Category Archives: General

Dining at Violetto at the Alila Napa Valley

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Smoked sturgeon and cauliflower rillettes with caviar at Violetto at the Alila resort.
Smoked sturgeon and cauliflower rillettes with caviar at Violetto at the Alila resort.

The resort now known as Alila Napa Valley (formerly Los Alcabas) has always been one of my favorite properties in St. Helena for its striking juxtaposition between old and new.

In 2021, the Alila hotel group took over the property with its oversized, minimalist, gray-toned rooms with spectacular vineyard views, with the vines so close to the ground-floor rooms that you could walk out your terrace to touch them.

In May 2024, it completed its transition by debuting its new restaurant, Violetto, housed in the property’s beautifully ornate 1907 mansion.

Chef Thomas Lents serves a French-Italian menu with thoughtful options for a 7-course tasting menu ($145) with optional wine pairing ($85), four-course prix fixe ($105) with optional wine pairing ($65), or a la carte. There are also supplemental items you can choose to add.

Violetto is housed in a 1907 mansion.
Violetto is housed in a 1907 mansion.
The main dining room.
The main dining room.
The bar-lounge area.
The bar-lounge area.

Recently, I was invited as a guest of the property and restaurant to stay overnight and to experience the new menu.

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Napa Meets Kansas City At Stateline Road Smokehouse

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(Clockwise from top): beans & greens; burnt ends, baby back ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and mac & cheese.
(Clockwise from top): beans & greens; burnt ends, baby back ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and mac & cheese.

Darryl Bell has known he wanted to be a chef since he was all of 8 years old, when he was already stirring up pots of lentil and hot water-corn bread at his family’s stove in Kansas City, MO.

He more than made good on that dream, cooking in such illustrious kitchens as Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, Alinea in Chicago, and Press in St. Helena.

This summer, he finally opened his own restaurant, Stateline Road Smokehouse in Napa, named for the major thoroughfare that divides Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS.

Chef-Owner Darryl Bell.
Chef-Owner Darryl Bell.

It was an endeavor that took a long two years to turn a former auto repair shop into a casual, welcoming restaurant, which I had a chance to finally visit a couple weeks ago.

Even at lunch time on a Friday, the place was packed with folks chowing down on trays heaped with smoky tender meats.

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Winter Was Made For Charred Tangerine & Herb Salad

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An easy, vibrant salad that makes the most of winter's juicy, sweet tangerines.
An easy, vibrant salad that makes the most of winter’s juicy, sweet tangerines.

Everyone needs a light, bright, and sunshine-y side dish that can be prepared on the fly in no time flat, especially at this time of year.

“Charred Tangerine & Herb Salad” is just that dish.

It’s even more appealing because it’s vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, so it can be enjoyed by a wide variety of eaters.

This easy-peasy recipe is from the new “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press).

It was written by Joe Yonan, the two-time James Beard Award-winning food and dining editor of The Washington Post.

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Coffee Shop Banana Bread Crunch Muffins To Make Together — Or Not

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A crunchy corn-flake streusel tops these delicious banana bread muffins.
A crunchy corn-flake streusel tops these delicious banana bread muffins.

Some couples love to cook together.

Others — whether because it’s more efficient or perhaps a little control-freak-ism at work — divvy up the duties so that one cooks, while the other cleans up afterward.

Which camp do you and your partner-in-crime fall into?

For me, it’s usually the latter.

But if more harmony and togetherness in the kitchen is what you desire, then “A Couple Cooks” (Chronicle Books) is right up your alley.

The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is by Sonja and Alex Overhiser, a photographer-and-writer couple in Indianapolis who created the award-winning blog, A Couple Cooks.

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The Personalized Touch at Ju-Ni

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The hand-roll filled with every fish you've had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.
The hand-roll filled with every fish you’ve had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.

The name of San Francisco’s Ju-Ni restaurant means “12” in Japanese. But nowadays, it might as well be called Ju-Roku or “16.”

When Executive Chef Geoffrey Lee and business partner Tan Truong opened it in 2016, Ju-Ni indeed featured three sushi chefs for 12 guests (or one chef per four guests). But with its popularity, the omakase restaurant, which held a Michelin star for four years, decided to add one more sushi chef to now accommodate a total of 16 guests.

If you dine in a foursome as I did recently, it’s ideal because it means you get your own sushi chef for the entirety of the meal, whom you can converse with easily.

At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.
At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.

The 14-course omakase is $198 per person, and it must be prepaid when you make your reservation online. When you arrive at the restaurant, you can add beverages and any additional items on offer.

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