Best of the Valley Sept 2019

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Best of the

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Best of the

5 14

21

Napa kid hits it big

6

Glorious “painted lady”

8

Selling Chipotle

16

Education on the high seas

22

Planning Auction Napa Valley

26

Telling the bottle’s story

32

Return to Vietnam

39

Pizzaria reimagined

47

Goose & Gander rises

50

A radical wine experience

62

Roadhouse 29 debuts

67

Napa’s Happy Hour scene

74

Pope Valley winery

78

Saving heirloom beans

81

Model Bakery endures

90

To advertise in Best of the Valley, please call us at 707-256-2228 | A publication of the Napa Valley Publishing Company

Welcome to our new Best of the Valley D AV I S TAY LO R Pub li s he r

T

he Napa Valley is a special place, and we are privileged to cover it.

The Napa Valley Publishing Company includes a wide range of news and information outlets, including the Napa Valley Register, St. Helena Star, Weekly Calistogan, American Canyon Eagle, Inside Napa Valley magazine, Distinctive Properties magazine, NapaValleyRegister.com and NapaWineTaste.com.

Every day, these outlets bring you stories of the people, places, 4 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

and events that make this such a vibrant community.

They chronicle the politics, culture, sports, DAVIS and happenings TAYLOR that affect your lives. Nobody else covers Napa County the way we do.

Napa Valley Publishing has a small but motivated staff that produces this work for you,

along with a strong roster of contributors and freelance writers that help spread our reach.

We are proud to share some of the best of the work we have done this year with this first-ever Best of the Valley magazine. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did reporting and writing it.

We also hope that if you like what you see, you might consider supporting local journalism by becoming a member. Now more than ever,

reliable news and information is important to all our lives, but running a news organization is an expensive proposition.

Your financial support will help ensure that our newspapers, magazines, and websites can continue to serve you far into the future.

To join, visit NapaValleyRegister.com/Members or call us at (707) 226-3711.

On the cover: Napa’s waterfront at night, by photographer, bobmcclenahan.com.

SEPTEMBER 2019

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Specialized programs for public school choice www.nvusd.org/magnetschools

Ready

Flip-Critts shoes, invented by Carter Waugh, a fourth grader who lives in Napa.

FOR

Jennifer Huffman, Register‌

The Flip-Critt?

JENNIFER HUFFMAN j huf f man@nap ane w s . com‌

Spurred by broken flip flop, 9-year-old invents a better shoe ‌A pair of broken flip flops led a Napa fourth grader to invent a new kind of shoe, one that he hopes people everywhere will want to wear.

Carter Waugh, who is 9 and attends Willow Elementary School in Napa, explained how his shoe invention was born.

While on a family vacation at the beach two summers ago, “I was trying to explore,” said Carter, but his flip flops broke apart.

He then put on his Croc shoes but “they made my feet sweat and gave me, like, 20 blisters. I didn’t like that.”

“That’s when I had an idea,” Carter said. “Let’s make a cool shoe for everyone that’s comfortable” and secure enough to stay on your feet while doing things like running, jumping and climbing trees.

It’s called the Flip-Critt, or Critts for short. The name Critt comes from Critter, Carter’s nickname.

The Critts shoe is like a combination of a flip flop and a slipper, one that includes a special “toe bar” inside to help keep the shoe on the foot. The Vibram shoe sole is durable. The foot bed is leather and the inside of the shoe is lined with a “special soft material” made of neoprene.

“It’s more comfortable than 6 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

About Flip-Critts: Flip-Critts: https://critts.com/ YouTube: https://bit.ly/2PnNjOK Facebook: facebook.com/FlipCritts/

Jennifer Huffman, Register‌

Carter Waugh, left, gets ready to make a presentation to other students about his shoe invention and being an entrepreneur. His brother, Jordan, is center and his dad, Ryan Waugh, is to the right.

flip flops,” Carter said.

Critts comes in bright colors with ventilation holes punched out in the top of the shoe in the shapes of different “critters,” like dolphins, bats and butterflies.

The shoe was made for “adventurability,” said Carter. “Flip-Critts will be a great shoe for all critters.”

Thanks to his dad, Ryan Waugh, entrepreneurship comes naturally to Carter.

“I’m a serial entrepreneur,” admitted Ryan Waugh. He’s worked with a variety of projects and brands in the wine industry.

Waugh also owns Waugh Family Wines.

“He’s helped me a lot,” Carter said of his dad. Instead of placating him, “He listened to my idea and believed in me.”

With the support and encouragement from his dad and family, Carter said he realized “I can

actually do this.”

Within months, Carter and his family met with a shoe designer, shoe manufacturer, created a prototype, trademarked the name, created copyrights and filed for a patent.

The whole family, including Carter’s mom, Crystal, and Carter’s brother Jordan, traveled to a factory in China over the winter break to create samples.

“It was an incredible experience,” especially traveling as a family, said Crystal Waugh.

They created a website that includes videos of Carter talking about the shoes. The family also connected with an attorney, a marketing person and other business people. This summer, Carter and his family will launch a Kickstarter campaign to help raise awareness about the shoes.

They could be available as soon

as spring 2020.

Prices could range from $40 to $45 per pair. The shoes should come in both child and adult sizes.

Ryan Waugh said the family has invested between $75,000 and $150,000 in Flip-Critts so far.

“This is a serious operation,” he said.

Investors are also taking notice, said Waugh. That means that the shoes could become widely distributed. “It could explode to be on the shelves on every Target or Foot Locker,” said Waugh.

Meanwhile, Carter has been speaking to different groups – both adults and students – about Flip-Critts and being an entrepreneur. Carter admits he gets “kind of nervous” about public speaking, “but once I get to the middle part, I calm down.”

The idea is to show people, including kids, “you can create something from nothing and what it means to be an entrepreneur,” said Ryan Waugh.

Flip-Critts sounds like an invention that would be a good fit for the entrepreneurial-themed reality show “Shark Tank.”

Carter said he would like to be featured on such a program. “I’d just tell my story,” he said.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Goddess Cove is the name that Colleen Moore has given her Vallejo Street home that was built in 1885.

J.L. Sousa, Register‌

Napa’s most eye-popping

‘painted One woman’s vision turned old Victorian into ‘Goddess Cove’

‌P

lady’

JENNIFER HUFFMAN j huf f man@nap ane w s . com‌ ainted in shades of bright yellow, purple, turquoise and hot pink, the vintage Victorian home on Vallejo Street in Napa certainly stands out in the neighborhood.

Named Goddess Cove, the

8 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

two-story house at 877 Vallejo St. has been home to owner Colleen Moore since 1998.

Moore said the colors of her house were inspired by two things: a friend’s home that was painted equally colorfully and her favorite flowers that grow in the front of her own home.

“Those are happy colors,” Moore said. “It makes people happy. It gives them something to think about.”

More inspiration came from her regular visits by boat to St. Thomas island in the Caribbean Sea. So she planted palm trees, chose stained glass that reminds her of water SEPTEMBER 2019

Goddess Cove vrbo.com/1104904 877 Vallejo St., Napa

for most windows and installed a lighted stained glass mural depicting her interpretation of Goddess Cove.

The house is meant to be a “sanctuary for all those that need a safe harbor to come to during the storms of their lives,” said Moore.

Today, Moore and her companion, Richard Graeser, live there, along with three roommates who each rent a room upstairs. Another bedroom, downstairs, is rented nightly as a permitted hosted accommodation rental.

Rent for the long-term roommates start at about $875 a month. According to a VRBO listing, the hosted vacation rental room rents for about $130 a night.

Goddess Cove is not a B&B or Napa hotel room. “It’s a lived-in house,” Moore said.

Eclectic, eccentric and whimsical, Goddess Cove seems to draw visitors who are looking for something different, or more affordable, than the typical Napa Valley hotel room.

The room is popular, said Moore. She’s had authors, doctors, students and many others stay the night. They come for inspiration or are drawn to the property because of its colorful exterior, she said. Another advantage is how close the home is to downtown Napa and the Oxbow.

On VRBO.com, Goddess Cove has 64 reviews going back to 2017. It’s earned 4.9 out of five stars.

Moore, who is 71, said she bought the home 21 years ago for around $180,000. At the time, she was working as an occupational nurse in Silicon Valley.

Built around 1885, the house had originally been located on Pearl Street, where the Kohl’s department store parking lot is today.

In the 1950s, the Victorian was moved to 877 Vallejo St., said Moore. For a time, it was divided into two separate flats – one upstairs, and one downstairs.

Moore said she first set eyes on the residence after visiting Napa with a friend.

“It called out to me,” she said. “I always imagined living in a great big house like my great-grandmother’s” in Salinas.

“She was like my dream house,” said Moore. “I knew this house was very special.”

It pulled her “like a magnet.”

The former owner, Edwin Johnson, had lived in it for 40 years, and the Victorian was not in good condition, said Moore. There were holes in the floors, holes from a pellet gun in one window, the floors had lifted after the 1986 flood and some of the windows SEPTEMBER 2019

J.L. Sousa, Register‌

Colleen Moore gives a tour of her home, built in 1885, that she calls Goddess Cove. She purchased the home in 1998.

J.L. Sousa, Register‌

Richard Graeser stands in the sitting room of Goddess Cove, an 1885 Victorian home he shares with Colleen Moore.

were duct taped in place.

“This place was a mess. My friends wouldn’t even come in,” she said.

In fact, it was in such bad shape, she had a hard time getting a loan for the property.

But she did.

“When Colleen makes her mind up to do something, she never lets go,” said Graeser.

Over the years, Moore has added a new roof, attic, plumbing, walls, flooring, bathrooms, kitchen, electrical, lighting and heat.

A new foundation installed in 2006 saved the home in the 2014 earthquake, she said.

Inside the 2,400-square-foot dwelling, the décor includes southeast Asian statues, photos of friends and their show dog (a Brazilian Mastiff breed named Dante), giant conch shells, mermaid portraits, a Spanish replica of

Excalibur’s sword, elaborately carved wooden furniture and ornate chandeliers with colorfully hand-painted ceiling medallions.

Moore and friends painted the outside themselves, she said. It was white at the time.

The repainting took about three years.

Today it could be Napa’s most extravagantly “painted lady.”

In addition, the property is also a licensed and bonded winery. Graeser produces his own wine under the Graeser Winery label.

The couple enjoys the wine with their guests.

“I’m very blessed to have people come into my life,” said Moore. “This is better than TV.” “It keeps us going and gives us a purpose,” said Moore. “And we have a wonderful time meeting people.”

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18-year-old Napa Chipotle worker gets royal treatment at ad filming JENNIFER HUFFMAN jhu ffma n@napanews.c om‌ ‌Gemma Troche has worked at the south Napa Chipotle Mexican Grill for the past two years, most recently as kitchen manager.

Little did she know that role would one day land her a different kind of role: a spot in a national commercial for the restaurant chain.

Late last summer, Troche made a short video of herself talking about what she likes about working at the restaurant. It was meant to be shown at a Chipotle manager conference held in Las Vegas.

“I didn’t think much of it,” said Troche, 18. “I totally forgot about it.”

However, the people planning Chipotle’s next advertising campaign hadn’t forgotten about her. It turns out that Troche’s video, and those that other Chipotle employees submitted, were somewhat of an audition.

In November, Troche got a call from a casting agency inviting her to be profiled in a new ad series for the company called Behind the Foil.

The campaign provides “unfiltered and emotional testimonials from Chipotle team members about the impact Chipotle has had on their lives, as well as a glimpse into the daily preparation of Chipotle’s fresh ingredients,” said a Chipotle news release.

“It was really crazy” to hear she’d been selected for the ads, said Troche. “I’ve never done this before.”

Troche would receive an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to film the video. She’d also be compensated for her time.

“I didn’t believe it,” Troche said of the offer.

Her parents, with whom she lives in Napa, were also skeptical. Was this some kind of scam? “My dad said, ‘I’m not letting you go by yourself.’”

In early December, Troche and her father flew to L.A. for the filming.

At 6 a.m. the next day, the group — eight other Chipotle employees from across 16 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

the U.S. — met in the lobby.

“No one else was with their parents,” Troche said with a laugh.

The group was then driven to a Chipotle restaurant in El Monte.

Arriving at the location, one of the first things she noticed was a catering operation that had prepared breakfast for everyone.

“I felt like a superstar,” said Troche.

Her dad, now reassured that the project was for real, marveled at the amount of equipment and trucks needed for such a commercial.

“It’s like a movie set,” she said.

As some 50 to 60 production company and other staffers filled the restaurant, Troche was the first to be filmed using “a ginormous” camera.

Troche said that normally she has a very bubbly personality. However, “it’s intimidating having tons of people watch you talk,” she admitted.

Unlike most commercials, there was no script to follow. Instead, the crew, led by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, followed a documentary-style format.

Some Napans might be familiar with Morris. In the 1970s, Morris came to Napa to film his first feature, “Gates of Heaven.”

The film featured Napa County’s Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park and received critical acclaim.

For this mini-documentary, Troche grilled chicken while talking to Morris about what she liked about Chipotle.

“It was like an interview,” she said. “It wasn’t scripted at all.” Her comments were her own thoughts and opinions. “I think that’s pretty cool.”

During the process, Troche was also

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accompanied by her own hair and makeup person. At different points, separate still photos were taken of the teen. Each image had to be sent to the corporate offices for approval.

After her filming, she completed another interview with another crew member. That part was especially memorable because Troche is learning how to edit video herself and that crew member showed her what he was doing while he worked.

“He was such a cool guy.”

After that, Troche went to a “holding” area where food was provided, including steak, salmon and other choices.

“It was super fancy,” Troche said.

In total, the group spent about 10 hours at the site. Troche said she had no idea how much work went into making just one 15-second commercial.

Back at the hotel, Troche and her dad relaxed for the rest of the night. The next morning, it was time to fly home.

She described the whole weekend as a whirlwind. From the attention from the film crew to the gift bag from the hotel, she felt like a VIP, she said.

The Chipotle ads have since started airing on TV, YouTube, social media and elsewhere online.

Seeing herself in the ads is “weird, but in a good way,” Troche said. “I never would have guessed that I’d be on TV.” SEPTEMBER 2019

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Submitted photo‌

Grayson Capener aboard the square-rigged Sorlandet. She spent the nine months of her junior year sailing the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Caribbean.

Adventures

at sea ‌‌W

‌ en you’re a natural-born h storyteller like St. Helena’s Grayson Capener, it helps to have some terrific stories to tell.‌ And boy, does she ever, thanks to the nine months she spent during her junior year sailing the Atlantic Ocean in the 210foot Sørlandet, the sort of square-rigged tall ship that most of us only read about in historical novels.

Capener, who graduated from St. Helena High School on June 7, can tell you about the time she was on night watch when a mysterious tanker – probably Russian – failed to respond upon being hailed and 22 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

Grayson Capener’s nine months on a squarerigger changed her life

J E S S E D UA RT E jd uar te @s the le nas tar. com‌

almost collided with the Sørlandet, in flagrant violation of basic maritime etiquette.

She’s seen dolphins frolicking through bioluminescent plankton “like angels” swimming in the pitch-black of night.

She’s met unforgettable characters like Adrian, a burly, piratical-looking crew member Capener called “The Big Unfriendly Giant” even though he was really “a big teddy bear.” And the bright and eccentric French math teacher everyone called “Philippe Flop” who’d spent much of his life finagling teaching jobs in highly restricted countries like Cuba and North Korea.

And then there are the friends she made,

bonding over a shared experience that was so unforgettable that real life back home might never feel as real or vivid.

“I came home a completely different person,” Capener said.

She left again on Tuesday to visit a few friends in Norway and do a brief stint on the crew of the schooner Atyla as it sails from Kiel, Germany to Aalborg, Denmark to compete in the annual Tall Ship Races.

“I’ll always have stories that I want to tell my friends and family, but as much as I try to explain them, nobody’s going to be able to understand it the way we did (on the Sørlandet),” Capener said. “Sometimes it feels like it was a dream.”

SEPTEMBER 2019

Submitted photo‌

Grayson Capener rides a camel in Agadir, Morocco.

SETTING SAIL‌ The adventure started in the most mundane way when Capener Googled “school on a ship.”

“I’d always loved the ocean, and I knew that during high school I wanted to leave and do something different,” Capener said. “(A+ World Academy) was the first result that popped up.”

Soon she’d been accepted as one of 60 students — plus 20 teachers and crew – who would be setting sail from the Sørlandet’s home port of Kristiansand, Norway on a voyage through the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic, into the Caribbean, and then back to Norway.

Two weeks of training in port gave Capener her first taste of daily life aboard the Sørlandet: Wake up at 7, breakfast at 7:30, muster at 8 for morning announcements, clean the ship until 9, alternate between classes and watch from 9 to 6, go to bed, and wake up sometime in the night for a two-hour night watch.

Launched in 1927, the Sørlandet is the oldest full-rigged ship still at sea, and it doubles as a museum, so every surface had to be immaculate. Cleaning became such a habit for Capener that her parents had to buy her a full set of cleaning supplies when she got home.

Students attended class seven days a week, SEPTEMBER 2019

Submitted photo‌

The Sorlandet, launched in 1927, serves as a training ship for the A+ World Academy.

unless the ship was in port.

“The routine can be pretty calming because you never have to wonder about it,” Capener said. “But living on the ocean is kind of a surprise anyway.”

RADIO SILENCE‌ One big surprise came in the Mediterranean at about 11:30 p.m., as Capener was nearing the end of a two-hour watch. Capener was fantasizing about her hammock when radar showed a large tanker with a Slavic name on a course to intercept.

A square-rigger like the Sørlandet is less maneuverable than most ships afloat nowadays, so the common procedure is to politely ask the other ship to change course to avoid

a collision. With 15 minutes until collision, Sørlandet repeatedly radioed the tanker, but there was no response.

Watch 2 woke up the captain. The Sørlandet avoids using lights at night in order to preserve the crew’s night vision, but the captain started flashing lights and illuminating the ship’s sails, hoping the tanker would get the message. Then he started using a radio device that transmitted a loud ping to the tanker’s chart house.

“There was nothing but radio silence. We were so confused,” Capener said. “Is everyone dead on that boat? It was a strange, Twilight Zone type of experience.”

Please see SEA, Page 24 BEST OF THE VALLEY | 23

Ports visited by Sørlandet

Submitted photo‌

Grayson Capener climbs along the top-gallant yard with Matthew Tralka, one of only two other Americans aboard the Sorlandet.

SEA From Page 23

With just minutes left before a collision, the captain ordered the Sørlandet brought about hard to starboard. The two ships passed at an uncomfortably close distance, Capener’s watch ended, and she returned to her hammock unsettled by the “creepy” encounter with the silent tanker.

110 FEET ABOVE DECK‌ Climbing to the Sørlandet’s masthead was always thrilling and a little scary, especially in heavy seas. If the deck is heaving back and forth, simple geometry will tell you that the motion will be even more dramatic 110 feet above deck.

Terrified of heights, Capener went aloft for the first time on her third day, while the ship was still at anchor and conditions were as placid as possible. She climbed up past the mainsail, past the lower topsail, past the upper topsail, and up to the top-gallant sail, the second-highest level of the mast. Suddenly the repeated instruction “Don’t let go” didn’t seem quite as silly as it had down on deck.

“It’s like being at the top of a roller-coaster, except it’s just your body – there’s nothing else keeping you safe,” Capener said. “If you let go, that’s on you.”

As the voyage went on, she got more comfortable ascending all the way to the royals, the highest sails on the mast.

“Oftentimes we’d climb up just for fun, or to watch dolphins or whales,” she said. “And 24 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

Stine Bryn photo‌

Grayson Capener on the halyard for the gangway.

we’d have to climb up for work all the time. In bad weather that was obviously pretty scary.”

For her first climb to the royals, she was accompanied by a Norwegian crew member named Matthias. Most of the crew had dropped out of high school, so they lacked the students’ booksmarts, but their thorough understanding of life at sea quickly earned the respect of the students, who learned that there’s more than one type of intelligence.

EXOTIC PORTS‌ The Sørlandet visited Caribbean islands like Bequia, one of the only places in the world where aboriginal whaling is still allowed, and BBQ Island, home to six humans, one dog and (to Capener’s disappointment) only one

During Grayson Capener’s nine months on the Sorlandet, the 92-year-old square-rigger visited the following ports, in order: Kristiansand, Norway (home port) Porto, Portugal Cádiz, Spain Toulon, France Bonifacio, Corsica Rome, Italy Palermo, Sicily Agadir, Morocco Tenerife, Canary Islands Cabo Verde (off African coast) Barbados Bequia Santa Marta, Colombia BBQ Island (San Blas, Panama) Puerto Morelos, Mexico Havana, Cuba Miami, Florida Nassau, Bahamas Hamilton, Bermuda Horta, Azores Amsterdam, Netherlands Copenhagen, Denmark Kristiansand, Norway

barbecue.

In Colombia she joined an expedition into the rainforest to visit La Ciudad Perdida, “The Lost City.” Capener fell sick – she blames her anti-malaria medicine – and had to be taken back to port via mule and motorcycle along terrifyingly precarious mountain trails that didn’t seem fit for either one.

Despite those ups and downs and the bouts of seasickness, which faded after a few months, the ship started to feel like home. She was especially close to the rest of Watch 2 – which quickly became known as “the crazy watch” – but the whole crew started to feel like a family.

“It was the kind of brother-sister relationship I’d always dreamed of,” said Capener, an only child. “It changed my whole personality, in terms of teamwork. And I don’t think I’ll ever have a friendship as close as I have with those people.”

This fall she will attend Santa Monica College, partly because it’s near the ocean. She hopes to spend some time sailing, in hopes of recapturing the experience she had aboard the Sørlandet.

In the last days on the ship, she wrote in her journal that she would be lucky to have another experience as memorable and adventurous as her nine months at sea.

“I still feel that way,” she said. “I would hate for that to be the peak of my life, but I want to do even more amazing things. I know it’s selfish to have had an experience that was so amazing and still want more. But I don’t care. I still want more.”

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A group of volunteers gets everything ready at Meadowood Napa Valley Resort prior to the beginning of the 2019 Auction Napa Valley.

Alexander Rubin photo‌

Backstage

at the wine auction D AV I D S TO N E B E RG e d i tor @s the le nas tar. com‌

Army of volunteers pulls off annual fundraiser

‌E

ven though it’s 10 months before 2020 Auction Napa Valley, the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) members and staff have been meeting since April.

Auction Napa Valley (ANV), the four-day fundraising event that supports a variety of community health and children’s education nonprofits, is a celebration of wine, friendship and giving back. It draws people from around the world for a celebration one New York-based publication called “the most fun charity party in the wine world.”

The celebration is not presented without a tremendous amount of effort, honed over years by the NVV’s 520 members (90 percent of whom participated in 2019 ANV), 500 26 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

volunteers and the NVV staff.

This year, the Napa Valley Vintners hosted 3,400 guests over the four-day period, with welcome parties and dinners, a barrel auction, and the centerpiece event, a Saturday Live Auction Celebration, always held at Meadowood Napa Valley Resort.

This year’s 39th edition of the auction raised nearly $12 million. Since it began in 1981, the Napa Valley Vintners has donated more than $185 million to Napa Valley nonprofits providing health and children’s education.

Neeraj Singh, the ANV volunteer coordinator, started volunteering in 2010 and a few years later, got promoted to a Green Captain.

In that role, he was one of 30 volunteers working to improve the compost numbers at the event, particularly at the barrel auction where 26 culinary booths began using compostable bamboo plates with compostable

bamboo forks.

He became volunteer coordinator in 2018 and was in charge of 500 volunteers in 2019.

“My role is to represent the volunteers, who quite honestly have been doing this much longer than I have. I’m 36 years old and people have been doing this for 40 years, which gives you some perspective,” Singh said.

The volunteers don’t necessarily have the same job each year. “There are 20 different jobs, from social media to garbage pickup, check-in to helping with the foods,” he said.

“One of the things I’ve had to do in the past couple of years is to provide the best customer service to our volunteers from the moment they arrive.”

He welcomes them as they arrive, whether by bus or shuttle. “I feel that if we do a good job with that, if we bring the energy the moment they arrive, hopefully that carries with them through whatever shift they are SEPTEMBER 2019

doing.” That care continues through the day, including to the volunteers’ meals, he added.

DETAILS ARE STAGGERING‌ Speaking with Singh and three NVV employees, Kevin King, special events manager, Korinne Munson, director of communications, and Brandy Leonards, auction director, it quickly becomes apparent the details of the four-day event are staggering.

King brought a three-ring binder that was several inches thick, filled with details.

He has worked for the Napa Valley Vintners since 2001 and has been special events manager since 2015. Munson has worked for the NVV for the past year, while Leonards has been with the organization for 13 years and has been auction director for the past year.

FOOD AT THE BARREL AUCTION‌ “The big goal of the Green Team is we try to make our event as sustainable as possible,” King said. With 100 wineries pouring in the marketplace, that means glass bottles, corks, capsules and cardboard are all recycled. The food was served using 20,000 pieces of bambooware.

“As a consumer, we make it easier for you, because when you walk up to the three different receptables – recycling, compost and garbage – and you have a plate of leftover food with a compostable fork, a compostable napkin and a compostable plate, it all goes into one bin,” King said.

Upper Valley Disposal takes care of the recyclables, compostables and waste. Over the past few years, 90 percent or more of the products from the event are “going somewhere

Thursday, making sure all the bungs are still in place, because of the temperature variations between the cellars and trucks, the bungs can pop,” King said. After the wine is served on Friday, the same team goes through and checks the bungs on Saturday and Sunday.

The barrels go out on Monday.

David Stoneberg, Star‌

Blossom chef Itamar Abramovitch manned one of the 24 restaurant stations during the Barrel Auction as part of Auction Napa Valley.

other than a landfill,” King said. “Our goal is to be 95 to 100 percent diverted from the landfill.”

Additionally, they don’t use single-use plastic bottles; instead, they hand out plastic bottles that are made from 100 percent post-consumer product. The water filling the bottles, too, is locally sourced, within 100 miles of the Napa Valley, to reduce the carbon footprint of the event.

CARING FOR WINE BARRELS‌ King’s notebook includes protocols for handling of the wine barrels for Friday’s Barrel Auction.

Each barrel is delivered at a specific time on Wednesday. Volunteers will check the wine and the bill of lading. Other volunteers will use forklifts to remove the barrels from the truck, bring them into the auction room and place them in the right location. Another team goes through the barrel room, making sure everything is lined up and ready for Friday.

“We have a team that comes through on

PLANNING FOR 2020‌ “Right now for 2020, we’re working on confirming the location of the Friday Barrel Auction,” Leonards said. “As amazing as Martini was (for 2019), we don’t want it at one place. We want to move it around.”

The event location changes to keep the Barrel Auction “fresh and exciting,” she said.

“The publicity and attention that the venues receive from hosting the event are amazing and we’re wanting to share that love with multiple wineries.”

There are five or six wineries large enough with an indoor space for the wine barrels and an outdoor space for the marketplace, she said.

Looking ahead to next year, Munson said, “The success of the auction really comes down to having that steering committee in place.”

“This is also the time to start on our bidder cultivation, following up with past successful bidders and also working to bring in new and potential bidders.”

Steering committee meetings will be held every other month starting this month and will continue through May. Additionally, the chairs of the different subcommittees, for example the Friday barrel auction, will meet with their members to get work done.

The 2020 Auction Napa Valley celebration will be held June 4-7.

Alexander Rubin photo‌

For Auction Napa Valley, two complete kitchens are created on the golf course at Meadowood Napa Valley in St. Helena. One is for the dinner service, the other is for appetizers and food during the live auction.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Alexander Rubin‌

Ready to start their Auction Napa Valley volunteer shifts and lend a hand at Meadowood Napa Valley are, from left, Lisa Akrawi, Darlyne Miller, and Amy and Brian Bock.

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 27

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Art on the

outside Label designers work hard to match the wine artistry inside the bottle JESSICA ZIMMER ‌Much like the people who make the wine inside the bottles, graphic designers craft wine labels on the outside with years of experience and in close association with printers, artists, and wineries.

They see their job as an opportunity to create an image for the wine that is tailored to the beverage’s price and customers’ interests.

“Creating a label is very hands-on and very personal. I always consider myself part of my client’s team. I get into the project with them to connect their vision for the wine with their brand,” said Tina Carpenter, owner of Carpenter Creative, a Napa-based graphic design firm.

Carpenter said she begins the process by meeting with the core team members and evaluating their project objectives and strategic goals.

“For a line of single-vineyard California appellation Pinot Noirs priced between $20 and $50, the original label showcased a painting of a big cherry pie that the winemaker owned. For the brand refresh, I took the Carpenter cherry pie, isolated it, and created a marquee image for the brand,” said Carpenter.

Carpenter said she also designed branding details for the wine’s packaging to emulate “a seal that you would find on your pie box from the corner bakery.”

“This gave the wine a sense of Americana and a ‘county fair’ feeling,” said Carpenter.

The new design for Cherry Pie Matt Armendariz‌

The old design for Cherry Pie 32 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Dan Mills‌

DESIGNERS NEED TO KNOW INDUSTRY “SPLURGES” AND THE BASICS‌ Tracey Nauright, owner of Round Like a Circle, a graphic design firm based in American Canyon, said knowing how the label is printed is important.

“I handpick my printers based on the design, quantity, and budget for the label. You can add a feeling of luxury with certain features, such as a beautiful foil stamp, embossing, and varnish. These have an extra cost, which you need to determine beforehand,” said Nauright Nauright.

Nauright said her years of experience and knowledge of wine industry regulations help her make sure the label’s wording

WINTER SPRING 2019

fit specifications for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

“The size of the font, its visibility, its readability, and the wording all need to be in line with regulations. There are things you just cannot say on a wine label, like, ‘This is the best’ or ‘This tastes like Coca-Cola™,’” said Nauright.

Before starting her own firm in 1999, Nauright worked for Domaine Chandon and Chapellet Winery.

“Since then, word of mouth created opportunities at Nicholson Ranch Winery, Mumm Napa, and Kent Rasmussen Winery,” said Nauright.

Cynthia Sterling, creative director of Affinity Creative Group, a Mare Island-based studio, said package design for the wine industry is highly specialized. Designers develop specialized expertise once they have experience in the category.

“I’ve been designing wine labels since the late 1980s. Wineries usually change their labels every five years,” said Sterling.

Sterling said she, as many graphic designers who create wine labels, has a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design. Typically, graphic designers in this category work with Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

“I’ve been told my style is classic modern with a lot of attention to detail. I like to create labels that catch the eye. Also, Napa Valley wineries often want a “classic” wine label, which means a fresh version of a classic European wine label,” said Sterling.

PRODUCING A UNIQUE LABEL REQUIRES RESEARCH‌ Visiting a supermarket or beverage store is a key part of creating a good label, said Sterling.

“You need to see what customers want and what the competition looks like on the shelf. You want to carve out your territory,” said Sterling.

Nauright said research also involves drinking wine and examining labels.

“My forte is a clean, clear label that doesn’t hide the information and is not too busy.

When I present a label to my clients, I want to create a design that gives them a ‘warm fuzzy’ effect. That’s when a customer’s shoulders release and they seem calm and happy. I have given them what they’ve dreamt of,” said Nauright.

Carpenter said she keeps up to date on the costs of certain elements of a label, including the cost of paper and inks.

“A gloss varnish over red ink can make (the red seem) like lip gloss. I always come to the press to make sure the colors look right. I WINTER SPRING 2019

The new design for Evidence Bryan Gray‌

The former design for Evidence

can be on press for 10 hours until the job is done,” said Carpenter.

Carpenter said her work sometimes involves “repositioning” a wine to show an upgrade in quality or price.

“For one project, Evidence Wines made

by Jason Court, the recent vintage was made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Mount Veeder. The winery made only 300 cases,” said Carpenter.

To capture the investigative look and feel of evidence, Carpenter chose a tall grey tapered label with cryptic typography.

“The front label is minimal to reflect the new price point of this wine. The back label has the appearance of a case file with details such as numbering of each bottle and pick date information,” said Carpenter.

Bryan Gray‌

The original wine was offered at $20 with a California appellation. The new vintage is $90 a bottle. “(The new design) reflects the vineyard-specific appellation and higher quality, smaller batch grape source,” said Carpenter.

“NO TYPICAL JOB” AT THE PRINTERS‌ A local printing press allows the graphic designer to be on hand to make sure the labels look and feel right.

Dustin Mertens, sales manager of Eurostampa, a worldwide printing press with a facility in Napa, said the 80,000-square-foot facility can create a few hundred to a few Please see Wine, Page 35 INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 33

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million labels in a few days.

“There’s no typical job. We work with many West Coast wineries, those in Napa and Sonoma counties and those in Oregon, Washington, and even Texas,” said Mertens.

Mertens said the cost of a single label can range from a few cents to several dollars. Factors include the cost of the paper or other label material like veneer, specialized processes like die cutting, embellishments like foil, and ultraviolet (UV) coatings that protect the labels from scuffing.

“A lot of the cost is setting up the equipment. The paper also represents a significant portion of the cost. That’s another reason smaller labels are cheaper. For example, on some smaller labels, you can fit four instead of three across on the paper web,” said Mertens.

Mertens said when a label is finished, printing can be done in a single day.

“In order to get to that point, you go through a lot. The printing press works with the graphic designer and the winery’s

Ja Van Carr‌

The staff of Napa-based Eurostampa

procurement team. We discuss colors and add-ons like foil. We do tweaks, change the ink as needed, and make sure the image looks correct before we go to press. If something doesn’t look right, we make a new plate for a new label,” said Mertens.

Nauright said although creating labels can involve multiple trips to the digital drawing board, she likes the fact that such projects have multiple components.

“It’s like you’re working with a big puzzle.

Although it can be demanding, living here for 25 years, I still get choked up (about) every single one of my projects,” said Nauright.

Nauright said her passion for wine dates to her early years as a graphic designer. She even worked for free for a New York wine store just to learn more about wines and the wine industry.

“When I lived in New York City, I had The Napa Valley Register sent to me by mail all the way on the East Coast to get a sense of the region. I found my job in the wine industry by sending letters to then-400 members of the Napa Valley Vintners. For me, it’s a dream come true. I’m a kid from Connecticut living in wine country, working in the wine industry.

The end!” said Nauright.

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A boat on the Mekong River in Cambodia Tom Rinaldi photo‌

War stories from 1969

Tom Rinaldi of St. Helena visits Vietnam 50 years later

I

DAVID STONEBERG editor@sthelenastar.com‌

n March and April, St. Helenans Tom and Beverly Rinaldi traveled from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Although it was springtime in the Napa Valley, Rinaldi called it “damn hot down there. It was probably in the low 90s; after we left, it was 95, which is hot and humid.”

It was not Tom Rinaldi’s first trip to Vietnam. The trip marked the 50th anniversary of Rinaldi’s first deployment.

“I was a 17-year-old kid when I signed up in the Navy. They had me go back to high school to get my diploma – to grow up, if you will – and I had 90 days to get myself in good shape, get rid of my beard and long hair and study up for the (military) test. I’m glad they told me about that, because they were tricky tests and I aced them,” he said.

After two years of training in avionics, Please see Vietnam, Page 40 SEPTEMBER 2019

Beverly and Tom Rinaldi in a cart pulled by water buffalo in Cambodia

Submitted photo‌

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 39

A captured U.S. Army helicopter is displayed near the De-Militarized Zone in Vietnam.

VIETNAM From Page 39

Rinaldi was sent to Vietnam.

On April 1, 1969, Rinaldi’s EC-121 landed at Chu Lai airbase, which was then controlled by the Americans and later overrun by the North Vietnamese. Their task was to take the black boxes out of the plane and take them into the base to be updated and maintained.

“Each of us had a couple of black boxes on our shoulders, we’re heading off the plane, heading to the base and a mortar round hits. We pick up the pace a little bit and the next one is a little closer. Bang, the next one is really close, and we throw down the black boxes and just start running like hell,” Rinaldi said. “The next one hits and we go tumbling, rolling around on the ground, we get up and start running and there’s this round circle of sandboxes, a foxhole, and we dive in. The whole top lights up on fire. This is my first day in Vietnam and it would’ve been Memorial Day, because I would’ve died.”

In a panic, he calls on the radio and says, “We’re taking fire.”

“We’ve got you covered,” came the reply.

“It was a calm voice, telling me to relax, that it’s OK, we’ve got some company coming your way.

“We look out of the foxhole and these two (Douglas) A-4 attack planes drop napalm and they light up the whole hillside, which erupts in orange and black. We feel the heat and the next thing you know, those guys are toast.”

40 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

The mortar rounds had been coming from a hillside adjacent to the airbase.

“Those guys blew it,” Rinaldi said. “They should have gone after that plane, which was so much more valuable than either of us by far. That was the target of the day, that was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

If you can’t tell, Rinaldi is a storyteller as well as a famed Napa Valley winemaker.

The tale he had to tell was chilling … and it was from 50 years ago, when Richard Nixon was U.S. president, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. and American troops were serving, fighting and dying in Vietnam. To Rinaldi, the details are as clear today as if those events happened yesterday.

ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR‌ In February 1969, just two months after President Richard Nixon took office, North Vietnamese assault teams and artillery attack American bases all over South Vietnam, killing 1,140 Americans. The heaviest fighting is around Saigon, but fights rage all over South Vietnam.

In April, the same month Rinaldi was deployed to Vietnam, U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam exceed the 33,629 men killed in the Korean War. On June 8, 1969, Nixon meets with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu on Midway Island in the Pacific, and announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn immediately.

In March 1973, the last American combat soldiers leave South Vietnam, though military advisers and Marines, who are protecting U.S. installations, remain. For the United States, the war is officially over. Of the more than 3 million Americans who have

Tom Rinaldi photo‌

served in the war, almost 58,000 are dead, and more than 1,000 are missing in action.

Some 150,000 Americans were seriously wounded.

Rinaldi was born and raised in San Francisco and his dad was “absolutely OK” with him signing up to serve in the military. But since he needed both parents’ signatures, it took a bit of doing to convince his mom.

Today, he’s not sure why he signed up to serve in the Navy, but 50 years ago, his motivation was much the same as those who served in the military during World War II – “to beat the Japs, get rid of the Nazis, and get rid of the (Vietnam) war.”

It was only much later that Rinaldi realized Vietnam “was not a winnable war. Hell, we’re not even on the right side.”

A ‘FLYBOY’ IN MEMPHIS‌ After boot camp, Rinaldi was in San Diego, where he was training to be a Navy SEAL. He got a foot infection, though, and washed out. He ended up in Memphis at the Naval Air and Technical Training Command, where he learned avionics. “I was going to be a flyboy,” he said.

Rinaldi was in Memphis for eight months, including on April 4, 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He lived in an apartment complex off the base.

“The brothers banged on my door, knocked it in and told me to get my ass out of here,” Rinaldi said. When he asked what was going on, they told him to leave NOW. “They didn’t tell me what was going on and they didn’t kill me, because I got along great with them (the blacks who lived in the apartment complex.) I got on my motorcycle and headed to the base,” he said, which is when he learned about the assassination.

SEPTEMBER 2019

He went back to the complex four or five days later and “the place was burned to the ground. All my stuff was gone,” he said.

“That was heavy.”

Early in 1969, he went to Guam and received more training. He was flying in an EC-121 “Super Constellation,” which was a four turbo-prop airplane with twin tip tanks on the wings, and three ailerons in the back.

“It was a very distinctive plane,” he said.

The missions were 18 hours long, with two crews, each working two four-and-a-half hour shifts per mission. Their job was electronic surveillance, using sophisticated radar.

They would stare at screens, sweeping 300 miles, spotting boat traffic and air traffic, including surface-to-air missiles. “We’d be able to pinpoint where they were and we flew between Haiphong, Vietnam and Hainan, China,” he said.

If there was a problem with the plane, crews were told to crash land in Haiphong, in North Vietnam. “You did not want to land in China, because if you didn’t make it, you disappeared in China. You could be there forever,” Rinaldi said.

it was a big deal, but not so much for the Marines: “This is what we do, move on.”

Rinaldi pried the AK-47 from the dead man’s hands, with its carved wooden stock and scope. “I could’ve gotten $250 for it, but I ain’t interested in the money. Now it’s mine.

I could use AK-47 bullets or M16 bullets and I could get it wet and it still worked.”

The scope made it so accurate that Rinaldi recalled, “It never missed.”

“It was nasty looking,” Rinaldi said, with the carvings in Vietnamese in its stock. “That thing was bad to the bone, believe me, I got so much respect, if you will, for having that sucker with me.”

How many times did he use it? “Enough,” Rinaldi said.

He added, “I never, ever shot at anything that wasn’t a tracer. If I got a tracer coming at me, I’m (firing) at it, because I knew someone was trying to get me. And then I’d use it. But, just to go for something moving in the distance, no, I don’t care what it looks like.”

and a guide walked up the stairway leading up to the top of the hill and saw a memorial to the North Vietnamese soldiers. “Looking down at the airstrip, they had a good shot at us,” he said.

Rinaldi said the people, both in Cambodia and Vietnam, “were very nice, very friendly and very warm. I did not expect that.” The Vietnamese government is “extraordinarily oppressive,” Rinaldi said, adding that people wouldn’t talk inside their houses, because “the walls have ears,” but outside, on the beach, “they would tell me about these guys who kicked in their doors, telling them they had to move.”

“It was kind of sad in so many ways, because they are forced to do things. The South Vietnamese were oppressed then and they still are,” he said. One example, the exchange rate is 23,000 dong to $1. “There was a time, 10 or 15 years ago, it was pretty equivalent, a dong to a dollar,” Rinaldi said, pulling out a 200,000 dong note that is worth about $8.

RETURNING TO VIETNAM‌ “The very best part was eight days on a cruise. We were pretty well spoiled, with a buffet-style breakfast, lunch and dinner, three squares a day,” Tom Rinaldi said.

“It was a very, very friendly crew and some fascinating ports,” he added. In one of the small towns in Cambodia, groups of 15 – there were 45 on the cruise ship with eight or nine crew – would go into the home of Cambodians.

“They don’t know we’re coming and you go into their homes,” Rinaldi recalled.

“The old grandmom is lying out on a spread on the floor and she’s hurting big time, but she’s smiling and waving and the family’s running around. We go into the kitchen and they give us something to eat, and it’s incredible,” he said, adding they got to know the country and its people on a personal level.

“It was well done. We went through Suzan Rada at St. Helena Travel, who set us up nicely,” Rinaldi said.

VISITING MY LAI MUSEUM‌ Rinaldi’s group went to the My Lai Massacre Museum – not his idea, Rinaldi said – adding, “That was a year before I got there. No wonder we didn’t get an open arms reception. We were not the good guys, by any stretch of the imagination.

“I did not want to go, c’mon, I was 50 miles away and a year later. It’s pretty sickening.”

My Lai is where Lt. William Calley Jr. ordered his company to kill 504 women, children and old men, under the guise that they were North Vietnam sympathizers. Calley was found guilty by court-martial of murdering 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians. He was held under house arrest at Fort Benning and released in September 1974.

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) marks the separation line between North and South Vietnam, before Vietnam was reunified into one country. The tour group walked across the DMZ. “It’s a big deal for them because they beat the Americans,” Rinaldi said.

Rinaldi said he has no need to go back, but if he did, he would take a boat trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia on the Mekong River. “It’s a beautiful ride, and you know what’s amazing? It’s one ship after another, after another and they’re either empty or full.

And the full ones are full of sand.”

They dig up the Mekong River, close to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), fill the boats with sand and sell the sand to Cambodia or Thailand, to make concrete. “It’s the damnedest thing,” he said.

AT CHU LAI AIR BASE‌ During Rinaldi’s deployment, one of his missions was to carry a map, for which he needed top-secret clearance, and to update the perimeter. Rinaldi had the map and a Bic lighter. He was told that if anything went wrong, he was to burn the map. He also had a .357 Magnum revolver to use as he wished with six bullets: five for them and one for himself “if I didn’t want to get captured.”

He was escorted by two Marines, one on each side. After the survey of the perimeter, they were heading back to base and the two Marines opened fire.

“My ears are ringing, and I asked ‘What are you guys doing?”’ The response: “We’re saving your ass, man.”

With their M16 rifles, they pointed to a North Vietnamese soldier dead on the ground. “He’s got an AK-47 (assault rifle) with a scope. He’s got a bullet in his head, a bullet in his chest, in his heart … they nailed him,” Rinaldi said.

CHU LAI REVISITED‌ On his trip this spring, Rinaldi made only ‘YEAH, OK, MOVE ON ... ‘‌ one connection with the Vietnam he knew “It was those Marines that saved my 50 years ago: the Chu Lai airport. “It was a bacon, period,” Rinaldi said. “The guy was beautiful runway and it is now a local, domesup in the tree, he was going to shoot them tic airport, which is really cool, because I’m and me. It was just moments away. I told standing there, looking up the hill and saying them over and over again, ‘You saved my that’s where the boys (North Vietnamese) life.’” Their response: “Yeah, OK, move on, were. Finally, it all clicked.” let’s get over it.”

Why only the runway and airport? “So Rinaldi tried to hug them and was told many things have changed so much that there’s not to, “you California weirdo.” For Rinaldi, no connection. None. This one clicked.” He SEPTEMBER 2019

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 41

Bonnie’s emporium We Buy, sell & Consign

We offer a wide variety of merchandise, Antique to modern, Furniture to Home Décor. We have a lot of great men's and military items plus jewels for the ladies! our merchandise is always changing! stop by and see what treasures you might find today!

Bonnie’s Emporium

3144 Jefferson Street, Napa • Tuesday-Saturday 9:30-5:30 • 707-254-2000 Consignments Tues-Sat 9:30-3:00 • www.bonniesemporium.net

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Wine & dine in the Napa Valley

Chalkboard art at Pizzeria Tra Vigne in St. Helena.

Lindsay Upson‌

More than pizza New menu, vibe at the re-envisioned Tra Vigne Pizzeria

A

t‌ t‌he end of 2015, St. Helena’s Tra Vigne restaurant closed its doors, making way for chef Christopher Kostow’s The Charter Oak. The first in a wave of Napa Valley classics to shutter, it was followed this year by Terra, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Hurley’s, and most recently, Redd.‌ Yet Tra Vigne’s legacy is not completely lost. The restaurant’s more casual, affordable and family-friendly sibling, Tra Vigne Pizzeria, is not only still open for business, but has even adopted some of the former restaurant’s decor and fan-favorite dishes, including their famous Mozzarella Al Minuto.

Moreover, in the last year, Tra Vigne SEPTEMBER 2019

JESS LANDER

Pizzeria has quietly undergone a total refresh of its ambiance and menu. They have a new Chef de Cuisine, Maria Nuno, who has worked in the kitchens of both the former restaurant and pizzeria since she was 16. She works closely with Executive Chef Anthony “Nash” Cognetti, and is the daughter of David Nuno, former Sous Chef at Tra Vigne.

After Tra Vigne opened in 1986, the pizzeria first opened as Tomatina in 1989— the Tomatina tomato can still be found at the entrance today — but was renamed Tra Vigne Pizzeria in 1992. Many notable chefs, such has like Carmen Quagliata, Dena Marino, Michael Gyetvan, Nicholas Petrilli, Frank Whittaker and Kevin Davis, got their

start at either the restaurant or pizzeria.

“What about these classic restaurants?

We’ve been here such a long time that they kind of get forgotten,” said Cynthia Ariosta, marketing and community outreach director for Tra Vigne Pizzeria. “It was kind of a surprise that when the restaurant closed, everyone thought this was gone too. We’ll run into locals, and they’re like, ‘You’re still open? We just thought the whole thing closed.’ But this restaurant is tried and true and it’s stood the test of time.”

The first thing you’ll likely notice when you walk in Tra Vigne Pizzeria 2.0 is a series Please see Tra Vigne, Page 48 BEST OF THE VALLEY | 47

TRA VIGNE From Page 47

of fun, new chalkboard art over the open kitchen. The project took Oakland artist Jolene Russell a week to complete. Out back, the patio has been transformed into a spot for a date night and a bocce court has been added, but the biggest changes are to be found throughout the menu, from antipasti to dessert.

Many of the classics, like the house-made ravioli, garlic rolls, and minestrone, are still there. But new dishes include Smashed Avocado Bruschetta, Lucky Shucks wood-fired oysters topped with fiscalini cheddar, spinach and charred chili aioli, and even a burger.

The C&B Burger comes with a Creekstone Farms chuck-and-brisket patty served with gruyere, heirloom tomato, watercress, roasted onion and a special sauce.

“There are people who come that don’t want pizza, and you want something else for them,” said Ariosta. “We were trying to add a few things on the menu that have more protein or are more sandwich-like.”

All pizzas and piadinas are now made with a new sourdough crust that’s both thin and bubbly. The menu tosses up several fun new pies like the spicy La Bamba (smoky ancho-pasilla chile sauce, chorizo, red onions, jalapeños, cilantro, queso fresco, avocado and crème fraiche) and The Queen’s Pizza.

According to Ariosta, The Queen’s Pizza is the true, historical definition of a

Lindsay Upson photos‌

Mozzarella Al Minuto, a favorite at the old Tra Vigne, is on the menu now at Tra Vigne Pizzeria.

margherita pizza. It has California-grown Bianco DiNapoli Tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, whole leaf basil, EVOO and sea salt.

“This is really the classic margherita pizza,” she said. “This is the way it should be done, as it was meant to be when it was invented for Queen Margherita.”

Finish your meal with tiramisu, served in a mason jar with ladyfingers, a classic cannoli (ricotta cheese, pistachios, chocolate chunks, citrus) or something you may not expect from an Italian establishment, homemade apple pie.

The pizzeria’s new 7-O-7 Happy Hour boasts $1 oysters on the half shell, $5 select craft droughts and well drinks and $7 wine specials seven days a week, from 4-6 p.m.

They’ve expanded their craft beer program (now totaling 10 taps) and thanks to a new full liquor license (brought over from

Smashed Avocado Bruschetta is another new addition to the Pizzeria Tra Vigne menu.

48 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

Tra Vigne when it closed) have curated an inventive list of rotating, seasonal cocktails.

The Weed Whacker, for instance, features hemp seed-infused vodka from Humboldt Distillery, which is owned by St. Helenan Jim Sweeney.

Once a month, a local brewery comes in for Pint Night. The brewery pours select beers (get a free glass with your purchase) and often gives away swag to customers who can answer impromptu trivia questions.

Ariosta said the pint nights have been a big hit among the wine community especially.

“It’s been very interesting to me,” she said. “When we did our pint night last week, some of the winery people came and said, ‘We’re so done with wine at the end of the day, we really just want a good beer.’”

The Queen’s Pizza at Tra Vigne Pizzeria.

SEPTEMBER 2019

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BEST OF THE VALLEY | 49

Four restaurants

in one

A visit to St. Helena’s Goose & Gander Tim Carl Photography

S

ince taking over St. Helena’s Martini House restaurant space in 2012, Goose & Gander has consistently provided Napa Valley residents and guests with cozy digs in which to enjoy non-fussy, rustic American pub-style fare with an exceptional cocktail menu.

Two years ago, Nic Jones came on as executive chef and has since slowly evolved and elevated the food, while at the same time maintaining crowd favorites such as the creamy mushroom soup and what just may be the most decadent bone-marrow-slathered hamburger in the valley.

Goose & Gander has never been a single-focused eatery, having instead three distinct ambiances to share. Beyond having one of the most charming subterranean bars in Northern California, there is also an expansive outdoor garden dining area and an inside main dining room reminiscent of an aristocrat’s country home library. And now Jones and team have created a fourth experience, a participatory Chef ’s Table culinary journey that includes just-picked items from their own organic farms and paired libations from the extensive drink menu.

“We want to provide our guests with a 50 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

TIM CARL

range of options that allows us to showcase what Goose & Gander is all about — from just grabbing a burger to having a more sophisticated, multi-course tasting experience,” Jones said. “The Chef ’s Table menu provides a chance to spread our wings a bit.”

NIC JONES, CHEF Before joining Goose & Gander, Jones spent five years as sous chef under the helm of executive chef Stephen Barber at St. Helena’s Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch, where he honed his craft for whole-animal butchery and house-made charcuterie.

Prior to that, he’d been chef de cuisine for Abruzzi Restaurant in Humboldt County and sous chef at Wine and Roses in Lodi. In 2013, he completed the accelerated wine and beverage program at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and became a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommelier.

Jones has always known he wanted to be a chef. Raised in Southern California, he had his first kitchen job by the time he was 16.

“Growing up, I was always in the kitchen,” Jones said. “My mom likes to joke that my first words were ‘Italian sausage.’”

Graduating from high school early in 2000, Jones entered Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. For experience and spending money, he also worked for Wolfgang Puck at Spago Catering, learning from one of the masters of California cuisine and gaining a taste for the fast pace of the cooking life.

“I was sort of a punk-rock kid and I didn’t really fit into any other job,” he said, “but I clung to kitchens. It felt like our crew was a bunch of disciplined, hard-working pirates going into battle every night.”

Like many others drawn to a career as a cook, the rush of getting ready for service followed by hours of intense preparing and presenting artistic creations became addictive.

But whereas chefs of old might have thrown a pan across the room while screaming epithets for even the slightest mistake, according to Jones, that is no longer acceptable behavior.

Artisans are slowly replacing pirates.

“Like many chefs, I’ve learned how to adapt,” he said. “[This is] actually a very good thing because the other way just wasn’t sustainable and actually stifles creativity.”

Additionally, Jones explained that labor Please see Goose & Gander, Page 57 SEPTEMBER 2019

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BEST OF THE VALLEY | 51

Serving some of Mexico’s most popular and savory dishes full of rich flavorful sauces, tasty fillings & fresh ingredients.

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Phone 707-257-8685 For Catering call 707-365 -4194

Villa Corona is locally owned and operated since 1972 52 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

SEPTEMBER 2019

G R E AT E X PE R I E N C E S A WA I T AT C H A R L E S K RU G W I N E RY

From signature events like the Napa Valley Film Festival and Tastings on the Lawn to curated nights of comedy and even a speaker series, Charles Kr ug is quickly emerging as a cultural hub of Napa Valley.

Visit our website to explore the myriad of happenings that await you.

Visit CharlesKrug.com/Events

Open Daily 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2800 Main Street, St. Helena, CA 94574 | FB + IG: @CharlesKrugWinery | 707.967.2229

A Program of the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

KEEP ON KEEPIN’ OUT

Live Sharpshooter egg mass.

THE GLASSY-WINGEDSHARPSHOOTER IS STILL A THREAT

You may have misconceptions about Glassy-winged Sharpshooters in Napa County. The reality is this: we’ve never had an infestation. And we intend to keep it that way...with your help.

With one viable egg-mass already found inside Napa County in 2019, now is definitely not the time to relax. The single best way to keep this pest out is by not bringing uninspected plants into the county.

Buy all of your garden and landscape plants from certified plant retailers inside Napa County, where shipments are inspected before sale.

FOR INFORMATION, CALL 1.866.BUG.SPOT OR VISIT WWW.BUGSPOT.ORG 54 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

SEPTEMBER 2019

A p A N h T NoR

er f f o we ssiC Cla riCan amesine Cui BBQ! and

n, es! e k c i h k C a , h p s i T k l i i r T M , s L r A e E g R r u s B ad e l v a a S h We , Custom s p i h n- C

Fish -

We also have 6 Beers on Tap featuring local craft beers and imports Chef/owner david Jacinto has 25 years’ experience preparing classic american Cuisine and Classic american BBQ style meat and Poultry dishes.

phone: 707-253-2859 4084 Byway East Napa, CA 94558

www.northnapabbq.com

open 7 days a week Monday 11 am – 8:30 pm Tuesday thru Saturday 11 am – 9 pm Sunday 11 am – 8 pm

Daily Specials!

GOOSE & GANDER From Page 50

laws have been updated. In the past, cooks might have worked at a single restaurant — spending 12 to 15 hours a day, often only making a base hourly wage — because of strict overtime rules and higher base wages.

Now cooks might work the same total number of hours per day but at two or three different restaurants, eliminating overtime at any one establishment.

“This is a big change in kitchen culture,” he said, “because whereas we used to spend all day nearly every day together with the same group, now there can be a lot of moving around.”

According to Jones, another change in kitchens is that in the past most had distinct hierarchies — with designated titles and roles — while today many restaurants are finding that a flatter organization works well.

“After our last sous chef left, I noticed that everyone just stepped up and got the work done,” Jones said. “Now we don’t really have many titles, and I think the food coming out of the kitchen has never been better.”

THE GOOSE & GANDER‌ Since 2012, the restaurant has been owned

by Andrew and Trisha Florsheim. The duo is well versed on what it takes to run a successful eatery. Andrew has spent more than 30 years in the industry, much of that working with his family’s well-known Levy Restaurant Group in Chicago.

Goose & Gander’s main dining room is on the second story of a renovated Arts and Crafts bungalow. Directly in front of the open kitchen are two booths where Chef ’s Table diners sit. Outside, trees and shrubs border a lush garden patio, making the space one of the most private outdoor eating locations in the Napa Valley.

Downstairs, in what amounts to a half-submerged basement, the pub-style bar feels as if you might just bump into some old pirates.

Many of the “designer” cocktail options included on the seven-page list were originally created by local mixologist Scott Beattie. Today, trained chef-turned-bar manager Emma Kreis, along with general manager-partner and wine director, Jason Savage, are continuing the tradition of making fun and expressive cocktails while also expanding the wine list, with a focus on highlighting local vintners.

“If you haven’t been to Goose & Gander for a while, just go. Over the last couple of years it has catapulted into being one of the SEPTEMBER 2019

Tim Carl Photography‌

Spring lamb cooked in duck fat and dusted with nori and served with miner’s lettuce and white asparagus.

best food and wine stops anywhere,” said Cathy Corison, winemaker and owner of Corison Winery and one of the restaurant’s highlighted vintners. “I haven’t had anything at the Goose that wasn’t creative and delicious.

It was such an honor to have our wines featured there for a couple of months.”

Beyond the eatery’s compound, four private organic gardens located throughout the valley provide 30 percent of Goose & Gander’s produce throughout the year. Shelley Kusch, who is a master gardener with a horticulture degree and has worked at the restaurant as a server since it first opened, manages all of the gardens.

THE FOOD‌ ‌DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU ORDER AND IN WHICH DINING AREA YOU FIND YOURSELF, YOU’LL BE EXPERIENCING ONE OF GOOSE & GANDER’S FOUR DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES.‌ Having the crunchy peas and carrots risotto with creamy burnt burrata and tangy mint salsa verde ($28) on a warm evening outside is as refreshing as feasting in the French countryside.

In the dining room, enjoying a glass of 2016 Arietta Quartet ($25 a glass) with the Liberty Duck Breast served with citrusy satsuma gastrique, Tokyo turnips, grilled mushrooms and wheat berries ($36) brings one to an upscale Berkshire hunting lodge.

Slip downstairs to enjoy a pleasantly seedy ambiance while you sip on a Bali Spice Old Fashioned with St. George bourbon, brown spices and orange or a Walter’s Manhattan Templeton Rye with Evan Williams Single

Barrel Bourbon, Carpano Antica and bitters ($14 each), either of which pairs well with the spicy house-made Italian Sausage Cavatelli with shiitake mushroom, fresh mozzarella and tangy tomato preserves ($28).

The menu at the fourth experience, the new Chef ’s Table, is prix fixe with seven courses ($135 per person, which includes gratuity and tax; wine pairing is available for an extra charge). Offered Thursday through Saturday nights only, the special menu is limited to two parties of up to four. Kusch, who likely also just plucked many of the items for that night’s dishes hours earlier, Jones or one of his trusted lieutenants presents and describes the motivation behind various dishes.

“Currently the menu is an exploration of umami (savory) flavors and textures,” Jones said. “We want to highlight our garden produce but also the exceptional meat, game and fish that come from our local farmers. I am also a huge fan of foraging in the wild for items that often show up on the menu like miner’s lettuce or stinging nettles.”

Expect well-executed and uniquely flavored items such as spring lamb cooked in duck fat and dusted with nori and a pillowy chocolate soufflé served with a classic crème anglaise infused with maple-syrup-flavored candy cap mushrooms. Although the food is very good to excellent, maybe the best part of the experience is the experience itself.

“A recent guest told me that [the Chef ’s Table experience] was so personal and thoughtful that it felt like she’d gone to an old friend’s home and eaten a wonderful dinner but also gotten a big hug,” Kusch said. “And that’s just what we are shooting for.”

Goose & Gander is located at 1245 Spring St. The restaurant and basement bar are open BEST OF THE VALLEY | 57

FRIDA’S

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Happy hour is from 3 to 6 pm Local’s lunch specials are from Monday to Friday from 11 am to 3 pm.

FRIDA'S HAS IT'S OWN HOUSE BREWED BEER!

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BEST OF THE VALLEY | 61

An ‘evolutionary’ concept The Prisoner Wine Co. seeks to attract hipper crowd to Napa

N

TIM CARL

apa’s newest winery is a gamechanger — bringing both opportunities and omens. In what had been the Franciscan Estate Winery just south of St. Helena is now a renovated and reimagined winery concept — The Prisoner Wine Co. Based on the widely popular wine brand, The Prisoner, this new addition to the valley’s landscape could become one of the go-to destinations for a new breed of Napa Valley visitors looking for something new and fresh with a decidedly hip-urban sensibility.‌ CONSTELLATION BRANDS‌ In 2016, Constellation Brands — the United States’ second-largest wine producer and owner of Napa Valley wineries such as Tim Carl Photography‌ Robert Mondavi and Mount Veeder — pur- The Prisoner Wine Co. interior designer, Napa’s Richard Von Saal, designed the newly opened chased a relatively obscure wine brand called winery in south St. Helena to be a “reflective” space.

62 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

WINTER SPRING 2019

The Prisoner that had originally been created in 2000 by a Napa Valley winemaker, Dave Phinney. The price tag of $285 million for what was roughly an 80,000-case virtual winery had many scratching their heads.

Why would a big company like Constellation even bother? And why pay so much?‌ The answer was that this obscure brand had captured the attention of wine consumers who might have, up to that point, written off the Napa Valley ethos as too stuck in the past, too uptight and too expensive. But now those very same skeptics have been provided a place in the Napa Valley. The Prisoner has arguably become the No. 1 luxury (over $20 a bottle) red blend in the world. Production has increased, and the portfolio has grown from five to 12 different wines.‌ TRANSFORMING ART INTO SPACE‌ The original label came from a Francisco Goya etching Phinney’s parents gave him as a child. The image is that of a near-faceless bearded man who is chained and shackled within a dim cell, the only light streaming in from somewhere above.‌ “This was a dream project,” said Matt Hollis of San Francisco’s MH Architects, who led the renovation project. “They came to us and showed us the label and told us to be inspired by the Goya painting — that’s not what you normally hear from a client.

And Goya is amazing because of his use of natural light, and so we used that theme throughout.”‌ The reimagined winery transformed what had been the dark-wood and cellarlike interior into one where every room has light pouring in from above. Most wineries in the Napa Valley prefer large windows that look outside at vineyards and mountains at the ground level, but the previous occupant had blocked the vineyard views with a parking lot on one side and a winery facility on the other. Enormous skylights were cut into the ceilings, which required iron trusses, adding to what the designers call “refurbished industrial.”‌ ‌Before guests can enter the interior spaces they approach the dark-gray building by passing under a black circus-tent-looking canopy that has replaced the demolished grand Franciscan water fountain.‌ “The fountain was highly associated with Franciscan, and we wanted to signal that a new occupant was now in this space,” Hollis said.‌ Under the canopy, guests are greeted by a concierge and offered a glass of wine prior to being granted passage inside. Enormous patinated mirrored doors reflect back twisted SEPTEMBER 2019

An interior shot of the new Prisoner winery in St. Helena.

and warped images of those who approach.‌ “When I contemplated this place and how it related to the label, I understood that this needed to be a reflective space,” said Napabased interior designer Richard Von Saal.

“When I thought about The Prisoner it was about reflecting on what you’ve done, your past, decisions you’ve made, thinking about who you are — that’s why we went with all the mirrors, metal and reflective surfaces.”‌ PICK YOUR POISON: CHAINS OR A SKELETON‌ Entering the main tasting area is as if you’ve entered the mansion of a turn-of-thecentury steampunk bachelor. The space is replete with mirrors, dangling metal shackles, concrete floors and reclaimed wooden paneled walls. The fireplace is piled high with balls and chains. Guests might prefer to sit outside where the space remains walled but with an open view of the sky.‌ Visitors have a variety of options, each bringing different levels of experiences and ranging from $45 to the yet-to-launch $300 experience). Most guests will opt for the “lineup tasting” ($45), where they might enjoy five wines to taste along with a plate of house-made crackers and (on my visit) a dip of wonderfully smoky roasted eggplant.‌ Paying $65 provides guests with a guided tour through the vineyard and culinary garden and access to a wing of the building that holds what they call the “makery.” This is essentially a long hall lined with shops where a rotating series of local merchants and artisans display and sell their wares. A graphite skeleton here lies on a vibrating table so it can “draw” designs with its “bones.”‌

Tim Carl Photography‌

TAKING WINERY FOOD TO A NEW LEVEL‌ At the southern end of the makery resides a well-equipped, restaurant-level open kitchen where Chef Brett Young and his five sous chefs create meals that rival some of the finest restaurants in the valley.

Guests who choose to indulge with the food and wine experience ($125) will be treated to tasting four or five wines, each of which is paired with a different food course, including a 1.5-ounce serving of A5 Wagyu Beef, which is only found at the world’s finest restaurants and might be priced upward of $100 per serving on its own.‌ Young has spent time in Asia and was the former chef at Franciscan, and his food reflects the breadth and depth of his expertise. My experience suggests that his menus and creations are at the Michelin one-star level (at least), and the dishes often focus on local-source ingredients and incorporate flavors from around the world.‌ “The range of our wine styles allows me to pair and play with a host of global flavors and textures,” he said. “It is a wonderful experience as a chef to have access to such high-quality ingredients and then to craft each dish with a specific wine so that they both enhance one another.”‌ The winery expects to launch a more in-depth food and wine experience that will be available soon for $300. Given my experience at the $125 level, I can’t imagine what they have in store.‌ Please see Winery, Page 64 BEST OF THE VALLEY | 63

WINERY From Page 63

THE WINE LINEUP‌ The original Prisoner wine was made from a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and small percentages of Syrah and Charbono. The story is that Phinney didn’t design the wine blend but instead used available grapes to make about 400 cases and sold it for $25 (now $49) a bottle. The lineup included and still includes: Saldo (Zinfandel, $32), Thorn (Merlot, $45), Cutting (Cabernet Savignon, $55) and Blindfold ($32).‌ There are now seven more, ranging from a Blanc de Blanc sparkling ($55) to their highest-end red blend called Derange ($100). Of the 12 wines offered all but three are made Tim Carl Photography‌ using grapes grown in the Napa Valley, which The beef was grilled on a Japanese Ishiyaki stone that had been heated to 900 degrees. is surprising because finding Zinfandel and some of the other varietals offered is rare in the region.‌ “We are lucky to work with over 80 different Napa Valley grape growers,” said Chrissy Wittmann, director of winemaking. “This, along with our own network of vineyards, gives us the ability to make wines that are consistently of the highest quality.”‌ All of the wines I tasted meet a level of quality that anyone would expect for Napa Valley wines that are twice the price. And although the original Prisoner had a reputation for being full of residual sugar and super high alcohol to achieve its sweetness and mass appeal, the reality is that these wines are comparable or have even less residual sugar and alcohol than many other well-known Napa Valley brands. Wines made primarily from grapes grown in the Napa Valley are nearly certain to maintain their high quality and also remain limited.‌ THE “EVOLVING” NAPA VALLEY‌ At the opening ceremony for TPWCo, Linda Reiff, president and CEO of the Napa Valley Vintners, used the word “evolution” three times as she described the launch of the new winery. Highlighting the juxtaposition of Constellation having initially purchased the Robert Mondavi Winery in 2004 just a few miles south and now launching a new-concept winery in 2018, she expressed hope that this might encourage “new and younger” visitors to find their way to the Napa Valley.‌ The analogy was appropriate to highlight one of the more concerning elements of the winery’s opening. Whereas Mondavi was an advocate for the Napa Valley as a special place, Constellation’s TPWCo is nearly wholly focused on the Prisoner brand.‌ Yes, there are Napa Valley wines in the 64 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Chefs at the new Prisoner winery prepare food with wine tastings that rivals some of the finest restaurants in the Napa Valley. This plate of A5 Wagyu beef is served with a dusting of pickled lime Gomashio and slivered scallion and paired with the “Headlock” Charbono.

portfolio. But as soon as visitors enter the building, nearly anything related to the Napa Valley disappears from view. The designers were tasked with centering the renovation not on the geography and natural beauty of where it was started, but instead on an etching that was drawn by a European artist nearly 200 years ago.‌ The three wines that are not made in the Napa Valley are treated with the same reverence as those that are, suggesting that a wine from a host of vineyards strewn across the state are just about the same as wines from a single place.‌ It would have been hard to imagine Robert Mondavi wineries dotted around the globe,

but it would not be surprising to see Prisoner “wineries” pop up in places like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo. With this change you certainly have an “evolution.”‌ ‌There are many things to like about this new winery (high quality, decent pricing, support of small growers), but there are things that are also of concern (a blurring of the lines between restaurants and wineries, the use of imprisonment as a form of entertainment and the erasing of a prior iconic wine brand without any sense of gratitude or remembrance).

However the bigger concern might be that the loss of a sense of place will harm other local businesses, especially if other wineries widely adopt such strategies.‌ WINTER SPRING 2019

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Two Birds One Stone reopened on Jan. 30 as Roadhouse 29 as casual smoked-meat and barbecue eatery with no-tipping policy and a plan that pays its staff a “living wage.”

TIM CARL PHOTOGRAPHY

St. Helena’s new

Roadhouse 29 I

A no-tip restaurant that pays a ‘living wage’

n 2016, chef Douglas Keane and his partners opened an innovative Napa Valley restaurant that served California-inspired cuisine with a decidedly Japanese influence.

Housed within the recently renovated Freemark Abbey Winery just north of St. Helena, the beautiful yet expansive exposed-stone building could easily seat more than 150 people and fast became popular with adventurous wine country diners.

But because of its remote location, reduced traffic due to fires, the difficulty of finding enough staff, and the challenges of explaining how menu items such as fried forbidden rice with lap cheong, chili oil and onsen eggs might pair with Napa Valley wines, the team has decided to reinvent the entire culinary SEPTEMBER 2019

TIM CARL

concept, service model and name.

The restaurant formally known as Two Birds One Stone reopened as Roadhouse 29 in January, a casual smoked-meat and barbecue eatery.

The new concept may be the first of a kind in the Napa Valley in that there is a no-tipping policy and all of the staff is paid well above the minimum wage and receive profit-sharing bonuses.

“Everything changes,” Keane said. “We feel this location and this industry requires rethinking. For us, that includes creating a dining experience that is simple and straightforward. It’s still excellent food but without much need for explanation.

“Our goals are to be more approachable, more affordable and get more energy into what is a beautiful space. We also wanted to redefine what it means to work at a restaurant — make it so people didn’t have to work

two or three jobs just to barely squeak by.”

‘EASY TO LIKE’ Of the four original business partners, only Los Angeles-based Sang Yoon (Lukshon and Father’s Office) has decided to depart, whereas Keane and his business partner, Nick Peyton along with the building’s owners, Jackson Family Wines, remain.

“We wanted to create something that was easy to like,” Peyton said. “It’s casual, with two TVs in the bar and lots of space inside and out to enjoy. The food’s not difficult to understand, and we are keeping the prices very reasonable with lots of takeout options and simplified service. But in the end, this is still Doug’s food and so it’s certainly something special.”

Many of the items on the new menu Please see Roadhouse, Page 71 BEST OF THE VALLEY | 67

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— salads, barbecued ribs and grilled steaks — may seem fairly common at first blush.

However, the ingredients and techniques used to prepare and serve them reflect the talent of a team led by award-winning Michelin-rated Keane and Peyton.‌ “People know when the food is good and that’s enough,” Keane said. “We don’t feel it’s important for this new restaurant to spend a lot of effort explaining every step of the process.”‌ It’s clear, however, that something special is going on behind the kitchen door. For example, the smoked meats are bathed for hours in the smoke of oak wine-barrel staves, which imparts a hint of vanilla. Then they are slow-cooked for days (the brisket takes 72 hours) using sous vide, which allows for precise temperatures over extended time frames.‌ Because of this process, the meat arrives at the table exceptionally tender and surprisingly moist. Many of the vegetables and other ingredients are sourced locally. The chicken comes from Rocky Free Range poultry in Petaluma, and Flying Goat Coffee in Sonoma has created a special blend for the new restaurant.‌

the kids’ menu, with items such as chicken fingers with fries, pasta with butter and Parmesan or a JMC hotdog, each for only $6.

And if that wasn’t enough, any child under 5 eats for free.‌ Desserts include “Mom’s” cheesecake (actually Keane’s mother’s recipe — $9), Key lime pie with whipped cream ($8), and Strauss Family Creamery chocolate or vanilla soft-serve ice cream ($5) that can include a fudge brownie made with Valrhona chocolate for an extra $2. But don’t expect to see the word Valrhona on the menu. It, like many of the other items and techniques, has been dropped from the menu verbiage for simplicity’s sake.‌ The wine lists only a few dozen bottles, nearly all of which are from Napa Valley producers. Prices, like nearly everything on the menu, are tame. A bottle of Joel Gott’s crisp Grüner Veltliner goes for $38, and the delicious 2016 Brown Estate Zinfandel is $75.

Most wines by the glass are poured from the tap and range from $10 to $20. There is no corkage fee.‌ Cocktails, including an exceptionally balanced version of the Manhattan, are all $12.

Eight beers are on draft, including the locally brewed Mad Fritz ($12). A 16-ounce “Tall Boy” can of Pabst Blue Ribbon is available for a reasonable $4.50 or only $3 during Happy Hour (3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Monday, and Wednesday through Friday — they are closed on Tuesdays).‌

THE MENU‌ The new menu is now full of familiar items such as a Greek salad ($12) or a chopped iceberg lettuce smothered in a thick confetti of bacon from the local Journeyman Meat Co. (JMC, $10.50), as well as an “All American” burger with house-made ranch dressing and JMC bacon ($14) and super-tender Berkwood Farms St. Louis pork ribs ($16 for a half rack and $28 for a full rack).‌ Those longing for more adventurous fare can still enjoy a few favorites remaining from Two Birds, such as the kale salad with crispy rice and black-garlic dressing ($12), the tangy-crunchy 48-hour kimchi-brined fried whole chicken ($39) and the “42 hour” American Wagyu 8-ounce short-rib steak ($24).‌ Starting in March, nightly specials will include classics such as prime rib served on Saturdays with creamed spinach, horseradish cream and a baked potato ($28) or homemade chicken pot pie ($18) on Thursdays.‌ Families who have felt left out of the Napa Valley dining scene will appreciate

A REVOLUTIONARY NON-TIPPING RESTAURANT The menu prices are low relative to most other restaurants in the Napa Valley. And not having to tip makes the prices even more reasonable. Take, for example, the humble hamburger at $14. At nearly any other restaurant, a 20 percent tip would increase that price by nearly $3.‌ “I know some people think it’s weird not to leave a tip, but it really defeats the purpose when they do in this case,” Keane said. “If guests want to show their enthusiasm and support for what we’re doing here we hope they’ll order more items off the menu or get something to go. That’s how our compensation model works, and we think people are going to love it once they get over how different it is.”‌ Beyond providing exceptional value to their customers, the other major concern of Keane and his team revolves around a challenge that most Napa Valley restaurants are facing: the difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified staff. Their answer? Pay a wage that is commensurate with the need.‌

ROADHOUSE From Page 67

SEPTEMBER 2019

“The truth is that even at $15 an hour, most people need to work two (or even three) full-time jobs to live here,” Keane said. “So we are paying our people a minimum of $20 per hour and it goes up from there — most are already at $25 or higher.

That way our staff — which is more like family at this point — can thrive over the long haul.”‌ Beyond increasing the base pay every employee at Roadside 29 is also included in a profit-sharing program.‌ “Eighteen percent of anything above a certain daily revenue threshold gets set aside to be given to our employees,” Keane said.

“We’re still working out all the details, but we have it now so that anyone working full time receives one full share of the total from each bonus-pay period. If you work half time you receive half a share. It doesn’t matter if you are the chef or wash dishes, the shares are equally distributed based on how much you’ve worked.”‌ As Keane explains it, with the increased pay and profit-sharing model an employee may make many thousands of dollars more each year compared to current restaurant compensation practices. The point here is not just more money but also an increased stake in helping improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.‌ But how does a restaurant pay a wage that is higher than most others in the valley?‌ “Efficiency is first — it allows us to do more with less,” Keane said. “When people come in they’ll order, get their own water, and we’ll have flatware and a roll of paper towels on the table (just in case). We are not scrimping on food costs because food quality is critical.”‌ Backed by his team and dedicated business partners, Keane is attempting to revitalize and reinvent an up-valley restaurant. The food they are offering is easy to understand, of good value and of high quality. Will it be enough to attract enough diners to achieve their goal of making this a sustainable model for the staff and owners? Time will tell, but it is encouraging to see business owners attempting to solve the growing dilemma of serving high-quality, affordable food while at the same time taking good care of their staff.‌ “We are trying to create something fun, provide exceptional value while living up to this beautiful space’s potential,” Keane said.

“At the same time, we are dedicated to ensuring fair working conditions for restaurant professionals. It’s been unfair for too long.

There’s a solution here somewhere, and we’re doing everything we can to figure it out. We hope our customers agree.”‌ BEST OF THE VALLEY | 71

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The bar and lounge area adjacent to Charlie Palmer Steak in the Archer Hotel in downtown Napa.

J.L. Sousa, Register‌

Happy Hour, evolved New trends add interesting food, affordable combos - and way more hours

H

JESS LANDER

appy Hour has evolved into so much more than half-priced margaritas at the swim-up pool bar on your Mexico vacation. The ultimate act of self care, Happy Hour can take the edge off a long work day, help you reconnect with friends before the nightly ritual of dinner, bath time and bedtime with the kids, and provide a cost-effective way to “treat yo’ self.”

In Napa Valley, Happy Hours are as abundant as sunshine and vines, and the choices are seemingly endless. But select restaurants incorporating these four Happy Hour trends are sparking a Marie Kondo standard of joy and should not be missed.

74 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

Arina Habich, Dreamstime‌

SEPTEMBER 2019

THE GOOD STUFF Happy Hour is a little bit like Black Friday, but year-round and without the aggressive shoppers (it has happy in its name, after all). It’s a chance to save big on some of your favorite, but often too-pricey delicacies, like oysters on the half shell.

You can go straight to the source, Hog Island Oyster Co., and slurp Chelsea Gems from Washington at half-off ($1.50 per) between 5-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

For $18, Sunday-Thursday, you can down a half-dozen at Angèle, plus indulge in other French delights on the cheap, like fried deviled egg with shaved black truffle for $6.

But for the best deal in town, you’ll have to head Upvalley, where Tra Vigne Pizzeria offers $1 oysters as part of their daily 7-0-7 Happy Hour, as does Harvest Table, Tuesday-Sunday.

“Our $1 oysters on the half have been a huge Happy Hour hit. In most restaurants, you expect to pay anywhere from $3-$4 per piece, making these a very expensive menu selection, particularly if you are sharing,” said Cynthia Ariosta, Marketing and Community Outreach Director for Tra Vigne Pizzeria. “Offering delicious oysters at a buck a piece gives our guests the opportunity to splurge on something regularly that is very often only purchased as a special treat.”

While you’re at it, toast to your joie de vivre with something sparkling, also too often reserved for special occasions. Angèle knocks 25 percent off bottles of domestic Jess Lander‌ sparklings on Sundays and Champagnes on Wednesdays, and you can sip local bubbly Lobster corn dogs at the Archer Hotel by the glass for $7 during Happy Hours at Charlie Palmer (Tip: pair it with a $7 order from its 2017 opening, the hotel’s rooftop of Lobster Corn Dogs) and Carpe Diem. bar, Sky & Vine, is even more inviting on a nice day. In an effort to avoid pitting FOURTH MEAL the two against one another, while also Despite its name, Happy Hour is rarely recognizing a need for a late-night sipjust one hour and its timing is loosely ping spot, Sky & Vine introduced Reverse defined, though it typically occurs between Happy Hour, available from 9 p.m.-close, the end of the working day and dinner. This Sunday-Thursday. Enjoy $9 cocktails and practice dates to Prohibition, when it was munch on $10-or-less snacks by the fire common for people to attend secret cocktail pits. hours at speakeasies —what today’s college The Andaz also placates the late-night freshmen refer to as pre-gaming — to get munchies on their Mercantile Terrace with a buzz going before heading to a restaurant $6 bites and drink specials on Sunday from that couldn’t serve alcohol.

6-10 p.m., and in true Italian style, But with so many competing Happy Ca Momi Osteria hosts L’ aperitivo, Hours in Napa Valley, some restaurants are Tuesday-Sunday at 5-7 p.m. and then again breaking tradition and opening up their from 9 p.m.-close. During these windows, doors for a little late-night imbibing.

Ca Momi serves spritzes, wines, beers and While Charlie Palmer in the Archer’s flatbreads for just $5 and will knock $5 off lobby was an instant Happy Hour hot spot the price of any pizza.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Christin Klose, Dreamstime‌

FOOD FOR ‘A LINCOLN’ Speaking of $5, the price is right at many Napa Valley Happy Hours. It’s not a bad strategy either; after all, it worked wonders for Subway and their footlongs. In addition to Ca Momi, Torc’s Happy Hour menu is completely comprised of $5 bites, from the face melter quesadilla with short rib and habanero to the deviled eggs topped with pickled onions and bacon. You can also munch on edamame, shisito peppers and even a California roll for the low price of one Lincoln each during Eiko’s Social Hour.

“We decided to make all our Happy Hour menu items $5 so when people come in, they can try a variety of items while also enjoying very reasonably priced wines by the glass and cocktails,” said Cynthia O’Toole, TORC proprietress and wine director. “It’s a great way for locals to see what we’re doing without committing to a full dinner. As a result, our bar is full most nights.”

WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT? All of this fun comes with a catch: those $5 beers and bites add up quick and before you know it, you can’t afford dinner. Luckily, some local spots are taking a page from your favorite fast-food joints with a money-saving combo that’ll leave you feeling relatively full.

At Kitchen Door, you can get a Burger and a Beer for $8 and Ca Momi’s daily PMS — not what you think; it stands for Pint, Margherita pizza & Spritz — costs $15.

Compline may be best known as a wine bar, but you can get three tacos and a beer for $10 as part of their Late Night Family Meal, available daily from 9-11 p.m.

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 75

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Diana Eakle Hawkins is general manager. Her brother, David Eakle, is production director at the Pope Valley Winery, which they bought with their father, Sam, about two years ago.

Bob Rider photo ‌

Brother and sister act David Eakle and Diana Hawkins run wine operation in Pope Valley

D

avid Eakle and his sister, Diana Eakle Hawkins, are pretty busy — they run two companies and a winery, all in Pope Valley.

Their father, Sam, is the sole owner of Eakle Construction & Trucking, which he established in 1974. He runs it with David and Diana.

David and Diana started Eakle Vineyard Management LLC two years ago, to provide vineyard management and farm labor to remote areas of Napa County, and to Lake and Solano counties; Also in 2017, Sam, David and Diana bought out family partners in the Pope Valley 78 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

D AV I D S TO N E B E RG e d i tor @s the le nas tar. com‌ Winery, which was established more than 120 years ago.

David and Diana are third generation from Pope Valley and the fifth generation in the Napa Valley. David is director of production. Diana is general manager.

“I remember being at this winery under a previous owner as a little girl, about 4 or 5, running around in the cellar,” Hawkins said.

“To us, growing up here, being stewards of the history and this valley, it’s nice (for the history) to be showcased. And we are showcasing the grapes, terroir, vineyards and the experience to other people.”

First stop on a recent spring tour was in

the cellar, hand-dug into a hillside.

Swiss immigrant Ed Haus, a blacksmith by trade, bought a farm in Pope Valley in 1882 and opened a blacksmith shop. It took Haus nine years to dig the cellar and build the winery. In 1897, he and his wife established Burgundy Winery & Olive Oil Factory. “It was set up as a three-story, gravity flow winery,” Hawkins said.

The grapes were hauled to the top story and crushed there. They went down a chute to the second story, where the wine was fermented in big redwood tanks and the grapes went down another chute to be put in barrels for aging.

SEPTEMBER 2019

HUGE BEAMS USED‌ The cellar and winery includes huge beams that were brought by wagon from the Oat Hill Quicksilver Mine, which borders Napa and Lake counties. The 40-by-60 foot cellar was seismically retrofitted in the early 1990s. “This is where they barrel-aged their wines and where we still barrel-age them today,” Hawkins said.

Eakle said it’s always challenging to make wines with an older facility, although as a 100-year-old building, the temperature stays pretty consistent at 58 degrees.

“Right now, we are just getting the wines through ML (malolactic fermentation) from the last harvest, because the cellar is so cold,” he said. “In the winter, it is even colder.”

On that spring day at the end of May, they had pulled barrels out from the cellar to warm them up, so the malolactic fermentation could finish.

The cellar holds 300 barrels and the 2017 vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese will be released in some 18 months, after being bottled and aged.

The 2018 vintage wines, also in barrels in the cellar, will be racked and then aged in barrels, before being bottled and aged.

Today, total production is just less than 5,000 cases a year. The winery’s holdings include two estate vineyards in Pope Valley planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Petite Verdot.

During a luncheon and wine tasting, Eakle poured estate wines, either from the four acres of grapes grown on the 40-acre property on Pope Valley Road, or from the Eakle Ranch on Hardin Road, which has 60 acres of grapes planted.

“The cool thing about us is we have our own trucking company and people to harvest our fruit, so we literally call the pick. We pick the next day, or that night, drive it down the road five miles, process the fruit there, ferment it and then after that, we have our own bottling facility here, so we are very streamlined in our production,” Eakle said. It gives them “the ability to do things when we want to do them, when it is best for our wine, which makes it unique,” he added.

Hawkins jumped in, “We farm not only for ourselves but for other companies as well. We created the company (Eakle Vineyard Management LLC) because we found we were needing more good labor and more reliable labor.” She added that the end product, the wine, is dependent on how the grapes are farmed.

David Stoneberg photo‌

If you go Pope Valley Winery • 6613 Pope Valley Road • Pope Valley • 965-1246 • Popevalleywinery.com • 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; closed on major holidays

on the walls. “This is the place where if your wagon wheel broke, or something broke around the winery, you’d fix it,” Hawkins said.

The smithy had to forge iron to make the repairs. “We’re lucky enough to preserve that history and keep it for other people to see,” she added.

“This year, we’re hoping to bring in a blacksmith to do our own demonstrations, once or twice,” Hawkins added. “We have a list of different blacksmiths.”

Unusually, Pope Valley has another historic blacksmith shop, owned and maintained by the Napa County Historical Society. It was opened more than 100 years ago by Ed’s brother, Henry, and is next to the Pope Valley Garage and across from the grocery store.

BOOTLEGGERS‌ With a winery that’s 122 years old, there are bound to be family stories. One of them is from Prohibition. Ed Haus’ son, Sam, served in the military and was friends with Chicago gangster Al Capone. The winery used a horse cart to transport its wines to Napa, where it was put on a train and shipped to Chicago, to be served in Capone’s speakeasies and brothels.

Hawkins said Haus sold wine to Capone for a while, “then he realized it was not the best life choice to continue bootlegging for the Capone family.” Pope Valley natives‌ Hawkins and Eakle grew up in Pope Valley and are 17 months apart. Both went to California State University, Chico, graduating with bachelor’s degrees in Agricultural Business. Diana is a 2006 grad, David graduated a year later.

“We were always very close growing up,” Eakle said. But, as with all children, the two BLACKSMITH SHOP‌ had squabbles. “I think my dad had had it one The next stop on the tour was Ed Haus’ day and he said, ‘Just so you know, when I’m intact blacksmith shop, complete with tools gone, your sister is going to be the only person

SEPTEMBER 2019

you can rely on. You can have friends, you can have other people in your life, but the only person you can really, 100 percent rely on, is your sibling.”

Sam’s advice has stuck with them both. “I remember it to this day,” Eakle said. His sister adds, “I tell it to my kids.”

Hawkins lives in Middletown with her husband Justin, a Cal Fire bulldozer operator, and three children: Jon, 11, Owen, 9, and Grace, 4.

Eakle lives a short drive from the winery with his wife Kilee Lockwood, their daughter Ryen, 6, son Chet, 5, and dogs KC and Gus. ENJOY YOURSELF AND RELAX‌ Pope Valley Winery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, and no appointments are needed for general wine flights.

Hawkins said they offer seated experiences in the second story of the cellar, where wines are paired with cheeses, for example. “We encourage people to bring a picnic lunch, come out, eat, play a game of bocce, grab a glass of wine, and really enjoy themselves, the surrounding vineyards, the history and the experience,” Hawkins said.

“I feel like we’re the embodiment of how the wine industry started, where you can take a glimpse of how everything began in the Napa Valley. Enjoy yourself, relax, learn about the wines, the grapes and experience the wine and terroir. Experience everything that embodies Napa Valley.”

The two are creating a boutique winery, which Eakle defines as making less than 10,000 cases. They work closely with their small staff, which includes Garrett Cosenza, winemaker; Sam Theodorou, tasting room manager; Kenny Werle, wine club manager and Elizabeth Phillips, national sales and marketing director.

From 2008-2015, Eakle was acting winemaker, learning from winery consultant Shaun Richardson. To him, making boutique wines is attractive “because you’re making smaller lots and you have your hands on every lot. You get any bigger than that and you’re losing touch,” he said, bringing up questions: Where are the barrels and what fruit is being brought in?

Being smaller, Eakle said he has control over the products. “It’s nice to focus on specific lots and specific programs and make that wine to go into that program.”

For Hawkins, a boutique winery is about having connections. “We have wine club members who have been members for 10-12 years,” she said. “They have seen the winery grow and David and I grow along with the winery. It is an amazing thing to have these connections with people who support you and love your wine.”

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 79

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Steve Sando, founder and owner of the Napa-based Rancho Gordo Co. Tim Carl Photography

Heirlooms in a bowl Napa’s Rancho Gordo sells frijoles muy deliciosas

T

TIM CARL

he year was 2003. Steve Sando had spent the previous few years mostly idle at his Yountville farmers market stand.

At the time, his collections of colorful and oddly shaped heirloom dried beans were more a curiosity than a product people wanted to purchase. To entice would-be customers he took to placing an assortment of beans into a bowl. He found the prop nearly irresistible to passersby who’d stop, grab handfuls of the small, hard-as-rock fabiforms with colors that ranged from porcelain white to midnight violet, each textured differently, from slippery to wrinkled and ranging in size Tim Carl Photography

Please see Rancho, Page 82 A bowl of Rancho Gordo beans that customers can touch is a popular attraction.

SEPTEMBER 2019

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 81

RANCHO From Page 81

from tiny BB-like spheres to those looking more like golden doubloons.

But even with this new intrigue, sales were rare. Although they were beautiful, no one seemed to know exactly what to do with a bag of uncooked dried beans that had unfamiliar names such as Wren’s Egg, Nightfall, Good Mother or Yellow Indian Woman.

Or worse still, they might confuse them with other products.

“Some people would walk by and say, ‘Oh look, roasted nuts. I just love nuts,” Sando said. “I’d watch in horror and try to stop them when they tossed a few into their mouth.”

One day in 2003, Thomas Keller, who would eventually become Napa Valley’s first three-star Michelin chef, strolled through the market, pausing and pondering the bowl of beans.

“He purchased a few bags of Vallarta beans that day — tiny and delicate and nearly extinct at that time — and then the next week he bought a few more bags,” Sando said. “As soon as he left, I was swarmed by people wanting to buy beans.”

Eventually Keller served Sando’s beans at all of his restaurants, which led nearly every other chef in the country to follow in his footsteps.

“To have my beans served at the finest restaurants in the world gave the beans (and me) validation,” Sando said. “One day, Keller came to my stand, leaned in and told me that what I was doing was important. What a thing to hear!”

That year, Sando sold 200 pounds of dried beans. By 2018, his Rancho Gordo brand was selling 600,000 pounds of roughly 35 different types of specialty heirloom beans. Sando has not only grown a successful Napa Valley-headquartered business, he’s also transformed the way thousands of chefs, cooks and “bean freaks” think about sourcing, cooking and serving legumes. But Rancho Gordo almost never happened.

STEVE SANDO‌ Sando grew up in Marin in the late 1960s.

His mother, a nurse, and father, a former illustrator at Disney, divorced early. Neither initially embraced the revelation that their son was gay and pudgy in a time when both were often considered more akin to a subjective character flaw to fix rather than an objective reality to welcome.

After a few start-and-stop college attempts, 82 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

he left home seeking direction and companionship. Time in San Francisco led him to a spiritual six-month trek in India, followed by Santa Fe, London and back to the Bay Area in 1982, where he found his first successful career at the newly launch Esprit clothing and apparel store.

“Esprit had a big impact on how I think about brands and running a business,” he said.

“By the time I was 22, I was overseeing million-dollar purchasing decisions and also how a company can run smoothly when employees are given respect and encouraged to be who they are.”

The company also provided free Italian language lessons and had an office in Milan that inspired Sando onto his next adventure.

“After five years, I moved to Italy with the intention of working at Esprit, but that didn’t work out,” he said. “But it did get me into radio.”

On a whim that highlights Sando’s fearlessness and his heuristic method of self-discovery, he called Milan’s local radio station — 88.3 — and pitched a new program that played American jazz and discussed cocktail mixology lore. To his surprise they accepted, and days later Sando’s voice could be heard over the Italian airways.

“Had I ever been on the radio? No,” Sando said. “Was it something I’d completely thought through? Not exactly, but it was fun and people responded with enthusiasm.”

After six months, Sando headed back to San Francisco but was “penniless” and again unsure of his next move. Bouncing from job to job he built a resume that’s comparable with many who lived in the Bay Area during the 1990s: a few tech startups, his own web design company, a music-review business and magazine, a new diet concept with beans as the key food, and various other fits and starts as he traveled headlong toward his 40s.

“I was getting a little desperate,” he said.

“I was having some successes, but nothing seemed to stick. At one point I just said, ‘Screw this, I’m moving to Napa. I’ll grow a small garden and work at Target.’”

During those years, he also married, had two boys, divorced amicably and found a growing interest in heirloom vegetables.

“When I got to Napa in around 2000, I planted some seeds that I’d ordered from the Seed Savers Exchange,” he said. “That year was nearly perfect and everything just grew.

I thought my success was my innate skill as a gardener, but it wasn’t. It was just that in this place anything will grow. In reality, over time I learned I am not all that great a farmer.”

That year, with an overflowing harvest of heirloom vegetables, he wanted to open a farmers market stand. First he tried unsuccessfully

to procure a spot at the Napa market, but they had no interest in this new upstart with no track record.

“It’s closed now, but Yountville was the scrappy cousin of the Napa and St. Helena farmers markets,” he said. “They took me in with open arms, but once I’d sold out of all my tomatoes I was wondering what I could sell through the winter. So I put some dried beans I’d been growing into a bag and used Photoshop to make some labels with the image of a 1940s Mexican starlet and called it Rancho Gordo.” (he had purchased the web address and name for his failed bean diet idea years earlier).

‘BEAN FREAKS’‌ Since its launch, Rancho Gordo has grown into a bean phenomenon that has thousands of fans whom Sando refers to lovingly as “bean freaks.” Over the years, he’s found that his most adventurous customers are always on the hunt for the new and rarest of beans.

“A few years ago we started a bean club — sort of like a wine club — almost as a joke,” he said. “But it took off so fast — up to 5,000 — that we had to cut it off, and now we have 1,200 on the waiting list.”

Members of the bean club receive products and beans that are not available to the general public, often because of limited quantities.

THE MEXICO CONNECTION‌ The majority of beans Rancho sells are grown on the West Coast of the United States, but some of the most obscure and rare beans are being imported from Mexico. Sando has found many of these uncommon products in small villages, and to help locate and navigate the challenges of importation, farmer relations and bureaucratic red tape he has partnered with XOXOC, a Mexican company that specializes in procuring and exporting heirloom products.

Through his partnerships and his own initiative, beyond beans, over the years Sando has published a half-dozen cookbooks and now sells herbs and spices, grains, rices, special salt to help soften beans, chilies and hot sauces.

Other offerings include chocolate made the traditional way from cocoa beans — roasted on clay pans before being stoneground along with soft-bark cinnamon — or heirloom white-corn posole (hominy); Azul; sweet-sour or salty versions of dried prickly pear; and earthen clay bean pots that have been burnished by hand using quartz stones.

“It’s really difficult to import anything other than bland hybrid crops grown for Please see Rancho, Page 85 SEPTEMBER 2019

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RANCHO From Page 82

international markets,” Sando said. “It seems to me trade policies often discourage genetic diversity and local food traditions, but by partnering with XOXOC we work directly with the local farmers so they can continue growing heritage crops. The way I look at it, by creating a market for these products we’re encouraging the preservation of local traditions.”

HIS OWN TARIFFS‌ For the products sourced from Mexico, Sando has recently increased prices 5 percent. Writing in his blog, he explains: “Our government recently decided to threaten a 5 percent tariff on imports from Mexico, with the fees escalating up to 25 percent. Five percent doesn’t sound like much, but you have to realize the beans are a food crop. They’ve been growing for six to nine months, followed by cleaning and packaging, and they’ve been planned long before that. It’s taken us years to develop these relationships, and these actions have [already] taken their toll.

“In response…[Rancho Gordo] is adding a 5 percent charge to all of our Mexican imports and donating this money, 100 percent, to No More Deaths, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid to migrants and refugees, focusing on the deadly Arizona border.”

THE BEANS‌ Writing in his first book, “Heirloom Beans,” Sando extols the many benefits of the humble bean but recognizes that if they didn’t taste good he’d have no interest: “…heirloom beans are romantic, beautiful and good for the soil and the body.

What’s not to like? The reality is that if they tasted ordinary, none of this would much matter to me. I’m happy to eat healthy food, but if it tastes like dirt…there’s not much point. The real magic of these beans is the flavor.”

Bucking the current pressure-cooker “Instapot” trend, Sando says that using one reduces the quality of the “pot liquor” (broth) and suggests cooking beans in a slow cooker set on high for four to six hours, covered with 2 inches of water, a dash of salt, a sautéed chopped white onion with minced garlic, oregano and olive oil is all that is needed. Others add in lard, bay leaf (or avocado leaf ), spices and a host of other additions.

As an experiment, I cooked various beans using a host of techniques and recipes. My SEPTEMBER 2019

Tim Carl Photography‌

The Rancho Gordo team prepares dried beans at Rancho Gordo Napa’s warehouse.

results suggest that Sando is correct regarding the bean broth. My Instapot is just too fast (26 minutes) to produce the viscous and intensely flavored liquor that results from hours on the stove (set on low for five to six hours) or my slow cooker (set at high for five to eight hours, depending on the size of the bean).

Unlike most store-bought beans that have languished in storage or on a store shelf for years, Rancho Gordo beans are little more than a year from their harvest, so soaking the dried beans in water for an hour before cooking is optional.

After a dozen experiments and taste tests with family and friends, I found it a little hard to accept that the best method for any of the beans tested — the chewy-chocolaty Rio Zape, creamy Corona, the barbecue-ready white lima, super-tender Marcella (actually Sorana, which is a cannellini, but Sando named this after his deceased friend and inspiration, Marcella Hazan, the author of “Classic Italian Cooking”), or the pinnate-flavored and fluffy Yellow Indian Woman or the dense and earthy Moro — is to simply soak them in clean cold water for one hour, rinse thoroughly, add 3 inches of water over the beans and cook for six to eight hours on high in a Crockpot.

The result is a surprisingly rich bean broth and plump beans that have nuanced flavors and a mind-boggling range of textures — from whipped-cream fluffy to beefsteak chewy depending on type.

When I served the beans to my family, they, too, were surprised. My millennial daughter, who is equally concerned about the environment and frivolous spending, was particularly intrigued.

“This might be my favorite,” she said,

thoughtfully chewing on a large Corona bean that I’d added into our stir-fry instead of another type of protein.

My wife and I nodded in agreement.

“You know that if everyone switched from eating beef to eating beans the U.S. could almost meet greenhouse-gas emission goals,” she said.

We ate for a while in silence, pondering her words, and I was equally surprised by the interplay between flavors — soy sauce with beans and bok choy, delicious.

“How much do these cost,” she asked.

I explained that most Rancho Gordo beans cost around $6 a pound, which, according to Sando, makes 6 cups of cooked beans.

“Wow — we should eat more beans,” she said, almost exasperated. “If we did, we’d cut down on our grocery bills, eat healthy, tasty food and help improve our environment with one simple dietary change.”

And Thomas Keller seems to agree. In the forward to “Heirloom Beans,” Keller writes: “Beans have sadly not reached the same fervor and acceptance in the United States [as other food products], which I find unfortunate. This is why I give my support to Steve and his pursuit of bringing heirloom beans to the fore. His efforts make me feel hopeful on several levels: 1) that his work will help beans find the rightful niche in our culture that they deserve; 2) that on the agricultural level he will continue to generate more attention to the importance of sustainable farming…; and finally, 3) that after reading ‘Heirloom Beans,’ his readers will come away with an understanding of why we are committed to helping him spread the word and why we give Rancho Gordo beans a place of honor at our restaurants.”

BEST OF THE VALLEY | 85

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The model of bakeries Long lifetime journey leads couple to busy St. Helena destination

L

TIM CARL

ocated on St. Helena’s Main Street and housed in a century-old brick building, the Model Bakery has become a quintessential destination for those living in or visiting the Napa Valley. Karen Mitchell started the bakery in 1984 and runs it with the help of her daughter, Sarah.

It is a rare day when the 1930s European-style cafe is not bustling with customers eager to purchase organic artisan breads and flaky, delicate pastries. With products coveted by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, famous chefs that include Rachael Ray and Michael Chiarello, and by politicians such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the TIM CARL PHOTOGRAPHY‌ bakery’s current stature may seem as if it Karen Mitchell, owner of the Model Bakery, stands in front of one of two 100-year-old brick were predestined. ovens used at the original location on Main Street in St. Helena.

A FAMILY OF COOKS‌ Karen grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she was surrounded by, and gained an appreciation for, good food made from scratch. Her family grew their own fruits and vegetables, and her father fished and hunted for game.

“My mother and grandmothers were among the best cooks of their time and everyone baked,” she said. “My great Aunt Emma had a restaurant in Portland called Berg’s Chalet, where James Beard (also from Oregon) often dined.”

Not yet seeing the culinary arts as her career path, she attended Salem’s Willamette University to study history. There she met her future husband, John.

“In the early 1960s, there weren’t many options for women — you could become a wife, a teacher, secretary or nurse,” she said.

“You were never going to control much, but I was pretty independent and I definitely wanted to be in charge.”

After college, the couple married and moved to Florida and then to Southern California, where John trained and then worked as a Marine helicopter pilot. The Vietnam War had started and he’d decided to join out of a sense of service but also imagining that doing so would give him more choices.

flying through the jungles of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. When he was shot down, his femoral artery was severed by the helicopter’s blade. Taking fire from all sides, a rescue helicopter swooped down and its crew dragged the severely wounded pilot to safety.

“A week later, he called from a hospital in Japan and told me that he’d been wounded and that they wanted to amputate his leg,” Karen said.

John’s leg was eventually saved but not before he’d gotten gangrene and spent nearly a year in recovery.

“Francis Ford Coppola was going to make a movie about his story at one point,” Karen said, with a smile.

to decide.”

A few months later, they sold their cars, wedding presents and furniture and hitched a ride on a military transport plane to Germany, where they purchased a Volkswagen bus, intending to travel through Europe.

For two years, until 1973, they lived on John’s meager disability checks and traveled through the countryside, exploring their shared love of history and gaining a deeper appreciation for handcrafted foods, especially breads and pastries.

“It was Europe on $5 a day,” Karen said.

They traveled through Germany, France, Greece, circumnavigated Europe and then visited North Africa, Russia and Nepal, where they hiked to the Mount Everest base camp. All the while, John had a growing love for wine and Karen was becoming more and more fascinated by the quality and diversity of foods as they shopped at farmers markets, ate at cafes and visited bakeries.

“Each town had its own little bakery where people gathered, maybe stopping in for a cookie, a loaf of bread or cup of coffee,” she said. “I’d never really ever seen anything like that before, and it was something that really stuck with me as being meaningful.”

A COIN TOSS‌ During John’s deployment and recovery, Karen worked first as a junior high history teacher and then on a governmental study at UCLA to examine the differences between left- and right-brain function. There she was exposed to “crazy and smart professors” and “wonderfully creative people.” Their experiences had made both of them question their future career paths.

“By then, John had obtained an MBA from USC and I’d been accepted into the MOVING TO THE NAPA VALLEY‌ law program at UCLA,” she said. “John During their travel to Mount Everest, SHOT DOWN‌ really wanted to travel around the world Please see Model, Page 92 Three years later, John found himself before we settled down, so we flipped a coin

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John had eaten some fresh salad in Pakistan, which is how they believe he came down with the hepatitis that ended their world adventure. By then the couple could not imagine moving back to a big city and found that the Napa Valley provided them with the idyllic rural environment that was attracting an inflow of their like-minded peers at the time.

“We lived up on Spring Mountain in a little cottage, and I taught at St. Helena High School until Sarah was born,” Karen said. “John worked first at Burgess Cellars and then for Jack Davies (Schramsberg) before becoming a contractor and building homes.”

John would eventually come to make his own wine, Four Cairn, which is both rare and delicious.

After Sarah was born, Karen decided to follow her passion toward cooking and began working at a small Calistoga restaurant called La Pyrénées. The restaurant — owned by Philippe Bonafont and his bombastic, opera-singing partner, Chef Gregory — helped usher in European-influenced cuisine throughout the region. Eventually, Karen followed the owners when they opened La Belle Helene Restaurant in St. Helena. There, she cooked lunch for two years before opening up her own business, one of the valley’s first catering companies with her friend Priscilla Upton.

By the early 1980s, St. Helena, and more broadly the Napa Valley, was growing into a culinary destination with a distinctly French bent, with restaurants such as Miramonte, Le Favour Cafe Oriental (one of the first French-Thai fusion restaurants in America), Trilogy and the nearby Auberge du Soleil and Domaine Chandon gaining national prominence. But what the valley didn’t have at the time was an artisan-style bakery.

THE MODEL BAKERY‌ According to Karen, by the mid-1980s she was hoping that a small St. Helena bakery with old-styled brick-hearth ovens, high ceilings and skylights might someday become available. When that happened and the previous owners departed she jumped at her chance, uncovering a long history in the process of renovation.

“During the remodel of the bakery Mom found coins from 1908 in the wall that said, ‘St. Helena Bakery, good for one loaf of bread, 5 cents,’ so it’s been around for at least that long,” Sarah said. “The name 92 | BEST OF THE VALLEY

Sarah Mitchell Hansen is co-owner of the Model Bakery.

changed to the Model Bakery in the 1930s and then changed to the Sugar House bakery in the ‘60s.”

“We really didn’t know what we were getting into — I mean, just heating the two ovens was something we had to figure out,” Karen said.

ANCIENT OVENS‌ Still in use today, each of the 100-yearold 18-feet-wide ovens is 14 feet deep, 1.5 feet high and encased with bricks. They are not heated by wood or electricity, but instead by enormous flame-throwing natural gas “guns” that blast the interiors, with the heat retained for many hours, even days.

Steam can be injected as a source of heat, and it also allows the breads to rise before being shut off to produce baked goods with distinctly crackly crusts and chewy, creamy centers.

Beyond the ovens, John used his construction skills to renovate the interior, building shelves, glass-enclosed displays and counters. Karen created sourdough starters, procured high-quality ingredients, and built a team of artisan bakers. The bakery’s old name was resurrected when an old-time St. Helena resident who remembered its former glory entered the space and exclaimed, “Ah…the Model Bakery!”

A BAKERY THAT BECAME A MODEL‌ Over the years, the Model Bakery has become a Napa Valley destination in its own right not through anything that even remotely approaches flashy but instead by

TIM CARL PHOTOGRAPHY‌

creating an appealing and comfortable space for patrons to enjoy consistently high-quality baked goods in a casual setting.

The approach has been successful and resulted in celebrities such as Oprah telling People Magazine that her “…greatest extravagance is flying in English muffins from Napa Valley [from the Model Bakery].” These very same English muffins have also been called out by the Food Network in “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” show and given by star chef Rachael Ray as gifts to her studio audience. Pelosi seems to prefer the spelt bread over the English muffins, whereas many locals clamor for the freshly made croissants, with their outsides as crispy as the thinnest sheet of ice, their interiors buttery and chewy.

Karen and Sarah plan to expand distribution, eventually servicing more Bay Area locations and allowing additional people to experience what has become for many the model for bakeries. For now, though, their products can be found only at their St. Helena, Yountville and Napa locations or ordered online.

In the forward to “The Model Bakery Cookbook,” Karen writes, “[When I started the bakery] I was a young, naive and determined self-taught chef…. I never doubted that we could renovate the facility, develop a new product line and make a successful venture out of this wonderful old building….I longed to create naturally fermented sourdoughs and … European-styled croissants and pastries. At the time, I had no idea how big a project it would become.”

SEPTEMBER 2019

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Napkins bar + Grill offers a clear-cut , yet sophisticated menu of American cuisine with a global influence. Whether you're looking for weekend brunch, fulfilling your dining needs. The menu was designed with local seasonal farm fresh ingredients and flavors to pair with your favorite wines.

We at Napkins Bar + Grill pride ourselves in serving the people of the beautiful Napa valley. Our contemporary and welcoming bistro with a waterfall bar is the perfect place to enjoy dining in or out on our patio in the heart of downtown Napa.