Jim & Jamie’s Adventures In Napa

A new restaurant called Oenotri opened in the past few weeks and we are really excited.  They are certified to serve Neapolitan Margherita Pizza (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza), and serve specialties of Campania, Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia.  We started, of course, with the Pizza and the tomato sauce is so fresh and clean tasting in its simplicity that you can appreciate the tomatoes for what they are without a lot of added herbs; as well as the roasted beet salad with pistachio sauce that was delicious.  Then we ordered the black pasta, made with squid ink, served with squid and more squid ink and butter, which made everyone’s teeth black as you ate and created a good round of laughter while indulging in the flavors.  Jamie enjoyed the lamb which included two large chops and vegetables, and I ordered the squab which was perfectly roasted and served with an olive relish that worked really well with the meat.  Our friends ordered the black cod on grits with spring vegetables and pine nuts, and the fish just melted in your mouth.  For dessert we ordered the cookies and coffee which came with 3 small bites, a bit of chocolate, and coffee of course.  We loved everything about the place; so much so that we want to go back soon and try it again just to make sure there is consistency in the service and dishes….dinner anyone?

We ate at Grace’s Table restaurant recently and enjoyed a bit of world cuisine.  Between the four of us we were able to enjoy many appetizers and main courses to share.  We started with the deep-fried artichoke hearts with a yummy romesco (red pepper) sauce (enjoyed by all except me, as I don’t like deep-fried artichokes, but gladly sopped up the romesco sauce with my bread), a roasted beet salad that was clean and pure in flavor (Jamie’s favorite), chicken liver mouse with a red wine gelee on top served with crostinis (loved it!), and a beautiful asparagus salad with parmesan and nasturtiums.  Our main courses included a delightfully presented tamale with peppers and cheese, the cassoulet that was perfectly cooked and piping hot, a savory duck confit, and polpette (meatballs) with  greens and pasta.  For dessert we enjoyed a blood-orange infused cheesecake that was out of this world, a pear tart with puff pastry crust and caramel sauce (a fave of 2 others), and the gigantic piece of chocolate cake (Jamie’s favorite).  Overall, a great experience for us.  My only complaint is the decor- a little too plain and ordinary for such great food coming out of the kitchen.  Jamie has some great decorating ideas; but they’re not asking.  Oh well.  Still a great food and great value experience for us.

All three of us dined for the first time at the Mini Mango last month. We really enjoyed the experience. I personally feel that it was the best combination of your local tiny thai bistro, and an established Napa Valley restaurant. The setting was intimate, they did a nice job of fitting quite a few tables in the main dining room, and the service was very good. The main dining area has a small view into the kitchen and a large view to the outdoor, larger,  heated patio area with tables. Very clean, very simple.

The only thing that wasn’t necessarily simple was getting to the table. To be fair I feel like I should be discuss this. Most people that come to Napa want or expect the red carpet to be pre-laid and surrounded by rows of vines. Not an unjust expectation, but, while they do have a terrific set of red drapes hanging over the patio and excellent service, you will most certainly find a line of guests in front of you and no vineyard views, even if you have a reservation. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

When going to a busy, bustling establishment it is not uncommon to think it is good or even great. Why else would people be there? When there are so many establishments that are almost barren and starving for business, is it better to take a chance on them? Not if you know what you like to eat.

At the Mini Mango, people don’t seem to mind waiting for the food. I found it to be hot, fast and elegant. We ordered just about one of everything. There were noodles slicked with a thin but typically rich sauce, shrimp spicy-smokey-sweet, pork covered, no glazed, with brown sugar glaze that was so sticky, it would stick, literally stick to your fingers but after melt, and then there were  corn fritters.We were served the most perfect corn fritters. The fritters tasted like a corn candy. But better. The corn was mixed into a light batter that when fried, gave it a delicate salty crunch. A perfect patty of corn kernel crispy, crunchy like a chip. But better. The presentation, for all you that eat with your eyes first (you know who you are), was, again very clean, very simple, very true to their style.

As for the Mini menu itself, it is anything but and offers a sufficient array of options for everyone.  This is, of course, providing that everyone likes food.  There are small, medium and large size plates to accommodate your waistline as well as pocketbook. I haven’t even mentioned the exceptionally priced, uncomplicated buddha bowls. These will have to wait until you go see for yourself. Best $3.50, in Napa dining dollars, to be spent.

Zins Valley is a restaurant that has been in the city of Napa for a long time but only recently moved into the historic downtown region, taking over the restaurant space from former restaurant NV.  One of the first things you see as you walk in the right front door is the word “welcome” etched into the glass in numerous languages.  It leads you into the bar area that is nicely laid out, with ambient lighting and bar seating.  To the right, beyond the receptionist’s desk, is the dining room, laid out in casual form; and what struck me is that every seat is cushioned and comfortable.  How often do you go to a restaurant and the booth seats against the wall are cushioned and the single chairs are not, which means someone is going to be less comfortable during the meal?  What a simple but nice touch.

The menu is what I would call comfort food with a global touch.  Hoisin basted pork ribs, coconut curry with jasmine rice and assorted vegetables, garlicky shrimp with pasta, grilled Kobe bavette steak with goat cheese macaroni and cheese, and achiote-rubbed flank steak are but a few of the dishes we enjoyed.  The caesar salad is solid, and the spring roll special that day was fresh and delightful, the flatbread delicious, and the butternut squash soup of the day spicy and warming to the soul.  The cost is reasonable and in tune with the economy and the offerings.  Everything seems to embrace you with comfort, comfort, comfort.  This is not an upscale, state of the art restaurant with the latest trends and culinary nuances; rather it is an established eatery that provides good food at a fair price.

Judy Rogers, owner/chef of Zuni’s Cafe in San Francisco, continues to provide the ambience and great food that has defined her restaurant since 1987.  The whole roast chicken and the 30-minute wait are still on the menu, and still is a huge hit with it’s accompanying bread salad.  We decided to try the anchovies and parmesan cheese as an appetizer and we loved them with the crusty bread on the table and the parmesan cheese bits sprinkled on top.  The tomato soup was perfect, with roasted tomatoes and cilantro and creme fraiche, and the classic Caesar she makes still delights me.  I was given the opportunity to taste the ricotta gnocchi (wanted to compare them to my own- and I still prefer my own!), the pork chop roasted in the wood-burning oven, and the spaghetti and meatballs she had on the menu.  I still have yet to have a bad bite there.  The ambience is still funky and fun, with nooks and crannies and cubby holes hidden all over; the restaurant looks deceptively small until you walk through the labyrinth and discover tables that are hidden gems.  We kept dessert simple with the plate of biscottini, and with the large bowl cappucino it was a perfect ending to the meal.

One note about Bottega: even with a reservation, plan on waiting 15 to 30 minutes for your table.  You don’t mind waiting, especially near the outdoor fireplace with the cushioned outdoor sofas, a nice bottle of sparkling wine, and good friends with whom to enjoy the evening.  We tried 4 appetizers: the caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, the deep fried foccacia that is wrapped with prosciutto and served with melon soup/sauce (everyone’s favorite), the crispy calamari, and the house-cured olives.  I decided to have the grilled octupus salad, with perfectly charred octupus tossed with greens and lemon vinaigrette, and a pasta, fettucine with bolognese.  I chose the pasta purposely because I had ordered it once before and was disappointed; it was under-seasoned.  Not so this time.  It was, as Tony the Tiger would say, “Great!!!”  Jamie allowed me to bite into his roasted quail, and our friends allowed me to enjoy a bit of their risotto with quail.  All of it was delicious.  As if that wasn’t enough food, we had to order to chocolate lava cake.  We weren’t disappointed.  Rolling ourselves out of the restaurant we all agreed that Bottega is still a local favorite spot for unique Italian food different from any other in the Napa Valley.

Our friends came into town and wanted something really easy and simple, so we introduced them to Pizza Azzuro.  More than just a “pizza joint”, they have wonderful salads, soup, and pastas to choose from.  I tend to order the pollo pizza, with chicken sausage and arugula, but was willing to extend my palate to something different: linguini with clams.  Always a treat to eat seafood, and sometimes leery of eating seafood in mid-scale restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised by flavor, texture, and overall yumminess.  The portion was huge- I’m learning to share my meals more often when we go there.  The mixed green salad is still a nice touch with blue cheese and candied pecans (I know- it’s been around a long time but it still works), as well as the Caesar Salad which is a nice classic to have on any menu.  The soup was clam chowder (yes, it came in both courses, but I didn’t mind) and it wasn’t too thick and wasn’t too thin- like Goldilocks, it was “just right”.  For anyone looking for a nice, simple, flavorful, and satisfying meal, Azzuro is an excellent choice at a reasonable price.

One of the beauties, and challenges, of the restaurant Ad Hoc is that you don’t have to think about the food.  As a 4-course pre-set meal, you are afforded a menu that details what you will eat for the evening: salad course, main course, cheese course, dessert course.  Jamie’s sister was in town and we decided to introduce her to what Ad Hoc had to offer.  We began with a delicious salad that sat on top of a large triangular cracker.  This has since become the inspiration for my new Nachos breakfast.  With pears and persimmons, it was a great beginning to the meal.  We moved onto the braised short ribs, which fell off the bone, with potatoes roasted long in the oven (crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside), with roasted carrots that had developed a nice sweetness during their time in the high heat.  Our cheese course was simple, a french cow’s milk (sorry, I have forgotten the name already!), some honey, and candied nuts.  Yummy.  Our dessert, though excellent, was my least favorite part of the meal- a creamy orange cheesecake .  It’s my fault, really, as I like my cheesecakes baked and with substance; some of the smoother, silkier cheesecakes don’t satisfy me as easily as the others.  They feel too “fluffy” for me.  As I said, personal preference.  All in all, we still love this restaurant.  And as I like to remind guests, look around the room and listen to the music- you’ll see heads bopping up and down to the tunes that range from the 50′s to present day, from the Beatles to Cold Play.  It’s subtle, but it adds a really nice touch to the experience.

We found Terra many years ago in one of our visits to Napa from San Francisco and it continues to shine brightly on our list of favorite places to eat in the Napa Valley.  Located in St. Helena, a 35-minute drive from The Inn On First,

Hurley’s is Bob Hurley’s long-established restaurant in Yountville.  Hurley’s provides both patio and indoor dining, the patio establishing a more casual feel, and the dining room inside a more upscale feel.  We chose the patio because it was a perfect Napa evening to be sitting under the stars out in the open air.  The special that night was the soup, a corn chowder that was just beautiful in presentation and clean with flavor.  Jamie enjoyed a Caesar salad with shaved parmesan cheese, focaccia croutons, and an anchovy filet, and then moved onto one of my personal favorites- the boar stew over soft polenta.  It is Chef Bob Hurley’s signature dish, and it is incredibly delicious (a not to be missed experience in Napa).  Sometimes on his menu you will find fresh salmon or halibut that Bob just caught on a recent fishing trip; that, too, is part of the charm of this place- his personal touch with the food selection.  I decided to take on the Tamarind – Chipotle Glazed Antelope Short Ribs that night, and they were “fall off the bone” and “packed with flavor” served with bok choy.  For dessert we shared the ice cream sandwich, a regular part of his menu, and that was a perfect finish to the meal.  It is a hazelnut praline, vanilla gelato, and raspberry coulis- a perfect ending to the meal.  Chef Bob Hurley may not be on television, but his food is definitely equal to any chef who is on the food network.