With beautiful mountain ranges and sweeping vineyards galore, the Napa Valley doesn’t have to work hard to enrapture visitors. So, it’s a rare restaurant there that somehow manages to outdo that bucolic setting and transport you elsewhere.
That establishment is Angele Restaurant & Bar in downtown Napa, where dining feels like a blissful getaway to the lovely countryside of France.
Owner Bettina Rouas opened the restaurant on the banks of the Napa River in 2002, naming it for her grandmother.
The welcome sign at the door.The roof over the outdoor patio.
The comfortable warmth you feel at Angele is no accident, not when Rouas hails from a family renowned for its hospitality. Her father Claude Rouas owned legendary L’Etoile in San Francisco and opened Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford.
A sandwich that’s just meat and sauce — and perfectly put together.
The first time I stumbled upon the cooking show, “Struggle Meals” with host Frankie Celenza, he was wielding a fork that he referred to as his “Struggle Whip 9000” and pulling out individual packs of chili flakes, honey and butter from the “packet drawer” in a kitchen outfitted with pink pig figurines everywhere.
I just thought, “What the heck?”
But it wasn’t long before I was hooked by the show’s many charms, and by a guy who obviously had serious knife skills and know-how from working at New York City restaurants.
Now comes his first cookbook, “EAT: Easy, Affordable, Tasty” (Union Square & Co.), of which I received a review copy.
A home version of Zareen’s fabled grilled chicken boti.
The first time I had the pleasure of dining at Zareen’s in Palo Alto, my husband and I ordered chicken samosas, thali plates, and an obscene amount of flatbreads.
But apparently, that wasn’t enough. Because just as we began digging into it all, Owner Zareen Khan walked over with a plate of grilled chicken botti, sizzling away on a cast-iron platter and filling the air with the warm scent of garlic, cumin, and paprika. “You have to try this,” she said, proudly.
She was right. It is now a must-order for us whenever we dine there. We’re definitely not alone, as it’s the most popular dish at the restaurant.
You’ll find that “Grilled Chicken Boti” recipe in her new cookbook, “Zareen’s Pakistani Kitchen” (Sasquatch Books), of which I received a review copy.
The book was written with her husband, Umair Khan, who is the founder of Folio3 Software and a founding partner of Mentors Fund, as well as a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
She and her husband, who met in high school, were both born in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. The cookbook showcases the Pakistani and North Indian specialties of Zareen’s, as well as beloved home-cooking staples and street-food favorites.
Pan-roasted ling cod at The Painted Lady Restaurant.
Newberg, OR — The stately Queen Anne-style Victorian on South College St. at East Second Street has endured a long while.
But it took husband and wife, Chef Allen Routt and General Manager Jessica Bagley-Routt to inject new life and spirit into this house that was built in 1895.
Last week, the couple celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Painted Lady Restaurant, the charming, fine-dining establishment they opened here after renovating this 130-year-old gem in Oregon Wine Country.
These days with so many increasing challenges, it gets harder and harder to maintain a business. That the Routts have managed to do so at such a high level is a true testament to their dedication to quality and standards.
Routt, who began cooking at age 16, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and interned with Chef Bradley Ogden at San Francisco’s One Market. That led to cooking stints at such iconic establishments as the Inn at Chef Patrick O’Connell’s The Inn at Little Washington, Chef Jean-Louis Palladin’s Pesce, and Chef Mark Militello’s Mark’s South Beach (where he would meet his future wife), then becoming executive chef at Brannan’s Grill in Calistoga.
The Victorian turned fine-dining restaurant.
His wife, who was raised in Southern Oregon, graduated with top honors from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, where she interned at acclaimed Higgins restaurant, before helping open Mark’s South Beach. She eventually took a job at Chef Hiro Sone’s Terra restaurant in St. Helena before becoming a sous chef at Brix restaurant in Napa.
Parkdale, OR — As a kid, Randy Kiyokawa dreamed of becoming either a police officer or a DJ, professions he knows couldn’t have been more different from one another.
But as Kiyokawa grew to learn, familial expectations have a way of steering one’s path in life. As his parents’ youngest child and only son, he knew deep down that his destiny likely would entail succeeding them in overseeing the family fruit farm, one of the few remaining Hood River Valley farms owned by Japanese American families who returned here following their internment during World War II.
Planted with 157 acres of fruit trees, including more varieties of apples than probably any other farm in the valley, Kiyokawa Family Orchards is a testament to perseverance and adaptation.
Thankfully, its legacy will continue now that Kiyokawa, on the brink of turning 64, is poised to turn the farm’s operations over to the fourth generation — his daughter.
Last month, I had a chance to visit the farm. Though it hadn’t yet opened to the public for the season, work was still happening, most notably on the small homes on site. He provides free housing to his 40 employees
His farm boasts a stunning view of Mount Hood.
Kiyokawa walked me around the property, where blossoms were just starting to appear on Bosc, Comice, and Anjou pear trees. He also grows peaches, plums, and baby kiwi. In a nod to his wife’s heritage, he also planted Persian plums and sour cherries.
It’s apples, though, for which his farm is best known — 125 varieties in all.
