Recently in California Category

A Divine Affair in Healdsburg serves up Eastern European fare from mom as well as California classics

Underwood Bar & Bistro: A perennial favorite of night owls and winemakers, it's a meet and eat rendezvous in the tiny hamlet of Graton.

Zin Restaurant: Riffing on American regional favorites, (Chicken-N-Dumplings, spaghetti and meatballs, Mac-N-Cheese) Zin Chef Jeff Mall feeds the need for dishes just like mom used to make. Only a lot better. But that's just part of the story.

Zazu Restaurant: Devoted to Slow Food and sustainability, the restaurant pulls from its own backyard garden along with a biodynamic plot grown for them at Quivira Winery and other local food sources.

Girl and the Fig: Sondra Bernstein's sunny bistro marries the best of country French and fresh California flavors.

Carneros Bistro: Chef Janine Falvo weaves in fun, innovation and an eye for seasonal local foods into her menus at the house restaurant for The Lodge at Sonoma.

Cyrus launches a vegetarian menu

If the era of flashy chef-lebrity restaurants are over, no one told Michael Chiarello. The Food Network personality who's made his name hawking Napa's faux country lifestyle on television, in books and his Napa Style stores, has just opened the sprawling Bottega Restaurant in Yountville. And though myriad failed restaurants have made it easy to dismiss concepts like Bottega as overly-ambitious, personality-driven eateries, Chiarello has created a comfortable space at a reasonable (considering the location, please) price point -- a real-life interpretation of the easy-going Wine Country style that Michael makes look so effortless on television.

If the era of flashy chef-lebrity restaurants are over, no one told Michael Chiarello. The Food Network personality who's made his name hawking Napa's faux country lifestyle on television, in books and his Napa Style stores, has just opened the sprawling Bottega Restaurant in Yountville. And though myriad failed restaurants have made it easy to dismiss concepts like Bottega as overly-ambitious, personality-driven eateries, Chiarello has created a comfortable space at a reasonable (considering the location, please) price point -- a real-life interpretation of the easy-going Wine Country style that Michael makes look so effortless on television.

The menu is brief, with a strong focus on seafood. Because the duo are committed to using line-caught, ecologically-harvested foods, expect to see ingredients change up frequently. Best appetizer bets: Grilled squid with jalapeno pesto and chickpeas ($11) or salt cod fritters with peppers and lemon aioli ($9). The pork terrine ($11) brought over from Coco500 was a huge disappointment, served too cold to be very enjoyable to eat. (Think cold bacon grease.) Where things get really interesting are with entrees: A perfectly poached line-caught black cod blanketed by its own crisp skin, Himalayan truffles and wild mushrooms ($26) or rich Kobe beef with charmoula, a Moroccan marinade ($25). What could be a spice-rack gone wrong in less adept hands becomes a rich, perfumed, exotic experience. Other dishes pasta with duck, pork loin and a whole baked fish. The wine list features a handful of organic and sustainable wines, along with a healthy number of wines by the glass. Californian and European wines are fairly equally represented, but what's even more fascinating are a number of beers and ales and specialty cocktails featuring artisan distilleries (and made with no more than three ingredients). Pace yourself to include dessert. Though ice cream always seems a cop-out to me, pastry chef Rachel Leising's Cookies and Cream is a scoop of fresh mint leaf ice cream with chocolate cookies. The tarte Tatin is a personal-sized pastry with Calvados ice cream. But tops is the vacherin, a meringue with creme anglaise, chocolate sauce and coffee gelato. Worth the drive: What could easily seem a bit hokey with all its earnestness about sustainability and artisan foods has serious cred with so many solid cooks in the kitchen. There are still some staff kinks to work out (there were a few long waits) and the menu doesn't have the broadest appeal. But what works well works REALLY well. Prices are reasonable, considering the quality and location, but not cheap. There aren't any views and the minimal decor can feel a bit stark. But like so many destination restaurants, dinner at The Moss Room Restaurant is a singular event that will give you plenty of mileage around the water cooler. Provided you can find the place. The Moss Room Restaurant at the California Academy of Science, dinner daily from 5:30pm to 10pm, 415.876.6121. 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

A little bit country. A little bit rock and roll. Barndiva is the hipster hangout in Wine Country, with its organic sensibilities, minimalist barn decor and swanky cocktails.

Farmhouse Inn: Intimate almost to a fault, the restaurant is cozy and homey, with snappy service and a Michelin-rated Cal-French menu that plays to the flavors of many regional wines on their extraordinary list.

Showing their passion for oft-overlooked cuts (as well as more everyday eats) into their French-Mediterranean menu, young husband-and-wife chefs Eric Korsh and Ginevra Iverson have created a comforting mix of old-meets-new school dishes at the recently opened Restaurant Eloise in Sebastopol.

Willi's Wine Bar: But day after day, season after season, year after year, the cozy Santa Rosa bistro just keeps on cranking out sure-fire crowd pleasers that feel so-worth it. And for a jaded foodie, that's about the highest praise a restaurant can get. Especially after dropping 90 bills for-um-lunch.

Two former Napa chefs are stocking their new eatery, Green Grocer in Windsor, almost exclusively with food caught or harvested within 150 miles. Joe and Susanna Rueter opened the gourmet market in late July 2008 with 95% of their inventory coming from local sources. Currently they're working with folks like Gary Blasi, Sayre, Amstrong, Golden Nectar and Bernier Farms. Joe almost apologies for the fact that some of his pork is from 167 miles away. And the coffee (duh) isn't local, but its fair-trade. You get the idea.

BiteClub hits the Restaurant at Meadowood's tasting menu. It was a dinner that cost as much as a flat screen television. A single meal for two at the Michelin-rated Meadowood Restaurant cost more than my monthly car payment, more than I spend on clothes, as much as a flight to New York City and more than many people earn in a week. Let's be honest, it's more than many people earn in a month

Though the restaurant was only supposed to be a temporary experiment, Thomas Keller's home-style prix-fix diner has settled in for the long haul after enthusiastic eaters practically mobbed the place. Unlike other chef-lebrities who've lowered standards to accommodate eager fans,

Stark's Steakhouse: Organic, dry aged, corn and grass-fed cuts of beef hand-picked by the city's favorite chef.

Solbar at Solage Spa Resort: Chef Brandon Sharp does a combo of spa and solid classics in Calistoga

Syrah Bistro is a top-pick in Santa Rosa, especially for crabcakes