Adventures in Napa/Sonoma: Day 4

Savor Healdsburg Food Tour

Our last day in Napa/Sonoma was spent in Healdsburg on a food tour of the charming town of Healdsburg, which has recently turned into a foodie paradise. This food tour was great fun, delicious and highly recommended.

The SHED

We met the tour guide and owner, Tammy Gass, outside a fun and iconic building in Healdsburg known as the SHED. The SHED is a Farm to Fork place where you can buy food items, kitchen items, and/or eat a bite at the in-house restaurant. We were early, so we wandered around the place. Of course, Yes!Chef! found many items of interest.

We met Tammy outside and once the other tour participants were present, Tammy gave us a tour of the place before we sat down to try some of the food offered.

You can see the beautiful products offered. It was hard to resist buying everything we saw.

We were invited to sit down at one of the long tables to try some of the tasty offerings. All food and drinks were prepared on the premises.

Unfortunately, I neglected to make note of the food and drink offerings. They were all good and natural. I did take pictures of them (of course.)

Healdsburg is a small town and so all of the venues were located within walking distance of each other. So, we left the SHED and walked to our next location. On the way, I saw many charming stores and interesting eateries.

Cafe Lucia

Our next stop was Cafe Lucia, which is a Portuguese Restaurant.

This little restaurant was located down a long hallway to a well lit atrium with seating. The restaurant was next to the atrium and presented itself as cozy and inviting.

We tried some delicious Portuguese food and drink in this establishment after the server explained the history of the restaurant and some of the items on the menu. We had a refreshing drink and a mini entree of Chourico Crusted Scallops. They were pan seared and included a sweet potato puree and leek confit. So, so good.

I’m glad the bites were small because this was only the second stop and we had many more to go.

We meandered through town again, and although it was warm, the town has many big trees so we were mostly in the shade. It was fun to see all the shops along the way.

Portalupi Winery Tasting Room

The next stop was a tasting room for Portalupi Winery, a Sonoma Valley winery. They have a small lounge and wine bar in the front of the tasting room. The servers were friendly and promptly led us to a private room in the back. The food and wine were already set up for us when we entered the room.

There were all kinds of tasty little bites or Amuse-Bouche on the plate and attractively arranged. On the plate were meatballs, smoked salmon on a cracker with a creamy cheese, some pickled veggies and a goat cheese on a crisp cracker. There were also nuts and seeds. All the little bites went quite well with the wines, a Vermentino (white wine), a Pinot Noir, a Barbera and a Zinfandel

The servers also gave us a brief history and slide show of the winery. All in all, a very nice stop on our tour.

Bravas Bar de Tapas Restaurant

Our next stop was Bravas Restaurant, which specializes in Tapas. It is one of the most popular Restaurants in Healdsburg. It’s a charming little restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. There are tables in the front of the building, tables on a beautiful patio in the back of the building (which also has a bar), and tables on the porch, which was where our group was seated. On Fridays they serve Paella made outside on their huge Paella pan.

Here is the wonderful food that we tasted. All plates were shared, although there were several plates of each item brought to our table. We also had a very refreshing cocktail.

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When we were finished, Corby and I wandered outside to wait for the rest of the group. While we were waiting, a local gentleman came walking down the street with a parrot on his shoulder. He stopped and let us meet the bird, who was quite friendly.

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Taste of Tea

Our next stop was a short walk away from Bravas. When we walked in, I immediately felt relaxed and looking forward to the tea tasting experience. I will say that this was Yes!Chef!’s favorite stop. He loved the tea.

The tea was refreshing and mild. It was not at all bitter. We learned about some of the customs of drinking Japanese tea and how the tea would help our health and relaxation. It was a very, very nice presentation and a charming place.

Moustache Bakery

Last stop was at a little bakery where we were able to pick out a cupcake to try. Since we were heading home after this stop, we decided to pick out 2 cupcakes for our youngest son, Patrick, who was watching out house and taking care of our dog. So, neither one of us got to taste any cupcakes, but we were pretty full by then. Patrick pronounced them delicious when we brought them home to him.

That was the end of our Savor Tour. It took several hours and we were not rushed through any of the stops. The food was freshly prepared and delicious. I can’t think of any stop that we didn’t like. We also liked the fact that all the stops were carefully chosen to give us a real sense of all the variety of food available in Healdsburg. This tour is highly recommended and is quite reasonably priced for what you get.

Home Page

Here’s the address: https://savorhealdsburgfoodtours.com/