Hawks

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

When Michael Fagnoni and Molly Hawks opened their restaurant in 2007, Granite Bay wasn't known as a fine dining destination. The couple saw something others didn't: a community ready for a serious kitchen. More than seventeen years later, Hawks has become exactly the kind of place locals return to for both special occasions and ordinary Tuesday evenings — a rare balance that speaks to everything the restaurant stands for.

The People Behind the Kitchen

Chef-owner Michael Fagnoni grew up cooking alongside his grandmother, learning Northern Italian fundamentals before formalizing his training at the Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated on the Dean's List. He went on to work under Rick Moonen at Oceana, Mark Sullivan at The Village Pub in Woodside, and Traci des Jardins at Jardinière — a résumé that shaped his ingredient-driven, modern American approach. It was at The Village Pub that he met Molly Hawks, who had left pre-med for the California Culinary Academy and built her own career through San Francisco kitchens before the two joined forces.

Running the kitchen day-to-day is Chef de Cuisine Edward Lopez, who has been with Hawks since its opening. Lopez trained at the California Culinary Academy, staged at the two-Michelin-star Ristorante da Caino in Tuscany, and works directly with local farmers — some of whom grow ingredients specifically for the Hawks menu.

Seasonal American Cooking with French Roots

The menu reflects what Fagnoni and his team call a deep respect for seasonal ingredients, prepared with refined French and Italian techniques. The nightly Chef's Tasting Menu is the clearest expression of that philosophy: a recent iteration opened with an Artichoke Pudding, moved through a seafood trio of salmon, shrimp, and lobster reduction, then settled into Hawks classics — chicken ballotine and an Almond Wood Grilled Filet Mignon — before closing with a Huckleberry Profiterole alongside Huckleberry Cheesecake and Cream Cheese Chantilly. An optional wine pairing, curated course by course, is available alongside.

À la carte dining runs parallel, giving guests the flexibility to compose their own meal from the same seasonal, locally sourced pantry.

A Wine Program Worth the Recognition

Wine Director Marc Jensen oversees a cellar that Wine Spectator has repeatedly recognized with its Best of Award of Excellence — a distinction given to restaurants whose lists demonstrate thoughtful selection, depth of vintage, and genuine pairing ambition. The recognition is a meaningful one for a restaurant that sits, as Wine Spectator itself noted, somewhat unexpectedly within a strip mall in an affluent Sacramento suburb. The setting is warm and welcoming rather than formal, and the wine program matches that tone: serious without being intimidating.

Hawks has also earned repeated OpenTable Diner's Choice recognition for best ambiance and most romantic fine dining atmosphere — a reminder that the room itself is part of the experience.