If you have been following my blog for awhile, you’ll be aware that I love restaurants in Healdsburg, and due to a pandemic, I haven’t really been able to get my fill of my favorites. So it is a bit disappointing when I finally got to go, but my favorites were either fully booked or have closed down (RIP Mateo’s). It does, however, allow me to try other possibly amazing restaurants that I haven’t had to the opportunity to go to as there is always the dilemma of go someplace familiar you love or go someplace new with the chance it could be better! It’s much easier when the choice is made for you, so on our last trip to Healdsburg, I booked us into Dry Creek Restaurant as it definitely has a reputation in the area.
There are two choices: A three course prix fixe menu for $75 where you choose your starter, main and dessert, or a five course tasting menu for $125 with an optional supplemental wine pairing. We went all in and chose the latter, but started our meal with a cocktail of their house version of a Negroni. It was interesting as they use Aperol instead of Campari, so it wasn’t quite as bitter as I like, but you can also choose mezcal instead of gin which I did.
The meal started with an amuse bouche of a gougere which I love, as I’ve made them at home. It’s a pretty good version of it, but I wasn’t blown away by the dish. They also brought us some focaccia bread, which had nice flavor, but was a bit dry and could have used a bit of butter or olive oil. The first course of a lightly seared salmon with Asian flavors was a great start to the meal, however they second course of pea rigatoni was not to my liking. It was overwhelmingly lemon flavored, and there wasn’t much else to it.
The next course was a seared squab which was delicious, followed by probably the best course of the meal: A New York steak. Everything on the plate was cooked perfectly, and the beef really melted in your mouth. Also, up to this point, the wine pairings included some really unusual wines that may not be expected, but went excellently with the courses. Except for the rigatoni, but that course seemed to be the exception to an otherwise great tasting menu.
Up last was the dessert course which allowed us to choose any dessert from their dessert menu, which was a nice touch for the tasting menu. I chose the olive oil cake with citrus curd that was paired with a fantastic local dessert wine. My fabulous dining partner ordered the ice cream and sorbets, because that is what he enjoys most, and selected vanilla ice cream, pineapple sorbet and blood orange sorbet. Both desserts were excellent, and left us feeling great at the end of the meal.
I did have to ask for our mignardises though, which was silly, but it was getting toward the end of service, and I think given the hecticness of the restaurant world during these times, is probably something that just gets stressful. Overall, the meal was really good, with good service. Except for one course, everything really flowed and there were some great wine pairings. It’s something I might keep in mind to return to depending on what else is available that evening, but probably not toward the top of my list. However, if you are visiting wine country and are interested in a great dining experience with some interesting wines, Dry Creek Kitchen could be a fantastic experience for you.
Score: 4/5
Dry Creek Kitchen
317 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448
