"Food Truck Friday" Heads to Sonoma

While the future of Napa's monthly "" is debated between city officials and event sponsor Andrew Siegal, the popular rolling restaurants are heading west for their first Sonoma round-up tonight.

, which hosts a Friday night music event, has partnered with Siegal, owner of and the founder of Napa's "Food Truck Friday" event, which has received national press and local acclaim.

"[Sebastiani] wanted to have something fun, they’ve already been doing food, and a vision was born," said Siegal. "We liked each other's businesses."

According to Siegal, all of Napa's favorite acts will trek to Sonoma for the event, including Ghetto Fork Catering, Mark's The Spot and Dim Sum Charlie's.

But Christopher Johnson, Sebastiani tasting room manager and organizer of the Sonoma event, is quick to emphasize that  Sonoma's "Food Truck Friday" will be completely different from the Napa gathering, which has been put on hold by city officials over health, safety, accessibility and permitting concerns.

"For us it's just another food option for the patrons that come to our regular Friday night music events," says Johnson.

Johnson plans to keep the Sebastiani event small, hosting between five and eight vendors, a handful of whom will be local. Well-known San Francisco "guest" trucks, such as Sam's Chowdermobile and the Creme Brulee Cart, will mingle alongside the more familiar North Bay vendors.

It's important for Johnson that the event remain family friendly.

Unlike Napa's food truck event, which had a BYOB policy, no outside alcohol will be permitted ("Obviously our wine will be available for purchase," says Johnson) and there will be rigorous carding to prevent minors from imbibing.

So far, Sebastiani has been granted a one-time use permit for tonight's food truck gathering and the Sonoma Planning Commission will decide next month whether to grant a long-term permit for a monthly event. 

Several factors will ease the process: the Sebastiani event will be held at the edge of their parking lot — containing plenty of parking for diners — and won't tie up street parking. The food trucks will be placed to block noise from traveling outside the Sebastiani complex, and the music will take place indoors through a grandfathered-in permit that's allowed Sebastiani to host their music nights for three years.

Also, for Johnson, keeping everyone happy is first priority for what he sees as a community event.

"I think what they did in Napa has been great for Napa, but we're a winery that the neighborhood has grown up around. We have to be respectful of our neighbors," said Johnson.

Catch Food Truck Friday at Sebastiani Winery, 389 4th Street East, Sonoma. Live music, dancing and of course, food trucks. The monthly event launches tonight at 6 p.m., lasts until just after 9:30.