The Twelve Days of Christmas at Meadowood Napa Valley

Participated in Day 1 of #12days2014.
The experience and intimacy of the event are very memorable:
*if you stay at the resort, your commemorative tickets and a note from the chef come on the coffeetable along with a signed copy of Kostow’s new cookbook to take home
*gorgeous new dining room, modern, sleek & rustic, warmer than before
*fantastic service through out, almost a 1:1 ratio
*nice champagne reception to start the evening, you get a sneak peek at all the prep work in the kitchen
*each day features a vintner, providing a parallel experience, not a wine pairing, most of the wines went well with the food and stood alone impressively, unique concept
*the guest chef prepares their menu a day or two prior, would be more cohesive if they actually collaborated more
*plenty of face time with Chef K, he comes by to sauce, came back out to have a lengthier conversation with us, and spent time after the meal greeting guests in the den and bar areas
*sat along side the legendary Chef Thomas Keller and wife
*no nickeling and diming here, everything is ALL inclusive, except gratuities, would have liked a sweet treat to tote home
*all the staff come out at the end of the evening, along with Chef K and share a moment by the fire along with his wife, lovely to see the camaraderie
Be prepared:
*for a lengthy dinner, we arrived at 6:45PM for the reception, dinner didn’t start till much past 7PM and we ended the night at 11:30PM. One party left early at 9:30PM, missing several of the savory courses and dessert. I rather enjoyed the leisurely pace of the meal, as there was plenty of wine and energy in the room. It probably helped knowing we didn’t have to drive through the rain back home and had a fireplace waiting for us minutes away
*to be social if you’re a party of 3 or more, as most of the dining will be communal
My favorite savory aspects were from Chef K. There was a cured ocean trout with a buckwheat ‘skin’ in place of the actual skin that was phenomenal, I could have just eaten that all night. The desserts and the fermented potato bread from Chef Matt Orlando were highlights.
Love how 20% of the proceeds go to two local charities.
Overall, it was an experience, but I have had menus as a whole WOW me much more. As always, savory courses need to be the star of the meal and it wasn’t on Day 1 of #12days2014.

My husband and I enjoyed the Twelve Days of Christmas at Meadowood in December 2012, and it was an amazing experience. The ambiance, the food, the wine, the service were continuously 5 stars. We recently went back for the grand opening party of the expansion of The restaurant, and it was even more amazing now that the space is larger. Meadowood is definitely a place we will return to in the future. :)

Third year in a row doing the Twelve Days and I was fortunate enough to join Meadowood on their 12^th and final night this year with chef Christopher Kostow and Harlan. Food was spec-​tac-​u-​lar as always and his dishes were really inventive and completely different from his regular tasting menu. A first for us this year was to be taken into the kitchen in back and seeing the staff hard at work. We’ll definitely be back next year!

Great pairing! Wonderful service! Duckhorn wine with Trey Foshee chef. Great people and very easy to talk to. What a great event!