Harvest Table Restaurant in Napa's St. Helena Review: Good Eats Napa Valley
Local Wally
Harvest Table
1 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574| (707) 967-4695
AT A GLANCE: High quality farm to table dining at the Harvest Inn's Charlie Palmer restaurant. Hidden gem, food will not disappoint.
With five culinary gardens on site, Harvest Table prides it self on serving local seasonal dishes that highlight the Napa Valley’s agricultural prowess. Even the honey comes from the garden bees used to pollinate the crops. Needless to say the dishes are inspired and constructed with a familiarity of farmers market style cooking. These guys take farm to table seriously!
The two open patios blend seamlessly with the inner dinning room and present a connection with the forested grounds of the Harvest Inn. The restaurant setting is detailed but not elaborate and is a place where comfortable conversations thrive.
The menus are split between lighter and more robust options with equal weight given to both. The roasted Carrots with Granola were a great introduction into the Harvest Table’s mantra of fresh/local. And as the Chef Levi Mezick hails from the south, the Shrimp and Grits have an unmistakable authenticity and passion. The octopus salad, with octopus slow cooked for 4 1/2 hours and then finished on the grill, was an excellent companion for the Domain Caneros Brut (2010) and spring heat. The Pork Chop—paired with Polenta and morels with fresh pea greens reminding the garden beds are a stones throw from the table—was cooked perfectly. We finished with a mentionable Chocolate peanut butter bar and a Rhubarb Shortbread; both nothing less than delicious.
If you're wine tasting in St. Helena and getting a bit hungry, take a detour and stop in for a bite at the bar. Oysters, Pommes Dauphine (fancy Tater tots), Crispy Pork Head, a Burger, and homemade ice cream sandwiches, can all be found on the bar menu. I'll be on the patio :-)
GUEST BLOG AUTHOR BRIAN LARSEN
