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ROMANCE IN RUTHERFORD The remodeled Auberge du Soleil offers the perfect base for a weekend By Kathryn Jessup One key to keeping romance alive is refreshing your mind, body, and spirit. In the real world, where it seems you’re always running 10 minutes late and remembering it’s garbage night, refreshment can be hard to come by. But at Auberge de Soleil, on your own private terrace overlooking the Napa Valley, you’ll find yourself refreshed before you know it. What’s New: Auberge du Soleil recently renovated its 20-year-old suites. The new look replaces the 1980s-era fuchsia and yellow décor with warm earth tones such as persimmon and cream. French oak floors, enormous closets and sitting rooms, tasteful abstract art, spot lighting, and heavy limestone bathroom countertops make these rooms feel fit for a movie star and her entourage. The extra-large, deep soaking tub in each room seems designed with couples in mind. Frills: It’s impossible not to feel pampered at the Auberge, with in-room snacks and a golf cart driver to squire you around the pristine, flower-blanketed grounds. Where to Eat: Napa Valley’s newest dining hot spot is Redd. Former Auberge chef Richard Reddington opened the restaurant this past November in Yountville, near The French Laundry and Bistro Jeanty. Its light-filled, urban-chic dining room is the work of Asfour Guzy, the firm that designed two of New York’s latest culinary destinations: David Rockefeller’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Manhattan’s WD-50. Already, Redd’s bar entertains throngs with a snack menu that includes lettuce cups with stir-fried chicken and chili oil, and a refreshing drink called the gin gin mule, made with gin, ginger beer, and mint. Reddington’s cuisine is full of clear, well-wrought flavors from France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The tender rabbit in a sugo—a slow-cooked, reduced meat sauce—served over crisp, pan-fried gnocchi is coaxed to the pinnacle of its flavor. The dish comes with house-made rabbit rillettes (a rough, country pâté) on toast, another beautiful expression of the meat’s flavor. Try the most romantic dessert on the menu: a rose water crème brûlée served with whole candied red rose petals and chocolate cookies. Of course, to eat well you don’t even have to leave Auberge du Soleil. The inn’s chef Robert Curry and sommelier Kris Margerum are both consummate professionals, and they create an elegant yet unpretentious atmosphere in the fireplace-centered dining room. Dinner might start with house-made foie gras terrine and oysters on the half shell topped with caviar, move on to lobster fricassee paired with unfiltered Lewis Napa Valley Chardonnay, and end with crisp apple beignets made by gifted young pastry chef Paul Lemieux. More Couples Fun: If you can start your weekend early, visit Napa’s Darioush, an architecturally unique winery based on the Persepolis of ancient Iran. It offers private wine and cheese tastings, with a cheese expert from Cowgirl Creamery, on Friday afternoons. If you want to enjoy other intimate wine tastings, Auberge du Soleil can help. The staff will book visits at wineries not generally open to the public, such as the stunning, French-style wine estate Far Niente in Oakville. The Auberge itself also offers a number of activities that are perfect for couples and free of charge. They include touring the on-site art gallery; playing tennis on the resort’s private court; and painting your own Monet’s en plein air using art supplies available to guests. A Final Touch: On your drive back to reality, swing through the adorable town of St. Helena and pick up a parting treat from French-style Woodhouse Chocolate. The creamy, sexy confections, made with ingredients such as pure pistachio marzipan and brown butter ganache, will be your little reminder, once home, of the romance you rekindled in Wine Country. Auberge du Soleil Darioush Far Niente Redd Woodhouse Chocolate
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