Celadon
This is one of those restaurants that we go to once a trip because it’s guaranteed that our food is going to be delicious. Celadon has both indoor and outdoor seating and is one of the few restaurants in town that are accommodating to larger groups. Located right next to the Historic Napa River Inn and just around the corner from the Napa River this restaurant boasts a beautiful entryway outside that is not only gorgeous during the day but even more magical at night. The outdoor seating of the restaurant has an indoor/outdoor feel where there are beautiful chandeliers overhead and large opened windows on all of your sides. Not only is the restaurant beautiful but the staff are always so friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable about their menu.
With the amount of times we’ve been here it’s safe to say we’ve ordered almost everything off the menu at one point or another appetizers that stand out are their crab cakes, we tried these the last visit and they were so flavorful with an asian flair to them, another appetizer that we loved is their crispy braised pork belly. Two of our favorite entrees are their pork chop – which is thick cut and so juicy, and the pappardelle pasta… still drooling over that pasta to be honest. They also allow for you to bring wine in and to just pay a corkage fee of $20/ bottle.
Coles Chop House
Let me just say that they were great about accommodating a large group and our dinner lasted about three hours here – not once did we feel rushed. Coles has a beautiful stone building with an understated sophistication to it, we went here with the group this past visit but it is another restaurant that we like to frequent when we’re up visiting Napa Valley. We’ve been to some other steak houses in Napa and this one always comes in as one of our favorites.
The app to try at Coles is their lobster and shrimp bisque, hands down. It comes out with a big ‘ole pastry puff and it has so many little chunks of lobster and shrimp – it’s worth the 15 minute wait. Pretty much everyone at our table ordered the Filet – not a single one of us was disappointed by it – melt in your mouth tender, seasoned to perfection and cooked exactly as requested. We ordered a whole lot of sides at the table but the Yukon Gold Potato and Gruyère Gratin was absolutely incredible. Top the meal off with one of their delicious desserts – we picked the strawberry shortcake special (it was so yummy, shame its not on regular menu) and a cappuccino and it’s the most satisfied we’ve felt in a while.
This restaurant also has one of the most expansive wine lists we’ve seen. Any and every big wine varietal you can find broken down into the region the grapes are grown. I can’t tell you how amazing that is, especially when you know the region that you prefer you chardonnay, pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon from. If you’re still a beginner in the wine world they have an in house sommelier to help guide you in the direction of a wine that will fit your palate. Don’t want to pay restaurant prices on a bottle? You are also more than welcome to bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee instead – so if you bought a bottle while wine tasting during the day that you really loved, don’t be shy – you can bring it to dinner to enjoy!
Auberge Du Soleil
This was our groups top pick for must try this trip! We did our goodbye brunch here and it was so perfect. When we went California still had their COVID restrictions in place (to be lifted two days later) so we ended up booking two tables of four since they were not allowed to seat 8 to a table (why some restaurants could and others couldn’t 🤷🏼♀️). The hostess was so nice and let us have our tables directly next to each other so we just did a girls at one table and boys at the other situation. This property is stunning in person.- perfectly manicured with views that could go for days.
Since we did brunch it was a pre fixe three course menu that included a cocktail, appetizer, bread/muffins for the table, entree and dessert. Being the winos that we are we ordered the Kir Royale and Bellini – both of which were absolutely delicious but the real star is their bloody mary. That thing was spicy (think black pepper spicy not horseradish) and slightly sweet, wishing we got the recipe from them because it was one of the best bloody mary’s we’ve ever had.
The burrata as the starter was amazing and they gave you so much tomato with it! Most of us ended up ordering the Duck Confit Hash – it had two perfectly poached eggs on top that when you break the yolk and it combines with the duck hash it’s just pure magic. The real kicker was the key lime posset for dessert – perfectly light with a coconut sorbet that was to die for. Overall every single dish we ordered was fantastic and the view from here makes it a must visit (especially for brunch!).
Farm at Carneros
We went to Farm at Carneros on our first day, and I was a zombie by the time dinner rolled around (that 2am wake up to catch our flight on the east coast got me). Looking back I’m so disappointed I wasn’t more lively to fully enjoy this experience, because it was my favorite dinner of the entire trip. It started out as a backup option, because our top choice couldn’t accommodate our whole group of 8, but this needs to be a first choice for your next trip!
We started with some burrata (always order the burrata) and the house made olive & rosemary sourdough. Both were gone in 3-seconds. I’m not usually a huge fan of olives in bread, I generally like them by themselves, but this bread was SO GOOD. Like need the recipe. Every entrée that our table ordered was delicious and everyone one of us cleaned our entire plate (no shame)! Dessert was the real star of the show. We ordered carrot cake, which came out in the shape of a carrot. The cake was molded into the form of a carrot and then dipped in chocolate, and topped with dehydrated carrot cake, candied pecans, and dollops of cream cheese frosting. The best way to experience this restaurant is order a bunch of things for the table to share!