Campo Fina

Healdsburg, September 4, 2013—

NO PHOTO AGAIN TONIGHT: I was too busy eating, talking, and having fun. We dined in town with a couple of friends who'd come up for a glass of wine and snacks and then dinner in town. We decided to introduce them to this place — just now I think my favorite eatery in Healdsburg, which isn't exactly lacking for good places.

Campo Fina has a very nice outdoors dining room, and it was a balmy evening, just right for sharing — talk, memories, plans, and "small plates." And this is what we had:

Tuna stuffed peppers
marinated chickpeas with tuna conserve
hard boiled eggs with salsa verde and pickled celery
ciabatta and olive oil
burrata with grilled bread and heirloom tomatoes
soppressata di testa with chili, chopped egg, and salsa verde
escarole salad with pecorino, white anchovy, pine nuts and vinaigrette
pizza Napoletana
gelato: vanilla and pistacchio (which turned out to be walnut, but welcome)

Bardolino, 2010 — but what? Damn: forgot to take note!

AND, OH, SNACKS: we had Franco Dunn's smooth, delicate chicken-liver mousse and two cheeses: Ol Sciur, a creamy blue goat cheese from Bergamo whose rind is rubbed with rose petals and red berries, and Fleur Verte, a goat tomme treated with savory, tarragon, thyme, and pink peppercorns. Both cheeses were delicious, floral, complex, and balanced, and they and the mousse went perfectly with three half-bottles of Auslese, Maximin Grünhäuser, Herrenberg, 2001. Thanks, John!

• Campo Fina, 330 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, California; 707.395.4640