40-Something Life: Napa Valley, CA Restaurants

I dined extravagantly in Napa at some of their most popular and highly-rated restaurants. I completely and wholly indulged in amazing cuisine and didn’t hold back with things I wanted to try. Here is one my favorites…

Bistro Jeanty came highly recommended to me by a work colleague. Just walking distance from our hotel, Bistro Jeanty is a darling looking French restaurant. When you walk into the front door, you feel like you have just walked into a Bistro off the Champs-Élysées. A welcoming French Matre d’ greeted us as we walked in and handed us over to our waiter. Walking through the front part of the restaurant makes you smile. There is a little Frenchman on top of a bike above a huge Lilet sign. They have a small bar area that was packed with locals and tourists and café seating tables for a more casual Bistro feel. We were escorted through the back to the larger restaurant. White table clothes and French café chairs, all packed with eager patrons

We were handed our menus and the classic French chalkboard of specials. So many things looked delicious, I wanted to try everything.

After ordering a fabulous bottle of Bordeaux we decided on sharing a few items to start. We ordered the “Quenelles de Brochet,” Pike dumplings with lobster sauce and the “Salade de Betteraves,” Beet and mâche salad with feta cheese and citrus dressing. The Pike dumplings were loss for words amazing. Light and fluffy and melt in your mouth. The taste was extraordinary and not overly powerful as I would have expected. The Beet salad was delicious and tangy with the perfect amount of dressing. So far so good.

Salade de Betteraves,” Beet and mâche salad with feta cheese and citrus dressing

Quenelles de Brochet,” Pike dumplings with lobster sauce

For my main I ordered “Sole Meunière,” Petrale sole fillet, mashed potatoe lemon-caper butter sauce and Jen ordered the “Epaule de Porc” Slow roasted pork shoulder with butternut squash gratin brussels sprouts & bacon. My dish was fantastic. Light fish over mashed potatoes with a decadent lemon sauce. Absolutely wonderful. Jen’s dish was equally as good, in fact if I had to choose between them, I am not sure I could. The slow roasted pork was so full of flavor and perfectly cooked. We were full and very happy indeed.

Sole Meunière,” Petrale sole fillet, mashed potatoe lemon-caper butter sauce

“Epaule de Porc” Slow roasted pork shoulder with butternut squash gratin brussels sprouts & bacon

Of course, we had to order dessert. After a long look at the menu and trying to decide between many dishes we ended up ordering the “Mousse au Chocolat Brûlée,” Chocolate mousse crème brûlée, recommended to us by our friendly French waiter. It was by far one of the best desserts of the trip. Luscious, decadent and yummy. The perfect end to an amazing, indulgent meal.