"The menu is a who’s who of fresh California ingredients—handcrafted cheeses, fresh herbs, a rainbow of produce—paired with enough French sensibility to render each dish both decadent yet focused."   read more

Restaurant & Bar Awards

VALETTE Best Fine Dining Restaurant & Wine Bar – Sonoma County-USA

Just a short drive north of San Francisco you’ll find Healdsburg, a gorgeous small town nestled in the heart of Northern California wine country that combines pristine, natural beauty with plenty of art, artisan food, incredible wines and amazing craft cocktails...  read more

Healdsburg chef Dustin Valette shares perfect dishes to pair with robust cabernetBeef is to Americans as bread and wine are to the French, food writer Molly O’Neill wrote in her cookbook, “A Well-Seasoned Appetite.”...  read more

You may know this charming town in Sonoma County for its great wine, but Healdsburg is more than wineries and tasting rooms. A bit more understated than Napa Valley, Sonoma has everything from Michelin-star restaurants to adorable markets...  read more

It's not uncommon for up-and-coming cooks to spend years in various kitchens, gaining skills, patience and connections. They take away a technique here, a philosophy there and absorb the delicate nuances...  read more

Dustin Valette cut his teeth under JBF Award–winning chefs Michael Mina, Thomas Keller, and Charlie Palmer before opening Valette...  read more

Chef Dustin Valette’s career may have ricocheted him to New York, Hawaii, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Napa. But his heart has always remained steadfastly in Healdsburg...  read more

The area’s hip wineries and hotels, paired with gorgeous Sequoias and that craggy coast, make it a top destination for cool young wine geeks and outdoors freaks alike...  read more

Valette Healdsburg is one of those fine dining experiences you don’t get to enjoy everyday yet it has a very familiar, neighborhood feel to it with excellent food and a highly trained staff. What I mean is this is one of the top two fine dining experiences in Healdsburg...  read more

Located just off the square in Healdsburg, California this former bakery transformed into Brothers Aaron Garzini and Dustin Valette Valette Restaurant Healdsburg.  Ninety-five percent of the produce crafted into dishes here isn’t just local from Sonoma...  read more

Just little over an hour north of San Francisco is a quaint city that long ago was just a dot on the map. Well, that dot has transformed into a diamond and the tiny town of Healdsburg is...  read more

Given the predominance of Napa Valley, exceptional though it is, in travelers don’t always think of its Wine Country neighbor but they should—it’s hard to find prettier scenery...  read more

Just a little over an hour north of San Francisco is a quaint city that long ago was just a dot on the map. Well, that dot has transformed into a diamond and the tiny town of Healdsburg is shining bright and filled with wonderful activities that are ideal for a perfect girlfriend getaway... read more

Best Restaurants in Sonoma County... read more

Chef Dustin Valette is a third-generation Healdsburg native whose downtown restaurant Valette is proudly housed in his great-grandfather’s former bake shop...  read more

The way we drink, and what we fill our glasses with, is in a constant state of flux. My first legal drink at a bar was an inauspicious one: It was 1998, and imagining myself some sort of collegiate sophisticate, I ordered a chocolate-coffee martini...  read more

The Camellia Inn, so named after the 50 or so varieties of camellias on property, is a short three-block walk from Healdsburg’s main square. As I approached...  read more

Downtown Healdsburg, a quaint hamlet built around a picturesque plaza dotted with redwood trees and fountains, isn’t very large. But it’s bursting at the seams with acclaimed restaurants...  read more

For centuries, it has been tradition in Spain and Mexico that a town be built around a central plaza, or zócalo. Even today, the older communities of California and the Southwest demonstrate that tradition. After all, as late as the 1840s they were Hispanic enclaves. Yet nowhere...  read more

If you're visiting California wine country, the whole point is to drink and eat well. It takes a special kind of restaurant, then, to go above and beyond the region’s standard for dining excellence. These 13 restaurants in Napa and Sonoma are a cut above the rest...  read more

Healdsburg in Sonoma County is home to outstanding vineyards, bakeries, wine tasting rooms, cafes and restaurants. Spend a weekend exploring everything that the town...  read more

Healdsburg, a small town with big-city acumen, is a charming respite in northern Sonoma County, with great food, superb wine, memorable vintage architecture, boutiques, and lovely hotels...  read more

Brothers Chef Dustin Valette and Aaron Garzini cook and greet guests at this high-end, chic restaurant, which has a reputation for beautifully constructed, artistic food plates and minimalist decor...  read more

When we spoke to Dustin Valette, chef and co-owner of Healdsburg restaurant Valette, he was sitting on his front porch with his infant daughter in his arms, looking out on downtown Healdsburg...  read more

The month of July is a very celebratory one in my house, three birthdays: my wife’s, our first daughter Charlotte’s, and this year we are expecting the birth of our newest daughter...  read more

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