Valley — Restaurant in Sonoma

I ventured out for my first outdoor dining experience since February for the opening night of Valley Bar & Bottle in downtown Sonoma.

The restaurant and wine bar is located in the former spot of Harvest Moon.

Guests are greeted at the entrance, on the sidewalk, and must wait to be brought through the restaurant to the outdoor patio. (Or perhaps to be seated at one of two tables out front.) Before entering, staff ask if you have any COVID-19 related symptoms and they sanitize your hands. Guests must wear masks at all times except when eating or sipping beverages. (Customers abided, which made me extremely happy!)

The interior features a wraparound bar, a wall featuring wines by the bottle for sale (25% off the menu price for to go wine), and the post stamp kitchen still remains. A piano is also inside, with a book of Kate Bush songs sitting on it.

The patio has been touched up and painted. Cactus and succulents line the walls.

There were only 10 tables to allow for social distancing. After being provided disposable menus (a wine list, wines by the glass list, beer/cider list, and a food menu) guests go up to a staffed register in the middle of the floor and place their order (with your mask on). Servers then bring your food, drink, etc to the table.

Upon entry, we were greeted by the sommelier (who is also a co-owner) with a glass of pet nat that Valley sourced specifically for the opening. A field blend, it was a delicate, lovely sparkler - the best pet nat I've had (no funk). It was a nice treat.

The menu features tapas style offerings and a few shareable plates. This is the team who led the Scribe kitchen and hospitality end for a number of years (in fact, the Scribe family was there for the opening).

We enjoyed the XO egg (one egg with homemade XO sauce, it was divine), Don Bocarte anchovies (which were presented in a silky vinegar-oil dressing that was perfect with bread), bread and butter (the bread is from a baker in Napa -slightly sour, really good), the shrimp roll (a lobster style roll, too much celery for my taste), and lettuces with green goddess and avocado (the best salad I have had in ages. Baby lettuce and the dressing was great).

We sipped Goat Rock Cider Company peary and Gruner Veltliner from Wachau, which was presented by the sommelier-owner. The wine list is a mix of American and European wines. Majority, if not all, are natural, organic or biodynamic. Many small producers. I was impressed with the list. They also have beer, cider and NA drinks.

The service was friendly and unintrusive. Gloves were worn to clear dishes. I felt very comfortable and safe to be dining there.

Suffice to say, I was impressed. This is the type of experience and restaurant I look for when I'm visiting San Francisco, New York, or traveling in general. I'm so happy they chose our Valley for their Valley. Valley is open daily at 5 PM. Reservations via Resy highly...

I had one of the best dinners i've had in a while here. Valley was sophisticated without being pretentious, and food was amazing and comfortable. All dishes were packed with flavors and delightful texture- perfect balance of tenderness, crispiness, juiciness... Staff were friendly and full of smiles. My wife and i had braised pork with kimchi, potato gratin, crispy rice with ginger sauce, and smoked trout dip (I butchered some plate names here). Smoked trout dip was good combination of saltiness and smokiness. Now, the bomb was the the other three. Pork was sooo good- tender, flavorful, just perfect. Kimchi that complemented it... I thought it must have been mass produced, and i mean it as a compliment- i grew up in Korea, and few make kimchi themselves anymore. Their kimchi was too perfect for me to even imagine it was in-house made. If my wife didn't point out there's cilantro in kimchi, i wouldn't asked if they made it themselves. Though my wife's not a fan of cilantro, i was thoroughly impressed with kimchi-cilantro combination, and how it worked amazingly with the pork. And oh the pork... Did i mention how amazing the pork was? Potato gratin was also great- creamy, a little crispy bits on the edges... And the crispy rice... Oh wow. It's common humble food, but they made it just perfectly crispy, and it just worked. Oddly enough items i recognized from Korea, but not a Korean chef (not bad or good, just an observation). My mouth is watering, and I'd definitely be back when i visit...

Working in the local hospitality industry, I often get asked by visitors to suggest places to dine in the area. After hearing a lot about this place, I finally got a chance to visit recently. I have to say, I sure didn’t get what the buzz is about. It’s a short menu, with not much description of the dishes, which left us guessing as to how to order – are these courses, sides, mains, all to share? As it was, they all came out haphazardly, and not really in the order that we would have liked them to. It felt like someone was just cooking up random things in a kitchen and bringing them out as they were ready, with no real pace to our meal. There is an extensive wine list in contrast to the spare menu, with many of the wines imported and on the pricey side, very few were from local vineyards. My friend asked me if we would consider returning. Even though I live in town, probably not. The service people were visibly hanging out and chatting with each other while we were trying to find someone to bring us the bill, and service was minimal at best (although a service fee for health and wellness is added onto the bill). But what really got me was when we got there, we were initially seated at the farthest reaches of an empty restaurant, out back in the tent, on a chilly windy day with no heaters on, in the corner near a pile of propane tanks. I suspect it’s because we’re not young, thin, and we were not wearing “wine-country” attire or oversized trendy hats. We’re just locals...