The space itself is clean and modern and is divided in such a way that it offers many different seating options, depending on one’s mood. However, the restaurant doesn’t feel chaotic, claustrophobic, or contrived.

The service was excellent both at the table and in the kitchen. Where possible the kitchen divided our dishes to share which was a nice touch. And if a server couldn’t answer a question, they would ask a manager for help, which speaks volumes about the restaurant’s training and the staff’s willingness to do it right.

The bar menu

Easy Rider has a full bar, as well as an impressive wine list and staff who know how to pair them. The restaurant also offers half a dozen draft beers from across the North Bay, as well as a dozen bottles and cans from further afield, and even offers non-alcoholic options. Easy Rider also has a respectable port selection, which went smoothly with both main courses and desserts.

Appetizers and snacks

We ordered all five entrees, starting with bacon and cheddar hushpuppies with strawberry and jalapeno jam and found them to have excellent consistency and flavor, and went perfectly with the jam. Next are the pork belly cookies, with bourbon glaze and a trinity of pickles. Everything was excellent and the cookies themselves were light, but firm and crispy. Low Country Crab Cakes are made with pepper coulis, old bay, and remoulade, and use blue crab, which I was told was the original crab used in crab cakes . Personally, nothing tastes better to me than locally caught Dungeness crab, however, due to its delicate flavor, other than freshly home-cooked, it usually doesn’t work well for a restaurant crab cake. These cakes were outstanding. There should be no more mystery to making great fries, and Easy Rider easily proves it with their hand-cut kennebec truffle fries, with garlic aioli and pistachio romesco. Although the fries were bigger than I normally like, they were perfectly crispy and the three sauces made this simple dish quite fun. Finally, we enjoyed the crispy Brussels sprouts, served with carolina farro, roasted peanuts, balsamic vinegar and truffle.

Light bites

From the ‘A little lighter’ menu, we ordered the sunchoke and leek bisque, with salsa verde and crispy capers, and were delighted that they had split our order into shots so we could all share without having to dip six scoops into a bowl. . It was one of the best bisques we’ve ever had, thanks in large part to the crispy capers, which were one of the many whimsical and distinctive touches we saw on the table throughout the evening. The kale salad was made with baby kale, which kept the normal bitterness of kale to a minimum, and along with slices of raw vegetables, shallots and grana, also had crispy chickpeas, which were a another delicious but unexpected touch.

Sandwiches

We ordered the shrimp po’boy, with remoulade, lettuce, tomato, coleslaw and pickles, and the Easy Rider burger, topped with house smoked chili cheese (cheddar is also available and bacon, avocado and egg can also be added). Both sandwiches were excellent, with the po’boy being a nice addition to Petaluma’s food scene.

large plates

The southern fried chicken dinner was so perfectly cooked, with the white and dark meat both tender and moist, that we thought it must have been sous vide, but learned that was not the case. . The chef simply knows how to cook chicken perfectly. It came with truffle sauce with bacon and calabrian chili honey and sides of collard greens and macaroni and cheese. Then, the sweet potato gnocchi, with Swiss chard, wild mushrooms, parmesan, gremolata and truffle, prawns n’ grits, with andouille sausage, creole sauce, trinity pickles and asparagus, and finally, braised short rib, with mashed potatoes, turnips, mushrooms and horseradish cream. Everyone was outstanding, everyone around the table having their favorites but everyone thoroughly enjoying all the dishes.

Specials

In the special “Nightly Additions” menu, we added Wolfe Ranch Stuffed Quail and Pepper Crusted Ahi Steak. Stuffed with chard, leeks, sourdough and gouda cheese, the quail was excellent and ended up being a much bigger bird than you might expect, while being served with creamy oatmeal and collard greens. The ahi steak was actually diced but looked as good as it tasted.

Dessert

We opted for everything on the dessert menu because in addition to chocolate cake, buttermilk panna cotta and sticky caramel cake, we couldn’t resist trying Rogers donuts , with caramel, berry and cream sauces, and its homemade sorbet duo. All were exquisite, but the sorbet was the winner for me, although I generally find sorbet disappointing compared to ice cream.

For Rogers, a lot of the menu can come down to doing what he loves.

“I took my favorite foods and recipes that I’ve collected since childhood and put them on the menu,” adds Rogers. “It seems to be working very well and as long as our customers are happy, I’m happy. The one thing I’ve really missed during the pandemic is seeing people happy. Seeing them enjoy a good meal, with friends and family, is therapeutic.

Rogers, weaving “yes, sir” and “thank you, sir” throughout the conversation like a true Southern gentleman, explained his admiration for Petaluma’s dining scene with the same passion he talks about its menu and of its ingredients, including vendors such as Mary’s Chicken and Anson Mills of Columbia, South Carolina, renowned for their heirloom grains.

“See Petaluma’s incredible food culture,” he said. “This town is amazing and has the best restaurants I’ve ever cooked for in my career. They seem to have a real passion and connection to local food.

The menu is not a gimmick.

“A big advantage we have is that we’re both really into southern flavors,” Sullivan said. “And we want to do what makes our customers happy.”

This can be seen in both the execution and the presentation of Easy Rider’s dishes.