Each town in Sonoma County has its distinct personality — Sonoma with its charming and classic go-to restaurants, Healdsburg with its mix of the fancy and the artsy. A decade ago, Sebastopol, on the other hand, was mainly known for its creative hippie vibe, with Florence Avenue lined with recycled junk art and a killer farmers market. Its most notable restaurant was the now-shuttered Peter Lowell’s, which served hyper-local cuisine that starred produce grown at restaurateur Lowell Sheldon’s Two Belly Acres farm.
These days, Sebastopol’s bounty, combined with a community that appreciates organic, sustainable, and local eating, has come together to turn this somewhat sleepy hamlet into a chill food mecca — one where Peter Lowell’s itself is being reborn as a trendy Thai restaurant. “The farming thing is a really important component of it,” says Sheldon. “If you look back to Lowell’s, it was the first farm-to-table restaurant fully integrated into the local wine scene as well. The chefs could feel that energy, and it created a domino effect for that kind of food culture.”
Over the years, that agricultural richness has attracted like-minded chefs and food artisans who are drawn to Sebastopol’s laid-back vibe and bucolic beauty. And fortunately, most of the area’s best restaurants, cafes, and bakeries are open for takeout during the pandemic. So until the current shelter-in-place order ends, customers can help support these spots by dropping in to pick up some food.
Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.
