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World-class wine town Healdsburg

Sonoma County in Northern California also has an incredible reputation for world-class wines. The vineyards thrive during the day in the hot summer months, and love the typically cool evenings in the river valleys and along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Hot days and cool nights are a winning combination for incredible wines. A longstanding gem of this wine country is the town of Healdsburg, located about 70 miles north of San Francisco. Great wine regions pair well with dynamic restaurant scenes, which makes it no surprise that Healdsburg has emerged as one of the best cities for fine dining in California’s wine country. Many new restaurants and wine-themed upscale hotels have recently opened in town, and several more are currently under construction. A shining star within this dynamic culinary scene is SingleThread, which sits just a block off the main square in Healdsburg.

And it’s true: the products are in the kitchen for only a few hours. Around 11 'o'clock in the morning the harvest comes in, and in the evening the ingredients are processed and served. There is no menu, and there are no signature dishes. The kitchen team prepares a ten-course dinner with what they can create with the harvest of that day. And it's not just Michelin that appreciates the work of the Connaughtons; for several years they have been listed in the World’s 50 Best, a yearly list of the premier restaurants worldwide. SingleThread is one of only three restaurants in the U.S. that are on this list.

Kyle: "As a chef, I have realized that it is not my responsibility to promote my own creativity in the kitchen. I want to give farmers the respect they deserve and make their hard work visible to our guests. Katina and her team spend months producing something that I only have in my kitchen for a few hours."

The farmer and the chef

Katina Connaughton is the farmer, and her husband, Kyle Connaughton, is the chef. Katina: “There’s a growing interest and awareness about the origin of our food. As a farmer, it is my responsibility to inspire people to connect more deeply with nature and show them how hard we work to produce food.” Kyle continues: “We work in perfect harmony. Katina is growing the food; I am cooking it and serving it in the restaurant.” Chef Kyle gives more credit to the team of farmers than to his own kitchen staff.

The owners of SingleThread aren’t interested in becoming the most innovative restaurant in the world. On the contrary, they want to show the world how we can be in control of our own food system.

Maaike de Reuver, Lisa Appels & Doug Koob   Emma K. Morris   Laif Gilbertson Xiao Er Kong   Doug Koob

Kyle and Katina Connaughton’s restaurant, located in Healdsburg, CA, does not have a menu or a rotating selection of signature dishes. But what the kitchen team does serve up are dishes inspired by their day-fresh farm’s harvest. 

Three Michelin star restaurant SingleThread doesn’t have a menu, but it does have an on-site farm

video

  8 min

World-class wine town Healdsburg

Sonoma County in Northern California also has an incredible reputation for world-class wines. The vineyards thrive during the day in the hot summer months, and love the typically cool evenings in the river valleys and along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Hot days and cool nights are a winning combination for incredible wines. A longstanding gem of this wine country is the town of Healdsburg, located about 70 miles north of San Francisco. Great wine regions pair well with dynamic restaurant scenes, which makes it no surprise that Healdsburg has emerged as one of the best cities for fine dining in California’s wine country. Many new restaurants and wine-themed upscale hotels have recently opened in town, and several more are currently under construction. A shining star within this dynamic culinary scene is SingleThread, which sits just a block off the main square in Healdsburg.

And it’s true: the products are in the kitchen for only a few hours. Around 11 'o'clock in the morning the harvest comes in, and in the evening the ingredients are processed and served. There is no menu, and there are no signature dishes. The kitchen team prepares a ten-course dinner with what they can create with the harvest of that day. And it's not just Michelin that appreciates the work of the Connaughtons; for several years they have been listed in the World’s 50 Best, a yearly list of the premier restaurants worldwide. SingleThread is one of only three restaurants in the U.S. that are on this list.

Kyle: "As a chef, I have realized that it is not my responsibility to promote my own creativity in the kitchen. I want to give farmers the respect they deserve and make their hard work visible to our guests. Katina and her team spend months producing something that I only have in my kitchen for a few hours."

The farmer and the chef

Katina Connaughton is the farmer, and her husband, Kyle Connaughton, is the chef. Katina: “There’s a growing interest and awareness about the origin of our food. As a farmer, it is my responsibility to inspire people to connect more deeply with nature and show them how hard we work to produce food.” Kyle continues: “We work in perfect harmony. Katina is growing the food; I am cooking it and serving it in the restaurant.” Chef Kyle gives more credit to the team of farmers than to his own kitchen staff.

The owners of SingleThread aren’t interested in becoming the most innovative restaurant in the world. On the contrary, they want to show the world how we can be in control of our own food system.

Maaike de Reuver, Lisa Appels & Doug Koob  Emma K. Morris   Laif Gilbertson
 Xiao Er Kong   Doug Koob

Kyle and Katina Connaughton’s restaurant, located in Healdsburg, CA, does not have a menu or a rotating selection of signature dishes. But what the kitchen team does serve up are dishes inspired by their day-fresh farm’s harvest. 

Three Michelin star restaurant SingleThread doesn’t have a menu, but it does have an on-site farm

  8 min

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Food Inspiration Magazine is the online magazine for foodservice professionals in search of inspiration and innovation. With the magazine we collect, enrich and spread inspiration. The free subscription magazine is published eight times per year and is an abundant source of inspiration for food and hospitality professionals. Our readers can be found in the U.S., Northern Europe, Latin America and Asia.
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