SUNLIGHT STREAMS THROUGH my room’s Juliet balcony, casting a gentle spotlight on the low dining table at the foot of my bed. Oblivious to the waking streets below, my attention is on the parade of elegant handmade Japanese earthenware holding jewel-like bites of food before me.
Cedar-roasted sweet miso-marinaded salmon is framed by a stoic pot of yuzu kosho donabe rice, miso soup, and a wooden box revealing silken tofu cubes in dashi broth. Injected between like a row of pawns there’s dashimaki tamago (omelet), homemade tsukemono (pickles), brown-butter glazed daikon, fresh berries, vegetable and snap pea salad, plus side dishes of ginger and scallion garnish.
Hands at work: cedar-roasted miso salmon, yuzu kosho rice, miso soup, and silken tofu come together in a perfect farm-to-table moment. Courtesy of SingleThread
I’d happily become a morning person if every day began this way.
I’m at SingleThread, a restaurant, five-bedroom inn, and farm in Healdsburg, California, created by Kyle and Katina Connaughton. This three Michelin-starred destination in Sonoma County offers a dreamy in-room Japanese breakfast as part of its full-service experience. The morning banquet follows a multi-course feast the evening before at SingleThread’s namesake restaurant, which showcases the pristine variety of vegetables, fruits, and flowers from the Connaughtons’ 24-acre farm in the Dry Creek Valley. Their dedication to quality and hospitality, refined by the Japanese concept of omotenashi – sincere selfless service – has earned SingleThread recognition from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
SingleThread restaurant interior. Photo: Garret Rowland/SingleThread
But how did the couple turn a small-town slice of Americana, just 112 kilometres from San Francisco, into a gastronomic destination? The answer: Chef Alice Waters and Chez Panisse.
At 23, the Connaughtons travelled from Los Angeles to get married in Mendocino, stopping in Healdsburg along the way for a celebratory lunch at Waters’ Chez Panisse. Kyle recalls: “We pulled off the road after driving through this amazing countryside. We were young, totally broke, but [the region] inspired us.”
After spending time in Hokkaido, Japan, and at the world-renowned Fat Duck in Bray, England, the Connaughtons moved to Healdsburg with their young family. It took more than two years for Kyle, one of America’s top chefs, and his wife Katina, head farmer and horticulturalist, to develop their farm and fine dining restaurant.
SingleThread’s impressive farm consist of greenhouses, an heirloom orchard, an apiary, and a garden that supplies the floral designs used for the restaurant. Photo: Kim Carroll/SingleThread
In 2016, and 17 years later, they opened SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn. “SingleThread would not exist if it wasn’t, quite literally, for Chez Panisse,” Kyle continues. “It started the movement that created the trajectory of our careers and led us to discover where we are today. Alice Waters loves our story.”
A slice of sourdough blanketed with smashed avocado, a hearty cobb salad loaded with bacon and blue cheese, or a barbecue chicken pizza – these are just a taste of California Cuisine. Characterized by using local ingredients, the regional movement proudly embraces the farm-to-table ethos, sourcing fresh produce, seafood, and lean meats from local farms and independent producers. This approach is inspired by French culinary values, which ensures that every meal is fresh, high-quality, and supports sustainable food practices.
The exquisite and artfully presented dishes from SingleThread, a Three Michelin Star restaurant and inn located in Healdsburg, California. Photo: John Troxell/SingleThread
California Cuisine emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. Initially considered radical, the movement was spearheaded by a wave of both self-taught and women chefs who prioritised ideas and fresh ingredients over traditional recipes. It stood in opposition to the frozen and processed food trends of the time, and led to culinary innovations like food trucks, tasting menus, communal dining, and pop-up dinners.
Trailblazers like Waters championed this movement and, in 1971, she opened her now-iconic Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, that’s become synonymous with sustainable and responsible dining. As the movement evolved, dining rooms became more informal (but maintained high white-tablecloth restaurant standards). Concepts like open kitchens – many with wood-fired ovens, small plates with wines by the glass, and daily changing menus – a hallmark of the locavore ethic Waters championed – became widespread.
Kyle Connaughton, renowned chef, and his wife Katina Connaughton, farmer, at their acclaimed restaurant and inn, SingleThread. Photo: Emma Morris/SingleThread
Despite modern movements and fleeting trends, California Cuisine’s impact on North American menus is fascinating. It has evolved beyond simple farm-to-table principles, now supporting good food systems, artisanal craftspeople, and entire communities. Kyle describes the internationally recognized scene as a quilt of diverse patches, not defined by cuisine or price point, which comes together as an inclusive and beautiful whole.
Kyle developed a deep appreciation for the locavore ethic while working with culinary legends – and direct descendants of Waters’ kitchen – Wolfgang Puck, Nancy Silverton, and Suzanne Goin at iconic Los Angeles spots Spago, Campanile, A.O.C., and Lucques, respectively. He credits California’s agricultural biodiversity, long growing seasons, direct chef-producer connections, and embrace of different cultures for driving creativity – including plant-forward approaches – in the state’s vibrant food scene.
“Katina and I grew up in Los Angeles, surrounded by different cultural influences – Japanese, Chinese, Mexican,” Kyle explains. While SingleThread features Japanese influences, it’s not identified as a Japanese restaurant. Instead, it firmly allows nature to dictate the menu. “Our creativity stems from the landscape and what Katina is growing, soon to grow and currently harvesting,” says Kyle. “It’s similar to the seasonal cooking style in Japan; we don’t have a signature dish but rather tell the story of today.”
Chef Alice Waters was thinking about the culture she wanted to create in her restaurant, he adds, while turning the spotlight on the community by listing the farms on her menus, thus recognising the farmers as players, not just the chefs. “We’re continuing that legacy.” Now, that’s something to savour.
