Dry Creek Kitchen

Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Fantastic food. Great wine sommelier. Wonderful menu. Located adjacent to our hotel so perfectly situated. We had six people for appetizers, entrees and dessert, plus cocktails and two bottles of wine. Loved it and can't wait to go back.

3.5/5

I happened to pass by on a Thursday, which is the only day of the week when they offer their Sonoma neighbor menu. The tasting menu consisted of three courses. This restaurant is absolutely stunning, both on the exterior and the interior. The ambiance is immaculate, and the staff are incredibly accommodating, offering to hold jackets and take any extra bags to the back.

We began with the Tomales Bay Miyagi oysters, which were ordered à la carte and came in a pair. Unfortunately, I found this dish unsatisfactory. Small shells in oysters is understandable, but biting into a decent-sized shell was VERY UNPLEASANT. Instead of enjoying the oyster, I was trying to remove the shell fragments from my mouth. This was the only aspect of the meal that left me unhappy.

For our first course, we opted for the English pea and farro salad, which was perfectly complemented by the feta and lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Moving on to the second course, I selected the milk-braised pork shoulder, which was incredibly tender. Although I felt the dish could have benefited from a bit more of salt, it was still enjoyable. My mom ordered the pasta primavera, which was fresh and light.

For dessert, I got the strawberry and rhubarb tart, which was so sweet and the perfect way to end my night. My mom got for the lemon pound cake, which was tasty, but just a bit dense for my liking. There were also compliments from the chef, they were all delicious. The lemon meringue was my absolute favorite!

The portions were all quite generous and filling, which was appreciated. However, I couldn't help but feel that the appetizers and entrees lacked that wow factor.

We came here for a 50th birthday party. We had a prefix meal we had agreed upon ahead of time. Our reservation was for 7p. There were 17 of us and we had a private dining area. It took us over 25 minutes to get our first drink and then over an hour before we were served with our first course at 825. The first course was good, but nothing extraordinary or special. It took so long that the owner was generous enough to share a bottle of white wine (amongst 15 of us), because of the extraordinary delays. The third course was supposed to be a fillet mignon for me, which arrived well done when I had ordered it medium rare as any good steak should be cooked. There was no pink I could identify even in the center of the steak after cutting it in half (even looking with a flashlight). Then, when I brought this to the waiters attention, she replied with "I can see some pink in the very middle". No apology for the fact that we had been there for nearly two hours before receiving our entrées and the fact that my steak was completely over cooked. I asked for a new one and some twenty five minutes later it arrived, still beating and bleeding, A LONG TIME LATER- after the rest of the table was nearly done with desert. This is after we ordered two bottles of wine for a cool $600 (of which they added 20% gratuity to, Despite the fact that the server only came around to open it and pour the initial taste- never to return again, to pour a glass and not to return except after I was finally able to flag a server down to say my overcooked steak didn't look that overcooked. We had paid $180 per person (to include tip) with no drinks for this disastrous experience.
The service was awful. We were constantly getting up to ask for basic things. Like a steak knife for example.....

When we returned from this trip the host reached out to the owner to discuss our horrible experience and suggested the best way to rectify it would be to take care of the $450 bar tab for our cocktails. They refused. We were all floored. A table full of c suite execs and lawyers and business owners - how is this place still in business? After far too much time back and forth they finally offered a four person dinner for whoever returned, knowing full well none of us live nearby and none of us would want to roll the dice on this place again after their response (terrible service that day and following) to our very reasonable offer of compromise. What a disappointment. I would give zero stars if that was an option.

Solid choice; fantastic service, delicious food. This is one of the long standing restaurants since this building was added to the area and for good reason, it's a tried and true. The service matches the delicious menu and fantastic cocktail and wine program. You can't go wrong with any of the choices.
I don't give 5 stars often but this hits the spot.

What an amazing evening at DCK in every way! With advance request, Chef Shane prepared a 5-course vegan tasting menu, including a special dessert created by Taylor, the pastry chef. Every course was creative, beautiful, and delicious with fabulous wines. GM Dan's hospitality was professional yet down to earth, making the evening feel extra special. The service by Courtney and the rest of the team was attentive without being intrusive, and the dining room exudes wine county elegance - lovely and relaxed at the same time. For all these reasons, DCK is absolutely my favorite restaurant in the area.

Beautiful menu, establishment and ambiance with scrumptious food and excellent service. My favorite was the hamachi crudo, with such balance of flavors and high quality fish. The stuffed cabbage is exciting and innovative. The seared duck was tender and paired with a deep rich sauce. The desserts were lighter than they appeared which is perfect to me.

The servers were attentive and clearly knowledgeable about how the food is prepared.

FYI: the bathrooms are located in another building across a courtyard in a hotel so if you have difficulty getting around, this could be impactful. The servers are super friendly and will show you the whole way over.

Lovely restaurant with well trained staff who were polite and attentive. Restaurant has really nice ambience.
We started off with their focaccia buns, delish. We added a pork belly in biscuit appetizer $12 which was too much food when our entrees arrived. But it was very good.
The plate of wild mushrooms was a huge portion and Hubby could not finish. Hamachi crudo was OK, I'd probably skip next time. The duck was really good especially encroute. The slice of breast was chewy though.
I enjoyed the ice cream and sorbet. Hubby thought the tart crust was too hard and couldn't taste the pear flavor. There was more pear taste in the sorbet.
Very elegant place to have dinner. Food was good and service very nice.

The place is beautiful inside. The food is delicious and beautifully presented. The staff is friendly and professional. We loved the room's ambiance, with fresh flowers, candlelight, and white tablecloth. The wine list is extensive, but exclusively Sonoma wineries.
It was Thursday, and they offered a Sonoma Neighbor Menu. There was a nice mix of locals and tourists. The Russian River Lettice Wedge Salad was so fresh and delicious that I could have stopped there! We also tried the Fried Green Tomatoes with grilled avocado, so yummy. The Rigatoni with spicy Pork Sausage and the Crispy Duck Leg confit were delicious. Fabulous desserts! Wow! What a fantastic dinner!

An absolutely lovely, sophisticated evening at a beautiful restaurant. The perfect atmosphere for delicious tasting menu. After 5 days & nights, having group meals with various friends, Dry Creek Kitchen turned out to be the perfect date night spot.

The room is very comfortable, and everything looked wonderful. We went with the 5 course tasting menu, and every course was delectable! My husband did the wine pairings, which were interesting & curated by our waiter. As opposed to a set wine, there were several that went with each dish, and as the waiter got to know my husband's palate, he poured the wine he thought my husband would enjoy. Very cool way of doing the pairings.

The hamachi crudo was jaw-dropping. I could have eaten a whole plate of just that. But I'm glad I only had 1 because the next courses were wonderful. I especially enjoyed the short rib angolotti, another dish that would be a wonderful stand alone, with a glasss of red.

The service was friendly and attentive, without being intrusive. Really a wonderful evening!

We were a 4 some. All of us ordered the 3 course dinners. The 5 course tasting menu requires that everyone at a table order it. Kind'a like being at mom's house, you eat what she gives you.

So right off the bat, the dinners were very good but not over the top - OMG - "This is the best thing I've ever eaten". As the 4 of us selected different things and shared bites, I got to taste most of the menu items.

My shrimp grits was delicious plus. The 4 giant shrimp cooked perfectly. The grits were moist, flavorful, toothsome and buttery but not to a fault. My medium rare steak was also seasoned well. My inclination is to order a steak cooked medium, but at the behest of my wife she insisted that I order this one medium rare. And truthfully to my taste it was undercooked, actually almost uncooked in the center. Wine selection and enthusiastic recommendation: The Vivier Pinot noir. $21 glass. Smooth and rich tasting without being sweet. (All the wines by the glass and bottle are typical 4 to 5 times markup from retail. (Several Bay Area wine shops sell this Vivier Pinot Noir for $38 / bottle.)

The best food of the meal? The desserts. We tried 4. Loved every single one.

The best overall factor at this place: The service! From greeting to exiting the level of pampering is almost royal. Every server (we met 4) was calm, focused, attentive and knowledgeable. One of our party measures a restaurant satisfaction by the quality of service over the food. She was delighted here.

So, for $75 per person this place offers great value. Given that upper end dining in ultra-touristy Healdsburg at the top 10 restaurants is horrifically expensive (ie; Single Thread), you can be quite satisfied with the Dry Creek Kitchen without emptying your bank account.