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Golden brown, and then some. The fish and chips at Silverado Brewing Company remains one of my favorite comfort foods here in the Napa Valley, although this dish succeeds more on its execution than its authenticity: The fish itself is a Vietnamese catfish called basa — definitely not traditional within the dish — but on the other hand, the crispy beer batter and the house-made tartar sauce are always pitch-perfect. And that’s what really counts.
The banh mi sandwich @ Auberge du Soleil, with a yellow and green bean salad (not pictured: Auberge's unrivaled patio view). Back when I first moved to the Napa Valley, I took a job as a line cook at Auberge du Soleil, and despite two years of chef school and several years of prior professional experience, Auberge proved to be an education unto itself. It not only redefined my standards, but it also redefined stress and adrenaline. These elements are inseparable, especially with Michelin-star cooking, and I reserve so much respect and admiration for the line cooks who [... read more ...] End-of-the-year recaps present a great opportunity to “re-purpose” some old content (I learned this valuable euphemism during the dot-com era). Here are 10 dishes that I really enjoyed this year, in no particular order. I’m not saying this list comprises my top 10 dishes for the year, but some of them could definitely qualify. Clicking the photos will transport you back to the original article — and perhaps, a much simpler time and place. Crispy shrimp with ginger and onions @ Huong Tra, Richmond. • • • Flounder special @ Yuet Lee, San Francisco.
Pizzas on Parade (clockwise, from upper left): Oenotri, Solbar, Redd, Pizzeria Azzurro, Auberge du Soleil, Uva, Cantinara Piero, Ca' Momi, Boon Fly Cafe, Pizzeria Tra Vigne, Papa Joe's, Bistro Don Giovanni. If there’s one food that can achieve total global supremacy, pizza seems like the natural front-runner. You don’t ever have to sell anybody on pizza. It just seems to endear itself to everybody, like a wealthy uncle, or a gregarious bartender. Although pizza has only become popular here in America since World War II, different schools of thought regarding pizza have already emerged: Individual preferences towards pizza [... read more ...] S'more Pots du Creme: Scharfenberger Chocolate Custard, Graham Crackers, and Toasted Marshmallow Fluff. Last Tuesday felt like the last warm day of 2010. Whether or not that proves to be true, tomorrow can only tell. It’s very possible that November or December might offer an odd sunny day here or there — that happens fairly frequently here in Northern California — but as far as planning a picnic was concerned, Tuesday just seemed like the last sure-shot bet of the season. Instinctively, and with the last vestiges of summer quickly fading into fall, I felt like [... read more ...] Hello, Sunbeam: The Margherita Pizza with Pancetta @ Oenotri, Downtown Napa In terms of the restaurant scene, the City of Napa has done pretty well in 2010, adding all sorts of new dining options to its downtown roster, the most noteworthy being Morimoto Napa, which opened in July. Among the City of Napa’s other new additions, Oenotri certainly deserves mention, especially for its margherita pizza, which is pictured above with the pancetta add-on. For the last couple months, I’ve begun to rely on Oenotri for a pizza option, especially since the bar serves late-night pizza whenever there’s a [... read more ...] [UPDATE: The rumor below has since been confirmed, although chef Todd Humphries will not be going to the CIA, nor Jeanty at Jack's, as he mentions in the comments.] Folks, the stories don’t get much more wild than this one, but I’m going to roll with it anyway, since that’s part of what I do: I’ve just heard that the Martini House in St. Helena will be sold to Flemings Steakhouse. I’ve been mulling this one over all morning, thinking about the possibility of this rumor being true, and what it could all mean to the Napa Valley. What [... read more ...] The Main Event: Blackened Pacific Halibut with Crispy Pancetta New Potatoes, smothered in Sauce Anthony. Here in the Napa Valley, hosting a dinner party this time of year can be a mighty tall order. The problem is finding enough guests with free time, since so many folks in the valley remain hopelessly preoccupied during harvest and crush. Among most of the people I know, they’re either working long days in the cellar, or they’re working long nights in the kitchen (tourism in the Napa Valley also hits its peak this same time of year). No doubt, as September [... read more ...] So many posts dedicated to pork within these virtual pages, and I’ve never really mentioned the almighty Mongolian Pork Chop at Mustard’s Grill in Yountville. So, at long last, here it is: The one dish that has purportedly sold more than one million times over Mustard’s 26-year history. It’s a pretty good chop, glazed with the Mongolian-style marinade and the Chinese-style mustard sauce (they swirl together beautifully on the plate). More than anything, it’s an honest pork chop. Of course, Mustard’s Grill itself ranks as a true Napa Valley fixture, and in my mind, chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s restaurant [... read more ...] These days, when a rising-star chef leaves any given restaurant, it has the potential to become news. Here in the Bay Area, we’ve seen this phenomenon recently with Nate Appleman exiting SPQR and with Jeremy Fox leaving Ubuntu. For the guests who have come to appreciate these restaurants, the departure of an executive chef can introduce many question marks, and quite possibly, a large degree of doubt. It all makes perfect sense, of course, since today’s professional chefs now have true rock-star potential. When David Lee Roth left Van Halen, it was certainly an issue for the band’s early [... read more ...] |
 
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