The Mill at Glen Ellen focuses on upscale comfort food and scenic views

A restaurateur’s job is famously a challenging one. The hours are long; the budgets are tight. Staff levels can change suddenly. But to persevere, a restaurateur must somehow smile through it all while greeting customers.

For the team at the new Mill at Glen Ellen, add these trials: a long and costly remodel of their historic building in Jack London Village, a pandemic, multiple fire-related evacuations and power outages and subsequent financial stress.

Yet each time I’ve visited the charming property since it opened two months ago, chef and co-owner Sanjeev K. Singh is upbeat, friendly and appears to be smiling beneath his face mask. It indeed has been a tough journey, he admitted as he stopped by my table during one lunch (I’m there anonymously, but he chats with all his customers) and noted that he’s handling cooking, service and management with limited staff.

There is simply no other option, he said. Through more than a year of extensive updates to the two-story, 175-year-old former gristmill that the restaurant and brewery occupy, he has been paying rent and maintenance monthly and needed to get cash flowing as soon as possible. Plus, Singh is true professional and ached to return to work. For 19 years, he was the executive sous chef at Saddles Steakhouse in Sonoma (now Layla at MacArthur Place), where he met his wife, former Saddles executive chef Dana Jaffe. The Mill is their joint project.

I can stress this: if you are in the quaint town of Glen Ellen, spend your money here. The all-day menu is brief, but the Mediterranean-American dishes bring classy comfort food satisfaction. If the restaurant team is overworked in these crazy times, you’d never know it. The mood they share is cheerful and the meals coming from the kitchen are first rate.

You’ll appreciate the gorgeous patio setting, too. Sure, it’s unfortunate guests can’t enjoy the warm wood interior of this vintage jewel. It’s a special space, because it’s one of the oldest buildings in the area, dating back to the 1830s. General Vallejo built it as a sawmill, and it was later converted into a gristmill. In the 1850s, it was transformed again, into one of the first wineries in the region. Most recently, it housed the former Aventine Italian restaurant, which closed in the spring of 2018 after a three-and-a-half-year run.

Yet you still can admire the original 40-foot tall gristmill waterwheel outside. The outdoor wood deck area is lovely and tranquil, overlooking Sonoma Creek and decorated with flowers, trellised vines, sculptures, babbling fountains, grape arbors and potted trees. Cue the butterflies — the lacy creatures are everywhere, flitting among the flowers.

Customers have been kind, Singh said, telling him they understand the current challenges. He serves food on cost-efficient biodegradable bamboo plates with eco-friendly disposable cutlery and bio-safe disposable cups. It feels like a fancy picnic, but he doesn’t skimp on the details — the ice water is spiked with cucumber and lemon.

Among the six appetizers, I especially like the chicken wings ($14.50), glazed in a robust spicy-sweet chile sauce and dressed with peanuts, scallions and sesame seeds. Sip a house-brewed Red Ale beer alongside ($5) for a touch of fruity aromas and citrus notes from Cascade hops.

A duo of Carolina barbecue pulled pork sliders are delicious. The meat overfills the soft bun and is topped in creamy, crunchy cabbage slaw. There’s more slaw on side and a mound of shredded pickled cabbage and carrot, kicked with spicy ginger and whole peppercorn ($11).

Singh installed a new wood-burning oven, which christens pizzas with a puffy edge crust that’s browned but not burned and smothered with goodies like sweet Italian sausage, multicolor peppers, mozzarella, thin sliced radish and a salad’s worth of bitter and mild greens ($18). It feels like a TV commercial as the mozzarella pulls between the slice and your teeth, stretching in a long, luscious rope.

Of the four sandwiches offered, my first choice is the excellent Rachel on Rye ($16.50). The not-too-salty meat is generously pile on the toasted, buttery bread with Swiss, mild sauerkraut and a good swath of Thousand Island dressing, all melting together. My second choice is the hefty, juicy American Wagyu steak burger mantled with cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and a whole lot of caramelized red onion on an artisan brioche ($18). Both plates come with skinny fries, slaw and pickled vegetables.

There are only six entrées, ranging from a quite light edamame hummus with summer succotash, fire-roasted Portobello and pizza crust chips ($22) to a hearty top sirloin with seasonal veggies and demi glacé ($38).

Gravitate to the chicken breast, though, stuffed with tangy ricotta and rounded out with wild mushrooms, seasonal vegetables and a rich port cream ($24). Or go for the vegan masala potato patties, an interesting arrangement of three crispy potato rounds topped in diced tomatoes and chiles and paired with red lentil-quinoa salad and crisply sautéed broccolini, onions, carrots, peppers and squash ($22).

Keep in mind that the kitchen mixes things up with specials. Those might be jerk chicken with coconut rice; house-made gnocchi on veggie ragout topped with a poached egg, frisée and grated Parmesan or chipotle-glazed Porterhouse pork chop with caramelized apples.

For dessert, I’ve never had Burnt Basque Cheesecake before, but it’s intriguing. The crustless creation is cooked at high temperature, so its top and bottom caramelize and the interior remains jiggly, sort of like flan. Flanked with fresh berries and stone fruit, it’s my new favorite sweet treat ($9.50).

The Mill deserves to get through this bizarre year and succeed. I think it will. The building’s positive vibes are strong, sparked when Jack London wrote many pieces of his work in its top floor in the early 1900s. So stop in. Relax on the patio over a pleasant meal and craft beer. And see if you don’t find yourself smiling, too.

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.