Restaurant Week is an opportunity for restaurants to partner with their local tourism board or chamber of commerce to deliver a week of prefixed menus at a reduced price. This encourages the local community to go out and taste menus they may not normally try. Sonoma County Restaurant Week starts March 6th and runs until the 12th.
Every year I see more and more local restaurants exploring food preservation and integrating it into their menu. This year’s restaurant week menus have more housemade pickled, cured, and fermented items than I’ve seen in years past! Here is my list of top places to get preserved food during Sonoma County Restaurant Week:
- FOGBELT– This brewing company and restaurant serves a killer Butcher’s Board with local meats and aged cheeses. Not to mention their beers are out of this world.
- ROSSO– With locations in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, this Napoli-style wood fire pizzeria has been serving Proscuitto and housemade burrata during restaurant week for years!
- HOPMONK– Hopmonk is a great place for California cuisine and live music in Sebastopol. They will be serving their sausage board with fresh pickled veggies.
- FLOWER & BONE– What started out as a “preservation-centric” menu at The Naked Pig has now sprouted into their second location, Flower & Bone. Their restaurant week menu is yet to be determined, but I was told they will be serving fermented fruit leather, housemade plum hooch, fermented dressings, veggies and more.
- VALETTE– This rustic-chic eatery will be serving house-cured prosciutto, pancetta and pickled kohlrabi and jicama on their restaurant week menu. Be sure to check out their versatile wine list.
- RAMEN GAIJIN-This Sebastapol ramen house knows how to ferment! You must taste their pickle and fermentation platter while you’re there. The OHITASHI salad with bloomsdale spinach, fermented turnip, sunchoke, silken tofu, goma-ae and sprouted seeds and legumes is one of the best appetizers I have ever had.
- BACKYARD– Nestled under a giant oak tree that runs through the outdoor dining, this Forestville restaurant loves pickling and fermenting, especially with local ingredients. They list every local farm they source from on their menu. They will be serving a smoked halibut salad with pickled mustard seeds and toasted sourdough next week.
