The ladies of PHOENIX magazine are charmed by Sonoma County’s answer to Stars Hollow.
I fasten my seatbelt on the plane and glance to my left, absolutely thrilled by the pedestrian sight of my colleagues Maddie, Mirelle and Angelina buckling themselves in on our row. How fun that we’re all traveling together, I muse. Then I have an epiphany. This is my first real girls’ trip.
It’s a surprising realization for a “girls’ girl” who has four sisters and scads of female friends. Sure, I’ve visited girlfriends in other cities. But I’ve never been on a trip with a gaggle of gals, the kind of getaway depicted in movies like Wine Country and Girls Trip. I feel a surge of gratitude for the opportunity to do so with these friends, who long ago transcended the “coworker” label to form a true sisterhood – The Sisterhood of the Paragraph Factory, to paraphrase Maddie’s quip about publishing.
We’re headed to Healdsburg, a small town (population: 11,254) that lies on the Russian River in Northern California’s Sonoma County, the more rustic, Pinot Noir-centric counterpart to Napa County, which lies just east over the Mayacamas Mountains. It’s a wine town, with tasting rooms dotting its walkable downtown and vineyards stretching beyond. While Angelina, Mirelle and I are psyched to sample Sonoma County’s finest, Maddie is sober, so our itinerary is packed with plenty of non-alcoholic delights. As we’ll learn, you don’t need booze to enjoy the endless charms of Healdsburg. You do need an appetite, though.
DAY 1
It’s chilly and overcast as we arrive at The Cottages at Little Saint (cottagesatlittlesaint.com), a cluster of guesthouses newly reconceived by San Franscisco interior designer Ken Fulk, the king of colorful yet cool maximalism. The four cottages (each named for ’60s and ’70s rock references: Gimme Shelter, Déjà Vu, Court and Spark) collectively form the lodging extension of Little Saint, a vegan restaurant, wine shop and music venue just down the street. We’re all gobsmacked by the gorgeous design touches in our rooms and agree that this is the most creative and aesthetically inspiring place we’ve ever stayed.
Some of us are hangry (moi), so Maddie pokes around online and finds a trattoria in walking distance for a quick late lunch. Pizzando (pizzandohealdsburg.com) turns out to be an incredible find: scrumptious Neapolitan- and Roman-style pizzas, pastas and salads. We feast on a few pies and the California burger (with green goddess dressing and Little Gems, naturally) under the gazebo on the patio and watch locals and their dogs amble by.
Dessert comes in the form of a honey tasting at La Ruche (laruchehealdsburg.com), a honey shop that feels like it was imported from Provence. “I wanted it to feel like Marie Antoinette’s barn,” owner Nicole White says. The shop is her second act – “I’m recovering from corporate America” – and it’s clear she knows her stuff as she walks us through thyme honey from France, pine honey from Greece and a “weird one,” heather and chestnut honey from Portugal. I love weird, so I buy a jar of funky, nutty SerraMel to take home.
We don’t tell the vegans at Little Saint (littlesainthealdsburg.com) that we pre-gamed our plant-based dinner with honey. Instead, we relax in the living-room-like restaurant and enjoy a spread of vegan goodies including trumpet mushroom pozole, Korean fried lion’s mane mushroom and a Swiss chard falafel platter with truly tempting focaccia and tofu feta.
DAY 2
The Gallic vibes of La Ruche continue the next morning at Costeaux French Bakery (costeaux.com) across the street from our cottages. We dish about the menfolk in our lives over cappuccinos, croissants and the restaurant’s signature short ribs and hash, which is so deeply flavorful and tender, I’d put it up against the best boeuf bourguignons I’ve had. Relationship talk over breakfast makes me feel like I’m in Sex and the City. This is the stuff girls’ trips are made of.
We’re sad to bid adieu to our cottages, but our next hotel, Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza (healdsburginn.com), proves to be another lovely place to lay our heads. The inn feels more classic California – bright, white and airy – and is situated on the town’s central plaza, with beautiful views of the park and its Gilmore Girls-like gazebo.
After dropping off our things, we head out to explore the town on foot, hitting shops like pet boutique Fideaux (fideaux.net) and bookshop Copperfield’s Books (copperfieldsbooks.com/healdsburg), where our resident cat lady, Mirelle, is predictably entranced by the shop kitties. We tuck into a lunch of burgers (vegetarian for Maddie), fries and shakes at Iggy’s Burger (iggysburger.com), and then Maddie heads back to the inn to get some work done while Mirelle, Ange and I walk to Williamson Wines (williamsonwines.com) to use our free wine tasting vouchers from the hotel. We are in wine country, after all.
Another pre-dinner outing brings another tasting – this time, it’s olive oils and vinegars at The Olive Press (theolivepress.com), which also has locations in Napa and Sonoma. The oils range from fruity to peppery to grassy, extra-virgin to co-milled to infused. The balsamic vinegars are a revelation, and we moon over blood orange, mango and peach varieties. I can’t resist buying the blackberry and caramelized onion vinegars, with visions of salad dressings dancing in my head.
Throats thoroughly moisturized from all the olive oil, we hoof it to make our dinner reservation at Arandas at the 27 North hotel (hotel27north.com/dine.htm). We nosh on tacos and sip margaritas while a live performer sings and plays the guitar. Our server tells us the restaurant has hired a tarot card reader for the evening to give guests gratis readings – the perfect diversion for a girls’ night out. We take turns selecting from her myriad decks and having our cards read. She hits the nail on the head for each and every one of us.
On our walk back to the hotel, we pop into Noble Folk (see sidebar), then huddle in Ange’s room and discuss our readings over ice cream. It feels like a sleepover with my best gals, and I am in heaven.
DAY 3
The next morning starts with a delicious spread and unlimited coffee (the way to a journalist’s heart) in the Healdsburg Inn’s sun-drenched breakfast room overlooking the plaza. We’re excited to explore more shops, and Ange has done some research to find Healdsburg’s best vintage/secondhand spot for us, since we all love thrifting.
Shoffeitt’s Off the Square (facebook.com/shoffeittsoffthesquare) turns out to be a goldmine, akin to Chandler’s Merchant Square or Phoenix’s The Brass Armadillo. We’re there for at least an hour and each find treasures, from vintage rings to retro Christmas decorations. We chat with the owner, Janet Shoffeitt, who opened the vintage collective in 2006. (Fun fact: Janet’s father, Bill Shoffeitt, is credited for bringing lemon-pepper seasoning to market in 1967.) Janet is a treasure of a human – 83 and still involved in the day-to-day business of the store. Mirelle asks her for her longevity tips, and she deadpans: “Keep moving. Don’t walk old.”
Janet has also been taking an annual girls’ trip with her sisters (adding daughters, granddaughters and in-laws as they’ve joined the family) for the last 50 years. “Maybe this trip will be the start of a similar tradition for us,” I say. I ask Janet to take a picture with us at the photo op she set up in the store’s entrance, and she graciously obliges. We’ll remember her forever.
We pop into a dive bar we’ve been eyeing, John & Zeke’s Bar, where Maddie buys a T-shirt and I sip a Shirley Temple. For lunch, we have soup and sandwiches at Drewish Deli (drewishdeli.com). I assume its name is a reference to Spaceballs, but it turns out it was opened by a guy named Drew. In any case, the pastrami is top-notch.
After a brief rest, we take an Uber to the hot new hostelry in the area, Appellation Healdsburg (appellationhotels.com/hotels/california-healdsburg). It’s the first ground-up resort from Michelin-starred chef Charlie Palmer’s pioneering culinary-focused hotel brand, Appellation, which he founded with luxury hospitality pro Christopher Hunsberger. Everything revolves around food at the 108-room hotel, from the “lobby,” which places you right in the property’s signature Folia Bar & Kitchen, to the on-site garden and vineyard. We cap a tour with duck wontons and honey-kissed cocktails at Andy’s Beeline rooftop bar, which offers breathtaking views of the terraced grapevines.
Dinner at nearby Hazel Hill at the Montage Healdsburg resort (montage.com/healdsburg/dining/hazel-hill) is equally breathtaking – a multi-course exhibition of the pristine produce and proteins for which California is revered. I would have been happy with Hazel Hill’s truly perfect namesake salad alone (local greens, fromage blanc, hazelnuts, cider vinaigrette), but the saffron chitarra pasta with fennel and Dungeness crab is jaw-droppingly decadent. Maddie loves her tagliatelle tartufata, Ange is smitten by her Wagyu center-cut loin with bordelaise and Mirelle picks at a Caesar salad with salmon after a day of culinary indulgence.
DAY 4
I’m pretty hedonistic when it comes to food, but even I have my limits, and this foodie town has led me to them. For breakfast at the adorable Acorn Cafe (acornhealdsburg.com) on our last morning, I keep it simple: coffee, hash browns and grilled chicken. I steal a few bites of the more interesting (and super tasty) dishes on the table: shakshuka, huevos rancheros and a fluffy lemon-ricotta hotcake. If I lived here, I’d pop into this vibrant nouveau diner regularly.
We have time for just a bit more exploring before we head to the airport – more shopping in cute boutiques, more coffee and doughnuts (see sidebar), more sitting and reading on benches under the plaza’s big trees. More girl time away from our everyday responsibilities, away from the stress of deadlines, away from the crush of reality.
We have to hold onto this feeling, I think to myself as we sip coffee together on a patio table. At least until our next girls’ trip.
Sweet Spot
Healdsburg is a haven for dessert lovers. Our must-visits:
Angela’s Ice Cream
This scoop shop shares a location with Iggy’s (see story). Great selection of traditional and vegan ice creams. Our faves: espresso crema and French custard. angelasicecream.com
Dutch Door Donuts
Ethereally light doughnuts with crispy, crackly exteriors are fried to order at this cute spot. Our faves: vanilla glaze, salted browned butter and the savory garlic-rosemary. dutchdoordonuts.com
Noble Folk Ice Cream & Pie Bar
Pie, ice cream, cookies, cupcakes or macarons? Get them all! Our faves: The Vintner cupcake (red velvet), strawberry-miso-butterscotch ice cream and maple-pecan pie. thenoblefolk.com
