4:30 p.m.Organizers of downtown Napa’s seasonal Chefs Market are promising big changes in 2008, going well beyond the shift from Friday to Thursday nights.  

Parking problems and concerns about rowdy youths had some restaurateurs and businesses asking for change as last summer’s market wound down, saying the market had grown too big for downtown Napa.   

When the Napa Downtown Association announced the move to Thursday nights, locals reacted both for and against the switch.

The market’s May opening is still months away, but organizers are already working on plans for the new night.

Instead of the usual 15 weeks, Chefs Market will run 11 weeks, from May 22 to July 31. The event traditionally ran through August.   

For the first time, the market will extend across Main Street to the First Street bridge over Napa Creek. Oxbow district merchants will be invited to cross Soscol Avenue and set up booths and tables. Main Street will remain open to traffic.

Organizers plan for smaller, more adult-oriented market.

“It’s a grown-up Chefs Market,” said Craig Smith, director of the Napa Downtown Association.

Because market attractions will be geared towards adults, “I can’t imagine there will be lot that teens will be interested,” he said. “There will be too many adults around.”

That’s not to say families aren’t welcome.

“Children are welcome when they are with adults, but we don't want unsupervised kids down here just to hang out with their friends,” said Smith. “This is an adult event where alcohol is being served, and we have to be able to guarantee a safe environment for all,” he said in an e-mail.

Specific market vendors and booth names are not available yet.

Popular bands will continue to perform at Dwight Murray Plaza. A smaller stage at First and Randolph will showcase “engaging music but not the big sound” of last year, said Smith.

A third stage on the First Street bridge will feature jazz and lighter music, he said.   

Wine tasting and tables with linen tablecloths for guest seating could be found at that new end of the market, Smith said.

Instead of one chef demonstration, there will be two or three, plus wine tasting, on the First Street Bridge, said Smith. A kids area is planned for Coombs Street Plaza.

In October the Napa Town Center decided not participate in the 2008 market as either a financial sponsor or a venue, said Joan Torassa, center general manager.

Since then, Torassa said some merchants plan to stay open late.

“If our tenants have a renewed interest in participating the Chefs Market, we will have discussions with the NDA,” said Torassa.    

Kent Gardella of Napa Valley Jewelers in the Napa Town Center said he’d consider participating, but there needs to be something within the mall to draw in crowds. If someone can come up with some activities or events, “I will be here with bells on,” he said. “If they don’t, I won’t be open.”

The market is being shortened to 11 weeks because crowds usually recede in August, said Smith. The committee doesn’t want to risk having a financially unsuccessful season during this year of change.

“We want to make sure what we do is successful before expanding it back,” he said.  

Greg Cole of Celadon restaurant had argued for a new night for the market. Cole said he hadn’t been approached about doing chef demonstrations on the First Street bridge yet, but if so, “I would support and participate on some level,” said Cole. “I’m happy that it’s not Friday nights.”  

Even with a move to Thursday nights, “We don’t want to make it so different that people don’t recognize it,” said Debra Coffey, Chefs Market committee chair. “It’s been successful for 13 years. We don’t want to eliminate the elements that were popular, but we feel the public and the merchants were asking for changes.”

Moving the market to the new night, “We expect to have the biggest farmers market we ever had,” said Smith. Last year, farmers went from Friday’s market straight to Saturday’s at Copia’s parking lot. A Thursday market gives them a breather in between.  

Coffey, who owns the Inn on Randolph, encourages people to give the new night a chance.

“I’d like them to feel like we haven’t taken away the Chefs Market that they remember fondly but that there are lot of updated and new elements that reflect the direction that downtown Napa is taking,” said Coffey.

“We’re sort of the Mecca of food wine and art in the Napa Valley and the market reflects that.  Locals that come to the market and come with an open mind will leave just absolutely delighted,” said Coffey.  

“We’re trying to make it a better market, not a bigger market,” said Coffey.