Ubuntu-Vegetables Rock the Restaurant World

While touring wine country last weekend we dined at one of the new, hot spots in downtown Napa-Ubuntu. No meat is served. They call themselves a vegetable restaurant, as opposed to vegetarian. I’m not sure what that means.

Although it’s been receiving rave reviews, I was a bit skeptical. If I was on death row, my last meal would be a 21 day dry aged prime steak. I told Lana to slip a pork chop into her purse, in case of an emergency. After getting THE LOOK, I realized I could slip out for a long bathroom break and head next door to Cole’s Steak House, which is excellent.

The meal was fabulous. Chef Jeremy Fox is a brilliant, rising star chef. There are rumors of a James Beard award in the near future. While we were dining, Jeremy was engaged in a photo shoot for a magazine. Star chefs frequent the restaurant to see what’s happening in his kitchen. Rick Tramonto was there last week.

Most dishes are quite elaborate and I’m not going to describe each one, of which there were many. Suffice to say, they are well thought out, beautifully presented, and use only the freshest of ingredients, most of which are grown in their own gardens-biodynamically of course. The meal is quite filling and you won’t leave hungry. A good selection of wines are offered that will pair well with this meal, most of which come from sustainably grown grapes. If you are feeling a bit stiff after dinner, there’s a yoga studio upstairs.

Nicole, the assistant manager, was running the front of the house like clockwork, and Rachel was our delightful server.

In-n-out will have to wait another day!

The restaurant of course has a modern, chic look


We started with a few bites-marcona almonds with lavender sugar and sea salt, fried chickpea 'clusters' romesco, rosemary, 'meyer' lemon, and rancho gordo 'yellow eye' bean "hummus wild fennel crackers



Pea shell & mint soup, 2x-shucked peas, & golden tendrils with purple haze carrots: crunchy & smooth puree, spiced pulp "crumble":before and after pictures



'Forono' beets scented with rose geranium & hazelnut with 3 amaranths, whipped avocado, wild plum


Carta da musica with virtually the entire summer garden, barely dressed with regina olive oil, meyer lemon and sea salt, truffled pecorino


Crispy garden fritters with moroccan spices & preserved lemon with marinated summer onions, fragrant coconut milk, 'delfino' cilantro


Whole roasted 'sunburst' squash, escabeche of 'cocozella di napoli' zucchini with jeff's olive tapenade, sylvetta arugula, transparency of the blossoms


Homemade gnochetti, "carbonara" style, with a soft farm egg, roasting jices of local trumpets, smoked "bacon", agretti, parmesan. The bacon was smoked chopped trumpet mushrooms-incredible.


Cauliflower in a cast iron pot with roast-puree-raw, our vadouvan spice, young coriander, brown butter toast


Vanilla bean "cheesecake" in a jar with blueberries scented with chamomile, teeccino crumble


A bowl of frosted feuilletine with toasted coconut milk, bananas, kieffer lime ice cream


Scharffen berger bittersweet chocolate souffle with 'chocoalate' mint ice cream, napa 'bing' cherries


An expression of 'orion' fennel, whipped yogurt honey ice cream, mercy's 'royal blenheim' apricots


Ubuntu
1140 Main Street
Napa, California 94559
707-251-5656

Wow!
Thanks for sharing these pictures. What an absolutely beautiful series of dishes.
Almost (almost) makes me want to become a vegetable-arian.

What's with the people only wearing mud in the bar area? Those wacky northern Californians!

Glad you enjoyed Ubuntu. RAB and I went last year and just didn't get it. The food was good and beautiful, certainly. But very few things were delicious, and we probably ordered 8-9 dishes.

Maybe we'd read too much hype in advance and were expecting more than they were able to deliver.

Tell me you made it to Fatted Calf, too, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Ubuntu?

Ronna

Wow. I would love to have the pea soup, the beets & the "carta de musica" on canvas so I could hang them in my living room. They look like amazing modern art.

Great pics!

Looks like a terrific meal, but I'm curious...any idea as to why the "Carta da musica" was on a big wooden pig?

REB wrote:

Tell me you made it to Fatted Calf, too, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Ubuntu?

Ronna

We only had 1 night in Napa. We tried to get into Bottega, Michael Chiarello's(formerly Tra Vigne) new restaurant but it's too hot a ticket. We'll have to try the Fatted Calf next time.

scanz wrote:Looks like a terrific meal, but I'm curious...any idea as to why the "Carta da musica" was on a big wooden pig?

Is there anything that sings to you much more than some good pig? At Ubuntu the only pig you'll get is the serving tray.

RevrendAndy wrote:Is there anything that sings to you much more than some good pig? At Ubuntu the only pig you'll get is the serving tray.

Rev,

Ubuntu's veg look great, but I give the edge to Mado's wooden pig tray.

Mado, Chicago



Enjoy,
Gary

scanz wrote:Looks like a terrific meal, but I'm curious...any idea as to why the "Carta da musica" was on a big wooden pig?

Chef Jeremy Fox is a fan of all things pork. I imagine the wooden pig is his sense of humor shining through.

Wow - thanks for the sharing the pictorial; Will have to put that on the "to try list someday."