Shed aka Healdsburg Shed 
25 North St Healdsburg, CA 
http://healdsburgshed.com/about/
Review date: May 2014

Question: what is The Shed? 

(1) A kitchenware store? (2) Gourmet deli? (3) Produce market? (4) Café? (5) Event space? (6) Pretentious wanna-be foodie community hotspot?

Answer: Probably all the above.

Healdsburg is Sonoma's Yountville. And like Yountville, finding cheap healthy food isn't easy unless you're well away from the downtown Square. Shed fills that hole as stylishly as possible, while being only a few steps from the Green. 

It's a good-sized two-story building, in the popular "Industrial Loft" look. It neighbors the Chalkboard restaurant in the Hotel Les Mars, and is across the street from the modest public parking lot. In-between Shed and the hotel is a nice little California Natives garden and walking trail.

We popped in to take a look around before lunching at Chalkboard. The deli section of prepared foods looked interesting, very Whole Food-ish, although we didn't buy anything. There's a small cheese and charcuterie section, just enough for picnickers. 

All of the departments are smaller than you would expect from looking at that soaring exterior. The selections are limited, upscale and expensive. I found a soy sauce brand I was interested in trying – the only American-grown, American-made soy sauce, called Bluegrass. It's produced in Kentucky by Bourbon Barrel Foods, and aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Not cheap, 100 ml (about 3.4 oz) is $7. But very, very good. It makes the standard soyas taste harsh and even chalky.

I've no idea whether Shed will be successful in its "Grange" efforts to celebrate the Healdsburg community folks. The website has no menus, no schedule of events. You can follow their blog, or through Facebook/Twitter.

If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive picnic table meal around Healdsburg Square, the Shed may be worth a visit. And if you do, let me know how the food tastes! Considering our disappointment with Chalkboard, we might have been better off buying Shed's deli offerings.