Openings

New Restaurants in Healdsburg: Chalkboard, SHED, and Partake

The former Cyrus, transformed.
The former Cyrus, transformed. Photo: Courtesy of Chalkboard

Last week marked the debuts of one new spot in Healdsburg, where the food scene has been blowing up in general over the last eighteen months or so, and new tasting rooms are opening up left and right too. Chalkboard, the new casual spot taking over the former Cyrus space, opened quietly last week. As you can see in the photo above, new owner Bill Foley, who owns the Hotel Les Mars, made use of the Venetian-style vaulted ceiling from the dining room and made it all feel a lot less formal. The chef is Shane McAnelly, formerly of Va de Vi in Walnut Creek, and he’s working with a a three-acre garden at Foley’s nearby Chalk Hill Winery (hence the restaurant name).

The daily changing menu includes crudos, tartare, just-picked salads, handmade pastas, roasted and grilled meats, and seafood, and dishes include fava bean and baby artichoke salad; buttermilk fried quail; and housemade wild nettle and ricotta gnudi with mushrooms and Meyer lemon. See the full menu here. There is also a full cocktail bar, focused on the classics with a few original creations, and wine by the glass, bottle, or flight.

Right next door, there’s SHED, which we just shared news of a couple weeks back. That’s a huge home and garden complex that includes a restaurant and cafe.

Around the corner and down the street on Healdsburg Avenue, Kendall-Jackson has taken over what was formerly Shimo Modern Steak House (the short-lived venture from the Cyrus team, at 241 Healdsburg Avenue). The new concept is called Partake by K-J, and their goal is to “redefine the tasting experience” with a civilized lounge setting and small-bites menu.

Assuming you like Kendall-Jackson wines, it could make for a good transition between afternoon tasting and dinner, with wine flights, food pairings, and an à la carte menu by Kendall-Jackson Executive Chef Justin Wangler, including things like panna cotta with Dungeness crab and Meyer lemon salad; and the aforementioned Cabernet fries.


Chalkboard - 29 North Street, Healdsburg - 707-473-8030 - Open daily for dinner at 5 p.m., with the bar opening at 5 p.m. Lunch service to kick off in July.

SHED - 25 North Street, Healdsburg - 707-431-7433 - Open daily, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Partake by K-J - 241 Healdsburg Avenue - 707-433-6000 - Open Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m. Reserve also via the web.

New Restaurants in Healdsburg: Chalkboard, SHED, and Partake