Best Contemporary American Restaurants in Occidental

If you are near Sebastopol, Goldfinch NEEDS to be on your list. I don't know where to begin on the food... - The pickled veggies were the right balance of acidic, herbaceous, slightly sweet, and crunchy - The Baby Gem lettuce, strawberry salad was beautiful, refreshing, an excellent amuse bouche. - The Roasted Carrots with honey mustard puree were tender, savory, slightly glazed, and an excellent counter to the baby gem salad. - The Hangar steak was lights-out--charred, beefy, and a fatty/richness, cut perfectly with bleu cheese and the red wine glaze. The Potato pave was something I will absolutely be trying to make at an upcoming steak dinner I'm hosting (think Potato gratin cooked slowly in butter, seasoned, cooled+ pressed in a pan, and then cut into squares and deep-fried for a super sexy crispy exterior with fluffy/creamy/buttery/salty potato interior) - The star of the show was ABSOLUTELY the Dungeness crab ravioli Rose... If that stays on the menu, it is a MUST ORDER. Since I was lucky enough to have my wife order that, I got to do the cheat code/perfect bite of the evening--a little hangar steak, ravioli, some of the crispy exterior of the potato pave, and a little red wine glaze. Absolutely divine--surf & turf of legend. We will now be making whatever excuse we can to get back to Goldfinch.

We love going to the Matheson! The food is always imaginative and delicious. It ain't cheap, but I think you get what you pay for. We had a prix fixe menu and the portions were generous and there were more courses than we would have expected. We went home stuffed and satisfied! Our server Zadie was the best - very personable, knowledgable and attentive.

We were greeted warmly at the door for our 5pm reservation and allowed to select out table. We sat at the booth on the left - very cozy. We had the foie gras and scallops appetizers- both were wonderful. For dinner my husband had the special beef bourguignon which was flavorful and tender. I had the special lobster pasta which could have had more lobster but what I had was very good. We will be returning!

Last year & this, our experience @ Dry Creek Kitchen was the highlight of our trip to Healdsburg (& the wine, of course). The ambiance is lovely, Chris and the whole staff are beyond compare, the corkage policy is extremely reasonable (especially if you bring a Sonoma wine!), not that one needs to bring wine, & the menu is flawlessly executed/everything is delicious — love that the $75 3-course dinner is not prix fixe. Rather, you get to choose from bountiful options in all 3 categories. And, if you’re like us, you have to add a canapé of crispy pork belly bites on biscuits w/maple glaze. Can’t wait until our return next year!

Delicious dinner and fabulous service! Thank you for a wonderful evening!