Imagine what it must have been like for a Black teenager living in London to get his first restaurant job at the steakhouse where his dad cooked. That experience taught David Lawrence, a California transplant, some life-shaping lessons he will never forget.
“Just watching him prepare food and cook for customers who loved and adored him. They spoke very highly of him, his skill set and just him as a person. I remember that from many years ago,” says the executive chef of Goodnight’s Prime Steak + Spirits in the Sonoma County city of Healdsburg.
The former owner of San Francisco’s 1300 Fillmore and Black Bark BBQ led the opening of Goodnight’s in Healdsburg last August. Lawrence created the menu, combining old and new approaches to time-honored steakhouse traditions.
“It’s been a very enjoyable experience for me at this time. I can pull from my experience, knowledge and journey since starting in a steakhouse years ago,” the critically acclaimed chef expresses.
Curating Goodnight’s Steakhouse Cuisine
Walking into Goodnight’s Prime Steak + Spirits takes you inside a modern barn with rugged décor and rifles in some light fixtures. The Sonoma County steakhouse is named after Charles Goodnight, a famous Texas Ranger and cowboy entrepreneur.
After traveling through a different culinary landscape, Lawrence joined the Foley Entertainment Group’s restaurant. “My culinary path went very much into fine dining, based on Michelin stars and French cuisine,” offers the executive chef. “I came to this country doing French and American cuisines before opening my own restaurants.”
Lawrence brought a culinary style cultivated in London steakhouses and later at the Roux brothers’ three-Michelin star restaurants to Goodnight’s. Once in the San Francisco Bay area, his chef de cuisine positions at 231 Ellsworth, The Carnelian Room and Cityscape Restaurant enhanced his reputation as a first-rate chef.
“I crafted a menu to reflect my journey in the restaurant business and my training,” the chef continues. “We give the customers a chance to be a part of the taste experience. In that way, we are very unique and different.”
The steakhouse veteran modernized the menu with classic sauces and specialty salts. Every steak order comes with one of four sauces: red wine bordelaise, Armagnac green peppercorn, béarnaise and chimichurri.
“The chimichurri sauce is a South American sauce. It has parsley and cilantro in it. Here at Goodnight’s, we add orange zest to it. It adds a zesty component to the steak,” Lawrence explains.
Goodnight’s clientele can also choose from distinctive salts at the table to create a variety of flavors for the steakhouse dishes. Chef Lawrence describes the offerings.
“I have four different salts on the menu, like the aromatic truffle salt with a mushroom smell. The Himalayan pink salt is mined in Pakistan and supposedly has health aspects. I have black sea salt from Hawaii filtered through volcanic rock and smoked salt. I love the smoked salt on a big 42-ounce tomahawk, which gives it a little smoky flavor.”
By Phyllis Armstrong
