Summer at SingleThread (*)

Had a wonderful experience dining at SingleThread in Healdsburg, CA last night. Heard nothing but great things about this place beforehand, and it certainly lived up to the hype for us.

Pictures follow the order of the menu (final photo). Highlights for us included the entire first course, which was a set of bites set out at the table before you are seated (caviar corn custard and grilled eggplant with pistachio mousse were our favs), fried green tomato in course three (mostly nostalgia for my time in the south), and the zakkokumai (which was presented in a beautiful donabe before serving).

We also had the chance to tour SingleThread farms, where a lot (most) of the produce used at the restaurant is grown. We were encouraged to pick things out of the ground and taste them, and it was cool to note the different plants we’d seen at the farm appearing in our dinner. I think the sheer level of effort put into growing the various “beautiful, perfect little things” (as the produce was described to us) heightened our appreciation of the experience – certainly we’ve heard similar explanations tableside at various restaurants, but seeing the farm itself removed several degrees of separation.

In all, a tremendous experience that we look forward to returning to one day.