At
Single Thread, the restaurant and inn near Healdsburg’s main square, you begin in a rooftop garden lit by the setting sun, with cocktails and a first course that itself looks like a garden—delicate bites laid atop petals, leaves, and river stones. Down in the main restaurant, with its sofas and soft lighting, the vibe is anything but fine-dining-stuffy. Chef Kyle Connaughton spent three years in Japan with his wife, farmer Katina Connaughton—whose vegetables supply his kaiseki-style menu—and seamlessly blends Japanese hospitality and warm, California-style ease. Even though each plate is lovelier than the last, produced by a kitchen with insane skills and served in luminous Japanese ceramics you can’t help but cradle, your overwhelming sensation is of being comforted. “We want everyone to feel like they’re in our living room,” says Kyle. Your last bite might be a small blue-and-gold chocolate egg in a handwoven nest, or a swirl of roasted-tea ice cream and warm cherries, in a dish as light as a feather. Don’t be surprised if you see it in your dreams.