Café LaHaye and Saul Gropman
“Such a gentleman leaves his beloved restaurant like a gentleman, with total consideration for the people who will pick up the spatula/torch, and for his kindness and fairness to some of the longest serving staff in Sonoma Valley, which says a lot about him.”
That was the response I posted when Saul Gropman announced he was leaving Café LaHaye and turning it over to longtime chef Jose Lopez. When I repeated my sentiments to Gropman on my KSVY radio show last Friday, we both teared up again.
Saul and our dear late friend John McReynolds actually met through their German wives at the time. Almost on a lark, Gropman and McReynolds opened Café LaHaye in the LaHaye building on East Napa Street in 1996, with the bright idea of serving breakfast and lunch. Gropman was still teaching classical guitar and music at San Francisco State University, and the breakfast and lunch spot didn’t work out very well, so they tried serving dinner.
Eventually they noticed that a couple of men came in three different evenings and always sat at Table 10. Gropman, serving as host, had no idea that one of those men was San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic, Michael Bauer, until Bauer gave Café LaHaye three stars in his Pink Section review. All has gone well ever since.
John McReynolds left the restaurant after 10 years, followed by Chef Jeffrey Lloyd, and Marco Echeverria. But employees stick around, with their collective tenure at 80 years. Jose Lopez, who has cooked there for 22 years, and his wife Marta, will take over in January.
Gropman concluded his posting: “I bid you all a bittersweet farewell. I look forward to spending my days focusing more on the guitar; reworking old repertoire and learning new pieces. You haven’t seen the last of me, that’s for sure.”
I will miss waiving to Saul and his bike outside the restaurant almost daily.
Edge to Enclos
Leslie and Mac McQuown bought the house that had been home to Cynthia Solomon and Ginny Jones’ women’s bookstore, Curtis Dorsett’s Peterberrys restaurant, Pasta Nostra, and Rin’s Thai restaurant.
The McQuowns founded Stone Edge Farm with a goal of making it the utmost organic and sustainable farm possible.
To create their Edge restaurant in that downtown house, Leslie McQuown designed the fun interior in moderne black and white and hired the aforementioned John McReynolds as Executive Chef and Culinary Director. He was assisted by several fine chefs, including Fiorella Butron who succeeded McReynolds as executive chef and now has her own Allikai restaurant on West Napa Street.
Eventually, Edge closed and sat idle while the McQuowns acquired other properties close to Sonoma Plaza. They hired San Francisco designer Jiun Ho to bring newly imaginative décor to the space, which, indeed, he accomplished. What we used to call the patio, is now called the lounge.
Enclos is worth a visit just to see it, and try the food if it is in your price range. A typical dinner might include 10 tasting courses from oysters to aged tuna belly, lacquered squab, fermented wagyu beef, and Kuri squash cheesecake and assorted dessert tastes for $225. Wines by flights range from Stone Edge’s at $85 to $135 for wines from around the world. Their extra special New Year’s Eve dinner includes two seatings, one at 5:30 or 6 p.m. ($295) to a second seating at 8:30 or 9 p.m. for $350 per person.
At the official opening, I had the pleasure of sitting with the “father of wine country cuisine,” John Ash, and his 38 year KSRO radio partner Steve Garner.
While you might not recognize Executive Chef Brian Limoges, Chef de Cuisine Adam Gale, or Chef Sophie Hau, former Edge fans will recognize Philippe Thibault, Director of Hospitality, and Larry Nadeau, Director of Dining and Private Events, who continue their elegant service.
P.S. – Enclos’ opening celebration tastes did not include the much touted venison served on deer antlers. 139 E. Napa St., Sonoma. (707) 387-1724.
Songbird Parlour
Lauren Kershner has expanded her business portfolio into Songbird Parlour, in the space where beloved local chef Catherine Venturini used to have her Olive & Vine restaurant in Glen Ellen’s historic Jack London Village.
Open for dinner so far, Songbird’s menu includes eight appetizers and four main courses. Friends and I ordered several of them. We all enjoyed the smoked and pickled beet, the fried potatoes with leeks and tomato aioli – although the leeks were skinny toothpick size and not easily tasted or identified – the elegant halibut crudo, and the head-on prawns. Once you detach the head and rear of the prawn, there is a tasty normal sized prawn to consume. The duck leg confit with beluga lentil cassoulet, and filet mignon with whipped potatoes and shiitake were divine.
Executive Chef Eric Moulton and general manager and partner Ken de Alba (formerly of EDK) do an excellent job of service. The only negative is the acoustics, which are quite loud in the cavernous room. I don’t remember that problem at Olive & Vine in the same space, but some fabric could help. Even table cloths muffle sound a little although they also cost money to launder. Check it out. Also in Jack London Village you can enjoy The Mill and Yeti restaurants. 14301 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen. (707) 343-1308.
Tents City?
This winter more Sonoma Valley restaurants than ever have added outdoor tents and heaters so they can expand their seating, serve more people, and make more money. And tents, either to rent or purchase, are expensive.
Local restaurants with tents this year include Della Santina’s, The Red Grape, Sonoma Grille, the girl & the fig, El Dorado Kitchen, Murphy’s Irish Pub, Swiss Hotel, Il Fuoco for barbecue Saturdays and Sundays, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, and The Mill in Jack London Village. If you know of more, please tell me.
Sonoma Grille
Nima Sherpa’s hugely popular daily Happy Hour menu includes some of my personal favorites: Monterey Bay Calamari, garlic fries, green or Caesar salad, vegetable flatbread, cheeseburger, clams and mussels and lots more, all at prices substantially discounted from the regular menu. Ditto on beer, wines by the glass and cocktails. They are now open seven days a week, but closed for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. Open for dinner and Happy Hour daily.
One special I have not tried but have heard good things about is an ample serving of prime rib on Thursday evenings. Look for special menus on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. 165 W. Napa St., Sonoma. (707) 938-7542.
The Mill at Glen Ellen
Executive Chef Dana Jaffe hosted a celebratory evening for a new winemaker with a menu beyond many local menus. It started with oysters on the half-shell followed by green papaya salad with a grilled prawn, Hamachi sashimi with tiger’s milk, pumpkin ravioli with shaved chestnuts, fingerling potatoes with Dana’s aioli, pasta pantesco with Wagyu, albondigas with tomato and aged Manchego cheese, lamb chop with dark cherry demi-glace, a spicy pork taco, prime filet of beef with wild mushrooms, dried fruit in chocolate, and Dubai chocolate crèmeux.
Most of these are not on the regular menu, but fans will be happy to know that Laksa is back. It is a Malaysian thick noodle dish with coconut curry, shredded chicken, gai lan, bok choy, mushrooms, cilantro, garlic and crispy onion. Lots of vegetarian and vegan options as well as steaks and salmon. 14301 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen. (707) 721-1818.
Mary’s Pizza Shack
Mary’s Pizza Shack in Boyes has finally replaced the butter containers you had to use a fork to stab and puncture the top to get out some whipped butter something. Customers now receive packets of silver-wrapped Grassland Dairy Products’ healthy unsalted butter from Greenwood, Wisconsin for their French bread.
Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year’s
This year, Christmas and the first night of Chanukah are both on December 25.
If you like to go out for Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner, Chanukah, or New Year’s Eve, call your favorite restaurant and find out if they are open. All of the usual grocery stores are making take-out Christmas dinners, as are a few restaurants and caterers.
Last chances
In Glen Ellen, December 29 will be the fig café & wine bar’s last dinner service before closing for an exciting revamp by Sondra Bernstein and John Toulze. In Sonoma, Café LaHaye’s last dinner before Saul Gropman hands the spatula and torch to Jose and Marta Lopez will be January 4.
Kathleen Hill can be reached at kathleensonoma@gmail.com
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