“We hope to return to the Napa Valley someday and hope to see you again. Gillian's breakfasts are certainly worth a return visit. And thank you for the peaceful and relaxing garden setting. We are refreshed!"

- Paul and Sharon – San Antonio, TX

DINING IN CALISTOGA

The Napa Valley offers many world class dining experiences. We have listed a few of our personal favorites here. A good site for planning, accessing reviews and checking table availability is www.opentable.com; Search under wine country restaurants or a specific Napa Valley town.

Calistoga:

Jole. www.jolerestaurant.com
Our new favorite restaurant in town. Matt and Sonia Spector deliver on their tag line of "Farm to Table" with beautiful, tasting menu sized dishes that showcase their love of fresh, local, seasonal ingredients in combinations that will wow your taste buds. Highly recommended.

Calistoga Inn. www.calistogainn.com/restaurant.html
American comfort food and grilled classics. Outdoor dining in summer, cozy dining room in winter. Live music weekends and some weekdays in summer.

Bosko’s Trattoria. www.boskos.com
Friendly, simple, family style Italian.

Brannan’s Grill. www.brannansgrill.com
California cuisine in a great old building. Live music most weekends.

All Seasons Bistro. www.allseasonsnapavalley.net
Bistro classics and fine dining. Smaller and more intimate than Brannan’s Grill.

Bar Vino. www.bar-vino.com
Trendy wine bar with light Tuscan style fare.

Solage. www.solagecalistoga.com/dining/index.shtml
Chic casual dining at Calistoga’s new upscale spa resort.

St. Helena:

Martini House. www.martinihouse.com
Fine dining in a beautiful old Craftsman property. Pat Kuleto design and Todd Humphries menu with lots of wild mushroom derived recipes. Try the Kobe beef burger for lunch in the downstairs bar where the locals go.

Cook. Click for SF Chronicle Review
A local favorite. Italian comfort food in a cozy setting.

Terra. www.terrarestaurant.com
Outstanding pacific rim cuisine in a fine stone building. Perfect for a romantic dinner for two.

Tra Vigne. www.travignerestaurant.com/tv.htm
Fine Tuscan cuisine, lively atmosphere, great for groups.

Go Fish. www.gofishrestaurant.net
Everything for the sea food lover, raw bar, sushi and classic fish dishes.

Press. www.presssthelena.com
Steak, steak and steak, great quality, high price, simple preparation.

Rutherford:

Rutherford Grill. www.rutherfordgrill.com
Comfort food at relatively modest prices, no corkage charged so take that bottle you just bought and can’t wait to try.

Meadowood. www.meadowood.com/winecuisine/
Fine dining in the restaurant and simpler fare in the grill. Both overlook the croquet lawns and golf course.

Auberge du Soleil. www.aubergedusoleil.com/html/restaurant.shtml
Watch the sun go down over the vineyards while you dine in luxury. The perfect spot for that special romantic dinner.

Yountville:

French Laundry. www.frenchlaundry.com
If you love food and you can get a reservation - take it! The only restaurant we can’t even try to get you reservations for.

Redd. www.reddnapavalley.com
Approaching French Laundry standards with a hipper atmosphere and a fraction of the price. Probably the best value fine dining tasting menu in the valley.

Bouchon. www.bouchonbistro.com/
Lots of visitors choose Thomas keller's other restaurant when they find the French Laundry impossible to get into. It is very different. Service is fast and even frenetic at times. Food is French Bistro classics. It can be noisy and crowded so a good spot for a group of friends, perhaps not the best place for an intimate romantic dinner.

Ad Hoc. www.adhocrestaurant.com/
Another Thomas Keller Restaurant and well worth a try. Serves a fixed menu so, if you have strong dislikes, check what they are serving when you reserve.

Healdsburg:

Cyrus. www.cyrusrestaurant.com
Well worth the pretty drive north to Healdsburg to sample outstanding fine dining.

How many in a day?
How many wineries to visit in a day depends on the wineries you choose and the pace you are comfortable with. For a regular tasting at a popular winery, allow about ½ to one hour, around 30 minutes more for reservations for a longer tour and tasting. Most wineries are open from around 9-10 AM until 4:30 or 5 PM. Allowing time for travel between wineries, a stop or two to appreciate the scenery and perhaps a nice lunch a fairly hectic day would be around 6-8 winery visits. A more relaxing day would be perhaps 4-6. 

Where to visit?
One of the most frequently asked questions from guests is something along the lines of “what are the must see wineries”? With over 250 wineries in the valley it’s actually a tougher question to answer than you might think. In responding, we first try to find out what people are looking for so we can base our advice on their preferences. The following recommendations are a few personal favorites grouped around some themes that guests often find useful in putting together a list of wineries to visit. If there is a category you really like then choose several from there, alternatively choose a few from each to get a flavor of the valley’s diverse wineries. Also, please remember that even living here, we don’t know every winery and that part of the fun of the valley is the element of discovery. If you see something on your travels, or read something about it on a web site or hear something from a friend - try it out, that winery may just become the one you love that becomes your personal favorite to share with a friend – and so the cycle turns…..

Planning
A great web site to explore the many wineries of the valley and plan your excursions is the Napa Valley Vintners Association at:www.napavintners.com/home

Gillian & Nick Kite, Innkeepers

1019 Foothill Blvd., Calistoga, CA 94515

1.800.572.0679  •  707.942.0680  •  FAX: 707.942.4657

 Winewayinn@aol.com