Chalkboard: A New Hip and Casual Restaurant in Healdsburg

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Cyrus, anymore...

Chalkboard, the hip, casual new restaurant that has taken over the former Cyrus space in Healdsburg’s Hotel Les Mars, is a breath of fresh air.

From the moment you take in the open kitchen, newly exposed large-paned windows, whitewashed oak floors, nine-foot communal table and oversized chalkboard displaying the restaurant’s daily specials, you know you are in a “Sonoma County” kind of place.

And that is before you get to the food. Executive Chef Shane McAnelly (formerly executive chef of Va de Vi in Walnut Creek) sources many of the ingredients for his seasonally driven small-plates menu from the restaurant’s own three acre organic garden at Chalk Hill Winery, located just down the road. Chalkboard, Hotel Les Mars and Chalk Hill are all owned by Bill Foley. Chef McAnelly, together with Chalk Hill gardener Bradley Agerter, thoughtfully plan the year-round garden with an eye to bringing diners the best of each season.

What they don’t raise themselves, they source from Chef McAnelly’s longtime friends in the local food community. It goes without saying that the wine list is stacked with locally produced treasures, and many of the specialty cocktails also make use of ingredients fresh from the restaurant’s garden.

The folks behind Chalkboard obviously did their research and have crafted a welcoming and worthy showcase for the world-class bounty of Sonoma County.