Rocket Cafe & Catering - California, Sushi, Sonoma

18812 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma CA 95476
(707) 939-8612, (707) 933-9755
Parking: small parking lot in the front
Cafe Hours: Tues-Sat 5pm to 9:30pm
http://rocketsonoma.com/cafe.html

Last Visited: 2008

Food: Catering 3 stars, Sushi 1 star
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

I first tried out some salads from Rocket at a church event that they had catered. The food was a bit Asian-inspired with salad dressings containing soy sauce and sesame oil. The various items that were ordered were fresh tasting and wasn't your traditional salad items. They had a bit of flare to each dish - so for that, I give a general food rating of three stars.

With that in mind, I visited Rocket Cafe and talked to Elizabeth Heyerly whom owns the business with her sister Molly, a professionally trained chef. Jacob Talbert, a Hawaiian-trained sushi chef completes their primary operation trio. Enter Rocket and you'll see the counter featuring desserts and baked goods like carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Liz was super-friendly, explaining that the rice was being prepared and not quite ready for serving. The sisters' love for sushi and the lack of Sonoma sushi offerings fueled them to sell sushi at their cafe. Once the rice was ready, we ordered to go the following:

- Hamaichi (yellowtail) Nigiri $4

- Rocket Roll - The rocket roll is comprised of ahi, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, and lemon aioli. As you can see, it's not your typical Japanese roll. $7

- Yo Mamma Roll - This roll contained tempura shrimp, avocado, ahi, miso aioli, tobiko, and cucumber. $12.50

So why the one star rating? It was the sushi rice. It wasn't done yet. No matter how nice the shop owners are, or how cute the cafe may be, you can't let sushi rice out the door unless it's properly cooked. The center was still raw. I gave one star for the fresh fish and nice roll presentation. The rest is unforgivable.

It's been a couple of year since my first and only visit, but they're still open which tells me that they may have fixed this problem. In either case, I would stick with their regular catered fare and watch the rice if you choose to order sushi.