Ox Bow Public Market with a Chez Panisse Post Script

This is the last road trip adventure I have to share. Finally we ended the trip with what you see here: gourmet food in NorCal. I had randomly seen an article in the LA Times about Oxbow Public Market, which is in old town Napa. At first, we had no plans on going to Napa, but it was pouring so hard that we gave up on our original plans to walk around SF. So we tried wine country, which often will be sunny even when the city is cloudy, and that is how we ended up trying out Oxbow Public Market. So great! If my waist line could expand just a little more, I would have spent the whole day there! Arepas, crepes, organic ice cream, pizzas, fancy coffee, a cheese shop, an oyster bar, giant cupcakes, and the list goes on! There was so much amazing, locally-made food stuffed into this 40,000 square foot warehouse. After a large lunch, we drove through the rest of old town Napa and continued up the 29 through Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga. Cutest.Towns.Ever. (For more on these adorable towns, check out the NY Times's 36 Hours in Napa.) Apparently Oxbow was just the tip of the iceberg as far as awesome places to eat in wine country. I'd love to spend 2 weeks touring vineyards and trying new restaurants every night!

PS: That night we somehow found room to eat more, which is good because I had made reservations at the upstairs dining room at Chez Panisse, which is famous for allegedly creating California cuisine. Panisse was really good, and I'm glad we went since it's so famous. But to be totally honest, the moderately priced food and casual atmosphere at Oxbow made a much bigger impression. But I would be remiss in my blogger duties if I did not at least mention the garlic souffle included with the second plate below. It was the highlight of the meal!