Angèle Restaurant & Bar

Angèle Earns Its Raves ... In my time of writing about the Napa/Sonoma food scene, chefs keep saying they like eating at Angèle if they’re going to dine out. So if chefs are digging it so much, the Insider, already a big fan of classic French cuisine, had to check it out.  The Insider enjoyed [...]

By | September 24th, 2017|Napa Eateries|Comments Off on Angèle Restaurant & Bar

Napa Valley Aloft

Up, Up and Away... If you live in Napa Valley you’re inevitably going to see some hot air balloons passing over you in the sky.    The experience looked so inviting the Insider couldn't resist contacting Napa Valley Aloft and since the Insider had done a bungy jump, white water rafted, scuba dived, etc…he was totally [...]

By | September 21st, 2017|Play in Napa|Comments Off on Napa Valley Aloft

Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery

Bartender, not a hockey player...  I’ve always loved talking to bartenders. If they’re not too busy, late afternoon, after the lunch crowd and before the after work rush hits, is a good time. They’re usually smart, funny and know where to go. So it was when the Insider strolled into the Calistoga Inn Restaurant and Brewery. The man behind the taps, Green Lafleur, easily [...]

By | September 18th, 2017|Napa Eateries|Comments Off on Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery

Check Please

Leslie Was Delightful... To the T-Vine Winery we go where Leslie Sbrocco, host of PBS’ Check Please, is hosting a tasting of Calistoga Wineries finest. A Petaluma resident, don’t know if this should go under Napa or Sonoma, ha ha, doesn’t matter… But it was fun to get the ebullient TV host to do the [...]

By | September 12th, 2017|Napa Wineries, Sonoma Wineries|Comments Off on Check Please

Priest Ranch Wines

Fine wine, BBQ and Country Rock... To the Priest Ranch Wines tasting room we go to on Yountville’s main drag on Washington St.  They collaborated with Tips-Tri-Tip trolley. If you like barbeque you can’t go wrong with the Tri-Trip Sando sandwich of a ½ lb of tri-tip, coleslaw, with chipotle sauce on a toasted roll.  And for entertainment, Miracle Mule kept [...]

By | September 9th, 2017|Napa Wineries|Comments Off on Priest Ranch Wines

Mean Harp Blows Into Mean Meat

Meat, Meat and More Meat ... It wasn’t a good time to be a vegetarian in Napa this past weekend. Blues, Brews and BBQ hosted live blues music from some of the Bay Area’s best blues musicians, including Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, over 30 hard to find micro-brewed beers in a large beer garden, [...]

By | September 4th, 2017|Napa Wineries|Comments Off on Mean Harp Blows Into Mean Meat