FARM Restaurant at the Carneros Inn in Napa Valley is worth a visit. I recently had occasion to dine there with some of my guests from Canada. When we stepped out of the car, I was immediately drawn to FARM’s huge outdoor living room. This open-air room is filled with large overstuffed sofas and chairs and has high ceiling fans. It is adjacent to a big outdoor bocci court. What a great place to relax for a few minutes before moving into the restaurant!
The restaurant itself is casual but elegant with tea green walls, dark furnishings and beautiful lighting fixtures. Chef de Cuisine, Christophe Gerard from France’s Loire Valley, trained at the famed three-star Michelin restaurant, Taillevent. The menu features items that are mostly produced within 150 miles of the restaurant. The wine list is extensive, featuring wines within a wide range of prices. We started out with a salad of organic field greens with walnut vinaigrette, organic tuna carpaccio with roasted golden beets, and chilled white corn soup with peekytoe crab. Our main courses were pan-seared flounder with creamed nettles, dayboat scallops with organic sunchoke puree and oven-roasted lamb sirloin with basil jus. For dessert, we chose a passion fruit and pineapple parfait and a lemon tart with citrus fruits and orange sorbet.
The service was very friendly and knowledgeable, adding to the pleasure of this marvelous dining experience.
FARM at the Carneros Inn
4048 Sonoma Highway
Napa, CA
Telephone: 707-299-4880
http://www.thecarnerosinn.com/thecarnerosinn/restaurant_farm.aspx