Celebrity Chef Opens Take Out Restaurant At Cornerstone Sonoma

Black truffle chicken hand pies, steak tartare with fried capers and hash browns, wild mushroom tartine and fried chicken with hot honey are on the opening menu of Folktable, a new restaurant from Top Chef finalist Casey Thompson.

The takeout-only restaurant at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma is the first of several eateries planned by the Napa-based celebrity chef.  Thompson announced plans to open another restaurant, Georgette, last February in the former General’s Daughter. Due to the pandemic, that was put on hold. Folktable replaces the short-lived Palooza Beer Garden and Eatery, which opened last spring.

Like the gardens, the new restaurant falls under the growing brand umbrella of Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group owned by developers Ken and Stacey Mattson. Thompson took the reins as executive chef for SBHG last year, working with familiar Sonoma icons including Ramekins and Cornerstone Gardens. The portfolio also includes Dirty Girl Donuts and Sojourn Cellars, with plans to launch Motha Clucka (a breakfast spot in Boyes Hot Springs) and Thompson’s Georgette restaurant next year.

The intriguing Folktable menu overseen by executive sous chef Melanie Wilkerson also includes tasty dishes like salt and pepper fries with malt vinegar aioli, chicken soup with pancetta, open-faced Dungeness crab sandwiches, low-braised lentil soup, an Angus beef burger, banana cream pie, and buttermilk carrot cake. Wilkerson and Thompson met while at Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.

While it may seem an unfortunate time to launch a restaurant, organizers say that the opening date had long been decided and staff hired, and their takeout concept works well with new guidelines. Open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, visitors are able to eat on the sprawling Cornerstone property, enjoying the winter gardens of this beautiful but long-challenged space.

23584 Arnold Dr., Sonoma, 707-356-3567

By: Heather Irwin