Charlie Palmer’s landmark restaurant marks a quarter century with a one-night celebration bringing together the Chefs who helped shape Healdsburg dining
October 14, 2026 (Healdsburg, CA) — Twenty-five years ago, Healdsburg was on the cusp of a transformation. The small Sonoma County town was surrounded by world-class vineyards and agricultural bounty but had yet to emerge as the internationally recognized food and wine destination it is today. Then came Hotel Healdsburg and Chef Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen.
Looking back on that era, longtime New York Times wine writer Frank J. Prial was quoted as observing, “It’s a safe bet that one day Healdsburg’s defining moment will be said to date from 2001, the year Charlie Palmer … reopened the Hotel Healdsburg with a brand-new restaurant.”
A quarter century later, Dry Creek Kitchen celebrates its 25th anniversary, marking a milestone that honors the pivotal role the restaurant and Hotel Healdsburg played in sparking the town’s transformation. Together, they put Healdsburg on the national culinary map, setting the stage for the remarkable growth that would establish the town as one of the country’s most celebrated food and wine destinations.
“When we opened Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg had this incredible energy and potential,” said Chef Charlie Palmer. “We were surrounded by extraordinary farmers, winemakers, ranchers and artisans, and the idea was to create a restaurant that belonged to this place. Twenty-five years later, Healdsburg has evolved beyond anything we could have imagined, but that connection to Sonoma County is still at the heart of everything we do.”
One of the first upscale restaurants on the Healdsburg Plaza and the area’s first restaurant to earn a Michelin star, Dry Creek Kitchen ushered in a new era of dining in Northern Sonoma County. Today, six Michelin-recognized restaurants are located within walking distance of the corner where Dry Creek Kitchen and Hotel Healdsburg opened together in 2001.
Through that evolution, Dry Creek Kitchen has remained a fixture on the Plaza, staying true to Palmer’s original vision of a restaurant firmly rooted in its surroundings. The kitchen built relationships with Northern California farmers, ranchers, fishermen and artisan producers, while its wine program focused exclusively on Sonoma County.
Today, Executive Chef Shane McAnelly carries that legacy forward alongside Palmer. A longtime Healdsburg chef and the culinary force behind Chalkboard and The Brass Rabbit, McAnelly returned to Healdsburg in 2023 to take the helm at Dry Creek Kitchen.
“Dry Creek Kitchen has this incredible history, but what makes it exciting is that we’re not trying to recreate what the restaurant was 25 years ago,” said McAnelly. “We’re building on it. My job is to respect what Charlie created here while continuing to give people a reason to be excited about what’s happening at Dry Creek Kitchen and in Sonoma County today.”
The restaurant’s connection to Sonoma County extends from the plate to the glass. Its exclusively Sonoma County wine list now encompasses more than 600 selections, built through decades of relationships with the region’s winemakers and vintners, featuring the rarest and most expansive collection of Sonoma County wines in the world. The restaurant has also become a gathering place for the wine community through winemaker dinners, collaborations and its historic run of Pigs & Pinot celebration.
The anniversary will culminate on Saturday, November 7, with 25 Years of Dry Creek Kitchen, a one-night-only dinner bringing together many of the chefs and winemakers who have shaped Healdsburg dining. Palmer and McAnelly will be joined in the kitchen by Chefs Reed Palmer, Kyle Connaughton, Scott Romano, Dustin Valette, Ryan Fancher and Carlos Mujica, with wines by Kara and Daryl Groom, Bob Cabral, Tom Rochioli, Ben Papapietro, Derek Baljeu and Clay Mauritson. Limited to 100 guests, the evening begins with cocktails at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner. Tickets are $275 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
“Restaurants don’t make it 25 years because of one person,” said Palmer. “There are so many people who have been part of Dry Creek Kitchen, people who have cooked here, worked the dining room, grown food for us, made wines we’ve poured and guests who have come back year after year. This anniversary is really a celebration of all of them.”
For McAnelly, the milestone is also about what comes next. “Dry Creek Kitchen is Sonoma County,” he said. “That gives us an incredible foundation, and there is still so much we can do with it.”
About Dry Creek Kitchen
Located just off the historic Healdsburg Plaza at Hotel Healdsburg, Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen has helped define Wine Country dining since opening in 2001. Led by Chef Charlie Palmer and Executive Chef Shane McAnelly, the restaurant celebrates the agricultural and winemaking bounty of Sonoma County through seasonally driven American cuisine and an expansive wine program devoted exclusively to Sonoma County producers. Dry Creek Kitchen is located at 317 Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg, California. For more information, visit www.drycreekkitchen.com or on social at @DryCreekKitchen.
About Hotel Healdsburg
Reflecting the town’s distinctive wine country ambience and gentle rusticity, the three-story Hotel Healdsburg features 50 handsomely appointed guest rooms and six suites, a 3,000-square-foot spa, a 60-foot outdoor pool, country gardens within the grounds, and Charlie Palmer’s internationally renowned Dry Creek Kitchen. Hotel Healdsburg is located at 25 Matheson Street at the corner of Healdsburg Avenue on the western edge of the Healdsburg Town Square. www.hotelhealdsburg.com.
