Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
highway, is harder to visit (or, more precisely, harder to rejoin traffic from
after a visit). There's been a store in this cute wooden building since
1881, and some locals still pick up their mail in the tiny post office that's
attached. It's not inexpensive (salads are $9), but it's a good place to buy
locally made products, ready-made and made-to-order sandwiches, and
fussy ingredients.
Right next door to COPIA (p. 259) across a parking lot, the $11-million
Oxbow Public Market
(610 1st St., at McKinstry, Napa;
%
707/226-6529;
www.oxbowpublicmarket.com; Tues 9am-8pm, Wed-Mon 9am-7pm,
restaurants Mon-Wed to 8pm and Thurs-Sun to 10pm)
is a newly built
(late 2007) fancy-foods mall devoted to local and artisanal food produc-
ers, most from within a 100-mile radius. Its founder ran the Oakville
Grocery for 2 decades, and he chose the vendors for San Francisco's Ferry
Building Marketplace. In addition to a third Taylor's Refresher (burgers,
fries); there's Pica Pica Maize Kitchen for delicious pressed Venezuelan
arepas
($5-$8); and Rotisario for roasted meats. Those are just a few of
the prepared-food outlets; you can also get cheese, raw meats, organic ice
cream, spices, oysters, chocolate, and coffees at many of the other stores,
as well as culinary antiques at Heritage.
There's a ritzy Dean & Deluca in St. Helena for people who don't mind
spending $12 on a pot of mustard, but I recommend the overstuffed,
nostalgic
Giugni W. F. & Son Grocery Co
. (1227 Main St., St. Helena;
%
707/963-3421; daily 9am-4:30pm; cash only),
another long-runner,
where the sandwich routine goes like this: From a case of a couple dozen
meats and a couple dozen cheese, you point out which ones you'd like to
try, and a meal is made. Eight bucks is standard. It's known for its secret
ingredient: Guigny (
Joo
-nee) Juice, a homemade vinaigrette.
$$-$$$$
Excellent, ethical food mostly at reasonable prices is served at the casual/
arty
Mustards Grill
55
(7399 St. Helena Hwy., Yountville;
%
707/944-2424;
www.mustardsgrill.com; Mon-Thurs 11:30am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-10pm, Sun
11am-9pm; AE, DC, MC, V),
a place that has been around for a generation on the main
drag through Napa County at Yountville. The idea here is what it calls “farm-to-table”
food, meaning it draws from the farms around town. Sandwiches are hefty (half-pound
burgers, $12), salads wittily garnished (one with blue cheese dressing and candied pis-
tachios, $10), and it makes a production out of its desserts, such as the lemon-lime pie
with a towering brown sugar meringue ($8.50). It's when you order something cooked
in the wood-fired grill that the prices leap into the $20s. Some of the produce served is
raised in a small garden just outside the restaurant. Naturally, the wine list is long.
