AHEAD OF THE CURVE:BARDESSONO'S FOOD, SETTING, DECOR OUTRUNS BAD ECONOMIC TIMES

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 ****), 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 ****) 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 ****). 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 ***1/2 ) 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 1/2 )

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 **1/2 ).

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 ****), 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 ****) 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 ****) 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.

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Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for the Sonoma Living

Section. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.