For a seriously luxurious experience, Cyrus delivers a progressive dinner during which diners move between various rooms including the Bubbles Lounge, Kitchen Table, and Chocolate Lounge. The many-coursed meal will cost a cool $295 for the tasting menu, plus $250 for an accompanying wine pairing. But Chef-owner Douglas Keane has a vision to make the restaurant industry more sustainable for workers, which may have helped him earn one Michelin star in late 2022.

Alongside a renovation that opened the restaurant floorplan to include a chef’s table, the Sea Ranch Lodge menu from executive chef Eric Piacentine remains true to Sea Ranch’s ethos of living lightly on the land. Much of the beef and produce is sourced from the Ranch’s farm and that freshness shines in plates of simply prepared grilled and roasted chicken and the day’s ceviche. Every seat is a good one, but the best time to check out the sweeping views over the Pacific and the property’s 53 acres is just before sunset. 

The new Molti Amici leans into the Italian ethos of “seasonal is best.” Stone fruit salad with fennel pollen, ricotta, and watercress makes a good foil for wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas and hand-rolled pasta like raviolo al’ uovo with truffle and sage brown butter. You’ll know you’re in California when you take a seat in the outdoor dining area. Shaded by a cantilevered roof and populated with pale green and yellow chairs and tables, the patio looks like it would be right at home in mid-century Palm Springs. 

The bar at this Healdsburg restaurant is a see-and-be-seen sort of place, especially if staying out after 9 p.m. is your wine country jam. Grab a seat, if you can, and partake of the “almost famous” chicken tenders. These juicy wonders are not aimed at kiddie palates — chef Sean Raymond Kelley designed them salty and crispy enough to partner with the top-notch cocktails. So, too, the crab rangoon dip and pork spareribs. It’s a late-night menu fit for a hungry three-star chef and crew.

Though chef Fernando Trocca’s menus span morning to evening, his grasp of Argentinian, American, and European flavors shines brightest at dinner. Summer salad punches above its weight, dressed with just the right amount of lemony vinaigrette; a juicy half-chicken finds balance with crispy skin and chimichurri. The just-spicy-enough mojo rojo is a very good reason to order the octopus, while the fireplace in the dining room and wide patio shaded by redwoods invite diners to linger.

The 800-degree wood-fired oven at the heart of Jim and Michele Wimborough’s Occidental restaurant hogs the credit for the house-made sourdough with peppery olive oil and spicy sausage and egg pizzas with blistered crusts. But bold flavors across the menu mean lettuces splashed with Banyuls vinaigrette and a red quinoa entree smacked with salsa verde. On days when the small dining room gets cozy, the slim patio offers sunny respite.  

Nearly hidden in a strip mall outside of downtown’s bustle, Piala serves cuisine from Georgia native chef Ketevan Mindorashvili along with co-chef Irma Hernandez and wine director Jeff Berlin. Lavash wraps burst with grilled chicken shashlik and spiced walnut spread, lettuces and roasted beets are brightened with house-made yogurt and tahini, and a warming stew of lamb’s head and neck seasoned with parsley and fenugreek reflect flavors both homey and fresh. Grab a seat at one of the family-sized tables for a glass of fizzy Malvazija pet nat and get to know your neighbor — that’s part of the joy. Berlin’s partner in the restaurant is Lowell Sheldon, who previously faced allegations of sexual harassment and assault; Sheldon remains involved in the business but is not legally allowed to work at Piala, the Press Democrat reports.

Brought to Sebastopol by the same team behind nearby Sushi Koshō, the oyster bar at the Barlow knows its way around seafood, delivering American-style food in a chic French-style bistro setting. Grilled Spanish octopus gives way under your fork, kampachi tartar glistens under dollops of white soy and dijo, and crispy oysters arrive in a paper-lined basket atop duck fat fries. A short list of French wines seems well-suited to match the vibe. 

An homage to chef-owner Cristina Topham’s Lebanese roots, this restaurant leans into California’s fresh and local ethos. Romano beans and tomatoes, a.k.a Luobiah bi Zeit, are slow-cooked in Syrian olive oil with plenty of garlic and onion and generous pinches of allspice, cumin, and coriander seed. Grain bowls are fragrant with saffron rice and apricots, and “dirty fries” are dusted with za’atar and jacked up with pickled onions and yogurt-tahini sauce. Extra points for a shaded patio and a tight wine list focused on Lebanon, Tunisia, and other less-common regions.

One of the many joys of this daytime café in Petaluma’s wharf district is the ability to order a Turkish coffee with a splash of milk to go with a zhoug trout BLT. Or a cold brew-spiked Mediterranean fizz to savor alongside a traditional Spanish tortilla served in a cast iron pan with romesco. The menu changes frequently but a pan-fried chicken falafel plate and local sand dabs with saffron corn and black-eyed pea salad express the California-by-way-of-Marakesh cuisine. Enjoy it all on the sun-splashed patio or inside the small dining room.

Yes, chef Casey Thompson was a fan favorite on Top Chef Season 3 and yes, the restaurant earned a 2022 Bib Gourmand designation. But the restaurant at Cornerstone Sonoma marketplace also deserves attention for its high-spirited American food. Thompson’s herby green goddess lobster roll does not rely on butter but tarragon to amplify the crustacean’s creaminess. Ditto the hot chile-honey fried chicken. On a warm summer day, the chef’s take on watermelon salad hits all the right notes with whipped sheep milk feta, splashes of salted plum vinaigrette, and Tajin.