Restaurant in Sonoma, United States
Terrace dining that earns its price tag.
Hazel Hill at Montage Healdsburg is the strongest special-occasion table in the immediate area, with a terrace above the vineyards, a French-Californian menu from Chef Jason Pringle, and a 500-selection wine list. At $66+ per head before wine, lunch delivers better value than dinner for most visitors. Booking is easy, which is a genuine advantage over comparable Sonoma options.
At $66 or more per head for a typical two-course meal before wine, Hazel Hill is priced like a serious restaurant. The setting — a terrace above Montage Healdsburg's vineyards with the Mayacamas Mountains and Mount St. Helena as your backdrop — earns a portion of that premium on its own. The French-inflected Californian cooking from Chef Jason Pringle earns the rest. If you're staying at Montage Healdsburg, this is the table to book. If you're driving in for a meal, the case is strong for special occasions but thinner for a casual weeknight.
The terrace is the reason to book a table here, and you should request it directly when reserving. refined above the vineyard rows, with open sky and mountain views, it gives a two-leading or a party of four a sense of occasion that indoor Healdsburg dining rarely matches. For groups, Hazel Hill also offers two private dining spaces: the Oak Room, a glass-enclosed semi-private room with a modern treehouse aesthetic, and Madrone, which has a balcony overlooking the vineyards. Both work well for corporate dinners or milestone celebrations where a degree of privacy matters.
Both lunch and dinner are served at Hazel Hill, and the choice affects value more than most diners expect. Lunch on the terrace is the stronger proposition for most visitors. The light, produce-forward menu , oysters with Asian pear mignonette, raw bigeye tuna with blood orange and Sicilian pistachios , pairs well with daytime views that are frankly better in afternoon light than after dark. You also get the full wine list, which runs to 500 selections across 4,000 bottles of inventory, heavily weighted toward California and France at the $$$ tier, meaning many bottles will exceed $100. Corkage is $40 if you bring your own.
Dinner shifts the experience toward richer plates: Liberty Farms duck breast with rhubarb, turnips, popcorn and pistachios, and the ricotta gnocchi with fava puree, morels, white asparagus and edible flowers if it's on the seasonal menu. The evening format rewards those who want a complete, multi-course meal. For a special-occasion dinner, dinner edges ahead. For a couple looking to make the most of a Sonoma afternoon without committing to a full evening, lunch is the smarter spend.
The gnocchi, when in season, is the standout starter at dinner , ricotta-filled, with morels and white asparagus. The chocolate crunch bar (hazelnut cookie, Valrhona chocolate, Frangelico ice cream) is worth saving room for. Breakfast, served at the property, leans either healthy (granola, coconut yogurt, hazelnuts) or generous (Benedict with Journeyman ham, avocado, and citrus hollandaise). For a cheese course to anchor a wine-focused visit, the four-farmstead selection with local honey and seasonal jam is a direct pairing anchor.
Hazel Hill has planted 450 hazelnut trees on 1.5 acres of the property's grounds, so hazelnuts and truffles appear across menus and will become more prominent over time as those trees mature. The restaurant also plans to eventually pour wine from Montage's own 15.5-acre vineyard, developed under the direction of Jesse Katz of nearby Aperture Cellars. For now, local pours from Poe, Starlite, and Freeman represent the Sonoma character of the list well.
Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diners have a dedicated seasonal harvest menu , a rotating, farm-fresh section that has included dishes like a sorghum bowl with almonds, shaved beets and kale, and slow-cooked arrowhead cabbage with black truffle, wild mushrooms and hazelnuts. This isn't a token acknowledgment: the harvest menu is substantive enough to build a full meal around.
Hazel Hill sits at the leading of the Sonoma price tier, alongside Enclos at $$$$. Between the two, Enclos is the more formal, tasting-menu-oriented choice; Hazel Hill gives you more flexibility in format (à la carte across breakfast, lunch, and dinner) plus a setting advantage if vineyard and mountain views matter to you. For Healdsburg specifically, Single Thread Farm is the ceiling for ambitious dining, with a farm-to-table ethos that goes further and a price point to match , worth the comparison if you're deciding between the two for a milestone occasion.
Cafe La Haye in Sonoma proper is the closest peer in terms of Californian cuisine at the $$$ tier, but operates in a more intimate, town-restaurant format without the resort setting. It's the better choice if you want a neighbourhood meal rather than a destination experience. Layla at MacArthur Place offers a wine-country Californian format at a lower price point and is easier to access for non-hotel guests. El Molino Central at $$ is the value alternative if the food, not the setting, is your priority.
Against California's broader high-end Californian dining field , including The French Laundry in Napa and Caruso's in Montecito , Hazel Hill is more accessible in booking and price, with a setting that holds its own. It's positioned as a resort restaurant that punches above that category, not as a destination-dining landmark competing with Le Bernardin or Alinea. That's the right framing to hold when deciding whether to book.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Hill | Californian | The terrace at Hazel Hill places you above Montage Healdsburg's vineyards, with the Mayacamas Mountains’ rolling hills unfolding beyond them and Mount St. Helena looming in the distance. It’s a stunning Sonoma scene.; WINE: Wine Strengths: California, France Pricing: $$$ i Wine pricing: Based on the list\'s general markup and high and low price points:$ has many bottles < $50;$$ has a range of pricing;$$$ has many $100+ bottles Corkage Fee: $40 Selections: 500 Inventory: 4,000 CUISINE: Cuisine Types: French Pricing: $$$ i Cuisine pricing: The cost of a typical two-course meal, not including tip or beverages.$ is < $40;$$ is $40–$65;$$$ is $66+. Meals: Lunch and Dinner STAFF: People Wine Director: Richard Hummell Sommelier: Scott Barber Chef: Jason Pringle General Manager: Richard Hummell; The terrace at Hazel Hill places you above Montage Healdsburg's vineyards, with the Mayacamas Mountains’ rolling hills unfolding beyond them and Mount St. Helena looming in the distance. It’s a stunning Sonoma scene. A ... **Our Inspector's Highlights Reserve a table on the sizable terrace so that you can take in the fresh air and glimpse at the vineyard and the rest of the bucolic scenery.If it's in season, be sure to order the gnocchi. The plump, ricotta-filled morsels arrive with fava puree, morels, white asparagus and edible flowers for some brightness.Wine is a must. Sip pours from local labels like Poe, Starlite and Freeman. Eventually, the Sonoma restaurant also will serve wine from Montage’s 15.5-acre vineyard, which is under the direction of Jesse Katz of the excellent nearby Aperture Cellars.Vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free diners will want to peruse the seasonal harvest menu at the Sonoma restaurant. The rotating, farm-fresh section could include a sorghum bowl with almonds, shaved beets, kale and aged apple cider, as well as slow-cooked arrowhead cabbage with black truffle, wild mushrooms and hazelnuts.For a meaty option, try the succulent Liberty Farms duck breast with rhubarb, turnips, popcorn and pistachios.** **Things to Know The dress code at Hazel Hill is resort casual.The Healdsburg restaurant has two private dining spaces: the glass-enclosed, semi-private Oak Room, whose modern tree-house-inspired design makes you feel like you’re among the trees, and Madrone, which boasts a balcony overlooking the vineyards.The hotel planted 450 hazelnut trees on 1.5 acres of its grounds, so expect truffles and hazelnuts to be featured more prominently in future menus.** **Treatments:** The Food At breakfast, go healthy with the granola with blackberries, coconut yogurt, hazelnuts and chia seeds. Or indulge in the Benedict with local Journeyman ham, avocado, piment d’Espelette and citrus hollandaise.Don’t bypass the appetizers that grace the lunch and dinner menus — you may even want to make several of them your meal. Oysters plucked from the Pacific get a refreshing Asian pear mignonette. And blood orange, Sicilian pistachios and shiso amp up the flavor on strands of fresh, raw bigeye tuna.When you need an accompaniment for your wine, reach for the cheese plate. It comes with four farmstead cheeses, local honey, a seasonal jam, walnuts and toasted country bread.To end on a decadent note, the chocolate crunch bar is an upgraded candy bar with layers of hazelnut cookie and Valrhona chocolate and a quenelle of Frangelico ice cream. For a light and fruity treat, the coconut tapioca pearls with tropical fruit salsa, black sesame and mango sorbet will hit the spot. **Amenities:** 100 Montage Way, Healdsburg, California 95448 | Easy | — | |
| El Molino Central | Mexican | $$ | Unknown | — | |
| Enclos | Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Cafe La Haye | Californian | $$$ | Unknown | — | |
| Layla at MacArthur Place | Californian Wine | Unknown | — | ||
| Poppy | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Hazel Hill measures up.
Yes, with the right table. Request the terrace when booking: the vineyard views and mountain backdrop make the $66+ per head price feel justified in a way an interior table might not. The two private dining spaces — the glass-enclosed Oak Room and the balconied Madrone room — are worth considering for groups wanting more privacy. This is a better special-occasion pick than Cafe La Haye, which is more intimate but lacks the setting; Enclos is the alternative if you want a formal tasting-menu format instead.
Book the terrace explicitly — it's the reason the restaurant earns its $$$ price tier. Lunch is worth considering as an entry point: you get the full setting at what is likely a lighter spend than dinner. Wine adds up fast with a $$$ list of 500 selections and a $40 corkage fee if you bring your own. The menu leans French-Californian under Chef Jason Pringle, and the seasonal harvest section is a reliable option for non-meat eaters.
The dress code is resort casual — the venue data confirms this explicitly. At a Montage property, that means neat, relaxed clothing rather than beachwear or athleisure; you won't need a jacket. Think smart weekend clothes rather than a suit.
Yes, and more substantively than most. Hazel Hill runs a dedicated seasonal harvest menu for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diners — a rotating section separate from the main menu, with dishes built around farm-fresh produce. Past iterations have included a sorghum bowl with almonds, shaved beets, and kale, and slow-cooked cabbage with black truffle and wild mushrooms. It's a stronger plant-forward offering than you'll find at comparable Sonoma restaurants in the $$$ tier.
For a formal tasting-menu experience at the same or higher price point, Enclos is the direct alternative. Cafe La Haye is significantly more affordable and suits a quieter, neighbourhood-restaurant dinner rather than a resort setting. Layla at MacArthur Place is the pick if you want wine-country ambiance without the Montage pricing. El Molino Central and Poppy sit at a lower price tier and serve a different format — casual rather than destination dining.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
