Seasonal cocktails are the biggest draw at St. Helena's former Martini House restaurant. Bay Area mixologist Scott Beattie's cocktails are kitchen-sink affairs with shiso, galangal, pickled veggies, and artisanal boozes that become drinkable works of art. Duck fat fries, polenta cakes and grilled burgers, and roasted bone marrow set a solid base for continued sipping.[Photo]

A downtown Napa bar that stood empty for decades got a multi-million dollar facelift to become one of the town's hippest hangouts. NY's AvroKo group (Public, Saxon + Parole) brings serious chef power with Brad Farmerie, who created a locally sourced, casual menu of burgers, roast chicken, and grilled Montery Bay squid along with a stand-out cocktail program.[Photo]

A little bit of NYC in Sonoma County, chef Liza Hinman heads up the kitchen with wine guru Giovanni Cerrone and Eric Anderson (a local who’s involved with Prune NYC) working behind the scenes. The menu is broken into a series of sections: Bites ($2-$4) are exactly that; Charcuterie and Cheese Plates ($6-$16); Veggies ($5-$7); Small Plates ($7-$14) and Large Plates ($14-16). Each works beautifully as a single sonnet, or together as an epic poem.[Photo]

More than a pizzeria and less than a white-tablecloth experience, Pizzando hits the sweet spot in between with impressive appetizers like oil-poached albacore; slow-braised pork shoulder with pickled plums, and caraway roasted squash draped with lardo (all $9).[Photo]

This hobbit-hole of a restaurant has only a handful of tables and barely a galley kitchen, but somehow manages to turn out rustic-luxe, farm-to-table eats including roasted tomatoes with fresh balls of mozzarella, basil pesto and pine nuts, crab cakes with cilantro aioli and roasted eggplant, fresh fish tacos, and mascarpone cheesecake with swirls of lemon curd.[Photo]

With all of the easy of The Big Easy, Rob Lippincott’s New Orleans cafe draws you in with homey charm, Southern comfort and a menu that’s pure French Quarter. Open for breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday, you’ll be hard-pressed to find more authentic Louisiana cooking this side of the mighty Miss.[Photo]

Tucked well back from the street, brother and sister team Manuel and Lucia Azevedo have brought the "Nova Cozinha Portuguesa" - or new Portuguese cuisine - of Manuel's highly acclaimed La Salette restaurant in Sonoma to their northern neighbors. Many of the dishes will be familiar to La Salette regulars, including richly flavored Portuguese nose-to-tail "task" or tasting plates of tripe stew, blood sausage, pig’s feet terrine and sardine pate.[Photo]

Josh Silvers transformed the former Syrah Bistro once again into Three Squares, re-envisioning it as a casual breakfast, lunch and dinner spot with a mix of homey comfort classics and a few "healthier" options after the chef-owner lost more than 30 pounds in 2012.[Photo]

With just eight dining tables and a handful of seats around the open kitchen, every inch of Glen Ellen Star is prime real estate. At the glowing heart of the restaurant: Chef Ari Weiswasser’s 650-degree custom-built wood oven that perfumes the entire block with its smoke. Combining classic French techniques, razor-focused attention to detail, and exotic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices in every dish, Glen Ellen Star hasn’t wasted any time getting up to speed.[Photo]

Bob Simontacchi creates a rustic American menu around a wood-fired oven and grill with smoked short ribs, grilled Angus hangar steak, Prather Ranch burgers and Sonoma fried chicken. [Photo]