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Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/4/2019 5:59:52 PM

jonboy74

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Just booked a last minute week with the family (and dog) just outside of Graton and Barlow. I've done Healdsburg and Santa Rosa but nowhere else really in Sonoma. Planning on heading to the beach for a half-day, Graton for a day to stop at Furthermore Wines (owned by a friend of a friend), and other than that, still need to figure out plans. Any suggestions for your favorite restaurants/family-friendly wineries/NWR things to do would be appreciated. We will be driving around, so anything in Sonoma is fair game!

Post #: 1

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/4/2019 6:43:13 PM

wadcorp

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Really enjoyed visiting Ridge Lytton Springs when we were in Sonoma back in 2011.

The building is of hay-bale construction, which is pretty cool. And their wines are not half bad, either.

.

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/5/2019 8:11:02 AM

KPB

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From: Ithaca, New York
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Just got back from a visit to Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

In terms of restaurants, we somehow always end up in Martha's "Old Mexico" in Sebatopol, and we just love that place. The terrace out back is great (but bring a sweater: evenings are cool there). Also good is Gajin Ramen and K&L Bistro. Check out Pascaline's on the road to Forestville, and get your bread at Nightingale in Forestville (check hours). There is also an especially famous place for sticky buns and breads just out of Sebatopol, on the road to Bodega Bay: Wild Flower Bread, about 3 miles from town. Bodega Bay itself is totally worth the drive (or Point Reyes, very similar drive).

In Santa Rosa, I guess I'm not feeling that the city actually is very family friendly, at the end of the day. It has parks and those are nice, but the downtown is very spread out, rather overrun with homeless people, and it isn't obvious to me where you would do tourism stuff. Some of the wineries have really nice spots for picnics, though. And there is a stunning redwood forest to hike in on the drive to Bodega Bay.

Geyserville is worth a small side trip. Check out the Coppola winery (nice café there, plus your family gets to check out all the Godfather movie set stuff that way -- interesting even to someone who couldn't care less about wine). Even better than the café is the pizza and charcuteria place, Diavola, in the "main intersection" of Geyserville.

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/5/2019 8:31:18 AM

Posts: 14828
Joined: 11/12/2011
From: Wandering between Coastal SC and South FL
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quote:

ORIGINAL: KPB

Just got back from a visit to Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

In terms of restaurants, we somehow always end up in Martha's "Old Mexico" in Sebatopol, and we just love that place. The terrace out back is great (but bring a sweater: evenings are cool there). Also good is Gajin Ramen and K&L Bistro. Check out Pascaline's on the road to Forestville, and get your bread at Nightingale in Forestville (check hours). There is also an especially famous place for sticky buns and breads just out of Sebatopol, on the road to Bodega Bay: Wild Flower Bread, about 3 miles from town. Bodega Bay itself is totally worth the drive (or Point Reyes, very similar drive).

In Santa Rosa, I guess I'm not feeling that the city actually is very family friendly, at the end of the day. It has parks and those are nice, but the downtown is very spread out, rather overrun with homeless people, and it isn't obvious to me where you would do tourism stuff. Some of the wineries have really nice spots for picnics, though. And there is a stunning redwood forest to hike in on the drive to Bodega Bay.

Geyserville is worth a small side trip. Check out the Coppola winery (nice café there, plus your family gets to check out all the Godfather movie set stuff that way -- interesting even to someone who couldn't care less about wine). Even better than the café is the pizza and charcuteria place, Diavola, in the "main intersection" of Geyserville.

[thumbs up]
Drive River Road to the coast.
Turn left (south)
Take Coleman Valley Rd back to Occidental

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/6/2019 10:33:20 PM

jonboy74

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awesome thanks for that!

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/7/2019 7:10:26 AM

KPB

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Bring warm clothing. To my surprise, last week it wouldn't hit polo shirt and shorts temperatures until around 11am and stayed warm to 4:30. But the average was actually kind of chilly, more in the 60's and 70's. By evening you'll be glad to have a sweater handy.

< Message edited by KPB -- 8/7/2019 7:11:03 AM >

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/7/2019 7:13:17 AM

fingers

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Embrace those diurnal swings!

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/7/2019 7:50:21 AM

Anthonyiez

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Just got back...

Salt and Stone restaurant was very good.
Garden Court for breakfast.

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/12/2019 9:02:26 AM

jonboy74

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anthonyiez

Just got back...

Salt and Stone restaurant was very good.
Garden Court for breakfast.

Any wineries you'd suggest for a visit, other than those posted above?

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Post #: 9

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/12/2019 12:28:43 PM

Oenophiliac

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Kunde (in Kenwood) is worth thinking about about. If you have the time, look into their mountain top tasting. An amazingly beautiful spot and view. They also do a tour of their extensive wine cave. There is a shot of the cave exterior in “Bottle Shock”.

The wines range from ok to pretty darn good and in general are a decent value. They have been family owned 5 or 6 generations, but I think they are a larger operation than they appear at first glance. I have been told they produce Costco’s Sonoma Zin.

< Message edited by Oenophiliac -- 8/13/2019 9:26:06 AM >

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Post #: 10

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/12/2019 4:52:51 PM

Anthonyiez

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jonboy74

quote:

ORIGINAL: Anthonyiez

Just got back...

Salt and Stone restaurant was very good.
Garden Court for breakfast.

Any wineries you'd suggest for a visit, other than those posted above?

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. We stayed at a specific cottage in Sonoma to be with friends, but only tasted in Napa.

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Post #: 11

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/12/2019 6:57:21 PM

Slye

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Has anyone tried Spinster Sisters for lunch or dinner? In Santa Rosa.

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Post #: 12

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/13/2019 9:13:28 AM

KPB

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In fact I was just there recently! Excellent choice for lunch, but not an obvious one for dinner. They do things like tartines with avocado and egg, salads -- the wilted kale was excellent, many other options. I have never eaten dinner there, but am guessing it wouldn't be nearly as good as K&L Bistro in Sebastopol, or La Gare in Santa Rosa over on Wilson Street.

We had dinner at a new place that I'll recommend strongly for dinner: HanBul. You need a reservation, and should brace yourself for extremely generous portions (we went with the Bulgogi, which was amazing, and then with the "formula" where you pick the meat you want, and they provide side-dishes (about 20 of them for the three of us -- not kidding!) The Bulgogi was so good that I might consider ordering that and asking for the same side dishes, rather than ending up with Bulgogi plus other cuts that aren't nearly as good. But having said that, our 3-meats grill was quite good too (there is a kind of steak, excellent, but then a very tough piece of neck muscle that maybe could have been pounded or something to soften it, and then these very thin strips like proscutto -- those I liked a lot).

Or you could go for the more innovative options on the full menu, and maybe get just one order of the Bulgogi. Don't miss out on all those side-dishes though. Some were totally insane. (This said, I was the only person who liked the microscopic dried and salted shrimp things... call it 19 dishes for everyone else, 20 for me?)

Also, if you are on a low-salt diet, this will blow your quota of sodium... for at least a day or two...

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/15/2019 9:18:14 PM

jonboy74

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A little over halfwawy through my trip. Weather was way hotter than expected, so we spent more time at the pool and less time driving around and exploring. Highlights so far were
- Goat Rock and the drive back up Coleman Valley Road (thanks for that suggestion!)
- Stopping off at the apple stands and getting some gravenstein and pink pearl apples. Both are 10x better than anything I've ever had from the supermarket.
- Small Vines Winery - great story behind why the owner started his own vineyard. Growing and production more burgendy style, has to import special equipment since he only has 1 meter between rows. A few of his pinots are age=worthy, can't wait to lay them down for several years and see how they turn out.
- Paul Mathews in Graton - still haven't gone to the tasting room but stopped off on Day 1 just to grab some local bottles, because I coudln't bring myself to buying something in Safeway...more on this to come later, after I do a proper tasting
- Furthermore Wines - Tasting tomorrow, but I've already been there 2 times to buy wine to drink with dinner and their pinot rose for pool-side. I am not a rose fan but this one has me convinced there are good rose's out there!

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/16/2019 5:23:23 AM

KPB

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Gravenstein and Pink Pearl: Check out the Sebastopol Apple Festival (tomorrow and Sunday). They have a really wide range of apples to sample, cider, anything apple-related.

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/16/2019 5:24:38 AM

KPB

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Link: http://www.gravensteinapplefair.com

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Post #: 16

RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/16/2019 5:25:52 PM

Oenophiliac

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quote:

ORIGINAL: KPB

Gravenstein and Pink Pearl: Check out the Sebastopol Apple Festival (tomorrow and Sunday). They have a really wide range of apples to sample, cider, anything apple-related.

I think we will pop a bottle of Dutton Estate Cider in honor of the Apple Festival.

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RE: Sonoma - Your favorite spots - 8/16/2019 8:23:04 PM

jonboy74

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unfortunately the apple fair isn't dog friendly, so we'll have to pass on it. We went to Walkers today to pick up apples. All they had now was gravenstein's, since that's all they had in season, but for a buck a pound, wow, what a deal. We walked out with a 20 lb box of apples!

Furthermore tasting today crushed it. We went through the whole list of pinots, and there was not a single one we didn't like. Ended up leaving with 5 cases. The Navina's and the Gioia were the big winners, as was the Alchemy. All of them had a nice balance of fruit acidity and tannin. And the people in the tasting room were super awesome. I can't say enough good things about this place.

Didn't make it back to Paul Mathews unfortunately. Bought their Ruxton pinot without sampling and it was great. The cabernet franc not so much, too light and watery. Will have to grab a few bottles sometime tomorrow.

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Post #: 18