The Green Grocer is a staple of Sonoma County farmers markets. The big, grilled-cheese sandwiches with the griddle-crisped cheese are one of my favorites. The “hippie hash” is good too. Now the popup restaurant and catering service has gone indoors while still maintaining its presence at the markets. The Grocer set up shop in the train car vacated by Starlight Wine Bar and Restaurant at Sebastopol’s Gravenstein Station. The new place is called the Gastronomist but has a Green Grocer sign and chalkboard menu out front in hopes of attracting those who know it by its more familiar name.
The menu includes many of the Grocer’s farmers market dishes (burgers, those grilled cheese sandwiches, eclectic tacos), as well as several more upscale items like foie gras and pumpkin gnocchi. The simpler items best known at the farmers markets are best. The fancier stuff doesn’t translate so well into the fine dining setting of the vintage train car.
The menu offers something for carnivores, vegetarians and even vegans. Though the Green Grocer celebrates local produce and meat (and is happy to accept trade if you’ve got a surplus of produce from your backyard), the wine list on my visit was poor, just one or two lackluster wines.
The dining room is intimate and cozy—
a world apart from waiting in line at the farmers market. There are a few tables out front, too, if you miss the outdoor experience.
The Gastronomist, Sebastopol,
6681 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol. 707.837.8113. greengrocerdirect.com.