Kyle Connaughton To Open Restaurant, Inn, and Farm in Healdsburg

The Bay Area is adding another feather to its culinary cap, as renowned chef, former Fat Duck culinary scientist, and Modernist Cuisine contributor Kyle Connaughton has announced that he'll be opening a restaurant, farm, and inn in downtown Healdsburg (131 North St.) this fall. It'll be called Single Thread, and is a joint project between Connaughton and his wife, farmer/gardener Katina Connaughton. The 55-seat restaurant will serve three 11-course tasting menus (standard, pescatarian, and vegetarian), each priced at $200 and sold via a ticketing system (presumably, but not confirmed to be, Nick Kokonas' Tock), while the hotel will have five suites, providing guests with breakfast from Connaughton and tours of the farm. There will even be a very small on-site winery, along with California-centric wine pairings on the menu.

For diners who aren't staying the night, a meal at Single Thread will kick off with canapes in the rooftop garden and a tour of the restaurant's 3,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse. (Single Thread Farms will be in Healdsburg, on five acres belonging to San Lorenzo Vineyards along the Russian River, and will feature orchards, olive trees, beehives, and chickens in addition to fruit and vegetables.) AvroKO, the chichi design firm behind Michael Mina's RN74 and Napa's The Thomas, will be handling interior decor in the dining room, and there will be plenty of Japanese touches from the couple's years living there, from handmade pottery to a service philosophy inspired by omotenashi, the Japanese art of hospitality. Even the menu will change every five days, inspired by Japanese farming cycles. All in all, it's set to become a real destination, and given Connaughton's sterling reputation, a major new player on the local and national restaurant scene and in the Michelin stakes. Expect Single Thread to arrive sometime this fall.