Our
trip to Napa is about wine. We are here to visit old friends with
new vintages. We are calling on wineries new to us who have been
highly recommended by our friends in the trade. We are checking
up on properties that have changed ownership or management to
see what has changed for better or worse. We are trooping through
vineyards looking at new plantings and the latest trellising and
pruning ideas. We are tasting various recent vintages and comparing
different blends. We are prowling the cellars, tasting from barrels
with a view to future bottlings. We are talking about wine with
everyone. And, we also eat. Napa is a grand place to eat. Good
food is everywhere. Great dining is common. Increasingly, Napa
is becoming the best place in the U.S. to dine. Restaurants here
feature good food, well prepared, and well served. The standards
are high.
The
French Laundry in Yountville is certainly in top form, top form
for anyone. This place seems to be in every list of top 10, or
top 5, or top 3. Not just vying for best in the area, but best
in the country. It does not disappoint. An astounding array of
perfectly formed dishes of exquisite food arrived at our table.
Everything that everyone in our party ordered was exquisite. The
food could not have been finer or more elegant. We have never
had a better meal anywhere. The one problem is getting in. Reservations
are accepted two months in advance, to the day. Apparently, each
day’s allotment is sold out within a few hours. However, the restaurant
really is that good! Try it.
Good
as The French Laundry is, our favorite is Terra in St. Helena.
Our meals there have been a bit less intricate and the service
is less complex. However, the charm of the place is unexcelled.
Oddly split into sections by the entryway, the two tiny dining
rooms yield an intimate feel. The place is friendly and simple
in many respects. Yet the food is fabulous. The menu items are
judiciously balanced and just about any combination would yield
an intriguing match-up. Everything has just the right bit of invention
to season elemental cooking mastery. I have always included Sea
Bass in my selections, although I can’t say it is "the house
specialty", since every other offering has been equally fine.
I don’t think you can beat Terra for great food in a warming atmosphere.
The cooking at Terra is the best!
The
restaurant at Domaine Chandon, in Yountville, has held court in
the Valley for many years, and a recent visit proved to us that
this is still a grand place to have a grand evening. The structure
and décor are striking and seem most appropriate to the
Napa wine renaissance, for which it is a landmark. Make no mistake,
this place is not all show. The food and service are fine, and
dining here is an event.
Yountville
sports two great "Bistro type" establishments. Bouchon
entertained us with great good cheer on two consecutive evenings.
We had such a great time the first night we went right back the
second (also, we couldn’t get favorable seating at Bistro Jeanty,
the other great casual establishment in town). Dining at Bouchon
virtually spills out onto the street from the bar area. Everyone
is having a good time and so would you. Presentations are straightforward,
but the food is good, very good. The establishment is accommodating
and the service is friendly and intelligent. Food is classically
well prepared and perfectly seasoned. Bouchon is fun. We suspect
that Bistro Jeanty would be too. It has a similar appeal, but
we never succeeded in getting in. We still want to go there since
our chef friends in the area all recommend the place, perhaps
tomorrow.
And
that is just the start of it. Dozens of perfectly good restaurants
dot the valley. Perhaps the presence of the Culinary Institute
at Greystone in St. Helena has flooded the area with great apprentice
chefs who want to work with now famous Napa master-chefs. Perhaps
the constant influx of food conscious wine aficionados provides
a steady stream of clients for dining out. Perhaps the quality-oriented
culture of the wineries puts pressure on local dining establishments.
In any case, good food abounds in Napa Valley. I would tell you
more, but it is time to eat. There may be even better places yet!
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Originally published in "The Greenville Journal", July 20 - 26,
2001 in "From The Vine" column, author, Richard deBondt.