Palate Adjustment

One of the consequences of leaving the City is leaving behind the amazing variety of cuisine.

Variety is the spice of life and sometimes when you leave one thing in search of something more meaningful, there are consequences.

The things one takes for granted when living urban become painfully obvious once out of reach.

Take dim sum for example. Most days around 11: 45am I’d rush from my office on 2nd & New Montgomery to grab dim sum at this chop shop deli / Chinese buffet. You had to get there early, otherwise you’d miss out.






There is no dim sum where I live now; however, it’s easy to find mounds of fried chicken swimming in a sea of catsup masquerading as sweet and sour.

I could go on and I will in another post where I will list my top 20 City stops. But for now lets get back to options north. I need to reconnect and find my Sonoma Top 20.

I am going to be visiting lots of places in Healdsburg, Geyserville, Santa Rosa and other North Bay destinations in the coming months.

My plan is to retune my taste buds and awaken my palate to enjoy what Sonoma County’s bounty has to offer.

No more crock pots people.

So that brings me to Costeaux French Bakery Cafe off the Healdsburg Plaza.

My first experiences at Costeaux, albeit in the early past of 2001, were not impressive. In fact, when my girls Jennifer and Sarah suggested it last weekend I was not super excited but I was hungry.

The first thing I noticed was the ambience. Costeaux’s restaurant has amazing natural light. We were seated, the gal waiting our table was nice, the café was busy. Lots of ladies lunching, us included.

We all ordered French Onion Soup and the Fromage Board to share, which included a variety of French cheeses – Port Salut, St. Andre, Roquefort, Gruyere. Also, front and center dried fruit, grapes, panforte (a dense cake of fruit and nuts), caramelized nuts and baguette.



This starter, while totally predictable in both a French café and the California Wine Country, was actually perfect. The cheese was delicious, served at the perfect temperature, the Roquefort holding its own as the best on the board. The caramelized walnuts were just right, crusty and sweet on the surface, soft to the bite. They were also the right size. Just enough. It seems like too often, nuts served as a companion to chesse are either a little too big or too small. Nut size is important and these nuts were just right.

What impressed me the most; however, and how boring, was the baguette. The simple French baguette was very tasty. This, perhaps, is the ultimate testament to Costeaux. It was crusty but not rough or chewy. The inside was soft, almost moist and dense - a perfect, tasty addition to the cheese.