La Toque since the Westin move - and other suggestions
We are coming out to the Napa Valley in May for our 20th anniversary. La Toque, when it was in the Rancho Caymus hotel, was always a favorite. Great food, but I really liked the ambience there as well. I'd love to hear if the food is still as good since they moved and how the overall experience is now. Also, I'd love to hear about anything else noteworthy. Restaurants we will definitely hit are the Meadowwoods, Martini House and Bottega. Last time we were underwhelmed by Auberge and, having been to the French Laundry a few times when Thomas Keller was there, I really don't want to go without him in the kitchen. Any other good places? Thanks!
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Bottega
6525 Washington Street Suite A9, Yountville, CA 94599
La Toque Restaurant
1314 McKinstry Street, Napa, CA 94559
Martini House
1245 Spring St, Saint Helena, CA 94574
By wincountrygirl
on Oct 31, 2009 04:13 PM
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Uhhh...when did Thomas Keller leave the kitchen? Have his competitors started a rumor?
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When he opened Per Se in NY - but if I am wrong I'd love to know. The last time we went to the French Laundry he was not there and the experience was not the same. I hope I AM wrong!
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His site says he has 8 restaurants in the group. How does he apportion his time?
http://www.tkrg.org/showStaff.php?id=50
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I didn't think he cooked at Bouchon or Ad Hoc, but Per Se is so expensive and it was the new venture in NYC so I assumed that's where he cooks. Id love to find out I'm wrong.
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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599
Bouchon
6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
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Nope. He spent a year at Per Se, IIRC, but his home base is at TFL -- or at least, that's where he spends his time in the kitchen, I doubt that he's actually "cooked" in many years. They have some kind of fancy video system with a big screen that allows him to see what's going on in the kitchen at Per Se as well, and vice versa.
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Thank you!! One of the highlight of eating at TFL is being invited to the kitchen to meet TK at the end of the meal (besides the food, that is!!)
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I am currently in wine country for a few weeks. Once place that has just blown me away is Ubuntu in Napa. I am an avid meat eater so imagine my surprise at absolutely falling in love with a vegetarian restaurant! I could go 3 times a week easy.
Another place we were pleasantly surprised with (and will be returning to soon) is Bottega in Yountville. I have an Italian grandma and have spent many months in Italy (Liguria, Tuscany, Naples, Sicily); so I am pretty picky when it comes to Italian. We tried a few of the heartier pastas (a "bolognese" with veal/sausage and homemade papperdele as well as a rabbit sugo over penne-like pasta) all excellent; perfect al-dente fresh egg noodles and rich and umami-ish sauces. The polenta under glass starter was quite tasty. The octopus starter was good, but not as tender as I have had and lacking that charred aroma I like in my grilled cephalopods. I also particularly enjoyed their house Petit Syrah which was available in a quartino size.
We tried Boon Fly Cafe which was acceptable (highlights were fried chicken and blue cheese flatbread).
We are heading to Ad Hoc tonight and will post a follow up.
We have tried Azzuro pizzeria and while their salad on a pizza crust was good, the margarita pie was off - the crust was just too dry and cracker-like. The sauce was off too... too sweet.
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Thank you so much. Bottega is on my short list of places to go. I am also thinking now of Redd and Cook in St. Helena? Any thoughts on those two?
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Bottega
6525 Washington Street Suite A9, Yountville, CA 94599
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Hi again wincountrygirl,
Well, we're back from Ad Hoc and we were pleasantly surprised. The dinner menu last night began with a salad involving barley and pine nuts (great combo, BTW, so obvious, but I would never have thought of it), lollo rosa lettuce, and roasted squash, all in a vinaigrette with some dollops of seasoned "creme fraiche" on the side. It was tasty and seasonal (although what passes for creme fraiche in this country is pretty laughable after you've eaten the real thing across the pond) and went nicely with a glass of local Roederer bubbly. The main was a "catalan" beef stew: short ribs braised for 48 hours, braised fennel, leeks, olives and fingerling potatoes. We were surprised because I am not a big beef braise person, I like it (how could you not?), but I don't love it. Maybe I just haven't had a beef braise in a long time, but this was just lush. Perfect execution. Melt in your mouth short ribs (comparable to those of the short rib master Daniel Boulud). The leeks & fennel still showed some toothy resistance, which was perfect. The cheese was Cowgirl's Mt. Tam; always tasty. The desert was the low point for me, but acceptable: a genoise of some sort with poached peaches & pears and a dollop of riesling sabayon on the side: I wanted more sabayon, or maybe a big spoonful of high quality whipped cream on this slightly-too-dry dish.
We return tonight for the fried chicken. Apparently every other Monday is fried chicken night and the staff is pretty hypped up about it.
My biggest issue with the place is that the noise level is a bit high; I like to speak to my husband without having to raise my voice. Although I suppose most people like noisy restaurants since it seems to be the norm these days?
Overall I am going back, so I would recommend it. In my mind it represents quite a contrast to TFL or PerSe (been to both multiple times, I am a fan). The presentation isn't fussy, portions are big generous family style platter-fuls and the dishes themselves are remarkably soulful. I wouldn't have guessed this was a Keller restaurant.
Is it worth the $49 prix fix? Well, wine country is expensive, so given the location, I would say yup. It is popular so you need to reserve ahead. If you are willing to do non-peak hours like 5:45 or 6:15 then you can probably snag a table with a week or less notice.
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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599
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Thanks. I love fried chicken so I hope they have it the week we are there. Still looking for info on the new La Toque - have you heard anything?
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La Toque Restaurant
1314 McKinstry Street, Napa, CA 94559
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Hi again, Well the fried Chick at Ad Hoc was definitely up there. Perfectly seasoned. I am not one who praises quantity over quality (the opposite in fact), but they serve you enough to cover your meal plus lunch the next day.
I haven't heard much on La Toque. I was there in 2003 and was pretty disappointed. The food was just plain average (can't even remember what it was apart from an artichoke soup). We did the wine tasting with the menu and some glasses were showing up well after the dish they were supposed to accompany (with apologies, but still). The place has a following, and maybe it was an off night, but I haven't been back since.
I have some exploring to do next week, maybe in St. Helena. I will let you know if I find anything notable.
Cheers
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Thank you so much. I have time until we go,but planning is half the fun! We have been to La toque a few times and mostly really did like it. But, we may not go this time - we'll see. Ever hear anything about Cook in St. Helena?
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wcg: I always have a great time in St. Helena for lunch when I stop in at Cook. Preferring the counter, I often start with the bread and olive oil, a glass of house Rose and look for the daily specials. It's homemade Calif food with an Italian accent.
Rather than wine country chi chi, it's lots of wine business people meeting for lunch plus a smattering of tourists during the season. Uncomplicated, straightforward food in small, intimate atmosphere.
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Cook
1310 Main St, Saint Helena, CA 94574
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Sounds like a lunch plan to me! Thanks!
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Another quite fine place to check out is Solbar at the Solage resort. They have both indoor and outdoor seating (if the weather is nice, which it can be in May) the outdoor seating a really great. The food at Solbar is quite good, we really like the "Lucky Pig" (lucky for us but not for the pig). Prices are pretty good and the portions are decently sized. Solage is just south of Calistoga on the Silverado Trail. Would be a nice place to stay for a 20th Anniversary (btw, congratulations).
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