Underwood Bar & Bistro — Restaurant Sold After Nearly 24 Years
Matthew Greenbaum has sold Underwood Bar & Bistro, the Graton restaurant he has run for nearly 24 years, to Sean Kelley, Tara Heffernon and Laura Sanfilippo, the owners of Lo & Behold Bar + Kitchen in Healdsburg. Greenbaum, 65, will stay on through New Year’s Eve 2026, his last official day at the restaurant he built into a gathering spot for local winemakers, restaurant workers and neighbors.
The sale closes a long chapter for a restaurant that has anchored the small Sonoma County town for decades. According to Sonoma Magazine, Greenbaum opened Underwood in December 2002, though a separate Sonoma Magazine profile from last year dates its opening to 2001 \u2014 accounts that diverge on the exact year even as both agree the restaurant has anchored Graton for decades. Underwood sits in the heart of Graton, a town Sonoma County’s tourism bureau describes as picturesque Sonoma wine country, and the restaurant and Greenbaum’s other property, Willow Wood Market Cafe, are credited with helping turn the town into a dining destination.
A Line Cook Who Worked His Way Up
For incoming owner Sean Kelley, the purchase is something of a homecoming. Kelley started as a line cook at Underwood in 2004 and spent 12 years working his way up to sous chef and co-manager before eventually running the food program at Burdock, according to the sale report. He’ll oversee the kitchen transition going forward, with current chef Mark Miller staying on…