Sonoma restaurant offers tasty takeout ramen that you can assemble at home

My ramen was perfect. The big bowl brimmed with rich tonkatsu bone broth, chewy pork belly chashu, crisp bok choy, purple daikon radish, a velvety six-minute egg, scallions and tender wakame seaweed. The fragrance pulled me in, promising a deep dive into bliss.

It made me proud, since I’d made it myself. Well, not technically — I should say I assembled it myself, working with the Cloudy Day Ramen kit ($16) I’d picked up from the new Noodlespring in Sonoma.

Operating out of restaurateur Sondra Bernstein’s the girl & the fig off the Sonoma Plaza, Noodlespring started as a pop-up in October when the fig had to close indoor, and then outdoor, dining.

Why ramen, one might wonder, when girl and the fig is country French? Because, as Bernstein told me, she needed “a swap” to keep her fig space cranking through COVID-19. Like so many other fine dining restaurants, fig has been struggling to survive on takeout alone, particularly for its elegant cuisine featuring grass-fed steak tartare with caperberries and lavender sea salt and duck confit with farro and Brussels sprouts.

“It has been such a crazy time,” she said. “The worst is the constant changing of the rules and not giving us reasonable amounts of time for the changes to kick in. It could be worse I suppose; we are healthy and still in business.”

Bernstein already had attracted a following for her Japanese soups after she and Executive Chef John Toulze introduced winter Ramen Nights a few years ago at her Suite D event space in Sonoma.

Running two restaurants with such separate themes out of one kitchen might be a challenge, but the team has made it work. The fig takeout departs through the front door, while Noodlespring takeout is collected via a side door.

“If we were at normal volume, there is no way we could have done this,” Bernstein said. “The chefs took extra time when writing the menu to look at our equipment as well as the amount of staff that would be needed to execute the menu while keeping everyone as safe as possible. We added a second fryer, took out a stove and added a smaller grill.”

While I still yearn to savor my beloved ramen straight from the kitchen in a real restaurant, the Noodlespring adaptation works very well. Fully cooked ingredients are packed in individual containers, and a cartoon-illustrated flyer guides us through the takeout treasure.

First, in a large bowl, you arrange the noodles and whatever toppings you’ve ordered — bonus points if you arrange the toppings to look like the artful creations seen on the Noodlespring Instagram site, fanning the radish slices and creating a grouped pattern of pork slices and seaweed and such. The egg goes on top like a crown. (Extra tip: I like to preheat my bowl for awhile in a 200-degree oven to capture extra warmth before adding ingredients.)

Then, you heat the broth. For best results, we’re told, skip the microwave and gently warm the liquid gold over medium heat on the stovetop. Once it’s steaming hot, pour it carefully into the bowl, then eat your feast immediately so the noodles don’t go soggy. Slurp loudly if you like, as diners do in Japan, to help cool the feast as it reaches your mouth. Who’s going to hear you, anyway?

Finally, leave no ramen broth behind. As Chef Toulze reminds us, “it’s perfectly acceptable to drink directly from the bowl.” Especially if we’re dining in our pajamas.

Noodlespring’s offerings include an innovative recipe of coconut curry ramen ($16): a sweet-spicy concoction topped in fried tofu, enoki mushrooms, bok choy, aromatic negi onion and a six-minute egg (hold the egg, and it’s vegan, or switch out the wheat noodles for rice noodles and it’s gluten-free).

The soup is delicious, through I prefer the more robust spicy tan tan ramen, mouthwatering with chile broth, spicy ground pork, charred cabbage, menma fermented bamboo shoots, daikon sprouts, a six-minute egg, scallions and shredded kizami seaweed ($16).

Other to-go dishes need no assembly. Sticky riblets are excellent gnawed straight of their box, the sauce slightly sweet and dotted with roasted peanuts, cilantro and green onions ($12). I put my poke salad in a pretty bowl, meanwhile, to honor the silky chopped yellowfin tuna mixed with cucumber, sweet onion, briny ogo seaweed, soy vinaigrette and sesame ($16).

A few dishes lean to Chinese cuisine and are excellent, too. Crisp-tender long beans get a toss in spicy chile sauce, minced garlic and sesame ($8). They’re a perfect snack alongside pork meatballs bathed in black bean sauce ($9).

Bernstein also is selling plenty of fried chicken sandwiches, with diners appreciating the fiery kick of kimchi and gojuchang aioli topping the crispy crusted bird on a brioche bun ($11). The kitchen crafts an excellent half chicken, as well, browned to a shiny lacquered skin that’s sweet, spicy and sticky and sprinkled in scallions and sesame seeds. Served with a scoop of smoky lap cheong sausage fried rice, it’s an exotic take on comfort food ($22).

Probably I don’t need a side of more fried rice with the dish, but I get it anyway, since the duck version is so soothing and flavorful, decorated with tender duck confit, a punch of kimchi, scallions and — why not — the extra indulgence of fried duck egg ($16).

To help cut the richness of these meals, Bernstein recommends sake, presenting some dozen choices in cans and bottles. I’m into the Kyoto-made “Bushido — Way of the Warrior” right now, with its bright, refreshing notes of tart raspberry, Asian pear, watermelon rind, hint of white flowers and spicy finish ($8 for a 6-ounce can).

Bushido was out of stock on one visit, but a Cherry Blossom bottled cocktail filled the gap nicely ($20, serves two). A mix of umami-imbued Hirai Junmai sake, Luxardo Cherry Liqueur, lime juice and soda, it’s a delightful sipper particularly with the spicier dishes.

When we finally get through this pandemic and restaurants can reopen fully, this Noodlespring will quietly fade away. But Bernstein has plans for its future. Originally, the eatery was slated to open in an industrial container café development planned for Boyes Hot Springs. That project is on hold, but Bernstein is brainstorming a new home somewhere, ensuring ramen and riblets for all.

“Things are going OK, considering,” she said. “It’s nothing compared to our pre-COVID business, but we are happily keeping a few of our team working and will be grateful when outdoor dining comes back so we can bring more staff back. The community has been wonderfully supportive of us, and that helps so much.”

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.