Cafe La Haye — Restaurant in Sonoma

I recently dined at Cafe La Haye as a part of my parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration week in Sonoma. My mom picked this spot after hearing all the good reviews as well as several nods from a few choice locals. I was excited to share a top notch dining experience with my family. Yet much to my dismay, it was anything but. While the host greeted us with a genuine smile, our disgruntled waitress made sure to not fake even a hint of happiness. We were met with snootiness the minute we were seated. She appeared annoyed with any questions asked about the menu, and especially if anything had to do with a vegetarian lean (as my beau does not eat meat or seafood). While the place purported itself to be veg-friendly, there was literally ONE main course option for non-meat + seafood lovers on the entire menu. Speaking of main courses, my mother began nibbling into hers when she stumbled upon a RUBBER BAND holding strong around the broccolini. OOPS! When my mother called the waitress over to inspect, she completely dismissed it. Apparently, they like to blanch the broccolini with the rubber band intact, and, well, clearly they forgot to remove it upon serving. Ummm... excuse me? Aside from being anything but palatable, THIS IS A TOTAL CHOKING HAZARD. After a brief “Oh, I’m sorry (not sorry)” moment, there was zero attempt to ameliorate the situation such as offering a completely new meal, complimentary glass of wine, dessert nor any item as gratis on the bill. The incident was simply shrugged off, even after the host, like the waitress, played the entire scene down as a “hahaha” laughable oversight. I wish this were some kind of joke, but... no. Not funny. And, the check at the end of the meal was presented as if nothing had happened. Where is the accountability here? And how about hospitality? If you are in a service-based industry with high acclaim, I would think you would want to uphold some kind of elevated standard, yet the only thing that seemed upheld was the air of an unapologetic nose in the air. No thanks, and...

Few restaurants can capture the combination of sophisticated dining, big city aesthetic, cozy family feel, and a true sense of place and time. The dining room has 32 seats and the kitchen is small and open. Local art (for sale) hangs on the wall and the décor is generally modern minimalist. The menu is every changing adapting to what is good,fresh and local. We ate there at the tail end of 3 days gorging in San Fran and 2 days gorging in Lake Tahoe. The two best restaurants on the trip were both in Sonoma, this being one

The menu is small enough so that each dish gets all the attention it deserves but large enough to give you enough variety to please anyone with a palate. As I understand it, there is always going to be some kind of pasta and a risotto on the menu but this is not Italian food...its Cali interpreted world food drawing on local produce. We loved a beets, orange, fennel, hazelnut and goat cheese salad, a beef carpaccio, fried oysters, arugula, and Reggiano salad, ginger-soy pork chop with chorizo butter, curry oil, carrots and feta, and the Brussels sprouts with bacon and Broccolini with chili flakes with potato gratin, and a butterscotch pudding.

The wine menu is perfectly sized. We are serious Francophiles and I could not believe finding a Romanee-Conti Echezeaux on the menu and alongside it, a Ch. Lafite! But, this is Sonoma and visitors who stay local and trust the area wines picked by La Haye will definitely be rewarded. We liked a Bevan Chard $80 and a Hudson Carneros $48. Both wine and food are very reasonably priced (delicious wines $40 -$80 & mains $19 -$40). This restaurant is highly recommended if you're lucky enough to get in. We will...

The food was remarkably wonderful with one exception. We are both allergic to chili in any form and we made that extremely clear. Our first course was covered with chili on the otherwise delicious toast. When we told our waitress, she was not particularly sympathetic and there were only two other choices, both of which were also spicy. When we told the owner, he stated that there was nothing spicy on the toast! That particular dish was expensive and quite small and I was quite stunned that they didn't offer to simply remove it from the bill. I have never had a restaurant deal with a situation in that manner. Also, our server barely checked on us even when she was right next to us dealing with other people. Plus it was my sister's birthday and I wanted it to be really special for her. We did not make a big deal out of any of it and simply ate what we could. I have to say that while the food was exceptional, the service and the attitude was most definitely not and I sincerely doubt whether I will ever return to this restaurant because of that. In my opinion, great food is not enough to make a restaurant experience exceptional. We ate at three other restaurants that were exceptional...