For Valentine's Day we decided to delay celebrating so that we'd avoid the rush Thursday night. I took advantage of this plan by suggesting we make a day trip out of it and eat at this place I'd been
dying to eat at in the Napa Valley. Reading good food blogs can have you highly anticipating a place you've never even laid eyes on, just by the strength of the description alone.
I'd read about
Redd in Yountville first on the
Restaurant Whore blog (one of my absolute favorites) and had the urge to eat lunch there right away. I mean, a four-course tasting menu for only $5o? And they serve each person different dishes? I'm totally there. I just need a reason to go. And bam, Valentine's Day steps up to the plate.
We made a reservation for 1p.m. on Saturday the 16th, and I licked my lips in anticipation. Reading the menu online doesn't do the restaurant any justice. We got there at about 12:45pm, walked around a bit, then strolled past the small patio to the modern wood door at approximately 12:55pm. Didn't want to be too early, you see. Other online reviews have mentioned the starkness of the modern decor of the interior, but I loved it. I especially loved the rich wood floor...on the ceiling. The dining room was made a lot homier by the wall of windows with a wildflower garden just outside. It was just a perfect blank, white-tablecloth slate for the food.
We looked over the menu briefly, feeling silly because we knew we wanted the tasting menu. It was a new experience, telling our waiter to let the chef decide what to serve us. Nick and I did tell each other what we would have ordered, which ended up making the whole experience a lot more fun. Why? Because without knowing us at all, Redd gave us pretty much what we most wanted even when we didn't know we wanted it.

Both of our first courses were raw preparations. Nick got the sashimi of hamachi on sticky rice with edamame and a lime ginger sauce. Nick's favorite part of his dish was the lime vinaigrette, though there is a special place in his heart (and stomach) for sticky rice. I got the tuna tartare with crispy rice, avocado, and chili oil. I'm pretty sure there was also some citrus fruit in there. Redd scored on this one because they were two of the first courses Nick would have picked for himself, and out of the two, I immensely preferred the tartare. The crispy rice provided a nice contrast in texture to the rest of the dish. I even liked the citrus. The micro cilantro was also a cool touch.

Our second courses were both cooked seafood dishes. Nick received the petrale sole with jasmine rice, mussels, and chorizo in a saffron curry nage. There was also a thick layer of foam with a taste we couldn't quite place. "For the lady," our waiter said (and I had to suppress a chuckle at his seriousness), "we have caramelized scallops with a cauliflower puree and almonds." I just about gasped, and Nick and I seriously wondered how they knew us so well. These were the
exact entrees we had picked for ourselves in our game at the beginning of lunch. Let me choose from a menu, and I will always pick the scallop dish.

My scallops were perfectly cooked, with one side browned, sitting atop of little cauliflower florets, almonds, and golden raisins, which were themselves on top of a super creamy cauliflower puree. There was also a balsamic vinegar reduction that went excellently with my scallops. Everything was well-seasoned and matched the other parts of the dish, except for the raisins. I don't care for raisins.

Nick liked his dish because of three things: the mussels, the chorizo, and the rice. It was presented beautifully, with the foam obscuring everything but the mussels. The petrale sole was mild in flavor, but accompanied by such strong flavors as chorizo, saffron, and curry, I think the chefs at Redd made an excellent choice.
As for our third courses, Nick and I didn't get a chance to surmise this far, so we were just preparing to be surprised. Our waiter had caught on to the fact that they had done well so far, so as they placed our third plates in front of us, said they hoped they had furthered their record with this one. I received the short ribs with a horseradish crust, potato puree, and root vegetables. Nick got the quail with lentils, a poached egg, bacon bits, some frisee, and garlic cream. Man was I jealous when I saw those lentils.

My short rib was pull-apart-with-fork tender, and came with the best potato puree I've had in a long time. The crust was interesting, but I didn't taste any horseradish. It was a heavier offering, and at this point I started to feel like I was going to have to take a nap after we ate. Nick's quail was delicious with its salty skin, but the best thing on that plate was the lentils. We both agreed we'd have to learn how to cook lentils because, damn, this was good. I also don't know how they poached the egg so that the egg whites looked like a dollop of cream.

When they cleared our third course plates, our waiter remarked that we both looked ready for dessert. Since Nick and I hadn't even laid eyes on the dessert menu (even online), we didn't know what would be coming. And yet, Redd surprised us again by giving us exactly what we would have ordered.
Nick got the citrus tasting dessert, which included a lemon panna cotta, creme fraiche with huckleberries, and a citrus yuzu float with tapioca. The presentation was lovely, and Nick ate every bit of it.

I got the peanut butter and chocolate dessert, which consisted of a chocolate sorbet (topped with some sea salt) over honey-roasted peanuts, a peanut butter-gianduja creme tart, and a parfait with honey whipped cream, honey brittle, peanuts, and chocolate syrup. Everything was rich and delicious. There was so much on the plate that I felt like I was getting three desserts instead of just one.

At the end, we just marveled at how they selected perfectly for us without so much as a word of preference from either of us. I thought they must have some secret microphone at the table to record if we said we preferred things over others, but Nick countered that reasoning by reminding me we hadn't even seen the dessert menu. Then again, he considered, maybe they just give women the chocolate dessert by default. Hey, I responded, I don't mind that line of thought one bit.

Two hours of a lunch that we didn't have any say in, and it was still a fabulous experience. Cheap, too, considering a four-course menu at other places would have cost at least $25 more each person. I highly recommend Redd for an experience you won't soon forget.
Redd6480 Washington Street
Yountville CA 94599
(707) 944-2222
Lunch | 11.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Saturday |
Dinner | 5.30pm to 10pm Nightly |
Brunch | 11am to 2.30pm Sundays |