Sonoma Is Eating Out by Appointment Now

"We have been in desperate need of upgrading and updating the kitchen and building in general," chef David Bush told the Sonoma Index-Tribune in September. "When it came down to it, it was too costly to spend the money on a building we don't own."

That was the end of Oso Sonoma after 12 years on East Napa Street. Parkside Wine Bar, which Bush and his wife Kelley also ran right next door, closed with it. Over the same few weeks, Vella Cheese Company stopped making cheese after 94 years, and Passaggio Wines poured its last glass in Glen Ellen.

Put the goodbyes next to this fall's arrivals and they share a pattern. The places that closed all carried the full weight of a permanent operation: a kitchen, a production floor, a lease, seven days of overhead. Most of what's new or growing around the Plaza comes on a schedule. You get a Tuesday pop-up for club members, a $49 dinner on Thursdays, a candy counter that's only there for the holidays, a soup stand on market day. Sonoma's eating-out calendar is turning into something you plan ahead for.

What closed, and what the owners said

Vella's ending shows the problem most clearly. The family wrote that the business "has never fully recovered from the challenges of COVID, and the financial demands of operating a small, artisanal company in today's fast-paced food industry have become more than we can sustain," as the Sonoma Valley Sun reported. According to the Index-Tribune, company officials also pointed to shrinking demand for small-batch artisan cheese. The farewell went the other way. Once production stopped, the family thought it could take months to sell what was left. So many customers came in that the shop closed for good on Sept. 4, well ahead of that estimate, and retail and mail order are both closed now.

A goodbye rush can clear out the shelves, but it can't keep a 94-year-old factory running. Columnist Kathleen Hill pointed out in the Sun that with Vella gone, and Sonoma Cheese Factory gone before it, Sonoma no longer has a truly commercial cheese producer.

Passaggio owner Cindy Cosco put the same math in seasonal terms. "I don't think I could get through the winter months," she told the Press Democrat. "So I just pulled the trigger and decided to close. And it's been 20 years — I think I've had a pretty good run." Her label had already stopped production the year before.

A historic winery stays open while it reorganizes

Gundlach Bundschu at 2000 Denmark St. is the biggest name in the fall news. Bundschu Co. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Sept. 23. In its announcement, the company said it planned to stay open, keep welcoming visitors and wine club members, and go ahead with the special events already on its calendar. The Press Democrat's Sept. 30 update said the restructuring talks included a possible new investor, with the family expecting to hold a minority stake.

Day to day, the winery's visit page lists tastings and tours daily from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with the last tasting seating at 4 p.m. The filing also landed the same season Index-Tribune readers voted Gundlach Bundschu "Best Winery in Sonoma" in the paper's annual contest, according to the Sonoma Valley Sun.

The winery has been running since 1858, closed during Prohibition, and was relaunched by the family in 1973. Chapter 11 is a way to reorganize, and the winery is using that time with its tasting room open.

The newest restaurant on the Plaza is growing through pop-ups

Dead Letter opened July 16 at 101 East Napa Street, at the corner of First Street East. It comes from Sondra Bernstein and John Toulze, the team behind the girl & the fig. The kitchen is built around a binchotan charcoal grill and shareable seasonal plates, and the restaurant's site is already taking Thanksgiving reservations. The walls show digital art from 115 artists around the world, and there's an Art-O-Mat where $5 buys a small piece of art.

Dead Letter is adding nights the same way the rest of the scene is adding energy, one scheduled event at a time. In mid-September, dinner ran Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. The team has talked about going to seven days a week. Their first step toward that was a run of Tuesday-night pop-ups, offered to club members first. In October, the Ramen Night and Fried Chicken dinners sold out before Oct. 7, and Prime Night was a $95 Asian-inspired steakhouse menu, Hill reported in the Sun.

October's dinners sold out to people already on the list, so for this kind of restaurant the club email is your reservation book. You can contact Dead Letter through deadlettersonoma.com or at (707) 933-3665.

Fixed nights and short seasons

The rest of this fall's additions follow the same pattern. Each one has a set day, a short season, or a fixed price.

1. Neighbors' Table at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, Thursdays. Santé chef de cuisine Jennifer Venezio, a Sonoma native, cooks a three-course dinner for $49, priced to bring in people who live near the hotel. The menu changes. It might start with a Little Gem Caesar or the soup of the day, move to roasted Rocky chicken or corn ravioli, and end with chocolate bread pudding. Wine and beer specials cost extra. It's at 100 Boyes Blvd. in Boyes Hot Springs, (707) 938-9000.
2. See's Candies holiday pop-up. A temporary shop is planned for 201 W. Napa St., Suite 10, starting in mid-November. A company spokesperson told the Index-Tribune it will sell prepackaged candy only and close after the holidays.
3. Lee's Soups at the Friday farmers market. Lee Morgan Brown is bringing soups to the Friday market in November, according to the Sun.

None of these needs a new kitchen built into an old building. The Mission Inn's dinner runs out of a kitchen that's already working, and the candy counter and the soup stand are both designed to last a season or a market morning.

Bigger projects in the pipeline are taking the same route. In August, Kathleen Hill reported in the Sun that the Isetta family, who own the Capo Isetta tasting room on First Street East, appeared to be working on buying the historic Depot Hotel. Their plan, as David Viviani described it, was to start with special events and work up to a restaurant. Events come first and the full kitchen comes later.

Some everyday regulars are still here

The steady places count too, partly because of how fast rumors spread in a season like this one. In October, people told Hill that Darling, the sister shop to Sweet Scoops, had papered windows and a locked door. Co-owner Ramie Hencmann told the Sun that Darling is open six days a week, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed only on Tuesdays. It's in the Marketplace shopping center a few feet from Equator Coffee, north of Whole Foods. Flavors change every month and are posted at darlingsonoma.com/flavors.

Cosco's comment about what's being lost applies to these places too. "It's a shame because it's what we need now," she told the Press Democrat. "And you're seeing all these small places close up. It hurts my heart because it's what it's supposed to be about: community."

For a Sonoma resident this November, that means a few practical things. Join the email lists for the restaurants you care about. Put Thursday at the Mission Inn and Friday at the market on the calendar. Spend at the long-running places on ordinary weeknights, since the closures that came with notice still came fast.

Here at Jennifer Bowes, we keep an eye on which Sonoma Valley storefronts are changing hands and what's moving in, because that's what makes daily life here feel the way it does. If you want to talk about how the changes around the Plaza fit your own plans in Sonoma, Schedule Consultation and we'll go through it together.