From a new spice shop to tapas and Mediterranean, Sonoma County’s dining scene is adding new reasons to eat out this fall.
Wild Poppy at The Barlow
Wild Poppy, the west Sebastopol cafe known for breakfast, brunch and lunch, is expanding with a second location in the former Woodfour Brewing space at The Barlow in late September.
The new location will offer grab-and-go meals as well as daytime and evening menus, which are still being developed. Chef-owner Martin Maigaard also hopes to open a tofu factory in the former brewery space next year.
Signs for The Wild Poppy restaurant hang outside the space under construction at The Barlow in Sebastopol on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
Cosmic Nachos at The Wild Poppy Cafe along Bodega Highway in Sebastopol on Friday, May 3, 2024. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)
Maigaard, formerly of the now-closed Gypsy Cafe, opened the original Wild Poppy in 2024 with his wife, Danielle.
6780 McKinley St., Suite 160, Sebastopol; 9890 Bodega Highway, Sebastopol. 707-503-6332, thewildpoppycafe.com
Olives and Agave
Tapas and Mediterranean dishes inspired by Spanish and Middle Eastern cuisines are on the menu at this new Montgomery Village restaurant, which opened last week.
The restaurant is currently open for dinner, with lunch service coming soon. The menu focuses on hot and cold meze, including hummus, baba ghanoush, labneh and tzatziki, along with spanakopita, falafel, fried kibbeh and empanadas. Larger plates include lamb shank tagine, kebabs, whole branzino and half a rotisserie chicken.
The restaurant occupies the former Cascabel space.
909 Village Court, Santa Rosa. 707-843-7365, olivesandagave.com
Sonoma Spice Queen
Wind McAlister, known as the Sonoma Spice Queen, is bringing her spice blends back to Santa Rosa with a new downtown shop.
And this time, it’s got local mojo.
McAlister opened the second location in early September at 404 Mendocino Ave., bringing her organic spice blends, rubs, chiles, peppercorns, salts and sugars north from Petaluma. The shop fills the void left by the departures of Penzeys and Savory Spice.
Wind McAlister, owner of Sonoma Spice Queen, in her store in Petaluma in 2015. (Scott Manchester / Petaluma Argus-Courier, file)
McAlister has been grinding whole spices and herbs by hand for more than 13 years. In 2013, she was among the first in Sonoma County to obtain a Cottage Food Operator Permit, which allows certain nonperishable foods to be produced in a home kitchen. She now works out of a commercial kitchen.
Her best-selling blend is also her most labor-intensive: vadouvan French curry, a complex mixture of nearly a dozen ingredients, including turmeric, ginger, coriander, garlic and curry leaves.
Sonoma Spice Queen spices give ordinary dishes a kick of flavor. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat, file)
Her other blends draw from around the world, including Middle Eastern za’atar, Ethiopian berbere and Lebanese sabah baharat. She now offers more than 50 single spices, including saffron, paprika and cinnamon, along with dozens of housemade blends and rubs. Each is ground, mixed, packaged and labeled by hand.
404 Mendocino Ave., Suite D, Santa Rosa; 9 Fourth St., Petaluma. 707-776-7678, sonomaspicequeen.com
Dining and Cooking