Searching for the heart of town

Archie Raines, left, and Celeste Raines, both of Nashville, check out the menu at Sunflower Caffe in Sonoma. (Crista Jeremiason/PD)

If you want to find the heart of the city of Sonoma, you’d naturally start at historic Sonoma Plaza, a community gathering place as well as a tourist attraction, surrounded by restaurants and shops.

But if you’re looking for local people, you might want to cross First Street West to the Sunflower Caffe where patrons on the front patio greet each other like old friends, because they are.

“This place is loaded with locals,” said Tim Curley over breakfast there on a recent weekday morning. Curley, a teacher and musician from nearby El Verano who also works at the Ravenswood Winery tasting room in Sonoma, is a regular at the cafe.

“I work at a winery, and you see a lot of winery people here at lunchtime,” he added.

Jennifer McNerney, right, of Glen Ellen, plays with her son Ryder McNerney, 3, at the Sonoma Plaza

A city might have an obvious center, like Sonoma Plaza, but it also has informal centers where locals and city insiders meet, like the Sunflower Caffe.

What is the true center of a town? We’d like to know what you think. But first, here is what we’ve found out so far about Sonoma County’s nine incorporated cities.

Shady, friendly Healdsburg Plaza, ringed by restaurants, shops, tasting rooms and galleries, is an obvious center. But residents say you’re likely to find people in the know at Flying Goat Coffee, just off the Plaza a half-block up Center Street.