Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
private terraces make the most of those
views. The low-key contemporary decor—
all white walls, burnished brown woods,
tiled floors, and earth-toned fabrics—com-
plements the views as well. Somehow each
room has the feeling of a rustic French farm-
house despite a full array of modern ameni-
ties. Picking up another Napa theme, the
resort added a spa as well, with a menu of
massages and soaks and steams that strikes
a fine balance between back-to-nature holis-
tic therapy and pampering luxury.
In the 20-plus years since Auberge du
Soleil opened, Napa Valley has become
one of North America's prime tourism
destinations, and several other superb
restaurants and resorts have come onto
the scene. But Auberge remains at the
forefront, a destination resort in its own
right; visitors who sleep elsewhere still
make a meal at Auberge a high point of
their trip, while some well-heeled repeat
guests relax here for days without ever
feeling compelled to “do Napa.”
The restaurant's current chef, Robert
Curry, has all the right California creden-
tials—he studied under Wolfgang Puck
and formerly cooked down the road at
Domaine du Chandon and Greystone—
but he has also trained with French star
chefs like Alain Ducasse, Michel Richard,
and Michel Rostang. (There's that France-
California melding again.) As you'd expect,
the wine list is outstanding—they claim
it's the most extensive in the Valley—and
wine pairings are a focal element of the
six-course tasting menu. In keeping with
the times, Auberge the restaurant seeks
out organic local produce, with its own
vegetable and herb garden outside the
kitchen door, and guestroom amenities
are organic and sustainable as well. That's
only fitting, because getting in touch with
the earth—or maybe we should say
ter-
roir
—is what Auberge du Soleil is all
about.
180 Rutherford Hill Rd., Rutherford
(
&
800/348-5406
or 707/963-1211; www.
aubergedusoleil.com).
(
San Francisco International (76 miles/
122km); Oakland International Airport
(69 miles/111km).
Gourmet Inns & Resorts
71
The Broadmoor
Rocky Mountain High
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Even if you weren't interested in dining
well, you'd have plenty of compelling rea-
sons to stay at the Broadmoor—the three
golf courses, the tennis courts, the riding
stables, the fly-fishing school, the state-of-
the-art fitness center and spa, the great
swimming complex that seems to spring
like magic out of Cheyenne Lake. Then
there's the massive grandeur of the pink
Italian Renaissance-style main building,
with its marble floors and staircase, pon-
derous chandeliers, hand-painted beamed
ceilings, ornate furnishings, and baroque
entrance fountain. The 700 guest rooms
are spacious and opulently decorated;
service is attentive and polished. One
of the first guests when it opened in
1918 was John D. Rockefeller, and the
resort has treated guests like Rockefellers
ever since.
Superb dining has always been a cor-
nerstone of the Broadmoor experience,
however. From the outset, founder Spen-
cer Penrose—eager to lure titans of Gilded
Age industry out west to his new resort—
demanded that the hotel introduce fine
European-style dining to rough-and-tum-
ble Colorado, and that tradition lives on. A
