Small plates is the best option for the opportunity to share and enjoy an array of different dishes. It’s my absolute favorite style of dining adventure. One of the best places to experience this in Healdsburg, California is at Chalkboard Restaurant. Their menu features inventive creations that contain seasonal ingredients. The menu size is not overwhelming and everything out of the 8 items we tried, were winners!
I was most impressed with some of the techniques they used and their unusual styles of homemade pasta. Their Compressed Melon Salad was a work of art and a superb balance of sweet and spice. The two pasta’s we ordered, Mafaldine and Cocoa Trifoglio, were both of my favorite dishes and quite unusual. The Mafaldine was made with kale pesto, delicata squash and smoked grana padano cheese. It may not look like much, but it tasted fabulous and is definitely something I will be trying to recreate. The Cocoa Trifoglio included duck confit, chive, madeira, foie gras butter and hazelnuts. Yes; rich and simply divine!
This is not to say that our other courses were not note worthy, because they certainly were! The Crudo of the Day was ever so delicate and packed with flavor. I was especially delighted by the light crouton crunch topping. The Seared Dayboat Scallops were served on risotto cakes with melted leeks and tomato water with a uni sauce that was worthy of licking the plate! Not to mention the Beef Sliders with short rib marmalade, blue cheese, bacon ailoi and pickles.
And, the Smoked Eggplant Parmesan made with hand pulled mozzarella, basil and their house made tomato sauce (my husband’s fav) was an incredible specimen of standard Italian fare.
Anyone in their right mind would be finished at this point (there were three of us to share the meal:), but we ordered a dessert cheese plate. I was informed that it was also quite tasty since my capacity was at it’s limit, so I didn’t get to taste it myself.
If I head back that way, I’m definitely stopping in to try the other pastas that I missed. In fact, they even offer a “Tasting of all Housemade Pastas!” If you go with a group, it might be worth a try!
A Great Array of Seasonal Small Plates at Chalkboard,