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"The book is noted on the cover as a 'food and wine lover's guide' and it delivers. The tone is personal but informative, and the authors recommend specific wines to try and menu items to order."
  - Daily Herald, Chicago

If you're dying for a huge greasy cheeseburger with enough fresh local veggies on it to rationalize as your salad course, loaded French fries, local color, and ticklish abuse, take a detour east on Highway 12/121 toward Napa. Babe's Burgers and Hot Dogs is a local monument to the cattle industry's one-time prominence and dominance in the American diet. At this true concrete-block diner, park in front (if you can find a place) and enter through the east-side swinging door. Walk by several duct-taped, virgin vinyl-benched booths and formica tables, turn right around the post, and get in line. The place is packed with locals, drooling in anticipation of their does of grease, red-meat juice, and thick fries made to order.

Babe himself cooks the hamburgers when the horses aren't running anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. He looks like a guy who has smoked Camels or Lucky Strikes most of his life. The bouffant Mrs. Babe runs the cash register and takes the orders - and gives a few back. If you dare to order a veggie burger (which they have), she will laugh at you robustly. We inquired about the grilled-chicken breast sandwich, and she and Babe both sneered that they were frozen and from out of town. Their only new concession to food fads, as they see them, is a turkey burger.

While you wait for your order, check out the signs and stuff for sale along the walls. One advises: GOOD FOOD TAKES TIME, IF YOU CAN'T WAIT, LEAVE. And ANY SOFT DRINK WITHOUT ICE IS 20 CENTS EXTRA. (What they don't tell you is that there are free refills if you have ice.)

The right-hand wall facing the counter sports a faded handwritten sign for Babe's Toyland, which refers to the pink Barbie Porsche; wooden banana holder; and 59-cent baskets for sale on the shelves below. A public telephone hangs on the north wall, and Babe's uses it to receive phone orders. No faxes or e-mail here! Supposedly they serve espresso drinks, but no customer I know has ever seen on beyond the excellent coffee milkshake.

Babe's Burgers and Hot Dogs, 2660 Fremont Drive (Highway 12 and 121), Sonoma 95476; phone (707) 938-9714. Open 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; lunchtime 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; closed Wednesday. No credit cards. Restrooms for customers only. Wheelchair-accessible.

Across First Street West is the Sonoma Hotel, a historic hotel built in 1880. Originally a two-story structure with stores and a large meeting and a dance hall upstairs, a third story was added in the early 1900s, when it became a twenty-on-room hotel. Neglected in the 1960s and 1970s, it was completely restored by owners Dorene and John Musilli, who bought it in 1980.

Recently the Musillis sold the whole works to Craig Miller and Tim Farfan, who also have a large home-accessories shop, Harvest, next to Sebastiani on the Square on West Napa Street. Craig and Tim completely redid the hotel in French country decor and added private baths, televisions, phones, and air-conditioning in all rooms - great improvements!

the girl & the fig is a true Sonoma treasure, and locals and visitors alike are glad that Sondra Bernstein moved her fun restaurant from Glen Ellen to this convenient northwest corner here on the Plaza. Sondra took over what was last Heirloom Restaurant in the Sonoma Hotel and move the girl & the fig there, opened the girl & the gaucho in her old site in Glen Ellen, and appointed self-taught local chef John Toulze as Executive Chef of both restaurants.

Sondra's warm, earthy personality permeates the decor, ambience, and food, so get ready for a great gustatory time. She and John Toulze create unpretentious French bistro foods, with loads of Rhoône varietals and cheeses to pair. At lunch you can try the goat cheese sampler ($11.95) or a charcuterie platter ($10.95), the best croques monsieurs this side of Paris ($10.50), an always intriguing daily omelet ($10.50), divine steamed mussels in Pernod and garlic ($11.95), hamburgers, steaks, and even fig salad ($9.95).

Dinner expands to include Arctic char ($19.95), butternut squash ravioli with Point Reyes blue cheese ($17.50), a great lamb shank braised with sautéed Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes ($19.50), seafood stew ($20.95), and steaks and burgers.

girl & the fig, 110 West Spain Street, Sonoma 95476; phone (707) 938-3634; Website: www.thegirlandthefig.com. Open 11:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m. - midnight Friday-Saturday. Full bar. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. Wheelchair-accessible through courtyard from First Street East.