6 Best Restaurants in Yountville, Napa and Sonoma

Escargots, cassoulet, steak au poivre (pepper steak), and other French classics are prepared with precision inside this tan-brick country bistro whose flower-filled window boxes, extra-wide shutters, and red-and-white-striped awning hint at the old-world flair and joie de vivre that infuse the place. Regulars often start with the rich tomato soup in a flaky puff pastry before proceeding to sole meunière or coq au vin, completing the French sojourn with crème brûlée or other authentic dessert.

At this softly lit, exposed-redbrick downtown trattoria occupying sections of the 19th-century former Groezinger Winery, the chefs transform local, seasonally changing ingredients into regional Italian cuisine. Staples like ricotta gnocchi with old-hen tomato sauce and the short rib smoked and braised in espresso agrodolce (sweet-and-sour sauce) and served with creamy ancient-grain polenta are rustic yet sophisticated.

The team that created The French Laundry is also behind this place, where everything—the zinc-topped bar, antique sconces, suave waitstaff, and escargots, French onion soup, and salmon and beef tartare starters—could have come straight from a Parisian bistro. Sole Provençale, pan-seared flat iron steak with caramelized shallots, and mussels steamed with white wine, saffron, and Dijon mustard—the latter two served with crispy addictive fries—are among the perfectly executed entrées.

Napa Valley culinary star and longtime Ciccio patron Christopher Kostow of The Restaurant at Meadowood and The Charter Oak is the labor-of-love executive chef at this insiders' favorite for modern Italian. The seasonal growing cycles of Meadowood's herb and produce garden influence the menu, with focaccia appetizers, pasta dishes (including a must-try gnudi when offered), a few wood-fired pizzas, and pork chop Milanese among the likely offerings.

Inside an ivy-laced old stone building and with good reason atop many a Napa Valley visitor's bucket list, chef Thomas Keller's destination restaurant generally lives up to the hype with intricate yet not overthought cuisine. Some courses on the two prix-fixe menus, one of which highlights vegetables, rely on luxe ingredients such as white quail or shima aji (striped jack); others take humble elements like carrots or fava beans and elevate them to art.

Chef Thomas Keller's culinary ventures include part ownership of Regiis Ova Caviar, whose output is often paired with sommelier-selected Champagnes and sparkling wines at his fancy-casual indoor-outdoor restaurant. In addition to the ever-evolving menu's multiple caviar options, small bites and snacks like Wagyu tartlets and hamachi with finger limes might whet the appetite for barbecued quail, a pork katsu sandwich, and other slightly larger plates.