Studio Barndiva 2025

This is Bea, the ‘angel’ in our holiday ‘angels and bears’ cocktail made from crabapples we harvested with Misha, our extraordinary farm manager and her daughter, Ara. Bea and Ara, ethereal creatures, are not that much smaller than our extremely old crabapple trees, the ones by the road which have somehow managed to escape the woozy ire of the ‘bears.’ My guess is our ursine neighbors are put off by the smell of tannin in the apple skins, which also happens to be why they are such a great apple to macerate, in this case, in Armagnac and aromatics.

I love end of year best lists, the books the movies, the art shows, but when it comes to dishes - especially those we served - it’s not so easy to choose as each season has its standouts. This is our second year serving dinner in Studio Barndiva where we have room for dining couches and cocktail high tops, better sound, a big wall on which to play Isabel’s silent film compilations, and the feedback from returning guests and new customers has been, thankfully, incredible. When the mood of a space is just right, the drinks and dishes arrive as a blessing, which is how all food should be received.

Long before we learned to make an art out of cooking & dining we gathered in tribes to celebrate harvest and the seasons, and I am of the belief that the time we spend dining at brick and mortar restaurants - the experience itself whether perfect or flawed - is at the heart of the definition of what it means to share the experience of being human. Of course we can and should participate in fostering the health of our community in many ways: going to the theatre, galleries, music venues, but something quite unique happens when you lift a glass in a comfortable room or garden surrounded by other fellow humans. You replenish, physically and emotionally. If the experience is authentic, if there is care in the sourcing, labor that honors the food chain, you also pay it forward, you contribute. And you don’t have to know a soul sitting in the room around you to share a social covenant which is irreducible.

I had a friend who grew up in Oklahoma, and I have never forgotten his description of how his family knew a tornado was coming. It wasn’t the growing darkness on the horizon, which seemed to move closer by the minute, certainly not once the furniture started flying. “It was something in the air, not quite a scent, but you could definitely smell it: a chilly premonition it was time to prepare.”

It would be disingenuous to say that for those of us practicing hospitality in wine country right now - Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino- at the end of a year as precarious as this one, that while the furniture is not flying, premonitions abound. With the wine industry in transition, diners (we are told) drinking less wine and spirits, the general tightening of the family budget and - not least for a town like Healdsburg - a possible blip/shift in tourism - we may be in for an interesting new year. People will always thankfully celebrate the momentous moments of their lives - a good thing as Barndiva moves into our 21st year as a bespoke wedding and special event venue - But it’s always been the restaurant where we find our profound connection to the Healdsburg we’ve been a part of for two decades, its surrounding food and wine sheds all the way up to our farm in the Anderson Valley.

Our last blog post was a photo album of Sparkle Party, which we hosted with Stay Healdsburg to launch the Holiday season in Healdsburg on November 15. Sparkle drew close to 250 people from across the town’s spectrum of locals and visitors, farmers and artists. What was extraordinary about that evening? I’d like to think the Misha Vega’s green mum floral wall, the vinyl playlist, the bites which showcased food grown a few miles away, the many glasses we raised of singular sparkling wines also grown and made only miles from where we gathered. The images tell the story that there was something else at play on the night as well. Just being in the same space together, the conversations we didn’t realize we needed to have, the unbridled laughter. The energy at Sparkle wrapped its arms around a truth we will be holding close this coming year: we are strongest and happiest when we come together. It’s not a euphemism. It is the truth.

We send this blog out with heartfelt thanks to all who patronized Studio Barndiva this past year, especially Barndiva’s local friends and neighbors who returned again and again, as well many visitors to Healdsburg who came looking to see what we’ve got up to in the intervening years. Never a dull moment, that’s for sure. Its all still so beautiful and delicious, we are grateful.

We hope to see you soon.

dishes we enjoyed serving the most in 2025

1. Now on the winter menu, the layered flavors of mixed greens and chicories dressed in a fragrant orange flower dressing, Barndiva farm apples, grana padano crisps, pecans, pomegranate, delicata squash chips.

2. The Basil Gimlet, made with Reyes Farm basil, finished with drops of nasturtium oil, resplendent with the scents of summer.

3. Erik’s sweet corn soup made a brief appearance at the height of corn season, poured table side, the better to see the Jimmy Nardello pepper and sherry vinegar jam with a hint of Presto VOO. Finished with a flash grilled pouf of corn silk.

4. Whipped mozzarella with Barndiva fig vinaigrette beneath Barndiva farm figs, peak tomatoes, peeled and marinated toy box tomatoes sheltering beneath fresh basil. A moment in time - figs at their ripest, tomatoes at their juiciest.

5. The dish people come back for again and again - our Tikka Masala. Yes, our menu in the Studio is eclectic - these are dishes we most want to eat which we are honored to share with you.

6. Three dynamic FOH Diva’s in action : Liz, Lisette, Lynn.

7. Trout tartare in a pool of green tomato aguachile, with avocado, radish, garden florals. The perfect, and sexiest start to a meal here. (There, I've said it)

8. Erik’s Fava bean and fresh mint pea soup with Boonville’s piment d’ville pepper flakes as photographed by Liza Gershman for her upcoming Healdsburg Farmers Market cookbook - for publication early 2026. It will no doubt be for sale at the Farmers Market in the spanking new Foley Family Community Pavilion on North Street.

9. Simon’s Barndiva Farm Apple galette was the hit dessert this year. Initially made with our heirloom Gravensteins, it went through the apple harvest with different varietals, served with his Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Now offered with Persimmons, in the run up to Christmas it will return with apples we harvested just last week.

10. Lift, Flirt & Slide lower alcohol apéritifs will make a return in 2025, as will Isabel Hales to lead our cocktail program with Danny Martin. We can’t wait!

11. The Studio Barndiva Ice Cream Social changed weekly showcasing Simon’s insane IC and sorbet flavors. Mango, Strawberry and Orange pictured.

12. We were honored to once again receive recognition for Studio Barndiva from Michelin in 2025 - a show of their continued support as we have navigated the food, wine, and cocktail world, ‘eating and drinking the view.’ Michelin’s understanding that passion and care in the kitchen and on the floor extends to sourcing and sustainability - the foundation of truly ‘fine’ dining - is a lodestar.

Photos Chad Surmick; Jil Hales

Barndiva Farm’s floral program is overseen by Misha Vega, @philo.flora, weekly arrangements by Jil Hales. It is guided, from the Costwolds, by Daniel Carlson, @Daniel.james.co.

Plastic? Think Again.

The community gathers for Conversations Worth Having #2 : Trash Talk, February 16th, in Studio Barndiva

Full Disclosure: we initially had great concerns making Trash the subject of our second Conversation Worth Having. But something happened after our first conversation, Gorgeous Garbage, that made the conversation about trash imperative. Of the many things we took away from our first community evening the realization that haunted us, as never before, was that even if we managed to divert more organic waste into making compost and soil, even if everyone we knew got better at recycling, even if these things began to miraculously happen all over the world, humanity would still go on filling the oceans with plastic, building higher and higher landfills of toxic waste. All the things we no longer have use for - our trash - endlessly circling and befouling the globe.

CWH is all about gathering community to have Serious Fun. We want to talk about important issues in a way which enables us to come away from these conversations making better choices, strengthening a commitment to live lighter on the ground. We don’t want to give up our creature comforts. We care about design. We want to live in a world with the ability to surround ourselves with useful, beautiful things. How do we make this compatible with individual actions, taken consistently, that signal true change in the way the social order works?

As life would have it, over 50 years ago I forged a beautiful, lasting friendship that among its many gifts brought a wondrous goddaughter into my life. And as luck would have it - for me and everyone who attended our February 16th Trash Talk - she has made it her life’s work to build just such a near future, or at least the possibility one might exist. we’re talking about businesses that take honoring a healthy ecology and a respect of the earth into every step of their supply chains. We’re talking about the products and the conduits that bring them into our short and precious lives.

Her name is Zem Joaquin. A founding member of Cradle to Cradle, for many years her company Eco Fabulous espoused the philosophy that we did not have to live lives of deprivation to be good global citizens. If we knew where to look, showed extreme care about how and where things were made, we could be as fabulous as we dared. She dared.

For the past five years she has grown an astonishing community of brilliant, innovative leaders- self identified disrupters to status quo supply chains- made of up scientists, inventors, doctors, designers, artists, and producers of all the things we use in our lives. It’s called The Near Future Summit and through it she has become a champion for businesses that “accelerate solutions to improve societal, individual and planetary health.” Dawnelise, Susan, Amber and I did our due diligence and research into how best to position Trash Talk - we toured Recology SF, met with the wonderful Deborah Munk, director of the artist in residence program. We listened to fascinating sustainable producers at a Women Founders Talk at the Ferry Building. We read and researched. Finally, after an edifying three day experience at 2023’s Near Future Summit, Zem guided our choice of speakers who graciously traveled to Healdsburg to talk to a sold out crowd in Studio Barndiva on Friday, February 16 for Conversations Worth Having, #2, Trash Talk.

It was delicious but serious fun, as you know if you attended. If you didn’t, we missed you. Here is a visual taste of this throughly stimulating evening.

Our Speakers: LEFT: Toby Corey, COO of Cruz Foam, a sustainable foam packaging company that sources fully bio degradable materials made from shrimp shells, mushrooms, and recycled paper as an alternative to styrofoam. Cruz Foam was a PentAwards Bronze winner and one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2023; CENTER: Gorgina Alcock, of GaeaStar, a ceramic zero waste alternative to single use plastic cups and vessels made of a clay, water, and salt sourced close to where it is 3’D printed (our CWH branded cups were produced in San Francisco from Sacramento clay); RIGHT: Beth Rattner, a director of the The Bio-Mimicry Institute, who walked us through the essential bridges we must start building between biology and design by advancing the adoption of nature inspired strategies. Highly recommended reading: Biomimicry, Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine Benyus, who founded the Biomimicry Institute, and The Second Body, by Daisy Hildyard.

ABOVE: Julia Marsh who with her Husband Matt founded Sway, also joined our speaker forum. Sway is a start up whose goal is to harness the power of seaweed to create home compostable replacements for plastic. For their efforts they were the Winners of the Tom Ford Innovation Prize for 2023.

Sway embodies a central premise of circular economies around design that was a take away from the evening: design out waste, keep materials in use, regenerate natural systems. And this: as a consumer, make better choices.

We were proud to have several local businesses who share our concerns about sustainability contribute to this Conversation Worth Having. Formost among them was Little Saint Healdsburg Healdsburg, whose chef, Stu Stalker, provided exquisite bowls of Little Saint Farm Vegetables with spreads of Carrot Tahini w/ dried chili, Cultured Cashew w/ Tomato Chutney, and Green Lentil Hummus. Little Saint’s director of beverage and sustainability, Matt Seigel collaborated with Barndiva’s Scott Beattie on both the spirit and NA cocktails: A Caipirinha made with Novo Fogo Carbon Negative Organic Cachaça, and Rangpur Me Another, our NA cocktail made with Rangpur lime as a cordial, anise hyssop tea, coconut yogurt, and Ritual N/A rum.

For those enjoying wine in their GaeaStar cups, we were honored to serve Delta Wines for Change made by our friends at Brick and Mortar, Alexis and Matt Ioconis. In bringing the climate conversation to the dinner table, Delta addresses greener packaging, reduces their carbon footprint in every aspect of wine making and supply chain choices, and donates 10% of all sales to the Surfrider Foundation, Cool Effect, and groups fostering environmental education- like Conversations Worth Having.

We also wish to thank Hotel Healdsburg’s Circe Sher for hosting some of our speakers and providing a discount for those traveling for the event. Coming soon: GaeaStar cups in the Hotel Healdsburg Spa.

And for anyone who missed the event or just wanted to keep the conversation going the next day, Flying Goat Coffee on center street hosted a pop-up on Saturday Feb. 17th using GaeaStar cups, which they gave away with every coffee sold.

A dinner for our speakers and a limited number of ticketed guests was held after the event in barndiva, which Daniel Carlson and I filled with foraged arrangements from our forest in Philo. We were so pleased he was able to join us for this CWH.

The Conversations Worth Having team is Dawnelise Rosen, director of Farmpeneurs, Susan Preston, of Preston Family Farm; Jil Hales, all things Barndiva, and Amber Keneally who researched and created our medicine cabinet art installation.

It is our goal to keep Conversation Worth Having events small enough so the actual conversation we have after listening to our speakers is forthright and meaningful. To find out about future events, sign up for the Barndiva Blog, Eat the View, or follow us @barndivahealdsburg.

Celebrating our 2023 Michelin Star

We have been passionate diners and drinkers pretty much all our lives, but until we opened Barndiva nineteen years ago we never had reason to peek behind the doors of a professional kitchen except to say hello and thank you from time to time. There was never an imperative to see the whole organism of a restaurant, from chef to dishwasher, as a living breathing entity, much less learn of the many farmers and purveyors who had provided the raw materials for a meal we had just enjoyed.

If you haven’t worked in this environment you can’t fully understand how many pieces need to fall into place - the skill sets needed, the timing you have to get just right, the talent at the top that must filter down to the patience on the floor, in order to survive the long days and longer nights this profession demands. From early in the morning, when a dizzying array of product begins to arrive, to late into the night when the last ones out have cleaned every conceivable surface and locked up, this life is relentless. As the seasonal menus flash by, there is daily education of the entire staff on new dishes, cocktails and wine, service to be corrected and perfected, rooms set and polished so every piece falls into place. Then showing up the next day and no matter how tired, hung over, or personally challenged, doing it all again to the same level.

What goes on behind the scenes of a restaurant should never be obvious, or stand in the way of a wonderful fine dining experience. The promised land is that moment of sensory magic for the diner: that is the ultimate goal. But as we hurtle into a more reductive, impersonal, technologically obsessed future, knowing what we know now we’ve come to see that celebrating the human touch present at every stage of this beautiful, exacting, transitory, thoroughly human profession is an indispensable way to continue to celebrate the best in ourselves. As a family we have always been clear that knowing where our food comes from is the defining question for all human beings on the planet - exponentially a greater issue when you own a restaurant. You are what you eat, to be sure. But how you come to appreciate and respect the human endeavor that brings that food to the plate may very well hold the key to what you become, as well.

We now have, under the direction of Chef Erik Anderson, Beverage Director Scott Beattie, Wine Director Emily Carlson, Events Manager Natalie Nelson, and Restaurant Manager Cathryn Hulsman, the strongest team we have ever had the fortune to work alongside. Being awarded a Michelin Star in 2021 after 17 years in service, again in 2022, and now in 2023 is a validation of the highly coordinated talents of our entire kitchen brigade and front of house teams. We hope these remarkable photographs by Chad Surmick, a humble homage to the great Irving Penn’s ‘The Small Trades’, conveys our appreciation for their efforts this past year, and serves as an affirmation of the respect we hold for them, and the dedication, skill, and true grit they bring to Barndiva every day.