Restaurants in Yountville

NNTP-Posting-Date: 2 Nov 1998 05:29:57 GMT
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Someone wrote:

> In article , "geraldm"
> Someone wrote:
>
> > Babbette's is the best new restaurant I've been to this year.  Comments?
>
> Babbette's in the area but I didn't think it was in Yountville, which is
> pretty small, although long. Bistro Jeanty is in Yountville. There are
> also several heart breakfast/brunch places.

Babette's is in Sonoma.  The formal dining room is only open on weekends, at least at this time of year.  The cafe serves both lunch and dinner, but it's not the same food.  I.e. the restaurant serves foie gras and the cafe salads and sandwiches.  I will say I had a great BLT there last week, but I couldn't judge the quality of the formal food from that.  A cup of squash soup was a much better indication.  It was incredible - both flavor and texture.  We wondered what the small dark rectangle were that were floating on top of the soup.  They melted when my wife swirled the soup with her spoon and it seemed they were dots of concentrated meat jelly of aspic.  A most sophisticated presentation.

Sonoma is in Sonoma County and Valley, while Yountville is in Napa County (Valley) to the east.

NNTP-Posting-Date: 2 Nov 1998 05:39:04 GMT
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Alan I. wrote:

>   Over the past few months three up-scale restaurants have opened in
> Yountville:
>
>   1.  Cafe Jeanty.
>   2.  Bouchon
>
>   Can someone clue me in on the third one?  A personal appraisal would
> be a bonus!
>

I thought Jeanty was older than just a few months and  Bouchon is very new.  Upscale is a relative term.  Jeanty is very much a a place with a down home country atmosphere and Bouchon looks like Paris in the thirties or so.  Bouchon had a very lively crowd at the bar.  Both seem to have similar menus, although Bouchon may be a larger undertaking and offers a wider selection.  It's an offshoot of the French Laundry.  The most upscale place in Yountville, if not all of California north of SF is the French Laundry, but it's not so new.  It is incredible and serves up some real world class food.

We had dinner this week at the French Laundry and Bistro Jeanty, and drinks at Bouchon.  If you have any specific questions, send me e-mail.

I can't think of the third new upscale place.  Mustard's or Mustard Grille?  I don't know.  It was my first trip there.  Domaine Chandon is supposed to still be fine.  That's where Jeanty cooked before.