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Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:58 pm
by Brian K Miller
My friends and I hit up a nice new restaurant in Yountville this weekend...R&D Kitchen near the north end of the village.

Great experience!

#1 Snobbery: NONE. My friends were dressed sub-Napa Casual (tee shirt and shorts) and I had ridden over to my friends house to carpool over to Napa for our bicycle ride, so I was dressed in cycling clothes (Castelli!) :oops: :oops: Had not really planned on a fancy restaurant meal, but... The staff was great. No snobbery at all!

#2 Great simple menu with a lovely use of fresh herbs. My friend said his burger was epic...hand ground meat, awesome accompaniments. My spinach and cheese omelet was rolled into a cute tube! It was creamy and delicious. The simple heirloom tomato and watermelon salad was delicious and simple, with great use of herbs and a lovely dressing. Even the house-baked toast was tasty.

#3 The above and beyond. Somehow, my friend's order for the hamburger got printed out on a separate ticket than his wife's and mine, so his hamburger was a short few minutes early. We didn't mind all that much, because Donna and I were still finishing the tomato salad while he got started on the burger. Anyway, two staff people came by to apologize, they comped us free guacamole which was cool! THEN, they brought us a free hot fudge sundae for the table AND comped his hamburger.

Wow!

#4 This is the company that owns Rutherford Grille. The pedigree really shows! Without the sometime insane crowds!
We often start our bicycle rides at the park a short walk away (even in bicycle cleats) so this will be a major addition to our dining choices!

Re: Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 4:11 pm
by Mike Filigenzi
Good to hear about this. We'll be looking into taking a group to Napa in October and will need to find a restaurant that can offer something of a Napa Valley culinary experience at a university employee price. This sounds like a possibility.

Re: Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 4:19 pm
by Brian K Miller
It's not cheap, but not insanely pricey, either. Our lunch entrees were in the teens, with wine and other things adding to the bill, of course. My friend paid, so I gave him some wine! :?

I should mention the ambience, too. Very Napa Valley elegant-rustic. Beautiful outdoor patio. Nice buzz in the room, but they use wooden, curved ceilings, which really cuts down on harsh noise.

Definitely a ***+ experience.

Re: Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:27 pm
by Karen/NoCA
We often start our bicycle rides at the park a short walk away (even in bicycle cleats)


Are these road cleats or recessed cleats?

Re: Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:44 pm
by Brian K Miller
Karen/NoCA wrote:
We often start our bicycle rides at the park a short walk away (even in bicycle cleats)


Are these road cleats or recessed cleats?


Road cleats. Shimano pedals, although I will probably go back to Look next round of shoes (the balance seems off to me and I can click into Look pedals more easily...even after a couple of years).

Re: Great Napa Valley Restaurant Service and Food!

PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:46 pm
by Karen/NoCA
Are the road cleats acepted on restaurant floors?