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Sonoma Restaurants|Healdsburg, California, United States

SingleThread Farms Restaurant

Name: SingleThread Farms Restaurant
Telephone: 707-723-4646

True farm-to-table cuisine in wine country

VERIFIED LUXURY

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To call SingleThread Farms a restaurant is akin to calling Buckingham Palace simply a house. This temple of haute cuisine in Sonoma County’s quaint town of Healdsburg delivers on the oft over-used promise of “farm to table.”

Proprietors Kyle and Katina Connaughton cull items for the 11-course dinner menu directly from their nearby five-acre farm, on which head farmer Katina oversees an heirloom fruit orchard, vegetable and flower beds, olive trees, beehives and chicken coops. The farm also provides Katina with the organic goods for her dramatically designed tablescapes and dish presentations.

To source purveyors for SingleThread’s incredible array of seafood items, executive chef Kyle treks six times annually to Japan, the country that serves as inspiration not only for his lauded donabe clay pot cooking techniques, but also for SingleThread’s elegant and serene dining room interior. Every item—be it food, utensils, paired wines, sound system or furnishings —has been thoughtfully curated by the Connaughtons to fulfill their hospitality dream.

Our Inspector's Highlights

The striking pottery that lines one kitchen wall is not simply décor; the vessels are crucial to Kyle’s dish preparations. Each donabe piece is made by the Nagatani family of Iga, Japan, eighth-generation master potters who also produce nearly all of SingleThread Restaurant’s vases, bowls and plates.
An open kitchen allows for a theater atmosphere, granting you a front row seat to the culinary drama.
The Japanese philosophy of omotenashi— a deep sense of hospitality where a guest’s every need is anticipated — permeates every aspect of the fine-dining room, from the service to the artfully presented plates.
In warmer months, the SingleThread experience begins on the building’s rooftop with a 360-degree view of downtown Healdsburg. Among herb gardens and planter boxes, you can enjoy aperitifs before heading downstairs to the main dining room.
Katina — whom Kyle calls “the heart and soul” of SingleThread — serves as both the property’s farmer and floral designer. She is dedicated to utilizing sustainable agricultural methods with an emphasis on restoring and enhancing Northern California’s native habitats.

Things to Know

Reservations and prepayment are made on the platform OpenTable, and like a sporting event or concert, all bookings are final, yet transferable. Bookings can be made up to two months in advance.
The dress code at SingleThread is business casual — no T-shirts, shorts, flip-flops or athletic wear.
Expect about 2.5 hours for the total dinner experience, though the time goes quickly because there are few lulls during the experience.
While allergies are noted, those with extreme sensitivity to nuts, soy, dairy, shellfish and gluten are cautioned that these items are utilized in the kitchen. Due to the menu’s prevalence of soy and rice products, sea salt and sea plants, the kitchen is unable to adjust for these items.
Located above the restaurant is SingleThread’s five-room inn, featuring exquisitely designed and gracious accommodations representative of the Connaughtons' warm hospitality.

The Food

SingleThread Restaurant’s small-plate, 11-course menu changes daily based on the harvest.
Kyle uses traditional cooking methods such as Japanese donabes (for braising, steaming and stewing) as well as modern techniques in his preparations of vegetable- and fish-centric dishes. Dairy, carbohydrates and processed foods are rarely utilized.
While the menu is highly seasonal, dishes might include heirloom pumpkin with Dungeness crab and orange; smoked salmon prepared in an Ibushi Gin (Japanese smoker); duck liver parfait; and hazelnut with chocolate, black truffle and coffee.
At the end of the meal, you are presented with a full menu of the evening’s dishes and corresponding wines. The presentation includes a package of heirloom seeds from SingleThread Farm, and a thoughtful handwritten note from Katina

The Chef

Chef Kyle’s culinary career and interest in Japanese culture was launched during his high school years, when he apprenticed at one of Southern California’s oldest Japanese restaurants. He later attended both the California Sushi Academy and Sushi Chef Institute.
In 2003, he received an offer to work for chef Michel Bras in Hokkaido, Japan, where he learned the disciplines of kaiseki (seasonal, multi-course meals), sushi, izakaya (pub fare) and soba.
He frequently collaborates with chefs in Japan on the subjects of umami and the science behind traditional and modern cooking techniques. Kyle is also a co-author of Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking, a cookbook featuring recipes made in traditional Japanese earthenware.

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