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Make no mistake about it – the best place you can dine
in Napa Valley Thursday nights is in a museum.
Plain and simple, the fare at Julia’s Kitchen, at COPIA,
the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, has never
been better and Thursday night’s prix fixe may
just be the best dinner deal we’ve seen in years.
Imagine! $29 per person for a three-course dinner; the fare
tastes like French Laundry, costs like a neighborhood bistro.
And even more inviting – on Thursday nights, there’s
no corkage! (Which doesn’t mean that you should slight
your waiter; we always remind visitors and locals that when
your BYO wine is comped, always add AT LEAST $50 per opened
bottle to your bill to calculate the proper tip for your wait
team. They still give the same service and attention, still
bring glassware, and treat you as though you’d bought
wine, not brought wine.)
The magician behind the stove, the man who transforms mere morels
into tasty morsels, is 30-year-old executive chef Victor Scargle,
a self-taught chef who has cooked at some of America’s
best restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, Tribeca Grill and
Aureole in NYC, as well as at Aqua and Grand Café in
San Francisco.
Victor has been at Julia’s Kitchen for about six months.
The 75-seat restaurant is part of Patina Group, run by Joachim
Splichal out of Los Angeles.
What Victor has done for Thursday nights (the prix fixe
dinner is only served October through the end of February) and
what Bounty Hunter Wine Bar has done for Friday nights (see
Jim’s
Favorite Wine-Related Friday Night Ritual), may be the twin
tipping points to revive downtown Napa. At COPIA there’s
no shortage of free parking, the restaurant is roomy, contemporary,
friendly and the food is nothing less than fabulous. We rated
our first Thursday prix fixe dinner this season a shockingly
high 98 points, but for the life of me, I can’t really
say why we didn’t just give it 100. There was nothing
amiss with the meal.
Among appetizers, the sautéed day boat scallops are not
to be missed, served with roasted fall squash and a brown butter
balsamic vinaigrette. I am coming back next Thursday, Victor
– don’t take this off the menu!
Among mains, I was tempted to go with mustard glazed rabbit
with roasted root vegetables, but couldn’t resist the
braised lamb shoulder, which melted in my mouth. It was served
with a “Moor-ish,” crunchy barley risotto. “Moor-ish”
as in: the more I tasted, the more I wanted.
The prix fixe menu sports four desserts. If you’re
offered the autumn apple tasting (apple three ways: iced parfait,
warm brioche and hot fritter), go for it! On the other hand,
steamed chocolate cake with vanilla roasted plums and caramel
cognac ice cream make a compelling trio, too. Decisions, decisions…
The wines we opened, by the way, were superb. The 1991 Beringer
Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has never shown
better. The ’91 is one of my favorite Beringer wines of
the decade and if I were scoring it with this meal, I would
ascribe a perfect 100 points. It was velvet in the mouth, displayed
lush, ripe fruit flavors. It is an extremely elegant wine. The
1998 Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir (Oregon) was slightly
less generous with fruit, and on its own would have captivated
our table, but in the presence of the perfectly made, perfectly
aged, Beringer Cab, it didn’t have a chance of being crowned
Wine of the Night.
Julia’s Kitchen is open during regular COPIA hours, Wednesday
through Monday, serving lunch, 11:30 to 3:00 pm. Dinner is served
Thursday through Sunday, 5:30 to 9:30 pm. Prix fixe
menus are available Thursdays for “Locals’ Night”
and Fridays for “Dinner and a Movie.”
Julia’s
Kitchen at COPIA, 500 First Street, Napa. 707-265-5700.
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