Vintage Napa Valley - hotels and restaurants - Recipe - Directory

Sunset, Oct, 2000 by Andrew Baker, Lora J. Finnegan

Cool and casual These less formal establishments offer great food at reasonable prices. Bistro Don Giovanni. Sit outside in the garden and say "hi" to feline BK (Bistro Kitty) while enjoying fare like pollo alla Napa, a juicy half-chicken wrapped in grape leaves and baked in a wood-fired oven. Why does everything taste so authentically Italian? Owner Giovanni Scala, whose wife, Donna, is the chef, says, "Donna goes back to Naples and cooks with my mom and sisters every year." Lunch and dinner ($33) daily. 4110 State 29, Napa; 224-3300.

Bistro Jeanty. The specials written on the door lead you to hope you've found French cooking at its best. The dishes that pour forth from Philippe Jeanty's kitchen prove that your hopes were not misplaced. You'll encounter things here that you won't find elsewhere: a salad of pigs' feet and haricots verts, homemade sausages, oversize crepes suzette. The interior is wonderfully reminiscent of a French farmhouse, filled with antique cooking implements-even a 1915 Peugeot bicycle once used for delivering bread-from the chef's personal collection. Lunch and dinner ($33) daily. 6510 Washington, Yountville; 944- 0103 or www.bistrojeanty.com.

Bouchon. One of the few restaurants in the valley open past midnight, Bouchon attracts a fun-loving crowd that spills out through the French doors onto the patio. Inside you'll find a beguiling hideaway- with a dazzling tiled floor, a zincplated bar, and antique lighting fixtures-that is the ideal spot to savor classic bistro fare, from steak frites to pots de creme, while 1930s jazz or Edith Piaf plays in the background. Lunch and dinner ($30) daily. 6534 Washington, Yountville; 944-8037.

Cole's Chop House. Chef Greg Cole knew just what he wanted when he opened his chop house: "The kind of thing you see in old black-and-white movies--a place my parents might have walked into in Minneapolis in 1947." He reached his goal. The aged prime steaks are incredible, especially when teamed with all-American dishes like creamed spinach and hash browns, Caesar-and buttermilk-dressed salads, and nostalgic cocktails. Add live jazz on weekend nights and get ready for a retro experience par excellence. Dinner ($39) Tue-Sun. 1122 Main St., Napa; 224-6328.

Gordon's Cafe and Wine Bar.

Sally Gordon first visited the Napa Valley as a college freshman in 1967. At that time, she "fell in love with the building"--first a stagecoach stop and later a country store--that now houses her namesake restaurant. Gordon's convivial presence adds greatly to the dining pleasure. For the ultimate experience, go for dinner (only on Fridays; reservations recommended), when the kitchen whips up California cuisine with a decidedly Mediterranean emphasis. Breakfast and lunch ($8) daily, dinner ($38 three courses) Fri. 6770 Washington, Yountville; 944-8246

Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. Chef Todd Humpliries's Temptations menu, a sampling of nibbles served before the meal, is among the most creative in the valley. The lineup might include a spoonful of savory panna cotta or a dab of foie gras with cubes of crabapple gelee. "They're very seasonal ingredients," Humphries says. "They come in and we figure out how to make small bites of them." The restaurant is colorful and lively-an open kitchen and high ceilings add to the buzz of activity Lunch ($20) and dinner ($37) daily. 2555 Main, St. Helena; 967-1010 or www.ciachef.edu.