Another Fabulous Addition to Downtown Napa
Over the holidays, we had the pleasure of dining at Ca’ Momi Osteria in their very hip and cool restaurant on First Street just west of Main Street, where the Westin once hosted their timeshare office and Naked Wines had offices. Ca’ Momi Osteria remade the space into a warm, inviting and unique restaurant with killer Italian food. Their motto is “Obsessively Authentic Italian” and they succeed at that in spades. The decor is upbeat with a bevy of 1950s and 1960s Italian films played on a large wall near the front entrance, and the spacious bar is stacked with zillions of bottles of wine and liquor with unique lights hanging down from the ceiling. The wonderful wood walls and tables and original brick wall at the back of the restaurant give the restaurant a warm feeling. A huge sign over the bar says exactly what Ca’ Momi is all about…“HEARTCRAFTED.” They want to make sure that in addition to ‘Eat Authentic and Be Authentic,’ we need to eat heart healthy foods. That’s good advice for everyone.
When we were there on a Tuesday night during the holidays, it was packed with mostly folks we did not recognize, and we know a lot of locals! That means that our visitors have found and like the place, so it must be good for our locals too! Ca’ Momi seats 46 diners at tables, another 30 at the bar and, weather permitting, 30 more outside. The wait staff is dressed in black T shirts with “Obsessively Authentic” in bold yellow gold letters. The place lives its mission with staff that are professional, fast, friendly and serve great Italian food. The aroma waffling through the restaurant was intoxicating and the food was fabulous.
We were greeted at the door by Jonny Tindall, Ca’ Momi’s Director of Culinary Operations, a Napa native and Vintage High School graduate. Our server, Melissa, was friendly, fun and accomplished in making sure we knew what was irresistible on the menu.
Dorothy started out with a glass of Ca’ Momi Napa Valley 2013 Zinfandel ($12) and John ordered a glass of Ca’ Momi 2012 Chardonnay ($15). Both wines were wonderful. The homemade warm schiacciata wood oven flatbread ($5) was great and so was the hefty portion of the burrata e verdure (originated in Puglia) made from wood-oven roasted vegetables, house-pulled burrata and schiacciata all’olio ($14). The burrata e verdure could be a meal in itself! So much so, that for dinner Dorothy ordered Ca’ Momi’s famous ribolita (Toscana) zuppe made with black kale, cabbage, seasonal leafy greens, cannelini beans, parmiagiano reggaino and housemade ciabatta bread ($12). John had the salsiccia e friarelli pizze made with housemade pork sausage, rapini smoked mozzarella de bufala and no tomato ($18). It was delicious too and very filling. Jonny wanted us to try Ca’ Momi’s pasta con radicchio e zucca (Veneto) made with sauteed butternut squash, chioggia radicchio, shallot soffritto, sage, piave. If you are so inclined, there is a gluten free option for this amazing pasta ($18). We ended up taking half of this home in a box for the following day’s lunch.
For desert (dolci) we ordered the housemade organic gelato, with one scoop of vanilla bean gelato and one scoop of malaga brandy and raisin cream gelato ($7). Dorothy raved about the food and told Melissa that the real test of great italian deserts was perfect panna cotta. So, of course, Melissa brought us Ca’ Momi’s panna cotta al caramello which was the best panna cotta ever ($9)!
Ca’ Momi Osteria has a varied menu of Antipasti originated from all over Italy, great Pastas from bigoli coi rovinazzi, spaghetti ala bottarga, tagliatelle con i funghi di bosco to lasagne alla bolognese and gnocchi di ricotta salata al tartufo nero. The meals are all good sized and delicious. The guests sitting on each side of our table raved about their meals and, again, the place was packed. These are all good signs for success. Ca’ Momi’s pizze offerings are also unique, large and very filling as are their salads (contorni).
The Ca’ Momi wine list is extensive featuring Napa Valley and Italian wines. The owners and staff are all music lovers and promote “Do It For The Love Foundation.” Ca’ Momi offers a unique selection of non alcoholic bottled beverages from Italy ($5) and tropical green or organic black iced tea ($4) along with great cocktails ($12), Cocktail Di Vino ($8) and a nice selection of Birra (Beers) Pints ($6) and Pitchers ($18). Next time we are at Ca’ Momi Osteria we will try their cocktails. Maybe the il siciliano made with charbay meyer lemon vodka, pur blood orange liqueur, bergamot syrup, lemon and grapefruit or their mulo italiano made with 360 vodka, house ginger shrug, cock n’ bull ginger beer and fresh mint. The entire menu is interesting.
In 2010, partners Un-Chef Valentina Guolo-Migotto, Master Pizzaiolo and Winemaker Dario De Conti, and Winemaker and Brewmaster Stefano Migotto, opened the popular Ca’ Momi Enoteca in the Oxbow Public Market and they now further their vision with Ca’ Momi Osteria in 2015. They bring their Northern Italian heritage to Napa for us all to enjoy!