First at Piatti and now at Bistro Don Giovanni, Donna and Giovanni Scala have been major players in serving up superb wine country cuisine for more than two decades.

Listed as one of the Top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area year after year, Bistro Don Giovanni has set the standard for great food and service in the Napa Valley since the Scalas took over a floundering eatery at the southern boundary of the ag preserve in 1992.

Not only is it popular with locals, the Bistro is a haunt of Bay Area foodies and tourists who return to the critically acclaimed dining destination year after year after year.

Asked why Bistro Don Giovanni retains its culinary luster, why it remains on diners’ radar, proprietor Giovanni Scala humbly replies: “It’s the consistency of Donna’s great food. We strive to offer the best quality at a fair price. We work to keep things fresh, from the ingredients to our ambiance.”

But what the native of Torre del Greco, Italy (just outside Naples), doesn’t address is a very important piece of the whole hospitality package — service. It’s a given that exemplary service is part and parcel of the dining experience at Bistro Don Giovanni. The Scalas wouldn’t have it any other way.

With 60 full-time employees (which jumps up another 15 or 16 during the summer), Donna and Giovanni Scala, along with chef/partner Scott Warner, serve lunch and dinner to dining rooms that are packed inside and out every day for most of the year. On top of that, the culinary team offers catered meals at a limited number of private functions around the valley.

Donna Scala attributes restaurant success to the passion of its owners/operators. “It’s being there, in both the front and back of the house,” she said. “You don’t find maitre d’s of Giovanni’s caliber any more ... he does it from his heart. He’s not just going through the motions. He’s not only there to greet everybody but he also knows what table they like, what they drink ... people love to be recognized and honored.”

As proof of the partners’ leadership, she notes that quite a few of the restaurant’s former employees have followed their lead, opening eateries around the country that are making waves.

Asked what inspires her when it comes to menu planning, Donna Scala singles out the environment where she lives as well as those in established European cultures.

“The senses, the smells inspire me, whether it’s my garden or the grapes. Going to the farmers market, having a dialogue with the fish guy, the connections with our purveyors for over 20 years, not looking for the best deal but the best product — these are the things that are important to us.

“I also think that traveling opens up your eyes. I spent a month in Paris early this year, and I also travel to Italy and Spain. Just being there, watching the young kids stop off for their treats, going to the food markets even in the winter. We live to work, they live to eat.”

Donna says the business of making customers happy at an owner-operated restaurant boils down to a phrase that her husband often recites:

“You’ve got to keep your eye on the cat when you fillet the fish.”



Setting the standard

For years, the kitchen at Bistro Don Giovanni has set the standard for Italian classics like lasagna and risotto.

With Bay Area veteran chef (Lulu, Rose Pistola, Black Cat) Scott Warner joining the culinary crew early in the current decade, those standards have been reinforced, even tweaked.

If you’ve had Donna’s lasagna with Mama  meatballs, you’d insist there couldn’t be any as good anywhere else. That is until you taste Warner’s “lasagna rossa,” with freshly made pasta cooked with red wine (a blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon), layered with ricotta, smoked mozzarella di bufala, stracchino (a triple-cream cow’s milk cheese from the Lombary region of Italy) and broccoli di ciccio, then baked in the restaurant ovens. At first, the diner suspects there may be some meat in this dish, and or at least some earthy mushrooms. Oh no — it’s the noodles, with the chef informing you that the bold fruit of the sangiovese and the earthiness of the cabernet combine to provide both flavor and texture to them.

Warner provided his recipe for lasagna rossa and said that another good wine for cooking with the noodles is Sicily’s nero d’avola — “it’s both earthy and fruity.”

He says one of the secrets to a perfect lasagna, or even ravioli, is “maintaining the balance between the sauce and pasta. Never overdo the sauce — if there’s way too much the dish will be soupy.

“You can use more sauce when you have a thick noodle, but you have to back off if using a more delicate one.”

Warner had eaten spaghetti cooked in red wine so he thought he’d try his hand at lasagna noodles baked in a bechamel sauce incorporating sangiovese and cabernet. Anxious to give the dish “rustic home-cooked flavors,” he used a variety of cheeses (including the smoky  mozzarella) and Calabrian chiles, finally adding the fresh garden flavors of broccoli di ciccio. Substitutes for the Italian cheeses he used could include Bellwether Crescenza or a ripe Teleme.

“Cookbooks and recipes are but a springboard — use what you think will work,” he added.

When it comes to risotto, Warner insists there are three key items — “a great broth, minimal ingredients and constant stirring.”

The home cook can use a homemade chicken stock or a first-rate low-sodium “no MSG” commercial product from a trusted food purveyor, like Dean & DeLuca or CalMart, he added.

“The finished risotto should be creamy ... loose enough to pour, but not soupy. The broth should not separate from the kernels. If it does, then you haven’t cooked it long enough.

“You need to stir the rice as much as you possibly can. By stirring, you’re releasing the starch from the kernels, helping the creaminess develop. If you don’t stir it constantly, you’ll end up with boiled rice.”

Warner also insists on first-rate rice like Arborio or Carnaroli. “There’s also Venetian rice which is even more dense,” he noted. “That’s great for black rice ... that you make with squid ink.”

When preparing risotto at home, use just a few ingredients to make a dish friends and family will rave about, Warner continued. For example, he suggests preparing a basic risotto — with great stock, wine, olive oil and a little onion — then adding some zucchini and cherry tomatoes; or cut-up artichoke hearts with slivers of black truffle and pecorino cheese might be another winner. You could try preparing one with red wine, radicchio and a few pancetta lardons, he advised.

You can even parcook risotto for a party, or invite your guests into the kitchen while you incorporate the savory broth. Have someone pour the wine and then get ready to enjoy creamy risotto as primi piatti (first course).

When Warner’s not cooking at Bistro Don Giovanni, he enjoys playing guitar with the group Band of Chefs. You can catch the band at its monthly gumbo jam — the band cooks a pot of gumbo during its performance — at Miss Pearl’s Jam House on Oakland’s Jack London Square the second Friday of every month.

Bistro Don Giovanni is located on Highway 29 at Howard Lane. Meals are served from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For reservations, call 224-3300.