I am trying to plan a special dinner for the last evening of our trip to the Napa valley. I was thinking of something along the lines of a restaurant with a great tasting menu or perhaps the experience of dining in a cave at one of the wineries. There are four of us, all serious wine and food lovers. I would like to find something within walking distance (we are renting a house in Calistoga) or a reasonable cab ride.
As long as I have your attention......feel free to make suggestions on wineries to visit. We will be riding our bicycles around Saturday. I have scheduled a visit to Duckhorn, but that's it so far (love their cabs...their 2003 reserve cab is fabulous).
Last year we stayed in Napa and went to Far Niente and Cakebread, among others. I am not that into whites, but I have to admit, Far Niente was really good.

You could take a cab to St. Helena and to to TERRA, a very nice fine dining venue in the area. Wappo Bar & Bistro has excellent food but it is more on the casual side in Calistoga. Have fun! **kim***

Hi AnaBelen,
The advice to leave Calistoga is based on years old info. Let's get you some current recommendations as there plenty of great dining venues in Calistoga !

You asked for a place with a tasting type menu - just such a delicious spot exists- consider
a stroll down Lincoln Ave to
JoLe
jolerestaurant.com
Delicious, well thought out small plates and a good wine list.

You might also want to consider
Solbar at Solage
solagecalistoga.com
a short (2 minute) ride from Calistoga's downtown proper, over on the Silverado Trail.

Wineries nearby that we enjoy
are August Briggs, Twomey, and Frank Family.

What time of year will you be here ?

R5

R5, We will be there in three weeks. Soon, but not soon enough! I am looking forward to checking out Calistoga. This is our third annual trip, and we stayed at Silverado resort for the first two. It has a nice spa and is a great location for biking to wineries, but it is not really our style in terms of atmosphere. This time we are renting a house, which should be fun. We have appointments for mud baths in Calistoga one day, but there are varying levels of enthusiasm about that. One of our crew is really just caving under the peer pressure. She keeps asking questions about the mud and germs.

razzy! =D>

Ah, shucks, Bill-it was nuthin'...


Hi again, AnaBelen-

Ah, in 3 weeks sounds perfect.
Mr R5 & I love the mud baths, especially this time of year when it is cooler. Tell you friend there is little to worry about. The mud baths are a combo of volcanic ash, peat moss (aids in buoyancy) and boiling mineral spring water.
You'll be soaking for about 10-12
minutes in a 100-110 degree bath. Floating is the mud is kind of like weightlessness. After each patron the mud is rinsed with 212 degree water to completely sanitize it, then that water is drained away.

You will then shower, sit in a mineral bath, and then be wrapped in
blankets for 15 minutes to relax and sip cool water.
Heaven, I swear.
We have them about twice a year
and always feel so cleansed and relaxed. We always do 90 minutes of massage and foot reflexology after.
Pure Bliss in out post spa Gumby-like state


If you don't mind me asking, where are your appointments, perhaps I can give some insight to the particular spa and, of course you could always call your spa and ask your own questions about how they treat the mud.

We do think this is a great time to be up here !

R5

R5--

Thanks for mentioning JoLe! I wish we had had the opportunity to try it out during our too brief California visit last month.

It's the creation of Matt and Sonjia Spector who were the talented owners/operators/chef/pastry chef at Matyson, the very popular BYOB in Philadelphia. We were sad to see them leave our favorite restaurant, but our loss is Calistoga's gain! Bon appetit!

R5, I would be delighted to get your input on mud baths. I think our reservation is at Calistoga spa (something like that). There was also some discussion on trying Indian Springs. Feel free to make other suggestions. We probably still have time to re-think and make a change. I almost hate to tell my friend about how they keep the mud "clean". It has been so much fun teasing her.