Underwood Bar and Bistro Review - Graton

Scratch the Bistro

There's a reason people come back from junkets to Europe raving about the cuisine (a word for dining on French-sized portions of food eaten in quaint old rooms). It's the atmosphere. The tables there are often set close together (but not too close) with subtle manners of partition so you may enjoy the feeling of being at a fun, campy party. Your face lights up in conversation but it's hard to talk when the food arrives. "Yum," you manage to murmur while going for the second bite. As you gaze happily across a small table at a companion you like enough at the moment, you almost feel like someone has slipped you a wee but of Purple Urkle. At Underwood Bar and Bistro in Graton, this old-world, bistro experience may be possible, but it's more likely to happen in the bar than in the rest of the restaurant. On our initial review of Underwood we gave the entire restaurant a flat tire rating. However, because so many Underwood fans are out there (and were vocal enough), we decided to return and review the action in the bar. Two rooms in one restaurant could not be more different. When we sat down at the bar on our return visit, Frank, a legend in the Sonoma County restaurant world, greeted us.

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I can't remember exactly what Frank said but we all felt a definitely-friendly warm front moving into Graton. Frank is known for his quick wit and banter so we did expect a good welcome. What we did not expect was a crush of charisma so smooth we knew immediately this was a bar you could quickly call home.

Patiently, he waited for us to stutter through the bar menu and, when we finally got it together enough to decide what we wanted, quick as a drink he had our oysters, flatbread and lettuce wraps placed carefully in front of us. When he brought us the eats, Frank lingered just long enough to make everyone feel comfortable and off again he was to drag others at the bar into the party mood.

It was my good fortune to sit beside a well-known bon vivant and man about Wine Country, Bolt, (no other name needed). Bolt has spent the last 15 years rooting out the best restaurants and wineries in Sonoma County and he had much praise for Frank and Underwood.

My date and our friends from Vermont (the famous Eatons of Bristol), also loved Frank and food. So, it was all good in the bar. The munchies were great, the service was delightful and prices were quite fair.

Although we are still a little reluctant to give the bistro area a confidant thumb's up, we can do so for the bar. The service and atmosphere in Underwood's bar are good enough to erase any hesitation on recommending the bistro.

We hereby eat our words and reverse our previous negative ranking.

9113 Graton Road
Graton, California 95444
(707) 823-7023

http://www.underwoodgraton.com