Cabs in Napa

Like the yellow ones with insolent, cheap and LA-minded drivers… I saw two of them in the small town of Napa, California.

Yes, life goal achieved: I went to “the land of food and wine,” according to the Terminator, I mean, Governor Schwarzenegger. And Napa, California, has two taxi cabs and a shit ton of wine and food.

First stop on this too-short, jammed “vacation” weekend: San Francisco aka the Golden Gate City, Frisco or simply, “The City.”

First stop goal: Eat, drink and be merry – in the most literal (and somewhat biblical) sense that we can be. We had approximately 19 hours in the city to blast through an itinerary placed loosely for us by a local friend of a friend, noting all of the “not to miss” yet anti-tourist regional joints. Mentioning a few…

- A nondescript bakery in Chinatown that once serviced President Bill Clinton. Okay, perverted right-wingers, I’m talking about hom bow pastries – the succulent and flavorful traditionally BBQ stuffed-sticky buns. Perfection all wrapped in $1.

- Gitane, a gypsy-influenced restaurant/bar amidst the high financial towers of downtown success and flooded by smart-dressing, high-rolling patrons. Extremely trendy, with very confusing bathrooms, dim lighting and a bartender who I decided to knight as “Muscles.” As simple as it sounds, the beet salad rocked and the pork empanadas nutured my soul. How can you go wrong with sweet vegetables covered in cheese and deep-fried pig?! Come on!

- Through the back door and in an alley (pervs!), Gitane’s neighbor, Rickhouse, was another mentionable stop mostly because the staff was so awesome. I befriended the HUGE bouncer, noted on the bartenders sleek, prohibition-era styled gear and doted on a female drink-slinger’s sexy cocktail abilities. Girl could make shaking a libation look hotter than singles rubbing on a stripper pole… When in Rome?

Second stop: Up to the town of Napa to stay in the most adorable bed and breakfast ever built. They had complimentary wine and appetizer hour then with all night desserts and 24-hour “trucker” coffee!!!

Second stop goal: Find the wine and food of such calibers we had only heard of. Or so we thought… Don’t get me wrong – we tasted some beautiful wines and had some incredible food to note…

- The Restaurant Pearl took in all of its glory by featuring the marvel that is an oyster. Being one of the bites that is near and dear to my heart, I had to have as much as I could afford (6… I’m not joking.) Pearl was a wonderfully quaint, eight-table restaurant with an open kitchen bar-top, specializing in the purity in the product of their local land.

- Dovetail Wines is brainchild of Michael Logan, a former business/tech consultant gone collector gone winemaker. The man was confident in his palate and decided to do something about it. After making his first vintage, he went in search of a winemaker and realized that he, himself, was exactly what he was looking for in a producer.

Wise move. Clever, business-savvy and dressed like an avid weekend golfer, Michael’s wines are elegant, mature and bearing the fruits of his labor, quite actually. His 2006 Ashley Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon came from the one-acre vineyard on his Napa property, full of brilliant grapegrowing strategies like one cluster per cane and winemaking practices as raw as possible without commercial yeast, filtering and fining. Michael is what Napa once was, and as our last tasting of our trip, he was immensely refreshing. We wish him the best of luck!

- Move over Cafe Juanita, I found my new favorite restaurant ever. Mustards Grill in Yountville, the definer of effortless comfort food. Dijon-glazed signature porkchop with rich mashed potatoes, the one you will read about in EVERY review on Yelp, was everything it was supposed to be. Squab (yes, it is in the pigeon family) was cooked so you knew it was poultry but served so you knew it thought it was steak. Served ontop of a triple mushroom risotta (CHANTRELLES, LOVE!) and consumed side by side with Elliott Vineyard 2005 Napa Valley Cab. Holy wow. Go there, just for this restaurant and sit at the bar with 17-year veteran Kirk.

In the end, the food set a new bar.

But, on Day #1 of Washington Wine Month, let me tell you how spoiled we are in this great state – I simply was just not blown away by these young, Napa gems because of how stellar the juice is that is coming out of my home state.

In spite of the fact that people were perplexed at the comment of a “Washington wine industry” down there… I say, bow down to Washington (wine), California! Just to clear that up, I, in no way, mean UW. Go Cougs.

Happy Washington Wine Month. It’s good to be home.