Wine Country pub eats
Rotisserie anchors Joseph Humphrey’s high-low mix at Farmer and the Fox in St. Helena
As I drove through downtown St. Helena to the Farmer and the Fox, I didn’t realize it was the same address as the former discount mall north of town.
The outlet mall closed several years ago, and while itwas obvious that amajor project was in theworks to replace it, Iwasn’t sure wha twas going on.
The partly finished structure, built on the same footprint as the mall, includes the restaurant, a large tasting room, a deli and bakery called Butterscots that’s filled with local products, and an under-construction sensory classroom for the winery.
What I did know was that Joseph Humphrey, formerly of Meadowood, Murray Circle and Dixie, his own ill-fated venture in San Francisco, was in the kitchen. That alone was reason enough tomake the drive, but the sprawling, manicured surroundings were a huge surprise.
The restaurant is a mashup of an English pub and Wine Country chic. Black-andwhite marble tiles define the promisinglooking bar, where the ice cubes are handcarved. A wood partition with high-backed upholstered booths sets the dining area off from the bar. Both have views of the courtyard, which includes a fountain that looks like tiered wedding cake carved from ice and a canopied seating area with a fireplace.
It’s an impressive enterprise for one winery, but what was most surprising is that on a Sunday evening, wewere the only people in the 84-seat dining room, and only a few peoplewere on the 14-seat patio. Iwondered how it would survive, especially since itwas also nearlyempty onmy second visit and only three-quarters full onmy final visit on a Saturday night.
Ifmy three meals were any indication, it should be filled every night. Humphrey is in the zone, creating food that has more focus than what he did at Dixie.
He’s installed a large rotisserie in the enclosed kitchen. It’s the anchor of the menu, which features a daily roast (price varies). Onone ofmy visits itwas chicken, a pleasant Napa Valley counterpart to Zuni, served with sauteed squash and two sauces, including one made with bourbon. The sauces were fine, but the chicken needed nothing more than the infusion of smoke and the blistered skin that covered a thin layer of herbs. A squirt of the accompanying grilled lemon brought it all together flawlessly.
However, those sauces are good with the excellent house-made popovers ($9), moist and eggy, with a salty, crunchy exterior. We also ordered corn on the cob ($7) roasted in its husk and served with whiskey shallot butter. Altogether, itwas about as satisfying a meal as you’ll find in the valley.
Onanother visit, the daily roast was lamb chops, and on another visit, porchetta— a thick round of fatty pork with a rich flavor and bronzed skin so thick, it could chip a tooth.
Humphrey also offers a nightly “simple grilled fish” ($21) such as wild salmon— two well-scored fillets on bearnaise sauce with rumbledethumps, a traditional Scottish cabbage dish.
The menu alternates between the triedand-true, such as Scotch egg ($8) and a respectable grass-fed cheeseburger ($16), and more innovative rustic choices such as smoked duck wings ($9), a clever take on the familiar Buffalo chicken wings, garnished with minced celery, small chunks of blue cheese and wisps of tender sprouts.
Iwas surprised by the thin sheets of butter shaved over the top of whiskey-cured salmon ($15), but they blended nicely with the slab of dark Scottish beer bread underneath, shavings of cucumbers and petals of onions.
Butter-poached shrimp ($14) came in a squat Mason jar next to a thin strip of oatmeal cracker and sour orange chutney. On another visit, Humphrey offered fresh spot prawns ($18) with shavings of summer squash and small whole chanterelles on a verdant bed of salsa verde. The blend of sweet seafood, tangy sauce and earthy mushrooms showed a compelling mix of refinement and rusticity.
That extends to other dishes on the menu. Game pie ($15) has awell-crafted crust and nicely flavored meat, although densely packed. Smoked mussel chowder ($12) becomes an intense saucy base for a mound of mussels in the shell; and fried quail ($17) perches on the edge of the widerimmed soup plate filled with a thick barley stew.
At times, however, the kitchen seemed to lose control. Curry overpowered the lamb tartare ($12), and too little dressing made the farmer salad ($9), with pristine greens and shaved vegetables, seem a little austere.
Apub steak ($25) had the tough texture of grilled round steak; it’s a cut that needs mechanical tenderizing unless a diner is into intense jaw exercise. Rabbit Wellington ($22) was a great idea— andwas plated expertly— but there’s a reason Wellington has gone out of style: The pastry peeled off like no-stick wallpaper, leaving an anemic-looking roll of meat.
The big surprise was the squab and lobster salad ($32), a surf and turf and arranged around a mound of glistening, peppery mustard greens, tiny florets of cauliflower and smoked almonds. It’s a combination that highlights Napa Valley lightness, yet nods to the pub-food theme.
For dessert, ice box cake rolled with butterscotch mousse ($8) tasted good on one visit, somewhat stale on another. The most interesting choice was the ginger ice cream cake ($7) on caramelized white chocolate with a garnish of apricots.
While the wine list didn’t seem that impressive for a Wine Country restaurant, the cocktail and beer choices made up for it. After all, this is billed as a Napa Valley gastropub, so the selectionm akes sense.
Service, unfortunately, iswell intentioned but amateurish; at times, the waiters disappeared when something was needed, though it improved Saturday night when the restaurant was mostly full. Abusy restaurant is generally a happy restaurant.
Still, with the impressive decor and Humphrey in the kitchen, the Farmer and the Fox deserves a full house— a very full house.