La Toque 1314 McKinstry St. Napa CA 94559
707-257-5157 Latoque.com Wednesday through Sunday, opens at 5:30 p.m.
Wine Director Christina Stanley has a broad swath of selections to choose from in pairing the menu. Piedmont, Burgundy, Tokaj were all represented on our visit, though the highlight was an aromatic 2018 Napa cab from Neyers Vineyards in Oakville. (Our server mused about the time they removed Napa cab from the pairings menu and the regulars revolted.) The Neyers cab was well paired with a cut of New Zealand red deer, the medallion of venison seared to savory perfection and served with a green peppercorn sauce that also blended well with accompanying stuffed cabbage and silky pureed potatoes, prepared in the signature style of late chef Joel Robuchon. The meal rounded off with servings of fleur du maquis—a rich Corsican sheep’s milk cheese—and apple caramel Paris-Brest, a wheel-shaped pastry (first made in 1910 in honor of the renowned French bicycle race) filled with caramel cream and candied hazelnuts alongside a scoop of cookie-butter ice cream. You won’t leave hungry. Lasting impressions—aside from the quality of the cuisine—were of the minor details. Visits from servers were frequent, but brief and unobtrusive. Cutlery is designed with tiny disfigurements. Moist hand towels appear at just the right moment. Such small touches are the difference between a good meal and a great one. In French, La Toque translates to chef’s hat. May Chef Frank don his for another 45. t
La Toque offers both a tasting experience, and a la carte selections. [Photos by Ryan Carpenter]
Did You Know? The hazelnut-cream-filled Paris-Brest pastry was first made by chef Louis Durand in 1910 to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race. Its circular shape is intended to mirror a bicycle wheel. The high sugar content of the treat was thought to provide energy for riders in the long-distance race—imagine today if Tour de France racers gobbled up a jelly donut every stage.
Jason Walsh is editor in chief of NorthBay biz magazine and northbaybiz.com. A North Bay native, he’s spent his career covering the news, lifestyles and people of Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. When not up to his elbows in page proofs, you can find him and his family exploring all corners of the North Bay from their home base in Novato.
La Toque’s varied lighting design is both intimate and uptown. [Photo by Mark Compton]
December 2025
NorthBaybiz 59
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