NOTE (05/07):  Pastry Chef Nicole Plue is now at Redd in Yountville. Chef Victor Scargle is now at Go Fish in St Helena.
We went to Julia’s Kitchen for dinner last weekend. It’s the restaurant inside COPIA that’s named after Julia Child. It’s open and airy, and comfortable. I liked that they serve many vegetables from their own garden, but the food was a pretty mixed experience. The main courses were rather uneven, but the desserts were spectacular, so I’ll start with them.

Peanut-Milk Chocolate Gianduja, Peanut Honeycomb Parfait, Milk Chocolate Sorbet. I loved this. Each component had its own world of creaminess and crunchiness as well as peanut and chocolate. Even the parfait, which I had mentally shrugged at, given its volume of whipped cream, turned out to be delightful, with peanuts and a chocolate sauce at the bottom and honeycomb on the top. The whipped cream was also a nice foil to all of the chocolate and peanut butter flavors in the whole dish. And the sorbet was so creamy, without the heaviness of ice cream.

The “candy bar” had a slightly crisp matted top, a smooth and peanut-y filling, and a very crispy and slightly crumbly bottom. The waiter explained that the top was simply a thick layer of sprayed chocolate and the bottom was feuille de brick. He explained a process to make it that sounds a lot like a laminated dough, but additional butter was incorporated at different stages. I’ve come across numerous spellings and explanations about it online, and it seems to be similar to a phyllo dough… but this version seemed crumblier, so I’m a little confused now, even though I was elated while eating it.

Dark Chocolate Cake, Bergamot Mint Cream, Chocolate Mojito. That chocolate mojito was amazing — it was like an iced milk hot chocolate with mint.

The only thing that I’m a little bit uneasy about with these desserts is putting crumbs and sauces under glasses. Aesthetically, it’s great, but it’s awkward in practice.

Peach and Cinnamon Tartine, Vanilla Bean Brioche, Peach Ice Cream. The vanilla contributed an overall flavor of the dish, as if perfumed with peach and cinnamon. Great.

Apricot Cinnamon Chai Tea. Most of us were talking as complimentary mignardises were brought out, so when Chad tried this and burst out with “Oooh. That’s nice,” there was an awkward silence until I laughed at him. Two minutes later, when I got around to trying it, I said, in complete innocence, “Oooh. That’s nice.” Then Chad laughed at me. It began with the apricot and ended with a slightly muted chai, and was overall, so cool and refreshing.

Dragee Nuts, Ganaches, Toffee. The toffee seemed to have crackers among its chunky bits, and that was great. Nuts were similar to what we made at school, but the caramelized layer seemed more like toffee.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Cosmo, and Amuses Bouche of Gougere and Watermelon Soup. I didn’t like this combination of the amuses, but they were good in their own right… except my soup had a piece of hot pepper that I don’t think anybody else had. But, um, it gave it a nice kick.

The cocktail was very sour and good.

Mai Tai with House-Infused Lychee Rum, Orgeat Syrup (almond-flavored), and Triple Sec. This was the best mai tai I’ve had outside of Hawaii, but it’s not exactly traditional. I liked how it was fruity and sweet while retaining a muted, not quite sour charm.

COPIA Carrot, Curry Dijon Vinaigrette, Garden Beet Greens. This was a lively carrot salad, with the curry flavor giving way to the mustard, and the mustard giving way to the carrot in every bite. The beet greens were an interesting addition of slight bitterness and softer crispness.

Pan Roasted Rib Eye Steak, Sweet Corn Pudding Freshly Dug Potatoes, Sauce Bordelaise. I order steak about once or twice a year, so I’m a bit angry that I wasted my order on this steak. It was very fatty, and the taste was insipid… and the sauce did nothing to help out. Thank goodness for the hand dug potatoes, though — they were full of flavor. The pudding was different — it seemed to be made of a starchy base that had corn mixed it into. The base was like a thinner mashed potatoes, and you expected it to taste starchy, but it didn’t. It tasted nice with the corn, but I never could get used to the texture of the base.

Oven Roasted Pork Chop, Hobb’s Smoked Bacon and Garden Leek Tart, Stone Fruit, Sausalito Springs Watercress. The pork was actually juicier than it looked, but this was pretty boring overall.

The traditional French bistro food available at Bistro Jeanty is probably even more traditional than most bistro food I had in Paris last month. Not all bistros have pigs feet and lamb tongue on offer, but Bistro Jeanty goes for it… and it hasn’t changed its menu since it opened in 1998 (but it does have daily specials). The food is proudly rich and comforting, and overall, good… but maybe I’d appreciate it more in, say, February.

Bouchon, located just up the street, also touts itself as serving traditional bistro food, but you would never confuse one for the other. Bistro Jeanty embraces a rustic heartiness while Bouchon is more urban in approach– a little lighter, a little more precise, a little more sparkling (and a little more expensive). Some call Bouchon more of a brasserie. And in Sonoma, the girl & the fig is more about how splendidly Provencal and Californian food can get along.

Tomato Soup in Puff Pastry. I liked this a lot — the soup was just a little creamy, but the pungent tomato was in the spotlight… and mixing it with shards of puff pastry is one of the more humble pleasures in the world. The soup remained incredibly hot the whole time it was in front of me, which was a mixed blessing.

Home-Cured Pork Belly with Lentil and Foie Gras Ragout. So melting, and smoky, and just unrolling with flavor. Chad had a very similar dish at Bouchon the following week, but the Bistro Jeanty version was better — at Bouchon, the lentils were undercooked and overall it lacked the unctuous richness of this one.

Coq au Vin - Chicken, Mushrooms, and Bacon Red Wine Stew . The sauce was a little too thick with starch for me, but the flavor still came through nicely — very smoky from the bacon, with the undercurrent of vegetables and chicken.

I probably could have done without the side of buttery, clumpy Egg Noodles because the coq au vin was rich enough, but they were fine for what they were.

Short Ribs. A special that night. They were good, but those smooth spinach and mashed potatoes were what I kept stealing from Chad’s plate.

We also had a great 2004 Ballantine Zinfandel with our meal, and drove out that weekend to the winery to taste and buy. The 2004 wasn’t technically available for retail yet, but when people come in after having it at Bistro Jeanty, they’ll sell it by request.

Lemon Meringue Tart with Orange Sauce. Chad liked this, but I didn’t. The lemon tasted bland, and the orange tasted medicinal to me. The meringue was too thick (proportionally and texture-wise, like a dense marshmallow), and there was too much caked powdered sugar all over the place. The result was a sour and sweet gumminess that held my teeth hostage for longer than I would have liked.

One day in June, we wanted to go to the girl & the fig for lunch, but I didn’t feel like driving to Sonoma. So, I searched for an equivalent restaurant in the Napa Valley. The French bistros in Napa — like Bouchon and Bistro Jeanty — seemed to be a bit pricier and have heavier food, so I chose Gordon’s based on what I’d read online about it being casual, popular for breakfast and lunch, and having a good wine list.

So, we drove there, and walked in… and realized that it’s nothing like the girl & the fig. So, I threw out my pre-conceptions, and settled into an American country cafe, with French and Mexican touches. It reminded me of Literati Cafe in LA. The menu is written on chalkboards above the counter, and it consists of mostly salads and sandwiches, ranging from BLT’s to Croque Madame’s to burgers. They seemed to be made with fresh, often creative ingredients. You order at the counter, which is covered with baked treats, and then wait at a table for your food to be brought to you. The decor is country-style cozy, with lots of light wood, and it’s neat and welcoming. There’s also a communal table and outdoor seating. Gordon’s seems like a good place to get decent food when you don’t want to deal with too much of a sit down experience, or want something for takeaway.

I got the BLT, which was crunchy and juicy, and scraped around my mouth like a good BLT should.

Chad got this hulking Burger, which had bacon and cheddar. He loved it for it’s smoky tang, juicy meat, and substantial bun. To this day, if you mention it to him, he’ll likely bow his head a little and whisper, “That’s a good burger.”

Coffee Cake. This was huge, and quite nice.
A few weeks later, I got the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Salad for takeaway, which turned out to be a bit gummy when I got to it, with a very thin creamy dressing.

I’ve been to Cindy’s a few times since I last wrote about it, and it’s become my standby for a good meal — and good drinks — in the Napa valley. When I think about how the dishes are so full of fresh ingredients that are combined in interesting ways and priced in a reasonable fashion… and how they’re served in such a casually elegant and friendly setting… and how the attention to detail that pervades the restaurant is comforting rather than stifling… I wonder why we ever do go anywhere else.

Most of these pictures are from a couple weeks ago, but I have a few pictures from a visit in May. I don’t see the harm in including them, too.

By the way, Cindy Pawlcyn has recently come out with a new book called Big Small Plates, which I can’t wait to get my hands on, especially since that’s the kind of food that I most like to eat.

Rabbit Tostada with Red Chile Salsa, Black Beans, and Feta. It’s relatively hard to find rabbit on menus, and it’s even harder to find good rabbit on plates. But CBK has a way with rabbit, and especially for a first visit, I’d recommend getting this as an indicator of just what CBK is all about. The ingredients tie together so well, and although the serving is large, it’s the juicy, sweet yet earthy rabbit that retains the spotlight, while so many textures and flavors come in and out of focus around it. Some people might think that rabbit tastes like chicken, but it shouldn’t. CBK brings out the rabbit in rabbit.

Chilled Grape and Almond Gazpacho. This was thickened with cream cheese and yogurt.

Laura Chenel Goat Cheese Ravioli, Scallions, Gaeta Olive Sauce, & Parmesan. *from May* This could be a little neater, proportion-wise. That’s a lot of olive to get through to get at everything else, but if you love olives, great.

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We stopped off for a Sunday lunch at Tra Vigne, one of the classic Napa valley Italian restaurants. We sat in the bucolic, Tuscan-style courtyard, which has one of the more creative fountains in the area.

There’s no doubting that it’s a beautiful restaurant that’s designed for upscale rustic comfort, and the meal started off nicely enough… with some assorted olives and fresh bread…

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Wood Oven Baked Pizza with Smoked Prosciutto and Mascarpone Cheese. We both liked this a lot. The crust was pillowy with a satisfying crunch on the bottom. There was very thin layer of something like a tomato sauce beneath the cheese and prosciutto, and they all came together for a very balanced and delicious flavor. I look at this pizza now, and I want a slice.

Papperdelle with Broccoli Rabe, Red Onions, Creamy Pecorino Sauce, and Sage Pesto. This could have been perfect. The flavors are so well-matched, with the sage pesto providing just the right touch of gusto, but the just slightly over-cooked pasta and the starchy undercurrent of the sauce brought it down to just pretty good. I added salt to mask the faults, and I wasn’t unhappy with it.

We were feeling pretty good at this point, so we both got dessert. That was a big mistake. If the meal had stopped with the main courses, we would have left as pretty happy people. But then this was put in front of Chad…

Chocolate Torte with Caramel Sauce. What’s going on here? To be sensitive to the tortured artist who created this, I won’t go into aesthetics. What I will go into is how this was stale, and the ganache on top was so hard that it was nearly impossible to break through its layer of steel. The bottom was soft in that old ‘n saturated full of liquid way, which made it an even more unwieldy. If the ganache is intended to be that hard, it should be used as a crust, and if this is intended to be eaten fresh, it should be served so. And we paid $8 for this, and for what was set in front of me…

“Babba’ Al Rum” with Fresh Raspberry Puree and Creme Anglaise. Ever since we made an utterly fantastic rum baba at school, I’ve been looking forward to further rum baba encounters. But this one didn’t work. The baba here was full of large holes, which lent an unsettling sensation to the tongue, and the flavor was eggy-rum in a bad, sour way, with a cloying underlying sweetness. The flavors just didn’t harmonize, and the raspberry puree didn’t help; and I’d hate to think it was there to just add some color. The anglaise was way too thin — it should have been cooked longer for a more velvety and fuller texture.

So, we left, dejected and hurt, muttering about how we should have stopped with the pizza.