On a hot summer’s night, my guest and I decided to go to Hawks Restaurant in Quarry Ponds for dinner.

Thinking that the restaurant would be quiet on a weeknight, I was wrong. It was buzzing with energy, and almost every table was filled. Near the entrance, customers enjoyed drinks and appetizers at the inviting bar.

As I sat down in a comfortable booth in the dining room, I looked around taking in the sophisticated, contemporary scenery of the lovely boutique restaurant. The menu included dishes prepared with local farm-fresh ingredients. Some of the items change with the season, while others remain constant, such as the popular Hawks Burger. Another option is the chef’s seven course tasting menu prepared for the entire table.

I started off with the Chopped Summer Vegetable Salad. Various vegetables such as corn, jicama, cucumber, red bell pepper and green beans were mixed together with a tasty California avocado mousse and sherry vinaigrette. It was a perfect summer salad...light and refreshing! For my main course, I had the Pan Roasted Petaluma Chicken. The mouthwatering chicken was served over a delightful medley of fingerling potatoes, bloomsdale spinach (an heirloom spinach), housemade bacon, wild mushrooms and baby artichokes. The flavorful stone-grain mustard cream sauce complemented the ingredients nicely. With every bite I took, the chicken melted in my mouth and the saltiness of the bacon added even more flavor.

For dessert, we shared Hawks’ moist Tres Leche Cake served with white chocolate granita and local Bing cherries, which ended up being a perfect finish to a perfect summer dinner. This was not my first time at Hawks, and it definitely won’t be my last!