Napa Valley Grille takes diners to wine country
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 23, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 ALISA STOUDT Guests attending an opening banquet at the
Napa Valley Grille sample an array of foods.
By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Contributor
California’s wine country, including its cuisine, fine
wines, and charming pastoral atmosphere, has been recreated and
relocated just around the corner.
The Napa Valley Grille opened its doors to Westwood on Jan. 9,
inviting clientele from all over Southern California to enjoy the
Napa Valley experience.
“Our goal is to make a visit to Napa Valley Grille a
virtual vacation to Napa,” said Hazem Ouf, President and CEO
of Constellation Concepts, Inc. “So if you’re here for
an hour or two, you feel like you’ve visited
(Napa).”
Constellation Concepts, based in Corte Madera, California, owns
and operates 32 restaurants across the United States, seven of them
Napa Valley Grilles. The one in Westwood Village is the most recent
of the chain and was opened after a year of strategic planning to
accommodate local businesses, Westwood residents and the UCLA
community.
The restaurant features a large outdoor patio, comforting
fireplaces and hand-painted life-size mural, depicting scenes of
Napa Valley in springtime. Lighting effects are used to create a
warmth and ambiance.
“During the day there’s almost shadows of trees and
leaves and then at night, the moon comes out and is shining through
the vines,” said Mark Stevens, of Architecture and Light.
“So we played around a lot with lighting techniques that
change from day to night quite dramatically,” continued
Stevens.
The indoor dappled moonlight is accompanied by the food that the
executive chef, Frank Fronda, helps prepare.
 ALISA STOUDT The newly opened Napa Valley Grille, located
in Westwood at 1100 Glendon Avenue, serves fine cuisine and wine in
a romantic setting.
“The monkfish here is incredible,” said server Paul
Haverly, when asked about his favorite dish. “It is served
with chorizo, onion, and bell peppers, a honey sweetness that
counteracts the spiciness of the sausage, and leek coulis, creating
a melange of flavors.”
Frank Fronda, a graduate of the New York Restaurant School,
draws on his experience from various three and four star
restaurants in Manhattan to create a new menu specifically for this
restaurant.
“It seems we are developing a quick reputation for the
horseradish-crusted Chilean sea bass,” Fronda said. “Or
for the meat lovers we have the thyme braised veal cheeks that are
to die for. They’re like butter.”
Fronda helped establish the wine concept and the theme of the
restaurant.
“One of the things we are doing here is the old-world
pairing of food and wine “¦ very romantic,” Fronda
said.
Fronda developed a new idea called Perfect Pairs, a small menu
of six items, each consisting of two bite sized appetizers, where
customers can choose any three of the six. Each taste is perfectly
paired with two ounces of a meticulously chosen flavor enhancing
premium California wine.
“It’s really incredible to sit and have a scallop
with a little foie gras-quince vinaigrette and have a glass of wine
with that and understand why the two go together,” Fronda
said. “It’s romantic to think about how they pair and
why.”
Perfect Pair choices also include cornmeal fried oysters, beef
carpaccio, thyme seared ahi tuna, and roasted garlic
profiteroles.
“It’s amazing how food brings out the nuances in the
wine and vice versa,” he added.
Unique to the Westwood restaurant is the retail shop, Olivier,
an olive oil shop brought in from the streets of St. Helena, a city
at the heart of Napa. The shop offers a variety flavors, from
orange tarragon oil to lime cilantro toasted almond pesto and dill
vinaigrette.
The restaurant has banquet rooms for business or social
occasions, a full bar, and an impressive wine list of over 300
premium Napa Valley and California wines, including many
hard-to-find labels.
“It’s a nice evening out without being
pretentious,” said Monica Koehler, a hostess at Napa Valley
Grille and a UCLA student. “There’s not even an actual
dress code.”
Napa Valley Grille hopes to appeal to a wide variety of age
groups so that everyone who dines at the restaurant feels
comfortable.
“It wasn’t designed to have just a formality of
dining,” Ouf said. “It’s supposed to have a
feeling that you can just come in and graze. You can have a small
appetizer, a complete meal, or just a drink.”
The restaurant can accommodate almost any function from meetings
to post events after movie premieres, casual dining or special
occasions.
“I’m looking forward to putting smiles on
people’s faces,” Fronda said. “A great part about
this business is there is instant satisfaction “¦ and after
that first bite, if there’s a smile on that face, I know
I’ve done my job. And when the plate returns to the kitchen,
empty, that’s what I look forward to.”
RESTAURANT: Napa Valley Grille is located at
1100 Glendon Ave. For reservations and hours, call (310)
824-3322.
