You could be forgiven for feeling sorry for the owners and developers who?ve put together Bardessono, the new deluxe hotel, spa and restaurant complex in Yountville. Such sumptuousness, and the place had to open in the teeth of a ferocious economic downturn.
But your sorrow would be misplaced, because Bardessono is ahead of the curve ? way ahead of the curve.
When the great doors to the entranceway were made of recycled walnut, every scrap was saved and crafted into the wooden tables in the dining room. A huge table dominates the center of the dining room, made from one giant slab of recycled Monterey cypress. The walls are finished in warm, sand-colored tufa stone that had been used in the property?s wine cellar when it was the five-acre farmstead of the Bardessono family.
Organic herb gardens, fruit trees, vines and drought-tolerant native plants grace the site, along with native stone fountains and water channels. The on-site vineyard trellising is made of recycled materials and irrigation water is spot-dripped to the vines through buried spaghetti tubing. Kitchen wastes are composted in an ?earth tub,? and of course, there?s solar power.
Get this: 82 geothermal wells are drilled into the property, and the energy recovered from them naturally heats and cools the entire resort. It?s the largest geothermal system of any hotel in the world, according to developer Phil Sherburne, and one of America?s greenest luxury resorts.
That?s the tangible part of Bardessono. The intangible part is the quality of the food and service in the restaurant. Great service starts when your car is valet parked and you are met at the front door by a young woman with a digital clipboard who escorts you to the hallway leading past the bar and lounge to the dining room. Chef Sean O?Toole gathers fresh, local, in-season ingredients, and this guy is really picky. It becomes obvious after the first dish or two that he chooses his ingredients with the eye of a perfectionist.
Take, for instance, the perfect filet of Bodega Bay Halibut ($27, 4 stars), a slab of white fish treated with optimum respect. It?s taken off the heat as soon as the fish turns opaque to preserve all its juiciness, which is enhanced with what the menu calls a ?natural sauce,? but tastes like a mildly lemony, lightly creamy, just-a-touch-of-butter sauce. The halibut rests on a bed of rare, rosy-hued Rose Finn fingerling potatoes, and of native yellowfoot chanterelle mushrooms that are springing up locally this time of year.
The most remarkable thing about the plate, however, is the flawless watercress sprigs that decorate the top of the bone-white fish. These are grown by the devoted watercress farmers of CCOF-certified Sausalito Springs at their second farm in Sonoma County (the first is in Marin). Three acres of watercress are grown in fresh well water. Only the very tops are harvested ? by hand, with scissors, daily ? and then triple washed and hydrocooled. Each sprig would win a watercress beauty contest. And in case you want to lavish the spicy flavor of watercress on your taste buds, a watercress puree accompanies the fish.
Such good fare calls for good wine, and the wine list delivers. You might choose a glass of 2008 Pinot Gris from the Natural Process Alliance for $10. The NPA ships its wines in 750 ml. Kleen Kanteen steel bottles that are returned to the company for myriad refillings, saving the energy needed to manufacture and dispose of glass bottles.
The wine list is cosmopolitan and sophisticated. Here?s Nicolas Joly?s iconic and Biodynamically-grown 2005 Savennieres ?Les Clos Sacres? for $66. There?s a slew of German, Alsatian and Burgundian whites. Locally, the incomparable 2006 Radio-Coteau ?Alberigi Vineyard? Pinot Noir, grown on Vine Hill Road about seven miles west of Santa Rosa, is sold out at the winery, but is on the list. You?ll find four excellent Chateauneuf-du-Papes and three of Cathy Corison?s astounding Cabs from her Kronos Vineyard in St. Helena. Plus lots more. Corkage is $20.
A Winter Chicory Salad ($10, 4 stars) mixes sweet Little Gem lettuce with bitter radicchio, baby arugula leaves and macadamia nuts, all with a sprightly dressing. Refreshing is the only word that describes the Dungeness Crab Salad ($17, 4 stars). Lump crabmeat is enhanced (rather than stomped on) by Meyer lemon gelee and avocado slices moistened with a spicy crab vinaigrette.
Tender Potato Gnocchi ($14, 3 1/2 stars) are joined by tender baby leeks and yellowfoot chanterelles, covered with a creamy sauce, and given a thick shaving of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Winter Market Vegetables ($15, 3 1/2 stars) are a celebration of the season, with a ragout of local, organic potatoes and cabbage paired with squares of uncured pork belly and thin slivers of Sierra Beauty apples. Sounds like it could be heavy, but it?s fresh and delicate on the palate.
The only misstep of the night happened with Mary?s Chicken ($28, 2 1/2 stars). The breast and wing joint were overcooked and chewy-dry. (Mary was the Bardessono family?s nonna.) An accompanying cannelloni stuffed with ground leg meat was perfect, though, and braised Chinese winter vegetables helped out. Everything was back on track with Watson?s Napa Valley Lamb ($33, 4 stars), five medallions of luscious medium-rare lamb tenderloin and a chunk of curry braised leg meat made visually intriguing by rings of sliced miniature coconuts the size of your thumbnail. This theme repeated in a serving of coconut-flavored basmati rice and a quivering spoonful of pineapple quince. An incredibly good plate of food.
For dessert, the Chocolate Cake ($10, 4 stars) had a center running with pure, warm Valrhona chocolate. It came with icy pumelo sorbet and six grapefruit segments. A Sheep?s Milk Panna Cotta ($10, 4 stars) came in an old-fashioned Champagne glass with a vanilla-apple compote and a topping of peanut butter mascarpone dotted with chocolate pearls. Both desserts deserve a moment of contemplation before you dive into them with wild abandon.
To sum up: Bardessono adds shine, and plenty of it, to Yountville?s reputation as a prime American culinary mecca.
Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for the Sonoma Living Section. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.
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