Best Chefs

Three hours? Five hours? Eight? Ask anyone who’s been to chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry about their dining experience, and the first thing they’ll tell you (aside from “It was the best meal of my life”) is how long the meal took to eat. With possibly more courses than most normal humans can consume at a single sitting, dinner at the French Laundry is a singular lifetime experience rather than just a meal. Then again, when you have to wait upwards of three months (often longer) to get a reservation, a little pomp and circumstance with your oyster sabayon isn’t exactly gilding the lily. Everything old is new again: stiff cocktails, a juicy steak, a dressing-drenched wedge of lettuce. Though the classics—big meaty cuts of filet mignon and porterhouse—may seem like anything but a challenge (season, grill, serve) for a trained chef like Greg Cole, Napa’s Chop House has elevated the steak to, well, a sort of art. Only the best corn-fed, dry-rubbed steaks make it onto the plate, grilled to perfection and coupled with classic sides like the lettuce wedge and creamed spinach and a martini. Sometimes there’s a special beauty in simplicity. Though his kitchen may be tiny, chef John McReynold’s passion for food is anything but. Café Le Haye is a local institution, both in terms of its staying power and the continued ability of chef John McReynolds to create and re-create rustic California cuisine. Locals would like to keep this hidden Sonoma gem a secret, but word is out—so book your reservations early.

Best Brunch

Though its only been around about a year, the Boon Fly Café is the type of restaurant that’s already so tied into the local scene that it feels like it’s been here forever. Folks mill about on the front porch, dogs yawn in the sun and strangers trade sections of the Sunday paper. Simple, sunny design and nouveau rustic farm-food (Farmer Ira’s Frittata, Boon Fly Benedict) inspires a meandering, chatty meal. But if you insist on hurrying out the door, the Boon Fly (located at the Carneros Inn) will also pack up anything on the menu to go—for picnics or otherwise.

Best Sandwich

You can tell the first-timers at the Oakville Grocery—they tend to be walking around with their arms full of bottles and jars in a sort of food daze, overwhelmed by an assortment of meats, cheeses and desserts heretofore unknown by them. The choices can easily overwhelm. Veterans know the drill: eyes forward, ignore all temptations, order sandwich. But even that can be daunting—curried chicken salad, smoked turkey and cranberry, roast beef and blue cheese? Fortunately, there are enough days in the week to order them all.

Best Coffeehouse

Best Coffeehouse Where did anyone meet before coffeehouses? It's almost hard to remember life without cell phones, IPods or, the new favorite get-together-and-chat spot: the coffeehouse. Barking Dog Roasters is Sonoma's favorite local gathering spot for chatters, laptop junkies, first-date flirts and caffeine-addicts alike, pouring up that first morning mocha, a creamy afternoon latte and staying open until after dinner for a quick straight-up-cuppa-Joe to keep us night owls working. Free Wi-Fi is a happy perk.