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SingleThread

Healdsburg

Super-sustainable Japanese-influenced cooking in Sonoma County

What's the story? Led by husband-and-wife team Kyle and Katina Connaughton – a chef and farmer respectively – SingleThread is a much-acclaimed destination restaurant in Northern Californian wine country.

Japan meets Cali: Chef Connaughton and his team present an exquisite tasting menu with a strong Japanese influence, beginning with myriad small snacks, before moving through 10 further courses of kaiseki-style dining (think Hokkaido scallop with a citrus kosho sauce). SingleThread, which also doubles as a five-bedroom boutique hotel, operates based on the concept of omotenashi, namely going above and beyond to anticipate guests' needs.

The farm factor: Katina runs the couple's nearby 24-acre farm, from which most of the restaurant's produce is sourced, including rare fruits and vegetables rarely seen outside Japan. It will come as little surprise that the couple spent some years living and working in Japan, as well as in the UK under Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck. Sustainability runs as a thread through the entire operation, from agricultural practices to food waste, community engagement to sourcing and even storytelling.

Breakfast bonus: Those guests lucky enough to stay overnight also have the opportunity to sample SingleThread's unusual, but near-legendary, morning fare.

Doing the double: Having been named the One To Watch by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2018, less than two years after opening, SingleThread has established itself as one of the finest dining institutions in the US. Now it cements its position – and its philosophy – with a double win, taking the Sustainable Restaurant Award and The Best Restaurant in USA West title as part of the first edition of North America's 50 Best Restaurants.

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