Recent Eats | Morimoto Napa – Designs of Any Kind

The first one down, yet a rather long list still to go!

I’m wildly excited to be crossing off Morimoto Napa from my Bay Area + San Francisco Restaurant Lust List. Talk about a highly anticipated restaurant I’ve had my eye on since culinary school.

I’m a huge fan of Chef Masahuru Morimoto since day one; not because he was on the show, Iron Chef, but for his experience working under the chefs at Nobu. It’s been a wild and crazy dream to apprentice at Nobu, but one that I never made a reality.

Do I regret not going after those dreams? Some days, yes. But every other day I really can’t say that I do. I honestly wouldn’t be doing what I am now and I most definitely would not have met my husband (one day I will share that story). We’ve had some rough years along the way, but that guy was absolutely, hands-down made for me! I’m a pretty lucky lady! But, before I get to mushy, let’s jump back on track. Morimoto deserves my focus and avoidance of my crazy rambling.

Like I said before, we had reservations set for a while. My amazing and beautiful friend, Lisa, who was part of our great night, pulled some serious strings and spoiled us rotten with one epic dinner. Not to mention prior we spent the afternoon hanging out in downtown Napa hitting up some great spots.

I highly recommend the Oxbow Public Market, overflowing with small gourmet purveyors, shops and great restaurants. We also stopped by NINEBARK for some well-crafted, classic cocktails. If you missed our endless flow of photos on Instagram, I recommend checking it out.

Dinner at Morimoto Napa is one of beautiful precision. The flow and harmony woven between individuals in that room is subtle, but so magical. Waiters float from one table to the next as chefs bend intently over their dishes, focused on every detail – barely making a sound except to call out “yes, chef” or whisper a random instruction. The energy of it all is very infectious, I can’t help but get caught up in it all, almost missing the amazing dishes being served to us – one after another.

Each dish was incredible, yet rustic. My initial expectations was to have each time presented as though it was a piece of art, almost too pretty to eat. But it’s really nothing like that. The dishes are fun, different, yet approachable; nothing overly pretentious here, folks. At first I was disheartened by this lack of presentation, but it’s really about the ingredients itself and not over doing them. It’s rather refreshing.

They spoiled us with so many appetizers and crisp Prosecco to pair. Lisa, you are amazing for setting all of this up! Hugs to you, my dear!! And thank you to Morimoto for a wonderful adventure. I can’t believe I actually attempted live octopus nigiri that night. I will never go back to eating octopus any other way. Call me crazy, but I guess crazy is what I like!

Cheers!