Adding to its urban-meets-rural cache, Napa’s tony Carneros Inn recently opened its second restaurant, FARM. The popular Boon Fly Cafe, which easily swayed locals with its casual brunches and upscale roadhouse dining, has been open since 2004.
Now heading the two kitchens is Executive Chef Kimball Jones, a former sous-chef at SR’s Campton Place with Bradley Ogden. Be impressed. Having also done a stint at Wente Vineyards, Jones has the Wine Country thing down cold, while bringing some urban glitz to the table.
With more name-dropping than a Paris Hilton cellphone conversation (Redwood Hills, Liberty Duck, Sonoma Direct Lamb, Fulton Chicken, Pozzi), FARM is all about giving props to “the bounty of the Carneros and surrounding farmers and ranches.” Um, most of which (judging by the sample menu I saw) come from the western reaches of Sonoma County. Call it Carneros-adjacent.
Regardless, the menu looks solid. Among the sample dishes (which of course change frequently, so don’t get your hopes up too high) were a butternut squash-apple soup with Chanterelles and fried sage; Redwood Hills Goat Cheese potato terrine; Ahi tuna tartare (yawn); Liberty Duck with Katz honey, lemon and thyme; Mishima Ranch Wagyu Coulotte Steak, Fulton chicken with oven roasted apples, onions and fingerling potatoes with mushroom giblet sauce.
At $24-$32 per entree, the price point is clearly in line with Napa’s high-end restaurant scene and may prove a bit spendy for locals. But nestled deep within the Carneros compound, its likely that visitors will be the bread-and-butter of the Plumpjack empire’s newest restaurant.
Along with a few of us Carneros-adjacent folks.
FARM, 4048 Sonoma Highway, Napa, 707.299.4900