BOOKING INFO

In Collaboration with Ken Fulk, SingleThread Presents: 'Usu-Zan'- An Homage to Hokkaido

Designed by acclaimed designer Ken Fulk, adjacent to SingleThread, we offer an outdoor dining room that draws inspiration from the forests and scenery of Hokkaido. This limited engagement created by Chef Kyle and Katina Connaughton captures the inspiration of Hokkaido in the heart of Sonoma Wine Country.

Usu-Zan is the name of the small, active volcano that is in the remote village where the Connaughton’s lived in Hokkaido and gave the area its unique landscape and incredible agricultural bounty. The volcano's name originated from the indigenous Ainu people's word for the mountain which last erupted in 2001. It was here where the Connaughton’s honed their education in farming, cooking, and warm hospitality. The experiences with new friends, gathered around the table enjoying rich, soulful donabe hot pots inspired many of the ideas of what SingleThread would one day become. They decided to bring that magic to their guests with a sense of adventure, a feeling of tranquility, and a continued dream for the future in a socially distant outdoor environment.  

The Usu-Zan menu features special seafood and beef from around Japan's Northern Island as well as artisanal products through the many relationships forged with these producers during the Connaughton's many years living along the bountiful Hokkaido coastline. Uni, scallops, crab, salmon, salmon roe, tarako (cod milt), sawara, hokki, kinki, Rishiri konbu from Renbun Island, Hidaka konbu from just above their hometown of Toyura; thin udon noodles, Hokkaido Wagyu beef, lily bulbs, udo (mountain asparagus), Hokkaido inaka miso, Ao nori, mugi (barley), and sake will be some of the highlights. Our farm will have Negi onions, komatsuna, kabu turnips, mizuna, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens), hakusai cabbage, kintoki carrots, daikon, shishigatani pumpkins, hen eggs, Upstate Abundance potatoes, sunchokes, garlic, broccoli, spinach, flowers, myoga and shiso. Chestnuts, Duclair duck, apples, citrus, mushrooms, and soy milk will come from neighboring Sonoma producers.

The 9-course dinner "main event" is a special hot pot that will be shared among the party. Cooked in special handmade donabes from the Nagatani Family in Iga, Japan, guests will pre-select one of the following options:

Roasted Duclair Duck Hot Pot: $375 Person

Hokkaido Style Seafood Miso : $375 Person

Vegetarian Temple Style: $375 Person

Hokkaido A-5 Wagyu Beef Tenderloin Shabu Shabu : $475 Person

A full menu of beer, wine, and sake will be offered as well as pairing options and non-alcoholic beverages. 

Dining takes place completely outdoors in the Fulk-designed heated open tent environment with socially distanced tables and custom screens. Japanese folk Artist Dwight Hwang has created a special "Gyotaku" artwork for the dining space of ink rubbings of salmon species found in both Hokkaido and Sonoma. 

Throughout the Usu-Zan engagement, SingleThread is excited to be partnering with our Russian River neighbor DuMOL Winery whose care for sustainability and their craft parallels our own. We are thrilled to be offering their wines as the featured pairing with our donabe hotpot course.

Usu-Zan is a limited experience offered through May 31st, five nights a week; Thursdays through Mondays with outdoor seating and limited indoor seating available. Dinner bookings are $375 - $500 per guest with a transferable, non-refundable $100 deposit per person required at the time of booking. This special engagement has been made possible by our dear partners at VolvoActivate, and S Pellegrino

"EXPERIENCE WITHIN AN EXPERIENCE"

**S. Pellegrino Hokkaido King Crab Nightly Experience at Usu-Zan

In addition to the Usu-Zan menu, this special "experience within an experience" for a party of 4 guests includes the Hokkaido style seafood nabe, King Crab from North Hokkaido from the Okhotsk Sea, King Crab legs, roasted crab broth, and crab meat "porridge rice." Also included are two signed copies of Kyle Connaughton's book "Donabe- Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking."  The menu price per guest is $500pp exclusive of beverages, gratuity, and tax.