If you are planning your honeymoon in the wine county of the US then come hungry as Napa Valley is the hub of Michelin stared chefs and restaurants. We have curated a list of restaurants with a dash of romance and certainly top on the culinary scale. Get ready to explore these charming eateries on your romantic gastronomical rendezvous.
Auberge du Soleil Restaurant
The restaurant sitting on-site at Auberge du Soleil Hotel is a French culinary legacy incorporated with the bounty of Napa Valley. Auberge du Soleil boasts all the romance and deliciousness of France with breathtaking sweeping views of the beautiful Napa Valley. It was established as the valley’s first fine-dining restaurant back in 1981 and has been attracting locals and tourists ever since. Diners can choose between three and four-course meals. Appetizer and second selections include chilled Maine lobster, cow's milk burrata, sunchoke risotto, and seared yellowfin tuna. Main dishes range from Japanese Wagyu to local spiced lamb, and veal wrapped in bacon with white corn, beignet, chanterelles, and shallot. Complete your dining experience with desserts like frozen yogurt mousse, lemon pie, blackberries, and white velvet cake. At dinnertime, the menu may include openers such as day boat scallops with pork belly, English peas, and red curry. Auberge du Soleil has maintained the top place in must-try restaurants for almost 40 years.
Press Napa Valley
Press Napa Valley has achieved a place in the Napa Valley culinary heritage. Leslie Rudd’s Press is a posh steakhouse embedded in a wine estate, where the menu focuses on locally-caught fresh seafood, free-range poultry, and lamb, locally sourced seasonal vegetables from the restaurant’s two private gardens, and meticulously sourced prime & dry-aged beef grilled over almond wood-fired grill and rotisserie. Their warm vineyard setting in a farmhouse-style building with vaulted ceilings and modern furnishings includes indoor and outdoor seating, large fire pits, and a handcrafted walnut bar framed by twin wine towers showing Press’s extensive wine collection.
Angèle Restaurant & Bar
This classic French gem is an exceptionally romantic restaurant and sits in a charming old boathouse on the Napa River. Since its opening in 2002, Angèle has remained a favorite restaurant in Napa Valley for both locals and tourists. The restaurant offers a unique and inviting interior dining room as well as outdoor waterfront dining which is unmatched anywhere else in Napa. The menu explores the bounty of Northern California through the lens of French country cuisine and is complemented by an extensive wine and spirits program celebrating the best of both the French and American wine country.
Solbar at Calistoga
This is a must-do for anyone in the region. The restored luxuriously vintage train takes you on a 36-mile round-trip journey from Downtown Napa to St. Helena and back, stopping at celebrated wineries along the way. It’s more than a train offering ever-changing unexplored wine country views and a four-course meal in an early-1900s antique rail setting. Travelers can choose between five different experiences, ranging from a two-hour dinner to a daylong journey with multiple stops. An elegant train passes by a lush, mesmerizing landscape;
Napa Valley Wine Train
Solbar is rooted in-site Calistoga‘s Solage Resort, the eclectic dining loft reflects a perfect fusion of rustic touches with hues of urban luxury. Enjoy outdoor dining on the sun-dappled Solbar patio, which is recently expanded to the double, or relax by the fire pits overlooking bubbling fountains and a view of the posh landmark pool. Solbar divides its menu into light, delicate flavors to stimulate your palate, and bold, savory dishes to comfort your soul, all with ingredients that showcase the best of what’s fresh and seasonal in Napa Valley. Solbar offers a quintessential Napa Valley dining experience, where you can enjoy California fare in a sophisticated, yet casual setting. You can choose between menu options like the Pork Schnitzel, Shrimp Lettuce Wraps, or Pork Bao Buns at lunch and dinner. Give your dinner a delightful start with the iconic Chips & Dip, Parker House rolls, or Santa Barbara sea urchin before choosing main course classic entrees, like New York strip and rib-eye, or maybe something a little more inventive, such as sake-marinated black cod. Round your dinner with any one of these blueberry ricotta pancakes, butterscotch pudding, or strawberry trifle. Solbar offers a modest selection of top Napa wines. If a cocktail is your choice, try Solbar's Sex in the Valley, a concoction of Charbay green tea vodka, thyme, mint, cucumber, or homemade lemonade. Solbar has exceptional décor and romantic vibes to make your date special.
FARM at Carneros Resort & Spa
The concept of FARM is inspired by the natural elements of Napa Valley. It is a farm-to-farm dining experience where meals are served in a bright, airy, and spacious farmhouse at Carneros Resort. FARM offers an elevated menu by Chef John Carney based on locally sourced produce, including ingredients from the restaurant’s own 1,300-square-foot organic raised-bed gardens. FARM’s gardens house has over fifty varieties of herbs, vegetables, and fresh eggs from the chicken coop. Walk the gardens hand in hand to discover your favorite seasonal vegetables.
Kenzo
Natsuko & Kenzo Tsujimoto founded Kenzo Estate Winery back in the early 1990s with legendary American winemaker Robert Mondavi. Kenzo Estate owners are behind this authentic Japanese gem. Executive chef Hiroyuki Kanda helmed Kenzo. It has received a Michelin Star for bringing an authentic Japanese dining experience to Napa Valley. You can enjoy the traditional Kaiseki menu along with the prix-fixe sushi menu. Kenzo Napa’s seasonal menus blend Japanese tradition with innovative techniques and inventive presentation. The result is sure to delight the senses and transform all perceptions of Japanese cuisine. The seafood and other ingredients are flown in daily directly from the world-famous Japan fish market.
The French Laundry
The history of this rustic two-story stone cottage goes back to the 1900s; Chef Thomas Keller opened this Michelin three-star restaurant in 1994. Dining at The French Laundry has become a prestigious dream for locals and tourists, it has gained popularity worldwide for locally-sourced fine dining. The French Laundry has remained an iconic Napa Valley restaurant for about 40 years, attracting food connoisseurs for its expertly crafted French cuisine from Chef Thomas Keller. Offering authentic classic French cuisine with an interesting American twist, the nine-course menu changes daily. Two tasting menus, a Chef’s Tasting Menu and a Tasting of Vegetables, are offered daily.
Bistro Jeanty
Charming Bistro Jeanty has all the essential elements to transport you to France as it is the only French-owned and French-operated restaurant in Napa Valley. This neighborhood Bistro serves you satisfying foods that change with the seasons and where they give you a warm welcome by greeting you with your first name. Chef Philippe Jeanty is behind the taste of classic French cuisine and gracious hospitality by the staff, placing this quaint restaurant on the top lists. Classic home-style French cuisine consists of multiple courses; for starters, selections include home-smoked salmon carpaccio and pike dumplings with lobster sauce. Mains range from beef stew with mashed potatoes to a pancetta-wrapped rabbit loin with pappardelle pasta and truffle oil. The wide wine list boasts a vast choice of local Napa labels and classic French bottles from the various regions of France. Bistro Jeanty offers 3 intimate dining venues, choose your preferred spot accordingly by keeping the weather in mind or ask your partner to pick between the terrace, patio, or main charming dining room. From the white linen delicately placed over the tables and the colorful retro artwork to the rustic pot and pan decorations, tiny detail at Bistro Jeanty has been expertly designed to provide you with a romantic feel on your date.
Celadon
Celadon is an award-winning restaurant, nestled in a historic mill which is located in a lush garden-like walkway along the Napa River. This popular restaurant offers two beautiful options for diners to sit in the covered charming patio with a fireplace or inside the gilded cozy dining room enhanced by worn brick and French prints.
The seasonal fresh products incorporate a menu that features flavors from the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas. The appetizers like flash-fried calamari, Dungeness crab cakes, or poached Asian pear salad are favorites among guests.
