Palooza Gastropub owner concerned over Kenwood’s traffic, safety

Jeff Tyler is a longtime Santa Rosa resident, but has been a downtown Kenwood business ? owner for more than three years, operating the Palooza Gastropub with his wife, Suzette.

From his pub’s outdoor patio, looking out at Highway 12, he watches cyclists go by at least several times an hour and worries about their safety. He thinks the county should establish bike paths or lanes to ease the pressure.

“You look out and that’s a two-lane highway going through here, and it’s too fast,” Tyler said on a recent afternoon.

“We’ve got tons of tourists coming here, with people driving 50 miles an hour - texting - and bicyclists who travel up and down this road. It is downright hazardous.”

While business is good and steadily improving, with some 300 patrons stopping at Palooza during summer season, Tyler sees a delicate balance required between drawing traffic and maintaining safety.

“The businesses and wineries have put a large investment into this part of Sonoma County. They’ve done their part, and now it’s time for the county administration to step up - if Sonoma County wants to be the bike destination it has promoted itself as - and put in some bike lanes and paths, and some stoplights or stop signs or bends in this road, so people slow down,” he said.

Tyler, who describes himself as being in his “late 40s,” was a local building contractor with a decade of experience behind him in 2008, when the recession prompted him to make an unusual career shift.

He opened a hot dog stand, then operated a popular food truck and eventually leased space in Kenwood for his own Palooza restaurant.

“I started here at the restaurant with a menu that was a little too high-end for a gastropub,” Tyler said.

“It wasn’t what the locals wanted, so I had to take it back to the basics and start doing hot dogs and hamburgers again, and built it up. Now one of our bestsellers is pan-seared salmon on a bed of risotto.”

Palooza now has a local following that sustains the pub during the off-season months, with Sonoma Valley residents - often entertaining out-of-town guests - dropping by after a tour of nearby tasting rooms.

“The people are coming here to Sonoma Valley,” he said. “They’re not going to stop visiting all of the sudden. So we need to keep it positive. Now let’s make it safe for them.”

Dan Taylor