Comfort food with Asian accent attracts diners to 'new' River City Bar & Grill

Register Staff Writer

By L. PIERCE CARSON

No one would accuse Assaad Barazi of being asleep at the switch.

For nearly two decades, the Napa businessman has run a successful restaurant and lounge on the bank of the Napa River, aptly called River City.

But the floodwaters that came with the New Year swept part of the restaurant downstream, forcing Barazi to close for extensive remodeling.

Along with the new look, the savvy River City proprietor brought on two young partners in an effort to put a new spin on the riverfront dining experience.

Barazi hit on a winning combination, convincing chef Tod Kawachi to put together a menu that's as comforting as mother's milk and front-of-the-house veteran Patrick Jeffries to line up obliging waitstaff and an agreeable bartending team.

The new River City Bar & Grill is, like a finely tuned engine, hitting on all cylinders. The food is so tasty you'd swear your grandma's in the kitchen -- a grandma that can somehow dish up comfort food as well as turn out exceptional plates of Asian-accented cuisine. The ambiance -- both indoor and outdoor -- is inviting and reminiscent of a lakeside vacation lodge. And the friendly staff dances assuredly to the customer's tune.

Re-opened now for about six weeks, the River City Bar & Grill's new look is most welcome. Barazi has made significant changes to the flow of the building. He relocated the kitchen, provided a new entrance and opened up even more of the facility to river view dining.

He also enlisted the help of designer Eric Sedletzky to provide several unifying elements for the redesign -- a giant mural in the entryway depicting a downtown Napa riverfront setting, lacquered corrugated sheet metal on some interior walls, as well as metal and woodwork images of the restaurant's logo incorporating the river flowing just beyond the building's deck.

Seating 140, the main dining room and bar captures the feel of a rustic dining establishment one might encounter on the New England seaboard. Riverfront dining is offered on a deck that can accommodate more than 100, with an area around a fountain and koi pond reserved for alfresco cocktails. There are also banquet facilities for parties as large as 120.

Chef Kawachi's menu is offered from lunch until closing. Ranging in price from $5 for the daily bowl of soup to $12 for a bucket of wine- and garlic-steamed manila clams, appetizers and salads include juicy tiger shrimp cocktail, crispy fried panko calamari, rib-sticking rib-eye sliders, crispy pork wonton triangles with orange/soy dipping sauce, plus Caesar and Chinese chicken salads.

The chef also offers his signature black-and-blue tuna, a dish that has followed him in his wine country career. The dish is as good as it was when first tasted at the opening of Brix, if not better. Thin slices of the barely seared, pepper-encrusted ahi overlap on a plate generously drizzled with wasabi aioli, honey mustard and sweet soy sauces. Not only is the tuna melt-in-the-mouth but the accompanying sauces -- in particular the piquant wasabi aioli -- are absolutely wonderful, perfect complements that never overpower the flavor of the fresh ahi. This is Kawachi's gift to wine country diners, so tuck in.

In addition, the Vietnamese-styled summer rolls could have come from a vendor on Tudo Street in Saigon. They are a symphony of texture and flavor, with the paper-thin wrapper encasing fresh shrimp, crunchy veggies, toasted peanuts, punched up with sprigs of mint and cilantro. Cut in half, South Vietnam style, the rolls are easy to pick up and dip into a mildly hot lime/chile sauce. At $7, the fairly substantial summer rolls are not only bargain fare but would make a good choice at lunch, along with a bowl of soup.

Warming comfort food

The ultimate in comfort food is a slow-roasted, smoky one-inch slab of prime rib ($25), the tender, juicy beef slow-cooked in the grill's smoker. "Our prime rib never hits the oven," Kawachi boasts. The generous cut of beef is accompanied by a ramekin of perspiration-inducing horseradish cream and topped with marinated onions. The beef rests on a mound of mashed potatoes (definitely not the kitchen's strong suit).

The smoked babyback ribs ($22), lacquered with a finger-lickin' hoisin/pineapple glaze, are sure to give all other chefs who serve barbecued meats -- in wine country eateries, for sure -- a run for their money. This is also homespun comfort food, given the Kawachi touch as the ribs are stacked around an appetizing mound of crunchy Asian slaw.

The other evening, the special seafood entree was ahi grilled to order ($22) -- very tender slices of bluefin tuna with a ramekin of ponzu dipping sauce in which to incorporate a ball of wasabi -- accompanied by flavorful sticky rice and Asian slaw of shredded cabbage, carrots and sesame wonton strips, tossed with sesame citrus dressing. This is another Kawachi specialty and should be ordered when ahi's the catch of the day.

Additional choices in the main course category ($13-$22) range from half rotisserie chicken with crispy onion mustard crust to grilled flatiron steak with blue cheese and roasted potatoes, as well as grilled pork chop with braised red cabbage, ginger-steamed salmon and a tiger shrimp and chicken stir fry.

The kitchen also offers lighter fare for lunch, bar snacking and late night dining. In addition to a trio of pizzas -- margherita, pepperoni, plus mushroom and sun-dried tomato ($9-$10) -- sandwich offerings include grilled chicken breast and brie, grilled cheddar cheeseburger with applewood smoked bacon and fries, and prime rib French dip with dipping jus and fries ($10-$13).

Save room for dessert ($5-$7) -- in particular dense chocolate pot de crme, orange-infused vanilla bean crme brle and a seasonal strawberry lemoncake parfait. The scoop of cinnamon gelato is a welcome addition to the dry chocolate chip bread pudding -- although I've never been a fan of chocolate-chip-anything, so maybe it's my palate. Loved the spicy gelato, however, and it comes in other flavors -- mango, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla and dark chocolate.

Jeffries has put together a wine list of more than 100 selections, with about one-fifth of the offerings available by the glass. Seafood fanciers will appreciate Mumm Brut Prestige, Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs, Graziano sauvignon blanc and St. Clement chardonnay. Meat eaters can smack their lips over Judd syrah, Pine Ridge Crimson Creek merlot, Markham petite sirah and Shifflett Estate Red.

Kawachi comes to River City Bar and Grill after successful stints as opening chef at Brix in Yountville and partner in Sakatini in Napa's Bel Aire Plaza. Jeffries joins the operation after spending several years as general manager at Cole's Chop House in downtown Napa.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The bar serves drinks until midnight daily. River City Bar & Grill is located in Napa at 505 Lincoln Ave. For reservations, call 253-1111.

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