3 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.

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.

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.