Our dinner at Chef Michael Chiarello's Bottega in Yountville was one of those evenings where everything seemed magical. We arrived a few minutes late but our table was not yet ready, so we sat at the bar and ordered a couple of proseccos and cold glasses of water. Our bartender, who it turns out is a Brooklyn native, happily proclaimed that to him, Napa was the place to be as he served our drinks. Before we even had two sips of the prosecco, the floor manager showed us to our table and promptly comped our drinks because of the wait (it took all of 1 minute, I swear).
I had read up on Bottega before going so it was quick and easy to order the food. For the wine, our server helped us out. He picked out a crisp white (the name of which, I don't remember, so sorry) and a red which I recall was named Eileen, but I can't seem to find it on the menu ... We ordered the white by the glass, and it turns out Bottega gives you a quartino instead which means about 2 generous pours of the good stuff. We ended up making small talk with the two ladies seated next to us, who were enjoying a gorgeous bottle of Barolo. They were finishing up by then and we were floored when they said they couldn't finish their bottle anymore and would we like to enjoy the rest of the bottle for them? WOW. By the time our server came with our whites, we had more drinks than we could handle. See this row of lovelies below? All of that was just for ME.






We had to give up the fries to leave room for dessert, which we picked out as our waiter was serving it to the adjacent table: the Chocolate-Almond Molten Cake ($9) which doused with hazelnut crème Anglaise at your table. By then, we were the only party left in the dining area, and our water STILL let us order this dessert which would take 20 minutes to make. That's service people!

All in all, a memorable night in every way. I have to say that even with all the wonderful restaurants Napa and Yountville have to offer, I would go back to Bottega again and again.
Where: 6525 Washington Street, A9 Yountville, CA 94599. Tel. (707) 945-1050

2 comments:
how fun!! I love gnocchi, and those FRIES oh they look so good. haha... me and my carbs.
thanks for sharing your trip <3
thanks for reading! and I feel ya, carbs are our friends!
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