Little Saint, an uplifting gathering place where food, music, art and conversations converge, has set its sights to open, fittingly, on April 22nd, Earth Day.
With the shared goal of serving 100% plant-based offerings in a celebration of local farms and creative change-makers, Little Saint Creative Director Ken Fulk and animal activist/owner Laurie Ubben have collaborated with Katina and Kyle Connaughton and Director Jenny Hess, in envisioning an outstanding culinary and creative hub for the community.
Anchoring the open-plan 10,000-square-foot structure will be a full-service restaurant and bar, daily cafe and wine shop operated by Three-Michelin-starred Chef Kyle and Katina Connaughton’s management arm, Vertice Hospitality Management, and led by General Manager Akeel Shah.
The mission-aligned Little Saint Farm, along with the Connaughtons’ SingleThread Farm, will be the main source of the diverse ingredients that appear on the menu. Both share a commitment to cultivating a biodiverse ecosystem with no-till practices to help develop healthy, rich soil to grow fruit and vegetables abundant in nutrition and flavor.
Coffee enthusiasts will be able to enjoy their favorite cup from specialty coffee roasting Company Saint Frank based out of San Francisco, along with viennoiserie offerings from Head Pastry Chef Baruch Ellsworth. Coffee Bar hours will be 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At the cafe, Chef de Cuisine Bryan Oliver will be crafting made-to-order and takeaway dishes to enjoy at a sunny outdoor table or create the perfect winery picnic. The cafe menu will include a selection of spreads, dips and flatbreads along with soups, salads and grain bowls featuring the morning harvest. Bento boxes filled with seasonal items from the farm will be available for the perfect shared meal with friends. Cafe Hours will be 11 a.m to 7 p.m.
Little Saint’s Wineshop will also be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wine Director Alexandria Sarovich has compiled a collection of wines made by winemakers committed to responsible farming and creative carbon solutions. While wines from all over the world will be available, Sonoma County will be at the heart of the program with a strong focus on underrepresented BIPOC and women winemakers.
Seven days a week, Little Provisions will be open for shoppers with fresh produce and cut flowers delivered straight from the farm. There will also be a curated selection of ethically sourced plant-based sweet and salty snacks, artisan chocolate, coffee and teas alongside reusable market totes and mugs, and books from thought-leaders including Bryant Terry, Natalie Baszile and Paul Hawken.
For the Connaughtons, the restaurant and bar is a welcome opportunity to create a 100% plant-based menu highlighting produce from the Little Saint and SingleThread farms, while supporting and showcasing nearby farms. Expect dishes from Chef Bryan Oliver such as potato and green garlic soup with lovage and caraway oil to start followed by shareable plates such as mokum carrots and shaved red cabbage with crunchy rice, and sunflower sprouts or a cauliflower biryani for two with basmati rice, golden raisins, fried onions, and dried rose petals. Sample dessert offerings include carrot cake with walnuts and vanilla, and chocolate torte with hazelnut praline and miso caramel.
The bar program, led by Matthew Seigel, is another collaboration with the farms. The bar will offer both creative spirits-based and non-alcoholic cocktails like the ‘Francis Fizz,’ with pisco, aperol, lemon, purple carrot, aquafaba and an amaretto mist or the citrus-forward aperitif, ‘That’s the One’ with Hanson organic vodka, Haus aperitif, meyer lemon, grapefruit, Mt. Olympus tea, and organic poppy amaro. The Little Saint bar program will be a flagbearer for sustainability, giving menu ingredients a second or even third life in “closed-loop cocktails” so that, from the farm to the kitchen to the bar, everything that is grown is celebrated.
The restaurant will be open Thursday through Monday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Brunch will be available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be 72 seats in the downstairs restaurant with 16 seats at the bar. The second-floor lounge, when it opens in June, will offer cocktails and a limited menu. A number of tables will be held back throughout the night to encourage walk-ins from the local community, and the bar will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
A robust calendar of programming features wine tastings and book signings along with visits from local changemakers and guest chefs. Weekly live music will accompany early dinner service with larger ticketed concerts taking place upstairs in the lounge. In partnership with non-profit Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation, arts programming includes film screenings, wellness practitioners and panel discussions that support the sustainable agricultural and viticulture endeavors throughout the county.
Leading the creative direction, branding and design for Little Saint, Ken Fulk Inc approached the award-winning modern building with a light-handed touch. To warm up the open-plan interior and embrace the “collaboration for good,” Fulk’s team commissioned local artisans and artists to make everything from the rich wood tabletops from Evan Shively to the patchwork of Kelly Farley’s handmade tiles on the coffee bar. Even the salvage denim patchwork upholstery for the pouf seating was collected from friends, family and staff. Ken Fulk, Inc also worked with local fine artists, activating the exterior façade in support of local artists throughout the pandemic, in addition to permanent installations by painter and muralist Linda Fahey; textile artist Ben Venom, and naturalist and author Obi Kaufmann.
“We are so excited to be opening Little Saint at long last! Little Saint is here as much for the local residents as it is for the visitors to Sonoma Wine Country,” states Chef Kyle Connaughton. “We live here, farm here, and are part of the community of amazing winemakers, farmers, and artisans. We really wanted to reflect that and create exciting offerings for our local community and at the same time share with the visitors how special this place that we call home is. Having more casual food options using local ingredients, live music, art, speakers, and visiting chefs we hope is really something special that everyone can enjoy.”
