New St. Helena Eatery Melds European Gastropub With Napa Influence

Stylishly tucked into a food and wine ‘village’ in St. Helena at Cairdean Estate, The Farmer and The Fox opened last month. 

Located at 3111 St. Helena Highway North, just two miles north of downtown St. Helena, the restaurant is open seven days a week from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. 

Executive Chef Joseph Humphrey, GM Darrin Sander, Chef de Cuisine Jason LaBue, Beverage Director James Kendall and Proprietors Stacia Williams and Edwin Williams have created a modern gastropub with unique touches.

Specialties include The Scotch Egg, freshly baked popovers, game pie, and a nightly roast from the rotisserie. Prices range from $6 to $17 for starters, $16 to $25 for main courses, and $7 to $8 for desserts.

The bar features eight wines on tap, eight beers on tap and imaginatively crafted artisanal cocktails. 

“We will focus on the Scottish gastropub theme while enjoying the bountiful advantage of our home,” said James Kendall, Beverage Program Director. “The wine list will be approachable and interesting; our cocktails are rooted in the classics with some twists, including, for example, a sour made with Aquavit and beet juice which we call the Countess of Carrack. Our beers will include greats such as Bruery’s Mischief and local favorites too,” he adds.

A distinctive touch --- in today’s competitive restaurant world -- is that there is no corkage fee. 

“We want our world of wine and food to be as welcoming as possible,” explains Proprietor Stacia Williams, who is also Cairdean Vineyards’ Winemaker, “so we welcome guests to bring their own wines. Being in Napa Valley, we want our restaurant to be a hub for our neighboring winemakers and vintners." 

The restaurant’s name comes from one of the most well-known of Aesop’s fables. A modern take on the European gastropub, the interior space is elegant and approachable with oak paneled walls, leather banquettes and black-and-white checkered marble floors. 

A brass bar illuminated with bankers’ lamps, customized brass sconces and oversized bell-shape light fixtures cast an inviting glow. Banquette seating upholstered in traditional woven Welsh blankets provides color and coziness; vintage silverware is part of each table’s setting.

The restaurant seats 100 guests, including indoors in the restaurant and bar and outside on the patio which overlooks the courtyard of the Cairdean Estate ‘village’ with the bakery-deli Butterscots, a wood-fired-oven, a three-tiered fountain, the winery’s tasting rooms, the retail shop Rosgal Mercantile and the Redolent Sensory Experience. 

Joseph Humphrey started his career in New Orleans where he learned contemporary Creole cuisine at the Palace Café, a French Quarter restaurant recognized as a “Best New Restaurant” by USA Today. 

Humphrey further honed his skills as a cook with other luminaries including Michael Mina, George Morrone, Bradley Ogden and Julian Serrano. A familiar face in the Napa Valley, Humphrey served as Executive Chef at Auberge du Soleil, and then as Chef of The Restaurant at Meadowood, where he was awarded two Michelin stars. 

Humphrey then went on to open Murray Circle Restaurant at Cavallo Point in Sausalito, which received one Michelin star each year of his three year tenure, as well as being named one of the Top Bay Area Restaurants in the San Francisco Chronicle and receiving an Award of Excellence from The Wine Spectator twice.

 “At The Farmer and The Fox we will be celebrating our area’s farms, ranches and food artisans,” Humphrey explains, “adding a distinctively delicious and modern Napa Valley touch to classic European gastropub cuisine.”

Darrin Sander comes to Cairdean Estate after five years as GM at Sushi Ran in Sausalito. His career includes lengthy stints at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine and the Hard Rock Café not only in San Francisco but also in Key West, Denver, Honolulu, Dallas and Atlanta. 

Sander started out as a dishwasher at 15 years of age. Under his management, the restaurants he has managed have placed in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 100 for years and have been awarded Michelin stars. “I arrived in northern California 14 years ago and am proud to call it home,” Sander says. “Our artisanal culture of food and drink fuels my passion for creativity and hospitality,” he adds.

Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 707/302-5101 or at www.farmerandfox.com.