With spring comes an abundance of fresh openings to the north.
New Digs
The Lodge at Healdsburg
Following a multi-million dollar renovation, the Villa Toscana building originally part of the Best Western Dry Creek Inn, is making a go on its own as The Lodge at Healdsburg. All of the boutique hotel’s 60 remodeled villa guestrooms have a bright and airy feel, and feature a king bed, freestanding soaking tub, gas fireplace, patio or balcony, and wine country-centric art by local makers. After a busy day of wine tasting, guests can relax in the hotel’s heated pool and hot tubs, or get cozy around a fire pit in the Piazza courtyard. The Lodge at Healdsburg is about a 5-minute drive from Healdsburg Plaza and dozens of shops, wine tasting rooms, and restaurants. The pet-friendly property also welcomes dogs of all sizes.
Boho Manor
Boho Manor in Monte Rio (most recently known as the Village Inn & Restaurant) debuted in the early 1900s, but found fame in 1942, when scenes from the movie “Holiday Inn” starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire were filmed at the property. New ownership is thrusting the redwood studded property on the south bank of the Russian River back into stardom thanks to a head-to-toe Art Deco-inspired renovation. Rooms boast a Gatsby theme, with gold accessories and vibrant colors adding shimmer and shine throughout; what was once a storage space is now a speakeasy offering live jazz most Saturdays. An assortment of water toys are available for guests wanting to make a splash on the Russian River.
Hotel Petaluma
Built in 1923, Hotel Petaluma is celebrating the century mark. Interestingly enough, it’s actually the second hotel to grace the downtown, Kentucky Street address. The Brooklyn Hotel called the location home in the mid-1860s until being destroyed by a fire.
New Sips
The Apothecary by FloraLuna
The first nonalcoholic cocktail bar in Sonoma County Wine Country, The Apothecary by FloraLuna is shaking up the craft cocktail scene. Well known by mixologists throughout wine country and beyond for her award-winning cocktail bitters and syrups, owner Phaedra Achor took what was once a small retail space for her products in downtown Petaluma and transformed it into a cozy alcohol-free cocktail lounge.
Why sans alcohol? Achor noticed growth in the alcohol-free movement and though she loves a great cocktail, she says she’s not a big drinker.
“My mixers show up just as beautifully in an alcohol-free cocktail as they do in regular alcohol cocktails,” says Achor. “So, for me it was kind of a no-brainer, and a way for me to showcase them differently.”
The Apothecary’s menu features six signature alcohol-free cocktails that change seasonally; nonalcoholic beer, sparkling wine, a Spritz, and Champagne cocktail are always available. Along with enjoying alcohol-free drinks in the intimate lounge — it only has 18 seats — mocktails are available to go. The Apothecary is open Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Compline Wine Shop
Founded by the sommelier team behind Michelin recognized Compline Restaurant, downtown Napa’s Compline Wine Shop boasts 600+ bottles (and the room to add hundreds more) ranging from local favorites to budget-friendly labels, to rare vintages from around the globe. “No matter what you want to spend, we think you should get a good bottle of wine,” says wine shop manager Peter Wassam.
The tasting lounge offers a cozy spot to linger while sipping a new favorite and listening to vinyl spin, but come with an extra layer because you’ll want to venture behind Compline’s striking glass wall, and into the actual wine shop, where bottle after bottle are displayed and kept at cellar temperature. Along with offering vino by the bottle, flight and glass, the Napa newcomer also holds educational workshops, Wine Jeopardy and other wine-centric activities; check their events calendar once you know when you’ll be in town. Open every day but Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bannister Wines
It may be the newest tasting room in town, but there’s plenty of stories to be told at Bannister Wines. Opened in 1919 as a bank, owners Brook and Morgania Moore have transformed the more-than-a-century old corner of Geyserville Avenue, blending historic elements like antique teller cages with handmade, modern furnishings. An impressive steel vault now guards the entrance to a charming back patio where guests can sip a variety of gems ranging from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, to Sagrantino and Ribolla Gialla.
“We make traditional and non-traditional varietals,” says co-owner and winemaker Brook Moore. “Some wines people have had forever and other wines that they’ve never even heard of.”
The tasting room does double duty as an art gallery, with new shows launching every four months or so; the work of Fairfax artist Alison Kendall is currently on exhibit, giving you yet another reason to get a visit to Geyserville on the calendar. Open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.
New Eats
Luma Bar & Eatery
As in PetaLuma. Sister restaurant to nearby oyster bar The Shuckery, the food and cocktail menu is thoughtfully designed to be sustainable, focusing on local purveyors and eliminating products that create a huge carbon footprint due to the transportation required to source them. Along with seasonal, plant-forward fun dishes to share like cucumber and pepper escalivada, shoestring potatoes, and gnocchi, the downtown waterfront eatery works with local, low-impact Petaluma farms including Stemple Creek Ranch and Liberty Ducks, (also known as Sonoma County Poultry) to highlight rarely-used cuts of meat that typically go to waste — think duck confit made with meat from duck wings instead of duck legs. “Just supporting them [Liberty Ducks] in that way, I think it’s really unique,” says owner Jazmine Lalicker. “I don’t think anyone else is really doing it.” Open daily 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Scala Osteria
Sister restaurant to Napa’s well-known Bistro Don Giovanni, the seafood-driven Southern Italian restaurant and bar is located on downtown Napa’s bustling First Street in the space that was once home to popular Italian eatery, Ca Momi. Inspired by the Mediterranean, the space now sports a light and airy feel thanks to lots of white, strategic pops of blue, and a mural of the Amalfi coast. Along with an oyster bar and dishes the likes of whole petrale alla plancha and tuna carpaccio, the all-day menu boasts an assortment of pasta and pizzas. Bistro Don Giovanni fans will be happy to see favorites including the Caesar salad and meatballs with soft polenta have a place on the new eatery’s menu. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
