Nasty break-up at Angele/Napa, where we ate May 2012. Scott Ekstrom has been replaced by Rogelio Garcia. Inside Scoop: http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2013/06/28/angele-chef-shuffle-scott-ekstrom-out-rogelio-garcia-in/

Angèle
540 Main Street, Napa, CA
http://www.Angèlerestaurant.com/menus.html 
Review date: May 2012

We chose Angèle for a lunch. It's a small, cute French bistro right on the Napa River, in the same converted brick building that holds the Napa River Inn. Despite this, you don't have scenic views from inside. They do have an outdoor patio area which directly overlooks the river. However, it was cold and threatening drizzle, so everyone was inside.

The owners of Angèle are Bettina and Claude Rouas. Claude and his brother founded the original Fleur de Lys/SF, but Claude left Fleur after almost twenty years to go back to bistro roots with Angèle. In March 2012, ExecChef Patrick Kelley left and was replaced by Scott Ekstrom, who comes to Napa from New York. He worked for four years under Daniel Boulud at Boulud’s four-star Daniel. He went on to become the chef de cuisine at Oceana during its tenure, earning three stars from the NY Times.

Now, this wasn't necessarily a good thing, in our opinion. We personally haven't had much luck with NY chefs newly arrived to CA. They seem to have a heavy hand, suitable for a region with lousy weather in both winter and summer, but not always matched to the way Californians eat.

I started with the pork belly, served with cabbage and bacon, an apple compote, and some odd spaetzle supposedly made with whole-grain mustard. The spaetzle were tasty, but so tiny, if it hadn't been for the menu description I wouldn't have been sure what they were.

This was especially true as there was considerable fat from the pork belly which had melted onto the plate. Although the flavors went together well and were delicious, there was just too much greasiness in this dish, even for me. It was good, but unnecessarily fatty.

Carlos started with the sweetbreads, which were crisply pan-fried with just a light dusting of flour for a coating. There was shredded endive in a creamy sauce flecked with bits of speck (a juniper-flavored ham from the Tyrol in Northern Italy), with a lovely Madeira sauce pooled underneath everything. 

The sweetbreads were excellent, and really would have been better with simply the Madeira sauce by itself. Adding a rich cream-sauced endive and the spoonful of housemade fig preserve, made it over-garnished, a trend which seemed to infect every restaurant we tried in Napa. The figs were frankly too sweet for the sweetbreads. We told the waiter it would go better with a pork chop. It's bad enough when everyone thinks fruit and sugar is necessary for foie gras, but now it seems to be trending into all offal – a disservice to already-ignored delicacies.

Carlos ordered the hanger steak for his entree. It's their steak frites, but he asked to sub the mac'n'cheese gratin, which is a regular side dish, instead. We were pleasantly surprised that they added a generous portion of a simple mixed green salad to the plate, and that the gratin, although full-sized, was given to us for $2.50 instead of its normal $8 price.

The steak was a little more medium on the edges than medium-rare, but it was tender and tasty. The mac'n'cheese was made with Gruyere and nicely crisped on top. Carlos called it one of the better mac'n'cheese dishes we've gotten from a restaurant. It wasn't the creamiest version, but the good quality Gruyere really made a difference. We shared this, along with a side of the Brussel sprouts with bacon. The small crisped cubes of bacon were actually much better eaten with the mac'n'cheese. Although the Brussel sprout halves had some grill marks, they were barely cooked. I prefer my sprouts more fully cooked, bringing out more of their natural sweetness. We ate them all, but there are better versions of this elsewhere.

I had the sweetbreads as my entree, and enjoyed them, although with the rich-upon-rich procession of the courses I'd chosen, it was over the top in cholesterol richness. Next time, I'd pick something different. This kitchen uses a lot of butter and oil – maybe too much so.

We shared the banana tartin with vanilla gelato. This was much too sweet, in both the custard sauce surrounding the bananas and the brown sugar-butter crumble on top, making it cloying. The top was hot and the bananas underneath were cold, never a good combination.

We both had hot tea – Carlos had the Moroccan Mint and I had the Organic Breakfast. The teas are Art of Tea from Los Angeles, but although good they're not my favorite upscale bag tea, being a definite level below Mighty Leaf.

Angèle is a cute little place. Not great but pleasing, with excellent service. If you pick your way carefully through the menu, it's got that attractive location just off Napa's main drag. In good summer weather it would make for a great patio lunch or early dinner spot by the river, assuming Eckstrom lightens his cooking up somewhat.

Note that the parking lot for the building is small, but there's another public lot to the right when you're facing the river. All street and restaurant parking is only two-hour, though; and I'll bet that during summer's high season, the meter maids are fierce.

Two people, lunch: Three starters, two sides, one entree, two beverages with tip, was $121.