A Beloved Healdsburg Space Is Reborn as California-French Restaurant Bistro Lagniappe From a Popular Oregon Chef | Eater SF
"Chef Jacob Harth debuts his new bistro on Thursday, May 29, taking over the Molti Amici and Campo Fina space on Healdsburg Avenue and keeping the wood-fired oven that powered the previous restaurants. He is returning to the seafood cooking that first earned him praise in Portland — which will later translate into a new restaurant dubbed Winnie’s — while emphasizing careful use of local produce and meat in a bistro setting. Harth visited farms, ranches, and the harbor at Bodega Bay to form connections for the restaurant under his ethos of sustainability and organic products, and as he puts it, “It’s a produce-driven restaurant. It’s the best product that’s available right now, from our farmers, and also our ranchers and fishermen.” Dishes may look “pretty simple,” he admits, but have “a lot going on behind it”; for example, a starter called “Plate of early summer vegetables” could feature vegetables roasted in the wood-fired oven, marinated and chilled, pickled, raw, or even dried in the fireplace because, as Harth says, “There’s going to be a plethora of techniques used to showcase the best of the season.” One dish inspired by a New York restaurant and Rintaro chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett will replace artichokes with bamboo shoots for a barigole treatment, braising the shoots for a spring-into-summer plate, and a green salad will feature produce from Russian River Organics dressed with local olive oil, Meyer lemon, and tamari that Harth and his team will make themselves from white beans. For beef, Harth is working with Oak Ridge Angus and Knights Valley Wagyu, both smaller producers, which lets the menu offer different steak cuts at various price points — for instance, steak frites will come with an entry-level option Harth aims to offer at $30, a mid-level option, and a high-end version depending on what the ranches supply; “Part of working with these producers is that you need to be flexible enough to be able to change what cuts you work with, [to] be able to learn how to work with different cuts,” Harth says. He takes pride in his burger, eschewing the smash trend for a “beefy bistro burger” that is, he warns, “not dainty”: a 7-ounce patty ground from brisket, chuck, and beef cheeks from Oak Ridge Angus, served with a griddled onion, a 50-50 mix of local white cheddar and Comté from France, on a brioche bun made by the team. The bread program includes baking brioche loaves, burger buns, and flatbread from the wood oven. Seafood plans include fire-roasted oysters with smoked garlic butter and McFarland Springs trout from TwoXSea in San Francisco served with asparagus; other wood-oven items will include a cassoulet duck confit and a spring onion gratin. For desserts, the mille feuille will highlight passion fruit from Brokaw Ranch paired with creme diplomat and fermented honey; a chocolate and benne seed cookie will bake in the wood oven to pick up smokiness and be served with vanilla ice cream; and a cheese tartlet will showcase cheese made by Vellain Sonoma with a custard made with dry jack cheese piped into a tartlet crust, topped with rhubarb jam and rhubarb pieces poached in elderflower syrup, finished with more grated dry jack and elderflowers. Cocktails will skew “no frills,” toward classics like a Last Word, Boulevardiers, martinis, daiquiris, and more, while the wine list will be split between local and French producers; nonalcoholic options include house cordials and syrups for sparkling water, elderflower and lemon verbena kombuchas, and some nonalcoholic wines from local producers. In conversations about the restaurant, Harth emphasizes using local ingredients and catering more to residents than tourists and avoiding the trap of offering only one high-end steak that leaves many feeling priced out; “We’re trying to be really value-driven,” Harth says. “I think nowadays it’s hard to say that it’s going to be cheap, but what you get for what you pay is going to be impressive.” The restaurant debuts Thursday, May 29, and will be open 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday; reservations are available via OpenTable." - Dianne de Guzman
