Siena - Meritage Resort (lunch)
875 Bordeaux Way, Napa
www.themeritageresort.com 

Even a day after Bottega, Carlos and I were still not terribly hungry, but off we went anyway for another lunch. Today was at Siena, at the Meritage Resort just outside the city of Napa. It's oddly located in a business park, which might be a sound financial decision but feels odd and not very luxurious, although once you get into the resort itself, it's a lovely place.

Siena doesn't quite have the personality of Bottega. But it's comfortable, especially in the rotunda where sunshine was pouring in and there are comfortable padded banquettes where tables for two are located.

Carlos and I had a very light meal, not being able to eat vast quantities the way we could twenty years ago! I chose the Duck Cobb Salad, which pleased me by using butter lettuce - untraditional, but my favorite lettuce and so seldom used as the sole salad green. The bleu cheese dressing was house-made, not as sweet/salty/overthickened as the bottled dressings always are, with crispy duck confit cracklings. The yellow pear and red cherry tomatoes were halved, which is the way I serve them in the salads I make at home, and a few avocado slices and hard-boiled egg quarters were the traditional accompaniments. The sweet pickled onions were not, but they made a nice addition nonetheless, and I enjoyed every bite of this dish. It wasn't inspired or elegant or mind-blowing, just nicely put together and exactly what I wanted at that moment.

Carlos chose three starters. It was interesting that although we didn't specify the order in which he wanted them, the kitchen sent them out in exactly the order he wanted. First came the carpaccio, which was a sublime, properly small-plate sized rendition with baby arugula and more of those pickled onions, but in finer shreds, along with a generous scattering of pickled capers (no washed salted capers, alas) and a good EVOO.

The fritto misto was squid with a few Bay shrimp added. Now, there are only two weeks in the year when one can get fresh raw Bay shrimp, and this week was one of those rare times. Unlike Lake Chalet's fake Bay shrimp ceviche, these were Bay shrimp that started off raw - you can tell not only by flavor but by size, they tend to be noticeably bigger than the frozen pre-cooked ones. They were served with a sweet-hot sauce and a generous scattering of micro-greens. Again, not an earthshaking creation, but very good - they would have rated higher if the sauce hadn't been a little too sweet, and the batter coating tended to shatter off the seafood. 

Carlos finished with a cappuccino - too much milk again - and I decided to skip coffee and stick with a refill on my iced tea. Three starters, one salad, two beverages and tip were $62.