A week ago I peeked into Oenotri, a little bit of Italia in Napa. It has a
long bar open to the kitchen, with a rack of pots and pans overhead. Arriving
for lunch, I saw that one person had
taken the two lone seats at the long counter. I moseyed over to the real bar,
that is where liquor is served. Unfortunately the restaurant and the patio were
nearly empty, so my only conversation was with Steve, the young bartender.
Oenotri just started serving lunch in June--perhaps it hasn't caught on yet.
Before I get to the
food, I have to laugh about constant references to
this recently developed area of First Street as the "west end." It isn't
even a quarter of a mile from First and Main--it's three blocks. If this is the west end, then what is Browns
Valley, some three miles west of here but still in Napa?
I started with the wine
list and despite the price ($13) had to try a Slovenian wine. Steve, who
clearly enjoys his job and is proud of the restaurant, gave me a taste before
committing me to a glass. Its name is daunting: Ribolla Gialla by Edi Simcic,
Rubikon, Goriska Brda. At least the Rubikon sounds familiar! Wikipedia tells me
Brda is a region of Slovenia and the grapes are commonly grown in Italy. A pale gold medium-bodied white, it lacked the strong oakiness of the chardonnays
I avoid. An excellent choice and a generous serving.
A glance at the menu
told me the fare here is not what usually makes me salivate. Of the twelve
items on the daily changing lunch menu, seven included sausage or pancetta.
Then there was steak, lamb and rabbit. So if you're not into meat or eating
cuddly animals, Oenotri might not be for you. The menu hails from the southern
parts of Italy's boot. Steve explained
they smoke and cure all the meat themselves. They butcher a pig once a week on
site and sell a large variety of in-house salumi
(salami). The chefs, Curtis Di Fede and Tyler Rodde, source their food supplies locally, including
the gardens at Copia.
I ordered the Nadia
eggplant parmigiano panini, which included basil, tomato sauce and mozzarella. A
comforting and delicious sandwich. Rather than that flattened toasted bread
most folks call panini, the sandwich was served on a warm, crunchy roll. The
eggplant had been lightly breaded and fried--crisp on the outside but soft and
smooth on the inside. It was like the best meatball sandwich you could imagine
only with eggplant instead of meat. On the same plate came simple garden
lettuces, with a mix of oil and vinegar
which couldn't have been more perfect. I nearly inhaled this sandwich, pausing
once in a while to sip my wine.
Steve informed me that oenotri means vine cultivators and goes back to before
ancient Rome. The portrait on the wall above the brick oven is of Curtis Di Fede's great uncle. There is a very
authentic feel to the Oenotri experience.
The pizza oven was imported from Naples. The space itself is simple--high
ceilings, brick walls. The kitchen staff
were easily observed cutting meat, and one held up what looked like a bag of
sous vide vegetables. I would have loved to try their polenta, served at
dinner, with your choice of parmigiano-reggiano, crescenza or gorgonzola
cheeses. I bet it's fantastic.
The honey panna cotta was my
choice for dessert, served with kadota figs and croccante dolce. I usually don't go for desserts that shimmy like
jello on the plate coming towards me, but this panna cotta's flavor was
absolutely heavenly--it made me think of an infant dreaming of mother's milk.
It had just the right amount of sweetness from the honey, divine with the
beautiful pink fig slices.
So meat eaters, check
this place out. And if your date is into meat but you're not, you could be happy
with the pizza, salmon, pasta, or eggplant.
