Journeyman Meat Co. is a cellar door
like no other – a butcher’s shop run by
one of Sonoma’s original Italian farming
families, the Sagacios, with a small dine-in
space for charcuterie boards and tastings
of their eponymous wines. Then, head to
Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar (perch at the
back bar), where the hefty menu of
comfort food – including caramelised
brussels sprouts, local Dungeness crab
and a stand-out ‘cast iron fish and chips’
featuring the catch of the day with spicy
mayo and yucca fries – starts with a serious
selection of North American oysters.
The elevation tasting at Gary Farrell
Vineyards & Winery takes you from its
low-lying vineyards near the Russian River
to plots at 120 metres. Tastings at their
cellar door perched high above the valley
in a glass eyrie come with a cheese
pairing and a show of soaring red-tailed
hawks. The vineyards grow in diverse
climates throughout the valley, and it is
this difference that winemaker Theresa
Heredia celebrates. “In California you
have a lot of places that make a single
chardonnay, but we make single-
vineyard-designated chardonnays from
our various plots, and we lean towards
CLOCKWISE (from left): pouring drinks
at El Barrio; take to two wheels at
Autocamp; Crista Luedtke’s dog, Boon,
by the pool at her hotel of the same
name; local craft beers. OPPOSITE
(clockwise from far left): morning mist
in the Sonoma redwoods; pared-back
style at Boon Hotel + Spa; charred
octopus at Seaside Metal Oyster Bar;
(inset) culinary pioneer Crista Luedtke.the elegant style of chardonnay, which
we call ‘lemony persistence’.”GUERNEVILLE
Crista Luedtke is the unofficial mayor
of this sleepy one-street logging town
in the Armstrong Redwoods where she
is pioneering a new culinary wave. The
effusive chef first opened her boutique
stay Boon Hotel + Spa in 2008, all
refurbed white wooden miner’s cabins
around a central saltwater swimming
pool, followed by Boon Eat + Drink a
year later when she realised her guests
had nowhere to eat. After that came
cafe-come-general store Big Bottom
Market. Her latest project, El Barrio, is
a moody tequila and mezcal bar with an
all-female team who opened the doors
after a research trip to Oaxaca. Proper
guacamole with house-made totops (corn
chips), braised pork tacos and a selection
of Mexican cheeses are the perfect
accompaniment to an Espirito Santo –
bar manager Zoe Rem’s mouth-puckering
rendition of a sour made with tequila
blanco, agave syrup and guajillo chilli oil.
The historic Guerneville bank may no
longer deal in gold, but the handmadebutter-crust pies at modern-day resident
Chile Pies Baking Co. are worth their
weight in it. Stocked behind the original
teller counter, the daily selection might
include pear, blueberry and cardamom;
strawberry and balsamic rhubarb
streusel; or its signature green chile
apple pie with cheddar crust and walnut
streusel topping. And why stop at a
scoop of handmade ice cream on top
when you can create your own milkshake
blended with your pick of pie?
Seaside Metal Oyster Bar may not be
part of Crista’s empire, but it is a local
favourite for freshly shucked oysters and
craft beer. The blue sea-foam paint on
the walls and the white marble bar belie
its location in the woods, but Seaside’s
signature chowder and its charred
octopus with black lentils, cippolini and
salsa verde are nothing but comfort
food when the fog sets in.
Check in to Autocamp, which
redefines grown-up glamping with
luxuriously restored Airstream trailers
in the Sonoma redwoods. There’s a
clubhouse where you can stock up on
s’mores kits for the outdoor fire pit and
wine to sip in the comfort of your trailer.delicious.com.au 123