Purely Occidental: Hazel reopens in former Barley and Hops space to scores of devoted fans

The Occidental restaurant famed for its seasonal fare and comforting desserts returns with some of its most popular menu items.

Opening night at Hazel. (Photo by Julie Zigoris)

It was a full house Thursday night as locals bellied up to be first at the—freshly illuminated—bar at Hazel, the beloved Occidental restaurant that has moved into the former Barley and Hops space after a nearly year-long search for new digs.

Squint, and you might have thought it was still the old brew pub, especially with the crew of friends on the front porch holding pints of beer, a resting dog curled into a comma shape beside them. But inside, tasteful updates mark a fresh era: walls painted a deep turquoise, ceilings hung with bright new fixtures, furnishings decorated with floral wallpaper.

“Our customers are more food-focused,” said Michele Wimborough, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband Jim Wimborough. “So we wanted to make it a good space for people to hang out and have a glass of wine or beer but also be conducive for people to have their full meals.” That’s part of why the lighting is brighter; there’s no more Edison bulbs above the wooden bar.

Diners will also find an updated menu—some new additions alongside many fan favorites. Gone are the wood-fired pizzas that made Hazel so famous, and in their place are a variety of flatbreads. “Jim’s using a very similar recipe for the flatbread dough that we use for our pizza, so it’s a familiar taste,” Wimborough said. “And the weight of the dough is about the same [as our pizzas], it’s just a rectangle now instead of a circle.”

Mains include the return of the popular Mary’s roasted chicken, pot roast, pork schnitzel and ribeye, as well as a new addition of a burger made from local Panizzera ground beef. Conspicuously absent are any vegetarian entrees, though Wimborough said the menu would be expanding in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the mozzarella tomato flatbread eats like a main dish.

The vegan Caesar is again on the menu, with an addition of fried capers that give an extra crunch and zing. Wild arugula salad with plums and fromage blanc is back, too, and so are the fried Brussels sprouts. There are nearly as many dessert options as mains—sweets have always been one of the restaurant’s strengths—and beignets will now be a nearly permanent feature.

“When we did brunch they were definitely a huge hit,” Wimborough said. “Now we’re going to have them on the dinner menu most of the time.”

Reservations have been nearly fully booked out the first nights of service, but the restaurant is keeping the bar open for walk-ins and has also started using the porch as an extra space to serve food. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Monday evenings for dinner, with the Monday evenings a new addition.

“With Negri’s and the Union not being open as much, it’s been a little bit of a nighttime food desert here, so we’re happy to be back,” Kimborough said. “Eventually we hope to open a little bit earlier, too, so people can come and sit at the bar and have a beer or glass of wine and some French fries.”

The local community has been anxiously awaiting Hazel’s return, as made evident by the restaurant’s Instagram account and the excitement brewing on Nextdoor. On opening night, repeat customers hugged returning staff—and each other—as if they were greeting old family members. All of the back of house and around half of the front of house staff has returned for the new incarnation, Kimborough said.

It’s been a long road for the couple to get here. Various Health Department inspections kept delaying the opening day, but the wait had its benefits.

“One thing that was nice about the process, which took entirely so much longer than we thought it was going to take, was that we really did get the chance to do a lot of things aesthetically that we wanted to do to the space,” Kimborough said.

There had also been the search to look for a new spot. After the building housing their original location was sold in fall 2025, they looked at spaces in Sebastopol and Guerneville. At one point, the couple considered returning to regular jobs. In the meantime, they ran pop-up dinners at the Inn at Occidental. Then the opportunity came up to rent the Barley and Hops space—the building had previously been for sale—and they jumped on it. It felt like a full-circle moment, since they had looked at the building before they moved in down the street in 2015, and they love its history.

“A lot of the reason why we wanted to do it again was because of customers,” Wimborough said. “That’s what makes it fun, and as an extra bonus, we’re doing what we love with people we really enjoy.”

While the chefs looked elsewhere while trying to find a new home for Hazel, their first choice had always been Occidental. The co-owners have lived in the West County town since they moved here from Oakland to open their restaurant here in 2015.

“Occidental has been our home the whole time, and we love it so much,” Wimborough said. “It’s just kind of shocking how welcoming and how great everybody was here.”

The pastry chef is particularly grateful to the owners of the building, who had it on the market for a long time.

“I think he really loves the building and wanted to keep it, and I really appreciate him allowing us to open here and bring it back,” she said. “It was due to his dedication to wanting to have something great in town.”

Hazel, 3688 Bohemian Hwy., Occidental. Open Wednesday through Monday, 5 pm to 9 pm.

Hazel’s new digs. (From their Facebook page)

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