Sonoma Part III: Barndiva
Barndiva sign
To use our well-earned “Dr.” titles or not, that was what Andreas and I had discussed before we made our reservation to Barndiva via OpenTable. Andreas laughed and asked, “Does that really get you anything?” “I don’t know,” I replied laughing, “but it’s not a lie.” The only time I used it was for an airline reservation, scoring a preferred seat with more legroom. Ultimately, I left it off the reservation, especially since there was only one more slot left for 7:45pm.
We had wanted to have dinner outside of Healdsburg, since most of our meals up to that point had been had there. Janae at J Winery had recommended Mosaic in Forestville and Mirepoix in Windsor. We don’t doubt that those restaurants are anything but fantastic, but we weren’t ready to do a multicourse prix fixe menu. We settled on Barndiva in Healdsburg after checking out the Web site and being drawn to the restaurant’s commitment to locally-sourced produced.
Pig head, metal sculpture (l) and The Barn Cake (r)
The restaurant is in what looks to be a large, reconverted barn, with front and back outdoor seating. Though this is not your ordinary barn. The indoor space is expansive, complete with a beautiful bar, and a clean and contemporary aesthetic with hints of folky Americana (I’m thinking of the lovely metal string sculptures found throughout the space). We got there ten minutes early, and were seated a minute or so after 7:45pm. Apologies by our server for the delay struck us as odd, but we liked the consideration nonetheless. For our first course, I settled on the Asparagus Tempura and Andreas had the Goat Cheese Croquettes, and both arrived very promptly (again with our server apologizing for their delay). Our first bites were sublime! My asparagus tempura was crispy and the flavors were delightful; I liked it even without the tarragon aioli that came on the side. Andreas was in goat-cheese heaven with his croquettes. For our main meals, I opted for Chicken & Dumplings and Andreas had the Pork Rack on Polenta. The crispiness of my chicken was superb, and the gnocchi was lighter than the potato gnocchi we are all used to. All of the flavors worked together to make a fantastic dish. I asked Andreas what he thought of his pork, and all he could mutter was “heavenly.” If it wasn’t so rude, we would’ve licked up the remaining juices on our plates in a heartbeat. For the final course, we delighted in The Barn Cake.
While all our meals came at a quick pace, we did notice a few things around us that seemed a bit of an aberration from the great service we had experienced. An older couple had been seated next to us and shared our server. Andreas and I noticed the extraordinary amount of time that elapsed between their seating and the server taking their order. Our neighbors were noticeably confounded by the lag time, often looking directly at our server to get his attention as he passed by. He apologized once, telling the couple that he had to wait on the folks sitting on the front patio before he could get their order. They didn’t even get bread. I heard the older women sitting next to me say to her husband as our server passed our tables again, “They are trained not to make eye contact.” After about 20 minutes or more of waiting, our server finally arrived to take their order only to tell them that they were no longer offering the chicken, fish, and pork dishes, to which our neighbors got up visibly annoyed and upset, and left. Several minutes after the older couple was initially seated, a younger couple had also been seated a few tables up from us. They too experienced the long lag time between being seated and being served. At one point I noticed the young man about to get up to look for their server (our server), only to be convinced to wait by the young woman he was with. The only thing that I could think of as to why our server seemed completely indifferent to the two couples seated next to us was the large party (10 or more people) that he was serving in the front patio. The attentive service he placed on the larger party perhaps translated to a better tip at the end of the night for him, which would come at the expense of the two couples seated next to us. Whatever his reasons for his noticeable indifference, it was odd and rude, especially for such a classy restaurant like Barndiva. I turned to Andreas and said, “I guess we got here at the right time.” To which he replied, “I guess so.”
Overall, Barndiva is an experience in thoughtfully prepared food, and I cannot recommend it enough. While prices are what you would expect to pay at finer-dining establishments ($10+ for the first course and 25$+ for the main course), the quality and preparation of the food is sublime. Andreas and I walked slowly into the cool summer night pleasantly full, feeling giddy and fortunate to have experienced such a culinary treat.
