Chef-proprietor Ari Weiswasser focuses on wood-grilled California-Italian cuisine at his Glen Ellen Star follow-up.
Having concluded a several-month Northern California assignment for Fodor’s this month (June), it’s time to loop back to early March and some excellent local experiences we didn’t get around to posting about. The Sonoma Valley restaurant Stella was the last place I visited before locking down the next edition of Fodor’s Napa and Sonoma, scheduled for release in August 2025. It was a fantastic finale to a half-year of research.
From Mozzarella to Milanese
We started with mozzarella di bufala, accompanied by anchovies and farm-fresh egg yolk from the mozzarella bar, followed by yellowfin tuna crudo with Satsuma mandarin slices, capers, and black olives. A salad of wood-grilled golden beets was dressed with bluefin tonnato (tuna) sauce and topped with sorrel. The creste di gallo (rooster combs) pasta, paired with an earthy, densely flavored chicken liver ragout, intrigued me and evoked a sense of nostalgia. The dish deservedly became an early hit on the menu. There was hardly room for the Duroc pork chop Milanese with a perfect lemon caper butter sauce.
Photogenic dessert
Our meal concluded with the photogenic baked “Gelaska,” a combination of vanilla gelato, raspberry sorbet, sponge cake, and torched marshmallow fluff, which was blessedly lighter than it looked.
Impressive Start
Stella impressed me in equal measure for its ambiance, the staff’s zeal to ensure guests have a memorable repast, and, of course, the Cal-Italian cuisine. We dropped by the first week the restaurant was officially open, and you’d think it had been up and running for months. Everything was brand-new from this site’s previous incarnation except the fireplace, above which hung ceramic baskets by Kala Stein Design.
Happy Diners
Apologies to chef-proprietor Ari Weiswasser (also behind the terrific Glen Ellen Star one town over) and chef de cuisine Bryant Minuche for the delay in posting about our visit — not that hundreds of other happy diners haven’t already weighed in.
If you haven’t been to Stella, a Sonoma Valley star in the town of Kenwood, check her out. We’ve been hankering to return for more creste di gallo, though we’re tempted to park ourselves at the bar and gorge on mozzarella and the dreamy sourdough. And to test-drive the all-weather patio.
Info
9049 Sonoma Hwy., Kenwood 95452
Lead photo clockwise from top left: mozzarella di bufala, yellowfin tuna crudo, wood-grilled golden beets, and pork chop Milanese.