RESTAURANT REVIEWS

EDITOR'S NOTE: Here are spoon-size portions of previous restaurant reviews by Jeff Cox, accompanied by the date the original ran, as well as his overall rating, based on a four-star scale. This listing is limited to reviews receiving at least 1? stars. Reviews will appear on a rotation basis.

Price guide:

$ - Inexpensive, all entrees under $12

$$ - Moderate, entrees $12 to $17

$$$ - Expensive, entrees $17 to $24

$$$$ - Very expensive, entrees $24 and up

Little Thai, 109 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, 789-9777 (in the Plaza North Shopping Center). A small, cozy, clean and exceptional little Thai restaurant with fresh-tasting, authentic Thai specialties. The curries are in the coconut-milk and chilies style, with lots of just-tender vegetables. Excellent larb salad and first class chicken satay. Good soups, cold beer, friendly staff. An excellent place for an inexpensive but delicious Thai meal. Reviewed 1/28/07 ?, $

Risibisi, 154 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, 766-7600. Chef Fabio Flagiello hails from Trieste and was executive chef at Il Fornaio in San Francisco. Now he brings his sensuous cooking and?Mediterranean recipes to Petaluma, where touches of California cuisine join the party. The signature dish is a risotto of lobster, peas, and mushrooms - a favorite in Friuli, Italy, where Trieste is located. Many types of pasta are available. The wine list carries an excellent array of Italian wines, among others. Desserts are pro forma but good. Reviewed 11/5/06 . $$-$$$

Go Fish, 641 Main St., St. Helena, 963-0700. A combination fish house and sushi bar - just what the Napa Valley has needed to round out its culinary offerings. You can order the nightly fish specials or order up fish cooked and sauced your way. And not just fish - all manner of fruits de mer. The wine list is an extraordinary tour of the world's great white wines - plus a few reds, and a dozen or so sakes. Excellent desserts, too. Reviewed 10/22/06 ?, $$-$$$$

Foothill Caf? 2766 Old Sonoma Road, Napa, 252-6178. Chef-owner Mari Jennings is doing some fabulous dishes at this unassuming little neighborhood bistro/caf? Her baby back ribs are tops. On Fridays and Saturdays, oak-roasted prime rib is served. There's always a seafood special and a couple of fine pasta dishes. Pastry chef Meghan Farley's desserts are worth the trip. Go off the small but good wine list if you like, because there's no corkage. Reviewed 10/22/06 , $$-$$$$

Pita Caf? 6585 Commerce Blvd., #C, Rohnert Park, 588-9522. A modest Middle Eastern restaurant in a storefront in Rohnert Park, serving good hummus, tabouleh, and baba ghannouj with warm pita bread, plus a menu full of other items. The prices are right, the portions are generous - just stay with the basics and you'll be fine. Reviewed 10/15/06 , $

Siena, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa, (866) 370-6272. This is the restaurant of The Meritage Hotel at Napa. The theme is the Palio horse race that has obsessed the Sienese since the 11th Century. The food is northern Italian-southern Tuscan, and well prepared by Chef Jeffrey Longenecker. His prime rib of pork is brined and then placed under the chicken rotisserie so the drippings form a coating on the pork. Similar fine touches grace his other entries. It's hotel food, but it's good hotel food. The wine list is exceptional. Reviewed 10/8/06 , $$$-$$$$

Bistro Des Copains, 3782 Bohemian Highway, Occidental, 874-2436. Two successful entrepreneurs with a French heritage and a taste for fine French food open a superb French country bistro in the little hamlet of Occidental - which has been begging for a place this good for years. The soups, appetizers, entrees and desserts are all first rate. The wine list is full of local and French treasures. There's no corkage for Sonoma wines on Tuesdays. The pizzas are perfect, but so is the roast leg of lamb entr?. It's all good. Just go. You'll see. Reviewed 10/1/06 , $$$-$$$$

Pazzo, 132 Keller St., Petaluma, 763-3333. Pazzo (the Italian word for crazy, used here because their friends told the owners they'd be crazy to open a restaurant) features foods of the western Mediterranean countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Morocco. Seafood sparkles here, the salads are fresh, the wine list inviting, the desserts house made, and there's a long, full bar whereat to relax before dinner. It's a neighborhood restaurant for the heart of Petaluma. Reviewed 9/24/06 ?, $$-$$$$

Kelley's No Bad Days Caf? 976 Pearl St., Napa, 258-9666. Days will not be bad when you visit Kelley Novak's outrageously funny restaurant - filled with toys, quirky artifacts, and her unique sense of humor - that's also one of the best restaurants in Napa, a town filled with fine dining. There are down home dishes like magnificent burgers, but also great seafood linguini, a manly portion of ribeye steak, pan-seared ahi and great desserts. Her wine list is one treasure after another. If you drive a Hummer, leave it home in the garage. Reviewed 9/17/06 , $$$-$$$$

Starlight Wine Bar and Restaurant, 6761 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, 823-1943. A wonderful Pullman lounge and club car from the 1940s has been retrofitted as a wine bar and restaurant and sits in Sebastopol's Gravenstein Station, ready to delight all who enter. The food's okay, the wines are good, but the ambiance is incredible! You sip your wine within a real art deco experience as 1930s and 1940s music plays. It's especially beautiful after dark. Reviewed 9/10/06 , $$

Wine Spectrum Bar and Shop, 123 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 636-1064. Wine Spectrum is an online service providing rare, hard-to-get, and well-aged wines to well-heeled clients around the world. Owner Glenn Siegel decided to divert some of these wonderful wines to his retail outlet and to offer customers a glass of rare wine and something good to eat during their shopping experience. The result is a rare treat for people who visit. Reviewed 9/10/06 , $$-$$$$

Orsi Restaurant, 620 Fifth St., Santa Rosa, 576-7822. Cannelloni is the signature dish at this old-fashioned Italian restaurant, and the pasta dishes and grilled or char-broiled meats score well, too. While there's nothing adventuresome about the menu, that means patrons will find the veal marsala, the rigatoni with Bolognese sauce, and other favorites they're grown to love. The wine list contains some nice Italian wines. Reviewed 9/3/06 , $$-$$$

Mustards Grill, 7399 Highway 29, Yountville, 944-2424.Mustards Grill, Cindy Pawlcyn's first restaurant, continues to set the standard for what a great, fun, interesting, scrumptious restaurant should be. Everything pleases and surprises with its exciting quality. From the Mongolian pork chop to the chipotle-rubbed quail, tea-smoked duck, Sonomarabbit, and more, it's all about relaxing, enjoying, and being delighted. And the wine list is chockablock with treasures. Reviewed 8/27/06 ?, $$$-$$$$

Three Blocks Off, 220 Western Ave., Petaluma, 778-8211. Here's a restaurant that aims high and usually achieves what it's shooting for. The cuisine is pretty much Italian, with some French influences and a California sensibility. Entrees are full of saucy flavor. The crab cakes are spicy enough to make you take notice. You'll find a little pasta, some roasted meats, and tons of flavor. A nice wine list and good desserts, too. Reviewed 8/20/06 , $$-$$$$

Riviera, 75 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, 579-2682. A pretty Italian restaurant featuring classic - some might say old-fashioned - Italian favorites like calamari fritti, spaghetti, veal dishes, chicken under a brick, cioppino, and more. The cooking style is central to southern Italy, the wine list contains lots of Italian wines, and the folks who run the place are Italian, so you know the food is good and authentic. Reviewed 8/13/06 ?, $-$$$

Palette Art Caf? 235 Healdsburg Ave., Studio 105, Healdsburg, 433-2788. A comfortable caf?tucked back off Healdsburg's main drag provides lots to like visually, including monthly shows of excellent Northern California artists. The seats and couches are upholstered and comfortable, there's wifi (so bring your laptop), and there are good things to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A good place to hang out and enjoy some fine art. Reviewed 8/6/06 ?, $

Annalien, 1142 Main St., Napa, 224-8319. A classy Vietnamese restaurant with a soft atmosphere, fine service, contemporary music, and most importantly, very good food. Don't miss the Vietnamese potstickers with Chef Hong's special sauce. Sea bass steamed in a banana leaf is exceptional. The wine list is expertly chosen and features nearly 100 bottles - all interesting. Reviewed 7/30/06 , $$-$$$