A La Heart opens destination-worthy cafe in Forestville

One of my favorite things about living in Sonoma County is exploring its many “census-designated places.”

Before moving here nearly two decades ago, I’d never heard the term. To my surprise, the county boasts 28 unincorporated communities, towns, villages or boroughs fitting the definition of a census-designated place by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Wine Country parlance, such a term means you’re almost guaranteed to find a quaint hamlet often unknown to most tourists. Think Glen Ellen, Monte Rio, Bodega or Penngrove.

One of my favorites is Forestville. With a downtown that spans only three blocks, it brims with unique treasures. Here you’ll find spots like Ryme Tasting Room, which offers “his” and “hers” styles of vermentino plus malbec rosé packaged in a bag, and the family-owned Ideal Hardware, with its ancient wooden floor and friendly staff who can solve even the most confounding DIY project riddle.

Forestville has long been a quiet destination for great dining with gems like Canneti Roadhouse Italiana and Backyard restaurant, which closed in 2021. The burg has always felt like a huggable secret to me.

So it’s with mixed emotions that I’ve been watching the place develop over the past several months. Suddenly, it’s booming (as much as three blocks can boom). Former pop-up star Sonoma Pizza Co. recently opened a modern, open-air restaurant in the former Jigar’s wine tasting room space. Although I love their exquisite, artisanal pies, I will miss Jigar’s lovely pinot noir and chocolate sprinkle doughnut pairings.

Several months earlier, chef Gerard Nebesky of Food Network’s paella throwdown fame opened a catering and limited-takeout paella shop in the former Twist deli location.

And in late March, A La Heart Kitchen opened in the former ’80s-era Forestville Pizza location on Mirabel Road, directly off the main Front Street/Highway 116 drag.

A La Heart is no newcomer to the area. In 1982, Deborah Rodgers founded the catering business in Duncans Mills. Later, Rodgers moved to a dedicated kitchen in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square, then retired in 2015 and bestowed the company to her daughter, Mariana Krambs Belew.

Business for the veteran catering company thrived until the pandemic. But with few events scheduled in 2020, Krambs Belew decided to leave the longtime location on Wilson Street.

“When COVID hit, I made the difficult decision to let our kitchen go and handed it over to the lovely ladies at Miracle Plum (cafe),” Krambs Belew said. Miracle Plum, in Santa Rosa, now uses the community kitchen for teaching and pop-ups.

Fate intervened when Krambs Belew and her husband bought a home in downtown Forestville, just a block from the closed pizza parlor.

“I was originally planning to just get catering back up and running, but after spending time in the space, I realized that there are people coming and going all day long, because we’re right next to the post office,” she said.

“We did extensive renovations, tearing out the dark red ceilings and really funky carpet and making it light and bright and clean, and chock full of fun things.”

This spring, Krambs Belew debuted the new cafe with a tiny patio, a glittery gourmet marketplace and grab-and-go coolers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The lengthy menu of selections changes daily. As Krambs Belew said, “You come in, check out the fridge and see what looks good today.” (Or if you’d like to know in advance, check Facebook at facebook.com/alaheartkitchen).

This is not a deli. Meals are prepackaged, but as we learned through the pandemic, expertly fresh-packed food can hold its own against made-to-order meals. Prices fluctuate, too, as ingredients are primarily local and sourced in small quantities.

During the recent heat wave, I made my escape to the cooler Sonoma Coast and stopped in for breakfast. With all the new activity in town, Front Street was so busy it was tough to find parking. I’ve never seen this in Forestville before.

Inside, housemade biscuits and chunky sausage gravy beckoned, as did homemade Rice Krispie treats (cereal is breakfast, after all). There were plate-size cinnamon rolls plastered with thick vanilla cream cheese frosting; dense blueberry scones scattered with crisp maple bacon shrapnel; fluffy spinach-mozzarella quiche, Costeaux pastries and Healdsburg Bagel Co. favorites. They’re all so satisfying.

I also picked up picnic lunch items for my afternoon with friends at Sonoma Coast State Park. Southern Cobb salad lined with chicken, bacon, hard-boiled egg, Pt. Reyes blue cheese, sweet corn, black beans, tomatoes and creamy caramelized onion dressing; a hunk of buttery cornbread laced with mild chiles and sharp cheese; chicken pad thai that happily was savory instead of the Americana-style sugary recipe; a pizzetta topped in pesto, four cheeses and roasted red peppers; and a few slices of cheesecake drizzled in salt-kissed pecan praline sauce.

Krambs Belew has the catering skills to keep the meals I sampled at restaurant caliber. Zip in for herb-roasted pork loin with creamy stone-ground mustard sauce, bacon-date-caramelized onion relish and roasted sweet potatoes, or Tuscan chicken dinners with sour cream mashed potatoes and cauliflower gratin. The shop does well, too, with heat-and-eat takeout dinners, including vegan, gluten-free and even kosher options.

On the market side, you can stock up on gluten-free breads from Mama Mel’s of Petaluma, Volo Chocolate of Windsor, Comet Corn organic popcorn of Santa Rosa, Iced Sunshine Coffee of Forestville, Revive Kombucha of Petaluma and much more.

Forestville, you’re getting fancy, and the secret is getting out.

Carey Sweet is a Sebastopol-based food and restaurant writer. Read her restaurant reviews every other week in Sonoma Life. Contact her at carey@careysweet.com.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct information about the closing of Backyard restaurant in Forestville. Co-owner Marianna Gardenhire previously said the need for extensive remodeling was a factor in the decision to close.