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Danville chef and restaurateur Rodney Worth is getting ready to launch his latest culinary venture, a bold reimagining of a space I know well just outside of the Tri-Valley.
The Worth Group was selected to take over dining operations at the restaurant in Rossmoor, the 55-and-older community in Walnut Creek just northwest of Alamo.
And while Worth’s vision for the future of dining inside the gates is, according to the Rossmoor Walnut Creek Board of Directors, more in line with what a majority of residents want, the announcement of his arrival was not without controversy.
The Rossmoor News has had great coverage of the closure of the Creekside Grill and Bar on Dec. 23 after nearly 20 years in operation by Stan and Ann Gedeon, the board’s public justification for seeking a new operating partner and Worth introducing himself to the senior community. I’ve also been privy to more of the intense reactions and scuttlebutt having family in Rossmoor.
He gave wide-ranging interviews to the Rossmoor News, describing what his restaurant (named The Golden Pear) will offer in terms of a reinvigorated menu for the familiar lunch, dinner and weekend brunch and added weekday breakfast, the remodeling inside the space to make it brighter and more accessible, and the plans for a coffee cart with to-go options geared for golfers.
As renovations continue with no opening day confirmed yet (an initial Feb. 1 goal date has come and gone), Worth is working to ingratiate himself and his brand with the Rossmoor community, offering its residents a special discount at his three existing restaurants in the Tri-Valley.
That was among the tidbits I picked up while giving a presentation on the future of journalism to the Rotary Club of Rossmoor last month. (You’d be surprised how many Pleasanton Weekly and DanvilleSanRamon.com readers we have in Rossmoor, having relocated there from here in retirement.)
Worth offered to give me a tour after The Golden Pear opens its doors; he has too much going on to do so beforehand.
Understandable. He has to keep things humming at The Peasant & The Pear in Danville, The Peasant’s Courtyard in Alamo and The Bourbon Pear in Livermore. The latter, which opened downtown in 2024, was profiled by our Tri-Valley Foodist Deborah Grossman in her blog last November – mere days before the Rossmoor news started to come out.
The Worth Group also made the tough decision to close The Little Pear on the edge of downtown Walnut Creek three weeks ago. The company had taken over the corner restaurant spot along North California Boulevard in 2023 several months after The Counter shuttered.
“It has been a true pleasure serving the community. Your support has meant the world to us!” the company said on The Little Pear’s Facebook page before its final day Jan. 28. “While we’re sad to say goodbye, we’re excited for what the future holds for us … Wishing you joy, good company and wonderful dining adventures!”
This weekend through next, Worth and team are participating in Taste Tri-Valley Restaurant Week at The Bourbon Pear and The Peasant & The Pear – two of the 50-plus locations on the list for the culinary showcase in Danville, Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore from this Friday (Feb. 20) through next Sunday (March 1).
“It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come since our very first Restaurant Week in 2021, when dining had just reopened — and only outdoors — in February!” Robin Fahr, vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Tri-Valley, told me Tuesday.
“This year, not only will we be much warmer indoors, but the offers are even hotter,” she said. “Our restaurants are truly stepping up with generous discounts and special prix fixe menus created just for these 10 delicious days. With nearly 1,500 food lovers already signed up for our free mobile pass, we’re expecting plenty of wining, dining and celebrating across the Tri-Valley.”
Diners can log their visits to registered restaurants, wineries and breweries (an array up and down the Valley, alphabetically from Arroyo Cellars to Zephyr Grill & Bar) for a grand prize giveaway.
The Opening Night Dinner event was postponed from this Thursday because of a conflict with a political fundraiser for congressional candidate Melissa Hernandez. It is being rescheduled and reimagined as the kick-off for a new weekend program debuting in June, “Tri-Valley Twist”.
Restaurant Week’s marquee special event, the Taste Tri-Valley Finale Cocktail Party, is set from 5-7 p.m. next Friday (Feb. 27) at the new Pivot Craft Kitchen & Sports Bar at the Four Points by Sheraton in Pleasanton. Ticket sales benefit SPARC Theater. More information is available at visittrivalley.com.
Bon appetit.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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