So where do we go from here?

Pádraig Ó Tuama offered up a lovely poem a few weeks back on Poetry Unbound, “The Cave” by Paul Tran, which touched the heart of the moment we find ourselves in right now. Everywhere we turn we face another precipice. Health. Climate. The economy. Truth itself has become a slippery slope as it careens across platforms, refracted like a broken funhouse mirror.

Tran’s poem begins “Someone standing at the mouth had the idea to enter.” In negating gender, and for that matter race and creed, reading Tran’s words I was struck with how little we actually know about these first humans, as individuals. One can imagine them looking up at the heavens to see which way the clouds were blowing, but they come down to us through history with no formal construct of God or country. We don’t know much about what defined their belief systems, what we do know is that struggling together, slowly growing their numbers, they survived, and ultimately thrived. Everyone alive today should be thankful that enough of them had a prevailing curiosity, a determination to continue discovering what lay before them in the dark, to keep the human race alive.

The poem describes “objects that couldn’t have found their way there alone: ocre-stained shelves, bird bones, grounded hematite.” And deeper still, “paintings on the walls of cows, bulls, bison, deer, horses, some pregnant, some slaughtered.” Though the word “bravery” is never mentioned it’s inconceivable their progress forward could have been made without it. And, crucially, another attribute all but a few of us seem to have lost: curiosity. “We need to continue to go into new caves, or caves we think are new,” Padraig concludes, “in order to mine the possibility of what it means to be human, together.”

What lies embedded in that last but essential word “together” is what we’re having so much trouble with now. As the pandemic and climate change make clear - whatever you think caused them - in order to survive ‘our’ existential threats we need to get beyond the noise and ask ourselves why it is so hard to get along. It does not reduce the meaning of our solitary journey through life or the choices we make as individuals to acknowledge (and honor) that all our explorations, our achievements, our sorrows and joys have more resonance when shared. Therein lies the urge to create tribe, family, community. And yes, party affiliation.

Americans think of themselves as brave; it’s something that’s drilled into us, decade after decade. We’re taught that “we” marched across a beautiful but perilous country and claimed it, planted it, and civilized it, all to the good.

What a beautiful country it was, yet how messy civilizing it has been, how cruel it continues to be when you honestly chart the journey. As we grouped, and then more formally segregated ourselves to protect what we had, we let those differences define us. When we raise our voices in choir, when it comes to breaking bread and celebrating family accomplishments and life’s milestones, tradition is thankfully what binds us to our sweetest moments. But when those differences divide us we are driven to protect… what? Whose truth? Whose status quo?

How can we create forums for conversation now that are not tainted with prejudice and the cruelty that flows from it? As a much older person to the child who once dutifully pledged allegiance “to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands” before the start of every school day, I’m not convinced cruelty is endemic to the American experience, much less a necessary corollary to achievement. We are all vulnerable to resorting to angers fed by generational prejudices when frustration and hardship get the best of us. Perhaps it is human nature that seemingly insurmountable problems seem easier to grasp when there is someone to blame for our woes. But the corrosive emotions being deployed right now across our beautiful country in order to command our attention and allegiances may be drawing us into conflicts that do not serve us well.

As we sit in our caves now day after day watching flickering light from various media platforms, we are incurious they cast no shadow. What we do paint on our internet walls in posts and tweets is ephemeral, less than breadcrumbs, far from enlightening, infrequently uplifting, almost never poetic. These messages, our personal stories, compete and are increasingly overwhelmed by the images and words of strangers, inundating us, claiming our attention with the sole intent of trying to sell us something. A new dress, an energy drink, a mattress. A point of view.

Our ancestors built their fires for warmth and to cook food. When they came to paint what they knew of life, their shadows were alive on the walls of their caves; they were fully in command of the stories they told.

Which brings me back to curiosity. The problems we face may not be fundamentally all of our doing, but they will surely be our undoing if we do not resolve them, and soon. To be curious right now is the opposite of being certain. It’s also the opposite of being angry. We need to wonder who is selling us what, and why. Need to wonder how things might turn out if we are fully present right now and responsible, both to ourselves and our neighbors. To remember our actions define us more than our opinions.

In wishing you a joyful, if quieter Thanksgiving this year all of us here at Barndiva and the farm, and the farms and purveyor kitchens we rely upon express our gratitude for your custom and your continued support. When we are finally able to gather together again inside, a bit closer to the warmth of our kitchens, it will no doubt be a different world in hospitality. We’re curious how that might not be a bad thing. In every way we can we are imagining and working toward that future as we would construct a dish of many intriguing ingredients - looking for the most flavor, the truest return.

To keep working here, to protect what we love about this particular landscape, to work alongside people who respect that landscape as well is our goal. Hopefully, we can share that with you when we meet again.

Stay curious. Stay well.

A link to Pádraig reciting and talking about Paul Tran’s The Cave, on @onbeing.org & @poetryunbound.org, can be found here. Eat the View’s banner image this week of Lou’s walnuts drying was photographed in the Preston farmshop (@prestonfarmandwinery) . Use this link to their farm shop to order the walnuts or wine or the many other beautiful products Preston produces.

“The Cave”
Written by Paul Tran
Read by Pádraig Ó Tuama

Someone standing at the mouth had
the idea to enter. To go further

than light or language could
go. As they followed
the idea, light and language followed

like two wolves—panting, hearing themselves
panting. A shapeless scent
in the damp air …

Keep going, the idea said.

Someone kept going. Deeper and deeper, they saw
others had been there. Others had left

objects that couldn’t have found their way
there alone. Ocher-stained shells. Bird bones. Grounded
hematite. On the walls,

as if stepping into history, someone saw
their purpose: cows. Bulls. Bison. Deer. Horses—
some pregnant, some slaughtered.

The wild-
life seemed wild and alive, moving

when someone moved, casting their shadows
on the shadows stretching
in every direction. Keep going,

the idea said again. Go …

Someone continued. They followed the idea so far inside that
outside was another idea.”

Thanksgiving 2020

Turns out Jordan Rosas, our extraordinary lead chef, who has deftly navigated Barndiva through Covid and the wildfires, is a passionate traditionalist. He loves Thanksgiving. Ditto his second in command, our imaginative pastry chef Neidy Venegas. Both grew up in large families and love big old-fashioned menus cooked from the heart. When we floated the idea of offering a feast for guests old and new this year, one they could enjoy at home, it didn’t take long for them to come up with a gorgeous menu of ready to warm dishes with a house-brined pasture-raised turkey you just pop in the oven, the better to get those roasting aromas going. It’s a menu that hits all the best Thanksgiving notes - with some delightful surprises.

We’ve never been opened on Thanksgiving before, in order to give our staff time with their families, but if there was ever was a year we break with that tradition this would be it. Travel will be difficult, gathering in large groups not advisable, and even sourcing the myriad of ingredients you love to include in this once-a-year meal may prove a challenge. All the more reason we’re looking forward to cooking every dish on this menu, which will be sourced entirely in Sonoma and Mendocino. It’s the best way we know to support the incredible food shed surrounding Healdsburg, and all who work within it. Yes, business is always about the bottom line; we choose not to draw ours in the sand, but in the soil.

Cook at Home Thanksgiving Feast can be booked online by going to our website, Barndiva.com. It will be available for pick up at Studio Barndiva on Wednesday, November 25, from 12-6 and on Thanksgiving day until noon.

Chef Jordan Rosas and Pastry Chef Neidy Venegas. The beautiful squash, pumpkins, and flours Neidy will use to bake her biscuits, pound cakes and pies were all grown at Preston Family Farm in Dry Creek Valley. Filberts, most chestnuts and all apple products are from Barndiva Farm in Philo.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg  @chef.jordan.rosas @spontaneidy

Becoming PaVlov and the Dogs

I was half listening to a podcast - my go to these days is Ezra Klein but more likely given the subject it might have been the wonderful On Being with Krista Tippett - when the term Dominant Trigger Responses jumped out at me. We all know what they are in general, those seemingly automatic responses beyond our control that cause us to react in a certain way; we even know which constants in life are going to provoke them fastest: parents, kids, politicians. But what about the inverse? Pavlov’s groundbreaking research in the late 19th century on conditional responses took neutral stimulus and consistently exposed his test subject dogs to situational triggers to create new and long lasting connections. He used a bell which has no negative or positive connotations, but most of our dominant trigger responses most certainly come with highly subjective baggage.

While we are all so focused on uncontrollable incoming dangers (pandemic, tattered economy, smoke-filled skies) and the fraught emotions they trigger, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we actually have the power to condition our responses to stimuli of our choosing as well. Enduring love, work you feel better for doing, and of course the natural world are all good contenders for sustained attention that over time can trigger positive responses in us. No one’s saying it’s easy. But wouldn’t it be nice to balance fear-driven emotions with ones that move us to beauty, contentment, joy?

The hard work ahead to rebuild this economy and deal with climate changes that affect our livelihoods and the livability of our lives won’t be sustainable if only led from despair, though that’s a pretty fair response these days no matter where you attribute cause or blame. Desire for change must arise from hope but we also need roadmaps for better alternatives. We must play a role in creating many of these for ourselves.

Increasingly I take time every day to tune out the noise and focus on small things that come wrapped in scent, flavor, color. A walk through the orchards and out into the forest does it for me. Any garden that’s been tended with care. Sometimes I stand quietly in the corner of the kitchen and watch the repetitive actions of folding dough, cutting vegetables, stirring stock pots, all the food prep and cooking that perfumes the air with fragrant possibility. Then I wander outside to fully take in one of Dan’s floral arrangements that he’s hidden in plain sight in the gardens, where unless there is something seriously amiss in your world, delight is the natural default reaction.

A precious few weeks every fall all my happy trigger responses light up on an old packing shed hanging over the Navarro river. The Anderson Valley is a first love for me, and an enduring one after 35 years dry farming on Greenwood Ridge. Though it’s been hard work for our family, it has curiously always given back more than it takes, which I guess is why we’re still here. This year, with nature feeling so fragile, the general health of the republic so vulnerable, it was a blessing to be able to stand under the trees shedding golden leaves and watch our apples be transformed into juice, syrup and cider. The Philo Apple Farm - the Bates and Schmitt families arrived the same year we did to the Valley - still opens its beautiful antique press one day a week to anyone in the community growing organic apples. It’s a tradition that engenders goodwill on so many levels that just waiting around to start the press up (and that can take a while) fires up the amygdala. The small talk between old friends, the first snap of a beer being opened, the grind of the press sputtering to life, the creak of the apples bumping up the conveyor belt, cars thumping over the high spots on the bridge, the air alive with the glorious smell of apple juice reducing down to syrup in the outdoor cooker, these are all small random things that imprinted over time compress in memory like a glittering diamond.

We often think we have to go in search of meaningful sensation when it’s all around us just waiting to be found. The first step is sharpening our five senses to the gifts a single moment might hold. Smell is the sense closest to memory and thus the easiest to access - it’s the smell of coffee that triggers the brain before caffeine ever hits the system. Ambient sound also works on us subliminally - think of the way cocktail shakers in a busy restaurant trigger anticipation even if you are not drinking. Color is another huge trigger. Rothko believed fields of color were spiritual planes that could tap into our most basic human emotions, but you don’t need to be a great painter to access them all the time. As the vineyards begin to glow, glorious gold and russet colors will be all around us for the next few weeks. It was already all around us at The Apple Farm - starting in the bins of ripening apples.

I am no Pollyanna, quite the contrary. The sight and smell of a bunch of apples isn’t going to solve the world’s problems. But the singular beauty of nature’s seasons present innumerable moments that over time can hold the power to become dominant trigger responses of the positive kind that help provide the balance we need to face those problems. Right now, fall is resplendent. Wrap yourself in it. Then let’s get back to work.

The Philo Apple Farm

Hospitality of an authentic, beautiful and utterly delicious frame of mind is what it’s all about @philoapplefarm. They know what they do well (practically everything) and are easy about making all the working parts of their farm open and welcoming. If you haven’t yet come for a stay, they are safely booking reservations. Cruz may or may not bake for you but you will leave full to the brim, I promise you. If you’re just passing through the Valley, the Farmstand, with all The Apple Farm’s wonderful jams, chutneys, ciders, juice and in season produce, is open 9-6.

Rita and Jerzy are the third generation living and working the Apple Farm, along with Rita’s parents, Karen and Tim. Their help at crush is invaluable- though it a delight to see them anywhere, anytime.

We had two teams crushing with Lukka and Dan this year … first up was chefs Jordan and Neidy and our longtime manager Cathryn. At the next crush our spectacular three bar divas- Isabel, Terra and Hayden - took over. And at both crushes and at the farm with us all year we have been so happy to work with new farmer and budding (pun intended) florist Nick.

Least I forget a great positive trigger for me these days: Our farm managers Dan’s instagram @daniel.james.co. Enjoy daily.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg  @chef.jordan.rosas @spontaneidy

Neidy in Wonderland

Neidy Venegas, our new pastry chef is young and gifted, a heady combination when you’re also channeling Alice in Wonderland’s wide eyed appetite for adventure. With every creation she establishes a familiar reference point you can relate to, then takes a leap in a direction you least expect. Only last week she noticed something we walk by everyday at the farm without ever thinking of it as edible - beautiful fig leaves from our 100 year old trees - and transformed them into a magical dust and an aromatic oil to finish a confection that was both sophisticated and childlike - a lush perfectly baked chocolate financier cake with clouds of white chocolate crémeux and a summery blackberry sorbet.

This week’s new dessert showcases an ingredient grown only a few miles from the Barn, but to my knowledge one we have never used in the kitchens before: Husk Cherries. It’s a confection as delightful as a hat at Ascot, with delicate sherbert shades, flirtatious form, and flavors both fresh and capricious.

These are desserts that feed the body and soothe the aching soul, perfect companions to Jordan’s remarkable command of all things savory. The irony that this level of talent is reaching full expression in a time of Corona, wildfires, and a maddening election (oh my) has not been lost on us. But there’s never been a better time to put food like this on the Barndiva menus. We are grateful to our Executive Chef Jordan Rosas and to Lukka for bringing Neidy and her beautiful collaborative energy into the Barndiva Family.

Husk Cherries, a distant relative to the Cape Gooseberry, are an Ashwagandha nightshade sometimes referred to as Indian Ginseng. Its flavor is ephemeral, with notes of citrus, pineapple and tomato. The fruit grows in a delicate calyx which Neidy has made a central feature of her dessert. This confection presents the Husk Cherry’s delicate flavor four ways - raw, lightly frozen, candied, and as jam. Our Husk Cherries come from Freckle Farms here in Healdsburg.

After carefully removing the cherries from the calyx without breaking, it is lightly candied and set aside. Husk Cherry jam is pipped over an almond GF sable cookie, then decorated with sliced slightly frozen fruit. The sable sits atop a scoop of house made lemon verbena ice cream, held in place by a dollop of jam. Raw whole Husk Cherries are delicately placed in the candied husks.

Pears from the farm; Neidy Venegas (@spontaneidy); the new Barndiva Bagel (soon to make a debut on our all-star Brunch Menu with a Jordan Rosas signature schmear.)

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg  @chef.jordan.rosas @spontaneidy @frecklefarmhealdsburg

Blue Sky Hot Sauce Throwdown

Everything about our day off smacked of wonderful, awash in the vivid primary colors everyone needs in their lives right now starting with the sky, a Mayan blue with diaphanous white clouds and not a hint of smoke in the air, praise be. We were surrounded by paper bags full of the most glorious red, yellow and green peppers, all grown by our friends at Blue Leg Farms. We had plenty of Modelo and a few bottles of good Rosé we felt compelled to finish, it being the first day of Fall. And though we had an objective - to coax lingering heat with loads of complexity out of those peppers into a hot sauce worthy of Jordan and Neidy’s new brunch menu (which starts up Sunday), no one was in a rush to get there.

Lukka and Dan had set up an outdoor kitchen but with a slight wind blowing nobody felt the urge to actually start a fire and cook over wood as planned. So we pulled the old propane barbecue out and worked through the day, grilling, seeding, chopping and blending various combinations as the mobile kitchen slowly expanded, chairs flung out around the grills trailing off into the chestnut trees. We talked travel, skydiving, My Octopus Teacher (on Netflix, a must see), watched Frankie the pup tumble around on wood chips and wade through the grass. The clouds did their thing. All talk of Covid, the fires, and the election was banished.

Though we came to this impromptu food lab on the mountain with no recipes in mind, we had many years of living between us, some of it spent forming opinions on what makes a great hot sauce. We agreed on a few things: add some apples and pears from the orchards to supply subtle fruit notes, our aged apple cider vinegar and maybe some of the Datu Puti vinegar Jordan had brought (along with a mysterious jar of spices) for acidity. We had a bag full of Bernier garlic - to which we added a few heads of Preston - always good measure. No decision was pressing - scallions or onions, apple cider syrup or honey, it didn’t seem to matter so long as we recorded everything. No idea was off the table.

The only question was how to recreate whatever we fell in love with in the kitchens down in Healdsburg in the months to come. The sun moved across the sky and dipped below the ridge, the solar jam jars bursting into fairy light one by one as dusk grew to night. Hot sauce is above all things, an anomaly - insanely beautiful colors that all but disappear as you cook them down, transforming into incandescent flavors that channel other spirits. There is a reason every culture has one. At heart they are a gentle slap to the senses before you dig in to a dish, urging you to wake up, and be present.

Blue Leg Farms, a ten acre certified organic farm in the heart of Sonoma County currently has 40 varieties of peppers. They can be found at the Healdsburg Farmers Market and Santa Rosa Luther Burbank Center Market, and online bluelegfarm.com. All Photos: Jil Hales & Dan Carlson.

Photo: Paul C Mille

In Memoriam

We will always remember the day Ruth Bader Ginsburg graced Barndiva with her presence to officiate at a wedding in our gardens for two of her beloved former clerks, Miriam and Robert. You could see why she was so admired and loved in the way she treated the couple that day, honoring Jewish religious practice by inviting everyone in, yet somehow keeping it intimate and private for them. It was a masterclass in capturing the moment. This tiny woman so elegantly dressed, speaking just above a whisper, held everyone enthralled.

The secret service had swept the property several times in the days running up to the wedding, I think they swept most of Healdsburg. The whole time she was there they formed a courteous phalanx around her that somehow did not prevent her - though she did not mingle - from acknowledging everyone she came into contact with, no matter how minor to the day. Lukka is usually unflappable but his hands shook at little when she asked him to hook her collar on, a special one from her (voluminous I’m sure) wedding collection. At the end of the ceremony it was thrilling for everyone gathered to hear, probably for the only time in our gardens “By the power vested in me by the Constitution of the United States of America, I pronounce you husband and wife.”

Justice Ginsburg was the epitome of a fully engaged mind, a champion for social justice in ways that should transcend the ugly partisan divisions now driving us apart. Not above the law, but of the law, informed by the arc of history but not a prisoner to it. That she believed and protected a woman’s right to choose made her an early hero of mine, but even when I disagreed with her decisions over the years I could see how she had arrived at them. They were usually around the corner, where we needed to be.

RIP RBG.

Baruch dayan ha’emet.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg #bernierfarms #prestonfarmandwinery #ruthbaderginsburg #chef.jordan.rosas #bluelegfarms

Kiss with a Slap Days: Our Roadmap Going Forward...

Photo and Dish Credits:
Executive Chef Jordan Rosas: EGGPLANT TERIYAKI with charred shishito, nori, and shiso; HOUSEMADE RIGATONI summer squash & blossoms, calabrian chili, pine nuts, garlic, grana padano, basil / Pastry Chef Neidy Venegas: WHITE CHOCOLATE ROSE BUDINO with apple granita and dehydrated apple; BARNDIVA FARM BARTLETT PEAR FRANGIPANE with heirloom apple cider vinegar; POTATO ROLLS with fines herbes / Farm Manager Dan Carlson: Gravenstein apples / Jil Hales: All other photos

The smoke had not yet cleared from the Walbridge Fire before it began to drift back in again, shrouding Healdsburg and Philo from fires raging far to the north and east. The sky turned a frightening red, the color of dried persimmons, then into a flecked ash murky brown, which was almost worse. It has thankfully passed now, though the fires in California are by no means contained. It was certainly a week we will long remember in Wine Country, deeply unsettling. And yet, incredibly, we came out the other side, hosting a safe distance wedding rehearsal dinner Saturday night that was respectful of our current state of play, yet achingly beautiful. On Tuesday we juiced the first of our apples.

These are kiss with a slap days. Situations that start out sharp and seemingly unforgiving suddenly give way to a glimmer of restitution, a way forward. The trick is to stay open to the better possibilities, and dig deep. We’ve taken the position that we’re going to get through this year in some form that adds up to more than ‘just surviving.’ Change is in the air. When it’s not too smoky to smell it.

The truth is, no one knows what food culture, much less any patronage dependent enterprise like theater or the arts, will look like when we get to the other side of this horrible terrible year (and we will). But we keep coming back to the question of whether ‘a return to normal’ is all that’s needed. In these past months we’ve had a rare chance to stop and take stock: to discern what’s truly important, see more clearly which aspects of our lives need to be strengthened, and enriched. For our small family business that has meant gimlet eye focus on the people we work alongside who have helped us every step of the way. How do we protect these people and the things we love most about living and working in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties? 

It was so satisfying to read the Sonoma Magazine article, “How One Healdsburg Restaurant is Mastering Social Dining” by Dana Rebmann because it was further confirmation that the innovative and nuanced system Lukka and his team have put in place - and are constantly improving - is resonating beyond the gardens. We’re not taking any bows mind you, it’s been bloody hard work and it’s far from over. Not everyone gets it. Many people so hate the circumstances we all find ourselves in that their frustrations spill over. But overwhelmingly people are so pleased to be out again, in a safe and beautiful space. And Jordan’s food is remarkable.

The article was written from the diner’s perspective, but there have also been fascinating revelations for us as well as we navigate the most creative ways to deal with ‘safe distance dining’ - I mean what did that even mean, pre-March? The biggest discovery has been that in limiting the physicality of service we did not have to limit the quality of that service. No matter your age or technological inclinations, once you get into the flow of using your phone to text or call the brigade of staff just inside the Barn, all masked and communicating with you and each other over wireless headsets, the experience opens up and you can enjoy the best part of dining out in a roomful of strangers: the possibility of great flavors, the presentation of beautiful food, the excellence of a wine list, the joys of a great bar, ambiance, flowers, music. We are blessed to have large gardens and an incredibly engaging and smart food and wine team, but it’s the technology we all dreaded which has allowed us to continue to deliver anything resembling an authentic experience. The biggest surprise is that it’s come with remarkable affinity and ease. Go figure.

Speaking as a diner there are things I won’t miss if they never come back post Covid: long winded recitations of dishes which a well written menu or a diner’s question could better convey; the frustration of trying to get a busy server’s eye to order more wine or replace a dropped fork, and (unless you really crave attention) the constant interruptions just when a conversation is kicking into high gear for superfluous water service. Perhaps the biggest turn off we are currently able to avoid at Barndiva, because of the immediacy of the conversations we’re having with every guest, is the often awkward pacing of a meal. Guests let us know when they want more of anything, how they want to pace the meal according to how they feel, how much time they want to spend at the table.

This is not to say we don’t miss great front of house service - which, when the stars align, is a thing of beauty. Never obtrusive, there is that ‘queen for a day’ feeling we all crave when a dining experience is elegantly curated.

We have almost as many FOH staff now as before, they are just inside the restaurant, able to respond to guests at once. You can still flit through our 700 bottle wine list - you just need to do it on your phone - before texting or calling to talk directly with our sommelier, the wonderful Evan Hufford. Nish, who with two friends came in with Val on her birthday preferred the brevity of texting because he knew what he wanted and felt comfortable to stipulate a price range. But for every Nish there is the wine lover who expects, and still receives, an in depth conversation about a bottle, a vintage, a grape.

Without a doubt, the 20% service charge that now appears on the menu is the most important change to our service since Covid. It accomplishes long sought but hard to reach goals. We have always wanted to find the resources to provide full health care for every member of the staff. We also wanted to address the disparity of pay between the front of house and all other positions, especially those in the kitchen. We feel and express overwhelming gratitude to First Responders for the frightening work they do in keeping us safe, but as a culture we must do more for them and for people behind the scenes doing less perilous jobs that keep our lives going, often enriching them. Wrongly defined as mundane, this work force is not compensated, respected, or appreciated enough. Even a master at hospitality like Danny Meyer failed to make the reasonable case that a cover charge is a viable way to address things like health care and higher wages. Great restaurants - which we aspire to be - rise or fall on many hands, many shoulders, from somm to dishwasher.

Profound changes are now coming to the entire restaurant industry that will affect all of us, no matter where you live and dine. Fast food has ‘succeeded’ in blowing out every projected measure of exponential growth during this pandemic. Make no mistake, the big boys who sell cheap proteins which denigrate the environment, are cruel to animals, and do not respect labor have grown even stronger, while smaller independent restaurants and farms are struggling, forced to close in unprecedented numbers. The profit margins built in to this industry are not the compelling reason to give your life over to it. I hate when people say trust me, but trust me on this one.

The challenge for us - and you as a diner - is how to find a way forward which allows for both the ease and beauty of fine dining but provides true economic sustainability that takes into consideration the welfare of all of us who work hard here, and the health of the food shed. The support you show in the coming months to small independent restaurants like ours flows out into the communities we all hope to get back to soon, and be a part of rebuilding. Consider following and supporting the national grass roots organization saverestaurants.com.

If kindly intended, no matter how critical, we’d love to hear your thoughts (directly please) after dining with us. Please email owner Lukka Feldman at lukka@barndiva.com. Take care. We hope to see you soon.

#saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats @barndivahealdsburg @sonomamag

#food2firefighters

Hard to know what to think. One minute we’re mastering all the complicated bits involved in re-opening for service during a pandemic when all of a sudden 11,000 lightning bolts start raining down from what was just a hot, exceedingly innocent looking clear blue sky day. Even if you don’t let your mind go in the wrath direction, it sure does feel like the state of California got up on the wrong side of the bed a few years in a row.

Before we knew it multiple fires, one just a ridge over to the west of Healdsburg, were raging out of control. There was another out towards the coast and a fast moving blaze in Napa County. It was immediately obvious none could be contained as only scant resources were available anywhere. We became part of the LNU complex, code name Walbridge. All we could expect was that local firefighters could try and hold the line until more help arrived. Much of the terrain in northwest Sonoma County is steep and hilly; firefighters had to first find the line before they could attempt to battle it into submission.

While under threat of evacuation we temporarily closed the Barn to guests Saturday. On Sunday we began cooking for firefighters. Living where we do we never forget the professionalism and courage of these men and women, but it still feels overwhelming to confront our helplessness. We have no way of thanking them personally for protecting our way of life except to do what we know best - to feed them from the foodshed they are defending.

By daybreak Tuesday, Aug. 25, the skies across most of the Bay Area that were unbearably smokey the day before had begun to clear. While the Lightning Complex fires has burned over a million acres in our beloved state, the Meyers fire raging along the coast and the Hennessy fire in Napa County are now contained. In our part of Sonoma resources and more firefighters have arrived from Culver City, Folsom, Beverly Hills, Rancho Santa Fe and as far as Washington State to making the difference. More projected lightning storms have ignited only 13 fires that were easily identified and contained. Our hearts are hurting for all those who suffered loss - and we were heartbroken to hear that the ancient forest in California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods in Santa Cruz, may be irreparably damaged. While fire burns at the edge of Armstrong Woods, it is not in any real danger at the moment.

While the health of our businesses has been on all our minds in Healdsburg for months now, without a second thought other people’s health, and their losses, once again became paramount. We were not surprised when so many restaurants and markets in town jumped in to help feed first responders. Catastrophes are partisan free zones. It never ceases to amaze what can be accomplished when people from all walks of life work together towards a common goal. We want to thank everyone for reaching out to see if we were safe - messages came from across the globe - and one stood out for asking what many of you who do not live here may be thinking. A friend from far away, no doubt overwhelmed with concern shrieked, “How can you continue to live there?”

Here’s the thing: with Covid-19 ongoing, the economy teetering, the climate in stress, systemic social injustices tearing us apart, I can think of no where else our family would rather be than in this beautiful place surrounded by amazing, talented individuals engaged in life affirming work. Harvest goes on despite the challenges we may face. There is a wonderful, inexorable optimism in farming food and growing grapes when you love a landscape, understand its history, want to protect its structural health. We draw from that every day. Then we cook as if our lives depended on it. Because, in fact, they do.

We will be cooking for firefighters again today, but plan to be open for service on Thursday August 27.

The Barndiva Family wishes to thank our dear friend Alexis Iaconis and her remarkable children Hadley and Lincoln, Barndiva’s Cathryn and the great Bloody Bob, our new wine director Evan Hufford and his talented wife Jade, and the amazing Felix. Thank you as well for wonderful contributions from Single Thread Farms and the Philo Apple Farm of gorgeous produce. Lukka’s ability to connect with the GoFundMe campaign #food2firefighters was enabled by the infectious energy of Skip and The Healdsburg Running Company. Great neighbors. They get it. Give what you can.

On Saturday & Sunday 160 meals went out to So Co Fire

On Monday we were able to deliver 160 meals to Healdsburg FD and Soco fire stationed in Windsor.

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats #healdsburgrunningcompany @barndivahealdsburg @brickandmortarwines @bloodybobs @maisonhealdsburg @singlethreadfarms @philoapplefarm

Food Now

When Jordan Rosas took over our kitchens the country was teetering towards a total lockdown. Then we fell. It’s a hell of a thing for a chef to take the leap and move from a big city like Los Angeles to a small rural community in the best of times, even to a town as food savvy as Healdsburg. To do so at the start of a worldwide pandemic was perhaps a bit mad. He had two kitchens to reorganize, existing staff to train to a more exacting standard, an unfamiliar farming community with dozens of important players to get to know. Oh, and he almost immediately had to pivot to a To-Go menu which neither he, nor Barndiva, had ever offered before. So yes, a bit mad.

Or absolutely brilliant. He landed in a beautiful landscape, a line out of a novel, where the distance he has to travel to meet farmers and artisan purveyors - a huge impetus for his move in the first place - is a few minute’s drive if he doesn’t feel like biking it. He has our full support to challenge himself creatively, which he thrives upon. For Jordan, responsible sourcing and foraging don’t just play out in wonderful flavor combinations or beautiful plating. A true advocate of root to stem cooking he is committed to addressing the least sexy but most sagacious component of farm to table sustainability: honor the soil by making the fullest use of your ingredients. Waste nothing.

Everyday is a roller coaster in our industry right now; literally no one operating in hospitality can project the future, much less next month or week. There is the constant worry about keeping staff healthy, a myriad of new safety protocols that must be rigorously followed. Trying to keep the joy in cooking present in a time of such great global anxiety would be daunting for the most experienced chef, yet somehow this remarkable young man has pulled off this transition with aplomb. It is a testament to his character, as much as his considerable talent.

It helps that we have put in extraordinary safety measures and creative ways to continue to engage with guests, even with our limited contact safe distance dining. But Jordan’s Garden Dining menus are some of the finest dishes we’ve ever served. And he’s just getting started.

We will get better at documenting his process, but here are a few dishes to whet your appetite.

Above is White Bass with heirloom Nye Ranch tomatoes, first of the season Barndiva Farm Gravenstein apples and anise hyssop. The Bass is brined in tomato water served with a sauce of tomato, ginger, lemongrass, fish sauce and kaffir lime. The Gravs are put to good use in an apple purée with brown butter, coriander, and our first generation of apple cider syrup, with a bit of raw apples for texture. A fine dusting of tomato powder and tiny aromatic leaves of anise hyssop finish the dish.

In every menu he conceives, waste is considered with remarkable creativity. Both the tomato water for the brine in this dish as well as the finishing tomato powder (dehydrated tomato skins) were ‘saved’ from the preparation of Pan con Tomaté (below). The anise hyssop is grown by Daniel Carlson at our farm in Philo.

Last week’s blog was all about figs, and here they are fresh and glazed in a Robata grilled pork loin with corn succotash and chanterelles with a pork jus finished with orange zest and lime. Everything on this beautiful plate - with the exception of our figs from Mendocino County - was sourced in Sonoma County.

Above is Hamachi Crudo with green papaya, Easter Egg radish, fermented peach, and fresh garden micro herbs. The Japanese Hamachi is ocean farmed in the southern Kansai region, lightly seasoned with lime zest, Maldon and Piment d’ville Espellete grown in Boonville a few miles from the farm. After thinly slicing the fish is drizzled with Nuoc Cham - a refined version of a classic Vietnamese dipping sauce consisting of fresh lime and orange juice, ginger, lemongrass, sugar, and fish sauce, which the green papaya has been compressed in. The fish is served with fermented Sayre Farm peach purée, Freckle Farms shaved Easter Egg radish, mint from our garden, and bolted cilantro leaves and flowers, which Jordan feels tends to have a more aggressive flavor than regular cilantro. The dish is finished with grilled Serrano Chile oil.

Nye Ranch and Red Bird Bakery and a whole lotta garlic, aged sherry vinegar, and EVOO are the deceptively simple ingredients in this perfect share starter of PAN CON TOMATÉ which captures the incandescent flavors of summer. It relies upon the quality of superb heirloom tomatoes - thank you Nye Ranch - but perfect texture here is key, the result of peeling, grating, then straining the tomatoes to separate the water from the pulp, leaving only the fullness of Mediterranean flavors to saturate the bread.

HOUSEMADE LUMACHE is a celebration of local summer squash, grilled corn, pickled ramps, Padrón peppers, house-made marinara, fresh basil. The squash is carved leaving one plane of outer skin intact which is charred for extra flavor. This is a vegan dish that does not rely on any dairy which would weigh down the pasta. Instead the lumache is finished in the pan with the sauce and a little pasta water, constant stirring to bring out out the natural starch. “Gotta treat each dish like it is going out to mamma,” Jordan says, which, in this case, it was.

@chef.jordan.rosas

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Why the Farm....and Figgy Joy

In what is turning out to be the most challenging year of our business life, three things are getting us through the days. Knowing everyone on staff is healthy is paramount. Cooking the best food of our lives, sourced as fully as possible from the surrounding ‘view’ restores a sense of mission. And playing with the concept of virtual service keeps us brainstorming creatively, making us stronger as a team. Each dish, cocktail, and wine choice is now channeled through a disembodied voice. For now, the physical anonymity of text or a telephone conversation with no actual contact at the table is overwhelmingly welcome by the majority of our guests, safer for our staff. But everyday we’re juggling with this new paradigm, learning new ways to work within it to tell an honest story about what you are looking at on the plate or in your glass. Brave New World indeed. Then again, being forced to question ourselves - what is flavor anyway? - isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We’ve always wanted to communicate the joy in provenance, and always, always, how things are made. If we can’t do that in person for a while, so be it.

But when it all gets a bit much (and it does) we fall back to our main source of élan vital - the farm.

Henri Bergson coined the term élan vital in 1907 in his book Creative Evolution. For him it referred to a life force, one responsible for growth, change, and the ability to recognize necessary or desirable adaptations. All admirable if not crucial attributes right now. The farm has always been this kind of élan vital for our family, in great part because its indelible beauty and its fecundity thrives in adversity, is in fact inseparable from it. Our dry farmed orchards struggle, yet produce better tasting fruit, with more condensed sugar. The energy is palpable up here, constantly buzzing and leaping just out of sight, with everything dying then regenerating through innumerable ecosystems of insects, animals, plants and seeds. It’s all about balance. And a constant lesson to strive if you are to survive.

There is simply no more elegant fruit here than what we harvest from our 100 year old fig trees. Figs are in the Mulberry family, one of the earliest fruit trees in history to be cultivated. In legend it was a fig that grew outside the Lupercal cave where Romulus and Remus drifted ashore and were suckled by a she-wolf that kept them - and the very notion of a Rome - alive. The fig tree was thought then to be an emblem of the future prosperity of the race - and while that didn’t work out so well for the Roman Empire, it’s interesting to note what eventually brought them down: climate upheaval which affected crops, a series of pandemics brought about in great part because of the way they lived, and massive inequality that went hand in hand with political corruption. How many times do we need to hear the phrase ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it?’

In the meantime, old fig trees drape their branches to the ground, deeply lobed leaves hiding swelling fruit from predators. Most years the blue jays are a nuisance, but this season sleek western Tanagers have appeared in droves. They have taken to dive bombing the figs at twilight, yellow and green flashes of light that zig and zag, mad jazz, quite beautiful. Give me a dozen Tanagers, some really old fig trees, throw in a martini or two and we’re good to go tomorrow.

Big shout out to Jordan and Francisco - great farm partners this month. We now have jam, Aunty Lynn compote, figgy syrup cakes. If you have booked to dine soon in the gardens look for Barndiva Farm figs on several new dishes.

 Stay healthy.

Thank you @daniel.james.co for looking after and loving the farm as you do. And for posing (which I know you hate/love) for all our action shots, lol.

Next up on farm report: The Ongoing Apple Syrup Project. Don’t miss it.

@chef.jordan.rosas

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg #biteclubeats

File under sad and beautiful

When we set out to build Barndiva 16 years ago more than one ‘advisor’ told us we were crazy not to build on over 200% of our commercial plot in the middle of town, which was allowed, if not encouraged. “The gardens are too big!” was the constant refrain. We did not listen and have never looked back. Sure, we’ve taken flack from guests over the years when upon entering and seeing a half empty restaurant inside did not believe we couldn’t seat them because we were fully committed for the afternoon or evening. The gardens are huge. Our kitchens not so much. But building spaces relative to the relationships you want to have in them is paramount for us, cue the vastly different (equally esoteric) DNA of Barndiva, Studio Barndiva, and especially the gardens. We don’t kid ourselves, what looks in retrospect like having the courage of your convictions was at the time more foolhardy than not. Build what you love. Serve what you would want to eat and drink. Treat people well. That we were also able to save two huge and ailing heritage black walnut trees our neighbors wanted us to cut down was a bonus.

We’re very happy we can now open the gardens to diners, especially as we are serving some of the best cooking we’ve ever seen come out of our kitchen, thanks to Jordan Rosas. But the goalposts for everyone in our industry have changed, possibly forever. The pandemic exposed to the world what we already knew - how fragile the restaurant ecosystem has been for far too long, especially if attempting farm to table as we are. If there is opportunity here to tackle better wage equity, offer full healthcare, and throw the net even wider over a locally driven economy, we’re there. But it’s also important for diners to embrace the change as well. This is a tango, friends. “There needs to be a new understanding between diners and the restaurants about the real cost of dining out,” Andrew Zimmern is quoted in “What Will Happen to Restaurants Now,” an article by Matt Goulding in this month’s Atlantic . “From that stems everything.”

Goulding’s article, like most of the dire predictions coming at us right now, is sobering. But even in calling what’s happening in our industry “An Extinction Event“ he leaves the door open for what might emerge for restaurants and diners if we get the steps of this dance right. “The restaurants we love most are never just restaurants. They are mirrors, reflecting the interests and imperfections of the society they feed. They are libraries, repositories of tastes and stories and ideas that catalog our culture. They are power strips, where civilization goes to plug in.”

Not a good year for cherries on the ridge - most of our Bing varieties did not produce at all. Happens. Happily, one large heirloom Queen Ann went bonkers and while the kitchens swiftly ran through what we sent down to Healdsburg, thanks to Front Porch Farm we are able to showcase three stellar dishes made with local cherries.

Jordan’s food, as many are finding out, is remarkable not least for its versatility. Below are two Liberty duck dishes that embrace the janus sides of his talent. He easily knocks out big comforting plates of food but it’s clear as we move more fully into his dinner menus that his passion is creating dishes which pull flavors from surprising combinations, delivering a swirl of intriguing flavors which can leave you saited but still curious. This is the food he moved to Healdsburg to cook. We can’t wait for you to try it -if you haven’t already.

Tale of Two Ducks:
On the left: Liberty duck breast glazed with honey, pink peppercorn, lavender. In this dish thinly sliced raw cherries are served with red Russian kale cooked in duck fat and a sauce made from the bones of the duck, infused with coriander, cherry essence and banyuls vinegar.

On the right: Liberty duck with poached cherries, red Russian kale, forest nameko, radish. Every ingredient on the plate was sourced in Sonoma County. A huge shout out to Liberty Duck, Jim and the lovely Jennifer whose pro-active voice on social media has kept our spirits buoyed through this difficult time.

our cherries ended up in the sprouts

To everyone’s delight…with Journeyman bacon in brown butter and parsley sauce. This side dish is on both lunch and dinner menus.

Big, proud shout out to our amazing staff in both Healdsburg and Philo - many learning to cover new positions right now, working with so many new layers of social distancing but doing so with dedication, diligence, and great care.

Before we leave you…We have been so grateful for all the support and feedback we’ve received on social media the past weeks…. We don’t usually do this, but here are a few reviews that made us smile.

2 (little) thumbs up from Barndiva on Vimeo.

@chef.jordan.rosas, @duckdaughterjj, @journeymanmeatco, @libertyduckman, @chefaz, @theatlantic, @mdgoulding @vinoforbreakfast

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

Cocktails in the time of Corona

For all the distinct memories we will carry with us when we look back upon this time, I suspect great swathes of it will come to seem like a dream. If anyone had told us six months ago that a global pandemic would lead the majority of people around the world to willingly put their lives on hold, then, in the wake of a single act of violence reflective of centuries of racial injustice hundreds of thousands across the country and the world would march to demand real systemic change, it would have been unfathomable. Yet here we are. Even as we continue to be swept up in the convergence of fears around Covid-19, there is suddenly an opportunity to work through societal vulnerabilities that affect us all, whatever our race or ethnicity. Giving voice to anger is understandable, but no means to an end. The Black Lives Matter movement is tugging at the edge of our collective soul. Even for those of us who do not live in ethnically diverse communities, hard questions must be asked and answered about what led us to this moment in history, and what role we can all play to provoke and support real change.

In the midst of all this incredible upheaval, Covid-19 is still very much with us. In navigating our direction as we re-open for dining here in Healdsburg, a great deal of our focus has been on how Barndiva’s version of bespoke hospitality can best serve the present moment. Food is obviously essential, but dining out is not, it’s a luxury and a privilege. We want to honor that while strengthening support for our food shed and all who work within it, specifically our purveyors and our workforce here in Healdsburg who make everything we do possible. If we can give you a great time while doing that, cooking food we are passionate about, surmounting the challenges of the past few months will have led us to better place.

We don’t need to look too closely at Barndiva’s To Go Cocktails sales to know that ‘Cocktail Hour’ has taken on new significance during the quarantine, these days it qualifies as a self care ritual. If you Zoom it can offer brief respite from isolation, a chance to catch up with friends. When dining out cocktails are often the opening act, a chance to shift gears. In addition to the classics and Barndiva favorites we’re now shaking up a series of cocktails we hope you will find both delicious and suggestive: an invitation to sit back, take in the gardens, relax and enjoy. Our days may still be long and challenging, but your time with us doesn’t have to be.

Lift, Flirt, and Slide reflect a thoughtful, curative message, embracing the fact that all cocktails are mood enhancers - therein lies their charms. We’ve been making them for years now, one or more is usually on the bar menu. Lift appeals to anyone just looking for a cocktail to hit the spot and bring the moment into high relief, energizing it. Flirts are a bit more expansive as they seek connection, to the room, the music, the people around them. Slides cater to the (increasingly) frequent desire for a comfort driven few hours - a cocktail, a great bottle of wine, a wonderful meal - before gliding home and to bed.

The series showcases seasonal fruits and fresh herbs and garnishes grown here in our gardens. They are complimented with a dash of a specific elixir made from the roots, rhizome or flowers of organically grown herbs. Herbal remedies have been used for centuries to boost the immune system and bolster recovery from a variety of ailments, both physical and psychological. The Egyptians, West Indians, and the Chinese used them in the 1st and 2nd centuries before they made their way to Europe in the 18th century and the German Dr. Samuel Hahnemann gave them the name and nomenclature we use today as being ‘homeopathic.’

While we always take great care in our choice of spirits - St. George gins are made in the North Bay, Young and Yonder right here in Healdsburg - Lift, Flirt and Slides are built in such a way that they are delicious with or without alcohol.

Barndiva’s bar team, like all members of our staff, are currently working masked and gloved, but I didn’t have the heart to publish this blog without giving you an unmasked glimpse of the three talented women who created these cocktails and will command the bar this summer. Here’s a brief description of what they are shaking up this June.

Terra’s LIFT : two St George gins, Botanivore for its floral notes, and Terroir, intriguingly forest forward. They are complimented by a house made strawberry shrub, Pamplemousse Rosé, and black pepper syrup, St John’s Wort. The flowers of St John’s Wort contain antioxidants - Rutin, Quercetin, and Lutein. A roadside wildflower from Europe that dates back to ancient Greece, it’s commonly used to combat ‘the blues’ and lift the spirit. It’s also thought to ease tiredness and nervousness.

Hayden’s FLIRT : lightly infused rosemary tequila, garnished with fresh rosemary tips from our farm. It has fresh watermelon juice, fresh lime, an intriguing hibiscus Tajin syrup, a hit of peach bitters, Rhodiola. Documented use of the fragrant Rhodiola Rosea Root, also known as Roseroot, to enhance mental and physical endurance dates back to 1725.

Isabel’s SLIDE : Young and Yonder vodka, raspberry syrup, Navarro Verjus, Lillet Rose, Caperitif, fresh mint and Valerian. Native to Europe but cultivated in the US since the early 19th century, numerous human clinical trials conducted on the use of the Valerian rhizome have shown positive results to support a restful night’s sleep.

Adaptogens are natural substances that help your body deal with stress and promote mental balance - they need to be grown, harvested and made into tinctures or pastilles with great care. St John’s Wort tinctures use the flower of the plant while use of Valerian relies upon the rhizome, or root of the plant. Many adaptogens - mint, ginger, tumeric - are likely part of your grocery list. Dan grows both at the farm (see above) but the small amounts of the adaptogens used in these cocktails were sourced from HerbPharm and Nature’s Best. Gaia Farm, located in the Blue Ridge mountains and a Certified B Corporation has been around since 1987 and has a beautifully informative website and blog about a range of herbal remedies and their suggested usses. They grow organically and sell online. https://www.gaiaherbs.com/pages/herb-reference-guide.

A Return to Dining Out

Owning a restaurant in Wine Country the past few years has come with considerable challenges, but in an ironic yet edifying turn of events it was these very challenges which have provided the building blocks to navigating the difficult months of Covid-19. By staying open and pivoting to a To Go only menu we initially pulled on the skill set that got us through two fires and an evacuation. Owner Lukka Feldman, manager Cathryn Hulsman and wine director Chappy Cottrell are used to landing on their feet, damn the mind boggling logistics. With the arrival of Jordan Rosas to lead our kitchens a renewed sense of mission around the kind of food we want to source and cook, and how we want to serve you, our valued customers, neighbors and friends, has emerged.

Despite what you read in bucolic magazine profiles that seem to tout the proliferation of small farms, 30-40% of small independent farms nationwide are facing bankruptcy*. Going into this pandemic, purveyors that supply restaurants like ours were especially threatened with a catastrophic loss of revenue just as they were contemplating the spring planting season. With Jordan’s passion for local sourcing we are doubling down on our seminal Eat the View mission. We also view this moment as a crucial time to address inequities built into the hospitality industry at the most basic and structural levels.

This pandemic has revealed many weaknesses to the social systems we depend upon. Weaknesses to our healthcare systems, to big government, to the entire retail industry, to access to a just and healthy food system. It’s up to all of us to challenge and re-envision the pieces of our lives and businesses we have control over. As we pray the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement will teach even the most recalcitrant among us, when it comes to the social contract we all depend upon, ultimately, we rise or fall together.

Restaurant dining may never be the same. But what if this is an opportunity to make it even better?

To be sure, we miss the Barndiva dining room vibe - cocktails shaking in time to the music, extravagant floral arrangements, candlelight, multiple conversations studded with laughter. All that will soon return inside. But as we go into a summer with a safe distance dining model, we do so with a new approach to the food we serve and the desire to make all the pieces that contribute to that experience more equatable. We are talking full healthcare insurance and a better living wage. Strengthening the teamwork between front of house and back of house that too often divides instead of unifies.

This will not change the relationship we hope to have with you, our diners, except to enrich it. Our first Saturday serving customers on property again was notable not just for an appreciation of Jordan’s food, the beauty of the gardens, the pared down but focused professionalism of our returning staff, but in the kindness shown by diners who returned with a new appreciation of how important restaurants like ours are to a shared cultural experience.

For the time being, to minimize direct interaction we will rely on cell phones to provide the depth of service we usually provide at the table. Credit card information will be taken with your reservation and a 19% service charge added to all bills - you may tip above that if you wish and while greatly appreciated it is not necessary. Once your temperature is taken by a host at the door and you are shown a table, all you need do is go to our website for the menu, then call or text us to discuss or place your order. Our bartenders have been busy concocting summer cocktails and a full bar experience is available. You can talk to our sommelier about a great bottle of wine. Talk to the chef through our restaurant manager about ingredients, sourcing, technique. We will have a number of staff on the phones at all times. Because we will have your table number once you are seated, all you need do is text or call to add to your order or pay your bill.

A rising star in Los Angeles before he made the move North to inspire and lead our kitchens here in Healdsburg, Jordan Rosas’ approach is light and elegant, deeply satisfying, thoughtful, gorgeous, and utterly delicious. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Barndiva family. Dishes like celery root, turnip and nettle soup with slivers of pickled onion, drizzled with herb oil and seared Liberty Duck with first of the season cherries, Russian kale and forest namekos have already become favorites. Our desserts, by the wonderful Sarah Ellsworth, change daily, but will always include her macaroons, the most popular item (along with Auntie Lynn’s carrot cake) of the desserts on the To Go Menu, which is still going strong for all those who wish to continue sheltering in place. Lunch menus will feature Barndiva burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, teriyaki glazed salmon, house made pastas and wonderful salads. But to discover the depth of this young man’s remarkable talents we encourage you to dine with us at dinner. He’s just getting started.

Seared local halibut with Manila clam broccoli ‘chowder.’

Mastering the Smize: behind masks as they deliver dishes were Jessica, Hayden, Isabel - and Natalie and Terra (not shown)

It was most gratifying to see the number of families with children and dogs out on Saturday, along with Barndiva To Go regulars who walked through the gardens in a post quarantine daze. The gardens are blooming. Summer is here. We would love to see you soon!

In this bucket from the farm: Azaleas, Mock Orange, green flowering Tobacco, Knautia, Artichoke, Foxglove. To keep up with what’s growing in Philo we encourage you to follow our farm manager and brilliant gardener Daniel Carlson @daniel.james.co.

*For more information on the challenges small farmers are facing, click here.

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

How to Make a Rose Blush

Ah Cécile, let me count the ways ... a prodigious climber, you bloom for weeks proffering delicate pink blossoms that are glorious to behold. Plucked, layered with sugar and left to sit, you make a Proustian infusion that sings of early summer. All year long cocktails, sparkling drinks and desserts sing your pleasure... Cécile, we love you.

To show it, and In anticipation of re-opening the gardens soon, we’ve been working on a cocktail with our stash from last year that speaks to this moment. Time Lost is about making it through this and coming out the other side. For us it’s also about a renewed appreciation of the importance of place, and how we share this place with a wonderful community.

You need only roses, white granulated sugar and sterilized jars. Not overly fond of white sugar we have tried unrefined (too heavy) and sugar substitutes like coconut (too flavor forward). The goal here is to render the petals down while leaving their delicate flavor and fragrance intact.

Almost any organic rose can be used though it’s best to look for smaller blossoms as they seem to break down faster, losing less of their scent in maceration.

Our Cécile Brünner grows, or rather engulfs, the outhouse on the ridge, thriving on the weird alchemy up here of intense heat and cooling fog. Don’t have any organic roses on hand? Venture out safely to one of the wonderful flower farms in Sonoma County - they are awash in roses right now. If you are close to Healdsburg all you need to do is head over to Dragonfly Farm.

Directions: Pick the rose buds early in the morning, pluck the petals off, and starting with sugar alternately layer with petals directly into the jar. Compact as you go with a wood mallet - petals, sugar, petals. When you get to the last layer of roses apply constant pressure for a few seconds longer to level the layers before filling to the screw line with sugar. Tighten the lid and refrigerate. Voilà.

It usually takes a month for the petals and sugar to meld into a soft, fragrant, oozing but surprisingly stable texture. So little is needed for a cocktail that one jar should last you a year. This is a ‘project’ kids love, a great opportunity to work in the garden or backyard with them discussing all the things in life that are sweet and simple. Come the holidays they can celebrate the fruits of their labor - rose sugar is great for no alcohol libations as well.

But hey, if you don’t have kids, don’t have roses, or just don’t want to wait (we are all doing quite enough of that right now) join us in the garden for a Lost Time cocktail…won’t be long now!

The outhouse on the ridge is the only original fixture from the farmhouse we lost to fire many years ago, It is lovingly referred to as The Church of Poo. With a Dutch door that opens to a big sky often filled with clouds rolling in from the ocean, it’s easy to see why the builders waxed poetic in naming it. No offense intended. Quite the opposite.

Barndiva Mother's Day 2020

At Barndiva we ‘normally’ celebrate Mother’s Day with great fanfare, starting with an expansive Sunday menu that is served in the gardens on what is usually one of the last utterly gorgeous days of Spring. Large floral displays snake their way up to the ceiling on the main bar and overflow the back windows as mothers of all ages are fêted. It is at heart an optimistic holiday, a time to celebrate (or repair) the defining relationship of our lives, a longing to make good on that particular defining notion of love that once upon a time set everything in motion.

Knowing we cannot be together this Sunday to do what we’ve done for the past 16 years gave us momentary pause, it’s true. So many won’t and can’t be with their mothers this year. All the more reason to celebrate the relationships that have long sustained us, finding in the shadow of our fragility right now a deeper appreciation of the connections we make to one another that are the most indelible. So as you cannot come to us, we’ve designed a way to bring the best of wine country, Barndiva style, to you.

This is Chef Jordan’s first Mother’s Day with us and we couldn’t be more proud that he’s chosen to honor our traditions with a groaning board of locally grown or produced delicacies - from Freckle Farms, Front Porch Farm, Bernier Farm, Jackson Family Gardens, Journeyman Meat Co, Pennyroyal Farm, RedBird Bakery. We are curing salmon, making cultured honey butter and Sarah is baking up a storm. Chappy is including a bottle of chilled Rochioli Wine. We are especially delighted to send a Barndiva Farm bouquet down from Philo where it was grown and arranged by Daniel.

All pre-orders for Sunday will include delivery anywhere along the 101 corridor from Healdsburg to SF.

For the feast: shop.barndiva.com

This is a great time to add a few special bottles to your delivery. For that, contact our intrepid wine director Chappy at wine@barndiva.com.

Though it will not make it to the main bar this Sunday….

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

Why Bears Do It

Three families have farmed this ridge over the past 100+ years - Fashovers, Cassanellis and Abramsky Feldman Hales. Assiduously pruning and grafting every year, we have somehow managed to keep 40 heirloom apple varietals alive, though the oldest trees with their hollowed out trunks riddled with critter holes seem to defy gravity just by staying upright year after year. Because we dry farm the trees are always in stress, struggling for purchase on the steep hillsides, surviving long hot summer and fall days when even in wet years their roots can find no water by July. The only moisture they get is from the ocean, when diaphanous fogs roll over the ridges and settle for the night.

It’s that stress that concentrates the sugar in the fruit, giving the blended juice a caramelized honey finish and a perfume redolent with apple top notes, the barest hints of wood and sea and wild herbs.

Barndiva Farm Heirloom Apple Juice is the pivotal ingredient in a brown butter whiskey cocktail with thyme syrup we call Why Bears Do It. The bears never see the trees in blossom. By the time they wander down from the north most of the apples are gone, and those left scattered on the ground from harvest have begun to ferment into alcohol. The scent goes to their heads, driving them mad with desire, hence the name of the drink. I have no idea if it is indeed desire they feel as they trample through the orchards gouging on rotting apples and pulling down branches, leaning tipsily against the fragile trunks, leaving deposits of their gluttony everywhere, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

My Earth Day prayer is for the continued health of blossoms and bears everywhere, real, imagined, remembered.

The mighty Gravenstein, early and sweetly delicate.

The virtual beauty of Flowers...

Farmers gotta farm but the complexity of decisions that need to be made in this fog of global indecision right now could drive anyone to drink. Consider this a huge shout out to our friends and suppliers in the food and floral worlds who are gamely tackling spring with mindful, if cautious, optimism. Support the farmer’s markets that continue to be open, the incredible CSA’s thorough-out Mendocino and Sonoma County, and wonderful family owned grocery stores like Shelton’s Market in Healdsburg and Boont Berry Farm Store in Boonville,

Up here on the Ridge our fruit and nut orchards, quite oblivious to the strangeness of the times are going about their business with glorious blossoms on pears, cherries and plums, apples not far behind. That was a nice series of soft storms. The trees are happy.

As for our extensive floral program, all the bulbs planted in winter and our flowering shrubs are also blooming right on time. As sad as we are we are unable to share them with you in person, here are a few virtual arrangements from Dan, which in the spirit of the season speak to the hope we will soon be able to welcome you back to Barndiva. For beautiful, locally grown floral arrangements and a wonderful range of plants and vegetables starts you can order and pick up in Healdsburg, we encourage you to visit our talented friends at Dragonfly Floral.

Sending you and your sheltering safely families our best wishes for a peaceful and healthy Passover and Easter.

@daniel.james.co arrangements for ‘the bar, the back window, and the bathrooms’ with Wild Cherry boughs, Tulips, Daffodils, Iris, Camillas, Viburnum, Raspberry leaf, Phacelia, white flowering Currant and Hellebores.

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

Why Food Like This Matters Now

With our second week as a To Go restaurant behind us we are feeling immense gratitude for the support we’ve received from the Barndiva community near and far. But as we shift our gaze down the road, as necessary as sheltering in place is right now, there are going to be long term effects on almost all small independently owned restaurants and on anyone who services or provides for them, up and down the food chain. This is true everywhere because as Lucas Kwan Peterson wrote in an article published in the LA Times on March 26, “Times are uncertain and people need to eat, preferably cheaply given the fact that they are also worried about or have already lost their jobs. But our multi-billion dollar fast food industry is equipped to weather this shutdown. Our small restaurants are not.” As he, and many many respected restaurateurs like David Chang, Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio are warning, we aren’t just talking about weathering this shutdown in the short term.

There is no Eat the View blog without Barndiva. But over the past decade that I’ve been writing it, while very much a personal story of the joys and challenges we’ve encountered as our family farmed this ridge and built a sustainable business in the heart of Healdsburg, whenever possible the blog has tried to draw a larger circle around the two food sheds we work from, and the stories of many who work within it, often with little or no financial or physical safety nets. Whether these players are young, having moved here with a dream, or working within long held family businesses, they are dedicated to re-telling and extending the remarkable food history of this area. Many will now be facing serious hurdles.

As proud as I am of the delicious series of dishes coming out of our kitchens right now, I’m equally gratified that many kitchens here in Healdsburg are still producing food, keeping chefs and purveyors working. We miss seeing you in our dining rooms, that’s for sure. For us, going back to the basics has been a refresher course in why food like this matters - its power to convey the love we feel when we know where our food comes from and who produces it. If you have the financial bandwidth, seek out and support smaller independent producers and farms that have online stores and CSA’s - it’s a great time to join one!

And do consider donating to Sonoma Family Meal a vital ‘Groceries to Go’ drive through program here in Healdsburg, whose immediate goal is to aid families and seniors during the pandemic. Read more from our friends at Corazón Healdsburg.

Below are just some of Chef Jordan’s dishes coming out of our kitchen right now which can be picked up curbside at The Gallery or delivered at no charge by Lukka and Isabel along with cocktails and selected bottles of wine from local wineries. Starting next week we will also be offering kits that are easy to finish cooking at home. If you are too far away to enjoy Barndiva To Go but want to show support, consider paying it forward for lunch in the gardens this summer, one of our collaborative wine events like Pink Party, Fête Blanc, Fête Rouge, or taking your significant other out to…dinner. Just dinner. We are dreaming of that - just being together again in the comfort of strangers, sharing full dining rooms filled with flowers and the music of glinting shakers. That will feel like celebration enough.

To order Barndiva To Go or a gift certificate: shop.barndiva.com or call us at 431.0100.

Here are: Spring Onion and Yukon Gold Potato Soup with garlic croutons; a Jackson Family Farm Green Salad; Whole Roasted Chicken for two; Coconut Rice Pudding with fresh mango; Teriyaki Glazed Steelhead Salmon with green cabbage salad; the first Cook at Home Kits from Chef Jordan: hand cut Semolina Lumache with a bolognese of grass fed beef, walnut finished pork, and veal demi-glace, with a hunk of Grana Padano, herbs and finishing salt.

Chappy will have a lot more to say about wine next week - he’s been pretty busy since he took over my job as Barndiva food and drinks photographer. As you can see, he’s killing it. He’s also posting and updating the shop daily. At the same time he has been producing a series of podcasts the local wine community has fallen in love with: we urge you to check out: @crupodcast.

As for cocktails, Isabel is shaking them moments before the food comes out, packed to go for curbside or delivery. Glass keeps them nice and cold, and they are all ready to be enjoyed. She will be adding more favorites, but let us know if there is a cocktail you are missing.

Local distilleries would appreciate business right now and there are some terrific spirits made here in the County, try and order them when you stock up.

For Cocktails To Go, our Manhattan is made with two Redwood Empire whiskies - Lost Monarch and Emerald Giant (The Graton Distilling Company plants a tree for every bottle sold), Sipsong; The Negroni features Healdsburg’s Sipsong Indira Gin (made by everyone’s sweetheart Terra Jasper); The Diva Gimlet is made with Young & Yonder’s Armont Vodka, from other Healdsburg neighbors Josh and Sara. Local products have real stories behind them in addition to talent and passion. This one is a love story (he is the distiller, she designs the gorgeous labels).

Cheers.

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

From the Kitchens & Farm of Barndiva

A week has passed now since Barndiva closed its dining room and lights went off all over town, state and country. It felt as if the entire world took a collective deep breath and held it, as everything we had filled our lives with for work or pleasure seemed to evaporate around us. Life as we all knew it has left the room, like Elvis its absence is something we can't fully appreciate yet. But we’ve got to breathe, folks.

The decision to shift to a pick up and delivery operation was made by balancing our desire to keep ourselves and remaining employees working, safely, while trying to honor our relationships to suppliers both in and just outside the immediate food shed. We hope the rest of our staff is faring okay, and that congress will do the right thing by them. Health and safety must take precedence, but the repercussions to the local and global economy, and within the food, wine and hospitality industry specifically, is frightening to contemplate in full right now. So if there are threads we can tug at to keep the embroidery whole, tug we will. The only thing that seems abundantly clear is that mourning what was once our ‘normal’ way of going about our lives is a crucial waste of time.

The point of this blog is twofold. Firstly, to let you know the Barndiva family will continue doing what we do best at the Barn: serving terrific food and drink. If you are in Sonoma County within safe braying distance from the Barn, we’ve got a lovingly packed bag of hot food and a cool drink waiting for you. If you live in Healdsburg or Geyserville, Lukka or Isabel will happily deliver to your door, for one or two or however many diners you are safely sheltering alongside.  

No one I know is surprised, given our current leadership, that we are as a country woefully unprepared for this pandemic. But even as present events seem about to outstrip our ability to deal with them, we need to put partisan politics into a different context and with our differences aside find a way to reflect a respect for life while keeping our economic viability in focus. We need to stand together – as we did during the fires – as one community. We are looking to the wine industry whose connection to quality dining experiences is profound, to help in any way they can. But even here the smaller operators are in financial peril. As are all the workers male and female who diligently keep the wine country machine going, animals thriving, fields harvested, artisan food products manufactured and delivered.

Social distancing is crucial, but so too is eating comforting, healthful, beautiful food, while engendering support for local, local, local. We are blessed to live in a remarkable landscape; keeping it strong, keeping the businesses that support it strong, is what we must all try to do.

Our menus will be offered continuously from noon to 8:30, Wednesday through Sunday. If our smaller artisan suppliers offer retail options at this time, we will include that information so you can purchase directly from them as well.

These first menus pull from Barndiva dishes like our whole roasted chicken with fried herbs, handmade rigatoni bolognese with burrata, roasted beet salad with ricotta, citrus, chicories, and hazelnuts and what we believe is the best damn burger and fries in town (on Sarah’s house-made buns and Chef Jordan’s secret sauce). You read that right - gauntlet thrown down. We won’t spare the vegetable entrées and sides on the menus, but these, as the season dictates, will change often. Our first week we offered roasted asparagus with grana padano, braised collard greens in Barndiva Farm apple cider, and - food lover’s crack of the spud world- salt baked potatoes. There are our infamous croquettes, a Hoecake baked in cast iron and drizzled with maple butter. Sarah’s desserts will change up often, but we hope to keep chocolate pots de crème and Valrhona brownies on, as well as her transcendent coconut macaroons. Everything on the menu can be ordered in greater numbers if you are in a service industry that is still in operation. We only ask that you place larger orders a day ahead. There will be daily specials, and meals you can re-heat starting with spring soups this week.

Providence - and Lukka - has brought to our kitchen the most talented chef we’ve worked with in many years - we can’t wait to introduce Jordan Rosas properly to the community. It has certainly been a trial by fire. But while it’s already abundantly clear he has chops and imagination to soar when the dining room re-opens, there is an honest and delightful immediacy to the food he’s cooking right now.

All wines from our award winning list are 20% off, and Chappy will be showcasing local wine we love on every menu . This Thursday we will start delivering classic Barndiva libations starting with the infamous Why Bears Do It. A series of popular past elixers, Lift, Flirt & Slide, will follow. All libations, spirit laced or not, will arrive at the perfect temperature in half pint or pint jam jars.

The story of how we’re going to navigate the next few months is also being written in Philo, at our farm, where the other half of the family is sheltering now with Daniel, our extraordinary farm manager. As Chappy and Chef Jordan post images and videos of dishes for the To-Go menu, Dan and I will document what we are up to on the ridge. It is spring, after all, and quite a beautiful one at that, and we’d love to share it with you. Dahlias dug up last fall that have been stored deep in the barn are now drying out in the greenhouse before planting, plum and cherry trees exploding into bloom, new grass and wildflowers carpet the fields and orchards. We are usually very private with this part of our lives but it is our hope that you might be inspired to seek projects outside, where you can plant something, build something, or just spend time in this glorious season. We all have more time suddenly, which always seems in short supply. In Philo we’re pulling out the rare seed packets Dan has collected from his travels, accelerating starts for vegetables and microgreens, rototilling extra beds.

Whatever your experience level, it’s not too late to cultivate something in your front yard, fill a pot or two, try to get on the list for a coveted space in a community garden. Farm supply and hardware stores, qualified as essential services (which they are!) are open. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, visit a beautiful working garden like Dragonfly here in Healdsburg which is welcoming a limited number of guests, or order a field guide online about wild plants or birds, anything that gets you outside. We are lucky to live in a spacious and gloriously bountiful landscape in Sonoma and Mendocino. As we take care of ourselves right now, as we navigate how best to care for our families and loved ones, its important to remember that Isolation and solitude are very different states of mind. Nature is a great antidote to worry and doubt. In its ability to soothe and heal it reminds us that it is still an extraordinarily beautiful world out there.

We all need reminding of this, that there are still moments even during the most challenging of times when we can stop and just marvel at the world around us. Early one morning in a light rain we burned two piles of small brush from last fall, watching as the smoke made thick braided columns that floated up over the redwoods – a revelation as columns of smoke have come to mean something else the past few years, something quite ominous. On this morning the smell of wood smoke in the air was a solace, a psalm.

We know for many finances will start to feel tight - if they haven’t already - and we will cut margins as closely as we can as our aim is to provide Barndiva To Go without losing a whit of quality and delight. What we need to be eating right now must satisfy on so many levels. We hope you will find a way to support Barndiva and all the other restaurants in town who are exploring creative ways to bring the best of Sonoma and Mendocino to your home while our dining rooms stay dark. Know that wherever you are as you read this, we are grateful for the ongoing support extended to the Barndiva family, which we have been blessed to receive over the years. Near or far, you are part of that family. We write this next chapter together.

Our good friends At the Chapel in Bruton, forced to close as England heads into the worst of the pandemic, sent an inspiring message in their blog this week that eloquently captures what we too are feeling now and want to impress upon our patrons near and far. “Now we can rest, look at the stars, listen to the birds, breathe and give nature and ourselves a chance to recover. We will find creative ways to stay in touch virtually, to reassure and inspire each other. The story will end at some point and we will emerge stronger and with a new way of being together.”

 Amen to that hope. Stay Safe.

Instagram @barndivahealdsburg @daniel.james.co

Facebook @thebarndiva

#staytuned #stayhealthy #stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #stayhome #eattheview #shelteringinplace #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong

A way forward in challenging times

Risotto is like life. It needs to hold a wonderful blend of different flavors, think of these as community, business, politics, while each grain remains distinct. Each grain - who we are apart from how the world defines us - carries the flavors of all the other ingredients, but - to make a great risotto - should retain its own integrity, bite, satisfactions. Whether or not it turns out the whole is greater than the parts, balance is the essential element.

It seems that given our current COVID-19 situation, now is the time to put that balance into some perspective.

At the height of the Kincade Fires when town was evacuated and our actual existence here in Healdsburg, so specific and unique to each member of our family, seemed to depend, literally, on the vagaries of which way the wind was blowing, I stopped on my way out the front door, framed photograph hastily wrapped in one hand, to hold the moment. An overwhelming sense of gratitude for being able to work and live in Healdsburg with our luxury of space, abundance of products, incredible talent to make use of them.

I also felt frustration and anger. Sure, life is a challenge, we all know that, or should. At the best of times it’s a race to enjoy it while keeping everything humming, at the worst to surmount fear and think creatively … how to survive to keep everything humming.

Leaving the role luck played in sparing us from the fires, then, as now, there are first responders doing the best they can under terrifying and difficult circumstances. But like the fires, when just about everyone participated not just in the evacuation but in helping and coordinating an effective response, we all need to do our part.

What we learned then cannot be forgotten now, though this foe is harder to ‘see,’ which is what is making it, and the numbers it may touch, so potentially deadly. But even given what we know so far of the virus, we must also contend with the fact that it has great potential to harm us beyond our individual immune systems, undermining and threatening our very ability to live together as a wonderfully diverse, resilient community. 

We have been taking immediate steps at Barndiva to add layers to our already exacting cleaning protocols to safeguard the health of our guests, our staff, our vendors. I’m amazed how swiftly every member of staff adapted to what feels like a brave new world of surveillance where suddenly all touch point surfaces - tables, handles, bathroom faucets- are constantly being disinfected, all handheld devices getting the same treatment after every use. We have taken tables out of the dining room in excess of guidelines, eliminating service at the bar, and will control the number of guests we have at any one time. Weather permitting (and we need this rain!) we have opened the gardens so guests can dine outside if they prefer to, with heaters. vFor now, we will open Wednesday with all these measures in place.

Starting Wednesday March 18 we will have a comforting, healthful TO-GO menu to mitigate the potential for interaction while still doing what we do best: feeding people, employing people, setting a tone in hospitality which is uniquely Barndiva. We know you and your families will love Jordan and Randy’s gorgeous dishes. We have designated an easy pick up area outside the gallery and will offer free delivery within Healdsburg and Geyserville. Our complete wine list will be available for the TO-GO Menus with all bottles 20% off list price. Our hours of operation for TO-GO will be from Noon - 8:30pm, continuously, Wednesday through Sunday.

We are so grateful for the loyalty shown to Barndiva over the past 16 years, and we hope this wonderfully generous community continues to support all who work here and with us, and ALL the smaller businesses as much as they can, safely, in the coming weeks. Nothing will stop us from trying to up our game, but the health of our community has never been more of a priority.

What we took from the fires of the last few years is that we are stronger as a community when we traverse adversity together. Because your health is our health. And that, as we’ve come to see in the past, is a good thing.

As for that spring risotto, it’s the creation of one Jordan Rosas, who I believe will soon make a profound impact on Barndiva food and culture. It fully captures a new spirit we will hone in the coming months. Here’s how he makes it: Smokey Lapsang Suchong and Dashi broth is infused with a purée of spring onion and garlic, Pecorino Romano and Grana Padano. Slivers of bright sugar snap peas glimmer beneath a wreath of pea shoots woven with comfry flowers and a sprinkling of Furikake- toasted sesame seeds in Nori. It’s called Allum Risotto. It may not make it to the new TO-GO menu (risotto does not usually travel well) but take heart: it will still be on the spring menu when we can gather together in numbers again. It’s a dish that wears a smile. There will be plenty of those in our future.

Be well, everyone. Take a deep breath, but don’t stand to close. Facts not Fear. Clean Hands. Open Hearts.

Here is the new Barndiva TO-GO menu.

Behind the scene of Restaurant Week!

If we are indeed at the beginning of the end of the Anthropocene era, we are going out in one big beautiful bang. This magical gap that’s opened up between winter and spring has us all a bit giddy. The buds are still setting, the orchards have yet to go mad with blossoms, but cold frosty mornings warm up as if it were mid summer. With verdant carpets of grass along the ridge strewn with necklaces of daffodils it’s hard not to just wander off and lose track of time. The air is softly scented with them, and with heady clematis armandii having its moment. We are constantly stripping layers of clothing, shedding personalities as we do, trying to forget it’s only February and we may have a long hot and dry summer and fall ahead. Only when the sun drops below the ridge and the air shudders suddenly and closes in do we come to our senses, amble back inside. These early mornings of cutting and hauling and digging have been back breaking, but wonderfully joyous work. Big love to Moises and his crew and, as ever, to our farm manager Dan for his inspiration.

This week’s blog is a late but enthusiastic shout out to Restaurant Week, or Restaurant Fortnight as it should be called now in its final five days from Wednesday to Monday. The common wisdom is that it’s a giveaway, frequented by diners just looking for a deal who may never return, but honestly that runs counter to the reason we are participating in it. A countywide initiative which comes at great expense and effort by many, we see it as an opportunity to celebrate purveyors and technique. In short to strut our best barn dancing. So this year we practiced uncommon wisdom in our approach: cook food we want to eat, now. Make it fun. Everything on this menu is delicious - a huge thank you to Chefs Danny, Randy, Sarah and Ben for their inspiring dishes!

We all agreed the stand out dish is Porchetta, made with LLano Seco Porchetta. We are thrilled to be sourcing from this Chico ranch and we thank Ben for the introduction. Even Mr. Hales has never seen crackling like this before, encasing sweet herb rubbed pork that is succulent and tastes of fair fields and fine grain. Here’s how Ben Wilson, our guest chef this spring, describes the dish he lovingly created for Barndiva: “It represents the end of winter and the beginnings of spring. Sweet root vegetables, bright citrus, sweet garlic, and clean wild lettuces. We finish the dish with a bright salsa verde made with chives, parsley, cilantro, green garlic, whole garlic cloves, lemon zest, grapefruit zest, and lot of California extra virgin olive.”

There is one more week to partake. Very busy last week but there are often seats at the bar.

Last but never least, here is a snap of Dan harvesting camellias for a dining room arrangement. Check out the size of our star pink camellia bush, keeping in mind he is 6’4”! Planted by our patron saint Victoria Cassenelli well over 80 years ago, it is one of her remaining bushes, though the trees that shaded it burned a decade ago. Extreme frost browned some of the plant’s prodigious output but the flowers are a gorgeous delicate pink, like the inside ear of a conch shell. Not a day goes by we are not in awe of what Victoria planted and left for us to enjoy.