Indulge in Napa Valley Restaurant Month

The Napa Valley is an oasis of culinary delight and fine wine exploration. There is no better place to uncover a plethora of flavors setting your taste buds on a delectable adventure through the valley’s amazing restaurants.

As some of the Napa Valley's finest eateries re-vamp in January 2015, Napa Valley Restaurant Month has moved to February, and with it comes an incredible selection of special culinary offerings that reflect the season and only happen once a year. Come sip, sup and savor the valley's finest cuisine and wines throughout February 2015.

The Napa Valley offers more Michelin-star rated restaurants per capita than any other wine region in the world and Napa Valley Restaurant Month offers are available up and down the valley. More than 30 of the valley's celebrated restaurants and resorts will showcase artisanal foods and the creativity of the area's renowned chefs with special multi-course Restaurant Month menus and offers. Dining offers often include optional wine pairings for a perfect marriage of wine and food that can only be found in the Napa Valley.

Valentine's weekend, February 13 – 16, 2015, is excluded from most offers and visitors are encouraged to review any date or other restrictions within each offer.

Napa Valley Restaurant Month highlights include:

  • Chef Tyler Rodde of acclaimed Oenotri offers a tour of Italy each week featuring a three-course dinner highlighting a specific Italian region. Each dinner will include a salad, pasta and dessert for $39 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.

  • The Boonfly Café at the Carneros Inn features a three-course dinner for $29 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity, featuring cuisine that is based on the agricultural heritage of the region.

  • The Thomas at Fagiani's offers Michelin-starred chef Brad Farmerie's three-course dinner for $35 per person with an optional "$20.15" beverage pairing, exclusive of tax and gratuity.

  • Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy Restaurant & Bar at Bardessono offers a two-course lunch for $25 per person with an optional wine pairing, exclusive of tax and gratuity. Lucy Restaurant & Bar features fresh, innovative garden-inspired cuisine that embodies the Bardessono modern aesthetic and eco-spirit. Offer available Monday through Saturday.

  • In the same spirit of late night dining in France, Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro offers a "Late Night Dine & Drink," featuring three classic dishes appropriately paired with beverages each night between 9 and 11 p.m. Offers include Croque Madame & White Apron Ale for $20 per person, Duck Confit & Vin de Carafe for $25 per person, and Steak Frites & Vin de Carafe for $40 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.

  • For those who cannot wait until February, the city of St. Helena offers a Napa Valley Restaurant Month preview night on January 24, 2015 with "Celebrate St. Helena...A Restaurant Roulette." Guests will enjoy a sparkling wine reception at Caldwell Snyder Gallery and at the end of the reception, will participate in a drawing to discover the restaurant where they will dine that evening. After-parties follow at Caldwell Snyder Gallery and Goose & Gander restaurant. Participating restaurants include Archetype, Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch, Tra Vigne, Press, The Culinary Institute of America's Conservatory, Market, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Goose & Gander, Cook St Helena, La Condesa, The Grill at Meadowood and Farmer & The Fox.

  • Michelin star Chef Robert Curry of the Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil offers a two-course prix fixe lunch menu for $29 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity, Monday through Friday.

  • Renowned Chef Larry Forgione's Conservatory Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone offers a "Freshly Foraged 4-Course Dinner" for $47 per person, with an additional $20 per person wine pairing, exclusive of tax and gratuity designed by Master Sommelier Robert Bath.

  • The Grill at Meadowood Napa Valley offers a two-course lunch for $30 per person, or a three-course dinner for $50 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity. Both are available with a wine pairing option.

  • At Solbar at Solage, Michelin star Chef Brandon Sharp will feature weekday specials Sunday through Thursday. Offers change daily and include 50 percent off Club Solage member wines, oysters shucked to order, a lounge menu by the bocce courts and Chef's special fried chicken.

  • During the month of February 2015 Hotel d'Amici Ristorante will offer its special Thursday night Menu Fisso nightly. Every week will focus on a different Italian region and the four-course meal includes antipasti, primi, secondi and dolce for $38 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.

Napa Valley's gracious hoteliers and cozy Bed & Breakfast Inns have made it easier to stay a little longer for even more legendary culinary experiences with "dine-and-stay" lodging packages, offering comfort and pampering after a day exploring the valley during "Cabernet Season." A highlight of offers include:

  • The Napa River Inn offers a "Dinner is on us!" package, which includes $100 dining credit at nearby restaurants for each night's stay.

  • Villagio Inn & Spa offers a "Winterscape in Yountville" package, which includes two nights accommodations for two, "Chef's Choice" lunch for two at Michael Chiarello's Bottega Napa Valley, one autographed copy of one of Michael Chiarello cookbooks, two 50-minute wellness massages at Spa Villagio, daily Champagne breakfast and Afternoon Tea service, and a welcome bottle of wine. Rates start at $799 per night, exclusive of tax. Some restrictions apply.

  • St. Helena's Harvest Inn by Charlie Palmer offers a Max and Relax two-night experience and balance package for $859 per night, exclusive of tax, with a two-night minimum stay.

  • The Mount View Hotel & Spa in Calistoga offers a "Stay, Wine & Dine" package, which includes an overnight stay and a four-course pre fixe menu at Barolo Italian restaurant. Rates start at $249 per night, exclusive of tax and gratuity.

For more information on Napa Valley Restaurant Month, please visit http://www.VisitNapaValley.com.

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Indulge in Gourmet Chocolates

We all know, that everybody love chocolates. Chocolate is the voice of passion and love, whether it is the love of chocolate itself or as an expression of love for another human being. The way its texture feels in your mouth as it melts is very satisfying and its richness takes this pleasure to a whole new level. Some people would even prefer chocolate to some other acts that may bring a lot of pleasure. Valentine's Day or Saturday, chocolate is the perfect gift for those we care about or just want to impress.

Yeah, it's right that chocolate is very delicious, some chocolates are more enjoyable than others. A Snickers bar is full of chocolate but it also is jam packed with peanuts and caramel so you have to eat your way around the candy bar to get your dose of pure chocolate. Thankfully, there are gourmet chocolates available to fulfill any chocolate lovers hole.

However, you can give lavishness chocolates if you ever wanted to make friends with someone. But, I wonder why other people don't like dark chocolates. Even gourmet restaurants leave me indifferent most of the time. Usually, one meal is as good as the other. Nonetheless, real gourmet chocolates really blow me away. There's just something about them, you know? They are so rich, so sweet, so complex and flavorful, and so lingering in texture and taste that they completely overwhelm me. I'm not particularly a big eater. To me there is nothing in this world that is better.

In fact, I get literally high when I eat Belgian chocolates. Sometimes, a gourmet chocolate really throws me off order. I'll have to sit down after a particularly good trouble. You might think I'm joking, but I'm not. One of my good friends always makes fun of me. He told me that if he enjoyed his gourmet chocolates as much as I do, he'd be really fat.

To tell you, it's really funny, the gourmet chocolate I eat doesn't make me fat. This is because I am careful with it. My philosophy about things that you really enjoy is that you should save them for special occasions. otherwise, if you enjoy gourmet food enough you may get spoiled for normal food. As it is, I can enjoy regular chocolate candies every now and then. They taste good to me. Even though they are not as good as gourmet chocolates, I certainly don't complain. This is because I don't exclusively eat gourmet chocolate. If I had it every day, I would be able to eat cake, pie, candy, or any other sweets. I would even be bored by fruits.

You should know that, there are many different kinds of gourmet chocolates that are good. Having rich, dark chocolate unpolluted by other flavors is enough to satisfy the craving. Then again, sometimes it is nice to have a good chocolate truffle or something like that. Truffles of all kinds are also available for those with an extra sweet tooth. Whether you love dark, milk or white chocolate it is all available out there for you. There is such a nice, complex balance of different flavors there. They all contribute to the whole experience. Together, the truffle as a whole is more delicious than any of its parts.

Plus, there are also boxes of chocolate to suit anyone's needs and those contain a wide collection of different gourmet chocolates. Some people really enjoy coffee filled chocolate or cherry filled chocolate. In a box of chocolate, all of these are possible and even things you never thought imaginable will be waiting for you when you open the lid.

And likewise, if you want a plain chocolate bar than those are available too, all but everywhere. Dark, milk or white chocolates are available for chocolate bars so you'll get your chocolate fix. You can break off a piece of the bar and simply let the chocolate melt slowly in your mouth as you let all your worries escape you.

Aside from those chocolates mentioned above, there are also other different cocoa inspired delectable treats out there to please anyone. There are types of chocolate that some people probably never thought possible. As what I have discovered that chocolates now can come in a chocolate-wine combination to serve as a decadent topping to any dessert. Some flavors include a chocolate espresso merlot or a chocolate raspberry cabernet. No one would have thought that wine and chocolate would fit well together but these gourmet chocolates, when paired with ice cream, would be sure to ticket anyone's taste buds.

Unfortunately, these small luscious treasures make a perfect gift for anyone. If you know a chocolate lover, then they will greatly appreciate the sophisticated taste of these gourmet delights. They will know that you spent your time and money buying them the only gift they really need. Stores that sell these delicious treats also have gift certificates available so if you can't pick out the perfect gourmet chocolates you can certainly let them do it with your gift for them. After all, it reminds us that we can enjoy our favorite treat knowing it's good for the body and perhaps also the mind.

Looking to satisfy your sweet tooth? More gourmet chocolate and other sweets can be found at our site.