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Top 10 💎 Splurge

BOA Steakhouse

Napa
01🏆 TOP SPOT$$$$
🔥🔥 Hot Right Now🍽️Top Dish✨New & Notable❤️Date Night

Napa’s newest big-night-out steakhouse is unapologetically over the top, pairing dry-aged steaks and Japanese Wagyu with a high-energy room that feels more L.A. than traditional Wine Country. Go when you want dinner to feel like the start of the night rather than another quiet Napa meal.

The move

Start with the Wagyu cigars and tableside Caesar, then split the 15-day dry-aged bone-in ribeye and corn crème brûlée. If you’re going all-in, add the “boujee” twice-baked potato topped with caviar—this is not the place to order conservatively.

Auro

Calistoga
02TOP 3 · #2$$$$
⭐1 Michelin Star⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night

One of the Valley's true destination dinners: polished, ambitious and built for the night when dinner itself is the entire plan. The seasonal tasting menu leans heavily into pristine seafood, luxury ingredients and precise technique rather than familiar Napa comfort food.

The move

Make Auro the centerpiece of the night. Keep the afternoon easy, arrive without rushing, and give the tasting-menu experience the space it deserves.

PRESS

St. Helena
03TOP 3 · #3$$$$
⭐1 Michelin Star⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night

PRESS is one of Napa Valley's serious destination dinners, combining an ambitious kitchen with a wine program built around the depth of Napa Valley itself.

The move

Make dinner the final major reservation of the day and leave room for the wine list. This is a place to linger rather than race through before another stop.

Auberge du Soleil

Rutherford
04$$
⭐1 Michelin Star⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night☀️Outdoor

Few places deliver the Wine Country fantasy as completely as Auberge du Soleil. Perched above Rutherford, the hillside property looks across the vineyards and valley floor, making the view nearly as important to the experience as what's on the table.

The move

Go before sunset and don't rush it. Start with a drink outside while there's still daylight over the valley, then move into dinner as the light changes. If you don't want the full formal meal, The Bar is the move for getting much of the Auberge experience with less commitment.

The French Laundry

Yountville
05$$$$
⭐3 Michelin Stars⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night

The French Laundry is the benchmark Napa Valley splurge: Thomas Keller's Yountville restaurant is the kind of reservation people build entire trips around rather than simply another dinner on the itinerary.

The move

Treat the reservation as the centerpiece of the day. Keep the afternoon light, arrive without rushing and give the meal the time and attention it demands.

Kenzo

Napa
06$$$$
⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night

Kenzo brings an intimate Japanese fine-dining experience to downtown Napa, pairing a highly composed multi-course meal with wines from the owners' Napa Valley estate.

The move

Let Kenzo own the evening. This is not the reservation to sandwich between tastings and cocktails; arrive ready for the full multi-course experience.

Roy Estate

Napa
07$$$$
🍷Wine + Food🍽️Full Meal

This is Napa with the volume turned down and the attention to detail turned way up. Intimate, personal and closer to being invited over than walking into a tasting room.

The move

If you can land it, book the Chef’s Table inside the proprietor’s private residence. Former Alinea chef Tom Stafford cooks a four-course menu just steps away, with surprise bites and estate wines throughout.

Progeny Winery

Napa
08$$$$
🍷Wine + Food🍽️Full Meal

The drive up Mount Veeder is part of the point. Progeny feels hidden away from Napa’s main drag, with mountain wines, big views and a tasting worthy of being the centerpiece of the day.

The move

Book the Estate Wine & Food Pairing and grab a seat near the kitchen for four seasonal plates with reserve wines. Or, on a beautiful day, disappear into the oak-lined cove for chef John Gerber’s Al Fresco Picnic Tasting.

Rudd Estate

Oakville
09$$$$
🍷Wine + Food🍽️Full Meal

Rudd has all the Oakville pedigree you could ask for without making the afternoon feel like a board meeting. Beautiful estate, serious Cabernet, surprisingly relaxed energy.

The move

Order the Fancy-Pants Picnic. Four Crossroads wines come with Under-Study’s Bougie Box — Sicilian-focaccia sandwiches, house-made chips and a still-warm cookie. Fried chicken sandwich if it’s available.

Fantesca Estate & Winery

St. Helena
10$$$$
🍷Wine + Food🍽️Full Meal

A private Spring Mountain stop that feels worlds away from the traffic below, with serious wine and the kind of personal hospitality people hope Napa will have.

The move

Book the six-seat culinary tasting and let chef Ross Melling go to work. Think kanpachi tartare, duck confit en croûte, Redhawk fondue and mushroom tartlets paired with Heidi Barrett and Tony Arcudi wines.

Best of the Rest

More places worth knowing.

RO Restaurant & Lounge

Yountville
11$$$$
🌎Global Cuisine

Thomas Keller's Yountville restaurant pairs Japanese technique with California ingredients in a polished dining room built around sushi, pristine seafood and luxury ingredients.

The move

Don't treat this like a quick sushi stop. Order across the menu, start with seafood or sashimi and save room for one of the larger luxury dishes.