Please call Stella's for reservations, and visit us at...
5700 Gravenstein Hwy N.
Forestville, Ca 95436
Phone: 707 887 2300
The Hop Kiln at RRV
About Stella's
Chef Greg in the kitchen
Chef Greg Hallihan changes about one-third of his menu every couple of weeks at Stella's Café in Sebastopol. That makes sense because a lot of his business is local and repeat, so there's frequently something new for his loyal fans to try. It keeps him fresh, too - most artists wouldn't want to repeat the same piece of artwork for years on end.
But are chefs really artists? Some are, some aren't. Not every painter is an artist, nor every dancer, musician or sculptor. It struck me at dinner at Stella's on a recent night that Hallihan deserves the title. He takes risks, even though not all of them work out perfectly every time. He goes beyond the craft of cooking to explore, even play with, food combinations.
The result for his patrons is a certain sense of unpredictability and discovery when they settle in for a meal at Stella's. That just enhances the fun, because you know that while he may be trying something new, it most likely will also be something very good.
Take, for instance, his Tomato, Peanut and Curry Soup (***). That combination of flavors is intriguing. Will they work together, or will they clash? Well, the proof is in the pudding - or in the soup, in this case. There, in every creamy spoonful, were the distinctly discernible flavors of tomato, peanuts and curry powder. But they were in a proportion that unified them - no one flavor dominated. The soup contained a surprise, too. After a few spoonfuls, a spicy heat developed in the mouth that rose to a strong crescendo. Capsaicin, the compound in chile peppers that produces the hot sensation in the mouth, dissolves in fat. Maybe Hallihan soaked spicy chiles in the cream he used to finish the soup. Here was a miniature playlet in a bowl. The soup started out as a polite conversation between the flavors of tomato, peanut and curry, but was soon silenced as the chiles burst in and torched the place.
Hallihan strongly encourages people to make reservations. One way he does that is to charge $5 corkage if you have a reservation and $16 if you don't. Since many of his customers are vineyard owners, winemakers or both who bring in a lot of their own wine, the extra $11 corkage fee is a not-so-gentle coercion. Iron Horse is nearby, as is Dehlinger, Joseph Swan and a raft of other wineries.
Choosing off the wine list, which contains about four dozen wines, avoids corkage altogether, of course, and there you'll find a mixed bag of reasonably priced wines. The 2005 MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir is $27, the 2004 Ridge "Three Valleys" Zinfandel is $33, and the 2005 Iron Horse Rosé de Pinot Noir is $26. There are nine wines by the glass.
Some of Hallihan's dishes are classics. In those cases, he eschews creativity in favor of authenticity. His Caesar Salad (***1/2) is almost perfect, and perfectly true to Caesar Cardini's original, invented in the 1920s in Tijuana, Mexico. Like Cardini's, it contains no anchovies. It's made with whole inner leaves of a head of romaine lettuce, and the dressing is made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and a coddled egg. The only way this salad could be improved is if instead of finely grated Parmesan cheese on top there were thin, flaky curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano carved off a block of this "king of cheeses."
Perfection was achieved in his rendition of a Pan-Seared Chicken Breast (****). Chicken breast is one of those restaurant touchstones that reveal the talent under the toque. The problem is that the bird might be older and subsequently tough, or it could be underdone and show blood at the bone (very unappetizing), or overdone and dried out. None of that applied to this marvelous breast with first wing joint attached. The meat could be cut with a fork. It was tender, plump, juicy, bursting with flavor, and perfectly done. Sauvignon blanc was used to deglaze the pan, and, reduced and slightly thickened, made a sweet, deluxe chicken gravy just right for the garlic mashed potatoes and the sautéed chanterelles on the plate.
One of the dishes that stays on the menu due to customer demand is the Smoked Ribeye Steak (***). Fatty ribeye (the upside with beef fat is that it makes the meat tender; the downside is the quadruple bypass you'll need if you eat too much of it) is cold smoked. Then it's flipped onto a very hot grill and cooked quickly on both sides until it's "Pittsburgh style," as one person at our table called it. Pressed for an explanation, she said Pittsburgh style is "black on the outside and red on the inside." And that accurately characterizes this steak. As good as the steak was, the potatoes au gratin made with gorgonzola cheese that accompanied it were even better.
A Wild Mushroom Risotto (***) made with hedgehog and shiitake mushrooms, white corn and truffle oil, was earthy and intensely delicious.
Dining under the Redwoods...
Russian River Vinyards is set among redwoods, in a classic wooden building you will find Stella's, where the atmosphere is relaxed and dining is a treat.
During the warm months, which in the Forestville area is about 8 months a year, the patio offers a quietly beautiful setting. As warm summer evenings turn a little cooler in the fall, the heaters make the patio a comfortable escape into nature.
Couple this inviting setting with Chef Greg's creative cuisine, using flavors from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Louisiana and Europe blended with Chef's special touch, and you have a special experience.
