Enclos opened in late 2024 and received 2 Michelin stars and a Green Star in summer of 2025, putting Sonoma on the map with Healdsburg and Elk.    Mac and Leslie McQuown who started the 16 acre Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery 20 years ago,  are the proprietors.  Now Enclos relies heavily on these organic gardens to help inspire the seasonal menus.   Executive Chef Brian Limoges developed an appreciation for coastal foods and cooking in his native New Hampshire before moving to San Francisco in 2013 where he worked as Sous Chef at Atelier Crenn, Quince and Saison, to name a few.    The restaurant, whose front yard contains 100-year old olive trees,  is in a Victorian home on the Plaza of Sonoma.  Inside, the small 2 rooms can seat about 28 people per night with a large open kitchen at one end of the space.  High coved ceilings are in both rooms filled with woods, modern light fixtures and art.   Some bench seating accompanies the interestingly cut bare wood tables.  All guests receive the same tasting menu with no optional supplements other than wine pairings.  There is some patio seating with a different, more casual menu available for wine club members.  Chef Limoges wants to create an experience for his guests and each table receives a hand drawn card by Larry Nadeau, Dining Room Manager.  Ours, of course featured Frankie -who lounged with it on a silver tray while we ate –  a thoughtful touch for the fun evening.

Set-up

 

Food

The tasting started with a number of small bites which nicely came one at a time.  An infusion of galisa melon and wild chamomile was poured into a small goblet.  It was tasty.

 

A gougere was topped with orange blossom and pine.  Filled with creamy cheese, the delicate pastry exploded in your mouth with a fabulous burst of flavor.  This was a star.

 

A spiny lobster ‘roll’ croustade was with a brain emulsion was topped with Green Goddess dressing.  The lobster was stuffed into the crispy ring that reminded me of an onion ring filled with lobster rather than onion.  It was very good.

 

Venison and its antlers was a bite with venison tartare in a smoked oat shell presented on antlers found during the shed process.  To get that outdoor feel it was topped with crispy fried lichen.  It was tender and tasty.

 

Fermented rutabaga bread pudding was topped with a 100 year old balsamic – a bottle of which was displayed for the table.  Some duck liver mousse was in the mix as were sliced pecans.   It was more nutty than livery and very good.

 

Autumn squashes were mixed with gooseberry, green mango, lemon verbena and Stone Edge Farm olive oil.  They brought a list of a dozen squashes that were used in the making of the dish and they were prepared in a variety of ways – roasting, hearth, etc.  This was a new item on the menu and I would call it a success.  All the squash were cooked perfectly and enhanced with some similar sized cubes of jelly and a bit of custardy squash on the bottom.  It was served on a small Enclos embroidered cloth.

 

Spot prawn from Monterey was with quince and shiso in a sauce of pluot and jalapeño.  The raw shrimp were lovely in the well flavored broth and the thinly sliced vegetable discs.

 

Laminated brioche and Acorn sourdough breads were served with Petaluma butter topped with smoked sel gris (embered salt).  One of us didn’t care much for the acorn sourdough flavor but both liked the brioche.  However, we’ve had more buttery, better varieties of this bread, particularly at Auberge in Carmel.

 

Clam chowder was made with chawanmushi custard, caviar, fermented white asparagus, clams, verbena and aged pork.   It was a tribute to chef’s New England upbringing.  It was very mildly flavored and the caviar was almost lost in the mix.  I liked the smooth custard but the differences in texture and low clam flavor bothered my husband.  It was okay.

 

A piece of 60 day dry aged tuna belly (from an 850-900 pound fish) was brought around to display to the tables and then prepared with koshihikari rice, passion fruit, succulents and lemon sabayon for the course.  I found the tuna odor a bit unpleasant but it was interesting to see.  The sabayon was quite strongly flavored and almost buried the other ingredients.  It was a careful mix to get this one to a nice end.

 

Wolfe Ranch quail was presnted with artichoke under grilled roses and celtuce all with a burnt citrus sauce.  The grilled leg was with rosehip and nectarine in a wonderful holder so you didn’t dirty your hands when you picked it up to get the meat off  The leg meat was a bit tough while the breast was nicely tender.  The sauce was good with both.   A quail broth was poured from a silver samovar for a bit of show.  It also had ginger, garlic and chives and was tasty.

 

You had to select your knife from a box of them to eat the next course with.  Masami Ranch waygu beef was plated with a flower, fermented pepper, broccoli purée, kalette (kale sprout hybrid),  Nantes carrot and soy pickled eggplant.  The piece of strip loin was nicely cooked but only okay in flavor, not a buttery waygu, but the sides made a pretty plate.   Shortly after placing this plate they brought a charcuterie thin piece that was seasoned with unripe pink peppercorn oil. A smoked short rib cube was seasoned with magnolia blossom.   The short rib was butter beef with tons of flavor.

 

Pre-dessert was textures of pear which were plated with yuzu, jasmine, mochi (Japanese rice cake) and finger lime which also was in the sauce.  The pears were compressed and very sweet where other parts were quite tart.  It was a good mix of flavors, more so than a mix of textures.  The pears were so good the dish would have been more spectacular as them with a bit of vanilla ice cream.  Not as complex but more simply luscious flavors.

 

The dessert was a take on sticky toffee pudding with Sef black apple,  buckwheat, Meyer lemon cream, caramelized whey and sheep’s milk ice cream.  I didn’t get the sticky toffee but did enjoy the flavors and textures in these ingredients.

 

Last treats came as 3 items.  Mandarin macaron that was okay. A malted chocolate bonbon was a blue cone filled with chocolate that was tasty.  A nocino canelé with green walnuts that was cut in half.  It had a good crisp outside and sweet inside.  Last was a honey ice cream – a filled cornet topped with the leaves from pollinating plants in a honeycomb prop. You were not to disturb the honeycomb but the small crisp cone was good with a lovely sweet filling.