Conversations always seem brighter and decidedly more intimate in beautiful, romantic settings.

Throw in a great meal and a bottle of wine and you’ve forged an indelible memory — maybe more.

The Restaurant at Meadowood is the sort of place where refined elegance and fine dining come together to provide guests with a warm-and-fuzzy experience — one where you can comfortably entertain clients or engage in a bit of hand-holding while being pampered at every turn.

Tucked away in a verdant valley east of St. Helena, Meadowood reminds me of a private estate from a bygone era. The spacious property features championship croquet lawns, seven tennis courts, a nine-hole walking golf course, hiking trails, swimming, a full-service health spa, a wine educator, an annual cultural affairs calendar, 85 guest rooms, suites and cottages and award-winning wine country cuisine.

It’s the culinary efforts of a new resident chef we went to check out recently. Christopher Kostow, the 31-year-old executive chef who earned a pair of Michelin stars for his cookery at the Peninsula’s Chez TJ, has replaced Joseph Humphrey, who earlier this year also garnered two stars from the Michelin Guide for his exceptional talents in heading up the dining establishment’s culinary team.

Not for the flip-flops and T-shirt crowd, the Restaurant at Meadowood provides a casually elegant setting for Kostow to dazzle all with his creations. Choose the terrace on a warm night for sweeping views of tree-lined fairways and wooded hillsides or inviting leather and dark wood-accented dining room with crisp linen-covered tables set with flowers, sparkling crystal and polished flatware.

The Restaurant offers a prix fixe menu with a la carte selections. The chef’s eight-course tasting menu is offered at $155, with wines paired for every course for an additional $95. It’s here that the creative palate of sommelier Rom Toulon pairs with chef Kostow’s splendid cuisine, in that the witty, perceptive young Frenchman has nearly 1,000 selections in the cellar to play with.

Should you not want to spend the better part of an evening over dinner, then Kostow and his team are prepared to offer four or five courses, with paired wines as well, at $95 and $115, respectively.

It didn’t take long for us to agree that Kostow has brought considerable know-how and French technique to the well-staffed kitchen stocked with fresh produce, all manner of grains, meats, poultry and catches of the day.

Tasty and playful

Along with a glass of sparkling wine, the chef whet our appetites with a couple of amuses bouches, tiny morsels that gave us an indication of Kostow’s considerable talents. A rectangular plate contained a pair of warm briny oysters that had been dipped in rye flour and deep-fried; quail eggs topped with Arctic char roe; and refreshing pea-sized radishes sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

This was followed by the only offering of the night that didn’t set off bells and whistles — a small scoop of Dungeness crab ice cream with honeydew consommé. Somehow, I just couldn’t get used to the textural and flavor differentials. But it was the only time a friend and I were not oohing and aahing about a dish from Kostow’s kitchen.

Complementing one another throughout the evening, a team of knowledgeable, well-spoken servers, led by Chitra Samanta, cleared and replaced dishes and utensils, always providing detailed descriptions of the dishes, ever eager to offer a bit more information to a nosy journalist.

From the Local Gardens portion of the menu, sweet, fresh corn came in the form of a comforting soufflé paired with langoustine carpaccio, corn kernels, tiny tomato dice and purple basil. A complementing cortese from Mendocino (from the Graziano Family of Wines) belied its Piemontese heritage with round fruitiness, racy acidity and not even a hint of oak.

Two summer favorites are brought together in a terrine of heirloom tomatoes and peaches, each colorful rectangular portion accented with a dollop of whipped ricotta cheese, white balsamic and shiso leaves.

The Nearby Waters offerings include a paper-thin slice of cold-smoked toro dressed with osetra caviar and crème fraîche, as well as sweet, rich lobster paired with crispy sweetbreads, morels and heady summer truffles.

The complex flavors of Kostow’s pairing of black cod and bigfin squid continued to display the chef’s innate grasp of his craft. Often the strongest flavor on the plate, the olive oil-poached cod was uncharacteristically delicate, the added complexity of the dish provided by a squid- and scallop-stuffed squash blossom set in a puddle of spicy bouillabaisse broth flecked with tomato confit. Paired with this decidedly Mediterranean dish was a refreshing Greek assyrtiko from Domaine Sigalas on the island of Santorini, an exceptional and memorable combination.

A 2005 Santa Maria pinot noir from Ambullneo Vineyards was a lush, rich partner for the cherry-accented suckling pig dish — a trio of preparations in an appealing presentation, a tiny circle of loin wrapped with an ever-so-small strip of applewood smoked bacon, a square of confit and an itty-bitty chop — sharing the plate with a small mound of vanilla-infused fennel hash.

Kostow also has a great way with beef. Niman Ranch tenderloin was cooked sous vide, with a thyme-scented spring onion “melted” for added flavor component. A roasted Kobe ribeye was accompanied by caramelized beef hash topped with a quail egg, accented by a bundle of sautéed leeks. A massive 2005 Realm cabernet sauvignon — the 15.7 percent alcohol masked by ripe black fruit and exceptional acidity — from the Beckstoffer/Dr. Crane vineyard (made for owners Juan Mercado and Wendell Laidley by outstanding young winemaker Mike Hirby) was a marked complement for the ribeye, with its cherry-washed lengthy finish. I guess we’ll have to drop in at Meadowood if we want to taste this one again as Realm has sold out of this vintage. Maybe that’s a good thing as we’ll have to pair a glass of this outstanding wine with one of the chef’s remarkable dishes.

Kostow’s playful nature was on display with the pre-dessert intermezzo — a palate-cleansing tart plum gelée and yogurt sorbet served in a glass of sorrel soda.

Dreamy chocolate

Chocolate seems to be a strong suit of Kostow’s kitchen. Experts with a soufflé (already demonstrated on the savory side), the dessert team prepared one option with just enough milk chocolate to make it interesting, accompanied by a scoop of yummy Earl Grey ice cream.

Dark chocolate teamed up with cherry pits in another dessert — in a deep-fried noyaux pastry cream flavored with Banyuls and maple syrup. It had the hallmark of the street vendor, but served in a refined setting.

Dining at the Restaurant is a wonderful experience. General manager Nathaniel Dorn’s staff is friendly, most helpful, courteous and agreeable, always eager to ensure guests have the consummate dining experience. And if it’s a special occasion, the waitstaff couldn’t be happier. Should it be a night for whispering sweet nothings, you’ll find staffers keeping their distance — but never out of earshot.

The Restaurant is open Monday through Saturday with seating from 5:30 to 10 p.m. In addition to dining indoors and on the terrace, The Restaurant features the Vintners Table with seating for 12. For reservations, call 963-3646.