Jim & Jamie’s Adventures In Napa

Thursday is a great night to spend a night at The Inn On First.  Every Thursday, from June through mid-September, the Napa Downtown Merchant’s Association presents “Chef’s Market”.  You can find a farmer’s market anywhere. But only in Napa can you buy your produce, watch a world class chef’s demonstration, enjoy live music at four stages including one just for kids – while enjoying a glass of Napa Valley wine. The sixteenth annual Thursday night Napa Chef’s Market summer season kicked-off on Thursday, May 20, and will continue through the summer from 5 to 9 PM on First Street in Downtown Napa.  Free and open to the public, this outdoor food, wine and entertainment extravaganza is like no other – it  features food and wine tastings from Napa Valley restaurants and wineries, cooking demonstrations by Napa’s acclaimed chefs, dozens of food vendors, produce from 25 of the region’s top farmers, three musical stages, and a block of children’s entertainment. Chefs Market has been voted “Best Family Outing” by local radio stations listeners for years.  Even casual foodies will enjoy the two nightly cooking demonstrations at 6:30 and 7:30 each night, which are hosted by Anne Baker, former pastry chef for Mustards Grill. Baker lines up two chefs each night, and both pair their offerings with wine from a downtown tasting room.  Samples of food and wine are free to all watching.

This is a great way to spend a Thursday evening like a local Napan: walk the streets, enjoy some beer and wine, listen to the music, and enjoy the sights, sounds, and flavors of downtown Napa on a balmy summer evening.

If you want some great, easy eats at very affordable prices, then Oxbow Market on Tuesday nights is the place to be.  Gott’s Burgers and Fries, $4.00 for a cheeseburger and fries, and a house salad at 50% off.  Hog Island Oyster company has oysters for $1, and Pica-Pica has $1 ceviche shots.  These are just a few of the treats waiting for those who are staying at The Inn On First on Tuesday nights.  Entertainment will also be provided in the main market area between the hours of 5 to 9 pm.  And don’t forget all the great tasting rooms in the area that are staying open later for the summer, some until 9 pm for those who want to continue to experience of wine tasting later into the night.  You can also walk over to the Verasa and eat at the Bank Bar where they serve 3 tapas for $5.  Stay on Tuesday, be a local.

It always falls on the first Saturday of December.  With over 400 people visiting the inn, eating food from Bleaux Magnolia and Angele, pairing the food with wine from Baldacci Vineyards and Mumm Napa, it was a busy and exciting night for The Inn On First and the other 10 participating bed and breakfast inns in Napa.  For $55 you are provided all the food and drink you desire, as well as a visit to every inn that is decorated for the holidays, and even transportation to and near the inns.  Each inn typically holds open one room for participants to visit and this year we showed them Vintage Reserve, one of our two largest suites upstairs.  I baked an extra 500 pieces of cookies and brownie bon-bons which were completely gone by the end of the night.  It was magical and fun for all of us.  Dressed in our Holiday Vests we showed off all of Jamie’s decorations as well as the enormous 9′ tree fully decked out for the night.  Jamie’s sister, Roxanne, also donated a wreath for the front door that is the first thing you see walking up the front door.  The glass logo sculpture has green and red lights that subtly light up the evening with The Inn On First ambience.  The Napa Valley Register did come by and take a few photos (one of an ornament on the tree and the other of the front door) for you to view:  http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/12/12/business/doc49420ebda44d3571685261.txt

Last week we were asked to participate in a hospitality presentation at Peju Winery.  With a new chef, Marianne, at the helm of the food, and the winemaker, Sarah Fowler, still producing great wine, Peju is investing in a new series of food and wine pairing sessions.  The first was the wine and cheese: four distinct California cheeses paired with four of Peju’s wines.  The goat cheese stood out beautifully with the Sauvignon Blanc, the Humboldt Fog went well with the Provence, lamb prosciutto was paired with the 05 Merlot, and a sheep’s milk cheese with the 05 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The chef was informative, entertaining, and very engaging with the group (no more than fifteen in each session).  We followed this up with a tour of the grounds and discovered (finally!) that those funky trees they are growing are stripped down sycamores.  If you haven’t seen them, you should.  They are leafing all the way up each long trunk and the effect is hypnotic.  We toured the estate vineyard where their award-winning Cab comes from, as well as the chef’s herb and vegetable garden where everything was popping up in abundance.  Our hosts, Katie and Connor, talked to us about the energy-efficiency of the winery as it utilizes solar panels to produce close to 40% of the energy the winery uses to produce the wines.  We were taken through the barrel room and then fortunate enough to see the new bottling machine where they were just putting together a new bottle and label of a Syrah Rose. Returning to the main tasting room, we were escorted through the new tasting room addition that is very bright, beautiful, and contemporary.  We finished our day back upstairs for a second session, this time for tapas and wine pairing.  We started with a goat’s milk yogurt cheese with a pate paired with the 05 Merlot, moved to the lamb meatball with pomegranate reduction paired with the 05 Cabernet Franc, proceeded to the crostini with boar prosciutto and caramelized onions/macerated cherries which perfectly fit the 05 Fifty/Fifty blend, and finished with the Yellow Bell Pepper in tempura that was paired with the 04 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  Once the hour session was completed we made a beeline to the kitchen for a quick tour and then to the tasting room to purchase some of these wines.  We both highly recommend the experience (cheese tasting @$40; tapas tasting @ $60) and would encourage a guest to do BOTH (there may be a discount for both experiences in a single day)!  What a great way to spend a few hours drinking wine, enjoying the vineyards, and eating really great, creative food.  Currently these are being offered on Thursdays and Fridays.  Cheese tastings are at 11:00 a.m. and Tapas tastings are at 1:00 p.m.

The Napa Valley is known for a mix of both large and small wineries, and typically Jamie and I stay away from large wineries as they are busier, more touristed, and the wines we’ve tasted are usually mediocre. Not that we don’t like large wineries. To the contrary- we love their educational tours and seminars as they provide the best service to guests who are visiting the Napa Valley for the first time. We had heard a lot about Beringer and Dean Busquaert’s educational session on wine and dominant tastes in food. Guests would return from his session raving about how much they had learned. We finally met Dean and he agreed to come to The Inn On First one night and provide a slimmed down version of his seminar for our guests. Over the course of one hour he paired up different wines with various tastes in food (sweet, salty, sour, savory), and he explained why some flavors worked well with wine and others didn’t. When he had us experiment for ourselves the lessons became more obvious and suddenly we all felt like wine and food pairing experts. Granted, we are all far from that, but let’s not spoil the delusion for the moment….by the end of that hour we were more educated and ready to try and pair up wines with dominant food tastes as we eat around the Valley. Now, he also brought some of Beringer’s reserve wines, and what a difference that made. As I stated at the beginning of this paragraph, I usually steer away from tasting wines at large wineries as they will offer their lower end wines for tasting; and my experience is that these wines are mediocre. The exception- and there is always an exception to the rule- is that these larger wineries have “reserve” wines that are far better in flavor and complexity. Even at small wineries, when there is an option to taste reserve wines, I will always take that option knowing this is a better selection of wines. Beringer was no exception. All of us were impressed with their reserve wines and Dean was more than happy to take orders to fill for guests before he left. Although we probably won’t see him for the rest of the season- especially now that he was written up in Conde Naste as a “not to be missed” experience in Napa- we really encourage guests early on to seriously consider taking his session. He is funny, engaging, and hugely educational. That hour moved so quickly and we regretted we didn’t get more time with him. If you think you are going to want this “not to be missed” experience, be sure to sign up early. More information is available on the Beringer website (http://www.beringer.com).

MAKING NAPA YOUR CENTRAL GETAWAY:

For those who visit Napa overnight, or for two nights at most, we always here the refrain on their way out the door: “If I had known that we could do so much here I would have stayed longer!”  We try to warn people all the time: “One or two nights in Napa is just barely scraping the surface.  You should give yourself three to four nights at a minimum.”  

Why?  Start with wineries.  With over 400 to choose from you can imagine the diversity of experience.  From wine cave visits, to barrel tasting, to food and wine pairing tastings, as well as all the varietals from each region in Napa producing a different flavor, one or two days is just skimming the surface.  

There are picnic wineries, view wineries, wine-making wineries where you are the winemaker, experimental wineries, green eco-conscious wineries.  Then there are all the art wineries, the art preserves, and the spectacular drives through the Valley.  And not just one valley, but many within driving distance of Napa (Sonoma, Russian River, Chiles, and Anderson to name a few).  

Then there is the coastline along Bodega Bay, visiting Point Reyes and Tomales Bay, and driving along the coast of Northern California, all of which can be done in one day while you stay in Napa.  Of course, there is also the cheese factory, the olive oil tasting, the Bale Grist Mill where they still produce flour for you to purchase.  

We haven’t even talked about restaurants yet, both those in Napa proper as well as all of those throughout the Valley.  From fine dining, to the local burger joint; from French, to Italian, to Steak, to Sushi, to Creole, to Spanish, to California Fresh, to Fish, to Vegetarian, to Ribs, to Seafood. 

And what about a spa day?  Either an in-room massage, or a mud bath, or a volcanic ash bath, a facial, pedicure, or manicure to start your day?  Don’t forget the horseback riding, riding a bicycle through St. Helena and the vineyards, hiking up Mt. St. Helena, and visiting the animal preserve. For golfers there are four main courses we recommend in the Valley:  Chardonnay, Eagle Vines, Vintner’s, and Silverado are all very near Napa and provide various levels of course expertise. 

If visiting San Francisco is part of your plan, then make it a day trip out of Napa.  You can drive into the City in 1 hour, 15 minutes, with no traffic, or take the Vallejo Ferry (a 30 minute drive from the Inn), with a 1-hour ride on the boat into San Francisco (and they drop you off in the heart of all the tourist action at Fisherman’s Wharf).  Imagine, you go into the City for the day and then return to the quiet of the Napa Valley to sleep in the heart of the wine country. 

Don’t get us wrong.  As former residents of San Francisco we know what the City has to offer and we encourage our guests to visit.  Now that we live in Napa, though, we understand all that the Valley has to offer and see how anyone could make Napa their central hub and make day trips all over the Bay Area.  

We do have our limitations, though, as much as we would like to believe your stay in Napa could provide you with access to all of Northern California.  For those who have not been here before, Mendocino (to the North) and Monterey (to the South) are too far away for day trips.  Those are at least three to four hours in one direction to either location.  That would also be the same for Lake Tahoe (to the East) and Yosemite (to the South-East), two other great places to visit, and even further away.  We don’t recommend you try any of those in one day.

Swanson is a small family owned winery in Napa Valley that has a most unusual set-up.  The tasting salon sits in the middle of vineyards they do not own (their vineyards are behind Brix Restaurant), and the decor in the salon is really unique.  Painted in bold colors, with large whimsical portraits of people and grapes and wine, it is bright and cheery as you enter the room and find yourself greeted by Cidy or Sean who immediately invite you to sip a little Pinot Grigio and stand by the open fire.  Since it was a cool Napa day it was a wonderful greeting.  This was a hospitality event to introduce us to their salon and how they do tastings, and Cidy took responsibility for each person at the door to invite them to enjoy the food that was being paired with the wine.  The Pinot Grigio with deviled eggs and caviar (my mouth still waters) and the salmon crostini with a housemade ricotta-like cheese, the Merlot was paired with pork sandwiches as well as cheese and crackers, and finally the Alexis (mostly Cabernet Sauvignon) blend with homemade chocolate truffles dusted with curry powder.  They all worked beautifully.  Alexis Swanson works closely with the chef to create this pairing and it creates a great time for everyone.  Normally guests will sit at the tasting table (only 10-12 allowed per session) and will enjoy about 90 minutes of tasting wine and eating food and receiving a great education on wine and food pairing.  They only do a few sessions per day and to make reservations you need to call weeks in advance, especially during the summer.  Although we haven’t done the tasting experience…yet!…we were really impressed by what we saw and experienced.  Other guests have gone throughout the past year and have really enjoyed their time at the salon.  The cost is $30-$55, depending on the number of wines and foods you pair with during your tasting.  For a small boutique winery, this really works well for guests to have a different kind of experience in Napa.

After 7 months without a day off we finally took off for two weeks to stay at a lovely boutique hotel called Idle Awhile in Negril, Jamaica. We had plans for snorkeling, hiking, touring, and scuba diving lessons, but after 24 hours of lounging on the beach, floating in the water, and taking long naps, we decided that 12 days of doing “nothing” was more important than anything else. It was our time in Jamaica that gave us time as well to talk about some of the changes we wanted to implement when we arrived home. Those include a split bottle of Mumm champagne upon arrival, as well as putting Annette’s Chocolate Factory Truffles (a Napa favorite) in the room. A little bubbly while you unpack, along with a sweet nibble, or even a salty one in the complimentary snack in your room upon arrival, really sets the tone for a relaxed and enjoyable vacation.  IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, PLEASE SEND THEM.  Every ideal is legitimate. We just can’t always implement them immediately. As we were like the hare who was running the race, we have found that the tortoise is a better model: slow, sure, steady, and focused. Small, incremental changes, bit by bit growing the business, and allowing ourselves to be changed in the process. As a friend of ours told us: You don’t want to change so fast that you won’t know yourself on the other side. She is correct. Neither do we want to change The Inn On First so rapidly that you won’t know it when you return.

For those who were staying as guests at The Inn On First, we pulled out all the stops for Christmas morning breakfast. It began when Jamie set the table with our holiday china, stemware, and silverware. He ordered a nice bouquet from Beau Fleurs Florist (www.beaufleurs.com) in Napa. With red roses and star gazers and holiday greenery sitting on top of the Holiday Tartan patterned table cloth, he lit the candles and started the holiday choral music, and the feast was ready to begin. We started with a cold fruit soup, with raspberries, strawberry sprinkles, lemon-poached pear, and a creme-fraiche whipped cream. The second course was a platter of warm cinnamon rolls with Strauss Family butter (www.strausfamilycreamery.com, organic dairy products). The main course was homemade brioche mini-loaves topped with poached eggs, a thyme-pepper-lemon sauce, and California Osetra caviar. On the side were smoked apple and chicked sausages. In the immortal words of Jamie: YUMMY!!! Mumm-osas and Po-mosas (Mumm Sparkling wine mimosas with orange juice, or with pomegranate juice!) added cheer and goodwill at the table, as did the decorated Christmas cookies (an old Cherry family recipe). As guests left for the day they were handed their special Holiday Gift to take home with them. What was that gift? Can’t tell you. You’ll have to come yourself and see what we do! Although we struggled with the decision to stay open for Christmas, it was obvious at breakfast that it was worth the cost of our time and energy to celebrate the holiday with others. A bit of Jim and Jamie hospitality, mixed with Jamie’s decorative flair for Christmas, and Jim’s desire to create innovative and delicious food, were the best gifts we could offer to others who wanted a fun and delicious place to celebrate the holiday season. We still had our time together on Christmas Eve, sitting by the fire, drinking Schramsberg’s Brut Rose, eating homemade blinis with creme fraiche and caviar, and then sitting down to enjoy a home-cooked meal of Cioppino and cornbread, finishing with the traditional eggnog and brandy and the Cherry family holiday cookies. Of course, the boys enjoyed their evening as well when we settled down all together and watched Meet Me In St. Louis with Judy Garland. What a great holiday movie to enjoy. I’m already thinking about next year’s menu: how to improve it and make it better. Maybe 4 or 5 courses instead of 3, although I would need to make the portions smaller on all the courses. Ah, decisions, decisions. We’ll see what next year brings! Well, from our family to yours, Merry Christmas. Jim