Bayleaf Review
Secluded and pretty location just off Silverado Trail that is sort of an old-school high-end restaurant. The atmosphere is a bit on the stuffy side for us, and the food doesn't quite live up to aspirations though.
Bayleaf food
Bayleaf's menu is a bit weird. It definitely leans more towards Italian in a sort of continental way (French stuff too). For instance, looking at the dinner menu, you can see pizzas, risotto, saltimbocca, but then you also have beef wellington, paella, and bbq babyback ribs.
Appetizers
We started off with the oak roasted oysters which were yummy enough with roasted garlic, mascarpone and a nice breadcrumb crust. The purists might quibble and say that the oyster gets lost in all of that, but we're easy. Ours came out pretty hot though which made eating them a challenge initially. Good start.
Entrees
I got the Beef Wellington. Now, we once watched some Food Network show that talked about how Beef Wellington had become cliche after being cooked to death (and badly) in the US during the 60s and 70s. Since that's before my time as an eater, it's still fairly new to me. So, I ordered it here since it's supposed to be a house special, and I wanted to see how it would compare to the one we had at Cole's Chop House. And the answer is...the answer is I've probably had enough beef wellington for a while. :-) It's the heart attack on a stick that you expect from a beef wellington. In this case, beef tenderloin of some sort in the center, mushrooms and foie gras, and the quail egg wrapped up in rich puff pastry and a bernaise sauce. I must admit that I was a little surprised by the er...roundness of it. I usually associate Beef Wellington as being more rectangular. This looked a bit like a baseball. Had this wonderful glaze on it though. The broccoli is probably there just to avoid lawsuits for the inevitable coronary bypass. Maybe there was a bit too much going on with the dish with all the ingredients inside.
Of course, since I am the world's worst meal photographer, I didn't think to open the thing first before taking the photo and eating and so I am instead showing you the outside. D'oh.
My wife had the paella cazuela which is cooked in a clay pot rather than a metal pan. I guess you don't get that crispy paella at the bottom with a clay pot. Lobster, chorizo, clams, some shrimp in there. Actually, I liked the flavor behind this one noticeably more than my beef wellington which was a bit busy and rich for my blood, but for $34, we were a little surprised at the small size of the paella.
Dessert
The dessert menu at Bayleaf is a little on the limited side. We had the Bayleaf-Infused Crème Brulee with a caramelized orange reduction and Grand Marnier which is supposedly the signature dessert. I can't say that the bayleaf infusion did a lot for us, but it was ok.
Bayleaf setting and service
Bayleaf is kind of what I thought about higher-end restaurant when I was kid. Stuff you see on TV shows where the waiters come to you in a little black vest, do those little stiff bows, hand you your plates with a bit of a flourish, the plates have the crest of the restaurant, and so on. It did seem a bit over the top. I've seen the owner though give tours of the restaurant, explain where all the pieces came from, show the wine cellar, etc. to customers if the place isn't too busy.
The outside area around the restaurant is very pretty and lush though. It's fairly secluded and probably would make for a nice place to get away from the Napa crowds for those in the mood for this sort of thing. Supposedly, it attracts an older, richer crowd around Silverado Trail, but we haven't been enough to be able to tell. I hear there is valet parking which is sort of laughable given the size of the parking lot. But there wasn't anybody manning the parking lot when we came in. So, we just parked ourselves.
Price of our meal
1 appetizer, 2 dinner entrees, 2 glasses of wine, 1 dessert, tax & tip: $175
My beef wellington was like $40. The paella was like $35. The food was ok but not really great, but its prices were high enough to be a little eyebrow raising.
Other Bayleaf reviews and links
