Lifestyle

"White walls reaching for an impossibly high ceiling, a haven that appeared like some Xanadu on the west side of the city square just when we needed to hide. Why we needed to hide is another matter," writes Daedalus Howell about finding a place to slake his dark thirst when he discovered Marine Layer Wines. ..

When one thinks of celebrations at The Matheson in downtown Healdsburg (the town’s de facto club room), one usually goes straight to the top, literally the top-floor Roof 106 brasserie and bar where all manner of shindigs have occurred over the years. However, this year’s release of Valette Wines, which shares a proprietor with The Matheson, was a decidedly ground-floor affair.

Summer afternoons are filled with live music most days of the week in Wine Country But one popular local venue for weekly music in town is closing at the end of the month—and its future is anything but clear.

In what could be termed a generational change, a new executive director of Wine Road of Northern Sonoma County—better known by the short form, Wine Road—was named to take over the 50-year old organization this month. Katie Ambrosi replaces Beth Costa after her 26-year leadership.

A Gallery of images by Rick Tang from the Juy 4, 2025 Celebration in the Healdsburg Plaza, presented by the City of Healdsburg and Healdsburg Sunrise Rotary.

Now, the core crew of 200 or so Edge Esmeralda participants who walked, biked and boarded around town this month—plus hundreds of others who dropped in for shorter stints—are preparing to vacate their Healdsburg hotel rooms, or wherever else they found to crash. And plenty of locals are left wondering what just happened, if anything at all...

The exterior parking lot of Bacchus Landing was filled with gorgeous lowriders and classics, with several food trucks off to the far side. When I walked into the interior courtyard, I found a “lowrider museum.” Many of these cars had been in actual museums and exhibits, and featured in numerous publications ranging from the car-centric to the Smithsonian.

Sharp-eyed motorists have noticed a name change on a long white office building on Healdsburg Avenue, just a quick stroll away from the Quail and Condor bakery. The colors are still blue and white but the Bright Event Rentals sign is gone, and in its place the bold letters proclaim Russian Riverkeeper, now in its umpteenth home in Healdsburg, and still ready to Save the River.

Up the steep flight of stone steps to the Healdsburg Museum’s double-door entrance is a pathway to possibilities—the promise of old worlds made new. Starting last Saturday, that ascent leads to a magical gateway into Healdsburg itself, past and present, with a new multi-media...

Acre uses Pizza Master electric ovens, which keep the temperature constant on top and bottom. And DeCosse is a big advocate of pre-roasting the vegetables before they’re put on the pizza to go in the oven. This, he insists, helps to avoid the dreaded “floppy pizza.”