Dinner at Farmhouse Inn

We were supposed to take the Hawks to Farmhouse Inn for dinner back in June, to celebrate Father's Day and the Hawk's birthday, but I fell ill the day of our reservation and the soonest we could reschedule was for this weekend. Despite the fact that this place is ridiculously far from our home (an hour and a half drive), we've been wanting to take the Hawks here because their vegetables and fruits are so amazing, especially since the Hawk loves produce. Shweetie and I have been here twice, and each time, we've marveled that even though their meats and fish are really expertly prepared, the sweetness and freshness (is that a word?) of their fruits and veggies completely overshadow them. I consider Farmhouse Inn to be the place where I've eaten the best tomatoes of my entire life. Also, one of the times we came here was with Salsa and her friends, one of whom is a vegetarian. The four of us omnivores all liked her specially prepared vegetarian dish so much that we were eating more of IT than we were of our own dishes. Poor girl, since it's not like she could eat OUR food. But anyway, I digress.

Hungry Hawks, hanging out in the lovely produce garden behind the restaurant

Our meal began with a little amuse bouche of corn bellini, topped with smoked trout, chervil, and poblano crème fraîche, which we enjoyed while perusing the menu.

Hawk opted to just go for soup and salad, both of which were wonderfully light and fresh. I wanted to eat ALL of the peaches off her salad, they were so good. She also had the Valhrona Chocolate Soufflé with Bourbon Crème Anglaise as dessert (not pictured).

Yellow Tomato and Thai Basil Gazpacho: Sweet Maine Lobster, Palm Heart Salad, Cucumber, Green Mango, Papaya


Grilled Dry Creek Peach Salad: White Balsamic-Riesling Vinaigrette, Arugula, Frisée, Ricotta Salata, La Quercia Proscuitto

Shweetie and I opted for an even more unorthodox approach. We decided to share four starters and two desserts, and to skip the main courses. The two starters not pictured are the Light Heirloom Tomato and Italian Milk Burrata: Salsa Verde, Taggiasca Olives, Tempura of Squash Blossom, and the Farmhouse Corn Ravioli: Thin Sheets of Housemade Pasta, Sweet Corn Filling, Fresh Shaved Black Summer Truffle.

Vietnamese Style Hawaiian Tuna Ceviche: Sashimi Grade Ahi, Local Sun Gold Tomato, Watermelon, Mendocino Seaweed


Seared Sonoma Foie Gras: Backyard Fig Jam, White Balsamic Caramel, Housemade Brioche


Plum Delicious: Santa Rosa Plum Cake, Lemon-Ginger Semi Freddo, Plum Sorbet Center, Almond Crumble


Fresh Strawberry Napoleon: Crispy Warm Pastry Cream, Local Strawberries, Housemade Preserve, Peppermint Sorbet, Minted Greek Yogurt

Ba was the only one who followed a more traditional approach. He ordered just a main course, and nibbled on some of our starters and desserts.

Wild Alaska Halibut: Grilled Fennel Ratatouille, Lobster-Watercress Emulsion

Food was just as good as we remember, with their summer fruits and vegetables really standing out once again. Maybe it's the Forestville air, soil, water, or combination of all three, but man, they're doing something right when it comes to the stuff they grow. Overall, food was well prepared, though some of the dishes were a little more bland than we would have liked or the sauces were a little too tangy. However, they earned a very solid food score of 8.75.

Service was nice and laid-back, perfectly complementing the atmosphere of the area. Our waitstaff was very accommodating to our wanting to order six starters and only one main course for the four of us, and also took time to describe each of the dishes in detail slowly, so that I could jot down notes for the items that were not listed on the menu. At the end of the meal, when we asked for a menu to take home, they intentionally gave us a copy of the previous day's, explaining that the gazpacho Hawk had ordered was a regular menu item the day before, and therefore written out in detail. This was exactly why we wanted the menu, so that we could have written descriptions of each of the dishes we'd ordered (because it's hard to write a blog entry about the dishes when you don't have the menu in front of you), so we thought this was a good, intuitive call on their part. Service was a solid 8.50.

I've always thought the décor here was a little odd, with their painted murals around the entire top part of all of its walls. I liken it to their country-kitschy version of crown molding, except that it's painted on and two-dimensional. Okay, so it's absolutely NOTHING like crown molding except for the fact that it's located at the top of the walls. At any rate, I find it weird and distracting, though the Hawk declared the place "cute." Obviously I'm biased because I'm much more into modern and minimalist, which would so not work for a place like this, but I think they could have done a better job in interpreting their charming-restaurant-located-in-an-adorable-bed-and-breakfast thing. However, I have to give them props for the quaint little (delicious) garden you see as you walk toward the front door. We gave the décor a 7.50.

Overall, they scored an 85.75. Food here is solid, with knock-your-socks-off produce. Definitely worth the long drive.

*For a refresher on our rating system, check out this previous post.*