Beyond the Vines, Healdsburg's Homegrown Culinary Scene

HEALDSBURG, California — It's a tale as old as time: Food builds community like nothing else. Add California wine to the mix, and the feast also yields great and lasting friendships.

On a recent exploration of my namesake state, I went to Healdsburg, a small town nestled in the heart of Sonoma wine country. For the last 130 years, two of Sonomas nearby valleys have proven to have the ideal conditions for winemaking: the Russian River Valley for pinot noir and chardonnay, and the Alexander Valley for cabernet and merlot. Yet while grapes usually steal the show around here, they aren’t the only thing harvested in the valley.

A true farm-to-table success story, three-Michelin-starred restaurant and boutique hotel SingleThread Farm grows and harvests the best of California bounty on their nearby 24-acre biodiverse farm — vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, and flowers that form the backbone of their ten-course chef's tasting menu. While the restaurant has a months-long waiting list to score a table, the team prioritizes also friends and neighbors through a community-supported agriculture program (CSA) that allows them to share in and enjoy the farm's harvest beyond the walls of the dining room.

Montage Healdsburg, set on 258 verdant acres abundant with California oaks, eucalyptus trees, and vineyards, has launched programs for guests to harvest on land and at sea. With the apiarist behind Sonoma County Bee Company, guests can observe honey bees at work, learn about migration, and taste honey directly from the hives. They can also out venture to the Sonoma coast less than an hour away with Strong Arm Farm to learn to pick edible seaweed directly from the Pacific, which is home to more than 640 edible native species. That's not all either. Recently, the hotel partnered with Stephanie Jarvis of Pacific Truffle Growers to oversee the hotel's onsite hazelnut orchard. The hope is that truffles will sprout near tree roots and that guests can then go on foraging excursions, assisted by the hotel's truffle-hunting canine ambassador, Beau. The reward will be extra tasty when guests can bring their booty to the chefs for generous shavings at dinner.

Whether plucking grapes or foraging in the wild, harvesting celebrates slowing down, gathering with community, and honoring nature’s abundance from land and sea.

And it’s made all the better with a glass of wine in hand. One afternoon in Healdsburg, I went for a tasting at Van Z Vineyards, a small, family-owned winery that produces fewer than 500 cases of wine annually. What I had anticipated — a few formal swirls and sips of cabernet and chardonnay — was not what I experienced. Instead I found a family home filled with neighbors, winemaker friends, and locals celebrating the kickoff to harvest season. Before the plucking began, the winemakers roamed the vines, sunbathing among the grapes that would fill their glasses in a few years. I spent the entire afternoon at the vineyard, slowing down to appreciate the gift of good wine, new friends, and the magic of watching nature unfold.

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