Dining in Napa Valley

In  Craig Herrick
writes:
>
>Will be going to Napa Valley soon.  What are some of the better places
to eat?
>Thanks.

I have not been there myself but The French Laundery in Yountville is supposed to be terrific.  It gets great reviews.  The chef is Thomas Keller and he has worked in top places in New York and Los Angeles. The only problem you may have with the restaurant is that the phone number is not listed (at least it didn't used to be).  You may need to call the Yountville Chamber of Commerce or something to get the number. Have a great trip.  If you have enough time, consider visiting some of the wineries in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.  It is really beautiful and there are some terrific wines.

Kay

Someone wrote:
: Will be going to Napa Valley soon.  What are some of the better places to eat? : Thanks.

my last trip to napa saw me dining at the following:
  a) lunch at tra vigne in yountville -- excellent rabbit, decent polenta
  b) dinner at showleys restaurant (in the mira monte hotel) in yountville
      -- very enjoyable, tried the lamb shanks (superb)
  c) lunch at catahoula in calistoga -- good food, bad service, nice wines
  d) dinner at domaine chandon in yountville -- excellent all-around.  i
     had the salmon tartare, the venison and a souffle.  also has a nice
     selection of wines.  try the 77 dow vintage port at $11.00 / glass ...
     quite a bargain!

enjoy your trip and let us know if you try any of these restaurants.

> Craig H. wrote:
>
> > Will be going to Napa Valley soon.  What are some of the better places
to eat?

I'll recommend The French Laundry in Yountville. $55/person 5 course prix fixe. As with most prix fixe places, there are additional little tidbits and nibbles, and while each course looks small you end up stuffed if you aren't watching yourself.  We ate half each of the extremly well executed creme brulee dainties, but couldn't budge on the proferred truffles at the end of the meal.

Food is california/french/american/"arty" -- I can't classify most places anymore.  Upscale and a bit "trendy".  Food was excellent, service was great.  For the price (which is good for this type of place), I'd say the food is a "bargin."

Wine list is very good.  They have a "1st" wine list with reasonable prices (I can't recall anything above $40/bottle) and a good selection. They also have a "2nd" wine list that's a bit more limited, but very deep -- for example, they have a vertical of Silver Oak cabs going back to 1981.  We had a Cakebread Sovignon Blanc from the first, and an 85 Silver Oak from the second.

Upstairs is more "elegant" and downstairs is most "rustic" (with fireplace and a view of the kitchen).  Depending upon your mood, judge appropriately and ask.  We were downstairs and thought it was perfect.

Two warnings and a recommendation.
 W1: call in advance for reservations.  Took us 3 weeks to get a Thursday seating.

 W2: it's a tiny place, on the main road in Yountville (Washington Ave?), just up the street from the Vintage Inn/Vintage Shopping Center.  No signage, so it's a tad difficult to find.

 R1: if they have it, I recommend the "Coffee and Doughnuts" Desert. Two well executed doughnuts plus a capachino semi freddo.