If the flurry of construction that's been underway along the waterfront in downtown Napa is any indicator, the once-sleepy city is on the brink of becoming a major tourist destination. And the Oxbow Public Market (oxbowpublicmarket.com) - at just three months' old one of the newest additions to the downtown area - may be one of the city's most promising new arrivals.  Read on for the scoop on our favorite purveyors in this venue that looks poised to become the next big thing in a whole new.

When I was a freshman at UCLA a decade ago, the school was considered ahead of its time - and ranked as one of the nation's top college campuses for dining - thanks to its "high end" cafeteria embellishments like a DIY pizza bar and made-to-order omelets on weekends.

Just like a plump ripe fig, the girl & the fig food is fresh, healthy, and bursting with flavor. With a seasonal menu featuring garden vegetables, herbs, and an abundance of creativity, the rustic Provençal-inspired cuisine allows earth's true and natural flavors to shine.

Spend enough time in a wine country brew pub and you'll sooner or later hear the favorite mantra of wine country bartenders, "It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine."  And while beer's popularity with the winemaking cognoscenti may not come as a huge surprise, its affinity for cheese probably does. That's right, like wine beer can pair beautifully with an array of fromages from Muenster to Morbier, and often does so even more gracefully than vino itself.

Breakfast in a gulp, lunch on the go and dinner on the run. Life in the fast lane seems to have bypassed the slow, ancient pleasures of the table. However, an amiable group of gastromes hopes to put an end to our nuke-it-and-eat-it culture.

With a charming chiocciolina (small snail) as its mascot and a philosophy that advocates the defence of pleasure, Slow Food, an international organization with 30,000 members in 35 countries is helping members rediscover the flavours of regional cooking and fresh local produce. The group believes that small doses of sensual pleasure preserve us from the fast and frozen food, the enemies of contemplative cuisine. http://discover.winecountry.com/food/2008/03/a-remembrance-of-things-repast.html http://discover.winecountry.com/food/2008/03/a-remembrance-of-things-repast.html General Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:16:43 -0800  

                By Vincent Nattress, Culinary Consultant to Napa Free Range Beef

FOOD+WINE PAIRING
Although Cabernet Sauvignon is often heralded as the perfect foil for steaks, a wine such as Merlot, with softer and fruitier notes and lower acid, is a better match for beef prepared with saltier, sharper and more savory marinades.

Serves 2-4

• Two 10-12 ounce New York steaks
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Marco Fiorina
Restaurant Chef/Owner
Posticino

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-4

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 pound fresh porcini mushrooms, cleaned and  sliced (reconstituted, dried porcinis can be  substituted, as well as other deeply flavorful mushrooms)
• 1/4 pound Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shaved   thinly with a vegetable peeler
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 pound spinach

During a recent trip to the Pebble Beach area it struck me - this place is actually pretty nice. Sure, postcard views of the rugged coastline and storybook houses in the hills are a dime a dozen here. But beyond that obvious stuff, there's a lot going on in Pebble Beach. I took time in between watching actors act like they know how to play golf (who am I kidding, most of them are a hell of a lot better than me!), to explore some of the region's finer establishments for culinary delights and the occasional beer. The list can take a month's worth of columns to fill, and I will devote the necessary time to that venture in due course.

Heirloom Black Bell eggplants are sliced thin, brushed with garlic olive oil and grilled. We then layer our roulade with roasted sweet Italian heirloom peppers, sun dried tomato pesto, sweet basil leaves and Matos Family St. George cheese. The combination of the concentrated flavors and smokiness of the vegetables with the aged cheese pairs well with the rich tannins and complexity of the Highland Estates Grizz Ridge Merlot, as well as our Stature Merlot.