Restaurant at Meadowood - a Truly Divine Culinary Experience

On our honeymoon, we went to Napa for an ultimate foodie week. We hit up michelin after michelin starred restaurants: The French Laundry, Saison, and Meadowood. The meal at Meadowood began and both Mike and I knew that this was going to be a remarkable experience. It blew the other restaurants out of the water. Course after course the chef, staff, and ambiance were spectacularly paired to create an elevated culinary adventure that I will never forget.

We arrived after a mostly chaotic drive through Northern Napa. Our silvercar tire pressure was alarmingly low and Mike was teetering between being late to our reservation and living on the edge of low tire pressure (me being the one that let my tire pressure light stay on for almost 3 months because I talked myself into thinking that the physics of the air in the cold was just going to refill my pressure once it warmed up again). We chanced it and drove through the most stunning woods in St. Helena into the Resort at Meadowood. It is a hidden gem among the droves of wineries and restaurants in Napa Valley, tucked away in the forrest that looks like a charming farm house. The valet reassured us he would tend to the tire so we could enjoy our dinner, which seemed to make Mike feel better.

The inside of this restuarant was warm. Fireplaces, wood, dim lighting but an energetic atmosphere. The tables were made of thick, rough, marbly wood. The place settings were unique stones with different carved shapes in them (mine had a star, Mike’s was boring and plain). Our host came up to us with a hand written note from the chef welcoming us on our honeymoon and thanking us for dining with them on such a special occasion. The room was full of couples and groups happily chatting away like in a neighborhood hot spot, yet it had this air that made me not want to put my elbows on the table (which just doesn’t happen. My elbows are ALWAYS ON THE TABLE).

We started with a cocktail (of course). Mike had a brown butter whiskey cocktail with a maple syrup which was wonderful (it actually was served with a dessert at the end of the meal, more on that later).

We had a total of 13 courses with 4 fabulous wines. Each was unique and wonderful in its own ways, and it was the first pairing where the wine that was served paired well (and differently) with each course it was included in.

The menu

Field Peas

This was just simple pea shoots from the garden wrapped in a pea crepe. (A PEA CREPE?!?!). It was refreshing, one bite, and the essence of peas and what they should taste like.

Sunchoke Beignet

Give me any beignet and I’m a happy girl. This fabulous crispy fried buscuit is one of my favorite things, my grandma used to make me beignets with quaters of canned biscuit dough, fried in a cast iron pan, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. THIS was a sunchoke beignet. A sunchoke (also known as jerusalem artichoke) has nothing to do with a “normal” artichoke. It is more like a root vegetable like a turnip or ginger root, but it has a creamy, nutty taste. The sunchoke puree was inside this beignet like a filled donut…it was heavenly.

Oyster Kohlrabi

This was a lovely oyster dish with a vegetable I had never heard of, Kohlrabi: a cross between a radish, jicama, broccoli, and collard greens. This was creamy and rich, but not overwhelming.

Cauliflower California Caviar Olio Nuovo Pennyroyal

The token caviar dish at michelin starred restaurants. This was decadent with a cauliflower custard that melted like butter and provided a fatty balance to the salty caviar.

Salted Mackerel with Winter Vegetable Escabeche

This was a fresh, simply prepared fish with a winter vegetable escabeche (which is like a pickle/marinade). This was light and refreshing with the super flavorful sauce/marinade.

Dungeness crab with it’s roe and almond

This fabulous almost-soup served cold was this tasty crab, roe, and an almond milk soak. I was hesitant of the almond milk, but the nuttiness and creaminess paired beautifully with the light taste of the crab and the salty roe.

Trout, Buckwheat

What can I say about this dish other than wow. It was just a slice of fresh trout with a buckwheat “skin”. It was lightly seared and I can’t describe how simple but perfect that bite was. The fish was fatty and tender, the buckwheat added a light crunch and a savory flavor. I wanted more.

whelk “shells”, onion horseradish, nasturtium

First off, nasturtium is an edible flower (still getting used to eating flowers…). This was a pasta dish, but the twist was the whelk (which is a sea snail). They formed it into little pasta shells and served it with little pearl onions and a simple olive oil. YUM.

Chicken in Bread 3.0, Radicchio, Black Trumpet

This was the coolest and yummiest chicken dish I have ever had. They cooked chicken thigh meat INSIDE A LOAF OF BREAD as the bread baked. It came out with a radicchio and mushroom reduction and this slice of bread with chicken inside. If you know me I will do anything for homemade bread, and they put this moist chicken inside. This was wildly creative and such a fun and delicious way to eat chicken. It was incredible - one of my favorite dishes.

Lamb Neck, Mustard Flower Marrow

This dish came with a show - the host came out with a plate of bones and a bowl of greens. They placed this lovely cooked lamb in front of us, then scraped the bone marrow on top of the greens as the dressing. What can I say other than it was the most decadent, meaty salad ever. Incredible.

Yogurt, Quince, Olive Oil

The palante cleanser. Those of you who know me know I really can’t handle fruit, but this was so good. The flavors of the tart quince, rich olive oil, and creamy yogurt came together so beautifully. Palate: cleansed.

Caramelized Whey, White Truffle

This dessert. Was. So. Good. There was a whey custard, inside a thin shortbread crust, topped with white truffle ice cream. Decadent, slightly sweet, slightly savory, all creamy and delicious. How do you not love white truffle in a dessert application???? SO GOOD.

Preserved Fruits

So again - if you know me you know I died a little. These were sweet simple little bites that were poppable and tasty (even if I shuddered a little bit).

Overall - this meal was above and beyond amazing. I loved every moment of the dinner and would go back again and again.