Napa and Sonoma take advantage of lush resources, such as local wines and organic farms, to create a distinctly Californian flavor. With some French influence and a lot of imagination, Northern California has been an American culinary inspiration for years. If it fits into your budget, take advantage of the countryside’s delicious and decadent haute cuisine.
Bistro Don Giovanni
4110 Howard Lane
Napa
707-224-3300
Dinner for two, with wine, about $80
Bistro Don Giovanni serves what we consider the Napa Valley's best bistro/Italian food. Starters include fritto misto with crisp rock shrimp, onions, green beans and fennel, all topped with a spicy aioli. Among the pastas, the duck ragout fettuccine is sublime, and the grilled dishes, such as braised lamb shank with a Tuscan bean, roasted tomato, and spinach ragout, is equally memorable.
Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil
180 Rutherford Hill Road
Rutherford
707-963-1211
Dinner for two, without wine, about $130
At the Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil, the menu has begun to be "Americanized," moving away from its original nouvelle cuisine style. We particularly enjoyed the striped bass, lobster mousse wrapped in cabbage leaves accompanied by generous portions of whole lobster meat, and a lovely berry cobbler for dessert.
Bistro Jeanty
6510 Washington Street
Yountville
707-944-0103
Dinner for two, with wine, $80
Bistro Jeanty serves tasty classics such as steak and pommes frites, daube de boeuf with mashed potatoes, cassoulet, orange butter crepes, and chocolate mousse creme brulee. The excellent selection of half bottles offsets the high wine prices.
Le Toque
Rancho Caymus Inn, 1140 Rutherford Cross Road
Rutherford
707-963-9770
Dinner for two, with wine, $175
Le Toque presents a traditional French menu in a country inn setting. The very rich five-course prix fixe menu, at $100 per person, changes nightly. A typical selection includes chestnut bisque, foie gras, John Dory on a ragout of artichokes and red pepper sauce, puff pastry cheese crackers layered with white asparagus and served with a Gouda sauce, and a pear tart dessert.
Restaurant at Meadowood
900 Meadowood Lane, St.
Helena
707-963-3646, ext. 303.
Dinner for two, without wine, about $125
The Restaurant at Meadowood specializes in classic and California cuisine with a robust southern French influence. The chef prepares interesting red pepper tapanade, large sage ravioli with wild mushrooms sauced with pureed yellow peppers, crab cakes on pesto, veal chops with leeks, breast of chicken with vegetables and rich wine sauce, halibut gnocchi, and eggplant and tomato gratin. Fabulous desserts: coeur a la creme using mascarpone studded with chocolate chips on a bed of chocolate sauce, cantaloupe sorbet, and more. Jackets required for men in the evening. Reservations a must.
Domaine Chandon
California Drive at Highway #29, Veterans Home Exit
Yountville
707-944-2892
Dinner for two, without wine, about $120
Domaine Chandon, the first winery in the Valley to open an elegant restaurant, offers wonderful French-California-style food in a glamorous setting: home-smoked salmon carpaccio, home-smoked red trout salad, seared tuna with leek rings, squab, and risotto. Divine desserts. Elegant and gracious dining for which you must reserve no more than two weeks ahead. Closed January. 1.
Tra Vigne
1050 Charter Oak Ave., St.
Helena
707-963-4444
Dinner for two, without wine, about $75
Tra Vigne is the place for Italian food in a wine-country atmosphere. Try the grilled polenta with mushrooms and balsamic vinegar, pasta with rabbit, and the arugala, corn, and grana salad. Service can be a bit slow, but not irritatingly so. Reservations necessary.
Terra
1345 Railroad Ave., St.
Helena
707-963-8931
Dinner for two, without wine, about $90
Terra, in a historic stone building with a rugged Tuscan contemporary interior, serves food that has a strong Italian accent with overtones of southern France, as well as some Japanese influence. Favorite dishes include osso buco with risotto and mushrooms accompanied by polenta wedges, and ravioli filled with velvety duck livers and sauced with wild mushrooms. Reservations a must.
Foothill Cafe
2766 Old Sonoma Road (near Foothill Boulevard)
Napa
707-252-6178
Dinner for two, with wine, $75
The unpretentious and comfortable Foothill Cafe serves some of the Valley's best food. Great baby back ribs, clams and mussels in white wine broth, pan-roasted salmon with ginger-peppercorn crust, creme brulee, and chocolate cake.
Mustard's Grill
7399 St. Helena Highway (two miles north of Yountville on highway #29)
Yountville
707-944-2424
Dinner for two, without wine, about $115
Mustard's Grill deserves its good reputation for the California-style cuisine it pioneered. Excellent deep-fried onion "threads," liver and bacon with caramelized onions, baby back ribs, Asian chicken salad, and delicious desserts, especially the chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake. Reserve ahead.
Market
1347 Main Street, St.
Helena
707-963-3799
A three-course dinner for two will run about $70
Market serves good American comfort food: Dungeness crab cakes with avocado coulis; barbecue sauce-glazed meatloaf over gravy, mashed potatoes, and carrots; and much more.
Zazu
3535 Guerneville Road
Santa Rosa
707-523-4814
Dinner for two, without wine, about $75
This husband-and-wife-run establishment excels at combining unlikely ingredients in a new and satisfying way as, for example, in potato-crusted wild salmon with local beans, beets, and horseradish creme fraiche; or flat-iron steak with blue cheese ravioli and roasted garlic.
Brava Terrace
3010 St. Helena Highway North, St.
Helena
707-963-9300
Dinner for two, without wine, about $80
Brava Terrace, a relative newcomer, with a casual indoor dining room, fireplace, and open kitchen as well as a charming outdoor terrace and arbor, offers an eclectic menu that includes baby wild greens and warm goat cheese, pastas (some with a choice of low-fat sauces), cassoulet, risotto, and roasted chicken thighs stuffed with mushrooms, croutons, and pine nuts. Good chocolate creme brulee.
Feast
714 Village Court
Santa Rosa
707-591-9800
Dinner for two, without wine, about $70
Chef Jesse McQuarrie describes Feast as an American bistro. The menu is not much different from those at other high-style restaurants in town, and everything on it is very well-prepared, including hanger steak with cheddar mashed potatoes in a Cabernet reduction; and herb-crusted wild salmon with asparagus, corn, spinach, and tomato in basil aioli.
Felix & Louie's
106 Matheson Street
Healdsburg
707-433-6966
Dinner for two, without wine, about $70
Head here for a fine lamb sirloin with braised potatoes in rosemary; and a nori-crusted tuna with lemon aioli.
John Ash and Co.
4330 Barnes Road
Santa Rosa
707-527-7687
Dinner for two, without wine, about $80
This acclaimed Santa Rosa restaurant is uneven in its service and food, but the setting is pleasant and there's something special about Brother Juniper's bread; the chicken on a bed of corn and chives; and the seafood cake of crab, shrimp, and sole.
