Fine food in Napa Valley

Author: By Louis A. DiIorio, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, March 1, 1998

Page: M11

Section: Travel

A wonderful cook (but a better person) who doesn't mind sharing recipes, this North Dakota native who ``does'' a better Marge Gunderson (``Fargo'') than Frances McDormand, turns out the best breakfast in the valley and offers travel tips only a valley insider would know. Get to know her.

And make a reservation at this Four Sisters inn (800-788-0369) where she has worked the last three years, for the restored 13-room retreat, reminiscent of those in Provence, is not an easy booking.

The morning we met Addie she was beaming over the front-page news that neighbor Tom Keller, chef/owner of the nearby French Laundry, was named the nation's outstanding chef. When she settled down, she filled us in on local lore, then helped us plan a two-day wine-country itinerary that included sightseeing, a vineyard, a small but interesting grocery store, and a restaurant or two. ``If you only have time to visit one winery,'' Addie said, ``then go to Anderson's,'' just minutes away on the Yountville Crossroad. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with tours at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., S. Anderson's is a combination of wonderful aromas and flavors, and of beautiful sights. As part of the $3 tour, you will be served award-winning wines and champagne in a charming 19th-century stone home, in the rose garden or in candle-lit caves where string quartets have been known to entertain.

It seems that everyone has a favorite restaurant. Anderson's recommends two, both casual (what isn't in California?) and both with outstanding chef/owners: The first, Celadon, is owned by Greg Cole in the city of Napa at 1040 Main St. behind the Napa Valley Opera House on Napa Creek. It is a small place and it doesn't take reservations, but ``The wait is worth it for Greg's `global comfort food.' '', said Anderson. Celadon is open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Monday through Saturday. The other is Pair's Parkside Cafe in St. Helena (on the north end of Main Street). It's another intimate place with excellent food that runs the gamut from Mediterranean to Asian. One of their specialties: calamari with lemon and fennel.

Neither the Celadon nor Parkside made Addie's list. She recommended Terra's in St. Helena, the ``fabulous'' Foothill Cafe on Old Sonoma Road in Napa, and the moderately-priced Bistro Don Giovanni on Route 29 (4110 St. Helena Highway), also in Napa.

The latter, one of our favorites, is owned and operated by Donna and Giovanni Scala . . . truly a wonderful young couple -- she born in Roanoke, Va., and he in Naples, Italy -- who have a keen sense of what Napa and their guests want. A ``calming'' influence, Donna calls it.

To sit under their pergola next to a vineyard and have a light lunch of Tuscan bean soup, carpaccio, fresh bread, a glass of merlot, and an espresso is one stop before heaven. Seasonal desserts may range from biscotti, fresh watermelon granite, to warm corn-studded bread pudding, but the aroma emanating from the kitchen, mixed with the scent of the vineyards, rosemary bushes, and Donna's herb garden, was all the dessert we needed.

From its 1993 beginning, the airy, sophisticated Napa Valley bistro has become a gathering place for winery locals, tourists, socialites, and celebrities. And as if this wasn't enough, when Donna read that the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel was being renovated in San Francisco, she decided that she and Giovanni were going to be opening a restaurant in that city.

``She just knew that there was going to be a fantastic restaurant in that hotel and that she wanted to be involved,'' says Giovanni. ``So she called right away. That's just like her. Here we are working non-stop in Napa, wondering when we could stop and take a breath. Then she takes this on!'' Giovanni, of course, says all of this with a twinkle in his eye. He and Donna are now enjoying the best of both worlds . . . ``Scala's'' on the Powell Street cable car line and ``Bistro Don Giovanni'' in one of the major wine capitals of the world.

The soft sunlight and lengthening afternoon shadows made the short drive to St. Helena (just up the road on 29) even more gratifying. We were to visit the Culinary Institute of America's two-year-old West Coast campus, The Silverado Museum with one of the world's best collections of Robert Louis Stevenson memorabilia, and Policarpo Lucchesi's grocery store, all before dinner at Tra Vigne (Italian for ``among the vines'') where 35-year-old ``whiz kid'' Michael Chiarello has taken the upper valley by storm.

A native-born Californian (Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley), Chiarello talks about a dream, a dream not only to produce high-quality, authentic, regional cooking at Tra Vigne, which now serves 500,000 people a year, but more importantly, a dream to reshape the American pantry and influence the way people approach home cooking.

If you're into cooking, state-of-the-art kitchens, and good food, take time to visit the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena (Highway 29 just north of town). The 30-acre Napa Valley campus (part of the CIA's Hyde Park, N.Y., school), is a century-old landmark that once belonged to Christian Brothers winery and in two years has become the only center in the world dedicated exclusively to continuing education and career development for professionals in the food, wine, and hospitality fields.

When you arrive, you realize you are someplace special, what with the view; and the heady smells from vegetable and herb gardens, and 15 acres of merlot vineyards. Take in the food and wine museum, gift shop, and the Greystone Restaurant, with its thick stone walls with cell-like windows and beamed ceilings. Lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wine and tapas from opening to closing.

The CIA's $5 tour consists of a cooking demonstration, a small tasting, and a tour of the building, including the 15,000-square-foot teaching kitchens. The schedule changes week to week; call 707-967-2320 for a schedule. There also are regularly scheduled kitchen viewings that consist of only the tour component of the program, without the cooking demonstration. This costs $2.

For additional information, write to the Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau, 1310 Napa Town Center, Napa, CA 94559 or telephone 707-226-7459.