Have you been to Napa lately? Even if it hasn’t been on your radar, punch it into your GPS and pull up your socks. It just might knock them off.
The once avoidable pit stop on your way upvalley keeps getting better and better. In fact, it’s sidling close to chic and a surprising pleasure to explore.
My association with Napa is “Tightwad Tuesdays” at the old Uptown back when it was a second run move theater. Now, the secret mid-week deal is Tuesday Nights for Locals at Oxbow Public Market, with live music. The onetime movie palace is now a classy live entertainment venue, blocks from the lushly refurbished Napa Opera House. The easy to walk streets are chockablock with so many intriguing cafes and restaurants it’s painful to have to pick just one.
Pinch me. Am I really in Napa?
The waterfront has been completely opened up with public spaces and given a European feel with ebony railings and antique-styled lampposts. Even with Copia gone, there is still the Oxbow Market
Into this increasingly sophisticated landscape has come AVIA Napa, with it’s formidably big-city facade, downscaled to Napa size. If you want the feeling of going to the city for a real night out — dinner, the theater and drinks all within walking distance of your hotel room — without paying bridge toll, dodging Muni and paying blood money for a parking garage, wrap your mind around a night in Napa.
The hotel strives to cater to locals with power breakfasts, farm-to-table dinners at their restaurant The Kitchen, and complimentary corkage for Napa residents.
AVIA’s General Manager Kristine Youngberg says the hotel aims to make the hotel feel like ” extension of home.”
“Our aim is to be exceptional hosts, especially to our neighbors here in Napa,” says Kristine Youngberg, general manager of the downtown hotel. “We want AVIA Napa to feel like an extension of home. The Kitchen, along with the new Riddling Rack Wine + Barista bar, should be a place for locals to call their own, whether they’re celebrating a special occasion or just need a place to unwind at the end of the day.”
The hotel is offering a few incentives for people with theater tickets at the Uptown or the Opera House. The Kitchen is fearing a Dine-And-Dash menu. For $35 you get a prix-fixe, three-course dinner. The menu changes daily. The Riddling Rack is offering a pre-show Happy Hour and post-show After Hours for theater goers. Guests presenting their theater tickets from the Uptown or the Opera House will get 20 percent off all food and beverages on the day of the performance.
AVIA is located at 1450 First St. The Kitchen and The Riddling Rack are open for breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.. The Kitchen serves dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The Riddling Rack re-opens from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and stays open until midnight Fridays and Saturdays. (707) 224-3900 or aviahotels.com.