SingleThread (* – Healdsburg, California)

I recently visited SingleThread in July for dinner. It was amazing.

I had previously visited SingleThread in November last year for their mid-autumn in Sonoma menu and was now visiting for their mid-summer in Sonoma menu. The mid autumn meal from November was good and the experience was wonderful. At that time, I said that the food was very good but it wasn’t my personal favorite in terms of taste. This time for their mid summer menu they somehow exceeded my previous experience and the food itself ended up being one of, if not the best, meal of my life.

Everything about the SingleThread experience is amazing – the location is nice, the ambiance is wonderful, service is friendly and amazing, food is tasty and has a sense of place, etc. 

1. Window into the kitchen as you enter in the lobby of the restaurant. Chef Kyle Connaughton was in the kitchen on this day. In November I was seated in one of the side rooms of the building, but this time I was seated at a table that had a full view of the kitchen. The kitchen is so calm despite everything being so precise. Just impressive.
2. Mid Summer in Sonoma – plated on a centerpiece when you sit down, for me this is the best first course in fine dining. The initial dishes included things like an oyster with strawberry, shiso leaf tempura (picture 3) with beef, various fishes, abalone, black sesame tofu, melon, a small version of their duck liver parfait (picture 4), and the pesto sushi roll (picture 5). The best dish was the duck liver parfait, which was a miniature version of a full course that I had in November. A couple of hot dishes were delivered in the middle of this first course. 
3. Shiso leaf tempura from the mid summer in Sonoma menu
4. Duck liver parfait from the mid summer in Sonoma menu – amazing
5. Sushi pesto roll from the mid summer in Sonoma menu
6. Poached Hakurei Turnip – kaluga caviar, turnip cream, creme fraiche, and neg salad. The turnip came with a milk bread to dip in the sauce at the end. An insane dish, the best turnip I’ve ever eaten. It was just so tender and the sauce was incredible. Even the milk bread was incredible.
7. Cucumber Moriawase – bluefin tuna, shima-aji, shiroika, yoga, and apricot. This was three types of seafood and three types of cucumber. There was also a single gooseberry here I guess just to say they have gooseberries. Another wonderful and refreshing dish.
8. Hokkaido Scallop – tempura blossom, summer squash, herb tofu, and dashi. The squash blossom was perfect and filled with a scallop mousse, it had the texture of scallop but didn’t have a strong scallop taste. The scallop itself was great, second best scallop dish I’ve ever had.
9. Black Cod Fukkura-San – herbed croute, leeks, summer vegetables, and citrus kosho sauce. Another amazing dish. Vegetables were so fresh, the cod was amazing with the herbed croute, and the sauce was delicious. Everything paired so well together.
10. Sungold Tomato – dry creek peach, Preston olive oil, and nori. The only dish that didn’t hit. Kind of a weird dish with the tomato and peach flavors. Just didn’t work for any of us at the table, but I can see where they’re going with this to the next dish.
11. Duclair Duck with Tomatoes – baby corn, sancho tsukune, consommé, and kanzuri jus. The duck here is always incredible. Paired with tomatoes.
12. Duck Tsukune – this comes with the previous duck dish, and is a duck meatball with a grilled tomato. Also amazing.
13. Caramelized Mugi Shime – masami wagyu tenderloin, carrot escabeche, and saikyo butter. An amazing rice dish, rich umami flavors and everything is elevated when adding the carrot to the rice/wagyu and eating together.
14. Albion Strawberry part 1 – sticky rice, barley and tonic. This comes with the next photo. Basically, strawberries served five ways. A strawberry drink, strawberry glazed red bean mochi, tart unripe strawberry, strawberry mochi shortcake, and the strawberry itself. 
15. Albion Strawberry part 2
16. Wagashi part 1 – chocolate and goma/black sesame, mulberries, nectarine and aka shiso. The chocolate and black sesame was wonderful, and the nectarine and aka shiso just explodes in your mouth.
17. Wagashi part 2- fig leaf ice cream and a plum and Ume mochi. All of the desserts were great.

Overall, an amazing meal. In November the meal featured more eggplant and corn dishes and this time it was more tomatoes and strawberry. Also met the chef (Kyle Connaughton) afterwards and he was very nice.