Vignette Pizzeria

As I write this review I’m quickly learning how much pizza I consume on a weekly basis… and it’s A LOT. Not that it’s a bad thing, just sayin. :)
I was up in the Russian River this past weekend and wanted to hit «the barlow» area for some wine tasting but, needed lunch first. Pizza always sounds good and I figured I’d give Vignette a shot due to the wood fired oven in plain sight. It’s a super hip spot with picnic tables inside and out, and the overall feeling is very «wine country».
The pizza menu is concise and limited but, perfect in my opinion. We ordered the Bianco, Margherita, and Meatball pizzas. Of the three I have to say the Bianco was my favorite. It had amazing local mushrooms, rosemary and a few different cheeses… what flavor! The thing that stood out for me on the red sauce pizzas was the sauce itself. Apparently the Italian tomatoes they use are from volcanic soil and it has a more unique earthy quality. Whatever the reason, it was probably the best sauce I’ve tasted in Northern California. No joke. The crust was also fabulous, and cooked to perfection.
I’ll definitely be back to eat more pizzas from Vignette as it’s leading the pack for me in the «Neapolitan» category.
Well played Vignette. Well played.

The service was friendly and attentive.
Pizza was made with fresh ingredients and we really enjoyed the salad and then roasted veggies.
This is a great pizza restaurant. I highly recommend.

Ate lunch had friendly service, get the bread it was awesome! Red eye was great and the eggplant parm was fab!

This has become a go-​to restaurant when we are up in Sonoma. We can usually stop at Russian River to pick up a case of Pliny the Elder, and then head over here for a pizza and roasted veggies. Ambience is good and the price point is good. The quality of the food is excellent and the service is nice. I typically order something like a non-​cheese pizza, but they had many other choices. Each pizza is crafted from Napolitano doug and cooked in the wood-​fired pizza oven to perfection. I highly encourage you to check it out if you are up this way… can’t get busy tho

Very authentic Neapolitan pizza. we ordered the pepperoni but any pizza off their menu would be a suitable selection. the atmosphere creates an even more authentic experience. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the food at Vignette. their service could have been a little better but I wasn’t bothered by it.

I love, love really great pizza and a lovely staff that is informative, friendly and cute doesn’t hurt either :-)
As foodie and cook I love playing with combinations and tipping the scale of the unconventional… The Bianca pizza is a classic cheese combo with a twist of a chili honey drizzle which was AMAZING… I can’t stop thinking about it! We then topped it with the Arugula salad which on its own was deeeeelish with the creamed feta and champagne vinegarette with orange juice, pickled cucumbers and slivered almonds.
I am at home right now looking for a dough recipe that will make something close to how good this was.
I also tried an ale (I think) that had a watermelon undertone and light on the alcohol content, I think like a 5% or so… super refreshing!
I thought the price was in keeping with the quality and portions served and can’t wait to go back… REPEATEDLY FOR SURE!

This afternoon was my second visit. Both times, the pizza has been wonderful. Both times we shared a pizza.
The problem with this place is the price. The fact that we shared a 12″ pizza, which contains 4 slices. And we shared a roasted veggie dish that contained asparagus, and garbanzo beans. We had no alcohol, and only had tap water for refreshments. And our bill with tip ended up being $ 38.00!
We can get an equally Delicious pizza, that is made with just as good of quality ingredients, and just as good of a wood fire technique for nearly half the price… at Persona pizza in downtown Santa Rosa!
I will not be coming back here, as it is way to expensive!

Wow! This place is a find! Amazing Napoletana pizza in Sebastopol. We started with the Arugula salad and then had a Mo, margherita, a Pepperoni, and a Red Eye. They were all great. Good wine and beer selection too. We all loved it and will definitely be back!

We had dinner at Vignette last night. I loved the food, especially the Red Eye pizza! But, the wine pours are TINY, so small that we couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the night.
I had a $ 14 glass of wine, in a small tumbler glass, which looked to be about 3 to 4 ounces. While I really liked the food at Vignette, I don’t want to have to order 2 glasses of wine just to equal out what other restaurants in the area serve. Being price gouged for wine would be the major reason not to eat at Vignette again.
Additionally, the service was somewhat slow even though the restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived. It took way too long to get our wine order placed, and then when served the «thimble» sized glass, I was annoyed.
All 3 stars are for the food, which was excellent. Minus 2 stars for the slow service and wine price gouging.

I had a plate with a brownie, a piece of foccacia and some Arugula Salad. Fantastic! The salad was light and lovely with hazelnuts and goat cheese. The foccacia was dense and chewy and cheesy. The brownie was chocolatey yumminess. The restaurant is small and sterile feeling but still nice. They make a mean latte. All of their coffee drinks are espresso based. No straight cups of coffee.

Here at Vignette Pizzeria for a small taste with fellow Unilocalers. We had a trio on a dish of a very fresh arugula and cucumber salad, a slice of foccacia bread with pesto, mushrooms, cheese, and a brownie, which was pretty but a bit dry. I’m going to try and duplicate the salad which was very tasty. The foccacia was also cooked perfectly and delicious. I would return just for the salad.

Stopped by for after event snack. Was served a small bite plate which included a focaccia style pizza slice (Shrooms, Pesto, Olive and Basil), tasty salad (Cashew, Arugula, and cucumber) and a brownie. The pizza and salad was very good, but the brownie was pretty dry and not something I would order again. I would love to revisit Vignette and try a full pizza to really get the experience as the restaurant smelled amazing!

We came here today as part of an event for the first time and enjoyed a sample plate with tasty focaccia pizza, salad and brownie. They bake everything here in the wood oven which is interesting. I found the brownie a bit heavy, but would be curious to try a full pizza from here.

Great food and great service and on a warm evening it is the perfect place to take in some high quality pizza. We tried their potatoes as an appetizer and are happy we did, super tasty and the dill source finishes them of nicely. We tried three of the pizzas and I don’t want to rank one over the other — they were all great. Three pizzas worked out perfectly for the four of us. My only criticism and this is personal to me, I did not like my red wine served in the same style glass as the water, too thick of a glass, but I asked if the glass could be changed and it was done in a heartbeat — so top notch service.

Party of 3 adults, 2 kids, Friday night at 7:30p
Very kid friendly.
The entire front side is open to a small courtyard. If you get cold easily, bring extra layers.
Reasonably priced.
Roasted veggies — varies daily so ask before you commit. Very tasty, except they give you a very small portion.
Chopped kale — I’m not normally a kale person but this salad was pretty good. Smoked mozzarella in a citrus yogurt dressing made it a great flavor combo.
Pizzas: the Mo (no cheese) + arugula ($ 2 extra), Margherita, and pepperoni.
My fave was the Mo — fresh garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, sea salt and tons of arugula piled on top. Tomato sauce is fresh and seasoned well.
Pepperoni was super skimpy on the pepperoni. There were literally 9 pieces on it.
Margherita was ok, not the best I’ve ever had. 4 leaves of basil on the whole pie.
All the pizza is done in a brick oven that takes up a quarter of the place. Burns the dough a little bit but what’s a little carcinogen?
Service was good, prompt.
Free parking is in a big lot for the Barlow, where’s it’s found.

What’s with the low star ratings? The pizza here was GREAT! The dough was perfect — soft, but just the right amount of chewiness, with the perfect amount of char from the wood oven, with quality ingredients on top.
We had the Meatball Parm, and the Red Eye, and both were delicious. The Red Eye, in particular, was very unique — eggs and bits of mortadella, with an almost breakfast-​like palate. I definitely enjoyed it.

Soooo, second time here & so wanted it to be better than the first time. Sadly, it was not. Great space, attentive staff & very polite manager. My issue is with the dough itself. I agree with other posters, there are calibration problems or something. It’s charred but that doesn’t mean it’s cooked! Doughy & and unpleasant sour taste (experienced that both times) that clashes with the tartness of what would otherwise be a great sauce. Also, price is ridiculous. One beer, one glass of wine, three pizzas and side veggie = 101.00 before tip! Can’t do it again, sorry. My favorites: Rosso, Diavola & in the city: Tommaso’s (the standard), Pizzetta 211, A-​16, Tony’s & in Oakland, Pizzaiolo. Maybe it’s personal taste but all of these have superior crusts/​dough.

Delicious Thin-​Crust Pizza in Sebastopol!
SITREP
You KNOW an Old World-​style pizzeria is serious about their pizza when they make it’s incredible pizza OVEN the «Centerpiece» of the entire restaurant! This made coming up from Sacramento totally worth it just to enjoy the wonderful Italian culinary fare available at Vignette.
THE SETUP
Located in the scenic Barlow Community («The Barlow») of boutique establishments, Vignette Pizzeria is one of the anchor-​location businesses with great access to just about every pathway leading into this congregation of stores, restaurants, coffee-​roasters, gin distilleries, juice-​bars and a plethora of other unique & eclectic establishments.
THE RESTAURANT METRICS
The lay of the dining room is elegant & spacious with exquisite wood furnishings — many of the wooden chairs, for example, were selected from special antique dealers in New York.
We enjoyed an enlightening talk from the owner who took us back to the flour room to show us their «secret weapon» — two kinds of special Italian flour imported into California — this made for the delicious classic crust that we enjoyed.
FARM-​TO-​FORK
However, foundational flour aside, Vignette highlights a special program of «sourcing» from local farmers, local produce, local dairy, etc., so that ingredients you get to enjoy in the pasta dishes and on the pizzas are home grown, and I really like that.
So you are getting the best of both worlds, essentially: a pleasant culinary mix of Italian Old World baking standards enhanced by local farm-​to-​fork freshness!
THE PIZZA
And no surprise, the Marguerite Pizza was a delicious lunchtime selection for after a late morning & early afternoon of romping around The Barlow. The thin crust packed of hearty goodness, with a freshly made sauce and prized local mozarella — «Mmmm!»
THE LOWDOWN
Vignette in The Barlow is where I will keep going for pizza in Sebastopol!

Check out the awesome pizza oven. Watch the chefs cook everything. It is all right in front of you.
The the Margherita pizza is so good. Yummy cheese and wonderful crust – thin in the middle and fluffy and crispy on the edges.
Start with the peppers… Weird because they are dried then baked, fried? Must be baked because someone told me that the brick oven is their only heat source for cooking. They were so-​o-​o-​o-​o good!
We also had a kale salad and grilled Brussels sprouts with dates. I am not a big green girl but these were fantastic.
Mark, the owner talked about his philosophy about making pizza crust and shared about why corkage is $ 19.12. You have to come in and ask… He said if you buy wine from a winery in the Barlow, there is a better price. If you don’t bring wine, there are a lot of Italian and Spanish red wines on the menu and some truly nice beers.
End with their cannoli – Yum Yum Yum Yum!

Vignette Pizzeria is a great addition to the ever-​growing choices of places to dine at The Barlow.
The menu is straightforward and small. They focus on doing a few things really well, which I appreciate.
Start with the peperoni cruschi on the appetizer menu. No, it’s not meat. It’s a dried chile pepper that’s been flash fried. The consistency reminded me of kale chips, yet tasted like an earthy mild pepper. Simply delicious.
The chopped kale salad was a nice blend of tangy peppadew peppers, smoked mozzarella and creamy yogurt dressing.
The menu features a vegetable of the day, which was Brussels sprouts the afternoon we were there. The Brussels were cooked in the wood fire pizza oven and served with chopped dates and garlic.
The Margherita pizza was close to perfect. The light dusting of tomato coupled with basil and fresh mozzarella served on a nicely wood fire charred and chewy crust, was Margherita heaven.

I had high hopes for Vignette. Location is perfect, accessible, open, beautiful, and welcoming. What I’ve seen in articles and writing, it sounded like a great place to put on my to-​do list, and finally the opportunity presented itself to give Vignette a try.
We stopped by mid-​week, and were one of two tables occupied all evening. Service was prompt, friendly and attentive, and the menu was surprisingly short. I chose the «Fizzy Red» ($ 7), which was indeed both fizzy and red, but lacked in refreshment that you want from an effervescent wine, but also lacked the complexity of an enticing red.
To start we went with the salad of the day, which was the Chicory with balsamic onions and beans. The flavor combination was really off, the salad was fresh and crisp, the onions overcooked and soggy, and the beans seemed really out of place, like an afterthought to a salad. My mom, who is the queen of salads ate a few bites and looked deflated and after I took a few bites myself, I understood her plight.
We hungrily dove into the pizzas, I opted for the Mushroom Alfredo ($ 18) with a garlic sauce and butternut squash, and my dad went for the Meatball Parm ($ 19). The Mushroom Alfredo was flat, doughy, and frankly on the boring side, so I asked for a dish of their chili sauce which was sadly the most delicious thing I ate all evening. The Meatball Parm was slightly more flavorful than mine, with a sausage meatball and tomato sauce, but still left us wanting something more bold and exciting. All this for almost $ 40 worth of pizza that was absolutely not worth it at all.
After this symphony of sadness, we decided against dessert. Bottom line is this; go for the location, the view, the beauty, and the prompt service, but don’t go for the food, the price, or the flavor palate because you will be disappointed. One star for beauty, –4 stars for food that I could make better in my kitchen for less than half the price.