Category: Napa Valley Wineries

As if you needed any excuse to dine out in Wine Country, here are some delicious new places to whet your appetite. Miminashi Chef Curtis Di Fede has put a seasonal California twist on a Japanese izakaya, with small plates, Japanese whiskeys, sakes, shochu and craft cocktails. The pub-style space gets busy and loud, and the kitchen sends out unusual bits of whole animal yakitori like chicken hatsu (heart), tan (tongue), bonjiri (tail) and kawa (skin). There’s real elegance in other dishes, though, such as fluke sashimi scattered in sunchoke, sansho pepper and lime, or Sonoma-Carneros Paine Farm pigeon ramen rich with miso, fresh bamboo shoot, black garlic, wild nettles and house butter in paitan (milky white) broth. 821 Coombs Street, Napa, (707) 254-9464, miminashi.com. Two Birds One Stone The big names promise brilliance, as chef Douglas Keane (of Healdsburg’s former two Michelin star Cyrus) partnered with Sang Yoon (of the acclaimed Father’s Office American gastropub and Lukshon Asian Fusion in Los Angeles) – and the result is spectacular, for a contemporary California spin on Japanese cuisine. Some standouts include silken tofu bathed in chilled shiitake broth and sprinkled in furikake seasoning, salmon roe and sea grapes tendrils, or chawanmushi of “ham & eggs” in warm, savory custard layered with smoked duck ham, scallion greens, togarashi and silky, poached-in-shell onsen jidori egg. The setting is drop dead gorgeous, too, in the recently renovated Freemark Abbey Winery. 3020 St. Helena Highway (St. Helena), 707-302-3777, twobirdsonestonenapa.com. Basalt It’s a taste of Spain and Portugal in downtown Napa, fresh from the owners of El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma and REDD in Yountville. Chef Esteban Escobar crafts signatures like spicy chorizo and clams with toasted noodles and lime; grilled flatbread slathered in pumpkin seed spread; oxtail tamal with trumpet mushrooms and cilantro-lime butter, and