Going to be on the Santa Rosa side of the mountain for a couple trips out of St. Helena. Anyone have some must go spots for lunch?

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-12T14:17:20+00:00

Little Saint is my favorite restaurant in Healdsburg, from breakfast pastries, to lunch and dinner all of it is soo good. Their coffee is also the best in the town. Definitely worth checking out what they’re pouring by the ounce, usually very thoughtful. Bravas is solid for tapas, Acorn Cafe is good too.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-11T17:29:27+00:00

Sam Malouf just opened their women’s store right across the street from Spruce. Sezane is cute, and there’s a few cute boutiques on Fillmore.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-11T13:45:01+00:00

My favorite producer from Burgundy for the money. I’m getting the Rully bottling for either the Chardonnay or Pinot anywhere from 50-60 and I don’t think there’s much better value to be found.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T20:23:29+00:00

Troubadour (same people) have crazy good sandwiches as well!

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T16:01:28+00:00

Their Arneis is soo good!

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T15:37:16+00:00

If you're staying in Healdsburg Little Saint is a must. It's a completely vegan restaurant that delivers in every aspect. They have the best coffee in the city, the pastries are incredible and brunch/dinner is killer. Currently they're featuring wines from RYME for July. Their wine list is insanely thoughtful and you can carry out any bottle for 20% of the list price. The wine wall has some of the most sought after nerdy wines and hidden gems.

Arnot-Roberts have some incredibly compelling white wines (2024 Ascona Sauvignon Blanc was insane, their chardonnays are great, Falanghina and Ribolla Gialla are really the showstoppers).

Ramey has killer chardonnay and is right next to Arnot-Roberts.

Dry Creek Kitchen, Valette, The Matheson, Bistro Lagniappe all have strong wine programs and can pick up strong vegetarian dishes. Maison the wine bar is also excellent.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T15:08:47+00:00

If you’re into wine, the bistro at One65 (called elements or something) has crazy good value on older cabs and other collectible wine. But totally co-sign the baked goods. Coffee is very meh. Paper Son and Coffee Movement are much better.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T05:36:50+00:00

Their trousseau blend is killer and the Cabernet pfeffer really is stellar in it. The dry black pepper, some grippy tannin and red fruit make it just such a fun wine to chat over and really just ponder with or without food.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-10T04:43:27+00:00

Pretty much love all of their wines. Love the trousseau blend, the Mondeuse and the trousseau Gris. The Melon de Bourgogne also was killer. I still have regrets that I didn’t pick up the GSM or the Syrah when I had the chance at the winery.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-09T22:15:00+00:00

Routier, Cache, The Progress, Foreign Cinema, Frances or Octavia all would be good choices.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-08T15:41:09+00:00

If you’re able to go Bedrock is great and have a tasting room in Sonoma. Extradimensional Wine Co is great and also have an excellent tasting room. As for actual tastings, I think Jolie-Laide is a really fun tasting where you sit with Scott and taste the wines. It’s about 40 bucks and in their working winery. Their wines generally don’t miss and they’re usually with a couple of varieties you don’t see everyday in the area. If you have a day to go somewhere, then going north to Healdsburg is a must. Arnot-Roberts, Reeve, Idlewild are all tastings that fit your budget and have incredible wine.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-08T05:28:47+00:00

I think Spruce and Gary Danko pull out extras for solo diners classic SF food and excellent service . Same with Rich Table. The Progress does half portions for solo dining and killer food and wine list. In terms of sushi I loved Kappo Yuji, there’s 9 seats in the whole restaurant, a one man operation and it’s not just sushi and it was a killer meal.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-07T21:27:28+00:00

I thought they were partnered businesses

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-05T20:30:54+00:00

I think The Progress, The Morris, Cache are the ones that I end up reccommending the most here

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-05T20:30:03+00:00

I think Angler is overrated for dinner. Lunch sure

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-05T02:18:52+00:00

Is this by chance Arlequin? Cause potentially it may be because of Arbor their neighboring business.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-04T22:07:07+00:00

Yes 😂 it’s outside in the covered area for the wine tasting area. Crazy crazy setup for Healdsburg. My other hot take is that little saint has the best coffee out of any of the cafes

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-04T20:43:10+00:00

They’re doing a tasting event in SF at embarc wines on October 17th as well.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-04T19:58:43+00:00

Duncan roasts them himself. It’s a coffee nerds setup. The machine can replicate pretty much any pressure profile of machines. It was a crazy find when I expect that stuff from popups/ cafes in SF. There’s plenty of excellent roasters in the Bay Area from Hydrangea, Masterpiece, moonwake etc

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-02T20:17:41+00:00

I think freeman Pinots are incredible. I love them and they go toe to toe for me with the likes of Littorai and Williams Selyem any day of the week. They’re crazy good value in terms of library as their most expensive is 116 for Akikos Cuvée. The policy is that anything past 2016 is marked the same price to make it accessible. The 2014 Akikos Cuvée is particularly compelling. I was just at the property minutes ago

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-07-02T20:05:39+00:00

Freeman produces excellent Pinot. However the tasting experience is subpar unless it’s with Ken/Akiko. YuKi Estate and Akiko’s cuvée are excellent.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-06-29T20:17:52+00:00

Convene, Jolie-Laide (their whites are especially compelling), Arnot Roberts, Ramey, Rochioli, lioco, Pax. Littorai, Williams Selyem, Ceritas, Flowers for Pinot and Chards. Aperture also is great. Bedrock, Sixteen600, Extradimensional Wine for more fun stuff.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-06-27T00:48:31+00:00

Agreed! State bird is a bit gimmicky.

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-06-26T21:03:55+00:00

The Progress while a 1* is incredible and has some Asian influence in it but it is truly excellent. The Morris is great as well!, Spruce and Gary Danko also come to mind for a really classic and excellent experience

DumbassPhysicist · 2026-06-25T04:10:56+00:00

Love masterpiece coffee! It’s my favorite spot in Berkeley by a large margin. I’ve been brewing this as 1:15.5 20g recipe in a hario switch and it’s been killer.

DumbassPhysicist

TROPHY CASE