For some lucky traders, there comes a time when an annual promotion becomes an annual tradition. To the list that includes everything from the Macy’s Day Parade to the annual release of Pliny the Younger, we can add Sonoma Restaurant Week.

In unpredictable times, the predictable prices of the week-long prix-fixe menu offer some comfort. Lunches are $10, $15 and $25 and dinners are $25, $35 and $55. There’s also a “Sweet Perk,” which I guess is, uh, sweet, for $5. No ticket is required, although reservations are recommended; no condescending attempts to gamify the festivities, “passports” are played, people – just real food for real people.

Boasting a super navigable website—participating restaurants can be found via cuisine, price, location, and more at sonomarestaurantweek.org—and a slew of breweries, cafes, and gastropubs, Sonoma Restaurant Week is a good time to visit old haunts and find new favourites.

What follows is an unscientifically curated sampling of restaurants enjoyed and thoughtful while gallivanting to the beat of SoCo.

Bear Republic Brewing Co.

“Go big or go home” seems to be the guiding principle behind Bear Republic Brewing Company’s menu. From sky-scratching beer options to the biggest burgers, everything about the Rohnert Park Brewery proclaims that “size matters.”

Be warned, their “Just Burger” isn’t just a burger, it’s a commitment that borders on “lifestyle choice”. Wash it down with the brewery’s Spawn of Yaga brew, which weighs 12% alcohol by volume and is named after the Russian folk tale Old Baba Yaga and “his infamous deeds.” These acts may or may not include sending an a capella group of older gentlemen to serenade tables with American songbook classics the night of my visit. Suffice it to say, a pint of Spawn, and shit gets weird.

Bear Republic Brewing Co., 5000 Roberts Lake Rd., Rohnert Park. bearrepublic.fr

Brew coffee and beer house

I’m part of that generation that thought peanut butter on toast was a pretty nifty innovation, so when the first wave of avocado toast awareness emerged a decade ago, I was dubious. I’ve come to understand and accept the green ways of my millennial brothers – not least because there’s a kid in my house with a nut allergy – and I’m now thrilled to see avocado toast on the local cafe menus. Brew Coffee and Beer House is no exception. Not only is avocado toast less deadly than toast slathered in the seemingly most overdone nut butter, it’s packed with “good kind of fat.” So naturally I ordered the tater tots. Brew also has a tantalizing range of local beers that serve denominations as small as their 5-ounce option, which is about as cute as a beer can get – and those of us as bad at math as me can convince us that four little ones is only a pint, right?

Brew Coffee and Beer House, 555 Healdsburg Ave Santa Rosa. brewcoffeeandbeer.com

Costeaux French Bakery and Cafe

Next year will mark the centennial of this Healdsburg institution that serves a myriad of pastries and café entrees, including sandwiches, soups and salads. Naturally I arrived too late in the afternoon to take advantage of much of the menu – the kitchen closes at 2pm, Wednesday to Saturday, and I arrived on Sunday when the kitchen closes at 1pm – however , I indulged in the classic downtown croissant and Americano coffee combo, which was, to quote Cole Porter, “It’s Magnificent!”

Costeaux French Bakery and Cafe, 417 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg. costeaux.com

Delicious dish

Standout dishes include a BLT-style Lobster Roll, Banh Mi Tuna, or Tofu Poke Bowl with seasoned black rice and creamy miso dressing, and an incredibly wide range of fried chicken sandwich options. For anyone looking to activate all of their brain’s pleasure centers simultaneously, I wholeheartedly recommend indulging in the Nashville option, which bathed my neurons in tasty serotonin the moment its spicy chili cheese and “candy” jalapenos home-made “cowboy cakes” hit my palate. It’s hot and sweet, and it requires a belt of PBR between bites, if only to get that fucking smile off her face. Also, be sure to check out Delicious Dish’s “Dinner and Movie” themed nights on their outdoor patio, which resumes next month. Family favorites and classic cult movies from the 70s and beyond are “paired” with menu items, à la Jaws with lobster rolls and Dizzy and confused with Texas barbecue. Following? A Stoner Double Feature with Cheech and Chong’s In smoke and that of Kevin Smith Mallrats, served with East LA Tomatillo Braised Pork Shoulder Tacos with Cilantro, White Onion and Chicharrones; refried beans and rice; tagine fruit salad; chocolate covered pretzels and “buckets of Tecate”.

Delicious dish, 18709 Arnold Dr. Sonoma. deliciousdishsf.com

Wild Goat Bistro

Sometimes a person just has to eat a meatball. Wild Goat Bistro understands this – they don’t judge, they adapt. As part of their small plate menu, the bistro offers “Gotta Have a Meatball” – Niman Ranch Angus beef or gluten-free garlic and herb meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with melted mozzarella . One of my favorites on the large plate menu is the ribs, ditto the “figs and pig” four cheese pizza – “pig” being prosciutto. Specifically, the bistro is the only restaurant of its type that is consistently and predictably open during the week, including Mondays.

Wild Goat Bistro, 6 Petaluma Blvd. N., Suite 5A, Petaluma. wildgoatbistro.com

[side bar]

One of the benefits of this concert is meeting the restaurateurs behind the generosity and brilliance that define the local culinary scene.

One such shining light is Lauren Cotner of Sonoma’s Delicious Dish, which effortlessly blends old-world cuisine with contemporary cuisine. Before moving to Sonoma and launching the restaurant with her husband in 2008, Cotner worked in marketing, which led to her working with the venerable San Francisco Bay Guardian— gaining his instant alt-weekly credibility with this reporter. “I spent my days selling ads in the ‘adult section’ and my nights helping to put up sponsorship banners in bars and clubs, and, like all big sellers and events, drinking,” she says. laughing. What follows is a Q&A with editor Daedalus Howell.

Bohemian: What was your inspiration for the menu, which is delightfully eclectic in some ways but also clearly organized?

Lauren Cotner: Living in the Mission District of San Francisco for 15 years has spoiled us [with the] constant availability of every kitchen at your fingertips. When we organize technical lunches, we are responsible for providing a staff of 500 people with different tastes with variety and quality that encourages them to stay in the office for lunch instead of venturing outside. We must be everything for everyone in one of the most eclectic food hubs in the country.

B: Shaking ! OMFG! What a list! Where does this passion come from?

CL: When we were kids, we used to go see my grandma in Willits and stop “halfway” at Foster’s Freeze in Cloverdale. I can’t vouch for how Foster’s Freeze does things now, but back then everything was fresh. I’d take either a fresh blackberry shake or a peanut butter-banana. These are still my favorites, although my new favorite is the Coffee Peanut Butter and Smoked Salt.

B: Enduring the pandemic – how has it been, and do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

CL: I see things looking up. The end of 2021 was brutal, personally and professionally, and we were just…stagnant. The doors to 2022 have opened, the sun is out at least today, we have an amazing team that is IN IT TO WIN and people are coming! We have 1000% hope.