Undaunted by floodwaters that swept through their restaurant twice in less than four years, partners Sean Pramuk and Giovanni Guerrera are once again dispensing tasty Italian fare that has made their business one of downtown Napa's favorite dining destinations.

Despite heeding flood warnings issued prior to Napa Creek and Napa River topping their banks on New Year's Eve, the partners had to spend a planned early January vacation cleaning up and renovating Uva Trattoria & Bar on Clinton Street.

This was not the first time the pair had cleaned up following a flood.

On Dec. 15, 2002, the business partners and staff -- relatively naive about floods here -- "were not ready for Napa Creek to spill into adjacent Behrens and Brown streets," says Guerrera.

"We'd done some token sandbagging," adds Pramuk, reflecting on his first brush with floodwaters. "We didn't know what to expect...not until you see that creek go over the top."

But this year, Guerrera insists, "we figured we were ready. We were sandbagged to the hilt...we had three tons of sandbags along the Brown Street side of the building."

The Napa Fire Department came by Uva around 8:45 p.m. on Dec. 30 to warn the partners about the serious possibility of flooding in the downtown area, Pramuk recalled. "By 9:30, a few stragglers were finishing up and getting ready to leave (the restaurant). We were proud of the sandbag job that we'd done. We kicked back and had a cocktail."

"I felt the water would come and recede," Guerrera adds, "that we'd be able to take the plastic away (from the entryways) and be open for our expected New Year's Eve crowd. With reservations and walk-ins, we figured on doing at least 400 dinners that night...we had food for that many."

But shortly after midnight, the partners discovered their hard work didn't protect the restaurant from the force of raging floodwaters.

"That water came out of the creek and washed away three tons of sandbags, and came right into our back door," Guerrera recounted. "By early morning, downtown Napa was under a lot of water."

The Uva partners said damage was not as bad as it could have been. Floodwater rose between six and eight inches in the main dining room and the adjacent music room.

Instead of a vacation, the partners, employees and friends spent the next few days hosing down and squeegeeing out the restaurant, removing telltale signs of muck.

The partners were also forced to put a new floor in both music room and kitchen. They also lost considerable inventory, including more than four dozen lobsters and some five dozen lamb shanks.

Up and running

Uva Trattoria & Bar reopened to a host of loyal customers on Jan. 17, says Pramuk, and regulars are returning daily for both lunch and dinner. "We've had lots of customer support," he added.

Are the partners angry about being flooded out twice even before they get to celebrate their fourth anniversary this spring?

"How can you be mad," Pramuk matter-of-factly replies. "It's Mother Nature."

"I don't think we'll ever be really out of danger," Guerrera adds. "It'll flood again, even with the (completion of the) flood control project. It's something over which we have no control."

"And when it's Mother Nature, it's hard to get mad," his partner concludes. "We'd planned to be closed the first two weeks of January anyway. So, we closed a night and a half early."

Although the culinary team at Uva offers a varied menu, diners return again and again for savory pasta dishes.

Guerrera said he prepares 15 gallons of the restaurant's basic marinara sauce -- used for pizzas, as a base for Bolognese sauce and for many of his pasta dishes -- two or three times a week.

"It's versatile and not overly sweet...(and) it has nice acidity. You can freeze it in ziplock bags. It'll keep in the freezer for up to a month."

The chef agreed to part with his recipe for this basic marinara sauce, made from the highly prized San Marzano tomatoes grown in a small region called San Marzano near Naples, considered one of the best tomato growing regions in the world. The freshly canned San Marzano tomatoes can be purchased at several area food stores, including Genova Delicatessen, Vallerga's, Dean & DeLuca and Sunshine Foods.

"This, the simplest of all sauces, forms the base of so much of Italian cooking," notes Guerrero. "Sadly a great deal of what you find in the store is laden with corn syrup and sugars, most likely as a way to hide off-tasting tomatoes. Even though this takes a good three hours to stew, make a lot and bag up the rest for the freezer. Serve it plain or with any embellishment you like. Always try to use San Marzano tomatoes, whole peeled, and packed in water, no basil, nothing else."

Uva Trattoria & Bar, located at 1040 Clinton St., Napa, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, from 5 to 10 on Saturdays and from 4 to 9 on Sundays. Open until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights, the bar features small plate offerings along with some of the Bay Area's best jazz. For reservations, call 255-6646.