 5 other amazing local pastry chefs we love…

Somewhere between the heat of the sun and molten lava is the perfect temperature for pulling melted sugar into lovely candy ribbons. Robert Nieto has the scars to prove it.

Working under a glowing red heat lamp in the Santa Rosa kitchen of Jackson Family Wines, he gingerly tugs at a 200-plus-degree blob of boiled sugar with gentle flicks of his wrist, creating thin wisps of candy that harden almost immediately into curls. In mere minutes, the blob can become a rock, so Nieto works with the intensity of a surgeon, despite the constant pain of his burning fingers.

The life of a pastry chef isn’t always so sweet.

Nieto is one of several highly trained Sonoma pastry chefs whose media are chocotemptations late, sugar, flour, cream and butter. More than bakers, these oft-overlooked artisans are equal parts scientist and artist, working with a precision and intensity demonstrated by the dreamy confections that make a great meal extraordinary.

Unlike a savory pan sauce or piece of meat that might benefit from an added pinch of salt at the end, baking is unforgiving. Pastry and confections are about exact measurements and processes so the soufflé doesn’t fall and the custard doesn’t break into an oily mess. It takes expertise to create a dessert so intriguing that it can stand up to every other course of the meal.

Here are six Sonoma masters of the craft.

ROBERT NIETO 
Jackson Family Wines, Santa Rosa

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Chocolate.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Mama Frischkorn’s Caramel Corn (a Jackson Family specialty).

As part of the Jackson Family Wines culinary team, Nieto produces a vast lineup of desserts — from perfect cylinders of chocolate ganache with gold-covered chocolate or butterscotch panna cotta with candy cap mushroom meringue and sweet potato ice cream, to sculptural creations of tuile, mango cream and rhubarb sauce — as well as all manner of breads and pastries featured on menus at the various Jackson Family wineries and tasting rooms.

“I’m always looking for the wow factor,” he said. Using geometric shapes, molds and unexpected twists, such as candy ribbons, his plates engage all the senses.

In just about every spare moment (and with the blessings of his bosses), he trains in Chicago for a spot on Pastry Team USA, which will compete in the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie competition in Lyon, France, in January 2017. Nieto was also chosen one of the top 10 pastry chefs in the country this year by Dessert Professional magazine.

As for the nickname he’s learned to love? “Buttercup” was foisted on him by Jackson Family executive chef Justin Wangler after a particularly ungraceful game of volleyball, where Nieto became “Butterfingers.” Over time, it morphed into Buttercup. With a portfolio of work that includes tiny pink macarons filled with cream, statues of chocolate and spun sugar, and pastry so delicate it nearly evaporates to the touch, his nickname suits him.

Taste Nieto’s creations at Kendall-Jackson’s north Santa Rosa tasting room, 5007 Fulton Road, Fulton, 707-576-3810, kj.com/wine-andchocolate- pairing. A wine and chocolate pairing is offered, by appointment, for $25.

DAVID BLOM 
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, Sonoma

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Jack of all desserts.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Wild strawberries, when in season.

With the competing demands of special-event cakes, dining-room desserts and the Fairmont’s luxe holiday buffet spreads (usually with more than a dozen desserts), Blom is a pastry master by necessity. Named one of the best pastry chefs in America by Chocolatier magazine, he’s been the executive pastry chef at Sonoma Mission Inn for 12 years. His favorite dishes include green tea crème brûlée cake with vanilla-poached rhubarb, and a salted caramel mousse Napoleon.

Having grown up in a family of bakers, frosting is in his blood, yet he continues to push the boundaries of pastry-making, whether by ingredient or technique.

“Buffet desserts, plated desserts, wedding cakes, special-occasion cakes, bread baking, chocolate work, sugar work, molecular gastronomy, confectionery … you need to be adept at all aspects of the pastry profession in a resort setting,” Blom said.

100 Boyes Blvd., Sonoma, 707-9389000, fairmont.com/sonoma

EMMANUEL “MANNY” FIMBREZ 
Madrona Manor, Healdsburg

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Molecular gastronomy.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Liquid nitrogen tableside ice cream.

Fimbrez is a confectionery wunderkind. Like the manor’s top toque, Jesse Mallgren, he loves deconstructed dishes that mix whimsy, texture, temperature and flavors in surprising ways.

Unfettered by creating a full dessert menu (his sweets are showcased in the tasting menu), Fimbrez isn’t shackled to brownie sundaes and lava cakes. Instead, his signature is “Peas and a Pod,” a strawberry tart with a pulled-sugar pea pod filled with lemon ganache “peas” rolled in pea powder.

This kind of science-based culinary play also includes his take on the traditional sour cream cheesecake, with his own version of Dippin’ Dots (tiny beads of ice cream frozen with liquid nitrogen). The hardest thing about being a pastry chef, Fimbrez said, is trying to do justice to the amazing farming community.

“Everyone knows the Lao (Saetern) strawberry stand in Sebastopol has the best strawberries and knows what they taste like, so you always want to showcase his product,” he said.

1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-4231, madronamanor.com

CASEY STONE 
John Ash & Co., Santa Rosa

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Kneading dough.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Cheesecake.

With more than a decade on the job at one of Santa Rosa’s favorite dining destinations, Stone knows the four things people really want to see on a dessert menu: something chocolate, something lemon, something comforting and something with ice cream or custard. It’s a pretty simple formula, but Stone has fairy-godmother talent for turning a dish such as chocolate mousse into a fantastical dome of devil’s food cake with vanilla bean-infused syrup, chocolate pearls, bittersweet chocolate mousse and a chocolate glaze.

“There are a lot of components to it that you have to have ready before you can assemble them, but it’s super rich and I love it,” said Stone, who is responsible not only for desserts for the restaurant, but also the hotel, event center and catering.

His signature cheesecake gets its golden slippers from Meyer lemons, huckleberries and tangerine sorbet.

He gets his inspiration from local ingredients and produce grown on the property. As for his talent for kneading bread dough? “I like the feel of it and I do it pretty well,” he said.

4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 707-527-7687, vintnersinn.com

LISA KAUFMAN
Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Lemon tarts.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Chocolate peanut butter bar.

The new kid on the block, Kaufman claims she got the job at Charlie Palmer’s Healdsburg restaurant because the other candidate didn’t show up. That, and the fact that the restaurant’s longtime pastry chef, Andrew Di Clementi, was willing to give the recent Santa Rosa Junior College culinary graduate a shot.

“He saw something in me,” Kaufman said. She was also eager to learn from Di Clementi (now at Palmer’s Harvest Table in St. Helena), Palmer and pastry mentors at his Aureole restaurants in New York and Las Vegas.

Her favorite dessert on the Dry Creek Kitchen menu: crème brûlée cheesecake with compressed kiwi and oranges. The dessert that still eludes her: baked Alaska, a show-stopping dome of cake and ice cream topped with meringue and briefly cooked in an oven.

317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-431-0330, drycreekkitchen.com

SCOTT NOLL 
Barndiva, Healdsburg

PASTRY SUPERPOWER: Insatiable curiosity.

CAN’T TAKE OFF THE MENU: Milk & Honey.

Noll’s pre-chef experiences in mechanical engineering and art gave him a foundation for precision baking and creating beautiful dishes.

The owner of a vintage Porsche 912 with the license plate PASTREE, he’s a kitchen veteran with old-school mentors including Joyce Goldstein and John Ash, and current Barndiva chef Ryan Fancher. His personal style is mixing familiar flavors with modern presentations, such as with his butterscotch pudding with a piping of Scotch whisky.

One of Noll’s favorites is Milk & Honey, which he calls a “multicomponent surprise package” of dehydrated “crunchy” milk with honey ice cream and honey tea cake, along with a honey-pickled poached pear. A bit of bee pollen under the ice cream completes the concept.

231 Center St., Healdsburg, 707-431-0100, barndiva.com

Photography by Chris Hardy. 

The post The 6 Sweetest Pastry Chefs in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

I’m past being surprised when the media confuse Sonoma restaurants as being in Napa, or altogether ignore Sonoma in lists of the best Wine Country Restaurants for tired usual suspects. However, this time, at least one of my favorites did get tapped by the Wine Spectator as “World-Class”.

That restaurant: Valette.

The Healdsburg eatery, which got a meh 2.5 stars by The Chronicle’s Michael Bauer in 2015 is a crowd favorite for its haute dining in a convivial, decidedly unstuffy atmosphere. Not to mention the charm of Chef Dustin and his brother, Aaron Garzini (who’s front of the house) along with their dad, Bob, who is usually a fixture at the bar or roaming from table to table as unofficial host. If you can’t tell, I’m a fan. And not just for their $3,000 kobe beef.

It’s also worth noting that two of Chef Charlie Palmer’s restaurants were named: Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg and the newer Harvest Table in St. Helena.

These Wine Spectator Awards, according to the magazine, represent Wine Country Restaurants that “are a cut above the rest, be it for their vineyard views, their championing of producers both local and global, or their creative renditions of all types of cuisine.”

Along with Valette and DCK, the Wine spectator also named Barndiva, and John Ash & Co. as top Sonoma County picks.

In Napa, the awards went to La Toque, 1313 Main Restaurant & Wine Bar, Auberge du Soleil Restaurant, Farm, Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon, Carpe Diem Wine Bar and Solbar.

The post Wine Spectator Names Wine Country’s World Class Restaurants appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Chef Charlie Palmer is looking back to look forward at Dry Creek Kitchen.

Taking over the reigns of Palmer’s Healdsburg restaurant is 12-year Charlie Palmer Restaurant Group veteran Scott Romano. In addition to working at 5 Palmer restaurants, including Aureole in NYC, his friendship with Chef Palmer spans two decades.

“It’s a nearly 20-year friendship that has survived several restaurant openings, hot kitchens, many a hunting trip, and countless meals and glasses of wine,” said Palmer. It also includes several guest chef appearances at Palmer’s signature event, Pigs & Pinot as well as surviving Romano’s departure from the group several years ago.

“There’s a unique quality to Scottie. He has the soul of a chef. There are a lot of good chefs, but not all of them have the soul of a chef — the love of food and a constant yearning to learn more. ”
– Charlie Palmer

“I’ve been working on getting Scott back into the family for years, knowing his maturity and experience would bring us to new levels,” said Palmer. “His kitchen and cooking style lends itself naturally to DCK and I’m thrilled to have my hunting partner back in this part of the country.”

As both employee and longtime friend to Palmer, Romano has an ease with the multi-Michelin starred chef that’s reassuring to the future of the Healdsburg restaurant after the departure of Dustin Valette (who left in 2014 to open Valette) and a less than one year stay by Chef Andrew Wilson.

That easy rapport shows, with the two working hard to reimagine some of the restaurant’s signature dishes like the Oz Family Farm Rabbit Tortellini, Dry Creek Peach and Heirloom Tomato Salad with Bellwether Ricotta and Sauteed White Sea Bass with Sweet Corn Puree.

“We’re looking back at iconic dishes from all the restaurants,” said Palmer, who currently owns 17 restaurants, with at least one more on the way at the Archer Hotel in Napa (opening 2017). “And we’re adapting them to California,” he said.

The two are also doing monthly “Reflective Menu” dishes that pull from Palmer’s past, including Pepper Seared Bob White Quail with Savory Corn and Sweetbread Pudding that appeared on the 1998 menu of Aureole (served Aug. 8-21, 2016 at DCK)

Though Romano isn’t from the area, he’s already jumped into the fray, with his wife (also in the restaurant biz) planting a culinary garden at their Healdsburg home, and spending many mornings meeting with farmers and purveyors who supply the restaurant.

“There’s a unique quality to Scottie. He has the soul of a chef,” said Palmer. “There are a lot of good chefs, but not all of them have the soul of a chef — the love of food and a constant yearning to learn more,” he said.

Romano’s culinary start was humble, doing dishes at a pizza parlor in New Jersey, and graduating to a line cook at Romano’s Macaroni Grill (no relation). As a culinary student, Romano chose to stage at Aureole, and Palmer saw promise in the young cook.

Now, the promise has landed him at one of Palmer’s flagship restaurants. And both chefs seem happy to be back together, and happy to be cooking in Wine Country.

“People love eating here in Wine Country, and I’m looking forward to being part of that,” said Romano.

(Featured photo: Paige Green)

The post New Chef at Dry Creek Kitchen Is a Palmer Pal appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

It takes a special kind of chef to work for Charlie Palmer. The father of “Progressive American” cuisine has his name on more than a dozen restaurants from New York and Las Vegas to California, including Michelin-starred Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg and newly opened Harvest Table in St. Helena.

But behind the scenes of each restaurant are the boots-on-the-ground executive chefs, all of whom have serious culinary fire power in their own right, doing a balancing act between Palmer’s mission and their own unique inspirations.

In Healdsburg, that role has recently been taken over by Wine Country veteran Andrew Wilson. In St. Helena, Napa Valley newcomer Levi Mezick is poised to make his mark. And while the sibling restaurants are clearly from the same gene pool, they’re as markedly different as the two valleys they hail from.

“Each one of our restaurants is really a reflection of a combination of what I envision and the personality of the chef and the team in each restaurant,” said Palmer.

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Harvest Table: New, uniquely Napa Valley

It’s hard to reconcile the fact that Palmer is the force behind Las Vegas’ Wine Angels — acrobatic showgirls who fly around his four-story Mandalay Bay glass wine tower — and the meditative culinary gardens of Harvest Table in St. Helena, where the only aerial theatrics are in buzzing beehives.

But it’s also not by accident that white-coated kitchen staff can frequently be spotted walking by the dining room with precious handfuls of fresh basil or microgreens from the restaurant’s herb and lettuce garden (one of several gardens on the property that are overseen by culinary horticulturist Laura McNiff).

Or that Executive Chef Mezick and his kitchen are perfectly framed inside a portrait window overlooking the restaurant’s alfresco dining terrace.

Or that the extensive wine program includes a match-your-wits game of “blind” wine selections from the sommelier that let the diner guess what’s in the glass.

As you’re seated, all of these things will be pointed out to you.

After all, Palmer isn’t afraid of a little entertainment value.

Housed inside Palmer’s new Harvest Inn, a picturesque Napa Valley retreat, the 110-seat restaurant feels intimate and friendly, especially when you’re sitting cross-legged on a cozy pillowed corner seat on the sheltered alfresco dining patio.

There’s no doubt, however, that food is the real celebrity here. Noting that St. Helena has played culinary second-fiddle to nearby foodie meccas like Yountville and Healdsburg, Palmer sees the restaurant’s focus on hyper-local ingredients and talented staff as a way to bring back some of the town’s foodie luster.

Like most Wine Country chefs, the casual and chatty Mezick is careful not to overuse the farm-to-table jargon, but it’s not hard to tell he’s proud that a local character like Ray Erickson of Erickson Ranch has deigned to bring the chef some of his “private stash” of Suisun Valley stone fruit.

“He just showed up in his cowboy hat one day and said, ‘I sell peaches and nectarines, and I don’t just sell to anybody,’ ” said Mezick.

The young chef made the cut, and a summer stone fruit salad went on the menu, entirely dependent on what Erickson brings him that day.

“We want a restaurant that locals will enjoy and come to, that’s driven by the season and what’s fresh and good in Napa Valley,” Mezick said.

Most recently hailing from the acclaimed 1833 Restaurant in Monterey, Mezick said Palmer had only one request when it came to the Harvest Table menu: Shrimp and grits.

Raised in Virginia, Mezick’s roots are in Southern cooking, and this signature dish ($14) was a perfect fit for Palmer’s Progressive American style of cuisine. Made with Anson Mills grits (a Southern institution for stone-ground heirloom grains), shrimp, bacon, Andouille sausage, cheddar cheese and a secret blend of Mezick’s favorite herbs and spices, it’s heartbreakingly good.

“It’s sweet, salty, strong and comforting. I love that flavor,” Mezick said, adding that his cooks do as well. “… They’ll look for certain things to eat during the shift, and that’s just one of those dishes they never get tired of.”

Inspired by Shake Shack’s burger (Shake Shack is an East Coast phenom that we can best equate to Gott’s Roadside meets In-N-Out), Mezick’s Harvest Table Burger ($18) is another menu staple that’s got to be eaten to be believed. This two-patty, brioche-bunned beast is easily one of the best hamburgers in Wine Country, which is saying a lot, since burgers are something of a religion in these parts.

You’ll also want to leave room for savory starters that include Pomme Dauphine ($7) with goat cheese fondue; crispy pork head “tater tots” ($6); petite sashimi of whatever’s fresh (halibut was our choice) with a tart, sweet cactus pear emulsion ($13); the pillowy-est potato gnocchi we’ve ever had, with ramp butter and charred favas ($21); and, if you’re there on a lucky day, Mezick’s whole truffled chicken, one of the daily “share” plates for two or more.

Former Dry Creek Kitchen pastry chef Andrew DiClementi has crossed the mountain, and his signature peanut butter bar is on the menu, along with a truly order-worthy homemade selection of ice creams and sorbets.

Service, of course, is five-star — one of the hallmarks of a Palmer restaurant — and the vibe is upscale casual Wine Country, meaning you’ll find winemakers and winery owners rubbing elbows with tourists and neighborhood customers.

“We have an enormous amount of work to do here,” Palmer said, “but we have an amazing situation here, and Levi really embraces what we’re trying to do.”

Harvest Table, One Main St., St. Helena, 967-4695. Open for lunch from 11:30a.m. to 2:30p.m. Wednesday through Friday; brunch from 11:30a.m. to 2:30p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and dinner from 5:30p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Monday.

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Dry Creek Kitchen: Formally inviting

In Healdsburg, Chef Andrew Wilson has big shoes to fill. From Michael Voltaggio, the notoriously outspoken “Top Chef” contestant, to well-known local chefs including Mateo Granados, Les Goodman and, most recently, Dustin Valette of Valette Restaurant, Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen has been a training ground for some serious top toque talent.

With a military-like crispness in his appearance and kitchen, Wilson was a quieter choice for the established white- tablecloth restaurant inside the Healdsburg Hotel when Palmer hired him in 2014.

“I had a lot of interested and talented young chefs from New York,” said Palmer of the executive chef position that opened when Dustin Valette left to open his namesake Healdsburg restaurant.

“His sensibility with food is what brought him. He’s not out there trumpeting his name. He’s more of a focused guy in the kitchen and has a strong foothold in Sonoma,” said Palmer.

“That was a deciding factor. It has to be someone who embraces the community. You have to be really happy where you are.”

Wilson has put his stamp on the menu with a “return to simplicity in ingredients,” he said at a recent dinner. That means fewer sauces and fancy preparations, and just letting the ingredients shine through.

“Andrew’s approach to food is a lot about what I’m trying to push for — super quality ingredients, creative but simple food and not seven different garnishes or sauces on each plate. The simpler it is, the less room there is for any error,” Palmer said . With the Healdsburg farmers market just 50 feet from the back door, access to great local products is easy.

“Gayle (Sullivan from nearby Dry Creek Peach and Produce) delivers flats of peaches to us that are still warm,” said Palmer. “We just concentrate on great local ingredients and keep it simple.”

This is traditional Wine Country food, rather than anything too experimental, making it a comfortable favorite of local winemakers (the wine list is hyper- local), well-heeled neighbors and Hotel Healdsburg visitors. Signature dishes for Wilson include Wild King Salmon with morel mushrooms ($34); ahi tuna tartare with soy lime dressing ($17); and seared duck breast ($36) with seasonal vegetables.

But traditional doesn’t have to mean boring.

“We have to constantly push the envelope and be fresh (at the restaurants),” said Palmer. “Otherwise it becomes mechanical. All of my chefs talk and compare notes and eat each others’ food.

“They’re all in an octopus phase right now,” he joked. “You see that kind of similarity sometimes. But really, at the end of the day, you just got to have love in the dishes.”

Dry Creek Kitchen, 317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 431-0330. Open for dinner only from 5:30 to 9:30p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Both restaurants have three-course “neighborhood menus” during the week for under $40.

The post Harvest Table and Dry Creek Kitchen Restaurants appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.