DINNER: Cuvee Napa

Dinner at Cuvee in Napa was the close of a nice day of being shuttled around Napa in a limo and wine and tasting with my good friend Danielle, her mom and my new friends Maria and Lillian. Cuvee was dark and elegant but still casual. The front room is a cozy and plush lounge/bar area complete with a roaring fireplace. The lounge opens up into a large dining area that was buzzing and full of diners on a Saturday night. The service was ok and the food was pretty good. They started us with bread that was incredibly chewy. I don't know why nice restaurants often overlook the bread. I think a good bread basket is one sign of a truly good restaurant. Some of the girls ordered appetizers of light and buttery tempura asparagus with capers as well as squash ravioli. The ravioli was a slightly sweet, fluffy pillow stuffed with delicious butternut squash. It almost tasted like pastry to me. Next, the marinated beet and arugula salad was a generous heap of fresh baby arugula with minced beets, crumbled goat cheese, toasted hazelnuts and aged sherry vinaigrette. I really enjoyed it although minced beets do not make for the same presentation that sliced, brightly colored beets make. My main course was spring vegetable risotto with baby artichokes, leeks, spinach and pecorino. The rice was too tough and the dish was a touch oily. It was very cheesy though and I love cheese! For dessert I had churros and Mexican hot chocolate with a side of vanilla ice cream. The churros were good. You can't really screw up a churro. The hot chocolate however was not nearly as thick and sweet or spicy as a good Mexican hot chocolate should be. The ice cream was a dream. Although it was rock hard at first, it was dense, rich and creamy. I wish I knew where I could buy it! Overall the dinner was not a WOW experience but it was a pretty good one. The only reason I wouldn't return for dinner is that there are so many other great dining options in Napa to try.