Wine Country Cool
By OCInSite Site Admin | December 30, 2011 2:13 PM
By Paul Franson
The following article recently appeared in Montage Magazine.
If you haven’t visited Napa Valley recently, you’re in for some big surprises. Still best known for its wine (with food close behind), the valley is also becoming a destination for entertainment and the arts. Indeed, Napa itself has enjoyed a renaissance over the past few years, and the area south of the city is ripe with new discoveries.
The valley has a whole new schedule of exciting wine, food and arts events coming up this fall, too, including Cabernet Season in the quiet months of January through April, when the valley will host a series of culinary and cultural events, such as Napa Valley Restaurant Month, its second Truffle Festival, the Mozart Festival and Festival del Sole.
No Longer Cinderella
Once a place visitors merely passed through en route through the valley, Napa is now a must-see destination.
The upscale Avia Hotel, recently acquired by Hyatt, offers luxurious accommodations in the downtown area, joining the elegant Napa River Inn in the restored Napa Mill. The upscale River Terrace Inn and Westin Verasa, which houses the famed La Toque restaurant, have also brought more life to downtown Napa.
The new lodging can hardly keep up with the explosion of restaurants, however. Most prominent are three new favorites in the Riverfront, a large multiuse development fronting one of California’s few navigable rivers.
The Riverfront hosts the first Western location for Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, and the trendy big-city décor and innovative food are drawing scores of elegantly dressed young diners from San Francisco and beyond.
It’s like six restaurants in one: In the front is the take-out market, where you can also buy fish flown in from Tokyo or small meals to go. Walk down a long corridor where Morimoto himself is often directing service, and you find a sushi bar separated from the rest of the room. It has a hopping bar with comfortable lounges for sipping and meeting. The main room is lively if loud, while a side space is quieter, and the tables outside along the river are perfect for couples. The food is a combination of traditional Japanese and the chef’s famed innovations, and all good. Morimoto single handedly raised the hipness quotient of Napa, and it’s always busy—and open late.
Also in the Riverfront complex is TV chef Tyler Florence’s casual Rotisserie & Wine, and Fish Story, an outpost of famed Lark Creek Restaurant Group, both of which offer peaceful outside seating along the river.
The Riverfront also hosts numerous trendy shops and a fancy new visitors center with a large raised relief map of Napa Valley, and even a concierge who can arrange lodging and appointments.
Not far away is Napa’s hot “West End” at First and Franklin, across from the Avia Hotel. Its restaurants include comfy Norman Rose Tavern and Grace’s Table serving global cuisine. Oenotri restaurant features southern Italian food and wine that has garnered raves from both food critics and locals. Outside seating in the plaza is reminiscent of Palermo, if a bit less worn.
Also lining the streets are art galleries, a kitchen store, gift and lifestyle shops and the John Anthony tasting salon, more an elegant wine bar than the usual tasting room.
Eiko’s Japanese sushi bar is already packing in fans, the dark lounge a magnet for younger patrons. Tarla Mediterranean Grill serves food with a Turkish-Greek tilt. At the other end of First Street, Copia sadly remains closed, but the adjacent Oxbow Public Market has taken off and is now filled most of the time with happy eaters, drinkers, shoppers and gawkers; Tuesday is lively Locals Night, when many merchants offer special menu items, and live music is featured many other nights of the week.
New in the Market are the Kitchen Door restaurant with minimal service but upscale food at good prices; Ca’ Momi pizzeria and pasticcercia run by passionate Italians (don’t ask them to make substitutions!); and the C Casa innovative taqueria, which offers ever-changing seasonal dishes. Also new on Main Street: Cielito Lindo, which serves up authentic Mexican fare and local favorite, Azzurro Pizzeria e Enoteca, with Neela’s Indian food nearby.
About 20 wineries and tasting rooms dot downtown Napa, too, including the new 1313 Main. A favorite, however, is Carpe Diem Wine Bar on Second Street, run by a young couple and their friend who offer a wide section of wines from Napa cults to obscure imported selections along with tasty small and large bites.
Perhaps most surprising, downtown Napa now sports dueling theaters offering top entertainment. The Napa Valley Opera House was restored a few years ago after half a century of neglect and features a full schedule of music and other entertainment in its intimate auditorium. More recently, the 1938 art deco Uptown Theater has been restored to its original design and serves as a venue for live comedy acts as well as music performances from country and folk to today’s edgiest bands. Leaving downtown Napa, Silverado Resort’s new owners are upgrading the rooms and facilities, including the two golf courses and tennis program.
Into the Valley
Yountville continues to offer more fine dining than any other village in America: new is Michael Chiarello’s popular Bottega, featuring his inspired adaptations of southern Italian food. The well-known TV chef is back in his element in the kitchen—he was the opening chef at Tra Vigne—but finds time to schmooze with the patrons and charm the ladies.
Richard Reddington of Redd will shortly open Redd Wood, a wood-oven pizzeria, in the new Hotel Luca, which resembles an Italian hilltop village.
The LEED certified Bardessono hotel in Yountville offers luxury in an environmentally sensitive setting. Its new chef, former Copia chef Victor Scargle, focuses on farm-to-table fare, serving up fresh greens on the side of his succulent seafood and meat dishes.
Three venerable valley restaurants have been restored to first ranks, too: étoile at Domaine Carneros, the valley’s first-ever gourmet restaurant, Auberge du Soleil and the Restaurant at Meadowood.
The Lincoln Theater in Yountville recently mounted an aggressive schedule of concerts and other entertainment, and in Rutherford, Italian Alex restaurant has just opened in the Rancho Caymus Inn, once home to La Toque.
With the rise of Napa, St. Helena is becoming more of a pleasant shopping visit than a prime destination, but it also has a bevy of good casual eateries and some interesting new restaurants.
Farmstead, owned by Long Meadow Ranch, the valley’s most diverse estate, features its own wine as well as farm-to-table food from its own gardens, farm and olive and fruit orchards. Because Napa County outlaws restaurants at wineries, Farmstead is in St. Helena, not at the nearby estate. It offers a variety of wine tastings, tours and wine lunches where you can really get into Napa Valley.
Western-themed Calistoga, with its famed spas and mud baths, has slipped in attention, though its Solage resort has become a top draw, and its Solbar restaurant is one of the valley’s best. Exclusive sister resort Calistoga Ranch attracts those seeking privacy—you can’t drive in, but have to leave your car and be transported to your room.
Of course, Napa Valley’s top attraction is still the wine. County regulations—and the tepid economy—have discouraged many new wineries, but a few developments are worth noting.
Dario Sattui’s Castello di Amorosa, a Tuscan Medieval-style hilltop castle near Calistoga, is a fascinating visit for its extensive tour. The winery makes both rarified Napa-style wines as well as the sweet wines popular with many visitors but scarce in Napa Valley.
Mountaintop Kenzo Estate and underground Palmaz east of Napa, as well as Somerston way east of Rutherford in the Napa hills, are also notable attractions.
Due to the restrictions on tasting rooms at wineries, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga have many new salons.
Art, too, has always played a grand role at many Napa Valley wineries, with Hess Collection, Mumm and Clos Pegase particularly significant. Now art has come to downtown Napa and Yountville with extensive pieces of sculpture for public viewing. Napa has installed 12 pieces of kinetic (moving) art for its art walk, sure to add a fresh appeal to the area.
Charlie Palmer’s
Insider Insights
Charlie Palmer is well known to fans of Top Chef, and has acclaimed restaurants from New York City to Las Vegas and Orange County, including Aureole, Charlie Palmer and Dry Creek Kitchen in the California wine country town of Healdsburg, where he lives. Each year in the spring, Palmer hosts the annual Pigs and Pinot weekend at the Healdsburg Inn, which draws chefs, winemakers and foodies from around the country and benefits local and national charities.
Palmer offers the following suggestions for places to visit in Sonoma/Healdsburg:
Visitors looking for a day trip should head to picturesque Lake Sonoma. Not only are the lake views amazing, but the drive up is also scenic and peaceful. While at the lake you can enjoy picnics and water sports.
On your way to the lake, stop by the Dry Creek Peach Farm for a quick tour and delicious peaches and the Dry Creek General Store to pick up some sandwiches at the store’s old-fashioned deli for your picnic.
Those with more time in Sonoma shouldn’t miss Safari West, an odd addition to wine country, but a cool, fun place to visit with your family. From giraffes to zebras, there are
more than 600 animals at the preserve, which you can experience on the different African Safari Adventures.
Must-visit wineries in the area include Rochioli Vineyards & Winery, A. Rafanelli Winery and Iron Horse Vineyards.
Hotel Healdsburg is located on the historic Healdsburg town plaza and is the home of Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen, which offers fresh dishes that are inspired by regional ingredients.
Pamer’s favorite room at the hotel is room 213—a premium room overlooking the courtyard with two sides of windows, a great floor plan, deep soaking tub and nice views of the gardens. Plus, enjoy evening jazz in the lobby Friday and Saturday nights—the perfect spot to have dessert and listen to some great local late-night jazz.
On the weekend, Dry Creek Kitchen offers a Wine Trail Luncheon Tasting featuring “neighborhood” food and wine pairings: three courses paired with great Sonoma wines for $76 per person.
