"Chef Ari Weiswasser's wood-fired Sonoma Valley kitchen, where a 650-degree oven blisters vegetables, brick chicken and pizza for a Michelin Guide crowd."
Glen Ellen Star sits at 13648 Arnold Drive in the village of Glen Ellen, in the Sonoma Valley wine country. It anchors part of our Sonoma coverage as the valley's standout wood-fired room.
Chef Ari Weiswasser and his wife Erinn Benziger-Weiswasser opened it in 2012, after he cooked at Daniel, Picholine, Corton and The French Laundry. The restaurant is listed in the Michelin Guide.
A custom 650-degree wood oven sits at the heart of the kitchen and shapes the menu. Signatures include blistered and charred seasonal vegetables, brick chicken, whole-roasted branzino and a list of wood-fired pizzas. Cooking is Californian and produce-led, much of it from the restaurant's own garden.
The format is shareable and seasonal rather than a fixed tasting menu, and the local wine list leans on Sonoma bottles. Spend is mid-to-upper for the valley.
The room is small and warm — 24 seats plus an 8-seat chef's counter looking onto the kitchen and its oven. The counter is the seat to request for the full view of the fire.
It is a relaxed wine-country room rather than a formal dining room, and it books up. Reserve ahead, especially at weekends and in harvest season.
Glen Ellen Star suits a wine-country anniversary, a relaxed first date or an easy business dinner. For other Sonoma Valley tables, compare The Girl & the Fig, Cafe La Haye and Diavola.
Not for a hushed, white-tablecloth tasting-menu evening or a large group — it is a small, casual, wood-fired room built around shared, produce-led plates.
Wood-fired Californian cooking in Sonoma Valley, from chef Ari Weiswasser. A custom 650-degree wood oven drives the menu, with signatures including blistered vegetables, brick chicken, whole-roasted branzino and wood-fired pizza. It is listed in the Michelin Guide.
Ari Weiswasser, who opened it in 2012 with his wife Erinn Benziger-Weiswasser after cooking at Daniel, Picholine, Corton and The French Laundry.
At 13648 Arnold Drive in the village of Glen Ellen, in the Sonoma Valley wine country.
Yes — it is a small room of 24 seats plus an 8-seat chef's counter, and books up at weekends and in harvest season.
The blistered vegetables, brick chicken and wood-fired pizzas are signatures, with the chef's counter the best seat for watching the oven.
Book ahead, especially at weekends; request the chef's counter. Find Glen Ellen Star at 13648 Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen.
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Glen Ellen Star anchors part of our Sonoma guide — chef Ari Weiswasser's wood-fired Sonoma Valley kitchen on Arnold Drive, a Michelin Guide table open since 2012.
See the Sonoma guide →