Dry Creek Kitchen

This upscale haunt of famed Chef Charlie Palmer is attached to the sleek Hotel Healdsburg. Its wine list beams with Sonoma pride, and every night brings a chance to discover new producers and finely aged pours. The vaulted room is airy and refined, with white tablecloths and windows overlooking the downtown square.
The cooking is distinctly American, with farm-sourced ingredients prepared in an anything but heavy-handed manner. Start with a delicate mushroom tart brimming with turnips; then comes gnocchi in a lamb ragù with black garlic purée and watercress. Dessert is a must, thanks to such recent favorites as poppy seed-olive oil cake with citrus gel; lemon tart with pistachio sable; and strawberry mousse buried under its own unique world of toppings.