a downtown called napa
I was excited to receive an invitation to a three-day gastronomic tour of downtown Napa. Like most visitors to California’s most famous wine country, I’m fairly well acquainted with the valley floor dotted with vineyards sandwiched between 29 and the Silvarado Trail. But, although I have twice stayed in hotels in downtown Napa, I have not truly taken the time to explore Napa County’s pedestrian-friendly city.
Napa–the downtown that is, not the Valley, has undergone a recent renaissance. Where ten years ago there was a riverfront recovering from floods skirted by a few strip malls boasting Napa Valley rarities like fast food restaurants and chain stores, today there is a beautiful Riverfront alive with boutique hotels, public art and even a few world-famous chefs (including Morimoto).
I was assigned to stay in the Napa River Inn, a lovely, riverfront hotel built in a historic mill. But I had to laugh when the bellman showed me to my room, which I feel fairly certain is the exact same room I stayed in on my last (and only other visit) 6 years ago to attend Auction Napa Valley. (Room karma?) That time, I participated in the hotel’s endearing pet program (complete with char-bone-ay turn down treats) and gave the spacious room’s second bed to Eat Something Sexy’s faithful animal product reviewer, Big. This time, I was sharing the room with my mom.
Our Downtown Napa itinerary began with a visit to Backroom Wines. I don’t think there could be any better introduction to the downtown than this tour stop. A man who understands hospitality, Backroom owner Dan Dawson honed his skills at the French Laundry before opening his eclectic shop in 2002, an early emblem of Napa’s renaissance. The shop is now considered the in spot for locals to find eclectic and unexpected wines from not only Napa but around the world.
From wine tasting to art appreciation, we were treated to a tour of Napa’s public art by world-famous artist and guy about Napa, Gordon Huether. (And trust me, from the perspective of the food writers on the trip, this stroll would have been exciting from an exercise perspective alone. But add in Downtown’s best eye candy and we felt like a lucky little group indeed.)
I will not bore you reliving every gory detail of dinner (to be quite honest, my sides ache at the thought). But suffice it to say, our group dinner encompassed visits to Oenotri; Grace’s Table; Carpe Diem; Norman Rose and the Sugar Bar at Cuvee, incorporating twelve different cured meats, three artisan pizzas, 2 truffle dishes, 11 wines, one cocktail, assorted beer, fritos, a corn dog and somewhere between 8 and 10 desserts over the course of 3 hours. And they say food journalism isn’t dangerous.
Day two dawned bright and clear, with a heatwave and breakfast pastries awaiting us. The pastries were from Sweetie Pies, one of my very favorite places in all of Napa. The heat was was courtesy of Mother Nature. So much for that wool sweater I’d packed for dinner.
Breakfast seemed to roll seamlessly into lunch (there were some activities in between, including a talk with the mayor, but I hadn’t quite pulled out of the previous night’s sugar coma enough to take much in at this point). But lunch, that I could wake up for-especially since it included a tour of Oxbow Public Market!
After our tour, we were turned lose with a fistful of Ox Bucks, (Monopoly-like currency only good at the marketplace), to experience the lunch of our choice. I chose C Casa’s fresh crab on lightly dressed greens or, as I thought of it, the detox plate. I also enjoyed the brew of some unpronounceable bean at Ritual Coffee to wash down the sea salt dark chocolate caramel from Annette’s (both excellent in texture, flavor and body, says the wine journalist).
After lunch, the toughest of our crew soldiered on with visits to four downtown Napa tasting rooms. (Mom bailed with the excuse that she had to buy me a new top to wear to dinner–too true!) We kept up a surprisingly good pace, walking from one tasting to the next, considering we were drinking wine in the afternoon in record-breaking spring heat. We tasted the wines of Gustavo Thrace, Toolbox, Ceja and John Anthony Vineyards before a quick break to change for the evening’s festivities.
Dinner was at Ubuntu, the vegetarian restaurant making waves in the haute cuisine community. But first, because our hosts feared we might, for a moment, run dry in Wine Country, we had drinks at the sleek cafe Bank in the (relatively) new Westin. Despite the day’s activities, the drinks went down easy (most likely because we were sipping the Viognier from one of my favorite Napa wineries, Darioush).
Ubuntu, in many respect, lived up to its reputation. There were varieties of produce on the plates I’d never before encountered. The quality and freshness were unparalleled. But I have to say that I didn’t find the cuisine terribly inventive. Truthfully, based on all the industry buzz, I’d expected more. And I was a little disappointed that many of the dishes were incredibly heavy. Now, my bias could be partially influenced by the heatwave. After all, were were eating from an early spring menu in mid-summer temperatures. But there were splotches of grease leaving a trail from the place my focaccia rested on the plate all the way to my mouth. That’s some heavy-duty dressing up of a piece of bread! However, on presentation, this restaurant gets top marks in my book. Ubuntu has some of the prettiest food I’ve ever seen.
One last whistle stop on the tour, the next day was dedicated to the Napa Valley Wine Train. Now, to enjoy the train we had to, of course, exit the Downtown but the train was a part of our tour because its journey begins and ends right in the heart of downtown Napa.
I hate to admit it in hindsight but I was dreading this part of the trip. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences on trains. But having braved the journey, I can honestly now tell you that the train ride is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in Napa. Our ride was hosted by Whitehall Lane winery, so the bottomless glass of classic Napa wines could have something to do with my fondness for the ride. As might the four-course meal, surprisingly finely crafted considering the jostling, microscopic kitchen in which the meal is produced.
But what I really loved was the unique perspective on the Valley that the train provides. The rail car seats ride several feet higher than the highway, the perspective from which I’m used to looking at Napa. You can see the curve of the whole Valley set out before you as you gently roll along, waving at all the foreign sports cars crawling bumper-to-bumper. My favorite part was standing on the train’s platform in the sunshine and the breeze, waving and cheering to all the workers tending to the region’s famous vines. Although we’d spent three days in the Napa Valley’s “urban” center, the train ride was a wonderful reminder of what is at Napa’s core and the ride really gave great perspective to the whole, gastronomic orgy.
