Santé 100 Boyes Blvd. Sonoma Valley 707-938-9000
fairmont-sonoma.com/dine/sante Breakfast, daily 7 to 11 a.m. (Sunday to 1 p.m.) Dinner, Thursday to Monday, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
The sumptuous fish soup featured black cod in a creamy rouille, enhanced by various mollusks and a rich Bodega crab broth. Grilled bread included for dipping. The duck was also a highlight. Tender and savory, mushrooms and a celery root puree were perfect accompaniments. We only just had room to finish off the meal with a shared blueberry financier ($15)—a softly baked blueberry muffin with a port mascarpone mousse—this light dessert was just the ticket following our rich entrees. Santé is one of those rare resort restaurants that caters as much to locals as visitors—it’s a favorite of Sonoma residents looking for fine dining off the downtown plaza. For the better part of a century, the Springs neighborhood was a getaway destination for wellness and haute cuisine. Today, the Fairmont and Santé carry on the flame. t
Did You Know? The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa’s original incarnation was as the Boyes Hot Springs Hotel, opened in the early 1900s by Captain H.E. Boyes. Boyes made his fortune in the area in the late 19th century when a work project drilled into naturally occurring hot mineral waters several dozen feet below the ground, setting the scene for the wellness resorts that would define the Boyes Hot Springs area for decades to come. The hotel was renamed the Sonoma Mission Inn in 1928.
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.
Sante’s menu is French-inspired.
June 2025
NorthBaybiz 49
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