6525 Washington Street, Yountville CA 94599
(707) 945-1050
Parking: in parking lot
Lunch: Tues - Sun 11:30am-2:30pm, Dinner: Sun-Thurs 5pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-10pm
http://www.botteganapavalley.com/
Last Visited: December 17, 2011
Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 4 to 5 stars
Price: $$ to $$$$
After recent experiences at Food Network chef restaurants (Morimoto Napa and Tyler Florence's Rotisserie and Wine), I was starting to think that I should stop going to these pricy restaurants because I just wasn't happy with what I was getting. When I shared these experiences with friends, my coworker Brent said that Michael Chiarellos' was different because Chiarello is actually there and able to maintain the quality of his restaurant's food while the others tend to leave their name on the restaurant, but are rarely seen. Since Brent's a fellow foodie, I trusted his suggestion and decided to make the trip to Bottega. While I enjoy watching all three programs that feature these chefs, I have a weak spot for Italian food, so it was a fairly easy decision to make.
When you enter the shopping complex, you can visit Chiarello's shop, Napa Style, featuring some of his own products as well as some of his fellow Food Network chef's products too. Located across from Bottega, you can easily stock up on gray salt, a prominently featured item on his show, or marinated olives. If you arrive early, you might even consider picking up some bread from the Bouchon Bakery, located across the street.
We arrived a little early for our reservation and were quickly seated. The hostess staff could be a little warmer, but they were efficient. We were seated in the room immediately behind the hostess station. The bench seat on one side is lined with tables for two that are a bit too close together. One can hear your neighbor's conversation without even straining, but aside from this, the brick walls, and warm earth tones of the decor are inviting and not at all stuffy. The copper water cups are unique and add a uniqueness to the place setting.
When we had completed our order, we were given hot bread and a parmesan olive oil dipping sauce. The parmesan chunks are plentiful and acts more like a spread for the crusty bread. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, I even saw Chiarello bustling around, but he soon left the building for another engagement.Our server, James, was very impressive. Watching his demeanor with not only our table, but those around us, showed he was incredibly seasoned as a server, completely aware of the wine list and its offerings, as well as providing guidance for food selection to those whom asked. It's been a long time since I've been served by someone as good as James. He noticed I was taking pictures and even thanked me for enjoying my dishes both visually and taking our time to savor every bite. Love that!
- Pesce Crudo - The fish special changes daily. Three squares of yellowfin tuna are topped with a little marinated garnish and microgreens. These are then placed on a brushed sauce of black trumpet mushrooms. A drizzle of olive oil tops the entire plate. Each piece of tuna were incredibly fresh and had a really delicate flavor. While the black trumpet sauce had a very strong mushroom flavor when eaten on its own, I found the overall flavor to be missing when eaten with the fish. While visually appealing, I think the tuna would have been just perfect even without the black trumpet sauce. Very good. $15
- Monterey Calamari - Calamari is lightly coated with arborio rice flour and served with a grilled lemon half and an aioli nero. While the calamari was tender and lightly crisped and the black aioli was an interesting twist on the typical aiolis you see served with this dish, I found the quantity of calamari to be too small for the price. Another 50% more would have seemed more reasonable for the price. This is the right amount for one person, but not quite enough to share. $10
- Polenta Under Glass - A mason jar arrives on a plate along with a small earthenware pitcher containing balsamic game sauce. Inside the mason jar is creamy polenta topped with a cheese topping that has been crisped/baked. Caramelized mushrooms top the cheese. We followed the chef's suggestion to mix all of the ingredients together and serve the mixture on the plate, then pour the balsamic game sauce on top. The server shared that pouring all of the sauce into the glass would result in the sauce overpowering the polenta. I've eaten quite a bit of polenta, and usually, I walk away from it disappointed. However, this time, I found it amazingly exceptional. The polenta is so fine-grained that you can barely taste the grains anymore. The polenta has a pudding-like texture and the pieces of broken cheese crisp and mushrooms add a great textural element to each bite. The mushrooms are full-flavored, and each bite is really delicious. This is a must try dish. $12
- Pan Roasted Gnocchi - The gnocchi is browned on its side and cooked with autumn root vegetables. It's placed next to a sauce of beautiful orange heirloom squash pesto and topped with grated Valley Ford Montasio. A light coating of creamy sauce brings them all together. The pan roasting really changes the texture of the gnocchi from puffy to slightly crisp on one side of the gnocchi. The pan roasting adds a depth of flavor that I didn't know gnocchi could have. While the first impression of the plate is colorful, but small in quantity, the richness of the dish reveals that the quantity is just right after all. The root vegetables are petite and sweet, complementing the gnocchi well. The pesto of butternut squash is also sweet, but not overpowering. I played with eating the gnocchi in its light cream sauce as well as with combining the gnocchi with the squash sauce. This was a fun to eat dish that I enjoyed a lot. $17
- Smoked & Braised Natural Short Ribs whole grain mustard spaetzle, Sicilian pickles, quince paste & smokey horseradish jus - One good-sized short rib has meat that is super tender and really does fall off the bone. Each bite is delectable and juicy. The Sicilian pickles were alright, but I didn't care for the spaetzle. If you like crunchy spaetzle, you will enjoy it a lot, but I found that the crunch made it sort of dry. The short rib is delicious. $28I had a great overall impression of Bottega. The food is well done, though the portions tend to be on the smaller side. The short rib should come with a vegetable and the calamari quantity could be increased at least by 50% more at these prices. The pesce crudo, though wonderful, reads more Japanese than Italian in preparation and presentation. The truffle parmesan fries, ordered by the table next to us, looked extremely inviting and is on my list to get the next time I come. Service is really exceptional and you never feel rushed. Most of the wait times between courses were short, but the wait time for the main entree was a bit longer than I would have liked. Indeed, Bottega is worth a visit, and I hope to be back soon.
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