Luxury members-only club brand Soho House will be landing in the Bay Area in 2027, but not in San Francisco.

A property long rumored to be in Soho House's sights in Kenwood, north of Glen Ellen in Sonoma County, will become Soho Ranch House Sonoma. The company confirmed the news in an Instagram post this week, without giving an address, but showing photos of the resort under construction and various views of Sonoma Valley.

The 350-acre site at the foot of Hood Mountain is tucked off of Route 12/Sonoma Highway in Kenwood, on Campagna Lane, and has actually been under development for two decades, with the county having approved a permit for a 50-room hotel, spa, and winery at the site 21 years ago.

As the Chronicle reports this week, construction long ago stalled, and a private equity firm founded by billionaire Ron Burkle purchased the site in 2020, and then proceeded to lease it to Soho House — news of which reached valley residents years ago.

But now Soho House has publicly confirmed it, committing to a 2027 timeframe, and saying this is a Soho House "first," with more information coming next year.

"Perched at the top of a valley in Sonoma with uninterrupted views of our own vineyards, members will be able to stay in 50 cottages and villas scattered across acres of Californian wine country," the company says. "With expansive club spaces and restaurants, a central courtyard, Soho Health Club and two pools, there’s so much to look forward too."

Soho House was founded in London in 1995, and has gained a global reputation for its exclusive, primarily urban club properties — particularly their rooftop pools. On its website, Soho House says that all of its 40+ clubs are "designed to be comfortable and characterful, offering our members a unique yet familiar experience every time they visit."

The entry of Soho House will mark a sea change for this part of the Sonoma Valley, and will most certainly draw tourist traffic and attention south from booming Healdsburg — where, as the Chronicle noted this week, most of thesplashiest tasting room openings of the year in the Bay Area happened.

The area between the town of Sonoma and Santa Rosa, which are connected by Highway 12, is characterized by the humble town of Boyes Hot Springs, the quaint and quiet environs of Glen Ellen — the center of which is located just off the highway — and the unincorporated town of Kenwood, which includes a stretch of winery properties including Landmark, St. Francis, Kendwood Vineyards, and Kunde Family Winery.

Car (and limo) traffic to these wineries is steady in the high seasons of summer and fall, but less so than on Highway 29 over the ridge in Napa, and the wine industry at large has complained about the waning interest in wine among younger consumers. A new Soho Ranch House, exclusive though it may be, might shift the conversation considerably, especially for central Sonoma.

Soho House was also, as you may recall, rumored to have been eying the Armory property in the Mission, back when Kink.com was exiting San Francisco and off-loading it. The building has since been turned primarily into office space, though it does have a rooftop deck for office workers.

The rumor was fueled by the fact that a developer who had Soho House as a client was involved in the reimagining of the Armory, and in 2023 we learned of plans for a new jazz club in the ground floor spaces, with the Drill Court space once again returning to use as an entertainment venue.

• ICE arrested two protestors who are US citizens outside its 630 Sansome Street field office Friday afternoon before releasing them later that night. Agents reportedly mocked the group of ten protesters while pointing pepper ball rifles and batons at them. [Mission Local]
• Rodney Williams, 55, of San Francisco was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Friday on charges including two counts of possession of child pornography. In July 2024, police found hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse at Williams’s Potrero Hill home, along with around 3.8 kilograms of methamphetamine; a kilogram of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl; 11 firearms; and 116 pounds of ammunition. [Bay City News]
• A suspected shoplifter at the Colma Target bit a police officer's arm while trying to avoid arrest after first ignoring police and attempting to walk around them. [KRON4]
• Newsom appointed seven new judges to Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara county courts on Thursday. [KPIX]
• Noah Alhayek, an 11-year-old San Jose boy, has been missing since August 4 and was last known to be taking public transit to San Francisco. [KRON4]
• Jennifer Bryant, 25, is scheduled to appear in court Monday on charges of animal cruelty in the 2024 death of a horse named Honey, who died from malnutrition and heat stroke when Bryant was manager of Chaparral Ranch’s Bear Creek Stables in Los Gatos [KTVU]
• A team of scientists at California Academy of Sciences is part of a collective of agencies working to save 26 species of starfish impacted by a “wasting disease” that’s caused by rising ocean temperatures. [KPIX]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

The couple behind one of Sonoma's most lauded and talked-about restaurants of the last couple of years, Animo, is expanding with a second spot that promises to be bigger, busier, and cheaper.

Opening sometime this fall, Golden Bear Station is going to feature European-inspired bistro and trattoria dishes, like Neapolitan-style pizzas, Roman-style pastas, wiener schnitzel, and steak frites, and it's taking over the space that for nine years has been home to TIPS Roadside in Kenwood (8445 Sonoma Highway). TIPS appears to have closed in the last two weeks.

Animo opened in early 2022, with chef Joshua Smookler blending Basque and Korean cuisines into an intriguing, wood-fire-driven menu. The place landed on Esquire's list of Best New Restaurants in the country, as well as on the Chronicle's list of Best Splurge Restaurants (former critic Soleil Ho was a particular fan), and SFist called out their lobster in XO sauce and kimchi fried rice with pastrami.

Smookler had previously, pre-pandemic, operated the buzzy, New York Times-approved Mu Ramen, which began as a pop-up in a bagel shop before becoming a brick-and-mortar in Long Island City. Smookler and his wife and collaborator, Heidy He, decided to move across the country to be closer to family, and they landed on a former taqueria at the edge of the town of Sonoma, in an unassuming space next door to a McDonald's.

While Animo only does a couple of seatings per night in their tight space, with some expensive a la carte items like a $150 whole turbot and a $185 dry-aged porterhouse (both meant to be shared), Golden Bear Station will be a more approachable, casual spot, with lower price points, as Smookler tells the Chronicle, and "some refinement."

The name comes from a former incarnation of the property as a filling station in the 1930s, called Golden Bear Service Station.

The location along Highway 12 between Glen Ellen and Santa Rosa offers plenty of weekend wine-tasting traffic, and TIPS was almost always busy for brunch despite sometimes lackluster food.

Smookler tells the Chronicle that they obtained the space serendipitously, after driving by one day and wondering aloud about it, and then meeting the owners who said they were looking to sell.

Fans of Mu Ramen will be glad to know that one of the most popular menu items there, a burger called the Harlan Burger (named for the couple's daughter) featuring a dry-aged beef blend topped with caramelized onion, Taleggio cheese, shoestring potatoes, kimchi mayonnaise, and arugula.

And maybe there will be some ramen on the menu come winter time? Or an appearance from one of Smookler's other acclaimed mashup dishes, some steamed clams that NYT critic Pete Wells raved about thusly: "the dish takes a leap that makes no sense until you try it: You pick up a clam and scoop up some Vietnamese nuoc cham with the shell. Why the flowery musk of saffron reacts so well to lime and fish sauce I cannot say."

The place also has a full liquor license, but the couple plans to offer a wide selection of wines from California and across the globe.

Look for updates here, though there's no website live just yet.

Related: Go Eat This: Animo Brings Basque-Style Meat and Fish to Sonoma (With Korean Touches)

Top image: TIPS Roadside via Yelp

The latest round of storms have left flooded roads that have stranded hundreds in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with flood advisories in effect for several Bay Area counties, and a flooded I-580 in Oakland was taken over by a paddling of ducks.

It’s another Pineapple Express day today, and even if it’s not raining where you are right now, there’s a high likelihood that ongoing road flooding will affect your Bay Area travels. Just Friday morning, President Biden approved another presidential state of emergency declaration for much of California, right now 511 SFBay lists almost two dozen road closures or traffic alerts in the Bay Area, and you can expect BART delays of about 20 minutes regardless of your destination.

But to start this weather calamity roundup on a light note, flooded portions on I-580 were taken over by ducks Friday morning. “We have ducks on the water on the flood here on the westbound side of the highway,” KTVU’s James Torrez reported. Though as of 11:45 a.m. Friday morning, KGO had the update that “All lanes on Interstate 580 in Oakland have reopened after shutting down Friday morning due to flooding, Caltrans said."

But things are nowhere near resolved down in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as the Chronicle reports that hundreds of people can’t leave their neighborhoods because as seen below, the roads in Soquel have literally been broken by the floods. An estimated five inches of rain fell in that area Thursday night, and several neighborhoods in or near Santa Cruz were evacuated last night. Reports from on the ground there say that "Houses on county water are also without water. Power on for now.”

Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties both remain on flood advisories until 2:30 p.m. Up to the north, Sonoma County is on a flood advisory until 2 p.m.

Napa County details a number of road closures above, the most severe being Duhig Road. Caltrans reports that State Route 121 is “Closed in Sonoma County from Fremont Drive just north of State Route 116/Arnold Drive.”

And if you think this means it’s a great weekend to head skiing in Lake Tahoe, it’s not. Heavenly, Kirkwood, Mount Rose, Northstar, Palisades Tahoe, and Sugar Bowl Resorts are all closed today.

Related: CHP Baffled As Same Sinkhole Near Tracy Claims Three Vehicles — All Because Drivers Ignore Road Closure Signs [SFist]

Image: @CHPDublin via Twitter

A charming natural wine bar and restaurant on Sonoma's town square is in expansion mode and will be taking over the space occupied by Delicious Dish about two and a half miles away.

Valley Bar + Bottle Shop (487 First St. West) has been steadily gaining a local following in downtown Sonoma since opening during the pandemic, in July 2020. Opened by four former Scribe Wine staffers, Valley offers an eclectic list of natural wines to pair with some excellent and also eclectic food, offered primarily in their small front bar area and on a large covered patio in back. The outdoor space, with a few heat lamps for cold weather, was a COVID-friendly go-to for many in the area, and they will continue to offer breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner there — but there is more in store.

As Sonoma Magazine reports, Delicious Dish, the four-year-old fried-chicken sandwich spot and catering outfit at 18709 Arnold Drive, is calling it quits. Owners Lauren and Charles Cotner say "It’s just a bad time for our little restaurant," and they had too slow of a year to keep going.

Taking over the space in the new year will be Valley partners Emma Lipp, Lauren Feldman, Tanner Walle and Stephanie Reagor, who say they want to open a lunchtime spot at the space — though maybe if it gains a following there will be more to come?

Lipp tells Sonoma Mag, "We all live right in that neighborhood, so we are excited to be in our hood."

The Delicious Dish space boasts a large, covered back patio that will make for nice between-wine-tastings dining in the spring, summer, and fall.

The name of the new spot is TBA.

Since opening two years ago, Valley has been named one of the best bars in the country by Esquire in 2021, the Chronicle's Soleil Ho raved about a dish of fresh ricotta with figs and roasted grapes, and the Michelin Guide this year named Valley a Bib Gourmand pick — with an inspector writing, "From soft-boiled eggs finished with a savory XO sauce to duck breast tortillas served with house-made hoisin that is best in class, everything is better shared."

If you haven't already, go there at dinner for the crispy rice — reminiscent of tahdig — with scallion-ginger sauce, the XO egg, and any of their rotating, seasonal salads and entrees.

Tucked away next to a McDonald's on Route 12 at the edge of the town of Sonoma, a short drive from the town square, is a new restaurant focused on Basque-style, wood-fired meat and fish, from a former New York City ramen chef.

Chef Joshua Smookler and wife Heidy He are calling their restaurant, Animo, an "American Korean restaurant focused on hearth cooking." But evidence of Basque and Spanish influence is abundant on the menu, not the least of which because of roasted cuts of Iberico pork that aren't so commonly seen on American or Korean menus.

Smookler and He previously owned and operated Mu Ramen in Long Island City, in New York City, which opened in 2014 and closed at the start of the pandemic. As Smookler told the Sonoma Index-Tribune, after years of slinging ramen and Japanese food, he was ready to pivot to something he loves: Basque-style, wood-grilled beef, pork, and fish.

These, along with some lamb chops, form the meaty core of the menu at Animo, which otherwise shows its Korean influences with the lettuce wraps that come with Wagyu steaks, and with a side dish option of kimchi-pastrami fried rice with an egg on top.

Smookler is Korean American but was adopted by Jewish parents and grew up on Long Island in New York. He said he got his start in hospitality through wine.

"I started in the wine business because, when I was a teenager, I thought wine was for affluent, educated, and sophisticated people," Smookler told Luckyrice in an interview. "I wanted to impress women. It felt like it had more cache. Silly, right? Another reason was because the pay I was offered as a cook was humiliating."

At Mu Ramen, New York Times critic Pete Wells raved about Smookler's ramen — first when it was just being served at a pop-up in a bagel shop, and then at the brick-and-mortar location, where he gave the restaurant two stars.

And now, the accolades for Animo are mostly coming via Instagram and from Sonoma locals who have been clamoring to try the new spot.

The intimate restaurant space itself — formerly a series of short-lived and dive-y spots — has cleaned up nicely but still could use some sexier lighting. But oh my, the meat is good, as are the Basque-style gambas (shrimp), the lobster in XO sauce, and the Manila clams with chorizo. And everybody seems to want to order the whole grilled turbot, which looked like a lot of food for two people.

We can only hope that some of the dishes Wells loved from Mu Ramen, none of them straight-up Japanese, might sneak there way here too — like an in-quotations "okonomiyaki" that consisted of a corn pancake topped with smoked trout and foie gras maple syrup.

But for now this is a great date spot and a good way to impress any lover of meat (or grilled fish).

And yes, they have Basque cheesecake.

Animo - 18976 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma - Open for dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Reserve here.

It's the end of an era for a stalwart Zinfandel producer in central Sonoma as the Ravenswood Winery will be shut down in mid-May. The announcement comes via the longtime owner of the winery and tasting room, the beverage conglomerate Constellation Brands.

As SFGate reports, Constellation retained ownership of the 13-acre vineyard and tasting room after selling the Ravenswood brand — along with 30 more of its "lower-end" wine labels — to E. & J. Gallo earlier this month.

Constellation says the decision to close Ravenswood's almost-30-year-old tasting room near downtown Sonoma "was made with a great deal of careful thought and consideration."

The winery, known for its Zinfandels and its slogan "No Wimpy Wines," was launched in 1976 by "Godfather of Zin" Joel Peterson. The tasting room at 18701 Gehricke Road dates back to 1991, and the brand and winery were sold to Constellation in 2001. "I am really sad to see it close," Peterson tells Sonoma News.

Employees at the tasting room were reportedly informed that their last day will be May 15, and May 17 is the official closing date.

Constellation Brands offloaded the Ravenswood brand and over two dozen others in a strategic move to "better align portfolio with consumer premiumization trends." The company says that consumer trends point to more purchases of higher end wines and craft beers, as well as hard seltzers.

The move comes just two weeks after Constellation announced the closure of two brewpub locations of its craft beer brand Ballast Point, and the cancellation of plans to open a Ballast Point taproom at the new Chase Center.

Wine Country, particularly the Napa Valley, is the lap of luxury of the Bay Area, and an adult playground for the wealthy from all over the US. If you've spent some time wine tasting up there, and in Sonoma, you've likely started to get the idea that there are a number of different tiers of tasting, eating, and lodging experiences up there, with Sonoma remaining a bit more quaint and down to earth — though the tourists and Bay Area winos have begun flocking to Sonoma in recent years in greater and greater numbers. So, setting aside the Meadowoods and SingleThreads and French Laundries, and a number of lesser acclaimed but no less expensive resort-y food experiences to be had up north, we bring you our definitive list of the best non-exorbitant, yet very delicious restaurants you'll find up there on your holiday weekend wine-tasting travels. Some of them aren't exactly cheap, but when you're spending $60 or $100 on lunch or dinner, it might as well be really good, right? — Jay Barmann

ad hoc
Bow down at the altar of Thomas Keller with a visit to ad hoc. The name uses all lower-case letters, which should indicate to you that ad hoc is significantly less expensive than Keller's crown jewel, The French Laundry, which is up the street. Four-course dinners are served family style and the menu is changed daily. But the menu is less of a menu and more of a list of food you WILL be having for dinner. There are no choices at ad hoc, there's just dinner or brunch — which makes the experience much more adventurous for diners wanting to experience the Keller culinary magic. You can't just order a burger — you take what these geniuses give you. Add a rustic, farmhouse ambiance and a $55-ish price tag and ad hoc delivers wine country casual with a big name chef. Dinner is served Thursday through Monday and brunch is on Sundays. Alternately, swing by the connected addendum for a pre-wine tasting $16.50 boxed lunch of either fried chicken or pork ribs. — Beth Spotswood
ad hoc + addendum, 6476 Washington Street Yountville

Barndiva
Despite the unfortunate name — and many fans of this restaurant will tell you that they, too, hate the name — Barndiva remains a reliable lunch, dinner, and brunch destination in Healdsburg, just off the cute town square, in a converted barn that now looks like the picture of a rustic, high-end wine country restaurant as designed by HGTV. The place makes great cocktails, and the food is well prepared and highly seasonal, if not always wildly inventive — suffice it to say, it's easy to like gets high marks for consistency. This place has also attracted a decent business for hip, smaller scale weddings in its gorgeous garden. — Jay Barmann
231 Center Street, Healdsburg

Bar Terra (terrarestaurant.com)

Bar Terra
The bar adjoining Terra Restaurant in St. Helena is a wildly popular dining destination unto itself. The cozy, stone-walled upscale atmosphere is blissfully buffalo wing-free. The eclectic offerings include surprises like ramen (Bar Terra Ramen; Chashu Jowl, Pig Trotters, Jidori Egg, Tokyo Style Broth) and sundaes (Strawberry Sundae, Pavlova, Buttermilk Ice Cream, Basil Seeds.) Bar Terra has a gluten-free menu too. Maybe that's a thing in Napa. Is that a thing in Napa? Celiac sufferers, rejoice!" Raves the Chronicle's Michael Bauer as proudly quoted on the restaurant's homepage, "I could close my eyes and point, and I would be equally happy with anything in that section. Even the simplest offerings, such as the radicchio salad, are spectacular." I implore you to find another restaurant capable of making radicchio "spectacular." — Beth Spotswood
Bar Terra, 1345 Railroad Avenue, St. Helena

Photo via botteganapavalley.com

Bottega
Napa Valley and Italy converge at Chef Michael Chiarello's Bottega. The kitchen at this Yountville spot whips up gluten-free menus for both lunch and dinner, so those people should rest easy. And despite a few controversies*, Bottega has managed to remain a hit with critics. In fact, the Chronicle's Michael Bauer has kept Bottega on his coveted Top 100 list for the past eight years. So when it comes to Italian in Napa Valley, the food at Bottega is very nice and the service is usually lovely. As Andrew K. explained on Yelp, "We asked poignant questions to our server regarding specific details of the cooking process of some of our dishes as a few of us at the table love to attempt to recreate our favorite experiences at home. He was able to answer them with the knowledge of a line cook in the kitchen and that was a nice bonus to our evening." Hooray! And now on to that *ASTERISK*: Chiarello was arrested in Napa for a DUI in November of last year after settling a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former employees. But yum! Pasta! — Beth Spotswood
Bottega, 6525 Washington Street, Yountville

Photo: Calistoga Kitchen

Calistoga Kitchen
Calistoga Kitchen is one of the few wine country restaurants that seems as beloved by locals as it is by visitors, perhaps because chef-owner Rick Warkel began the place as a private supper club before opening it up the the masses. It's a cozy, casual place with eccentric hours (call or check Facebook to confirm, but dinner's typically Thurs-Sun, with brunch/lunch Fri-Sunday) and warm service that makes every guest feel like an insider. The menu's simple and delicious: Game Hen with polenta, wild local salmon with risotto, and rabbit cacciatore are three evening standouts, and their brunch-hour lamb hash gets high marks from those who are feeling ambitious about their morning meal. -- Eve Batey
1107 Cedar Street, Calistoga

Photo: Yelp

Campo Fina
If you're looking for a casual, fun, all-day restaurant in Healdsburg — the perfect place to take refuge and drink something besides wine on a sunny late afternoon — look no further than this spot on the town's main drag, a sister restaurant to the now closed Scopa. They've got a bocce court on the back patio, and a solid cocktail array, as well as great snack and dinner options including stellar meatballs and excellent wood-fired pizzas. — Jay Barmann
330 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg

Curtis Y. via Yelp

Chalkboard
This reporter makes no apologies for perpetuating the theory that “small plates” are a conspiracy by restaurant owners to lower their costs by providing less food. (Designed for “sharing”? People, you’re allowed to share regardless of a plate’s size!) But Healdburg’s Chalkboard genuinely does provide excellent fare upon their small plates, with legitimately filling bites of organic produce grown on their nearby dedicated three-acre farm in Sonoma. The warm pretzels are a longtime local favorite, the “vintage library” interior is impeccably designed, and their every day Happy Hour offers six-dollar small plates and cocktails. Six-dollar plates at a fancy Healdsburg restaurant is freaking unheard of, FYI.— Joe Kukura
29 North Street at Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg

Patrick Q. via Yelp

Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
This place’s name may sound like a rural roadside diner, but executive chef and owner Cindy Pawlcyn has two James Beard Awards (she’s been nominated seven times, and also founded Fog City Diner but is no longer affiliated with that restaurant.) This converted vintage house is just off the main drag of Main Street in St. Helena, and the menu is sort of a California cuisine-meets-comfort-food array with international influences that features inspired entrees like a duck burger and a rabbit tostada. The drawback is the lack of dedicated parking, but the walk lets you pile on some extra calories with their Oreo-marshmallow-y Campfire Pie that may be one of wine country’s most Instagrammed desserts. — Joe Kukura
1327 Railroad Avenue at Hunt Avenue, St. Helena

Steph G. via Yelp

The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone
More colloquially known as the “Culinary Institute at Napa”, Greystone is literally a hundred-year-old castle that now serves as one of the Culinary Institute’s branch schools. But there is no shame in having your meals prepared and served by students here, as they deeply understand the complexity of flavor pairing. The single greatest meal I have ever enjoyed in my life was here, a roast duck with beets — and I hate beets — but their sweetness was so perfectly coupled with the inherent richness of the duck that my taste buds felt like they had Michelin stars on them. Outdoor seating is highly recommended (weather permitting), because the views of Mount St. Helena are incomparable. — Joe Kukura
2555 Main Street on State Route 128, St. Helena

Photo: Ron Crain via Facebook

El Molino Central
One of the somewhat unsung bastions of great Mexican food in the Bay Area, El Molino Central is the home of chef Karen Taylor's thoughtful and admittedly Californian take on regional Mexican cuisine. And I says "somewhat unsung" because despite not being too widely known among San Franciscans, Taylor's tamales and tortillas, under the brand name Primavera, are big sellers at the Ferry Building farmers' markets, she recently got named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: West, and the restaurant was glowingly profiled by Chris Ying in the Chronicle this month — with Ying writing that Taylor, a white woman who collaborates often with her Mexican-born cooks, is by those cooks' own account "not like other gabachas dabbling in the Mexican hustle." Ying also says El Molino Central serves "the best Mexican food in the Bay Area," and I can't say he's wrong. You should be prepared for a counter-service deal, outdoor seating, and a potentially long and leisurely wait for your food to arrive, but this place is the real deal, and a steal when it comes to finding a good meal in these parts. — Jay Barmann
11 Central Avenue, Boyes Hot Springs (Sonoma)

The Girl & The Fig: Andy L/Yelp

The Girl & The Fig
It is, perhaps, counter-intuitive to go to wine country to drink cocktails, but one look at The Girl & The Fig's gorgeous antique bar and I go full Hemingway (that means hard booze, not beards and hats). Fortunately their country-style French food is there to soak up the excess, with an all-day menu that includes a mussels and frites starter that's sexy as hell, a comparatively virtuous trout salad, and a bacony gnocchi main that you'll keep thinking about after the fact. -- Eve Batey
110 West Spain Street, Sonoma

Photo: Facebook

Glen Ellen Star
Possibly as close as you're going to come to some of SF's own Cal-Med neighborhood restaurant gems in Wine Country, Glen Ellen Star opened five years ago under the helm of Ari Weiswasser, who had previously worked at the French Laundry, and his wife Erinn Benziger Weiswasser, of the Benziger wine family. It's a cozy and imaginative bistro with a tightly curated menu, much of it coming from the restaurant's wood-fired oven, including roasted cauliflower dressed in Middle Eastern spices and labne (yogurt); brick chicken with vadouvan; and a white-sauce pizza with guanciale and arugula. As should be expected from the heart of Sonoma, the wine list is deep and thoughtfully curated, and this place feels as appropriate for a celebration as for a weeknight meal. — Jay Barmann
13648 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen

The rare and beautiful full salumi platter. #patedicampania #saintolcese #crespone #soppressata #noce #toscano #nostrano #salametto #picante #coppa #lonza #nduja #fino #funghi #rustica #fino #trufflefelino #felino #milano #sanginaccio #sobrassada #culatello #wemakeeverything #oenotri

A post shared by Oenotri (@oenotri) on Apr 2, 2017 at 5:44pm PDT

Oenotri
As you can tell from this list, Napa and Sonoma are not hurting for great, wood-fired pizzas. Oenotri, in downtown Napa, takes things a step further with an acclaimed salumi program by chef Tyler Rodde, as well as great house-made pastas, a great cocktail bar, and seasonally changing antipasti and entrees using ingredients from the restaurant's own garden. Seven years in, Oenotri remains a wildly popular spot where reservations are highly recommended, and bar fills up fast on weekend nights. — Jay Barmann
1425 First Street, Napa

"Day trip to the Napa Valley today included more than just a few wines. We found an amazing pizza place and we were served one of the best prosciutto and rocket pizzas I have ever eaten". Photo by @the.hungriest.sam

A post shared by Redd Wood (@redd.wood) on May 24, 2017 at 6:44pm PDT

Redd Wood
The sister restaurant and pizzeria of the more luxe Redd down the street, Redd Wood serves arguably Yountville's best pizza — though Ciccio has plenty in its camp as well. Chef Richard Reddington knows from Napa style and cuisine, and this casual lunch and dinner spot serves reliably great, blistered, crispy wood-oven pies, as well as a selection of pastas, salumi, and a great ribeye steak at dinner. — Jay Barmann
6755 Washington Street, Yountville

Wildlife researchers in Sonoma County who have been tracking "clusters" of activity among mountain lions came upon a rare sighting of ten-day-old mountain lion kittens in a den last Friday. They managed to take the video above of the three kittens (only two are really visible) from a distance, and thus you don't hear any sound coming out of the kitten's mouth that appears to be meowing.

As CBS 5 reports, these were members of the Audubon Canyon Ranch mountain lion research team who sought out what they believed to be the den site near Glen Ellen belonging to an adult female mountain lion known as P1. She's believed to be about 10 years old and was collared with a GPS device last October as part of the team's research. They have also collared one of P1's adult offspring, whom they call P2.

The Audobon Canyon researchers knew where to look for the den because they had seen P1's movements clustering over time, and determined she was likely hovering around a den site.

Per their website:

It was essential for the team to visit and verify what was thought to be a possible den site. In order for us to better understand the health of the mountain lion population in our study area, we learn about their reproductive success, population survival, mortality and causes of mortality. Finding a den site early in the early stages provides us with a critical starting point. The team tracked the female P1 to ensure she was nowhere near the cluster and when it was determined that she was a considerable distance from the site, the team went in to investigate. Knowing what to look for, they found the kittens very quickly and documented them by camera, leaving the site all within 10 minutes. The kittens were not touched or handled at all.

The team now plans to monitor the site over the next few months, and will not make any physical contact with the kittens until they have reached adulthood and separated from their mother, at which point they might be collared as well. The researchers are keen to see how the kittens fare (mortality rates for infant mountain lions are around 50% in the wild), and to monitor the success of this local population overall.

But just look at how cute they are!!

Previously: Video: Father And Son Film Mountain Lions Swimming In Lake Shasta

When he departed his post as a thrice-weekly columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle last fall, it wasn't clear if Nevius was planning for a semi-retirement, perhaps kicking back to write a memoir or some similar activity. But now the bane of SF progressives and homeless advocates has turned up with a new gig with fewer political duties, as a weekly sports columnist for the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.

That may seem to be an odd move if you didn't know that Nevius was, in fact, a sports writer years back before he started doing movie reviews and then got his popular column in the Chron. He explains all that in his very first column for the Press-Democrat, noting with an old-timers' swagger, "I covered the Giants when there were ashtrays in the lockers. I was there when Barry Bonds was still surly and contentious, not smiling and charming like now. And when Mike Krukow was not only pitching, he was an imposing figure."

He also describes the great fun he had covering the Olympics over several decades, and getting flown around the world to do so, and the miserable slog that covering the Super Bowl became.

But, he says, after 20 years off the sports beat, he was able to return to being a fan again, and he's excited to write about the Giants and the Warriors and the Niners once again.

I groaned when Steph Curry missed a 3 and jumped off the couch when Buster Posey went deep.

It made me realize what an avid sports guy I am. Just ask me about Colin Kaepernick — but only if you’ve got a good 30 minutes.

So, when The Press Democrat asked me if I’d be interested in a once-a-week sports column, it made perfect sense.

So I’m back. I’m fired up.

And I’m sure you’ll let me know if I start to sound entitled or jaded.

You can now do just that via his new email, cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com, or tweet at him via his still functioning Twitter account, where he's been offering armchair praise and critiques to some of the Chronicle's newer columnists like food guy Chris Ying.

Previously: Veteran Fist-Shaking Chronicle Columnist CW Nevius Announces He's Leaving The Paper After 36 Years

Sonoma-based singer-songwriter Garrett Pierce has a new album out next week on Crossbill Records called Dusk, and the first release, "Distant Thought," comes with this music video directed by Pierce featuring nature scenes shot on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts, with an emphasis on mushroom foraging in the woods.

There are also a couple of pretty sunsets, and some deer lingering along a roadside.

Says Pierce, "This video was shot in my natural habitat — mushroom foraging in the redwood coast of Sonoma & Mendocino County. The lyrics for 'Distant Thought' were a dedication to the healing powers of this part of the state and so it seemed logical to shoot the video there. Winter used to be a depressing time for me when I first moved to the Bay Area, but now I look forward to hiking and discovering new mushrooms and bringing home my favorite edibles to have with dinner."

The body of 18-year-old Kirk Kimberly was discovered buried last week in a shallow grave on Sonoma State University campus, and officials now say his death could have been the result of a random act of violence. CBS 5 reports that Kimberly is believed to have died from multiple stab wounds, and officials are still searching for his missing bicycle in the hope that its discovery will help with the investigation into his death.

The teen went missing on October 17, and according to the Press Democrat was discovered on the 269-acre Sonoma State campus by a gardener last Wednesday. Interestingly, the Press Democrat's reporting contradicts that of CBS 5 — saying that investigative lead Lieutenant Tim Duke told the paper that the stabbing did not in fact appear random and that Kimberly may have known his attackers. That report was from Saturday, however, with the CBS 5 report coming from today — suggesting that the investigation may have been updated.

Officials have not commented on the type of weapon used to stab Kimberly, or the number of wounds. According to ABC 7, the body was identified by fingerprints. His death is not believed to have anything to do with the university itself, and his family has declined to speak with the press.

Kimberly was last seen leaving his Cotati home on his white 2011 Cannondale Quick CX 3 mountain bike, and is believed to have been heading to a friend's house. Anyone with any knowledge of his death has been asked to call the Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Unit at 707-565-2185.

Previously: Day Around The Bay: Body Found On Sonoma State Campus

Citing familiar-sounding concerns about a diminishing stock of affordable housing, the Sonoma City Council yesterday agreed to place a moratorium on home-sharing services like Airbnb and VRBO in the tourist friendly city. The Press Democrat reports that the city council agreed unanimously to stop new short-term rentals until they can come up with a long-term plan for regulating them.

“I hear stories of families not being able to live in Sonoma,” Councilman David Cook told the paper. “We are in a housing crisis, some say housing emergency. I probably agree with that."

CBS 5, meanwhile, reports that the moratorium was across the board and would not just impact new rentals. We reached out to Airbnb for clarification on the matter, but have not received a response as of press time. If CBS 5 is correct, the city council's move will mean a lot of unhappy visitors who likely had Airbnbs and VRBOs booked for the busy fall wedding season in wine country but who now are out of a place to stay.

The Sonoma argument between those who rent out rooms and those who feel the rentals drive up housing costs is similar to one being had all over the country. While renting out a bedroom may allow the elderly retiree to make her mortgage payments, people using the services to rent out multiple properties are essentially pulling long-term rental stock out of the market — and likely driving up rental prices in the process.

At present there are only 55 legal vacation rentals in Sonoma.

All previous Airbnb coverage on SFist.