Several weeks back, in a post titled SF Chronicle is Hot for Healdsburg, we learned that our little town was making quite a splash outside of our little town.  Namely, in the Bay Area media. Well, we’re (more than) happy to report that news has spread to our Southern half of the state as well.  And this weekend’s LA Times Travel section is all about Healdsburg.

There’s the story about how the food revolution has transformed Healdsburg from a sleepy Sonoma County village to a food-and-wine haven.  These days, writes Janis Cooke Newman, Healdsburg is “where the Slow Food Movement meets the Wine Spectator, and the only downside is that there aren’t enough meals in a weekend to try everything.”  Though she admits, it’s not for lack of trying.  Lucky for us, she’s rather smitten with Dry Creek Kitchen.  In her great roundup of the some of the best places to eat, she writes:

“The actual definition of heaven just might be spending a warm Sonoma afternoon or evening on the arbor-shaded patio of the Dry Creek Kitchen, where you nibble on the house-made charcuterie (with three kinds of mustard) or the salmon carpaccio decorated with tiny edible flowers. If that’s not enough to propel you into paradise, you’ll find 650 local wines on Dry Creek’s wine list. As with Barndiva, the focus here is on local ingredients. On Saturdays, you’re likely to spot chef Dustin Valette at the Healdsburg Farmers Market, planning that night’s menu, but at DCK, those local ingredients receive a dose of sophistication. Think American Kobe flat-iron steak served with a sunchoke mousseline.”

And in another feature about Healdsburg’s “green fever,” writer Bonnie Wach kicks off the story with a rather humorous anecdote about her Beyond Organics biodynamic treatment at our Spa.

“I’m lying naked facedown on a table while a masseuse anoints my feet with a balm of freshly crushed organic Meyer lemon, sage and olive oil. Part of me finds the sensation ‘rejuvenating’ and ‘invigorating,’ as the spa description promised. The other part is fighting the urge to roll over and give myself a good licking. It’s a good thing I didn’t go for the body wrap of local organic honey and Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc.”

She continues, “Welcome to Healdsburg, once an agricultural backwater known as the buckle on the Prune Belt but now the fashionable heart of tree-hugging Sonoma wine country, where the gospel of green (the Earth-friendly and the Abe Lincoln variety) is preached everywhere.”

That’s funny stuff.

In addition to the great coverage on The Spa, the story goes on to spotlight our new sister spot, h2hotel, and the seasonal food and drink menu at Spoonbar. Among other green things in town.  (More on this article is forthcoming on the h2blog).

Read it for yourself.  And then do the right thing.  Book your trip to Healdsburg before toooo many folks find out about it.