On Friday afternoon, Jes and I had our own little HH at Paragon since the sun was out.  I had brought two issues of F&W magazine and Jes found a recipe that was paired with a wine from Howell Mountain.  In the past, he has enjoyed wines from that region of Napa County and was intrigued.  So, we looked up the winery and found that they had a tasting room in Downtown Napa.  Sweet.  I called and booked an appointment for Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, I was trying to figure out where we could eat either before or after the tasting.  I happened to be flipping through the magazine that Jes was reading on Friday and there was a featured article on an Italian restaurant called Oenotri and the two chefs.  It looked familiar and remembered seeing it on Open Table.  Ha!  Reservation made!

So, on Sunday we packed up the kid and her stuff and headed up to Napa by noon.  We stopped at Genova Delicatessen and shared one of my favorite sandwiches – the #4 on a seeded roll.  Yum.

The Robert Craig Winery tasting room was found in an industrial park and it was just down the path from the Westin that we usual stay when we go overnight.  The host at the bar, Jeff, was really cool and we got some 1:1 time with him since it was by appointment only.  He gave seconds on anything we wanted and we spent extra time there getting a lesson on Downtown Napa, the ins and outs of the food/wine industry, and the winery itself.

Kumquat was pretty well-behaved and even spent some time at the bar with us.  By the end we got a good buzz while she also took a nap.

Afterward, we took a walk down to Oxbow Public Market where they have a bunch of shops and restaurants including Kara’s Cupcakes, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Three Twins Ice Cream and even a Hog Island!  We got some ice cream and coffee and sat outside reading while Kumquat finished her nap.

Dinner was nice.  We sat in their outdoor patio and they were very nice about making space for Kumquat.  We tried our best to keep her happy but at one point she was so antsy, hungry, and tired all at the same time that she did make a little noise.  Luckily, I was able to quickly feed her, change her, and rock her to sleep in between courses.  Fortunately for us, she wasn’t enough of a pest for the other patrons to give us dirty looks.  Phew.

Here are some of the dishes we enjoyed:

House-made Charcuterie Platter

Margherita Pizza

Stone Fruit Salad and Swordfish Crudo

Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil along with some Fried Kale Chips (reminded me of nori paper)

It was a good first mini-trip back to Napa but definitely a different experience now with Kumquat tagging along.  We also stayed in Downtown Napa the whole time and didn’t really get to see any sweeping views or grapes on the vine so we’ll definitely have to be back for more soon.