For months, cleaning nose smudges and handprints off the windows was part of the daily ritual at Dead Letter as curious locals pressed against the glass, trying to catch a glimpse inside the new restaurant just off the Sonoma Plaza.
Now the doors are open, and owners John Toulze and Sondra Bernstein can finally put away the Windex.
The longtime partners behind The Girl & The Fig and Poppy have reimagined the building at First and East Napa streets — most recently home to Maya Mexican Restaurant for more than two decades — as a modern California restaurant with subtle nods to its post office past.
Surreal black-and-white images quietly shift across tall screens mounted against rugged stone walls. An Art-o-mat vending machine that once dispensed cigarettes now offers tiny $5 artworks the size and shape of a pack. Trashion Fashion Barbies, cocktails made with Chartreuse and red wine, and a wooden postal window filled with vintage postcards add to the funky flair. The space is less themed than curated, reflecting Bernstein’s creative verve and passion for cutting-edge digital art…