Dining in the Sonoma Wine Region
April 20, 2015 • California, North America, Sonoma, Travel
No trip to the wine country – not matter what wine region that might be – is complete without experiencing the cuisine of the region. As long as humans have been making wine, chefs have been creating food that pairs with those wines, and to me, the dinner after a day of wine tasting is a chance to sit back and drink and enjoy wine from the region instead of just smelling, sipping, and spitting during a tasting. Here are the spots we hit on our recent trip to Sonoma, staring with the Glen Ellen Star in Glen Ellen, a fairly new, but quite popular restaurant right in the heart of Glen Ellen.
Chef Ari Weiswasser plating my soup
Spring pea soup with ricotta gnudi
Lamb meatballs in a spicy harissa tomato sauce over creamy polenta
Whole roasted dourade with preserved meyer lemon and romesco sauce
Gnocchi with pea shoots, shaved rhubarb, and shredded chicken
Tart cherry cobbler with house made vanilla bourbon ice cream
Red quinoa stuffed acorn squash
A great place for lunch near the Sonoma Coast region is The French Garden Restaurant. Visit on a sunny day and enjoy daily harvested produce from the restaurant’s bio-intensive farm.



Most people who been to Sonoma know of The Girl and The Fig, right on the square. It’s hugely popular, and always packed, so be sure to make a reservation ahead of time.






Right across the street from The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma is the El Dorado Hotel & Kitchen, a popular hotel with a decent restaurant serving classic wine country cuisine.



housemade sausage hash, romesco and a poached egg



We were staying near Kenwood, and Glen Ellen is the closest town, so we found ourself back here at Olive & Vine for dinner on our last night. They source organic produce locally from small farms through Sonoma Organics for their ever changing seasonal menu.


