New chef, new menu and new Michelin star at Healdsburg’s Barndiva

I just had dinner at Barndiva in Healdsburg. The elegant spot has been one of my favorite restaurants since it opened in 2004. I cherish it for its often-dramatic farm-to-table cuisine (literally — the owners have a farm in Philo) and gorgeous setting in custom-built, two-story barn a few blocks from the Plaza.

The thing is, it’s expensive. As it should be, for the premium caliber of ingredients, the artful décor, the lavish gardens and the smoothly trained staff. Add that it is located in the heart of downtown, which is increasingly evolving into an upper-upscale destination for the unapologetically wealthy.

Here, a dinner means an appetizer of housemade bucatini curled around with sweet Dungeness crab with anisette, brown butter orange breadcrumbs, lemon and espelette for $26, plus an entree of Snake River Farm strip loin Bordelaise with a black trumpet croissant and marble potatoes for $60.

It’s a bit of out of my general household budget.

Then this happened: I summoned the bill, and a general manager — not my server — came to my table. He told me that he supposed “it pays to be friendly,” since the couple at the table next to me had covered my charges, except for the dessert I had ordered after they departed.

Who were these lovely people? I have no idea. I just know from eavesdropping that they dissected each bite of their food after ordering nearly every one of the five appetizers, four entrees, two sides and three desserts listed that evening (by my count, they only missed the California white sturgeon roe, served with Barndiva pine garnish, egg yolk and pommes paillasson fancy hash browns for $80, and the pan-seared Maine scallops plated with spigarello heirloom broccoli, citrus butter, clams and California seaweed for $40).

I do know they were on a mission. They invited me to chat, then rolled off a list of important restaurants they had visited over their week-long luxury feast-a-thon across Sonoma County. They asked me for my top picks, lighting up as I focused on the high-end spots they clearly craved. And no, I never told them I was a food writer and monitor such things for a living.

Naturally, I asked them if they were local, and they said they were from out of town. Visiting from where? They replied, “Oh, from someplace else.” Well, then, OK.

They might have chosen Barndiva because it got its first-ever Michelin star last September (a criminal oversight for far too long, I say). And in January, owners Geoff and Jil Hales brought on new chef Erik Anderson, recently departed from the still-in-the-works Truss Restaurant at the newly opened Four Seasons Resort & Residences Napa Valley in Calistoga.

This past month, Anderson introduced his first menu, featuring all-new dinner dishes except for Barndiva’s long-famous Laura Chenel goat cheese croquettes, which are presented as a parade of eight crispy golden nuggets kissed with tomato jam and lavender honey ($10). On weekends, he told me, he offers another, secret menu and prepares just a half dozen servings of special dishes like his roast chicken presented tableside.

Did this couple know any of that? They pretended not to. They told me they had just heard “good things.”

What a great dinner entertainment for me, though, as they playfully argued over the hamachi crudo, each declaring the other had eaten too much of the diminutive dish they shared. It’s indeed a truly lovely creation, the silky fish set off with pearls of crisp green papaya that crunch brilliantly in a bath of extra vinegary nuoc cham and serrano oil dotted with lacy sliced radish and charred shallot ($23).

What kind of fish was that in the salad Niçoise, they mused — anchovies? Maybe a bit too strongly flavored for the toss of artichoke hearts, Little Gem lettuce and sun-dried tomatoes ($22). For the record, it is rather mild confit Spanish mackerel.

Next, the gentleman declared his sliced duck breast “perfect,” showing off its ruby-purple interior to his companion. A simple dish ($48), it’s stacked with salsify and draped in pungent au poivre; a cute little caramelized shallot brioche rectangle is served on the side.

Food can easily be over-smoked and overwhelmed, they commented, but this Mount Lassen trout was spot-on ($40). I agreed. The bowl wafted intense smoky aroma as my order arrived, but the shatteringly crispy skin fillet tasted nicely restrained, set off by a cloud of white pepper soubise, dashi broth, roasted white beet and charred onion ($40).

The fish is a light dish, so I suggest doing as my neighbors did: get a side of pommes purée, the French-style mashed potatoes made with insane amounts of butter and cream ($8). And try the trout with a rich and fruity 2018 Mas Jullien Coteaux du Languedoc Rosé ($14 glass, $46 bottle).

The mystery couple ordered dessert, then stared at my just-delivered dish of egg yolk dumplings ($38). “Oh. Is it good?” the lady nearly whispered of the artistically styled bowl of golden cream sauce decorated with thin sliced radish, emerald green herb leaves, tiny purple flowers, pink onion and crisp, bright green peas. I noted the dense but delicate bread dumplings and delectable chunks of smoked bacon, and they flagged down their server for their own bowl.

Whatever your budget, do get dessert. Neidy Venegas came on as executive pastry chef two years ago and loves to use farm ingredients and unexpected arrangements in her work. So her Boston Cream is no old-fashioned pie, but architecture, centered around a delicate pastel lavender dome stuffed with lavender pistachio mousseline on a base of vanilla buttermilk cake, all topped with squares of chocolate ganache.

An icy flurry on the side turns out to be tart verjus blanc granita, sprinkled in rosemary blossoms. And while it’s an odd match, after a few nibbles, it’s refreshing ($17).

I’ll never know what this generous twosome spent on my meal. I can guess, then add in the 19% service charge that is included to cover staff living wages and health benefits. Though somehow, I’m guessing the pair left a pretty outrageous tip on top of that.

Indeed, as the gentleman proclaimed as he handed over his credit card, dining was his true indulgence. “I like nice hotels,” he said. “But I’d rather spend money on food than anything else in life.”

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.