Restaurant Enclos is the hottest new restaurant in wine country, earning two Michelin stars just months after opening. Chef Brian Limoges previously worked at Atelier Crenn, Quince, Birdsong, and Saison. Enclos is housed inside a historic Victorian just steps from the Sonoma Plaza. The experience in the cozy cottage begins with a Champagne trolley and world-class snacks, including an explosive Sonoma cheese gougère with orange blossom. The menu started with bright, fresh dishes, and escalated to richer plates like a chawanmushi-clam chowder hybrid topped with caviar. Another standout was the 60-day dry-aged tuna belly with koshihikari rice, passion fruit, and sea urchin sabayon. We loved the progression of flavors throughout the meal, continuing with honey-lacquered quail with chili butter, before ending with the most perfect sweet-and-salty dessert: caramelized potato mousse, malted chocolate ganache, and fermented potato beignets. Our meal at Enclos was absolutely flawless – from the food, to the venue, to the hospitality, we truly can’t think of one thing we would change. After just one visit, Enclos became a favorite restaurant in the U.S.
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Enclos Address & Contact Information 139 E Napa St, Sonoma, California, USA Website Instagram Facebook
Restaurant Enclos in Sonoma – Two Michelin Stars in Wine Country
This was the best meal we had last year – and it came from a restaurant that was barely a few months old. Because it was brand new, we weren’t expecting it to outshine some of the most famous restaurants in the Bay Area. But on an 11-day trip where we ate 19 Michelin stars, this ended up being the standout.
We’re talking about Enclos in Sonoma, the hottest new restaurant in wine country. Enclos is housed inside a historic Victorian just steps from the Sonoma Plaza – a cozy, intimate cottage that feels more like a home than a restaurant. The kitchen is led by chef Brian Limoges, whose background includes Atelier Crenn, Quince, Birdsong, and Saison – and while Enclos was brand new when we visited, this team very clearly knew exactly what they were doing. Just months after opening, Enclos earned two Michelin stars.
The Enclos Experience Begins
As all of the best meals begin, this one started with a Champagne trolley, stacked with some serious heavy hitters. Overwhelmed by the options, we asked if we could taste a sip of each before deciding. They said yes. But instead of small tastes, they poured full glasses! What started as a misunderstanding quickly turned into a full Champagne flight. Ask for the “Anders and Kaitlin” special if you go! We tasted four incredible Champagnes with the snacks – from crisp, high-acid Ruinart, to rich and toasty Billecart-Salmon, to buttery popcorn Krug, to complex, layered Cristal. Each wine brought out completely different flavors in the food!
At the table, we found a one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn artwork by Larry Nadeau, who spent twenty years at The French Laundry before joining the Enclos team. This small but incredibly meaningful gesture told us everything about the hospitality here.
World-Class Snacks at Enclos
And then the real fun began – snacks started arriving one by one. The first bite was a cheese gougère with orange blossom and pine. This was a warm, gooey explosion inside a fluffy pastry, with an unmistakable Sonoma cheese flavor. What an opener!
Next came a spiny lobster roll croustade, an impossibly thin tart shell filled with sweet lobster meat and a bright, herbaceous green goddess dressing. Already, these snacks were firing on all cylinders.
Then came a dish called “deer and its antlers” – a smoked oat tart with onion purée, venison tartare, and fried lichen. Deeply smoky, savory, and wild in the best way.
Last was a fermented rutabaga bread pudding, finished with 100-year-old balsamic, shaved ibérico ham, and truffles. Sweet and salty caramelized bread, it reminded us a bit of the Frantzén French toast – and honestly, we weren’t mad about it.
At this point, we were just looking at each other like… what is happening? These weren’t just great snacks, they were world-class, three-star bites, some of the best we’ve had anywhere in the world, even rivaling the great snack-offs of Jônt, Frantzén, and Jordnær. And this was only the beginning…
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The Tasting Menu at Enclos – A Seasonal Sonoma Showcase
After all those bold, punchy snacks, the menu pivoted into something lighter. The first course celebrated spring in Sonoma – a vibrant mix of greens, snap peas, and kiwi, finished with a caramelized onion tuile and olive oil from their farm. It was creamy and fresh, with bright, green flavors – it tasted like spring on a plate.
From the Pacific: Scallops & Amberjack
Next came pink singing scallops from the Pacific Northwest, served on a skewer with fermented quince, jalapeño, and Asian pear. Underneath was a bright citrus punch infused with shiso and elderflower. The whole dish was incredibly fresh and aromatic – like a burst of grapefruit and herbs, with just enough bitterness to keep it sharp and refreshing. Light, playful, and beautifully balanced, this felt like a perfect continuation of the menu’s early, fresh momentum.
For the following course, raw pieces of Pacific amberjack were artfully arranged along the side of the bowl, layered with fermented daikon and green strawberries, with a pool of pluot consommé waiting underneath. The dish was insanely fresh and juicy, with bright stone fruit notes and a strawberry lemonade punch. The consommé added just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, perfectly complementing the clean, delicate fish. We loved that the menu continued to stay light, with a confident, intentional progression of flavors.
Bread & Seaweed Butter
Then came the bread. A soft, fluffy mini loaf made from ancient corn grown on their farm, dried and milled before being blended into a brioche. It was served with a fermented seaweed butter, shaped like delicate ribbons of seaweed. The butter melted into the warm bread, adding just the right amount of oceanic salinity. This was easily one of the best bread courses we had all year.
Next, fermented white asparagus velouté was poured over a silky steamed custard topped with celery root and caviar. It tasted like a chawanmushi meets New England clam chowder – deeply savory, leek-forward, and incredibly rich. This is where we really started to feel Enclos developing its own voice – it was one of our favorites of the night.
Dry-Aged Tuna Belly with Caviar & Sea Urchin Sabayon
The next dish was one of the best we ate all year. 60-day dry-aged tuna belly from Half Moon Bay was served with koshihikari rice from Sacramento, local passion fruit, and a sea urchin sabayon. This dish had it all: acidity, richness, and texture. Fatty tuna in a buttery sauce brightened by tropical fruit, with soft, pillowy pops of rice, snappy crunches from the succulents, and a buckwheat crumble adding texture and toastiness. After one bite, we knew this dish was headed straight for our best-of-the-year list. This absolutely deserves to become an Enclos signature. It can never leave the menu.
The hits just kept coming. One of the most comforting courses of the night was a Sonoma duck brodo, poured tableside over delicate tortellini filled with a duck leg farce, ginger butter, and truffles. This felt playful and generous – a soul-warming dish that broke from the usual fine dining mold. The pasta was perfect, and the broth was unbelievably rich and buttery. It was another clear highlight, and proof that the Enclos team can really do it all.
Honey-Lacquered Quail from Wolfe Ranch
Our favorite wine of the night was a bright, aromatic Pinot Noir from Oregon, with notes of blood orange and wild rose. This paired with the quail, served in two parts. First, the breast, lacquered in honey and served with beets and berries, finished with a jus made from the bones and burnt orange. The meat was juicy, and the skin was like candy – glossy, caramelized, and deeply sweet. The quail leg followed, smoked and served with a slightly spicy butter made with chilis from their farm. Like total carnivores, we ate this with our hands. We devoured a lot of quail in California, but this was one of the standout servings. Wolfe Ranch raises exceptional birds, and in the hands of a talented chef they’re elevated into something truly magical.
California Wagyu & Farm Vegetables
With the final savory course, we enjoyed a bold but balanced Cabernet Sauvignon from Stone Edge Farm, the estate that also owns Enclos.
It paired perfectly with the Masami Ranch American wagyu served with vegetables from the farm, a spring garlic purée, and a fermented pepper sauce with a bright, tropical kick. The meat was beautifully cooked, and the condiments were fresh and vibrant. It came with a small sidecar of bresaola charcuterie, marinated in port wine and finished with pink peppercorn oil. At this point, it really hit us just how good this meal was. Dish after dish, nothing had missed – and it was hard to believe we were eating at a restaurant that had only been open for a few months.
The Final Act: Enclos’ Pastry Program
We moved into sweets with a refreshing palate cleanser: garden sorrel ice cream with makrut lime meringue and pomegranate “leaves.” It was light, bright, and herbal, a perfect reset after the savory courses.
The main dessert celebrated potato: a caramelized potato mousse paired with malted chocolate ganache, chocolate crumble, and cacao nibs. It was a perfectly balanced sweet and salty dessert, with incredible flavors and textures.
On the side came warm and fluffy fermented potato beignets, topped with malted vinegar powder and orange oil. We were instructed to dip them into the potato mousse. Pastry chef Sophie Hau is absolutely killing it – the desserts ended the meal on a high.
Is Enclos the Best New Restaurant in the U.S.?
Our meal at Enclos was absolutely incredible from start to finish. There were no flaws – it just kept getting better with every course. On a trip where we ate at nine fine dining restaurants with a total of 19 Michelin stars, this was the meal that stood out, outshining some of the most famous restaurants in Northern California. And with a tasting menu for less than $300, it also delivered one of the best values.
From the food, to the hospitality, to the pacing, to the atmosphere, we truly can’t think of a single thing we would change. It was hard to believe this restaurant was only a few months old when we visited, because it already felt like a fully formed, world-class dining experience. And we can absolutely understand why it earned two Michelin stars in its first year.
This was the best meal we had last year – and one of those rare restaurants we felt lucky to experience early, before it becomes impossible to get a table. We can’t wait to return to Enclos. And if you can get a reservation, don’t hesitate. Just go. This is exactly why we travel for food.
Have you been to Enclos? Let us know how your experience was in a comment below.
