Petite Syrah, the restaurant

After a full day of wine tasting in Dry Creek Valley, we were starving!

We went a different side of Santa Rosa that we hadn't been to before, and wandered into Peitie Syrah without reservations.  The restaurant is revamped, it used to just be Syrah.  They have a new concept now with smaller plates.  We sat at "the bar" - which isn't a typical bar.  It's 3 seats at a huge concrete bar, looking over the tiny kitchen.

We had a great evening.  We got to chatting with the sous chef, pictured here as he's making the grilled squid salad that we had.  The small/medium plates were perfect for us.  We were able to try a few different things.

We started with the heirloom tomato salad, which was so different.  It was on a long skinny plate and served with tofu and watermelon balls.  I'd always been very skeptical of tofu, and in this salad it was very good.  It was also topped with different powders, peanuts, and "Hempseed 'Soil'" - whatever that is.  Who cares, it was good!  


Then we also got the grilled squid salad and the sea bass.  The salad was wonderful and very 'California fresh.'  It's something we normally wouldn't order but so glad we did.  The sea bass was our least favorite - it had good flavor but the emulsion cooker left it with a funny, spongey texture.  

When they brought us desert menus, all we were thinking about was the starter of potato gnocchi.  And thank goodness we ordered that - it was delicious, and my favorite dish of the dinner.  It had this fresh lemon curd that was such a different flavor with gnocchi.  It also had roasted cauliflower and pine nuts - yum!

After Petite Syrah, we went a few blocks over (but I'm glad we didn't try walking, it's farther than it seems) over to Russian River.

We love stopping at Russian River every time we're in Sonoma.  Husband loves their beer, and we can't get it in our area.  It's not fancy at all, and we probably stick out like sore thumbs with the very local crowd.  We usually get a little bar table in the back, which can be tricky because the place is always packed.  After a trying a few different beers, we were yawning so much we decided it was time to head back.

Friday was our Anderson Valley day!