Cuisine:

• Coffee Houses
• Californian

Cafe Champagne Description:
This charming hillside restaurant at Thornton Winery is a slice of Napa Valley just a little over an hour outside of L.A. The dining room's generously spaced, candlelit tables are dressed in burgundy linen and expansive windows exploit a welcome view of rolling vineyards. An adjoining patio offers romantic al fresco dining, where some top names from the world of jazz perform every summer. The cooking of executive chef Steve Pickell, who spent time at Jeremiah Tower's celebrated Stars in San Francisco, reflects diverse cultural influences from Latin America to Asia. Starters include Hawaiian ahi layered with avocado and shiitake mushrooms in a soy-ginger sauce, and fried calamari finished in a Champagne-dill beurre blanc. Among entrées are crispy roasted duck in a ginger-cherry sauce, grilled salmon in red currant reduction, and grilled pork loin with apple bread pudding. The seasonally changing menu is always well executed; while the wine list may not be voluminous, it extends well beyond the Thornton company or the Temecula appellation (whose winemakers, incidentally, are getting more ambitious every year).


Be the first one to rate and write a review for this Cafe Champagne restaurant!