Willi's Wine Bar Hits A Milestone

Willi's Wine Bar was the first of restaurateur husband and wife team Mark and Terri Stark's four (soon to be five) Sonoma County dining hotspots, and it has been a hit for 10 years.

When it opened in August 2002, Willi's Wine Bar was one of the first restaurants in Sonoma County to offer a menu centered on small plates. "The concept of focusing on small plates stemmed from Terri and my preference to sit at the bar and only order the appetizers," says Mark.

The idea of tapas was foreign in Santa Rosa in 2002, "We went knocking on doors looking for money, and we got a lot of negative feedback: 'So, you're going to open a topless bar?' We were surprised to hear the host of a local radio show complaining on-air one morning about 'the new topless bar on Old Redwood Highway,'" Mark says. "We've never let him forget it, but you can't really blame him. It was an unknown at that time, the whole small plates/tapas kind of thing."

While Willi's isn't a true tapas bar-plates are small and meant to be shared rather than the one or two bites that comprise tapas, the initial menu and concept caught on quickly in Sonoma County. A few favorite items - Ahi Tuna Tartare, Pork Riblets, Liberty Farms Pulled Duck, Pork Belly Pot Stickers, Moroccan Style Lamb Chops, and Tunisian Roasted Local Carrots - have been on the menu, in one form or another, since opening day. The rest of the offerings change seasonally to keep the menu exciting, but guests can always count on quality small plates inspired by surf, earth & turf from around the world.

Willi's helped set the dining standard for small plates, and 10 years later the Starks are coming back to where they began. Bravas Bar de Tapas will open in Healdsburg in September 2012. Mark and his staff will use a combination of local products and a few special ingredients native to Spain to create a tapas menu inspired by Mark and Terri's trip to Spain last year. "We think the convivial atmosphere and casual style of Spain will be a perfect fit in Sonoma County," says Terri. "We're shooting for an opening date of mid-September for Bravas. It's pretty amazing that we've come full circle almost exactly ten years later."

As the Starks plan to open their next venture, Willi's Wine Bar continues to garner rave reviews including:
- A San Francisco Chronicle Top 100 Bay Area Restaurant in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012
- Michelin Bib Gourmand: 2011 and 2012
- SF Gate: Top 100 Bay Area Bars 2012
- OpenTable Diners' Choice Winner: Notable Wine List 2012
- CBS San Francisco: Best First Date Spots in the North Bay for 2012
- Gayot Top 10 Napa/Sonoma Wine Bar
- Highly rated by users on Zagat, Yelp and TripAdvisor

Mark says, "We never thought we'd still be here 10 years later, and believe it or not, three of our original hires are still with us. We're happily looking forward to the next 10 years."
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About Willi's Wine Bar
A San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area Top 100 Restaurant in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, Willi's Wine Bar's classic roadhouse appeal captures the casual, laid-back nature of Sonoma County Wine Country. Tourists and locals feel equally at home enjoying a quick bite or lingering over a glass of wine. The menu at Willi's features 32 international small plates, some wildly inventive and others comfortingly familiar. Staff is eager to help create perfect pairings with wines from the extensive wine list, many by local producers. All wines are available in two-ounce tastes as well as by the glass or bottle.