In The Lap of Napa

Travels

THE TREE-CHOKED, winding drive into Meadowood, past the pool and tennis courts up toward the main lodge, might conjure up memories of the road to summer camp. But there the flashback ends. Unless, that is, your summer camp rated four stars from the Mobil Travel Guide and your cook was a philosopher/chef who earned his stripes at the three-star Michelin-rated Les Jardins de Sens in France.

We signed up for Meadowood in the fall, just before the arrival of the recession——or at least before the realization of recession. The Napa Valley escape——part of a “Town & Country” pack age offering two nights at Meadowood and two nights at the four-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco——seemed like a capital idea at the time: Offer stunning accommodations at two of the more-luxurious hostelries in Northern California, and toggle them together with a luxury car of your choice. Base price per couple: $4,600 for four nights (car extra).

Of course, it’s still a great idea. You’ve been saving up for camp, right? And the best things in life aren’t necessarily free. The moon and stars may belong to everyone, as the song says, but it’s nice to be able to see them through impeccably clear skies——especially from the private balcony of a one-bedroom cottage, nestled among 250 acres of pines and overlooking a perfectly manicured croquet course.

And okay, if you tire of the stars, you can always retreat to your cottage, fire up the fieldstone fireplace, pop the cork on a bottle of Napa Valley Chardonnay and run a bath for two in the Jacuzzi-style tub. For those traveling to the romantic wine country alone ——and why is that?——there’s a quite-comfortable king bed cloaked in down comforters facing a flat-screen, hi-def TV.

In recent years, Meadowood has become as much about the wine and food as the embracing country atmosphere. The menus of Chicago-born chef Christopher Kostow——who earned his Michelin stars before he was 30 and apprenticed at George’s at the Cove in La Jolla——have been described as “intelligent and playful.” True enough. Poached and roasted squab with nectarine, foie gras and dark chocolate is certainly playful. But more to the point: The food tastes great. And a four-course dinner for two in the recently remodeled The Restaurant at Meadowood would rank among the best in many of the world’s great hotels.

Our dinners from the tasting menu (paired with wines) began with smoked toro with osetra caviar; moved on through foie gras and strawberries, Japanese pike mackerel and lobster with sweetbreads; peaked with vitello tonnato (veal tenderloin); and finished nicely with Valrhona chocolate with spiced raspberry and hazelnut. Chef Kostow came with the meal——circling the dining room and stopping at tables to chat up guests and offer commentaries. The dinner was part of the package, which made it even easier to swallow. Absent the package, the tab for two would have been $500. Breakfast for two is also part of the package, both days. Or there is the Meadowood spa, with complete workout facilities, for morning-after guilt.

There’s also more to see. Recommended: a side trip to The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in nearby St. Helena, for a wine lunch——if the workout worked——and a tour of the 120-year-old Greystone Cellars, its educational kitchens and 200-foot wine storage tunnel. And a visit to at least one winery seems mandatory. This is wine country, after all.

We opted for an over-the-top place along the Silverado Trail called Darioush——named for its Persian owner, Darioush Khaledi, who bought the property in 1997 and opened the winery in 2007 after five years of construction. The effect is basically “wine country meets Vegas meets Persia,” but it’s a popular attraction for the younger set. And the Viognier and Pinot Noir are more than worth the visit and tasting price of $25.

ECONOMICS DICTATING, the Napa experience was painfully brief, but San Francisco and another luxury hotel were part of the deal.

San Francisco is San Francisco. The key variable: accommodations. As a pairing, Meadowood and the Mandarin Oriental were made for each other. Set in the heart of “The City”——as many locals still prefer to call it——the Mandarin Oriental offers spectacular vistas of Tony Bennett’s city by the bay. Our room is called “The Bay to Bay.” Through the clouds, from the 22nd-floor windows, we can see both the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. And we can see why William Saroyan once opined, “No other city invites the heart to come to life as much as San Francisco.”

The view from within is pretty spectacular, too. The hotel boasts another of Northern California’s finest restaurants, the four-star Silks. The rich décor——with silken fabrics and a warm red color palette——features works of art based on Marco Polo’s famed odyssey. A prix fixe chef’s dinner at Silks, with wine pairings, is part of the package.

Coming back down to Earth in San Francisco offers a somewhat different perspective. President William Howard Taft once called it “the city that knows how.” That was more than a century ago. San Francisco is still a vital, energizing, pulsing city. The people are real; diversity reigns. The restaurants are among the best in the world. And the options for shopping and entertainment are unmatched. Even a 40-minute wait for 18 little Swedish pancakes at the mega-popular little Sears eatery is worth it; the passing trolleys offer a perennially entertaining sideshow.

But San Francisco seems to have forgotten a few things. One of them is cleanliness. The streets and sidewalks are littered; the lanes are often cluttered with trash. And a solution to the homeless problem remains elusive. (Recent estimates put the number of homeless in the Bay Area at 35,000.) It’s one thing to view it all from a luxury hotel suite atop the city’s third-tallest skyscraper——it’s something else to traverse it at ground zero.

Still, the spirit of San Francisco appears to be as optimistic as ever, even among the city’s disenfranchised——as evidenced by the sense of humor of a white-bearded fellow crouching on the curb at the foot of Powell Street, fishing for handouts with his hand-scrawled sign: “Help Me! Family Kidnapped by Ninjas.”

With any luck, their kidnappers left them in San Francisco.

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If You Go

SOUTHWEST IS STILL the best-bet airline, with flights from San Diego to Oakland (if you’re going first to Meadowood) or to San Francisco. A personal chauffeur will greet you at San Francisco International Airport for the drive to the Mandarin Oriental. The Town & Country package may be booked through either Meadowood, 707-963-3646, or the Mandarin Oriental, 415-276-9888; U.S. toll-free: 800-458-8080. Package cost begins at $4,600, depending on guestroom category, and is exclusive of taxes and gratuities. Cost of the luxury car option (Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Infiniti) is $500-$1,200. For information on a tour of The Culinary Institute: 707-967-2320. For more on Darioush Winery: 707-257-2345 or darioush.com.

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