Thank you, Valette
EDITOR: Open letter to Valette Restaurant:
I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful family dinner last week. My dad and my partner are salmon fishermen and I am pretty picky about my salmon. Yours was amazing!
I grew up in Healdsburg and have worked at many local restaurants. Catelli’s in the 90’s, 40 Karrots Diner and Plaza Grill back in the old days of the square. Mrs. G’s now known as Adele’s.
I have eaten at Valette several times in the last couple years but never felt at home. I sat at the counter with my teenage son and looking around we didn’t recognize a single face. That did not feel good to me in a restaurant a half mile from my house in a town the size of Healdsburg.
Fast forward to our new reality. My dad is 79. He lives alone and has only been having interactions with two close friends. The balance between mental health and physical health is a fine one. So he continued to go to their house for dinner often and in an effort to contribute started bringing your family dinner, much to the delight of the cook in the family.
I am a public health nurse for the County of Sonoma. In my real job I am a home visiting nurse for at risk moms. Right before the shelter in place I moved to Lake County and was working from home providing telehealth services. A few weeks ago I was reassigned to the Disease Control unit monitoring COVID positive patients and their contacts. I started working in the SR office 5 days a week and because the commute was too hard, started staying with a good friend in Healdsburg. She kindly opened her home to me, at a distance, and on my last night as a thank you I brought home your family dinner. What a treat for both of us.
Please excuse the lenghth of my letter. I mostly wanted to say thank you for bringing the feeling of family, friends and our small town community back to your restaurant. I think it was missing before but it is thriving now on the corner of North and Plaza, without a doubt.
Maya Missakian
Kelseyville
