the best of napa valley life featuring BAILIE Director of Operations/Partner, Fatted Calf Charcuterie, Napa and San Francisco by sharon Ufberg •BESTNAPA vAllEY viEW From the hot tub at the Carneros Inn. At dusk, in the fall, the vineyards glow gold and auburn in the sunlight. An even better view is from the same hot tub on a clear night. It gets so dark out there that the stars really burst against the vast black sky. •BEST ADviCE Don't drink and drive! •BEST WoRKouT While there are always large carcasses to lug around at the shop, I’d prefer to surf for exercise. Living in Napa is the furthest away from the ocean I have ever lived, so I have to grab my longboard skateboard and carve the back roads and hills of Carneros. Plus, mentally, I feel like a kid again. •BEST HoME-CooKED MEAl Fat and juicy “ugly” burgers. Grind up a mixture of Five Dot Ranch beef brisket, short rib and chuck. Season and smush a handful of it together until it just barely holds, then throw it onto a hot grill. Some grilled bread, a smear of aioli and a little arugula around that ugly grilled meat is the best. • photo by KARI RUEL At our monthly Butcher’s Happy Hour, a different local winery will pour •BEST PlACE To uNWiNDNEiWTASTEDYlEST NEWB each time while I break down a whole hog for customers. I’m a huge fan of White Rock Vineyard, Carlotta Cellars 2010 North Coast Rosé, Robert Westwood Hills with my dog, Beedi. You can get lost up there exploring the •BEST "offTHE GRiD"DiNiNGS The Hotel New Hampshire—my favorite of John Irving’s twisted novels.KooBESTB•single trails and tall trees. There’s even a tree swing if you can find it. Sinskey’s Vandal Vineyard 2009 Pinot Noir and the Elizabeth Spencer 2011 Rutherford Chardonnay. They’re always a myriad of strange and wonderful times and a reminder that, Support your local taco truck!! Mine is Tacos Chavez on Coombs and Ash. They “It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious.” just make one taco (beef) and it is the best in town! Order it "con todo" and fill up on 4 tacos for like five bucks!! Be sure to leave a tip! For culinary inspiration, I turn to classic texts like The Food of France by • BEST WATERiNG HolE books have no pictures and not even real recipes, just page after page of. TheseA Book of Mediterranean FoodWaverly Root or Elizabeth David’s When I first moved to Napa, Billco’s was the place for a post-work brew, highly descriptive writing about foods from these regions. with 60 beers to choose from—local brews to obscure imports, oh yeah!! If food books are your thing, the soon-to-be-released Fatted Calf cookbook •BEST viNTAGE &THRifT SHoPPiNG This past October I had the good fortune of attending the 2nd annualNioRATiNSP iESTB•about our charcuterie is going to be nothing less than awesome!! Nowadays, I find myself with the crew over at the Oxbow Wine Merchant, where Russian River’s Pliny the Elder is always on tap!! I would never be caught wearing a dress, but I love, love, love the vintage Napa County LGBTQ Community Forum. Close to two hundred people designs that Kim creates over at Betty’s Girl. For something antique, I go see gathered to discuss ways to increase awareness and inclusion of LGBTQ Molly at Antiques on Second, and the sweet ladies of Community Projects are people across Napa County. It was inspiring to see how much Napa has always stocking the shelves with something unique. changed and continues to change, grow and welcome this part of our community. 72 w w w. N A PA V A L L E Y L I F E m A g A z I N E . c o m
NVLife Jan-Feb 2013
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