Where there’s great wine, there’s usually fabulous food. It’s easy to see why, as the same travelers who appreciate a fine vintage or a tasting flight are sure to relish an excellent gourmet meal. Build a great wine-region restaurant, and the hungry diners and perhaps the Michelin stars, are sure to follow.
In Napa Valley, that’s long been the case. It’s not exactly breaking news that the country’s most well-known wine destination is home to a storied lineage of premier dining options. A restaurant such as The French Laundry helped spearhead a fine-dining restaurant revolution and maintains its lofty three-Michelin star standards to this day.
What’s changing now is that many hotels in the region are prioritizing their culinary programs more than ever before. Great eats are a short, scenic stroll away from your luxury accommodations at the hotel’s signature restaurant, or perhaps even better, within arm’s reach as you order up room service from your plush bed, draped in a cozy robe. Now you can take a weekend getaway to Napa and even if you don’t visit a single vineyard or winery, you’ll head home feeling as if you experienced the finer things in life. Make a wise choice with your hotel reservation, and an unforgettable dining experience will await.
Four Seasons Resort & Residences Napa Valley
A stay at the Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley in Calistoga feels as if you’re visiting a charming community or private enclave, one that just happens to be home to lavish accommodations, large resort pools, vineyard views, and the comforting embrace of world-class, wine-centric treatments at the Talisa spa. But it’s making a reservation at the Michelin-starred Auro, where chef Rogelio Garcia helms the kitchen, that should be at the top of your to-do list during a stay.
The seasonal seven-course dinner proved to be one of the most memorable tasting menus I’ve had in years as Garcia melds his Mexican roots, the best in local Californian produce, his background with Japanese cuisine, and experience in kitchens such as the aforementioned French Laundry into a singular, can’t-miss experience. The meal kicks off with the restaurant’s famous six amuse bouche course, an elaborate tour de force before the official menu even gets underway. And throughout your dinner, you’ll revel in thoughtful wine pairings and extra touches such as kitchen tours with bonus snacks doled out along the way.
The pro tip here is to see if you can snag one of the two dining tables within the kitchen for an even more incredible evening spent witnessing the culinary magic taking shape before your eyes. It’s dinner and a show wrapped into one, and you’ll be impressed to see that Garcia runs one of the friendliest and most orderly kitchens you’ll ever come upon.
Even if you’re staying at the Four Seasons Napa for the food and you don’t ever plan on leaving the hotel’s grounds, you still have access to a winery: Elusa. While many hotels in the region have their own estate vineyards that you can view from your rooms, Elusa is touted as the only functional production winery at a hotel in Napa Valley.
Alila Napa Valley
The Alila Napa Valley offers a luxe, contemporary retreat from a convenient St. Helena location. The Spa Alila is an immersive wellness destination, and a lineup of fitness classes and activities will help you feel at your best. You’ll need it, too, after enjoying an indulgent meal at Violetto, one of Napa’s newest sensations.
The restaurant opened in July 2024, with chef Thomas Lents delivering your choice of either a seven-course tasting menu or a four-course prix fixe from within the bucolic environs of a historic estate house right on the modern hotel’s property. Violetto plays to its name with violet-colored flowers blooming around its dining rooms, violet-colored napkins, and even a violet-colored cocktail for good measure.
There’s more to the restaurant than its color scheme, of course. Lents pays homage to his family’s Italian roots with dishes inspired by those he was raised with, albeit elevated to fine-dining standards. The restaurant also looks to showcase the role of Italian culinary and wine knowledge that influenced Napa Valley from its earliest days. Bright seasonal dishes put fresh produce on display, while a sustainable kitchen ethos makes use of leftover and unwanted ingredients to minimize waste. A signature four-meat agnolotti, as well as a caviar and gold flake-topped potato rosti, are among the standouts.
The Meritage Resort & Spa
The Meritage Resort & Spa is the largest resort in Napa Valley, with a 36-acre property including 9 acres of vineyards. The key attraction here is a robust collection of wine tasting rooms positioned around a village commons area, making it easy to sample from a handful of producers including Gen 7, Anarchist, Sora, and Trinitas Cellars right from the hotel grounds.
Dining options abound in the same locale, including a grocer and food truck, though the food lineup is highlighted by Ember Steak. The restaurant opened in the summer of 2024 under the direction of chef Cary Roy, and brings modernized steakhouse classics to the forefront. Highlights include a collection of house dry-aged steaks and a showy potato pavé served with an au gratin mousse, as well as the cheesy, pan-baked Parker House rolls you’ll see atop every table in the dining room. Perhaps get things started with a dill-infused martini delivered with a pairing bite of caviar and lobster, one of the signature serves combining the talents of the bar and the kitchen.
Once again, you might need a bit of wellness after that kind of extravagant meal. Head to the hotel’s Spa Terra, a subterranean spa that doubles as the estate wine cellar, 40 feet underground its vineyards. A treatment using a scrub made from crushed Cabernet seeds will keep you in a gourmet state of mind as you recharge the batteries and perhaps get ready for one final memorable meal before heading back home.
Feature image courtesy of Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley. We may earn a commission from product or booking links on this page.
