Baci offers kiss of Italian in heart of Healdsburg

The heart of town has always been the 300 block of Healdsburg Avenue -- where  Harmon Heald first set up his country store, where the first hotel opened, where the horse-drawn carriages stopped on their way to the Geysers, and where by 1900 there was a beer garden at one end of the block and a bank at the other.

These days the block has a more leisure-class air – ladies salons, clothing, stationery stores, art galleries and a tasting room or two. So it’s good to find a kiss of Italian cuisine in this heart of town in the form of , at 336 Healdsburg Ave. And “kiss” is just the right word, as that’s the translation for Baci.

Actually the full line of Italian on co-owner Lisbeth Holmefjord’s business card reads “Vorrei Coprir La Tua Bocca Di Baci, Per Dirti Quanto Mi Pianci!” The translation as given on the restaurant’s website is "May I cover your lips with kisses, to tell you how much I like you?" Whether it’s a question or a promise, it’s a provocative slogan, guaranteeing more pleasures to come.

The pleasures of Baci begin upon entrance, to find a large room to the left that’s comfortably full of modern tables and wooden chairs, a wine bar fronting a somewhat smaller room to the right, and usually the welcoming presence of Lisbeth Holmefjord herself. A friendly, sparkling woman with good wit and a Scandinavian accent, Lisbeth is the former public relations director for the upscale , and now manages her own PR firm Premier Cru Creative as well as the Baci restaurant.

In the kitchen is her husband, Shari Sarabi, whom she met over 20 years ago at his restaurant in Honolulu. “I’m Norwegian, he’s Iranian, and we met in Hawaii,” Lisbeth enjoys saying. They eventually had three Baci restaurants in Hawaii – and three boys as well, all of whom are musically talented (at least so says their mother); the middle son is in an exclusive conservancy in Singapore studying to be a concert pianist.

The Healdsburg restaurant opened just one year ago – April 1, 2010 – in the space formerly occupied by Manzanita, and years before that by the China Palace. Neither of those places ever quite made the leap into the New Healdsburg, but Baci is off at a full gallop as its first anniversary approaches.

The menu culls from the favorite dishes prepared over the years by Shari, with an emphasis on Italian cuisine. We met first ate here at the Strolling Dine-Around benefit last December, when we enjoyed a rich and savory Pasta and Fajoli soup, their Gambaretti Marinati, large Gulf Ship that are first grilled then chilled, with lime, feta cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh mint.

The Gambaretti was still on the menu – it’s a house specialty -- along with the appetizers we chose this time, Insalata di Barbabietole (wood oven roasted red and gold beet salad), and Caprese Autunnale (mozzarella with oven-roasted tomatoes with basil). The wood oven – which Manzanita installed for pizza – is still on the premisis, and being given a good workout and appropriate use not only in the oven-roasted beets and tomatoes, but in the four pizzas offered as lighter meals. (The oven-roasted tomatoes make for a nice upgrade from the oil-soaked dried tomatoes often used in a caprese.)

As well as antipasti and pizza, in keeping with Italian tradition additional “courses” are offered – the Pasta dishes including Risotto and Gnocci, and the meat selection of Pesce, Carne e Pollo. We shared the Gnocci Rustico – of which Lisbeth and Shari are justifiably proud -- rich buttery slugs of potato in a pomegranate reduction with butternut squash and oven-roasted tomatoes; and Anitra Arrostitta con Zuccha, wood-oven roasted breast of duck with a very similar reduction.

I asked our waitress, Lauren, if there were a house sommelier, and she was quick to refer me once again to the ubiquitours Lisbeth. Another of her many hospitality skills was in recommending two delicious wines that I had my eye on – the Allegra Syrah and the Dry Creek Zinfandel from Gustafson. Both were striking and well-balanced, and Lisbeth said she was bringing up the wine list to about 200 labels. They also list the Colby Red from Daryl Groom, the blend that is released as a .

That brings up the Wine Bar part of the restaurant. The bar is not large, but has seating for about 6 to 8, and the nearby tables allow for lighter meals (those pizzas) and a more sociable atmosphere. In fact sociability vies with hospitality as a key ingredient in a successful restaurant, and when either one are paired with excellent hand-prepared Italian dishes, you’ve got a darn good eatery on your hands

Baci is also featuring local musicians during the dinner hour on a monthly basis – next Monday they have a jazz trio – and introducing a wine-makers dinner with “Mueller on our Lips” on March 29, a four-course dinner paired with Mueller Winery of the Russian River Valley.

With its cosmopolitan atmosphere, international lineage, wine country connections and service with a smile, add Baci to your home town restaurant list of favorites. It’s the kind of place you’ll be proud to take your out-of-town visitors, and return to on your own when you want the known quantity of quality.