Eloise's sophisticated fare

At the new and exciting Restaurant Eloise in Sebastopol, chefs and owners Eric Korsh and Ginevra Iverson say they hope their restaurant turns into a gathering place for locals, rather than simply a “fine dining” spot.

It could easily become both.

They came to Sebastopol from New York City and may have carried some of that city’s culture with them. Perhaps they picture a popular Manhattan restaurant with patrons standing three and four deep at the full bar, sipping their scotches and waiting for their tables. Imagine the ear-numbing hubbub, the check-you-out glances, the tailored clothes. Not in Sebastopol, kids. You are in the home of the hippie, where ladies dress like gypsies and men think “dressing up” means putting on a clean pair of jeans.

Yet the small wine and beer bar at Eloise is a comfy place to get started socializing and noshing some Gotham-influenced food on the bar menu: we’re talking a duck Reuben piled high with duck prosciutto, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread for $12. Or deviled eggs with grated radish for $6. Or veal tongue, head cheese, and trotter torchon (pig’s foot wrapped in a towel and poached) on a charcuterie plate for $20.

This is good. Too many restaurants in our region offer the same local vegetables, fish and meats done as California cuisine. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But variety is the spice of life, especially at table, and Eloise — named after author Kay Thompson’s impish denizen of The Plaza Hotel in New York, a character much beloved by Korsh and Iverson’s child — offers something new but not weird to the local dining scene.

Besides the obligatory wines, the bar dispenses really good craft beers, like Scrimshaw Pils from Fort Bragg, Alaskan Amber from Juneau, Oatmeal Stout from Boonville, and Hennepin from Cooperstown, N.Y., among others. The wine list consists of 32 aperitifs, wines, and dessert wines. All are well-chosen and are an eclectic selection from near and far: A 2006 Pinot Blanc from Alsace is $32, the Londer 2006 Gewurztraminer from the Anderson Valley is $40, a 2006 Cabernet Franc from Chinon in the Loire Valley is $50, and Kevin Hamel’s 2005 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is $52. Corkage is $15.

Restaurant Eloise is housed in the building that was Chez Peyo for many years, then Bistro V, and it’s been tastefully re-painted white inside. There’s very little decoration in the dining room, and that’s because large picture windows look out into a flower garden in full, brilliant bloom. The garden is decoration enough.

The amuse bouche signaled the joys to come. It was a lima bean and black truffle puree on a sliver of toast, topped with mint and olive oil.

Some edibles are so good “as is,” they don’t need gussying up. Such is Seared Foie Gras ($17 ***), a hefty free range duck’s liver quickly pan-seared, sprinkled with just a little fleur de sel and accompanied by sautéed sweet nectarines. On the other hand, some edibles benefit from a bit of prettying up, such as mushrooms. And so Mushroom Toast ($13 ****) features a toasted slice of good whole grain bread topped with sautéed royal trumpet mushrooms and thin wisps of black truffle, which doubles the forest-floor flavor. The toast sits in a puddle of bordelaise sauce, soaking up enough to soften the bread. And a white poached egg, its yolk still runny, sits atop the dark mushroom mélange. A fork descending through this mixture comes up dripping with egg yolk and bordelaise sauce and the earthy pleasures of the bread and mushrooms. It’s quite a sensuous dish.

The night’s soup, Chilled Tomato Soup ($10 *** ½), was made from peeled, seeded and pureed ripe tomatoes, served cold with a spoonful of fresh heirloom tomatoes, mint, and chives in the center. It was as refreshing a tomato soup as you could want.

It’s said that home run hitters strike out a lot, and so the failure of the Puntarelle ($12 *) only proves the adage.

Puntarella is a variety of loose-leaf chicory. The late physician-cum-chef Luciano Zamboni, who knew it from restaurants in Rome and grew it at his renowned Victorian Gardens inn on the Mendocino coast, harvested its young flower stalks in the spring, when they were very tender and not bitter. He cut each pencil-sized stalk into 4-inch lengths, then slit each length into several thin strips. These were plunged into ice water to soak for several hours until they contracted into pretty curlicues. He then drained them, patted them dry, and dressed them with good olive oil, anchovies, and a little vinegar. He called puntarella “the most expensive dish in Rome,” because of the laborious prep work it required.

At Eloise, the puntarella’s chopped stalks, with portions of the leaves attached, were late-summer coarse to the point of inedibility and very bitter. They were served with egg vinaigrette and candied bacon. Yes, candied bacon.

High quality came back with a rush when the Roasted Bone Marrow ($14 ****) hit the table. Three 4-inch segments of beef leg bones are roasted and set upright on the plate. The back end of a long spoon is the perfect tool for digging out the rich, fatty marrow. Whole grain brown bread is provided for you to smear the marrow on. Paleontologists know when an encampment of proto-humans has been found because all the animal bones have been broken open. Love of bone marrow goes deep into our genes.

Rediscover the connection with this dish, which is accompanied by a zesty lemon-splashed parsley and shallot salad.

A breast of Roast Guinea Hen ($28 *** ½) with its crispy skin takes poultry out of the ordinary. Guinea hen has two and a half times more red muscle fibers in its breast meat than chicken or turkey, and consequently that much more flavor. It was served in a pool of consommé, listed on the menu as “with matzoh balls.” Chef Korsh came to our table to apologize for the missing matzoh balls. But this isn’t New York: matzoh balls, no matzoh balls, it’s all OK.

Ricotta and Chard Gnocchi ($19 ****) were the best gnocchi ever, everyone at the table agreed. They were mostly ricotta and finely chopped chard with just enough flour to hold them together, and were melt-in-your-mouth tender. Brown butter and sage played supporting roles on the plate.

Approaching cold weather turns one’s thoughts to France’s signature dish, the Cassoulet ($33 ***). It’s a rich combination of duck confit, pork belly, spicy beef and garlic sausage, tarbais beans (from the Dordogne), and spices like coriander, cooked slowly so its flavors merge into a rib-sticking triumph of a fall meal.

Dessert included a Baba Rum ($9 *** ½), made from rum-soaked brioche served with a dollop of Chantilly cream.

To sum up: Something new and different and very good has come to Sebastopol with the opening of Restaurant Eloise and its French countryside-Mediterranean cooking. The chefs enrich the culinary scene in Sonoma County.

Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for A&E. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.