On Tuesday, Aug. 25, people started lining up outside Vella Cheese Company at 6 a.m. The day before, the 94-year-old fromagerie at 315 Second St. E. had announced it was closing. Gabriel Luddy, a fourth-generation cheesemaker and co-owner, spent that morning helping customers in and out and telling them the shop would stay open for several more months while it sold its remaining inventory, according to the Sonoma Index-Tribune.
It lasted about ten days. The last retail cheese sale was Sept. 4. A note on the company's website now says production has stopped and that the store and mail order are "permanently CLOSED," the Index-Tribune reported in a Sept. 22 follow-up.
That was the first of three September losses on the east side of the Plaza. Most of what these closures took away has already moved, often only a few doors down. Vella is the one thing with no new address.
Three closures, one stretch of town
The second and third closures came on the same day. Oso Sonoma and Parkside Wine Bar, side by side on East Napa Street, both closed on Saturday, Sept. 26. Oso had been open for 12 years. Chef David Bush, who owns both businesses with his wife Kelley Bush, gave the Index-Tribune a plain reason.
"We have been in desperate need of upgrading and updating the kitchen and building in general. When it came down to it, it was too costly to spend the money on a building we don't own."
Vella gave a similar kind of explanation. The company cited rising operating costs since the pandemic and slow sales growth. Both are long-running, owner-operated businesses that closed because of costs, not because they ran out of customers. The lines outside Vella showed demand was there right up to the end.
Parkside mattered more than its size suggested. It opened in September 2023 as a wine-tasting room with small snacks at 5 E. Napa St. In 2025, Sonoma's Planning Commission approved an appeal that let it add beer and live music three or more times a week. It also became the home of the Sonoma Valley Jazz Society's no-cover Saturday sets, held once a month. The Index-Tribune's music columnist noted that Sonoma Speakeasy also closed temporarily last month. That left the Valley with two fewer live-music rooms at once.
The jazz moved to the firehouse
The Sonoma Valley Jazz Society, which has organized live jazz in the Valley for 37 years, had been booking the acts at Parkside. Its Friday-night series now has a new home at Gehricke Wines, in the old fire station on Patten Street. That is the same block Parkside was on. The series began Oct. 9 with a 7 p.m. start, the Index-Tribune reported on Oct. 2. A full lineup was not available when that column ran. The Society posts its schedule at sonomavalleyjazzsociety.org.
One part of the jazz program is still unsettled. The Society had planned to fund scholarships so students in Sonoma State University's jazz studies program could perform at Parkside as artists in residence. When the closure was announced, Society president Janice King called it "a blow to students and musicians" and said she was looking at other venues near the Plaza, as the Index-Tribune reported. The San Francisco Chronicle also covered the scramble. No report so far confirms that the student residency has moved to Gehricke. Only the Friday series is confirmed there.
Dinner on East Napa Street now starts at 3 p.m.
The loss of Oso is offset by a restaurant that opened earlier in the summer, up the street. Dead Letter opened to the public on Thursday, July 16, at 101 E. Napa St. Owners Sondra Bernstein and John Toulze run it with executive chef Jeremy Zimmerman. The corner was once the location of Sonoma's post office, the third building to hold it. It later housed Pete's Electric and several restaurants, most recently Maya. The Sonoma Valley Sun's Kathleen Hill described an expanded bar, an open kitchen, banquettes along the walls, and a $5 Art-O-Mat vending machine in the bar.
Dead Letter's hours matter for a weeknight routine. It opens at 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. It closes at 9 p.m., or 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. You can stop in for a drink and spreads without committing to dinner. Snacks, raw dishes and vegetables run $7 to $21. Seafood and meat mains run $24 to $125, and every check carries a 4.5 percent staff fee. The wine list includes Valley producers such as Beltane Ranch, Bedrock and Three Sticks.
Two other summer changes broadened weeknight dinner away from the Plaza:
- Verano Café, 18976 Highway 12. Owners Beronica Peres and Carlos Rubio added dinner to their breakfast and lunch service. Dinner runs Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m., with entrées such as coq au vin and flounder meunière priced $22 to $33. Parking is in back.
- Sonoma Eats, 561 Fifth St. W. Efrain Balmes and Hayley Cutri reopened their Mexican restaurant in the former La Hacienda space, and more of Balmes' Oaxacan family recipes are expected. The Index-Tribune's Sept. 8 roundup listed it as open but did not give an exact opening date or hours.
Where each routine stands as of Oct. 12
| What closed | Where it was | What's there now, or where it went |
|---|---|---|
| Vella Cheese Company | 315 Second St. E. | Closed after the last sale on Sept. 4. Aged-cheese pop-ups are planned, with no dates yet |
| Parkside Wine Bar jazz | 5 E. Napa St. | Friday series at Gehricke Wines on Patten Street, from Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. |
| Student jazz residency | 5 E. Napa St. | New venue not confirmed |
| Oso Sonoma dinner | East Napa Street | Dead Letter is open nearby at 101 E. Napa St. |
| The Passdoor | 452 First St. E. | Moved to Santa Rosa. Overland Sheepskin Co. is expected here |
The Sept. 22 Vella report named no buyer, no successor and no plans for the building or the brand. For now, the pop-ups are the only route back to a wheel of dry jack. Dry jack is the cheese Tom Vella created after a group of dairymen asked him to open his own fromagerie.
Retail around the Plaza is changing too
The same pattern shows up in the shops around the Plaza. The Passdoor closed its Sonoma store in August and planned an Oct. 1 grand opening in Santa Rosa. Overland Sheepskin Co. plans to open in that former space at 452 First St. E. The company told the Index-Tribune it is aiming for mid- to late November, "definitely before Thanksgiving." That is a target, not an opening date, as of the article's Sept. 23 update.
On the west side, Fine Eye Gallery moved from Sutter Creek and opened at 535 1st St. W. on Sept. 2, with a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 24, according to the Index-Tribune.
Dates for the regrouped calendar
The rest of the season's calendar fits around the new Friday jazz night and the new dinner hours:
- Black Cod Week, Oct. 17–25. Participating restaurants serve locally caught Sonoma County black cod. Sonoma County Tourism's Black Cod Trail lists three Valley participants: Layla Restaurant at 29 E. MacArthur St., Santé at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn at 100 Boyes Blvd., and Songbird Parlour at 14301 Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen. The trail may not include every Valley participant.
- "A Harvest of Art," through Nov. 2. This Arts Guild of Sonoma show at 140 E. Napa St. features artists including Monica Kuhlman Jacobson and Deirdre Molloy. The gallery is on the same street as Dead Letter.
- Día de Muertos ofrendas, through Nov. 6. The altars are on view at Jack London State Historic Park, 2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen.
- Lighting of the Sonoma Plaza, Nov. 21, 5–8 p.m. The evening includes food, wine, beer, music and the holiday lights.
- Lighted Tractor Parade, Nov. 28, 6:30 p.m. The parade is free and circles the Plaza.
- "Maple Magic & Winter Wonder," through Dec. 31. Sonoma Botanical Garden, 12841 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen, runs seasonal walks, workshops and lectures through the end of the year.
The old Vella shop on Second Street East has no announced next use. Friday jazz has been running at Gehricke's firehouse since Oct. 9, and Overland is still aiming to open before Thanksgiving.
The principals at SagePoint Real Estate Company follow changes like these block by block, because the life of a street affects every Plaza-area property we advise on. If you own near East Napa Street and want a clear read on how this fall's turnover affects your plans, schedule a private consultation.
