How do I love Bottega Ristorante? Well, I need both hands to count the ways.
For starters, this three-year-old Michael Chiarello restaurant, in the heart of the Napa Valley hamlet of Yountville, is a totally captivating scene. The rooms are stylish, with lots of space, high ceilings, flattering lighting and a bustling open kitchen. From the instant you step inside the door, there’s an energy and joy that’s palpable. The staff is lively, attractive and adroit; Chiarello himself seems to be everywhere, meeting and greeting his guests; and the sophisticated, well-dressed crowd knows how to have a great time.
Then there’s Bottega’s food – it’s fabulous. There’s simply no other word to describe the single potato dough raviolo I enjoyed recently. The delicate pasta package was filled with spinach and ricotta cheese and topped with an organic, soft-cooked egg that mingled its vivid yolk with a brown butter sauce flecked with fresh sage. The perfect package was showered with fresh black truffles.
Fabulous would also describe the unique caramelle pasta that was filled with tiny dice of caramelized butternut squash and Bosc pears, and finished with brown butter, pecorino cheese and deep-fried sage leaves. The final flurry of poppy seeds and crushed Amaretti was fascinating. (The caramelle pasta shape was a new one to me; it’s a small, homemade tube pasta that gets twisted on each end and looks like a piece of salt water taffy.)
Our shared
appetizers were also something to rave about: a perfect bite-size specimen of sushi-quality tuna teamed with one paper-thin slice of crisped garlic and one fragrant basil leaf; and heavenly burrata with walnut pesto bruschetta, peppercress and a truffle vinaigrette infused with orange essence.
Brussels sprouts are the darling of wine country menus this season. We ate them at Bouchon in Yountville (with smoky bacon lardons); at Grace’s Table in Napa, where they were creamed with bacon and potatoes; and at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena where a simple salt-pepper-butter version paired well with seared chicken breast.
But the shaved, caramelized sprouts at Bottega ended up stealing the show in a stylish salad (pictured here) that also included toasted Marcona almonds, wisps of prosciutto, citrus segments and an aged balsamic vinaigrette.
Bottega’s wine list is heavy on local, small-production wines which you’ll rarely see anyplace outside of the wine country. (There’s also an admirable roster of Italian wines but I can’t pass up a great wine made locally for a great wine that’s been schlepped 6,000 or more miles.)
And Bottega’s service is nothing short of superlative. Our server was a charming, professional young guy with joie de vivre to spare and no shortage of opinions. Another server (who joked that he was the oldest guy in the place) was equally endearing, appearing out of nowhere when my sister’s Black Pepper Bucatini alla Carbonara arrived at the table. He swooped in and picked up her knife and fork, eagerly tossing the hot noodles, broccolini and crisp guaciale with the barely cooked egg on top. “You don’t want the egg to cool before it’s mixed with the pasta,” was his basic message, delivered with a joy that was contagious.
Though we loved everything about our dining experience, the icing on the cake was just that --- icing on the cake. Or, more accurately, creme anglaise on the cake. Chef Chiarello graciously surprised us with the house signature dessert -- a luscious chocolate souffle cake, with molten chocolate center, hazelnut creme anglaise and candied hazelnut brittle -- to celebrate my mother’s 89th birthday. (The dessert requires 20 minutes to cook...plan ahead.)
Located in the atmospheric Marketplace 1870, a development of eateries and shops in a 140-year-old winery estate, Bottega Ristorante offers great options for an after-dinner walk. Stroll the V Estates or browse the windows in Yountville before heading home to bed.
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