In downtown Napa, a stone's throw from the Oxbow Public Market and adjacent to the River Terrace Inn, Restaurant Cuvee has been around for a few years and has a strong following for its beautiful setting and delicious food. Locals go for special occasions and romantic nights out, or head to the outdoor lounge for a low key dinner around the fireplace listening to live blues.
It's a place that embraces so many things that Napa does well – elegance and comfort without being overly fancy and extremely local ingredients in their "high country" comfort food. Regulars swear by the shrimp and grits, the beet salad, the locally foraged mushrooms and the short rib pot roast. Another feature that makes guests feel at ease is the restaurant's list of wines by the glass. The restaurant selects a few wines to offer "on tap" and diners can choose to have three, eight, sixteen or thirty ounces of one of those particular wines, allowing for a more laid back meal without a server constantly filling your glass or rushing you on to the next bottle. 
Restaurant Cuvee — Photo courtesy of Cuvee
What's new? It's the "potions." Restaurant Cuvee recently introduced their new cocktail menu, and some of the drinks they offer are exquisitely executed versions of the classics, like a homemade gin and tonic with rainforest quinine, soda and Tanqueray. Others are reinterpreted and refreshed, like the Sophisticated Sidecar, which blends Hennesssy VS, Grand Marnier, fresh squeezed lemon juice and Chase elderflower liqueur. All of the cocktails use locally grown fruits and vegetables, herbs from the restaurant's onsite garden and locally distilled spirits.
