Cafe La Haye


Michael Bauer Thursday, September 10, 2009	Sonoma's Cafe La Haye retains charm, quality The Wine Country may be growing, but Sonoma has continued to exude a small-town vibe. Few restaurants capture that charm as well as Cafe La Haye, which has been in business off the town square for 15 years and has been a perennial Top 100 restaurant pick. Owner Saul Gropman has been a consistent presence at the front of the house, while various chefs have cranked out satisfying food from a kitchen many home cooks would reject as too small. Now Gropman has hired Jeffrey Lloyd, onetime executive chef of Michael Mina and Aqua, and most recently chef at Nectar in Burlingame. He's used to high-style fare, but he's dialed it down a bit to adjust to the location and size of the kitchen. Salads make the best of available produce. Organic mixed greens with grapes and candied pecans ($8.95) are lightly dressed in a sherry Dijon vinaigrette that accentuates the ingredients. There's also a tomato bread salad ($9.95) and a more substantial dishes, such as house-smoked trout crepes with a shaved torpedo onion and frisee salad ($12.95). The main courses always include a risotto and pasta. On the last visit, it was fresh tagliarini ($18.95) with lamb meatballs in a Mediterranean-inspired sauce with roasted peppers, eggplant, picholine olives and feta and goat cheeses. There's a lot going on, and the sauce overpowers the pasta, but the flavors are vibrant. Flat-iron steak is a bargain for $19.95. Slices of medium-rare meat, accented with Walla Walla onions, fan out over basil mashed potatoes so green they could have been touched by a leprechaun; fortunately, they tasted better than they looked. The most expensive and complex main course is pan-seared quail ($24.95), its cavity packed with quinoa and pecans, moistened with brandied cherry gastric. For dessert, the kitchen excels at butterscotch pudding ($8), drizzling it with hot fudge sauce. Gropman keeps the service friendly. The decor is simple, with an open-beamed ceiling that keeps the room from feeling cramped. It's pleasant, but the interior takes a back seat to the food, which continues to showcase Sonoma's best.
	It's not fancy - in fact, the space is cramped - but Cafe La Haye remains one of the top destinations in Sonoma. A revolving display of artwork adds interest to the intimate two-level dining room and reflects the vibe of the adjoining art center. Owner Saul Gropman is adept at making diners feel welcome, which is one reason the place has developed a legion of loyal followers during the last 13 years.
	A tiny place just off the square in Sonoma, Cafe La Haye is stark, minimalist and nearly monochromatic: white, black and various shades of gray dominate. This Manhattan feel is countered by large windows and an open front door, both of which bring in light and air. And the food provides color -- lots of color. The produce is local, organic and superb, and almost every dish is determined not as much by what might be called the main ingredient -- the protein -- but by the vegetables, which provide character. This goes for the nicely done pot roast, overshadowed by the accompanying root vegetables and horseradish mashed potatoes; the gorgeous Liberty duck breast, made all the more so by the turnips and carrots served with it, and even the smoked salmon with potato pancakes and creme fraiche, which was outshone by an apple-horseradish compote. The dishes based on vegetables -- heirloom tomato salad, or greens with nuts, blue cheese and roasted beets (a classic combination that appears on nearly every menu in town) -- are sure winners. One salad was spiked by hyper-aromatic basil and fragrant olive oil, another was served with a super vinaigrette containing preserved lemons. In fact, nothing disappointed; the crowded, closet-sized, semi-open kitchen produces shining examples of updated bistro food, and it can keep up the pace nicely because the dining room has only 32 seats. The wine list is as local as the food, with exotic selections coming from as far away as Napa, and no farther; the by-the-glass selection is superior to most. The excellent sour dough bread comes from the Artisan Bakers, an award-winning operation in town. Service is attentive without being annoying. Finally, desserts are delicious and nicely presented: intensely dense chocolate pots de creme are served in black cups; Basmati rice pudding -- mine could have been cooked until the rice was fully tender -- is graced with caramel sauce, and the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce was, well, great.

Photos by Shelly Gerrish