Tom Harder of St. Helena’s Wheeler Farms on his culinary style, most memorable meal and the SATs

Part of The Press Democrat’s expanded coverage into Napa County includes interviews with some of the restaurant and dining scene’s biggest names and influencers.

Look for our regular series that casts the spotlight on a different chef or restaurant owner who stands out in the world of food and drink in Napa’s thriving dining industry.

This week, we spoke to chef Tom Harder at Wheeler Farms in St. Helena. This vineyard focuses on single-vineyard cabernet sauvignon in small quantities and offers a wine and food pairing, a Chef’s Table experience and a lunch pairing.

We offered nine questions to chef Harder. Here’s a sampling of our conversation:

Question: What inspired you to get into cooking?

Answer: The funny answer is “the SAT scores came back.” But actually I took a job when I was 15 at a local pizza place and this place was busy. We’re talking 1,500-2,000 pies a night. It was hectic and stressful but also extremely organized and I loved the environment. I went to Le Cordon Bleu … worked in Belgium at a Michelin star place out in the boonies. I made it to Napa in 2014.

Q: How would you describe your culinary style?

A: If I put it in a box, it’d be California French, that’s the traditional training I have. But we try to keep things as simple as possible. We’re fortunate to have gardens on site and some of the greatest purveyors in the country. You’ll see lots of highlighted proteins and framing of vegetables around it, hardly any starches.

Q: How would you describe your restaurant’s atmosphere to someone who has never visited?

A: We want this to feel like you are the only customer we are concerned with, so it’s very personal and inviting. First-time guests get blown away by the ecosystem of the farm: you can see olive trees outside then come inside and see a bottle of olive oil made from it. We harvest eggs 20 steps outside the door. It’s that literal farm-to-table.

Q: What is the most popular dish on your menu, and how do you pair it?

A: We change our dishes all the time. We just finished a crispy kale and bacon macaron and a winter truffle grilled cheese which was a big hit, and of course our salted miso brownie people go crazy for. As far as lunches and dinners go, we’ve been featuring a fun pairing of a wild steelhead trout with charred baby broccoli with a sauvignon blanc, and my sous chef has an incredible Mandarin almond cake that’s elegant and fun.

Q: What makes the Napa dining scene unique?

A: It’s really unique because we’re all farmers, that’s what it comes down to. Whether it’s grapes and wine, produce or livestock, it seems the whole county uses all these different farmers to elevate each other, not overshadow. It’s prevalent in almost all the restaurants you see around here.

Q: What do you enjoy doing when you're not cooking?

A: I am a brand-new father, I have an 8-month-old baby. I also have a couple of rowdy dogs. It takes up a lot of time, but it’s fun.

Q: What’s your favorite restaurant to visit in your off-hours?

A: Mustards. I am biased, I worked there as executive sous chef for six or seven years, but what the team has done there is incredible, it’s a powerhouse. A lot of industry folks tend to gravitate toward there so it’s busy and fun.

Q: Tell me about a memorable meal you’ve had.

A: When I was in Europe I ate at a swanky three-star restaurant, super expensive, and left feeling really disappointed. I won’t say what it was, but it wasn’t fun. The next week was a one-star restaurant, the Kitchen in Edinburgh, and it absolutely blew me away. They start you out with a map of Scotland and each course is sourced from there, with all Scottish ingredients. It was light, had seafood and proteins but also vegetable forward, and it was just amazing. Their hospitality was something to aspire to, and I will always remember that meal.

Q: What do you see as the future of fine dining?

A: It’s interesting, for fine dining I feel like there’s always going to be those that are searching for highly structured avant-garde dining, but I think the majority of diners are actually looking toward more casual and relaxed. Some simple ingredients but done extremely well. They just want to be welcomed with warm hospitality, not pushed into the next course.

Dahlia Ghabour is an award-winning food writer. Contact Ghabour at dghabour@gmail.com and on Twitter at @dghabour.