The ideal day in this vibrant, artsy town begins with an oat latte just off The Plaza at Black Oak Coffee Roasters: Spacious, clean lines, ambient and, best of all, exceptionally good caffeine juice.
Despite its small-town feel, Healdsburg is a book-lover’s delight along and, with its many galleries, appealing to art collectors. That’s in addition to attracting wine-lovers given its proximity to the Napa and Russian River Valley vineyards, along with its own abundance of wine-tasting emporiums.
There are two awesome bookstores on the Plaza: Levin & Company (an independent) and Copperfield’s (a predominant bookselling chain in the southern part California’s Redwood Coast).
In October 2016, Copperfield’s hosted the best attended of my book reading/signing tour with Motional Blur, which took me up and down the West Coast from Book Soup in Hollywood to the University Bookstore in Bellevue, Washington.
My choice for wine sampling is Williamson Wines, very fine juice, which they serve with morsels of cheese dolloped with home made jams: bacon-onion, apple-horse-radish and garlic-balsamic.
Fine dining options exist on every block.
That said, it is hard to get past The Matheson…
…which features a quite spectacular “Wine Wall” whose various colors and flavors one partakes with a key-card to serve oneself with either a splash, half or full glass from numerous bottles.
(I’ve seen “Wine Walls” only at Bodovina in Boise, Idaho and The Wardroom in Easton, Maryland. This is a trend that will hopefully catch on.)
The Matheson’s spectacular array of wine is surpassed only by their cuisine.
To start, a large filleted sardine from Japan…
…followed by skate, a moist flat fish I’ve only ever seen served in Britain.
And just when you think a meal can’t get any better, out comes their passionfruit ice cream.
And Tokaji.
I first enjoyed Tokaji in Konstanz, Germany, while rusing a rogue former intelligence officer, not Edward Lee Howard but a tale yet untold (Howard was not sophisticated enough for Tokaji).
My mark recommended this Hungarian dessert wine after finishing dinner at the Michlen-starred Siber.
I've never looked back.
As for Hotel Art…
…H2 Hotel, while a class act, does not deliver, preferring a minimalist approach to hotel decor.