Cindy Pawlcyn always seems to have one dish on the menu at her restaurants — Mustards, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, and now the newly-opened Brassica in St. Helena — that's a knockout. I mean, get down on your knees, wave your arms in the air above your head and shout hallelujah, it's that good.
On a recent night, it was the Fried Zucchini Blossoms ($11 ****) at Brassica. The flared orange blossoms are cut down one side and laid open. A filling of Bellwether Farms sheep's milk ricotta, mozzarella, Serrano ham and nutmeg is placed on the flower and the petal is rolled up. The stuffed blossom is dipped in a tempura-like batter and plunged into deep hot fat — emerging with a light crust. Three of these beauties are served in a clean, white dish. The texture is a delightful mix of softness inside and delicate crunch outside, but it's the flavor that astounds. The ricotta has a natural tang, while Serrano ham adds a unique note. This is a Spanish ham that's been brined and air-cured for over a year. Nutmeg is a brilliant touch that brightens all the flavors. If it's on the menu when you go, do not miss it.
It will likely go off the menu as Pawlcyn changes it through the changing seasons; zucchinis will finish their season as cooler weather sets in. She calls Brassica a "Mediterranean Kitchen & Wine Bar," and right now, the menu is favoring tastes of the Middle East and North African parts of that region.
The building, on the south end of town, was until recently Go Fish, Pawlcyn's seafood restaurant. For whatever reason, it closed, but Brassica, with its decent prices (for the Napa Valley) and great food, should be a hit. The wine list is fabulous. It offers wines from small, artisanal wineries (those without tasting rooms) by the glass. There are wines drawn from kegs. You can get wines in 2-ounce, 5-ounce and 500-ml carafes, as well as by the bottle — and there are scores from California, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, and so on. Cabernet sauvignons range from the 2009 Louis Martini "Sonoma County" for $28 to the 2004 Abreu "Madrona Ranch" for $450. Corkage is $15, waived if you also buy a bottle. If you buy a bottle to take with you, there's a 25 percent discount.
The d?or has been simplified. You enter the restaurant by a white marble bar, and there's an inviting patio outside. The walls are hung with retro food and drink posters, some original artwork and two signed pieces of artist Glen Baxter's wistfully absurd cartoons. The name, Brassica, is the botanical name for the cabbage family, including the wild yellow mustard that paints our spring fields and vineyards sunny gold. You see the verbal connection with Pawlcyn's Mustards restaurant in Yountville, and also in the impeccable taste that selects the artwork for the walls of both places.
Brassica's Lemon Tabouli ($10 ****) will raise anybody's standard of excellence. It mixes chopped parsley and mint with bulghur and lemon. It's spooned into cups of Little Gem lettuce and sprinkled with little Sungold tomatoes sliced in half. And it's half again as good as any tabouli I've ever had. Hummus with Ful ($8 ****) was also the best hummus I've ever encountered. Not only was the hummus a perfectly balanced puree of chickpeas, tahini, garlic and salt, but it was topped with ful — the Egyptian national dish of pureed fava beans — before being splashed with good olive oil, surrounded by wedges of hard-boiled egg, sprinkled with chopped red onion and accompanied by house-made pita bread hot from the oven.
Speaking of nutritious, you can taste the green goodness of pureed spinach and other veggies in Green Gazpacho ($8 ***?), a slightly spicy cold soup drizzled with olive oil.
There's a nod to Greece in the meze of stuffed grape leaves called Dolmas ($6 ***). Three of them contain, according to the menu, rice, pine nuts, currants, mint and fennel, although the last three ingredients were not much in evidence.
You understand the lure of Morocco when you taste the Moroccan Lamb ($24 ***?), with its symphony of North African spices, dominated by cumin. Tender chunks of lamb in a spicy harissa sauce are joined by golden raisins, grated preserved lemon, basil chiffonade, pearl onions and bits of tomato. Steaming hot couscous is heaped beside it to help soak up the liquid.
Don't miss the dessert called Five Easy Pieces ($9 ****). There's almond baklava, walnut phyllo tube, chocolate candy with a caramel center, biscotti and an exotic Persian sweet called lokum made of rosewater jelly with inclusions of pistachio.
To sum up: Cindy Pawlcyn is a culinary magician and Brassica is her latest amazing trick.
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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