Last year, when Brix restaurant in Yountville changed its name to ?25 degrees Brix,? some longtime fans of the place were slapping their foreheads in disbelief. Why would they change a simple, high-concept name like Brix to a six-syllable name that only viticulturists understand?
Worse, how could the kitchen of a restaurant like Brix ? one of the standards of quality in the Napa Valley ? have devolved into one that was mediocre at best? Even the bar scene, where locals liked to congregate for drinks after a long workday, saw a drop-off in business.
Well, somebody got the word, and you?ll be pleased to know that 25 Degrees Brix is just a sour memory. The restaurant is once again just plain Brix. The bar is once again jammed with attractive people during the 4-6 p.m. happy hour. The happy-hour bar menu includes a fennel sausage pizza with olives and mozzarella for $6, a half-pound cheeseburger for $7, and six fat oysters on the half shell for $6. They are bargains.
The room is lighter and friendlier looking and the pillars of the arbor over the outside patio dining area are twined with roses and wisteria. Beyond them are the extensive organic gardens full of fresh vegetables. Torch songs, Cole Porter and other old standards drift lazily from the sound system.
The chief improvement at the new Brix is the presence of executive chef Anne Gingrass-Paik in the kitchen. She has been chef at iconic restaurants such as Spago in Los Angeles, Hawthorne Lane and Postrio in San Francisco, and Desiree in the Presidio. She has brought first-class pastry chef Danielle Brocious from Desiree with her, which provides a whiz-bang ending to Gingrass-Paik?s delicious dishes.
In other words, Brix is back and it?s better than ever.
Nice touches include a Sunday wine social ? local folks show up with wines from their personal cellars to share with the group. After that, there?s Sunday supper at $28 per person, served family style, with no corkage, which otherwise is $20 a bottle.
The wine list deserves praise. It?s chock full of California wines from the Central Coast to Mendocino County, as well as European wines. And if you find a wine you really like, it may be available for sale in the wine shop attached to the restaurant. A couple of bottles of note include a 2005 Stony Hill Chardonnay for $48 and 2006 Radio-Coteau ?Alberigi Vineyard? Pinot Noir for $80. Besides the usual Napa Valley Bordeaux blends, there are dozens of Sonoma Coast wines, plus selections from Australia, France and Italy. If I could pick any bottle from the list, it would be the 1997 Heitz Cellars ?Martha?s Vineyard? Cab ? as long as I didn?t have to pony up the $300 it costs.
On a recent night, one of the specials was a Cauliflower Soup ($9, 4 stars), and this simple soup showed off Gingrass-Paik?s considerable skills. It used romanesco cauliflower from the gardens outside. This variety is light green, and its shape is a perfect illustration of the mathematical concepts of fractals and Fibonacci numbers. It also tastes more nutty and less cabbage-y than regular cauliflower, and that came across in the soup. Its base was chicken stock and it was perfectly seasoned and drizzled with a little olive oil.
As terrific as the soup was, the Heirloom Bean Salad ($11, 4 stars) was just as good. The beans were little brown shell beans cooked to tenderness but not mush. They played hide-and-seek among the arugula, lettuces, watercress, and endive leaves. Matchstick-size julienned carrots lent color, and fluffy clouds of pure-tasting, feta-style Bodega Goat Cheese (now made in Lake County, despite the name) balanced the flavors and textures of this super salad.
A dish called an Apple Walnut Carpaccio ($10, 3 stars) seemed more a display of fancy kitchen technique than a soul-satisfying plate of food. The ?carpaccio? was translucently thin slices of pink-lady apple sprinkled with a few cocoa nibs, walnuts, frisee and chopped parsley and given a dash of vinaigrette. Shavings of Vella cheddar cheese topped the dish.
The Fennel Sausage Pizza ($13, 3? stars), on the other hand, was a darn near perfect pizza, 12 inches in diameter and big enough to satisfy all but the hungriest souls. Its lovely crust combined crunch, chewiness and yeasty bread in every bite. It was cheesy and slightly spicy and topped with tomato, spinach, brine-cured and chopped picholine olives and bits of aromatic sausage. No wonder folks are stopping in after work for a drink and some of this great pizza!
Although the shells for the Three Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells ($11, 3? stars) aren?t house made, they are tender and delicious. The three cheeses are mozzarella, ricotta, and mascarpone ? making for a soft and luscious filling. And the tomato sauce that these miniature manicotti-like shells sit in is reduced to a mouth-watering, concentrated succulence. This dish is not to be missed.
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