Enclos and Valley are two very different restaurants barely 200 yards from each other, on or very close to the historic plaza in the town of Sonoma, California. Both restaurants vividly represent the aspirations of their founders – albeit very different aspirations.
Valley
Valley, which describes itself as a restaurant, bar and bottle shop, is the expression of its four founders – Lauren Feldman, Emma Lipp, Stephanie Reagor and Tanner Walle – to serve seasonal, invariably Mediterranean dishes incorporating local ingredients in a typically and delightfully casual California manner. Opened four years ago, Valley has managed to fill a building that includes a café area at the front, an open kitchen in the middle that opens out into a large covered outdoor space, and a florist in the rear that provides flowers for the restaurant and for purchase.
The outside area is open all year round, providing locals with somewhere to wear their latest down outfits when the weather turns inclement.
The six of us who lunched at Valley included a couple who were not drinking but were persuaded to change their minds by the bottle of white burgundy that old friend and wine-trade veteran Jean-Michel Valette MW had generously brought to celebrate JR’s various anniversaries. I am unable to convey the beauty of this wine but I must add one comment and one observation. The first was from Jancis who, on seeing the label, recalled the words of her predecessor as FT wine correspondent, the late Edmund Penning-Rowsell, that one must never think of what a bottle is worth when opening it. The second was the look on the faces of our non-drinking friends when they sipped this golden liquid, describing it as the best wine they had ever encountered.
It took me 30 seconds to calculate that on Valley’s menu was a list of six main courses, the same number as we were, so I took charge and ordered one of each plus something novel to us, a dish called a fried green tomato sandwich, pictured above. The highlights were what Valley calls enchiladas suizas, one of the world’s few Swiss-Mexican culinary collaborations; the chicken cutlet, lightly fried and topped with shredded cabbage and ranch dressing; and the tomato sandwich, which managed to deliver crispness, savouriness and just a touch of sweet stodge. We finished with a couple of slices of olive-oil cake that had just the right amount of sweetness, coffee and a bill of $280, including $30 corkage. Valley restaurant offers the sort of relaxed charm that I would return to, day in and day out, with delicious food, great wines by both bottle and glass, and charming service.
Enclos
I could hardly say the same about the frequency of visits to Enclos – for various reasons, not least its price tag of $280 per person for food alone – but I found the whole experience equally exceptional, albeit for very different reasons. On the night we visited there were two smartly dressed young women on the door. The two men in charge of beverages and wine service wore equally smart dark suits and even ties (a rare sight in this state).
This restaurant, which opened late last year, was at least 22 months in the execution stage, from the time its talented executive chef Brian Limoges met its general manager, Larry Nadeau, and then its owners, the McQuown family. It existed even longer in the mind of its originator, the late entrepreneur Mac McQuown, described by the FT in his extensive obituary as ‘the OG quant’, who, on the side, established his Stone Edge farm and winery in Sonoma entirely on solar power and co-founded the Chalone Wine Group and Carmenet Winery.
When I asked Limoges how much it had all cost, he pointed out, ‘The McQuowns have been investing in the retrofitting of the building for a long time, so it’s hard to give a specific number. With the restaurant being in a historical Victorian townhouse, there is quite a lot of the infrastructure that has had to be custom made/designed to meet regulations, et cetera. For instance, the older floors couldn’t hold our Molteni stove, so we had to reinforce those.’
It was easy to see from our table just how beautifully equipped and generously staffed is Enclos’ kitchen, approximately three or even four times the size of Valley’s but serving far fewer people – there are just 30 seats in the dining room.
Enclos takes its name from the heart of the vineyard at Château Latour that inspired its founder McQuown after a visit there. McQuown had already established Stone Edge Farm and winery when he and his wife Leslie began the transformation of Enclos into a restaurant serving their wines and the farm’s seasonal produce. When served the tomato dish above, we were presented with a beautifully designed list of the 18 tomato varieties the farm grows.
The restaurant opened for its first official service last December and in June this year received two Michelin stars as well as a green star for its approach to sustainable gastronomy. Whether Enclos makes a significant return on its thoughtful investment it is not in my remit to debate, but certainly the restaurant seems to wear this recognition comfortably. From its front garden (shown at the top of this article) into an entrance from which the entire kitchen can be seen, revealing an extraordinary number of young kitchen staff, to a room that must have used up an awful lot of timber, it is all of a piece, a combination of Victoriana and contemporary lumber. Our handsome, thick table had been carved, we were told, from a piece of wood that also apparently yielded the two tables next to us.
We began the meal in spectacular fashion. A spiny-lobster roll was a thin circular creation as colourful as it was intensely and minutely flavourful. What followed was a venison taco presented on a set of extremely clean antlers.
A rutabaga ‘bread pudding’ was served on an old silver contraption that we were told was once used for serving bread.
By then we had also begun to enjoy our wine. From an extensive wine list that includes many of the world’s top wines including a bottle of Scarecrow – at four times the price of a Spottswoode Cabernet – we chose a $90 bottle of Holus Bolus Syrah 2022 from Santa Barbara County, a wine that we hoped would be flexible enough to cope with the many flavours that were to ensue. (We were to be proved correct.)
A meal that impressed both our taste buds and our eyes reached its zenith when a vast piece of 60-day dry-aged tuna belly was brought to our table for inspection, and then finished with a quail, the grilled leg of which was served with rose hip and nectarine. Our final savoury course was a piece of beef which I am sure helps to justify the menu price but I do wonder whether it is the most exciting choice at this point.
For our desserts, the kitchen expressed the onset of fall/autumn with an exquisite dish promising different textures of pear with yuzu and an apple concoction, both fruits very much in season (although not quite the equal of a wild blackberry pie made for us by the renowned grape geneticist and retired Mount Veeder grape grower Carole Meredith which was the dessert of our trip). See another presentation of something sweet below.
Enclos is the embodiment of numerous people’s vision and determination; considerable financial resources; good visual taste; and a highly talented chef who has travelled widely. Limoges began his career in California, at Quince and Angler restaurants among several others, before moving to the UK where the combination of Brexit and COVID sent him back to the US.
Then he began what he described as ‘an arduous journey to get back into a Michelin-starred kitchen. It was a relentless and brutal pursuit, but ultimately worth it. When I visited Sonoma with the prospect of opening what would become Enclos, I fell in love with the town and the area immediately, so it felt like a fresh start that gave me creative clarity.’
All these sentiments came through loud and clear.
Valley 487 1st St West, Sonoma, CA; tel: +1 (707) 934 8403
Enclos 139 East Napa Street, Sonoma, CA; tel: +1 (707) 387 1724
Every Sunday, Nick writes about restaurants. To stay abreast of his reviews, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
