The View on a Plate
Barndiva in Healdsburg
by Torrey Douglass
There’s no arguing that Healdsburg has gotten fancy, and has been so for quite a while now. But decades ago it was just a small, quiet town in northern Sonoma County where my family would visit friends over summer vacation. Those memories from long ago are suffused with the hot, dry air of August, delicately scented with sage. There were relaxed lunches under an oak tree whose crispy leaves were so sharp that I had to watch my step, even with summer-hardened bare feet. On hot afternoons we’d take a boat up one of Lake Sonoma’s fingers and jump into the dark water to cool off, carefully avoiding the branches of submerged trees still rooted in the reservoir’s floor.
Those days, the town was different. The shops were quaint instead of opulent, community events had a country fair feel, and when Costeaux French Bakery opened its doors and began serving cappuccinos—cappuccinos!—the inter-national novelty felt like the apex of elegance.
These days, Healdsburg’s fancy-factor has grown well beyond espresso topped with a little foam. Art galleries and chic boutiques surround the manicured town square. A local resort with eye-popping rates caters to A-listers escaping the limelight to soak in some wine country charm. And the food scene has kept pace, with trendy buzzwords d’cuisine sprinkling the menus, and wine lists so thick they could press the table’s (seasonally appropriate) floral centerpiece as a keepsake.
I don’t mean to be snarky. Food is wonderful, and fancy food is extra wonderful. But it has to be grounded, it has to be rooted in a philosophy that’s bigger than any ego involved. Otherwise, to quote Gertrude Stein, “there is no there there.” It has to have a center, a heart, or it risks being exposed to be as insub-stantial as a $46 tablespoon of prawn foam.
For Barndiva, tucked on a quarter acre lot down a side street off the square, that overarching philosophy is captured in three words: Eat the View. It is the food equivalent of the New Age spiritual axiom, “Be Here Now.” It asks, Where are you? What do you see? What’s grown and raised here, made by the hands of others who live here? Let’s eat that.
Co-owner and Creative Director Jil Hales explains, “Eat the View is more than a tagline attesting to a commitment to source food grown with sustainable and ethical intent. View is context. It’s what you get by paying attention in the moment. Beyond what a guest comes to eat and drink, our hope has always been that you will be nourished by every-thing you see and interact with here; that those elements will play over the entire experience in a way that you can, hopefully, play forward.”
Lots of restaurants have hopped aboard the organic / local / seasonal bandwagon. And that’s a good thing—the elevation of local food has benefits ranging from mitigating climate change to sustaining local jobs. It’s a core reason why this magazine even exists. But it’s a lot easier to type those words on a menu than to follow through with an ongoing, steadfast commitment. Yet since opening in 2004, the Barndiva team has done just that, seeking out the best foods grown and produced in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
It helps that Barndiva founders Jil and Geoff Hales are farmers (of a sort) themselves. In 1984, Jil and her first husband, David Feldman, bought a 40-acre property not far up Greenwood Road outside of Philo. David had met Milla Handley at a champagne symposium, and his interest was piqued when she effused about the beauty of Anderson Valley. Two years later the farm came on the market, and they purchased it soon after. The family had small boys at the time and, as Jil puts it, “I wanted my boys to really get their feet in the dirt.”
The land came with established orchards of apple and pear trees, as well as a vigorous trio of heritage fig trees. The family was based in Los Angeles at the time, and Jil drove the first few apple harvests down to a food co-op she had helped start in Santa Monica. But that soon lost its appeal, and they began juicing their fruit with help from Tim and Karen Bates at The Apple Farm. The Bates family had moved to Philo the same year, and they have remained good and trusted friends for over three decades. Juicing became increasingly challenging as market conditions changed, so once Barndiva opened, it became their farm’s best (and only) customer.
A genuine family affair, Barndiva has been managed by Lukka Feldman, Jil’s son, since its opening, and he’s now co-owner as well. Jil provides creative direction, and Geoff looks after the numbers. Lukka’s partner Daniel Carlson, whose background is in seed propagation and floral design, joined Barndiva in 2016 to help oversee the gardens and take over what had become an extensive floral program in the restaurant. After six years of living between Healdsburg and Philo, though, the pair were ready for new challenges, and they moved to London in 2020. Lukka still handles main management tasks from abroad, returning regularly for in-person visits, and also oversees his new Barndiva California Wine import company. Daniel now works in the prestigious nursery at the paragon of English gardens, Great Dixter House & Gardens southeast of London.
Since the two moved, the orchards and gardens have been left in the capable hands of Nick Guili, with Dan continuing to provide garden design and oversight. Previously a private landscaper and volunteer with Alemany Farm in San Francisco, Nick moved to Philo in February of 2020. “There are worse places to be during a lockdown,” he shares, looking around the garden with a smile. He treks down to the restaurant every Wednesday, bringing the farm’s best fruits, herbs, and floral arrangements of the week.
There, the farm’s offerings are integrated into the restaurant with creative ingenuity. You might find the orchard’s apples, figs, and pears anywhere on the menu, not just salads and desserts. After the fruits have peaked, they are turned into shelf-stable items—apples, for instance, become apple brandy, apple syrup, and apple cider vinegar—so the kitchen can access flavors from the farm at any time of the year. Out in the dining room, floral arrangements provide glorious bursts of color, and the bar sports a brigade of glass vessels containing bouquets of leafy herbs for the mixologist.
Beverage Manager Scott Beattie helps guests “Drink the View” by building drinks around what he forages or has Nick grow for him. His concoctions include huckleberries, fir tips, and bar-top herbs like rosemary, fennel, and basil, as well as a huge range of edible florals. As the author of Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons, Scott is a natural fit for the Barndiva team. A recent addition to the drinks list, ‘You Are Time,’ honors the late Sally Schmitt of The Apple Farm. The cocktail features Seville Orange-In-fused Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Reduced Barndiva Farm Apple Cider Syrup, and Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters. If you order one, there’s a good chance it will be assembled by Geoff and Jil’s daughter, Isabel, who has worked behind the bar since graduating from college five years ago.
Herbs are expertly employed in the kitchen as well. Chef Erik Anderson, who earned two Michelin stars while at Coi in San Francisco, is uncannily adept at creating unexpected flavor combinations, resulting in simultaneous surprise and delight. I spent most of my dinner with brow furrowed, trying to parse the distinctive flavors as they harmonized in my mouth, savoring each bite of the duck breast au poivre while my husband enjoyed the succulent steak with black chanterelles and potato cake. Tasty bread creations accom-panied some of the main dishes, like the caramelized shallot brioche that came with my duck, or the petit baguette with the roasted chicken, each made by Pastry Chef Neidy Venegas. Neidy is also responsible for their masterful desserts, adhering to the Barndiva ethos of layering flavors in ways that are both unpredictable and deliciously satiating.
When it comes to food, there’s nothing more fancy than a Michelin star, and in October of 2021, Barndiva was awarded their first. When Jil reflects on the honor, she credits “a model of genuine hospitality that has its roots from our years in Anderson Valley trying to sustain our small farm holding. Respect for hard work and love of a singular landscape resonate through all we do.” That respect is reflected in the 19% service charge that is shared among the entire staff—not just front-of-house workers—and allows them to provide a living wage and health care. Jil shares, “This industry is at a crossroads. Sustainability means care for people as well as how you source food. If restaurants are to come out of COVID times with their spirits—along with the bottom line—intact, we’ve got to start taking better care of the people who produce food, put it on our plates, and wash up afterward.”
Barndiva’s accomplishments are the result of continuous self-evaluation, the desire to do better, and their commitment to uncover more and better ways to “Eat the View.” They will keep reaching for new heights, even as their feet stay firmly on the ground, their eyes on a landscape rich with culinary potential.
Barndiva
231 & 237 Center St, Healdsburg | (707) 431-0100 | Barndiva.com
Brunch Fri - Sun, 11AM - 2:30PM
Dinner Wed – Sun, from 5:30PM
Photo p47 and top of p48 by Torrey Douglass. All other photos courtesy of Barndiva.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her family. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and inspiring her dogs to jump into the air with uncontained canine happiness.