Chalkboard

About

Located just off the square in downtown Healdsburg, Chalkboard is casual and contemporary, and a celebration of the best ingredients Sonoma has to offer.

Story

Chalkboard restaurant, opened May 2013 under Executive Chef Shane McAnelly, offers a modern small plates menu emphasizing seasonal and technique-driven fare. McAnelly sources much of his menu from local purveyors and farms, with many ingredients coming from the restaurant’s own dedicated 3-acre vegetable and herb garden located at nearby Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards.

Offerings of local wine flights and an extensive list of wine-by-the-glass are a major focus at Chalkboard, as well the cocktail menu inspired by fresh ingredients from the Chalk Hill garden.

Shane McAnelly - Executive-Chef

Known for his eclectic, inventive, yet approachable dishes, Shane McAnelly has a culinary approach distinctly focused on ingredients and seasonality. Growing up in the tight-knit community of Oakley, CA, Shane spent time as a child baking with his mother and grandmother, mastering the art of cheesecake at the age of 13. His first restaurant job after high school was at nearby Danville’s Blackhawk Grille, where he immediately took to kitchen culture, moved quickly up the line, and decided to make cooking a career.

Shane received a degree in Culinary Arts at the Diablo Valley College in 2002, and continued on at Blackhawk Grille as Senior Sous Chef. In 2005, he took a Sous Chef position at Garibaldi’s restaurant in Oakland, developing the menu to reflect Bay Area seasonality and building relationships with local farmers and purveyors. After three years, Shane was promoted to Chef de Cuisine, and continued his work forging relationships with farms and seeking out the best local ingredients he could find. Rounding out his experience with a position in San Francisco, he took an Executive Sous Chef post with the opening team at Zero Zero under Bruce Hill in July 2010, managing the team and developing the ingredient-driven pizza and pasta-focused menu. Throughout his career and to this day, pasta remains one of his favorite foods to cook—he has always been drawn to the limitless variety of shapes and ingredient combinations—and loves introducing diners to lesser-known types of pastas.

In April 2011, Shane took on his first Executive Chef position at Va de Vi restaurant in Walnut Creek, named a Bay Area Top 100 restaurant by the San Francisco Chronicle, and which remained on the list for the duration of his time there. After two years, he set his sights north, relocating with his wife and baby to open Chalkboard restaurant in downtown Healdsburg. Joining the town’s vibrant—and growing—culinary community as Executive Chef at the restaurant, Shane has been involved in every aspect of bringing Chalkboard to life: creating a bright, modern space for diners, collaborating with a gardener on a dedicated restaurant garden, and developing a menu that’s reflective of his years invested in cooking the best ingredients that the Bay Area has to offer.