Overall
- Very relaxing and great way to really explore Napa Valley for the first time: 3 nights (Friday to Monday), 7 meals sampling a number of the popular restaurants, exploring up and down the valley from downtown Napa to past Calistoga
- Great food: Bistro Jeanty tomato soup with puff pastry and beet salad, Brix Sunday brunch buffet were the highlights
- Great company: Wendy, Mark, Alice and Mikey (no Kaiya or Cooper) - just a relaxing a weekend eating, talking, playing games and hanging out
Next Napa Valley Trip
- One night stay at Napa Valley Lodge in Yountville: walking distance to my favorite places (Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon Bakery), bike rentals, and in the middle of the valley with easy access to St. Helena and Napa
- Drive up Saturday morning, lunch at somewhere new (Farmstead or
Farm at The Carneros Inn
) or familiar (Bouchon, Bistro Jeanty)
- Afternoon nap, and then bike ride on Silverado Trail or olive oil tasting tour at Round Pond or massage at Villagio Inn & Spa or drive along Silverado Trail and short 1 mile hike up Table Rock Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson Park for great views of Napa Valley
- Sunday brunch at somewhere new (Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen) or familiar (Brix)
Lodging
Where We Stayed: Frog Hollow House - cute 2 bd+ cottage in downtown Napa, 15-20 walk to restaurants like Ubuntu and Alexis Baking Company, Oxbow Public Market, the movie theater and riverfront. Don't need to stay there again (downtown Napa or this particular house). Downtown Napa is sleepy, not that many interesting places, and too far south in Napa Valley (which makes for long drives to St. Helena, wineries, etc.). Frog Hollow House is okay - somewhat cute house with spacious backyard and upstairs deck, but a little old and not as well appointed as the pictures make it seem, ladder to the loft bedroom upstairs a little scary, porch not that interesting and lots of mosquitoes.
Where We Would Have Liked To Stay (But Only Available For 1 Week Stays): Napa Vacation Bungalow - 3 bd + cottage, nice house, great reviews, walk to downtown Napa (0.75 miles). Probably a good place to stay if you want to stay in downtown Napa, but not sure if that is ideal for a Napa Valley vacation.
Food
Friday dinner at Ubuntu (downtown Napa)
Not sure what to expect with the all vegetarian menu at Ubuntu (Wendy was clearly skeptical), and it didn't get too much better when we didn't recognize half the ingredients on the menu. But once we found some dishes to get excited about (homemade Sardinian flatbread, beet salad) and the food started coming out, it was a solid meal. No one was blown away by the meal, but it was certainly enjoyable with the highlights being the beet and goat cheese salad and poached egg on kohlrabi crumble. We don't need to go back any time soon, but I wouldn't mind going back some time in the future.
Saturday breakfast at Boon Fly Cafe at Carneros Inn (Napa)
Good breakfast menu in a nice setting. Donuts were good, flatbread was tasty and Alice thought the eggs benedict were perfect. Even though it's been described one of the best breakfast spots in Napa, probably don't need to go back just because it wasn't excellent and I'd rather eat really great meals instead of working in a 3rd meal of breakfast that is just fine, but not spectacular.
Saturday lunch at Bistro Jeanty (Yountville)
One of my favorites in Napa Valley. I could eat here every time we go. Have never had anything bad there. Light lunch of the tomato soup in puff pastry and beet salad was a perfect light hot/cold meal for the middle of the day. I also really like that this place is casual, noisy and potentially kid friendly. Sitting on the patio would be nice some time.
Saturday dinner at Terra (St. Helena)
Terra was hit and miss for our party of 5. Mikey had a great meal with the hamachi crudo starter and broiled sake marinated Alaskan black cod and shrimp dumplings in Shiso Broth. I really enjoyed my baked Redwood Hill Farm goat cheese and spring vegetable salad and Liberty Farm duck and forest mushroom "cacciatore", and then some of Wendy's asparagus soup. There were other misses on the menu (Wendy's NY strip steak, spaghettini with stew of tripe and tomatoes). Lastly, the atmosphere was a bit odd (office building, space split in two). Even I found the food good and menu interesting, I don't need to go back.
Sunday brunch buffet at Brix (north of Yountville)
One of the highlights of the trip. Food was good but not spectacular (although Alice and Mark thought it was really good). I liked the variety - breads, cheese and pates; several distinctive salads; standard breakfast fare like pancakes, quiche, roasted potatoes; a cold seafood selection of shrimp, oysters and smoked salmon; and a good sampling of seasonal fruits and desserts. My favorites were the salads: quinoa and cucumber, sesame carrot, and beet and dried cherries - these were different and executed really, really well. The other great part of Brix was the grounds. The patio opens out to a view of their vegetable garden (which is used in all of the meals), vineyards, and a view of the rolling hills. There is a super comfortable chair and table set to lounge on and digest after brunch. And there is a nice open space and feel that is family friendly. Going early (10:30am reservation) was great to beat the crowds. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
Sunday dinner at Redd (Yountville)
Another solid but unspectacular dinner. Between Ubuntu, Terra and Redd, Redd is the one place that I'd want to go back to again. The menu seems the most suited to my tastes, including the 3 starters that I ordered for my dinner - sashimi of hamachi, sticky rice, edamame, lime ginger sauce; glazed pork belly; carmelized scallops, cauliflower puree and almonds. I would definitely get the hamachi and pork belly again - I could pass on the scallops. And although sitting outside on a warm evening was nice, I would want to eat inside - it's one of those places where I think the atmosphere inside would be better than outside.
Nothing really beats Bouchon Bakery. Alexis Baking Company looks cute for breakfast and has a nice selection of pastries (recommended by a server at Ubuntu as the best baker in the valley), but the muffins and cookies were just okay - I don't need to go back. Bouchon Bakery has an out of this world selection of croissants, scones, cookies, breads and other pastries. Another one of my favorites and a place that I can go back to again and again.
Activities
- Grazing in Napa: downtown Napa farmer's market on Sat morning (small, kinda lame farmer's market), Oxbow Public Market including Fatted Calf and Model Bakery (charcuterie at Fatted Calf was the highlight)
- River Rock Casino in Alexander Valley: 1+ hr drive through a beautiful part of Highways 29 and 128 to a small but still fun casino
Previous Trips to Napa Valley
- One night at Lavender Inn in Yountville Nov 2008: lunch at Bouchon, snacks at Bouchon Bakery and Oxbow Public Market, massage at Villagio Inn, dinner at Bistro Jeanty, brunch at Ad Hoc
- Two nights at a cottage in St. Helena in Sep 2002: dinner at Tra Vigne, picnic lunch at a winery, dinner at Greystone
