Bovolo Restaurant - Copperfield's Bookstore - Healdsburg

A Charming, Gay-Friendly Spot for Lunch, Gelato, and shopping for books

Set on downtown Healdsburg's charming village square, Bovolo Restaurant (106 Matheson St., 707-431-2962) is an excellent cafe, pizzeria, and gelateria that occupies the back of Copperfield's Bookstore (707-433-9270), an excellent indie bookshop with locations throughout the region, in the towns of Napa, Calistoga, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, and Petaluma. The front space adjacent to Bovolo had been occupied by Plaza Farms marketplace, a consortium of small specialty food boutiques, until summer 2008.

Bovolo is a wonderful find, even though as you approach this cafe in the back of the shop, it looks a bit like a simple gelato stand and take-out counter. You do order at the counter, but in back you'll find a pleasant warren of tables and chairs, and out back there's a lovely patio. Apart from serving stellar gelato (the honey-flavored is excellent, as is the strawberry sorbetto), Bovolo makes fabulous sandwiches and pizzas. This is also a charcuterie, where you can pick up house-made salami and cured meats, many of them used in sandwiches and on pizzas. For a memorable pizza, order the one topped with roasted acorn squash, house-cured bacon, sage leaf, and ricotta salata cheese. The pork cheek sandwich with roasted peppers and salsa verde is another winner. Bovolo is open for breakfast and lunch each day, and for dinner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.