The revolution will be veget-ized.

Following in the footsteps of the French Laundry and an increasing demand for haute herbivore dining, Michelin-rated Cyrus restaurant in Healdsburg has recently unveiled five and eight course vegetarian tasting menus, prominently showcased next to their regular tasting menu — charging the exact same price for both ($130 for eight courses, $102 for five).

Huh? Because for a whole lot of folks shelling out a fist-full of cash for a once-in-a-blue-moon destination dinner, the idea of missing out on foie gras, duck, lobster and (sniff) Waygu beef is, well, treason. If not worse. Seriously? Cauliflower soup over Thai-marinated lobster. Uh, right.

But not everyone sees it that way. An increasing number of high-end diners want critter-free eats for health, environmental and personal reasons. Keane says on a typical night the restaurant would get five or more diners wanting a meatless option to his carefully crafted omnivore menu. So he’d cobble together something — whatever he could adapt on the fly — and serve it. Not happily. Exacting in his process, Keane wanted his vegetable-only courses to have the same gravitas as his other dishes, and shooting from the hip each night was difficult for the kitchen staff to effectively manage.

In January 2009 the restaurant announced a vegetarian tasting option as one of two prix fixe menus. A la carte service has been discontinued entirely (yup). Diners can cross over between the two tasting menus at will.

Though it’s a change, it’s not quite the leap into the unknown one might think. Keane’s classic French cooking is studded with Japanese ingredients and flavors that lend themselves easily to plant-based dishes. His use of his farm’s own fresh produce and eggs, along with copious amounts of cream and butter make the meatless menu just as complete and impressive as the regular menu.

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Even BiteClub started drinking the Kool Aid. Not at first, but taste by taste of the clean, earthy and wild flavors of Keane’s winter vegetarian menu.  While I hadn’t really given the veggie-version much of a second thought while doing the grand-tasting a few weeks ago (cha, right!), curiosity got the best of me while photographing the vegetarian menu.

These aren’t steamed veggies and tofu. Okay, in fact, they are, but in dressed a whole lot fancier. Keane uses the same sous-vide (a sort of slow poach in plastic bags) techniques, table side preparations, foams, complex flavor profiles and far-flung ingredients used on the regular menu. For example, a Japanese brine that coagulates his house-made soy milk into tofu in less than five minutes. While you watch.

The current menu includes cauliflower soup with capers and raisins; roasted beets with goat cheese, arugula and pistachios; a poached egg with Hijiki noodles, pickled Honshimiji mushrooms and sea stock; tofu with Kombu (kelp) scallions and yuzu; truffled red wine risotto with parmesan broth; verjus sorbet with quince Riesling soup (with crystallized picholine olives) and a dessert combination of tiramisu, a cappuccino filled orb surrounded by foam, caramelized fennel and espresso gelato.

So why are veggies the same price as the meatier menu? Keane says that the preparation involved is the same, if not more intense, for the vegetarian dishes as the standard menu. Which makes sense when you think about it. You’re paying for food as art. Not by the pound.

Compared side-by-side, there are actually dishes that I preferred on the vegetarian menu for their uncompromised flavors and careful preparation: the creamy poached egg and noodles for one, and the heart-breakingly good risotto.

Change can be a good thing. After experiencing the talents of Keane and those of Ubuntu, there’s no doubt that meatless dining can be miraculous. Just don’t take away my foie gras yet. Please.

Cyrus Restaurant, 29 North St., Healdburg, 707.433.3311. Make a reservation.

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 with a reasonable (considering the location, please) price point — capturing in real-life the Wine Country joie de vivre he portrays on television.

Here’s the fork-11: Chiarello isn’t new to these parts, having cut his teeth as the driving force behind Tra Vigne’s ascendancy to greatness in the late 1980′s, helping to define Cal-Italian food. Since 2000 he’s focused on his television and retail career, along with producing wines near his St. Helena home. And while Chiarello’s presence is a bonus, don’t expect to seem him behind the burners much.

The kitchen has interpreted Chiarello classics with a menu of “micro-regional Italian cuisine”. Stuzzichini (appetizers) include house cured olives ($5), a pumpkin frittata ($7), house-cured salumi, and Veal Tartare ($11). A number of these can be ordered off the bar menu.

Save yourself, however, for the traditional first course, the Antipasta. Angry Hopper Shrimp ($13) with white bean puree, a spicy orange-chili oil and fried basil are a firecracker of a starter. Polenta Under Glass ($12) is the most fun item on the menu: A small jar filled with buttery polenta, caramelized mushrooms, a crispy Parmesan wafer and warm balsamic sauce poured tableside.

On opening weekend, the kitchen punted with fresh mozzarella after the Burratta ran out, topping sliced artichokes, ($12).

Note: Ridiculously-rich does little justice to Bottega’s dishes, so if you’re watching your pennies you’ll be fine sharing an appetizer or first course. Portion sizes are fairly small all the way around, but BiteClub ended up with several to-go boxes (a rarity) for Monday-morning indulgences.

Hearty pasta dishes are a Chiarello signature, especially welcome as the weather turns cool. Best bet is the Garganelli with Balsamic Rabbit Sugo (sauce) and chanterelle mushrooms ($19). The portion size is small, but filling. Other pastas include veal tortelli in browned butter, pumpkin and fontina risotto with “game bird” ragu ($18) and ricotta gnocchi with salsa pomodoro.

Secondi are meatier entrees ranging from a two-person grilled porterhouse steak ($36 per person), seared day-boat scallops, grilled swordfish with ancient grain polenta ($24) and goats milk braised lamb shank with garlic, fennel, onions and mushrooms ($24). The only disappointment of the night was the Arrosto of Duroc Pork that was bone dry ($23).

Both dessert and wine are done with pomp and flourish that make them well worth the extra investment. Best bet is the Chocolate-Almond Molten Chocolate Cake ($9) cooked to order and unwrapped from its parchment table side. Though its one of the most overdone desserts in modern history, the addition of hazelnut creme anglaise over the top redeems.

Feeling a bit bloated after three courses of butter and goodness? Bottega’s Whole Citrus Napoleon is a refreshing dip of lemon and blood orange curds atop a buttery crust with a perfectly sectioned citrus salad ($8)

The wine list is what really surprises, especially in tony Yountville where $400+ bottles grace most lists and anything under $40 is as rare as a natural blonde. Bottega’s lengthy list includes a pretty beefy selection of approachable sips, though you can be hard pressed to find diners in Napa who don’t bring their own trophy bottles. In fact, a chef-coat-clad Chiarello stopped to stick his nose into a decanter of Chateauneuf du Pape opened at the table next to mine. Which was next to a bottle of Caymus on the other side. Um, yeah.

However, the wine steward opened our $30 wine with exactly the same respect he opened the Chateauneuf du Pape with (though BiteClub was secretly cringing).

Here’s the long-and-short of it. While Mr. and Mrs. Cheateauneuf du Pape were trying desperately to find a dish that would match the majesty of their wine, McNibs and I were just enjoying the food. Every single bite, all over the map without regard to calories, perfect pairings or even dribbling a little pomodoro on our shirts. We sopped up our sauces with bread and shared bites with abandon. We gulped down our wine without philosophizing about it.

That’s what makes Bottega work. It’s the kind of spot where Papes and cheap pinots, celebrities and nobodies can rub elbows as equals. And where the food is the real star.

Bottega, 6525 Washington St., Yountville, 707.945.1050. Reservations strongly recommended. Dress is upscale casual.

Final bill: $145 (before tip) including a bottle of wine, a glass of Prosecco, three appetizers, two entrees and two desserts.