Napalicious

A Word About Kid's Menus

I realize that not everyone who eats in the Napa Valley is actually interested in dining with children. In fact sometimes I am not interested in dining with children. But I never mind a properly attired and well behaved kid, and I have to give credit to some of our fine local establishments for recognizing that sometimes parents need to eat somewhere without a drive up window. The following places are great with kids and all offer a children's menu unless otherwise noted.

Top kudos has to go to Cindy Pawlcyn and her partners for insuring that every one of her restaurants (Mustards Grill, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Go Fish) all have wonderful children's menus, offer crayons and are actually nice to kids from the moment you walk in the door.

Standard pub grub is available at Silverado Brewing Co.,  but they also have a menu for the little ones. I wouldn't call it haut cuisine, but it's nice that they've thought about it.

Bar-ber-Que in Napa is another good choice, and although they don't have a kid's menu, the wait staff at Redd in Yountville has gone out of their way to be delightful and respectful to my six year old (granted we are not taking him there every night) which I really appreciated. This is also true of Tra Vigne in St. Helena, however let me be clear that I had only one child in tow and frankly he loves the white table cloth experience enough to know he can't misbehave while he's there.

Do you have a favorite kid and grown-up spot? Please comment, because it can be challenging to navigate this when you've got kids in tow.

President Bush Didn't Sleep Here

Yesterday several people I know were avoiding Meadowood, thinking it would be at least a zoo if not closed off to public traffic since the rumor was that the President would be staying there while in town for a fundraiser. Needless to say it was all a bunch of ballyhoo. Although he certainly did stay there in 2006 - and who could blame him, really - he was not there yesterday.

I'm not sure where that guy slept, but I can tell you that he'd be hard pressed to improve upon the lovely, rustic, old-style Napa charm of Meadowood. More on this later, but honestly, it might not be the most cutting edge place on earth, but you can't beat it for a great afternoon in a beautiful setting, especially if you happen to have a couple kids in tow. Friendly staff, nice amenities and big towels, winding paths, great breakfasts and details like sunblock in the bathrooms and ice water delivery by the pool are always appreciated by this mom.

Veraison arrives

Walking the new pup out in the vineyards this morning early as the fog was lifting off the Mayacamas and noticed the purple blush of veraison on the fruit. The change of color always seems so magical...

Does the World Really Need Another Blog..?

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.

Imagine what Anais Nin could have done if she had an iphone!

Actually, as ridiculous as that sounds, that was exactly what I was thinking this morning as I dove enthusiastically into all this amazing new technology at my fingertips thanks to a lengthy but worthwhile wait at the apple store on Friday. Yes, I realize that I shouldn't be standing on line for a cell phone when I have about 6 million other things to do, but I honestly couldn't help myself. And so, borrowing from another of Ms. Nin's quotes that good things happen to those who hustle, I'm jumping off.

Conceived over several hundred night's worth of griping over good wine and five minutes on the typepad website, Napalicious seeks to supply real information about a fairytale destination that our merry band of contributors is lucky enough to call home.

In a nutshell:

We live in the Napa Valley and love the fact that we are privy to some pretty good living.

We have a weakness for the finer things in life (which doesn't necessarily always mean the most expensive).

We quaff some good stuff but we like nothing more than a lead on a great bargain bottle of wine.

We’re into good food but don't require white tablecloths -- in fact nothing thrills us more than tomatoes plucked by small sticky hands from our own gardens.

We are pretty firmly self-proclaimed hotel snobs, but believe that value is always a factor when it comes to quality living.

So, Napalicious is our attempt to share collective knowledge regarding all the good stuff here in the valley, and although we might not give up every last detail on where to snag the only parking space in Calistoga on the 4th of July, we pledge to do our best to deliver with good humor and in a timely fashion solid insider notes and advice on uncovering the hidden opportunities that abound here, and that we genuinely hope you will decide to explore.

Why? Because if it's really Napalicious, it's just not nice not to share it!