Arandas 29 North St., Healdsburg 707-473-8030 Arandashealdsburg.com
Lunch, Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner, daily 5 to 9 p.m. Happy Hour, Monday to Friday, 4 to 6 p.m.
Bustamante Paloma ($16), in which a stiff mezcal is softened by grapefruit and spicy tajin on the rim. Tequila is the specialty, but not the whole story—the beer and wine list is long in its mix of Sonoma County and Latin American brands; rum, vodka and whiskeys from the U.S., Scotland, Ireland and Japan are available as well. Nieto’s flair for global influences shines through in Arandas’s tacos, playfully referred to as “Vitamin Ts” on the menu. The Calabacitas ($24), for example, feature summer squash with Calabrian chiles and pine nuts, lending an Italian twist to the plate. The Cerdo ($32), meanwhile, is filled with radish and green chorizo, which had a smoky, almost-tandoori flavor. The pescado of the day was halibut ($42), served under a yellow Thai- style mole with a surprising cactus salsa; they like to try new things at Arandas. For dessert—the Aztec chocolate terrine with rum custard ($15), highly recommended. Most plates we tried were accompanied by their own uniquely paired salsa—lemon and cucumber, white bean and guajillo, pumpkin seed, cilantro-yogurt varieties all crossed our path—another example of the attention paid to each dish. One of the house favorite salsas is Salsa de Alma, named for (and based on) Nieto’s mom’s recipe, from the Matamoros side of the family. It’s personal touches like these that show through at Arandas. Alma should be proud. t
Did You Know? Arandas grows many of its ingredients at its nearby farm at Chalk Hill Winery; new plantings include tomatillos and specialized peppers.
Jason Walsh is editor in chief of NorthBay biz magazine and northbaybiz.com. A North Bay native, he’s spent his career covering the news, lifestyles and people of Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. When not up to his elbows in page proofs, you can find him and his family exploring all corners of the North Bay from their home base in Novato.
Oysters under a bright mango marinade.
October 2024
NorthBaybiz 63
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