Cafe La Haye
Cafe La Haye is a restaurant in Sonoma, California in the United States. It was opened by owner Saul Gropman in 1996. The restaurant has been a perennial pick by critic Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle in his annual Top 100 restaurants list and his favorite restaurants in Wine Country.[2][3] Cafe La Haye sources food produced within 60 miles of the restaurant.[4]
Cafe La Haye | |
---|---|
Restaurant information | |
Established | 1997 |
Owner(s) | Saul Gropman |
Head chef | Jeffrey Lloyd |
Food type | New American cuisine |
Dress code | Casual |
Rating | |
Street address | 140 E. Napa St. |
City | Sonoma |
State | California |
Postal/ZIP Code | 95476 |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 38°17′31″N 122°27′21.15″W |
Seating capacity | 38[1] |
Reservations | Yes |
Other information | Phone: (707) 934-5994 |
Website | cafelahaye.com |
History
Cafe La Haye was opened in 1996 by owner Saul Gropman.[1] In 2009, Jeffrey Lloyd became the executive chef after Lloyd served as executive chef at Michael Mina and Aqua Restaurant.[2] During the October 2017 Northern California wildfires, Gropman served food for first responders fighting the fires and also served a free, three course meal to locals.[5]
Cuisine
Cafe La Haye is described as serving New American cuisine and by the Michelin Guide, California cuisine.[6] The restaurant is open only for dinner and has a chalkboard listing more expensive, nightly specials above the bar.[1] All food is sourced within 60 miles of the downtown Sonoma restaurant.[4]
The salads may include burrata with Early Girl tomatoes and squash blossoms in the summer.[6] In the fall, organic mixed greens with candied pecans and grapes, beet and grapefruit salad, or a tomato bread salad. Appetizers may include house-smoked trout crepes, crab cakes, or portobello mushroom and polenta.[2][7]
The nightly menu includes a seasonal risotto entree, which may be prepared with pine nuts in cauliflower broth. Seafood is also on the nightly menu, which may include soy-sesame glazed halibut with whipped potatoes and braised kale or dayboat scallops.[6][7] A pasta special is often on the menu, which may include housemade tagliarini with lamb meatballs in a sauce comprising picholine olives, feta and goat cheese, eggplant and roasted peppers. Other offerings include steak and quail.[2]
The dessert menu includes butterscotch pudding.[8]
The wine list comprises local California wines from Sonoma and Napa and French wine selections.[7]
Atmosphere
Cafe La Haye is a small modern restaurant with 34 seats. It has large windows facing the street and mirrors on the walls to give the illusion of a larger space. Paintings by local artists, available for sale, decorate the walls. A small bar, with four bar seats, overlooks the open air kitchen.[6][7] Gropman is at the restaurant most nights, serving as maître d'.[7]
Reception
Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle calls Cafe La Haye "charming" and in 2009 shared that the restaurant is "pleasant, but the interior takes a back seat to the food, which continues to showcase Sonoma's best." He has listed it over 15 times on his Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants list.[1][2] The Press Democrat's Jeff Cox said in 2014 that the restaurant "keeps getting better and better."[7]
The Michelin Guide 2018 named Cafe La Haye a "good standard" restaurant, describing it as a "standby off the square in downtown Sonoma." They state that the restaurant "hasn't aged a day."[6] Lonely Planet calls Cafe La Haye a "top table for earthy New American cooking" and that the "dining room gets packed cheek-by-jowl and service can border on perfunctory" but praises the "clean simplicity" and "flavor packed" food.[4]
Gallery
- Quail at Cafe La Haye
- Butterscotch pudding
References
- Bauer, Michael (February 3, 2015). "A case study of rising prices at Cafe La Haye". Inside Scoop SF. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- Bauer, Michael. "Sonoma's Cafe La Haye retains charm, quality". SFGate. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- Bauer, Michael. "Michael Bauer's favorite restaurants in Wine Country". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- "Cafe La Haye in Sonoma, USA". Lonely Planet. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- Kauffman, Jonathan. "Sonoma restaurants reopen, hoping diners will come". SFGate. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- "Cafe La Haye - Napa : a Michelin Guide restaurant". Via Michelin. Michelin. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- Cox, Jeff (March 28, 2014). "Cox: Cafe La Haye just keeps getting better". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- "Cafe La Haye Napa and Sonoma Restaurants Review". Fodors. Retrieved November 25, 2017.