Restaurant Review - Pesto Bar Café
This month we are looking at soups. I could go on and on about favorite soups but I am concentrating on a new restaurant I visited in Sebastopol, the PESTO Bar Café located at 101 South Main Street. I had heard there were good soups in this restaurant—and here are some examples: Sweet Potato Pear Bisque, Summer Squash Bisque, Carrot Ginger, Cream of Broccoli, Ham – Potato and Pea and French Onion. The price of a cup of soup is $4.50 and a bowl is $7.00. But if you add a cup of soup to a sandwich or burger it is $2.00 on top of the sandwich price.
The restaurant’s main feature is the wide variety of dishes with pesto. Along with traditional basil pesto there are pestos made with heirloom tomato, lemon parsley, arugula-walnut, cilantro-almond, kale-pecan, sun dried tomato, caper, basil pesto cream, roasted red bell pepper and many, many more. The pesto menu is based on seasonal items purchased at the Farmer’s Market in Sebastopol and other local farms. They feature a pesto of the day and they even have pesto potato chips.
Jerri Luzania is the owner and Adam Knaak is the chef, assisted by Ivan Redus. Jerri runs the business details and the front of the house with support from her sisters who live in this area. Previously, Jerri was a partner in a marketing firm in Southern California, but she moved here to be closer to her family. Adam has worked in the restaurant business in this area for 15 years.
The menu features the soups ($4.50 to $7), fresh salads ($6 to $9), and Ravioli, Chicken, Filet Mignon, Pasta, French Burger, fresh fish, Duck Confit and Polenta Napoleon. Main course prices range from $8 (Pasta dishes) to $17 with one exception, Filet Mignon at $29. Desserts are $10.
They also have wine and beer and offer a selection of interesting wine based cocktails.
This restaurant is still going through some initial organization, offering new special holiday and brunch menus and planning new and different items on their regular menu. Their hours have fluctuated during the holidays and there may be some fluctuation during the winter months. Currently they are closed on Monday. They are open for Tuesday through Friday for lunch and dinner. On Saturday they open starting at 9:00 a. m. for brunch and continue through dinner till 9;00 p.m. Sunday open for brunch but not dinner. I recommend you call the restaurant at 707 829 3212 and check on the schedule. If they are not open they have a message machine that will tell you the hours and also tell you about the specials they may be running.
