Restaurant #112 is Botegga in Yountville, Ca
Botegga is Michael Chiarello's, from the Food Network & NapaStyle, restaurant in Napa Valley. I tried to make reservations a few days ahead of time, but they didn't have anything available until 9:30pm, even though it was a Sunday night. The hostess did say that they accept walk-ins, but there might be a bit of a wait. We took our chances because the patio is absolutely beautiful & we knew we could have drinks there first! We were told that the wait would be from 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. No problem for us, it was our anniversary and we brought a bottle of fantastic wine for the wait. We were able to drink our own wine ($20 corkage) & order an appetizer. The first 2 hours flew by, then....it got cold and everyone knows that I'm not good with the cold! After about 2 1/2 hours I went to ask the hostess how much longer. She said there was 1 reservation ahead of us. We saw about three more tables be seated and then us. Unfortunately, we were seated on the patio with no heat lamp next to our table...Ugh! I thought that the hostess might mention how long we waited to the server & she may have at least acknowledged our wait. Nope! The service was indifferent, not good, not bad (though the patio server was great). Plus, she overcharged us for our wine and when we pointed it out she said she didn't.
What I ate & how I liked it:
Organic Prosciutto “house cured”, pasta fritta, zuppa di melone $13 B+
This was a little odd, we had to ask our server how to eat it. We were suppose to cut the deep-fried focaccia in half, roll the prosciutto around it and then pour the melon soup on top. In general I don't like to have to work so hard to eat a meal that I am paying for and having someone else cook.
This was a little odd, we had to ask our server how to eat it. We were suppose to cut the deep-fried focaccia in half, roll the prosciutto around it and then pour the melon soup on top. In general I don't like to have to work so hard to eat a meal that I am paying for and having someone else cook.
House-made egg pappardelle with veal, pork & porcini mushroom Bolognese, Sweet 100 tomatoes, rosemary & parmigiano $18 B+ 
This pasta was well done, but nothing overly special. The noodles were thin and perfectly al dente. The bolognese had either nutmeg or cinnamon in it which I didn't care for so much.
This pasta was well done, but nothing overly special. The noodles were thin and perfectly al dente. The bolognese had either nutmeg or cinnamon in it which I didn't care for so much.
Wood-Grilled Spiced Quail with Pork & Olive Sausage, Calabrese braised romano beans & yukon gold potatoes, red wine-quail reduction $26 A-
The presentation of this freaked me out a bit, looked like a rat spread out on a plate (see photo), but it was tasty, yet bold with spices.
The presentation of this freaked me out a bit, looked like a rat spread out on a plate (see photo), but it was tasty, yet bold with spices.
Chocolate & Caramel Tortino. espresso gelato, milk chocolate peanut butter bar $10 B+
I gave this a B+ because chocolate can't really be bad in my book, but I left wishing I would have ordered the creme brulee.
I gave this a B+ because chocolate can't really be bad in my book, but I left wishing I would have ordered the creme brulee.
All said and done, I would go back to Bottega to sit on the patio for appetizers.
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