PRESS Restaurant in Napa Valley has been an iconic spot for nearly two decades, but it’s having a particularly epic year. The team opened a casual cafe next door on May 26, and the pastries already look unreal. The restaurant is also gearing up to celebrate 20 years this summer by renovating the original kitchen, so it’s an especially exciting time to visit.
Winemaker Leslie Rudd opened PRESS in 2005 as a classic steakhouse for strip and cab, and the restaurant quickly became a local favorite. His daughter Samantha Rudd took over after he passed in 2018 and brought in chef partner Philip Tessier—an alum of fine-dining hotspots like The French Laundry—in 2019. Together they shifted the restaurant to a fine-dining focus and unlocked a whole new level, including a first MICHELIN Star in 2022. “All the way through, since the beginning, the goal has always been to celebrate Napa Valley,” Tessier says.
And that’s exactly what the team has been doing, celebrating local ingredients, wines, and personalities at the beloved restaurant.
Read on to see how it all comes together at PRESS Restaurant in Napa Valley, and book your spot on OpenTable to experience it all in person.
Evolving into a MICHELIN-Starred tasting menu
PRESS nabbed its first MICHELIN Star in 2022 after a shift to fine dining and has held on to that Star every year since. The menu evolved dramatically over the decades, from steakhouse classics to fancy tastings, but they’ve dialed it down to five-to-seven courses these days along with a more casual a la carte menu at the bar. Tessier says it’s helped them stay true to their Wine Country roots by keeping it more relaxed and friendly and refining the flow and level of service.
Where homegrown ingredients are the stars
PRESS showcases local and seasonal ingredients, and the team dug even deeper last year by breaking ground on their own farm. They now have a couple of acres a few miles up the road and grow tiny strawberries, pea tendrils, blossoming chives, and more. Celebrity farmer Peter Jacobsen, an old friend from Tessier’s French Laundry days, helped set it up.
Jacobsen grows all of the squash blossoms for the ricotta gnudi on the menu, which features steamed ricotta dumplings in a pool of clarified tomato consommé. “It’s that nostalgic sort of ratatouille moment from the movie,” Tessier says. “You’re like a kid having tomato soup, but in the best possible way.”
Get lost in the award-winning wine list
In addition to its Star, PRESS also received the coveted Wine Spectator Grand Award in 2022. Napa wines—cabernet sauvignon, in particular—have always shined at PRESS, but Master Sommelier Vincent Morrow took it to a whole other level when he joined the team in 2020. The cellar now holds 2,700 different selections in 10,000 total bottles and is possibly the largest collection of Napa wines in the world. Start with Schramsberg sparkling, explore the Rudd Estate (the family’s wines), or ask for something old and rare.
The acclaimed architecture is also from a local legend
A vaulted ceiling, rustic beams, and tall windows define the light-filled dining room that’s one of the most striking in the area—architect Howard Backen, sometimes called the “Frank Lloyd Wright of Napa Valley,” designed this space. Grab a seat and drink in views of the Vaca Mountains to the east, Mayacamas Mountains to the west, and Mount Saint Helena framed behind the bar.
You’re in the hands of gold-medal-winning chefs
One detail that sets this team apart is their record with the Bocuse d’Or, the culinary competition that’s considered the Olympics of cooking. Tessier won a silver medal in 2015, putting team USA on the podium for the first time, and coached the gold medal-winning team in 2017 with the restaurant’s chef de cuisine Vincenzo Loseto assisting. “We’re creating an experience that’s the best of what American chefs can create,” Tessier says of eating at PRESS.
Becky Duffett is a food writer living and eating in San Francisco. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Eater SF.
