Greg Cook was not in the restaurant business. He was 24 years old, he loved wine and music, and he had an idea about what a room could feel like if those two things were at the center of it.
In 1973, at the corner of Pine and Commercial in Nevada City, he found out he was right.
The early days are what the regulars call the "burlap days" — named for the rolled-out burlap ceiling, the star-shaped chandeliers made from stained 2x4s, the torch-burnt plywood tables. Greg and his staff wore handmade friar robes with belts embellished with wine glasses. Sherwood Restaurant & Bar was one of the first wine bars in Northern California. They served fondue. It was a novelty. It became a habit. It became an institution.
In 1982, Greg married Rona. Together they doubled the restaurant, added a full liquor license, steak, fresh seafood — the full menu format still in place today.
Then the fire. Then the rebuild. Then twenty more years of running the most beloved room in Nevada City.
Greg Cook passed away on December 30, 2016. His wife Rona and daughter Carissa continued operating Sherwood Restaurant & Bar, and in 2019 the Paige family assumed ownership — with the same intention Greg always had: serve people well, play good music, and mean it.
His name is still in this room. It always will be.