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Restaurants
Napa Valley Grille
City:
Paramus
County:
Bergen CountyPhone:
201.845.5555
Price:
$$$$
Cuisine:
American
Key:
Full ReviewNapa Valley Grille
**1146 Garden State Plaza
Paramus
201.845.5555
napavalleygrille.com
Those partial to California wines can indulge themselves at this pleasant but peculiar restaurant. Located inside a shopping mall, albeit a glamorous one, its wine list is anything but pedestrian. Napa Valley Grille, part of the six-restaurant Tavistock chain, boasts Chef Kenneth Trickilo, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who has worked at the Bernards Inn and Panico's.
The back dining room is cozily dim, with booths and tables. The main decorative element is a pastoral mural of -- what else? -- Napa Valley. The menu consists mostly of today’s most popular American fare, including decent takes on Caesar salad, crab cakes, and crunchy fried calamari and rock shrimp.
Specials are ambitious. Our canny and engaging server began his description by citing prices -- one of several thoughtful gestures. We went for walu, a Hawaiian sea bass that is flown in, this night served with parsnip and thyme puree, fennel marmalade with vanilla bean, and apple cider beurre blanc. The walu's delicate, succulent white flesh was enhanced by its finery; the sugar and vanilla kept mild.
We enjoyed an earthy dish of orecchiette with spicy chicken sausage, creamy white and black beans, and garlicky sauteed greens in potato broth. The best dish was also the biggest surprise: seafood paella, a dish often misconstrued and mauled. But I would return for this panoply of fresh sea scallops, salmon, mussels, clams, chicken, and kielbasa-like sausage, all atop a bed of saffron rice.
Rotisserie duck, on the other hand, was almost inedible, with unforgivably dry meat coated in too much cloyingly sweet sauce. We also were disappointed by a bowl of bland potato leek soup and were unimpressed with the desserts, including an apple tart which had the texture of applesauce. It's a shame -- with more consistency this restaurant could be a destination in its own right.
Although wines are the liquid focal point here, the Manhattan garnered high praise. We enjoyed two fine by-the-glass selections: MacMurray pinot gris and J. Lohr cabernet sauvignon. Prices per bottle are no better or worse than encountered elsewhere. Clos Pegase cabernet sauvignon, for example, is $68. A page featuring wines from small producers goes beyond the merely popular.
