Located in the heart of the Napa Valley, the Lucy Restaurant and Bar at Bardessono is a farm-to-table (complete with a garden on the grounds!) dining experience that stole my heart years ago! It's easy to love the Lucy Restaurant and Bar: tucked away right off the main square in Yountville, the staff, service, and ambiance is both casual-elegance, and impeccable.
What I love about the menu at Lucy Restaurant and Bar at Bardessono is how it changes seasonally. Squash and root vegetables, mushrooms, and all things hearty and warm are some of my absolute favorite things about the fall and winter seasons. Knowing that the Lucy menu would be full of these had me anticipating this meal for a week ahead of time! To share the experience, I brought my friend Victoria along.
Parking at Bardessono is a a breeze - because it's all valet 😍 Living anywhere in California you learn to allot an extra 10-20 minutes (30+ if you're in a large city) to simply find parking. Dining at the Lucy Restaurant and Bar is such a pleasure from beginning to end - starting with removing the concern of finding a place to park. As we had a reservation (recommended!) we were seated promptly.
To get us started, Victoria and I ordered from their cocktail menu. I ordered the Violet Harvest - a gin, lemon juice, ginger syrup, honey, and violet infused cocktail, and Victoria ordered the Green Dream; a tequila, lime, and cilantro-Serrano agave infused cocktail. Both were delicious! I loved the heat in the Green Dream, and I also really enjoyed how well my Violet Harvest paired with our burrata and pear appetizer.
We ordered two appetizers: a Roasted Beet & Chevre Toast - a diced beet, pickled ramps, and herbed goat cheese served on top a toast rye, and Fresh Burrata paired with a pear and fig compote. These were absolutely divine! I could have curled up with a full bowl of each and called myself happy. The burrata with the pear and fig paired in such a beautiful way with my violet cocktail. I highly recommend ordering the two together💗
For our entrees, I had the House-Made Orecchiette pasta, which was topped with a fall vegetable “bolognese”, made of roasted squash purée, baby kale, and pecorino toscano. Victoria ordered the Gnocchi, a dish that came loaded with seasonal mushrooms, italian tartufata, and a kale-almond pesto. I personally could not get enough of my orecchiette dish - though at this point I was quite stuffed. Every bite was full of so many flavors that I love: delicata squash, both pureed and diced, and roasted to sweet, caramelized perfection (hot tip: Trader Joe's sells these seasonally for $.99 each!). I adore hearty, vegetable heavy dishes, and this one truly felt like it had been made for me.
Though Victoria is too polite to admit it, I think she felt a little overwhelmed with the amount of mushrooms in her dish. I would have happily assisted her with them, but due to a rather severe almond allergy, her dish was not an option for me. So, know that if you love and adore mushrooms as much as I do, the gnocchi is a fantastic option. If mushrooms aren't really your thing, I do highly recommend the orecchiette. I mean...it's been a week, and I am still thinking about that dish!
As a side we ordered the Polenta Fries, which were seasoned with fennel, aleppo chili and candied orange peel. Surely, at this point you can agree that we had gotten ahead of ourselves 😂. But they were so good!! One thing I will say about these is that I wish they had come with an acidic dipping sauce; perhaps a spicy ketchup - as polenta can get a little heavy quite easily. But - they were still oh-so delicious.
For dessert, we wisely opted to share a dish. We had the oh-so decadent Warm Pineapple Tarte Tartin: a warm puff pastry with rum caramel, grilled pineapple, and topped with a coconut-lemongrass ice cream. It.Was.Spectacular. Honestly - I need this to be made into a pineapple upside down cake. My vocabulary is truly failing me in my ability to communicate just how exquisite this dessert is. Please take my advice on this, and make sure you order this divine dessert!
Our dinner in Napa Valley at Lucy Restaurant and Bar at Bardessono was spectacular from beginning to end. I am so thankful that I had a second opportunity to return, and I hope to dine with them again soon! If you make your way to Yountville to visit them for dinner, please let me know how you enjoy it! A big thank you to Lucy Restaurant and Bar and Bardessono for hosting us. We had a lovely time. ♥