La Toque

Chef/Owner Ken Frank came to love French cooking while living in France as a teenager. He first achieved national acclaim in 1977 when he was Chef of La Guillotine Restaurant at age 21. He was the original Chef at Michael’s in Santa Monica, considered the Los Angeles birthplace of “California Cuisine,” which he left in 1979 to open the first La Toque on the Sunset Strip at age 23. He moved the restaurant to wine country in 1998 and to its current home in Napa in 2008.

The quality, preparation and presentation of the food has earned the restaurant a Michelin star, Four Diamonds from AAA and 3 Stars from the San Francisco Chronicle. The restaurant is one of only 90 restaurants in the world to have won the Grand Award from Wine Spectator.

This menu is an extraordinary value for this caliber food. A 4 course dinner with wine pairings is $175. Here’s a sampling of dishes and pairings from a recent menu:
Summer Melon and Cucumber Salad with Maine Lobster, Shiso and Yuzu
2015 Riesling Kabinett, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium, Graacher Himmelreich, Mosel
Chesapeake Bay Soft Shell Crab with Fregola Sarda and Pesto
2012 Albariño, Adega Eidos, “Contraaparede”, Rías Baixas
Hawaiian Swordfish and Baby Spinach a la Plancha with Flavors of Picada
2013 Arrels de Clos Pissarra, Sangre de Garnatxa, Montsant
Milk Fed Veal Chop for two with its own Jus,
Red Onion Bone Marrow Marmelade
2004 Cabernet Franc, Estate, McKenzie-Mueller
Gateau Concorde au ChocolatDow’s Trademark, Finest Reserve Porto
Caramelized Apple Croustillant with Speculoos Ice Cream
Chambers Rutherglen Muscat, Victoria, Australia

This is a “don’t miss” in Napa.

WHAT OTHERS SAY…
One Michelin Star
AAA Four Diamond
Wine Spectator Grand Award
Chef Ken Frank “still reigns in the kitchen” at this New French “Napa favorite”, a “must” for its prix fixe menus of “unbelievable”, “expertly crafted” dishes served with “phenomenal wine pairings” by a “top-notch” team; the “quietly elegant” space is “pleasant” (adjoined by the Bank Bar for more casual dining), and while it’s a “high-end” choice, the quality makes it “one of the best values around.” ZAGAT