Best Brunch in the North Bay: Wishbone in Petaluma

If you’re heading out yonder way, cruisin’ out to Napa, you might want to take a quick detour to Petaluma, and I say “might” trying to be all casual, LOL. What I mean to say is that you better take a detour to Petaluma. You have to! — because that’s where I had the best damn latte of my life. And I’ve had a lot of lattes!

This one will go down in the book of my life as “Karen’s favorite latte of all time.”

It even has a cool name: The Beekeeper Lavender Honey Latte. And I had it at Wishbone in Petaluma.

Actually, everything there was delish. The latte was just the rich and creamy icing on the cake.

I went on Saturday with El Hub and Connor Claire (Tabs had to work) for brunch, which they serve (along with regular breakfast, and I think they’re also open for lunch and have a happy hour on Thursday through Sunday) seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. But from what I’ve heard, brunch is mostly what they’re all about.

I’m already plotting my return…

When you walk in, you enter a magical hipster fairy tale land, and for a second you think you’re about to dine at a good witch’s house. There are oak tree branches hanging from the ceiling, woven baskets and homey cross-stitch pictures on the walls, colorful World Market mugs on the tables, and plants and flowers all over the place, as if the proprietors took a walk through an enchanted forest and used what they found to decorate the place.

But it doesn’t just look cool. The food is also pretty great. And colorful. A nearby table ordered Bloody Mary’s that came out with skewered fruit and veggie and edible flower kebobs (I had major drink envy). People watching while you eat there is a visual feast.

I got the eggs Benedict with sourdough toast, asparagus, arugula, smashed potatoes (OOOH! SO GOOD. If you’re gonna have a carb cheat day, those potatoes are totally worth it.), and sliced fruit. El Hub got a basic breakfast with eggs over easy, toast, the same awesome smashed potatoes, and fruit. And Connor ordered a short stack of pancakes (haha, I actually ordered them for myself though!), which were melt-in-your-mouth fluffy.

And where do I even start with this latte?? It was foamy, light and whipped to perfection. But it was still rich and left behind this almost caramel-y taste on my tongue. It was lavender flavored without being too in your face about it, because you know how it is when you put too much lavender in something. You feel like you’re drinking potpourri.

Also, interestingly (to me), it had juuust the right amount of caffeine in it to keep me perky without making me shaky.

And everything — not just the latte, but all of the food too — tasted fresh. Like, the greens and fruit looked like they had just been picked that morning.

I found out later that they have their own farm, where they source some of their ingredients, and they also work with local farms in Petaluma, which has lots of farms and agricultural businesses.

If you’re gonna be in the area, and you expect to be hungry while you’re there around brunch-time, you gotta check it out.

Your friendly neighborhood brunch addict,

Karen