While it's home to just under 12,000 people, the town of Healdsburg in California's Sonoma County has in recent years come out as a top foodie destination. Now in its third year, the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience festival is currently running from May 16 to 19 and highlights farmers and chefs that make use of local ingredients and viticulture pairings for their dishes. This year, over 2,000 visitors are expected to descend upon Healdsburg for the festival.
A food and wine festival brings foodie visitors to a small town
On top of the annual festival, several local restaurants have started raking in both awards and visitors coming in specifically for the food in recent years.
Opened just over two years ago in early 2022, Troubadour is a French restaurant that transforms from a Parisian-style baguette sandwich shop during day hours to a fine-dining bistro serving a nightly prix-fixe menu with ingredients such as foie grass and caviar in the evening. Husband-and-wife founders Melissa Yanc McGaughey and Sean McGaughey earned their chops at the 24-acre SingleThread Farms in Dry Creek Valley that also brings in guests for a three Michelin-starred restaurant experience (the restaurant was started by Kyle and Katina Connaughton in 2016 and gained its third Michelin star in 2019.)
Katz, who founded Aperture Cellars in 2009 and was featured in Forbes' "30 under 30" list back in 2013, has gone on to receive 11 100-point scoring wines (the highest combined critic rating a specific wine can receive) and hosts tours on the property that spans 42 acres and has a 4,000-square-foot tasting room — Aperture's wines are served at several local restaurants around the area.
"Getting the first three Michelin star restaurant in Sonoma County history [SingleThread] was huge for us because the region is dedicated to food and wine and once you reach the top pinnacle and get to that level that really says something about the region," Katz told TheStreet. "A lot of people come to this region to visit the wineries but the food is such an integral part of why they stay."
