For my 11th wedding anniversary, hubby and I drove an hour to Greystone Restaurant, at the far end of the little village, St. Helena. Located in the old Christian Brothers monastery, it is the California campus of the Culinary Institute of America.

The evening was spectacular. The pacing was perfect, the staff enthusiastically answered our questions about the food and CIA, they presented our dessert with Happy Anniversary artfully written on the plate (even though I only casually mentioned the celebration when I made the reservation), our server did a great job discussing the wine list and ensuring that one bottle would match diverse dishes and at the end of the evening, we were graciously presented with a copy of the menu and several recipes (hubby had asked for the menu for me and the server added the recipes).

Greystone’s design and lay out is utterly unique. Stunning modern art sculptures are placed around the room in a manner that I can only describe as thoughtful, the affect was that I kept “discovering” something new and beautiful to look at. Equally fun (for foodies at least) are the multiple kitchen islands. I’ve read reviews of this restaurant that say that the tables are arranged around an open kitchen…this is only a partial picture. In fact there are several stainless steel stations, the dessert station isn’t even connected to the others, it is located in the “Sicilian spot” in the back corner facing the front door. Our table for two was situated in front of a wooden post, my chair faced the kitchen area that appeared to be preparing side dishes while my hubby’s chair faced outward to other diners. A non-foodie (or someone not clear on the concept of this restaurant) might not like being seating in front of the kitchen, but for me, it was fun on top of fun.

We started with a flight of sparkling wines (Bruts) and a half dozen oysters on the half shell. The $25 flight carried us through our second course of watermelon salad, which made the flight (3 3-oz pours) an economical choice as well as an exciting opportunity to taste the wines with two unique courses. The watermelon salad featured fresh ingredients from the CIA gardens including yellow watermelon and fresh ricotta cheese curds made on site. The standout taste in the salad was small strips of pancetta and pieces of porcini mushrooms chopped so small they looked like walnut chips. A bite of pancetta with the ricotta was divine.

Perfectly timed, the server returned to discuss the wine selection before our main course arrived. I loved her choice of words, she said, “artichoke and porcini relish practically screams out for Pinot Noir”. The choice was easy and took about 3 minutes. Hubby ordered a halibut with some Asian fusion flavors, including cilantro and curry. I was having pan seared scallops with the aforementioned relish. I agreed that a Pinot Noir was the most flexible red we could choose. I immediately noticed that one of my favorite wineries, Lynmar, was on the list. I could see that the price mark ups were unbelievably consumer friendly. Our server mentioned the Merry Edwards 2005 Russian River Pinot Noir. She landed it! I had never had a Merry Edwards but am quite familiar with her reputation. She has won every award ever handed out I think and is extremely well-respected by critics, foodies and other winemakers. When I got home I looked up the wine and found it is impossible to find an available bottle of this vintage and vineyard on the open market and Greystone’s mark up was only 33% of retail. (I have to pause and say I think this is pure genius, we spent a large chunk of change on this special dinner but because the mark ups were so fair, I can definitely see myself becoming a regular diner (at least more affordable lunches). When you get this kind of service and can taste fine wines with reasonable mark ups, why go anywhere else?

For locals and visitors to the CA wine country, I highly recommend Greystone. There are a lot of fine dining experiences here but if you add a walk around the gardens, a visit to their fine culinary store, or even attend a cooking demonstration, before lunch or dinner, there is nothing as unique as Greystone.

Tags: dinner, Greystone, lunch, Merry Edwards, pairing, Pinot Noir