Back in June, we made a day trip out to the beautiful city of Sonoma to attend a wedding. We drove up early to have lunch and did some wine tasting. It was a gorgeous day, low 80s with a light breeze, just an absolutely delightful day in the wine country.

We had a spectacular lunch at the acclaimed “the girl and the fig“. It’s a French restaurant with a wine country twist, and their specialty, you guessed it, is fig. Fig makes an appearance in lots of dishes on the menu in different forms like compote, vinegar, and jam. The restaurant is casual and elegant, very warm and inviting. We had a wonderful meal there and will definitely be returning in the future. Reservation is highly recommended if you come on the weekend.

We started off the meal with a “fig-fashioned” (Bulleit bourbon, house-made fig liquors, figs, orange, cherry, and bitters), and a “fig shrub” (Inna black mission fig shrub with soda). Delicious!

Look at this splendid charcuterie platter. The platter selection includes meats, pate, terrines, and pickles that are all crafted from the in-house  meat workshop. The terrine and the pate were my favorites, alongside with the pickles. Give me some baguettes and I could’ve just ate this all day. Pure bliss!

We asked for a half portion of their famous fig and arugula salad. We just had to try it! And thankfully they offer a half portion because we were starting to run out of stomach spaces after polishing off the charcuterie platter. Toasted pecans, house crafted pancetta, laura chenel chevre, fig & port vinaigrette. Simple, yet absolutely perfect.

Joe ordered one of the specials of the day, which was a pork belly burger with apple fennel slaw. I had a couple bites and loved the pairing. The pork belly was fatty and tender, yet didn’t leave a greasy mouth feel. Overall a delicious and satisfying dish. The fries were perfectly executed as well.

My entree – local chicken thighs. I rarely order chicken in restaurants, most of the time is steak or seafood, but the description just really sang to me. It was served with toasted pepper spaetzle, cherry tomatoes, basil, marinated ricotta, and aged balsamic. The balsamic was sweet and tangy, and the charred cherry tomatoes were bursting with flavors. This dish just screamed summer all over, I was so full but I couldn’t put my fork down.

Yes I was so stuffed but we needed to try the dessert. I could only take a couple bites at that moment and Joe polished off the whole thing. This was the chocolate & salted fig caramel trifle. I mistook it for a coffee when it first arrived and told our waiter that we didn’t order this, then I realized it was chocolate!!!! The salted fig caramel was insanely delicious, and the toasted meringue with the chocolate custard together, out of this world!

After this gourmet feast, we walked across the street to the park with the idea of walking off our food. But rather, we both sat down at a bench under the shade and were ready to fall into deep food coma. We finally got up after 20 minutes, reminiscing how good that meal was, and were on our merry way to do some wine tasting before celebrating our friends marriage.

If you are visiting Sonoma, please make a trip to the Girl and the Fig!

The Girl and the Fig
110 W Spain St
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 938-3634