Julia's Kitchen - Review

Intro
Julia's Kitchen at COPIA – Highly Recommended
500 1st Street
Napa, CA 94559

After the grand spectacle of the French Laundry, we weren’t really looking for any place in particular to eat. I heard some things about a Napa food and wine museum called COPIA, which sounded intriguing. Fortunately for us, Julia’s Kitchen is located at COPIA and I heard some good things about this place. The restaurant is named after Julia Child and although I haven’t watched many of her tv shows – I still respected her tremendously. The restaurant definitely does justice to her namesake. Overall, I give the restaurant an 89/100.

My Menu
1) Copia Garden Peach Salad – Highly Recommended (must have)
2) Sauteed Dayboat Scallops – Highly Recommended (must have)
3) Chicken and Mushroom Fricasse – Not Recommended

Dish Comments
1) After the first bite of the peach, I knew California was very special. This was unlike any peach I’ve ever had on the East Coast or really anywhere. So naturally sweet, which perfectly complemented the rich goat cheese and great vinaigrette. The hazelnuts were a surprising flavor and texture addition to the salad. A phenomenal salad.
2) I’m a sucker for scallops (my favorite seafood) and these are done perfectly, where it’s juicy and very sweet. However, the keys to this dish are again the phenomenal California produce. The potatoes had the best flavor and texture I’ve ever had of any potato. Combine that with the crispy shallots, roasted tomatoes (which were amazing on it’s own), scallops, and wonderful lemon beurre blanc sauce and this was another dish that will be burned in my mind forever. Definitely will try to recreate a version of this sometime…
3) I had a feeling this was going to be average, but I really wanted pasta since I haven’t had any on this trip (pasta is my first food love). Unfortunately, I was right and this was just OK. The pasta didn't have enough silkiness to my liking and the sauce didn’t really go well with the pasta. The chicken was moist, but nothing seemed to blend together.

Overall Restaurant Experience (89/100)

• Food 9.0/10 – Even though the pasta was average, the salad and scallop dishes were amazing. If I picked any other dish off the “A tribute to Julia” section, I would have been really happy. Unfortunately, I have a pasta obsession…
• Service 8.5/10 – Server was extremely nice and helpful. At times, she was a tad unresponsive, but that was just because we had The French Laundry experience the day before. Food came out promptly.
• Atmosphere 9/10 – A casual restaurant that is really beautiful. The colors of the restaurant really pop out and make the place very bright along with the large windows overlooking Copia’s garden. Like the French Laundry, seeing a very large garden next to a restaurant really puts you in the mindset of good eating. All along the restaurant you will see awards and certificates to Julia Child (as well as her picture at the entrance), which makes you pay homage to a great chef and instructor. The crowd is dressed very casual and when we were there was a large family there with some young children.
• Price 9.0/10 – This was 10% of the French Laundry bill and I was in some ways happier after this meal than the French Laundry.

Closing Comments
I wasn’t expecting much from this place and I was shocked at how good the food was. I’ve had potatoes and peaches from many restaurants all over the world and they’ve never compared to the ones at Julia’s Kitchen. After being inspired by the cooking and the Julia memorabilia, I am going to get Julia's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Definitely coming back and next time I’ll stay with the French/New American dishes and stay away from the pastas.