March 29, 2022 By Lauren Saria SF Eater
It’s official: Little Saint, the meat-free restaurant backed by an all-star team including the couple behind three Michelin-star SingleThread, will open its doors on April 22. Aside from Kyle and Katina Connaughton, the Little Saint team includes star designer Ken Fulk, who joins the team as creative director, and philanthropists Jeff and Laurie Ubben, who purchased the landmark building in downtown Healdsburg in 2020. It’s now been about a year since news of the ambitious project first broke, and in the months since we’re learned a slew of details about its grand scope.
Yes, Little Saint will be an entirely plant-based restaurant headed up by the SingleThread power couple — but the cavernous former SHED space will also house a coffee bar, cafe, wine shop, and market dubbed Little Saint Provisions. Beyond the food and drink offerings, Little Saint also aims to become a community arts destination hosting weekly live music, book signings, film screenings, and more.
First, the restaurant: Little Saint’s 100 percent plant-based menu will be built around produce grown at both Little Saint and SingleThread farms, showcased in dishes like potato and green garlic soup with lovage and caraway oil. Shareable plates from chef de cuisine Bryan Oliver will also include mokum carrots and shaved red cabbage with crunchy rice and sunflower sprouts or cauliflower biryani for two made with golden raisins, fried onions, and dried rose petals. On a drink menu from Matthew Seigel expect both spirit-based and non-alcoholic options including the Francis Fizz made with pisco, Aperol, lemon, purple carrot, and aquafaba. With sustainability in mind, the bar hopes to offer “closed loop cocktails,” or drinks created to minimize waste used across the restaurant and bar.
But that won’t be the only dining option at Little Saint. The space will also house a coffee bar, open from 6 a.m. – 4 p.m., where drinks made with San Francisco-based Saint Frank beans will be available alongside viennoiserie from Little Saint head pastry chef Baruch Ellsworth. A cafe menu, available from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., will be geared more toward grab-and-go and take-away items — the idea being that diners can take a selection of spreads, dips and flatbreads out to the outdoor tables or off site for a wine country picnic. Other cafe menu items will include soups, salads, grain bowls, and bento boxes, all made with that day’s fresh produce.
And from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. the Little Saint wine shop will sell bottles from wineries committed to responsible farming. Curated by wine director Alexandria Sarovich, the selection will feature bottles from around the globe, with a focus on those from underrepresented BIPOC and women winemakers and those produced in Sonoma. And finally, for those looking to pick up fresh produce, flowers, or a quick gift (perhaps a cookbook, market tote, or mug), the Little Saint Provisions market will stock plant-based snacks, chocolate, coffee, and teas.
Led by Ken Fulk Inc, the team has warmed up the open-plan space and filled it with the work of local artists and artisans — warm wood tables from Evan Shively, handmade tiles on the coffee bar from Kelly Farley, and salvage denim patchwork upholstery made using fabrics collected from friends, family, and staff. Permanent installations from painter and muralist Linda Fahey, textile artist Ben Venom, and naturalist and author Obi Kaufmann complete the space.
Little Saint opens at 25 North Street in Healdsburg on April 22. The restaurant will be open Thursdays through Mondays for lunch from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and for dinner from 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. Brunch will be available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.