Walter Hansel Wine Bistro
3535 Guerneville Road., Santa Rosa, CA
http://walterhanselbistro.com/menu/
Review date: March 2014

Located on the edge where Santa Rosa meets Forestville, a small farmhouse-style building formerly housed Zazu restaurant (which I confess to continually confusing with Zuzu in Napa). Zazu is a popular restaurant with locals and visitors, so in 2013 they relocated to a larger space in The Barlow in neighboring Sebastopol, a repurposed industrial compound which has been turned into a variety of artisanal and upscale specialty shops.

Zazu's former space was quickly snapped up by the Walter Hansel Winery, which was looking to cash in on the current winery-to-garden-to-table craze. They hired Philippe Colasse, a French chef with an outstanding resume, including a Michelin star at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon/Las Vegas. With only a minimal amount of remodeling needed, Hansel opened up this Cal-French bistro.

We, of course, are suckers for any restaurant claiming to be French. The opportunity to try a new place with our friends Mel and Christie, whom we have introduced to the joys of Gallic cooking, was irresistible. So we chose Walter Hansel over our previous fav, Bistro 29/Sebastopol. 

The restaurant has a small parking lot, which is a disadvantage because street parking on the side road is actually quite difficult. On our first go-around the lot was full, and there was enough daylight to see that we couldn't just pull over to park along the edges of the side road – there weren't any! It's the type of narrow country road where 2' deep drainage channels are cut parallel to the road, and only the private driveways intersect the public road at the same height. 

Fortunately as we swung around to see if there was any parking on Guerneville Rd. itself, we saw someone pull out of their parking lot space, and immediately drove back into the lot to claim it!

One disadvantage of a primetime dinner reservation on a weekend is the noise. It's really deafening inside this restaurant when it's full, being a long narrow rectangle with a semi-open kitchen. One of the first things the waitress said to us as we sat down, was to apologize for the noise, and mention the staff had asked management to do something about it. Fortunately, as tables emptied the din lessened as well, so we were able to come out at the end without our ears ringing.

We ordered our selections, then received a nice little amuse bouche of cheddar cauliflower purée. There was a light touch of butter in it, nothing overpowering, and it was very tasty.

First to arrive were the marinated olives, a mix of black and green olives of different types. But they didn't really seem marinated in anything. We agreed they were uninteresting, and not worth ordering again. 

Mel chose the romaine and goat cheese salad to start, with the lobster bisque as her entrée. The romaine was whole leaves, and the goat cheese was dabbed onto a thin toasted croute that was as long as the bowl was wide. Very simple, yet a lovely presentation. She said the dressing was excellent and the greens were fresh.

The lobster bisque was the classic en croute. Enlivened with a good dash of cognac, the stock was well flavored with little or no base used, and chunks of lobster meat. The puff pastry top was precisely what it should be. The portion size was just right: not too big, not too small.

[Croute refers to a larger slice of bread that is toasted; croutons are the miniatures of a croute. En croute means either wrapped or topped with a pastry dough, almost always a flaky, buttery, puff pastry.] 

Christie selected the evening's special of a leek and potato purée, which came with a hazelnut cream disk and a small pile of crisped brown leek shreds. She said it was one of the best leek and potato soups she had ever had. 

Her entrée was the flatiron steak with maitre d'hotel butter, pommes frites (french fries), and hydroponic watercress. She scraped off most of the butter, not liking the mix of herbs, but said the steak was delicious, with an excellent au jus. She loved the battered fries, but the surprise of the evening was how much she loved her first taste of watercress.

I was frankly surprised by the size of the hydroponic watercress salad that accompanied the steak (the frites come in a separate cone server). Hydroponic-grown watercress is the best type to buy, but it's expensive. There was easily 1-1/2 to 2 cups of leaves on the plate, with very few stems. There didn't appear to be any oil dressing, but the cress had a faint flowery aroma, as if it were lightly sprinkled with rosewater. As Mel remarked, it isn't very often she sees Christie finish off her salad greens when there's a steak on the same plate!

Carlos was in a seafood mood tonight. He picked the aforementioned lobster bisque as his starter, and enjoyed it as much as Mel enjoyed hers. For his entrée he selected the corvina, aka sea bass, with beurre blanc, crispy onion rings, potato gratin Savoyard, and baby wild arugula. I took a taste of his good-sized entrée and thought both the fish and the sauce were excellent. Carlos actually prefers his fish and steak without any sauce, but the filet was quite large and tall, so he could eat it without getting more than a touch of butter sauce on the bottom of each bite. He said the gratin was excellent, the arugula scant.

For my starter I chose the confit duck gizzard salad, with frisée, lardons, king oyster mushrooms, and a bacon vinaigrette. The ingredients suggested this was a variant of my favorite salad Lyonnaise. The waitress brought the properly poached egg (61 degrees, for those who are picky about these details) and slid it on top. But when it was mixed I was very disappointed to find the vinegar was too strong and applied much too generously. All one could taste was straight vinegar; it completely overwhelmed any taste of egg or bacon. I called the waitress over and asked the dish be returned to the kitchen. 

In its place I requested the leek and potato purée that Christie had. It was brought out fairly quickly, but everyone had finished their own starters by then. The kitchen had to hold our entrées, which they did without being asked (so kudos to them for handling this properly, unlike some restaurants which shall remain nameless).

For my entrée I chose Beef Bourguignon, the classic French stew. WHB was using Pinot Noir braised short ribs with glazed vegetables (pearl onions and thin carrot batons), applewood smoked bacon lardoons, and pomme purée. It also came with crispy fried kale leaves, a nice surprise. I found the short ribs a little oversalted, but the potatoes and gravy were undersalted so overall it was fine. The beef was tasty and fall-apart tender, with just a little fat left for savoriness. It wasn't the best version I've ever had – I prefer it with a cognac flambé after the browning – but it was very good. The beef is so lean nowadays, it's a smart idea to use short ribs, which are one of the few cuts that retains sufficient marbling these days for a classic braise.

Mel had an Ace cider; Christie a Blue Moon ale. I had an iced tea, which was a cranberry and black tea. Although the waitress said it was slightly sweet, it was hardly sweet at all, which was fine with me. The wine list features several proprietary wines made for it by the Walter Hansel Winery. 

For dessert, Christie chose the red raspberries with crème fraiche and meringue crumbles. The berries were sweet, the crème fraiche perfect. She asked about their tea selection, but the choices were few: Earl Grey, and two herbal teas. The waitress said they would be improving their tea selection, and apologized for the dearth of choices. Christie asked for steamed milk instead, and as the bistro has an espresso machine, they were able to accommodate her.

Mel chose the Floating island, which was a non-traditional version of a cup custard atop meringue, with some sliced almonds on top and a garnish of a couple of slices of sugared fresh ginger. She gave those to Carlos and me, as she doesn't like ginger.

Carlos and I finished with cappuccinos, which were very good.

As we were finishing up, the waitress came by one last time. She was holding two bottles and four glasses, and offered us the choice of Taylor Fladgate 10 yr Port, or a 2009 lower-rank Sauternes. Both were free; apparently Hansel is trying to decide which one to add to the menu. At first Mel and Christie were going to try the port, but then changed their minds and joined us for glasses of the Sauternes. 

Sauternes is Carlos' second-favorite wine (his first is a once-in-a-lifetime-experience: a 40-year old Burklin-Wolf Trockenbeerenauslese!). Although light and young, this had the classic soft floweriness of the French dessert wine, and was delightfully smooth. So although I'm always saying that Carlos doesn't drink, he was happy to have a 2-oz pour of the Sauternes, and finished all of his glass.

All four of us enjoyed Walter Hansel Wine Bistro, and would be happy to return. The French food in Sonoma Cty is beginning to rival our beloved favs in Monterey, albeit with more driving from place to place. The countryside was beautiful, the hills and trees finally showing some fragile green growth which will quickly disappear in a few months. 

Carlos and I will be coming back for a longer trip in mid-May, and will look forward to a comparison of Bistro 29 and K&L Bistro against Walter Hansel. The four of us agreed that Bravas Tapas/Healdsburg was excellent, but Hansel Bistro was very slightly better – which is high praise, indeed.

Four people, dinner: Four starters, four entrées, two desserts, four beverages, with tip was $223.