Food Ephemera

This week, we went to Pearl in downtown Napa. It's a cozy, comfortable little restaurant, about 10 tables, more if it's warm enough for outside. We really like the owners, Nicki and Pete. Nicki cooks, and Pete waits on tables. Two backwaiter-helpers make the service attentive but not fawning.

The menu is short but interesting: oysters raw or baked, five or so starters and about the same number of main courses. They've honed the menu down to just the stuff that sounds really, really good, with a couple of additions each day, so even with the small menu, it's always tough to make a decision. We have friends who dine there once a week and aren't bored yet. I love the Fragrant Duck, but the Guinness-Braised Lamb Shank (a special) was delicious, and the salmon (also a special) looked great, too.

There are a lot of places in the Napa Valley to go to spend a lot more money, or feel hip and trendy, but when we just want to go somewhere really comfortable, and know that we're going to have great food and wine, this is where we go.

One thing we don't have in the Napa Valley is a decent breakfast restaurant. Many years ago, Nicki and Pete both worked at the only great breakfast restaurant the Napa Valley ever had: The Diner. I still remember the Smokey Joe omelet, with swiss cheese, spinach and crème fraîche, which I would have with homemade tortillas and salsa. (I don't remember Pete glaring through the service window as he flipped flapjacks and over-easied the eggs, but I hear that he did.) Homemade breads, scones, fresh juice, strong coffee. Potato pancakes with applesauce and sausage... Throw some fresh juice mimosas and bloody marys (maries?) on the menu and you might be able to make a decent living out of it. Blueberry walnut pancakes...

As I write this, I think of Randy and Jen in the Marshall Islands, and how it was notable when the grocery store there got ricotta. I feel lucky, and a little guilty. We are so spoiled by the choices and the quality we have in California.

Note: If you happen to pick up Gourmet magazine this month, there's a nice article about Cindy Pawlcyn and the three Napa Valley restaurants she owns. In the article, it mentions that her father was a Minnesotan potato farmer who owned a potato chip factory. Perhaps the fry issue will be brought to her attention. The article was complimentary, but it seemed the writer was a bit more fond of Mustard's than Go Fish, and I'd have to agree.

Also, Mike wanted me to note that the tonic in his gin and tonic was flat at Go Fish. I have promised not to remind Mike that gin and tonic is not a very good drink to order in a restaurant because the tonic is almost always flat, whether it comes from a gun or from a bottle. I don't know why this is, but it is. A glass of wine, or a beer on draft are always more reliable, especially when you are the sort of person who won't send a flat drink back. But the next time he orders one, I won't say a word as he sips his fizz-free cocktail.