Chef Josh Silvers seems to have made a smart move in transforming his twelve-year-old Santa Rosa restaurant Syrah into the more casual, small-plates-focused Petite Syrah earlier this year. Mr. Bauer has nothing but kind words to say about the food and service, saying of the menu “the combinations are just as complex as before. Portions are smaller, but they’re still generous, and the dishes are more focused and satisfying.” He makes note of a mussel dish in which the mussels are take out of their shells and served in a broth with peeled cherry tomatoes and corn; and he also applauds a chicken thigh dish, that he says, “encapsulated everything I love about summer.” With prices all under $16, he makes special note of the value, saying that many of the larger small plates are equivalent in size to many restaurants’ entrées, but half the price. All in all he says the place is “not only reinvented; it’s improved,” and he awards it three big ones. [Chron]
