Restaurant Review: Healdsburg Bar & Grill, Sonoma

Not your typical Southern-style pulled pork, but pretty good...

Anytime but now, anywhere but here: As tourism in the Napa Valley begins to hit its peak during the months of September and October, I tend to do as much as I can to remove myself from the situation. I make no apologies about it. Destinations like Sonoma, Mendocino, and Amador County earn additional appeal this time of year, inspiring road trips to more remote and more relaxing wine-growing regions. As a Zinfandel fanatic, I often turn to Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley for great wine and relative solitude (even in the shadow of the 101). These days, I’m extremely thankful that a place like Dry Creek is only an hour from Napa — to be sure, it seems like a totally different universe this time of year.

• • •

My most recent trek into Sonoma brought me to the Healdsburg Bar & Grill, a casual spot that earns instant credibility under the ownership of chef Doug Keane, who has brought two Michelin stars to Cyrus (his main attraction in town). Over the past year, I’ve been slowly working my way through the HBG menu, which features slightly more eclectic fare — such as house-made falafel — than you might expect from a typical bar and grill concept. Then again, something beyond the basics is exactly what I would expect from chef Keane. During my visit before last, I ordered the HBG Burger, which is priced at just $8, but which features all kinds of tempting supplements that can boost its base price (fries themselves being extra, just so you know).

But even though the HBG Burger ended up being less of a bargain than it first appears, it was a good burger nonetheless, and I have no complaints paying $13 or $14 for a sandwich with that sort of pedigree. Having successfully checked the burger off my list, I decided most recently to investigate two of the HBG’s Southern-style menu items: the BBQ’d Pulled Pork Roll and the Very Adult Mac N’ Cheese, both priced at $10. The latter dish was my starter, and it was quite tasty, although I still feel that BarBersQ in Napa prepares a slightly better variation of this American classic. One ingredient that may give the HBG version a slight advantage is the bacon, but in terms of portion and price, the BarBersQ mac and cheese is awfully tough to beat, no matter what.

As for the the pulled pork roll (pictured above), HBG clearly takes far too many liberties for the staunch Southern palate. Frankly, even though I’m a native Californian, I’m not sure how I feel about some of these breaks from tradition. I suppose that I’m ambivalent for the most part, or perhaps just a little more disappointed than I’d like to admit. On one hand, I do enjoy the addition of the crispy onions, which feature a terrific visual and textural impact. But on the other hand, the pulled pork itself comes from the “Sloppy Joe” school of barbecue, meaning that the pork shoulder is irreparably combined with lots and lots of barbecue sauce (and may even be cooked in this sauce, for that matter). I never cared for this heavy-handed approach.

Traditionally, I much prefer pulled pork that arrives without any condiments, but which features an arsenal of squirt bottles containing different barbecue sauces, each with a varying flavor profile (usually sweet, hot, or vinegar-based). For me, that’s true Southern barbecue, and any other approach, even if well-executed, falls short of the mark.

Sharing is caring...

•