Four good reasons not to feel guilty for celebrating Christmas this year

We went into planning an Enjoy at Home Christmas Dinner with some trepidation - with so many across the country struggling right now, celebrating anything out loud needs some context. The most obvious reason for optimism is that we are inexorably heading toward the finish of a year we can’t wait to see in the rear view mirror, but here you go: four stand alone reasons to spend some time enjoying the notion, the magic, the much needed hopefulness in the Holiday Season 2020.

1. Anything that strengthens connection right now is good - in spite of the fact that raising a glass on Zoom is not what any of us ever envisioned for Christmas, certainly not for New Year’s Eve. Still, if, on the other side of that screen you get to see beloved relatives and friends, it’s going to be a shot in the arm while we patiently await a real shot in the arm that can actually bring us together in person again.

2. Kids sure aren’t to blame for what’s happening in the world right now, and they have reasons to love Christmas that the pandemic shouldn’t touch. Whatever your feeling about shopping mall Santas and the commercialization of Christmas, this is a holiday full of the best kind of wistful thinking, and it comes with the tag line “don’t be naughty, be nice.” There’s a soft moral in there that’s good to be reminded of, whatever your age.

3. If you are blessed enough to be healthy and financially secure this holiday season, it’s a great time to spread some of that wealth around your community. For us it’s about keeping people employed doing what they love - cooking and farming and making things - but every shop in Healdsburg, Windsor, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa - every town in our beautiful part of California - will tell you the same thing: the big box companies will survive this pandemic. We might not. Support small retail this Holiday, enjoy safe distance dining and if we all must pivot to TO GO then patronize your favorite local restaurants, especially those that support the food shed. It will make you feel good; it will certainly make all of us feel good.

4. This is the big one. Celebrating lifts the spirits, great food and drink feeds the soul, so try to find a way to make a small but joyful noise this Holiday. We had incredible feedback from our sold out Thanksgiving feast, but we are still finding our way through this new dining paradigm, as you are. Planning the menu wasn’t hard - Jordan loves celebration meals (take a look, below) but initially we weren’t feeling it. Then Chef Neidy and I started playing around with antique Christmas decorations, pâte à choux, little towers of meringue entwined with sparkly ribbon and something crazy happened. Even the god awful red feathers which no one admits to buying years ago but make their return year after year rewarded us with delight. It was momentary, but inspirational. Neidy is going to bake seven different varieties of Christmas cookies with recipes from around the world for Christmas Dinner. Jordan has sourced beautiful hams - in fact the entire meal will be sourced from Sonoma County. Take a look at the full menu below, and keep scrolling for very special bottle offerings. We are thrilled to have Evan Hufford and Ryan Knowles - both previously at Single Thread - as our Somms in residence this year. In the run up to the holidays, Evan has made it his special mission to root through our cellars and pull some great bottles out to share. Meanwhile, over in Barland, Terra’s incredible Three Generation Punch will be included with the dinner and we are planning to shake up some classics like Why Bears Do It with fresh apple juice from the 2020 harvest and a new Tequila FLIRT. We are also happy to send you Barndiva versions of whatever libations you have in mind for the holidays.

Booking for the dinner is now live on the website. We’d love to cook for you. Cheers!

@saverestaurants #staytuned #stayhealthy @stayhealdsburg #healdsburgchamber #eattheview #barndiva #togo #healdsburg #thisishealdsburg #sonomacounty #mendocinocounty #sommtablehealdsburg #sonomastrong #ediblemarinwc #lovehealdsburg @barndivahealdsburg @sonomamag @winecountry @slowfoodusa @socomeatco

New Winter Cocktails

I unabashedly love cocktails, especially when perfectly made and served at exactly the right temp. They ease the ache that comes from being an adult all day long intimating a shimmery promise that for a few moments you can give yourself permission to step off from worry. Maybe it’s just the simple need for a good flirt with life. A shift of perspective made viscerally compelling when it comes at you in a beautiful place surrounded by people and music and the smell of food you are about to enjoy.

The rise of the artisan spirit movement along with the emergence of the alchemist bartender who freely collaborates with chefs and gardeners for inspiration and sourcing have all conspired to make this a wonderful time to create cocktails, especially when all these forces align. They do right now at Barndiva, where we have remarkable talent behind the bar. I cannot remember a seasonal drink menu more balanced, accessible, and exciting than this one aimed squarely at the run up to New Year’s Eve.

Just don’t call them specialty cocktails, please. It should always be special when you order a cocktail, but something else comes into play when a curious bartender references the season flowing all around you. That kind of cocktail marks time in a different way, putting it in a continuum you share with everyone around you who are also smack dab in the middle of a seasonal moment. We all need reminding: Drink the view, baby! Bespoke winter cocktails should have subtle spice, soft fragrant herbal aromas, a hint of wet meadows. If they also manage to reference history, something we seem to long for this time of the year, the more the better.

Tender Buttons; Fugitive Dust; The Monk Bites Back.

‘Fugitive Dust’ First scent of Alessandra’s creation is of entering a darkening forest, courtesy of a sprinkling of bay dust across the foamy pillow that floats atop this drink. Sipping through that foam is the first delight of a drink that opens up into a sensual blend of bourbon, Nonino Amaro and blood orange. We’ve all been watching “His Dark Materials” on HBO so the magic properties of ‘dust,’ had us at hello. Screw the Magisterium (if only for a few moments) and thank you Preston Farm for the bay leaves which Sandy dries and grinds into a fine, gold-dust weight powder.

‘Break the Night’ With Terra’s new drink, the name doesn’t reference anything but the ease in which it goes down. It’s a lovely champagne cocktail reminiscent of a French 75, but is decidedly more complex on the nose and the coyness of the flavors thank in great part to the use of Barr Hill Gin. This is a drink that doesn’t so much as open up inside the glass (see Fugitive Dust, above or The Monk Bites Back, below) as open the room up around you. The kind of drink you could stay with all evening and into the morning and be no worse for wear.

‘Tender Buttons’ Andrew is known to take on difficult fresh ingredients for his cocktails, in this case the unlovely cranberry that appears in abundance this time of year with a tendency to assault the mouth with an unrelenting astringency. Cranberries feel like they should be good for you yet from Thanksgiving through Christmas the inclination is to wrap them in sugar, which seems a shame. Andrew does lightly roll his frozen cranberries in powdered sugar as a garnish, but it’s an initial flavor that immediately gives way to his freshly made cranberry juice that balances tequila, a hint of black walnut bitters, and a bubbly finish of sparkling Roederer Estate. His creations never cease to delight. Like the Gertrude Stein poem it’s named after (which curiously does not have the word cranberries in it. Go Gertrude!)

‘The Monk Bites Back’ Montenegro Amaro was created in 1885 by Stanislao Cobianchi a young Italian who turned away from a life in a Monastic order to follow his hearts desire and travel the world. He spent the next decade collecting unusual seeds, flowers, fruits, citrus - you name it - from three continents, which he narrowed down to 12 ‘mother’ essences from which he created the ethereal elixir we have today, bitter yet herbaceous, spicy and floral, with notes of chocolate and caramel. The Montenegro Amaro in Isabel’s cocktail plays hide and seek with two other remarkable old world spirits, Cocchi Americano (1891) and Caperitif (1900, re-imagined in the early 20th century). All three are known to aid in digestion and lift the spirit, making this a perfect NYE cocktail to set you up for a night of revelry.

‘Beautiful Ghost’ Our last new cocktail on the winter list, also created by Alessandra, is her version of a White Negroni. Our story (and we are sticking to it) is that Ada Savage, mother of Count Camillo Negroni, preferred her son’s creation made with transparent distilled bitters, which is the way Fosco Scarselli, the original bartender at Caffè Casoni where the Negroni was (supposedly) invented, made them for her. She is the Beautiful Ghost we have named this drink after.

Pictured above: Break the Night; a winter version of Bitches of the Seizieme; Beautiful Ghost

Fall Cocktails

I cannot remember a time we’ve had more divas behind the bar than in front of it, but if the new Fall Cocktails are anything to go by, we have entered a golden age. What I’m loving about this team of Alessandra, Andrew, Terra and Linda, all solid when it comes to mixology, is that they are more interested in hitting the notes customers long for than grandstanding with liquid arias to their formidable collective talents. Our six new libations are habit forming in the extreme, crowd-pleasers yet still retaining intrigue. Some of the ingredients are more ephemeral than others, but the pared down sensibility they’ve taken when it comes to layering flavors achieves complexity through simplicity, no easy feat… except when you know what you’re doing. I’m loving these drinks. Take a look.

The Last Aristocrats of Summer is all about our award winning pear juice, which clever Terra claimed dibs on as soon as she heard Dan and I had spent the night at Tintin juicing the last of the Hosui and Shinseiki pears. Our Asian pear orchard sits on the edge of the ridge facing northwest, apart from the other pears and the acres of apples and chestnuts. They make best use of that first hit of fog as it rises up from the draw, and soak in the last rays of sunlight as it chases the ocean. They are an elegant fruit, flavor wise, with subtle sweetness high on florals, especially on the nose. The Last Aristocrats of Summer is held aloft with an Earl Gray infused vodka, and a spike of St George spiced pear liquor, but it’s luxurious body and texture is of fragrant pear juice. Terra’s pumpkin rim is six roasted spices - she won’t say what - but Starbucks eat your heart out. Shaken and served martini style, icy cold, for as long as the juice lasts.

After hanging out for years with my friend Sandra Jordan I have come to love the taste of a good Pisco Sour, but even when you use an artisan Pisco, it lacks complexity. Rum, on the other hand, is usually too complex, especially when combined, as it usually is, with bold competing flavors. What makes Andrew’s Dreamland Sour one of my favorite new cocktails is that it evokes the memory of a tropical pineapple and rum concoction but makes the case for rum with rounder more fulsome flavor, courtesy of his ginger honey chamomile syrup. In this cocktail Andrew has managed to temper those powerful Jamaican and Peruvian spirits while still giving them their due. Finished with a fall fan of bitters that floats on a surprisingly foamy (vegan!) topper in lieu of egg whites which can adversely affect aroma. What you get here is a wonderful burnt pineapple scent with a hint of spicy undernotes.

Arrakis Kiss is the newest mind boggler from Alessandra, who is fearless when choosing her impetus spirits, terribly clever in what she pairs with it. This is only the second time in our history we’ve had Aquavit on the chalkboard. Aquavit tempered with Luxardo Bitter Bianco and paired with agave? Well, yes. Orange flower water with lemon juice and cardamon bitters? Yes again. There is great finesse to all of Alessandra’s creations and Arrakis Kiss is no exception. It’s a perfect fall libation we wholeheartedly dedicate to all those Frank Herbert readers out there, as the name is an obvious nod to Melange, the drink of choice on Dune. To which we can only add yes again. Make love not war kids. There is enough of that floating around these days.

Permission to Flirt is Linda's first foray onto the board. She is our newest bar team member - and happy we are to welcome her and her contributions to the Barn. Permission to Flirt is one of two new cocktails Lynda re-imagined for fall (the other, Black Buffalo, is a bourbon drink similar to Why Bears do It) and it’s by far the most accessible new cocktail on the list. Before the Cosmo became obsequious (and dumbed down) it began life at the fabled Odeon, a simple but elegant (and only lightly blushed) cocktail great to drink at the start or end of an evening. Permission to Flirt has those same simple chops to become a standard. It works for brunch, it works late night, you can down a few and still feel better than fine. Made with honey-crisp vodka, pomegranate hibiscus syrup, ginger bitters and fresh citrus which lifts the flavors and the mood. The addition of bubbly from Roederer Estate makes it festive, yet still a balm for a restive spirit.

It’s not a misnomer, especially in a room as pretty as the Barn’s bar on any night, to want to enjoy everything about a cocktail lounge - the music, the flowers, the tall windows to the beautiful Sonoma County sky - without alcohol. We come together to drink for so many reasons, we too often forget that only one of them - and probably not the most important - is to get a buzz on. Even without the addition of any signature spirit, The Trickster is a terrific cocktail. Seedlip makes it easy to devise new ways to present N/A drinks without disappointment. Seedlip Garden 108 is fully herbal without being medicinal, and it’s wonderfully dry. There is little that needs to be done to it unless you are a Barndiva diva - looking at you Andrew - in which case you add a splash of Schezwan Pepper syrup and top a highball filled with ice with dry farmed heirloom apple juice. Welcome to The Trickster.

House Party! (Barndiva style)

We throw parties all year round - telling a visually stunning, delicious story to people who travel from near and far to celebrate singular events is written in Barndiva’s DNA. The Fêtes, public events we throw three times a year, are different.

We host them because we relish the opportunity to say thanks to the local wine community that has supported, and in many ways, grown up with us the past 15 years. We’re honored that winemakers are here in person to meet their fans, and to hang with fellow winemakers, many of whom are close friends.

We host the Fêtes because, as in-house parties, we get to kick back and have some fun, Barndiva style. What is that exactly? Depends on the season. For Fête Blanc, mid summer, with the gardens resplendent, we’re thinking vertical spit-roast chickens, platters of Barndiva Farm heirloom fig Tartines, a bicycle caviar cart with all the fixings. A Tracebox challenge where you can test your sense of smell.

As a special treat, Champagne Louis Roederer and Maison, Marques & Domaine USA will be joining us with magnums of 2009 Cristal to enjoy.

One bottle of 2002 Cristal will be included in our silent auction.

But perhaps the most compelling reason we love having the Fêtes here in our gardens is the opportunity it affords to support Corazón Healdsburg through funds raised with an exciting wine library raffle - every winery pouring at Fête Blanc contributes. Corazón is a vibrant non-profit that serves the northern Sonoma County Latino community providing educational, legal, and cultural resources. They have also been a relentless voice in support of affordable housing in Healdsburg.

So. Great times, incredible wines, delicious food, a meaningful sense of community. If that ain’t the makings of a great party, we don’t know what is. Come celebrate the vibrant white wines of summer with us.

Two Standout Sundays.

The Pink Party is our favorite fête because of the two communities it brings together: winemakers from Sonoma and Mendocino Counties and a Bay Area tout va bien crowd that comes dressed to celebrate spring, drink superlative wine, and hug it out. Sound frivolous? Yes and no. Yes, as in we could all use a bit of frivolity right about now, and no, as in these are serious wine drinkers eager to meet iconic and rising star winemakers. We time the party just as the wisteria is blooming and the urge to see the end of winter is palpable. Tickets go swiftly, a testament to the fact that almost half the crowd that attends has been before, some since it’s very first year. The usual number of wineries pouring, when phenom somm Alexis Iaconis ran it was 30+. Behold, our extraordinary wine director Chappy Cottrell, who has blown that number up to 41. (see the complete list, below.)

We’ve added some bells and whistles this year, which we are keeping secret until the 14th. They will surprise and delight along with delectable Rosé friendly fare from the kitchens, great music from DJ Jeremy, and a raffle to benefit the important work Healdsburg Corazón is doing- every winery is graciously contributing. We appreciate the importance of strong community in times like these. And the value of throwing a great garden party where you can dress up and laugh among friends, old and new. Who says we can’t multi-task?

As for celebrating springtime with the family..….

Join us for Easter brunch!

Spring Encanto

This Week

There is serious talent in Barndiva and The Gallery right now. Above: Randy, plating his handrolled Cavatelli in The Gallery; Yazmin, in the Barn, plating a cornucopia of vegetables and salad greens under the watchful eye of Danny; The many colors of Terra. Image of Yazmin by our pastry chef Shae, a fan.

While At the Farm…

On the mornings it hasn’t rained, clouds as vaporous as dragon’s breath enfold the gardens and orchards at sunrise. Do we know what dragon’s breath looks like? We do not, but there is a magical fairy tale quality to the light up here on these early spring mornings. Below, Queen Anne cherries are the first to bloom this week; “Happy Rich,” variety of sprouting broccoli and shelling peas hides out in the tunnel alongside White Ranunculus beds; vibrant Analita tulips filled with eager Hoberflies.

Let the Fêtes Begin!

Babies & Wine & an Antidote to Angst

For many in Sonoma and Mendocino, and around the world,  2017 will not be remembered with much joy, but if you go with the premise that it's important in life to take the good as an antidote to the bad, we were gratified that along with the challenges Barndiva's year has also been filled with exciting new collaborations with people we admire and projects that pique our curiosity (and hopefully yours).

The drive for our positivism as we look toward 2018 comes from the year just past, which saw the arrival of LouLou, Enzo, Lucie, Birdie and last, but certainly not least, Remy Fancher, the third utterly captivating daughter of Bekah and Chef Ryan. Despite the frustrations of making sustainably farmed food viable in a commercial arena, the arrival of these new little members of our community is inspiring. Their future depends upon healthy food, water and air. Everyone has a role to play, especially as consumers. For your continued support of all things Barndiva this past year, we thank you.  

the somm's table

Without a doubt the thing that obsessed us the most this year, tailgating the extraordinary food coming out of our kitchens, has been wine. It was our second year earning two glasses from Wine Spectator which we are quite chuffed about, as the list is gorgeous and getting better all the time. But we've long believed that the conversations we could be having around the crop that grows as far as the eye can see in every direction should be about more than points, price, and an often silly nomenclature that keen winedrinkers view with more skepticism than delight. The winemakers we've had the pleasure of befriending over the last decade are super smart and passionate. They are scientists and weathermen, farmers and artists. To dumb down the complexity of what they create from soil to bottle isn't just an insult, it's a lost opportunity. A chance to connect to the landscape which surrounds us, to learn a language that is scent, taste and memory driven. And crucially, to accumulate knowledge about what you personally enjoy most when you lift a glass of wine and sink into its essence. 

Our wine director Alexis Iaconis is a remarkable young woman. In addition to guiding our growing wine programs, she moonlights at Meadowood (though I'm sure they think it's the other way around), is studying to take her Master Sommelier exam, and is a partner to husband Matt's exciting brick &  mortar label. All of that is driven and no doubt sustained by being a great mom. Yet she still managed to find time to help us start The Somm's Table this year. Together we hosted group wine fêtes (all sold out, now annual events) and singular winemaker spotlight dinners. We published wine set notes every month and inaugurated 'Trace' - an interactive scent based wine identification system, er, art piece. The Somm's Table approach to wine is agricultural, sense & scent driven and idiosyncratic - i.e. very Barndiva. Along with a changing wine literacy window and its 'location' in Studio Barndiva, which still displays and sells the work of local artists, the art aspect is not a misnomer. 

For all the work that went into The Somm's Table, the biggest wine news was delivered by our stealthiest player, Lukka Feldman. Under his direction we now have six Barndiva label wines that will be poured in both restaurants in the new year and shortly thereafter sold on a new website, Shopbarndiva. Stay tuned. 

We'd like to use this last post of the year to give heartfelt thanks to all who helped us launch The Somm's Table this year. To Small Vines, Alysian, Leo Steen, DuMol, brick & mortar, Littorai, Black Kite, Radio Coteau and especially to Roederer and Domaine Anderson, who supported our fire relief efforts by turning their spotlight dinner into a fundraiser. Along with the money we raised tableside, by New Year's Eve we will have donated over $20,000 to RCU and Undocufund. Thank you to winemakers Dan Fitzgerald, Eric Sussman and Kai Kliegl for helping us expand the Barndiva label. 

Finally,  we'd be remiss to end the year without thanking our incredible FOH staff, starting with Cathryn, our restaurant manager, who keeps us all marching in the right direction and Paula, Ryan B, Isabel, and Lalo for keeping food, cocktail and wine service humming. Without them we could not concentrate on new projects like The Somm's Table. To Barndiva's Farm Manager Daniel Carlson and sculptor Jordy Morgan for help with Trace. To Bob Signs for help designing our Center Street Somm's Table windows. To Campbell Hay for our incredibly elegant wine labels. Last, but never least, my assistant K2, without whom I could not keep the ideas, images and words flowing in the right direction. 

We have our doubts about our voice on social media platforms, namely how to be heard and still be true to our mission without adding to the cacophony of self aggrandizement which seems to be swallowing the culture whole. But in the new year we hope to make more videos @barndivahealdsburg, so stay in touch. We love to hear from you. 

Happy New Year!

Jil, Geoffrey, Ryan and Lukka.

*Barndiva and The Gallery Bar + bistro will be on hiatus from January 1-7. We look forward to cooking for you and filling your glass when we re-open (invigorated!) on Wednesday, January 10. 

Who We Are Now

We feel damn lucky the fires didn't reach Healdsburg but hearing the words ‘we were blessed’ the other day, though well intended, was disconcerting. There is no blessing, that I can see now, for Sonoma County, where everything good is interconnected. The food and wine we produce, and the communities and economic networks that form around them fuel our lives and our projects. Many friendships have grown out of these connections, which also extend to Mendocino and Napa Counties.

Another word I am prickly upon hearing is 'entitled', which before the fires you would still hear all the time in conjunction with the words 'lifestyle' and 'wine country'. When you work at our end of hospitality where what is grown outside our windows takes long careful hours to prepare, cook and present to the world, you may feel grateful, but never entitled. The thing about exquisite plates of food is that they disappear in minutes, and you need to start gathering and making them again. It's humbling, which it turns out is a good thing. 

The generosity we’ve watched spread across the county since October 9th may not be endemic to human nature, much as we’d like to hope, but it clearly resides at the heart of our North Bay culture. If the fire is ever to be remembered someday as having an upside, this will be it. We have been reminded, in these times of great distrust, that we are indeed a generous community, one with shared goals we want to protect, others we are proud to nurture.

Every little bit will help in the months ahead. We are pleased to contribute over $10,000 from our Somm's Table fundraiser this weekend, but it's just the beginning. We hope to work next with Wells Guthrie (of Copain) and the ever stronger worker-focused network of CorizonHealdsburg. In early December we will join other chefs, restaurants, and wineries for a Rise Up Sonoma group fundraiser. Stay tuned.

But back to Saturday Night. It was a joy to be able to welcome Arnaud Weyrich of Roederer Estate and Darrin Low of Domaine Anderson after weeks of missed calls and frenetic half conversations as we expanded what had been scheduled as an intimate Somm's Table spotlight series dinner into a larger North Bay Fire Relief Fundraiser. It was harvest - and we were all still reeling from the fires - but both wineries were on board, donating all the sparkling and wine. The menu subtly referenced Roederer and Domaine wines - rehydrating dried fruits for the marmalade, poaching the quince - in classic Fancher style. For a complete list of purveyors who donated 100% to the dinner, please see below. The Gallery Bar kitchen team, guided by sous chef Andrew Wycoff, has been incredible these past few weeks, keeping the doors open while helping Chef coordinate feeding those in need who were temporarily re-located to Healdsburg from their lost homes and schools. The extraordinary spirit of our staff is not a surprise, but we want to say grace.  

Here is the Roederer/Domaine menu.  We resume the spotlight series December 8, with Eric Sussman of Radio Coteau. Join Us!

Barndiva's Chef Ryan Fancher with our Sommelier Alexis Iaconis; Winemakers Arnaud Weyrich and Darrin Low of Roederer Estate & Domaine Anderson.

All of us at Barndiva wish to thank:
Adrian Hoffman at 4 Star Seafood
Kim Huynh at Hobbs Applewood Smoked Meats
Sheila Angerer at Angerer Farms
Issac Cermak at Red Bird Bakery
Bonnie Z at Dragonfly Floral
Encore Event Rentals  

And a special shout out to Katrina at Abstract Loren for the powerful artwork (weheartsonomacounty, top image) she has donated to the City of Healdsburg,

...and to everyone who supports #sonomastrong. 

Chef takes a bow.

Zeni soil from Roederer's Philo Vineyard is part of on ongoing and interactive display in The Somm's Table in Studio Barndiva.

The 2003 L'ermitage was an unexpected gift- Merci Arnaud! 

Dia de los Muertos, Plaza de Healdsburg

It was a wonderful day on Sunday as we celebrated the living by honoring the dead. Live music, Baile Folklorico, pozole, traditional alters. Drums and dress up, kids and dogs. 

Many Healdsburg restaurants and businesses participated in the Dia de los Muertos celebrations this year. All proceeds from food and drink went in support of The Healdsburg/Windsor Fire Departments/Cal Fire First Responders and CorizonHealdsburg. Corizon is a vital bilingual community support organization which Ari and Dawnelise Rosen, of Campo Fina, were instrumental in starting through their non-profit, Scopa Has A Dream, two years ago. To find out how you can get involved contact Leticia@corazonhealdsburg.org.

Eat, Drink, Gather now!

Mats Andersson:  Prayer

Seeing the sun rise in a clear sky over Healdsburg Wednesday morning, two feelings prevailed. The first was immense relief that we were safe. The second was sorrow, knowing what so many of our friends - neighbors and patrons - must be going through.

Over a decade ago we lost all our family possessions when our beloved farmhouse on the Greenwood Ridge in Philo burnt to the ground. We were never in physical danger and we had a place to shelter, an empty flat with a few beds on the second floor of a barn on Center Street we were in the final stages of building. We were devastated, but not in the way so many across Sonoma, Mendocino and Napa Counties are now, some having lost whole communities, and in the most tragic circumstances, family members.

We never intended to open a restaurant in the barn when we lost our home on the ridge. The journey toward what our life has become today was born from the impulse to just keep moving. 'Barndiva' came at a moment in our lives when all we really wanted to do was dive headlong under a bed of grief. But we threw ourselves into creating a life and a business in Healdsburg which slowly came into shape. It didn’t come swiftly; there was a period of stunned disbelief, then a very dark time. It was the indelible beauty of this landscape and the kindness of strangers who seemed open to all our crazy ideas that slowly dragged us back into the light. We could never replace what we lost, but the people and community Barndiva brought into our lives saved us. 

From the beginning, because it was the local community which welcomed and bolstered us, it was the local community we were primarily focused on serving. To be sure, we have embraced and been sustained by tourism - but the focus has never been about fostering a line between neighbor and stranger. A truly viable notion of sustainability is one which supports local farms and purveyors, invests heavily in a local work force that prepares and serves food and drink to our tables. But it offers the same dining experience to anyone who passes through our doors. So many of the calls of concern we received the past week have been from couples who were married on our property who hold Healdsburg and Sonoma County close to their hearts. Its health is important to them too. Sonoma County doesn’t just rely upon hospitality as an industry, it thrives because being hospitable is character, and (in the best instances) passion driven. 

We have a long road ahead toward recovery of our emotional and economic equilibrium. Even as we welcome the world back, it's clear the immediate needs of this community are paramount - it will require all of us, using our best skills, to bring back what so many have lost. So we don’t lose them. 

We are a small family business that has, as its first responsibility, keeping our incredibly dedicated work force employed. We will be here, with all the love and talent Ryan Fancher puts into our food, cooking our hearts out. We look forward to welcoming you soon.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Friday, October 13

We want to extend heartfelt and awe-struck gratitude to the many brave first responders who put their lives on the line in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino. A special shout out to Supervisor James Gore and State Senator Mike McGuire for their immediate and laser focused help when and where it was needed most. To all our elected representatives across the North Bay who are stepping up, Thank You. 

Eat, Drink, Gather!