Business Review – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine Business Review March 2008.

The Arrangement
By Craig Smith

For Terry Brown, owner of The Arrangement at 821 Coombs Street, the decision to move to America was literally decided by a coin toss.

Terry was living in Northern England. She had two sisters who were married, one living in Fairfield and one in Australia, both of whom had sent Christmas cards bragging about the terrific weather and great lifestyle at each location. The weather in England, to put it mildly, was awful.

“Let’s emigrate,” Terry said to her mother. Neither cared which place they chose, so a coin was tossed and it came up America. They packed up and moved in 1963.

“I’m so thankful that we ended up here,” Terry says.

Terry had just completed a three-year apprenticeship to become a journeyman hairdresser and thought that with her years of training, getting a job here would be easy. However, she soon discovered that she needed a license first, so she went to cosmetology school for nine months. During a student competition, she met a salon owner who was impressed with her technique and hired her. Terry worked at several salons over the years, and became good friends with two co-workers, Lena Beal and Wendy Bosson. The three used to help Barbara Wiggins, owner of the Mustard Seed clothing store, stage fashion shows. They would talk over wine of how much fun it would be to all go into business together. Things got serious and they began looking for a location.

Their Realtor showed them several places, but Terry’s favorite was just as bad as it was good. The site had been a tractor store, garage and pool hall. The ceiling was yellow with a century’s worth of cigarette smoke. At one time the building was so large it had to be partitioned to form two spaces. The side that Terry liked had no utilities. Still, she could see the potential in the 16-foot walls, tin ceiling and beautiful tiled façade, so they signed the lease.

“I have always been one who loves a challenge, but I really had no idea what I was in for,” she recalls. “I hand-drew a building plan on a piece of paper and took it to the planning department. They were very gracious in that they didn’t laugh (at least not that I am aware).”

Friends pitched in and helped to build the business. “I have so many wonderful memories of watching it transform,” Terry says. The Arrangement opened the day before Thanksgiving in 1985. Sadly, three months later, it flooded, along with the rest of downtown.

“As a result, we had our first of many experiences of sand bagging,” Terry says. “Although it may seem like a complete catastrophe of sorts, I found the situation to be gratifying on so many different levels. As water had risen three and a half feet deep at our windows, neighbors and friends were all there to help. Even strangers would walk by, lend a hand for a while and then move on.”

Partner Wendy Bosson left The Arrangement when she got married, Lena Beal left a few years later and Barbara Wiggins relocated to the Napa Town Center, leaving Terry as the sole owner since the mid-nineties.

Terry saw the changes as an opportunity and expanded her business to include a boutique.

Today, The Arrangement is a strong business and includes a full-service salon, spa and retail boutique. There are ten hair stylists, two manicurists, two estheticians and four part-time receptionists.

Terry credits the staff, some of whom have been with her from the beginning, for much of her success. In fact, when Terry left for Europe on a six-week holiday, as she was walking out the door she realized that she had forgotten to leave a to-do list – but then realized that she didn’t need to.

When asked what she believes to be the success of the business, Terry replied “education, education, education.” She and the staff attend trainings in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Arrangement specializes in Vidal Sassoon technique and Bumble and bumble (of New York) straight-edge razor-cutting.

On-site, day-long workshops are held and the staff meets regularly to share business and hair-related ideas. One result of this effort is that numerous receptionists have become interested in the business and are now hair stylists themselves.

Terry has volunteered for, and is a past president of, both the Napa Humane Society and the Napa Valley Wildlife Association. She also organized a toy drive at Napa State Hospital for eight years, until the children’s ward was closed.

Terry can’t imagine doing anything else. “I love this industry. It continues to challenge my creativity and growth.”

The Arrangement is open Monday through Saturday until at least 8 p.m. (707) 253-2811.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Finding Napa – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine “Finding Napa or Napa Finding Me” March 2008.

Finding Napa or Napa Finding Me – Julie Lucido

By JoAnn Busenbark

A college thermodynamics class may not strike you as the place to have a romantic interlude and perhaps meet your future spouse. For Julie Lucido, it was the perfect place. She and her classmate Frank, both engineering majors at Chico State University, now are married with two children. Don’t ever say thermodynamics can’t be romantic.

Julie was raised in Ukiah and Frank was raised in Vallejo, and both preferred smaller communities. Julie’s education at Mendocino Community College was partially exploration and the remainder was following her love of math. She thought she would become a math teacher. Her sister is a an elementary-school teacher, her chosen career path from an early age. At Chico State, someone suggested she try some engineering classes and she was caught up in a new world she really liked. Julie chose to major in civil engineering.

After graduation Frank got a job in Reno, so they moved and both worked in their respective fields for a short time. Julie and Frank were both homesick for the Bay Area and decided they wanted to work and live in or around Napa. An old friend from college called and said there was a civil engineering position open in Napa and Julie should apply. The rest is history: Julie was hired by the Napa County Flood Control District in 2002. Starting out as an associate engineer, Julie learned all the basics of the Napa flood-control project and had the opportunity to work with experienced engineers.

Promoted three times, Julie is currently the principal engineer for the flood project team. She loves the expanded knowledge she has gained by working on this project, such as hydraulics, construction and property issues. At this point in her career, she says this is her “perfect job.”

Like many other engineers, Julie was initially hesitant to do the “people piece:” presentations and meetings. Now she says her favorite part of the job is making PowerPoint presentations to community groups to help them to understand what is developing with the project and how far it have come. The rewards are seeing the outcomes of all the development of the project to date. The overall goal is very motivating for Julie.

A very self-assured woman who knows what she is doing and loves it, she is also enjoying the growth and development of her 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. Julie says the Napa Valley is a great place to raise a family. Her husband is an engineer for Napa County and his mother is providing child care for her grandchildren. Does it get any better?

Julie and her family are thrilled with their decision to come to the Napa Valley area and raise a family here. They are small-town folks who have searched and found where they want to be. Julie and Frank: We are glad you came and want you to stay.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Local History – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine History Article March 2008.

Time Passing in Napa, 1
By Lauren Coodley

One way to pour time through the hourglass of our lives is to read about Napa as it once was. Louis Ezettie, Realtor and journalist, wrote several columns in l96l that take us back to the past. If we listen to Napa’s elders today, we can glean much from their memories. This essay will intersperse Ezettie’s recollections with the remarks of the Merry Mariners group at the First Presbyterian Church.

.……Sunday afternoon and a great crowd of baseball fans pours out to watch the great rivals, Napa and Vallejo, whose lineup included the mighty Ping Bodie for Vallejo, and the slugging Lloyd Russell for Napa engaged in another thrilling contest. The bloomer girls baseball team making a cross-country barnstorming trip and annually meeting a local men’s aggregation. …Employees at California Glove Company making up two baseball teams called the Giants, captained by Bill Simpkins and Midgets, led by Archie Jacobsen, and meeting in the friendly combat as other employees formed rooting sections to cheer their favorite side.

We grew up digging up arrowheads out on Old Soda Springs Road. There must have been a large Indian population here…My family even remembered hearing about a powwow in l9l0.

Customers having dinner at Kunzel’s Restaurant on the east side of Main Street near First, where a meal consisting of pearl barley soup, roast beef and potatoes, coffee, and homemade pie cost 25 cents, cooked on a woodstove. …School children buying lunch put up in a bag for them at Levi Chapman’s grocery, southeast corner First and Brown Streets, with the lunch items including chipped beef, cheese crackers, fig bars, and some kind of fruit, for l5 cents. People waiting in line at Mason Bakery, southwest corner of Brown and Fourth Streets to buy hot bread just out of the ovens at three loaves for 25 cents and, if you found a five dollar gold piece in your bread, it was not there by accident, as the owner put four or five gold pieces in different loaves to promote sales; and at Regli Brothers Bakery (Napa City Bakery) they gave 20 tickets for $l, each ticket good for one loaf as an inducement to the hotel and restaurant trade.

We walked our cattle from Sonoma to Napa, and grazed them on the river behind what is now the Elks Club. Children would take turns watching the cattle.

……Professor HL Gunn, head of the local business college, whose penmanship with its elaborate flourishes and delicate shading was a work of art. …The big bell in the courthouse tower ringing out an alarm in the still of the night, and you consult your handy alarm location card distributed by and with the compliments of AH Smith insurance company, and if it’s a downtown number, you might jump on your bicycle and hurry to the scene.

Old town used to have a lot of boardinghouses… Do you know why there are Cupolas on downtown houses? They were “widow’s walks,” where wives watched for ships coming up the River after being out at sea.

The big, fruit cannery on 4th street opposite the SP Depot burned to the ground, throwing many people out of work, and was never to be rebuilt. The Chinese vegetable garden and watermelon patch on Soscol Avenue, back of where the Gasser Motor Plant stands, was often raided by kids living on the west side of the river, who would swim across, snatch melons, and then push them across the surface of the water as they made it back to shore.

There were skating rinks all over town, at what used to be Veterans Park, on the top floor of the Hatt Building, and on Silverado Trail by Juarez. We all used to go to Partrick’s afterwards.

.…. The first talking motion picture shown in Napa was presented at the movie theatre located on the east side of Main Street between 3rd and 2nd streets, and Eddie Cantor was the featured actor. …Julio Banchero, talented accordionist and expert billiardist, attracting music and dance lovers to Armory Hall (Migliavacca Building) and winning himself a long engagement as a solo accordionist on the Orpheum Pantages west coast vaudeville circuit. James J. Jeffries, World’s Heavyweight Champion, spending several days in town when he came here to take a small part in the cast of a show headed by Bert Lytel and Evelyn Vaughn at the old Opera House. Tom Sullivan, a local vocalist, probably setting a record for the number of encores ever accorded a performer on a Napa stage, singing for the first time the very sentimental song entitled, “Honeyboy, I Hate to See You Leaving.”

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
(Jim Croce, 1971)

Louis Ezettie articles published in June and September, l96l, courtesy of the Napa County Historical Society. On Sunday, March 2, Richard Aldrich will present a History of the Napa Valley Opera House at the Goodman Library Building, 1219 First Street,
2:30 p.m. Free.

For an article by Louis Ezettie about the founding of Partrick’s, see: http://www.napahistory.com/partrick.htm
For a fascinating account of the Lokoya women’s volunteer firefighters by Louis Ezettie, see http://www.drycreek.org/reprints/past_and_present75.html

Many thanks to the Merry Mariners for
sharing their observations with me on February l6, 2008.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Community Interest – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine “Community Interest” March 2008.

Raised by Lyons
NVC Teen Brings Animals & People Together
By Louisa Hufstader

When Lynette Lyon was born 19 years ago, her parents had to make some unusual changes to accommodate their firstborn child:

“There were animals in her room,” recalls mom Robin Wolfe Lyon. “We had to move the animals out so that she could have a crib and a room to herself.”

Robin and her husband Rob own Sonoma’s Lyon Ranch, a private refuge for rescued creatures both domestic and wild. The most famous is Kazzy, a Bactrian (two-humped) camel the couple adopted when she was three days old and trained as a therapy animal, visiting nursing homes and hospitals in Napa and around the Bay Area.

Though Kazzy, now 8, stands more than seven feet at the shoulder, she’ll always be Lynette’s “little sister.” But the charismatic camel is far from the only large animal the Napa Valley College student has helped to rear.

“I have raised a baby buffalo named Tatonka, Tonka for short, and he is just the sweetest thing in the world,” says Lynette.

“When he sees me – well, when he was little, it was like getting hit by a motorcycle,” she laughs. “Now, it’s like being hit by a taxi.”

Her mother tells the rest of the story: “He was going to go to the meat factory, because buffalo is the ‘new meat,’ and Lynette somehow pleaded with the owner to give her the opportunity to work with it.”

American bison are no pushovers, Robin Wolfe Lyon continues: “They’re not easy to train. They have a very wild instinct and they’re strong. She slept in a sleeping bag with two bales of hay between them.”

Tonka took to his training so well that Lynette was able to walk him on a lead line, sit on his back, and even give him a shampoo and blow-dry.

In the end, the lucky buffalo went back to his ranch – not as meat, but as a mascot.

Lynette is currently raising a baby donkey, caring for a retired guide dog and helping to socialize a young serval, one of several African wildcats the family has taken in from zoo breeders who can’t sell them because of various handicaps.

Then there’s Norman, a Watusi bull from Safari West, where his mother spurned him at birth. Lynette wrapped the shivering calf in blankets and slept with him in the warm ranch kitchen, hand-feeding him until he was strong enough to survive.

“He was our baby, he followed us around, he would come when he was called, he had his own dog bed,” Lynette says. One of the Lyons housecats used to wash Norman’s face, she adds.

The full-grown Watusi now greets the public at a well-run petting zoo in Missouri, she says, but there are plenty of animals still to care for at Lyon Ranch: The family has more than 80 mouths and beaks to feed, including three dozen parrots, various dogs and cats and farm animals galore.

That’s one reason Lynette, a graduate of Sonoma Valley High School, decided to start her higher education at Napa Valley College while continuing to live at home.

Not only is she able to keep helping with the animals, she can continue taking Kazzy and other qualified pets to nursing homes around the North Bay.

“It’s really rewarding to be able to do that,” says Lynette, who has been visiting care homes and hospitals since she was 10.

On her own, she’s visited middle-school students with birds, snakes and a baby donkey.

“I love public speaking so much, and I love talking to people about animals,” says Lynette, who recalls sharing her excitement with her late grandfather, Bill Wolfe of Wolfe Ranch on Napa’s Fourth Avenue.

“He was quite good with animals and loved seeing animals,” she says, “possibly because I was so interested in showing him.”

Lynette hopes to develop her lifelong enthusiasm for, and understanding of, animals into a career, possibly in education: Though she delights in her Napa Valley College drama class with Jennifer King and has discovered an unexpected love of art history at NVC, her sights are set on Moorpark College in Southern California.

“Moorpark is a college that teaches people how to train exotic animals, wild animals and domestic animals,” she explains. It’s the only college in the U.S. with its own teaching zoo.

With a degree from the school’s Exotic Animal Training and Management program, “you can basically apply to any zoo that you want, to any theme park, any wildlife preserve – this is where they recruit.”

With the San Francisco Zoo tiger tragedy a recent memory, Lynette agrees that the zoo’s “incredible shrinking fence” contributed to the attack that left a teenager dead amid unconfirmed reports that his friends had been teasing the big cats.

But, she adds, the problem “probably starts before the zoo;” continuing, “I think it’s really important that we start at an early age to teach people to respect.

“When animals attack people, humans want to see it as the animals’ fault, because the human race wants to believe it’s flawless and we are not,” Lynette explains.

“That’s why animals are so important: because they can teach us so much about ourselves.”

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Restaurant Review – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine Restaurant Review March 2008

Angele
By Dorothy and John Salmon

Connie Anderson, the Publisher of the Napa Marketplace, is one smart lady. When she needed someone to write restaurant reviews, who did she contact? She contacted us, two folks who eat out too much and could stand to miss a meal now and then. Well, here we go with our first column. We begin our new career at one of our many favorites in Napa, “Angele”.

We are on a first name basis with the staff at Angele. It seems like it’s our home away from home, or at least the kitchen and dining room. As we enter the place, we are greeted with smiles and “Hi Auntie Dorothy and Uncle John”.

We know the menu by heart and have our favorites. This night, however, we experience the creations of Angele’s exciting new chef, Aaron Ameneghelli who is gradually adding his own unique style to the existing menu items and creating some new additions to this already great menu.

Every evening at Angele is an exciting local adventure and this night was no exception! We brought our dear friend Dave Mendelsohn with us because his wife Donna was out of town. We enjoy Angele’s upbeat, classy atmosphere full of friendly locals and visitors blended perfectly with great food. We walked in the door and were greeted by Angele’s owner Bettina Rouas and Manager Aaron with the same great smiles and wonderful service to which we have become so accustomed.

We began with a half bottle of Dr. Loosen’s Riesling, a lovely light German wine that went perfectly with our plate of the chef’s special “grugeres,” the best rendition of cheese balls in the world! (Chef Ameneghelli’s recipe for Grugeres is at the bottom of this article). When customers arrive at Angele they are treated to what we consider the best French bread in Napa served by a very friendly staff of knowledgeable foodies.

Before our main course, Dave ordered the Artisan Salami’s Serrano Ham, Country Pate and Country Toast. It’s a traditional French opening to a great dinner. Dave ordered the Rib Eye Steak which he said was amazing, John ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon, which was fabulous, and I ordered the Coquille St. Jaques, which I think is the best rendition of Coquille St. Jaques in town. Even though we have enjoyed the French food at Angele often, Chef Ameneghelli’s new additions to the menu made the food taste better than ever. (Lunch at Angele is also fabulous and gives guests an opportunity to see the ever-changing flood control project up close and personal!)

We give Angele rave reviews and encourage you to take time to enjoy the relaxing and lovely French ambiance, great food and a superb wine list.

Here’s a tip from the locals who know that Kari, the bartender at Angele, is on the top of the list for prize winning mixed drinks and exotic libations. If you are lucky enough to have Tana serve you after Angele’s tireless owner Bettina greets you at the door, you will be in for a wonderful evening.

Angele has fabulous food, a wonderful blend of locals and visitors, and is high on our list of local places to spend an evening. Try it and tell them that Auntie Dorothy and Uncle John recommended the restaurant!

Angele – 707-252-8115
Hatt Building at the Napa River Inn
540 Main Street, Napa

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Eco-Touring – March 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine “Eco-Touring” March 2008.

St. Helena – End to End
Ramblin’ On by the Napa Nomad, Eco-excursions in the Napa Valley
By Arvis Northrop

If you’ve ever been to St. Helena, you know how pleasant it can be to take a stroll along Main Street and enjoy the ambiance of this charming town with its historic architecture and special shops. I’ve been known to drool in front of Foot Candy’s display on more than one occasion! That’s mostly what the tourists see, but we know there is more than immediately meets the eye. Recently I was informed of five historic stone bridges from one end of St. Helena to the other. Which is “one end” of town and what is “the other”? Well, I mapped out a way to see these five stone bridges in one easy, not-too-long walk or bike ride through town. So how far is this stroll going to be? I figure a two- to three- mile walk, one way, is not so bad for most active and even semi-active folks. For a bike rider, it’s a cinch. For the return, you can hop on the #10 Vine bus to get you back where you started, or all the way back to points south of St. Helena.

Of course there are also a number of great restaurants and cafes to stop into for a well-earned lunch or snack after your expedition!
Begin at the largest and most visible stone bridge that crosses the Napa River at Silverado Trail and Pope Street: the “Pope Street Bridge”, built in 1894. It’s easy to pull over and park on Pope Street and there is a small wedge of a green, grassy park right next to the bridge. From the park you can get a good look at this bridge’s impressive masonry. Let’s see: in 1894 there were still horse-drawn buggies clip-clopping across this bridge, just on the verge of Henry Ford’s automotive revolution. Later, in less than twenty years, small but mighty Model A’s were be-boppin’ along and today it’s, “watch out for that SUV!” These bridges are quaint, but narrow! I love to fantasize my own version of time travel, but onward for the treasure hunt of stone bridges.

Continuing on Pope Street, about half a mile, you’ll find a trail that meanders through Jacob Meiley Park. Take this to a modern pedestrian bridge and proceed to Chiles Avenue which will bring you to the north side of the second Pope Street stone bridge. Double back down Pope Street to get a look at this one, built in 1908. The bridge spans Sulphur Creek and on one side you’ll see a rugged, old red barn and a huge oak tree creating one of the most picturesque scenes in town.

From Pope Street and Chiles Avenue, walk a couple of blocks up to Main Street and turn right, heading north. In less than a mile, turn left onto Madrona Avenue, going west. Madrona Avenue is a wonderful walk all on its own. I recommend a leisurely stroll up this street some time to enjoy the view along vineyards and the lovely old-fashioned neighborhoods of St. Helena. But to seek out the stone bridges, go just two blocks from Main Street and turn right onto Spring Mountain Road. The first bridge is about a half-mile up the road and the second is just a half-mile farther. Both of these bridges were built in 1902 and are hard to discover when zipping by in a car. They are at street level, with low sides. The stonework is pitted and rough, in contrast to the lush green tufts of moss that are scattered over the tops and sides. Unruly vines from the banks of York Creek clamber up and over, taking possession of the bridge’s old stone walls.

So far this excursion has revealed four stone bridges, easy to walk to. The fifth bridge of this journey is just around the corner! Go back down Spring Mountain Road, left on Madrona and back to Main Street. Turn left and go just three tenths of a mile to Pratt Avenue. Now, how could anyone miss this beautiful bridge? This bridge proudly displays the history and splendor of St. Helena with large, antique lamp posts on each side. Travelers coming south and entering St. Helena are welcomed with the famous charisma of the town. At a final departure out of town, this elegant bridge sends you on your way through the canopy of trees covering Highway 29 and the glimpses of majestic wineries all along the way.

The stone bridges of St. Helena and throughout the Napa Valley are stalwart landmarks of the early industry and population of this area. How much longer will they endure? Many residents of Napa Valley love their history and beauty. If you would like to learn more about the stone bridges, there is an excellent opportunity coming soon! The non-profit organization, Friends of the Napa River, is hosting Al Edmister’s slide presentation of Napa Valley’s stone bridges at their headquarters, 68 S. Coombs St. in Napa on Tuesday, March 18th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Edmister is a local historian, photographer and expert on the stone bridges.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Community Interest – February 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine “Community Interest” February 2008.

Hospitality – Sharing the “Joy of Life”
By Carolyne Gamble

Napa Valley attracts about five million visitors each year, mainly to visit the world-famous wineries and taste the fine wines.

But where do all these people stay and where do they eat? What exactly do they do while they’re here?

Consider the people in the Napa Valley’s hospitality industry who serve all our visitors. Tourism drives business to the wineries, the restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, caterers, spas and hundreds of other service businesses.

Trends & Talk About Town -
What Hospitality Professionals
Need To Know

This spring, for better business AND better service, hospitality professionals come together to strategize, learn, and network. Here is hospitality, served on a platter, all rolled into a well-crafted package.

The Napa Valley College Hospitality Symposium
March 25, 2008
Napa Valley College
Upper Valley Campus

This is an educational forum for business owners, managers and decision makers. Sure, they’re interested in making a profit. That’s good business. But they’re interested in better service as well, for that is the key to this industry. It’s what keeps the tourists returning to Napa Valley.

“The NVC Symposium creates a shared vision and common values toward management and leadership in our hospitality industry,” says Charlie Monahan, Hospitality Institute Program Manager.

Looking for Joy?

The Hospitality Symposium includes a full day of speakers, seminars, lunch, wine reception and industry presentations delivering strategies for profit and better service. Chip Conley from Joie de Vivre is the keynote speaker. His topic, also the title of his recent book, is “PEAK – How Great Companie-s Get Their Mojo From Maslow.”

Conley’s company is the owner of the largest number of independent hotel properties in the Bay Area. “I named my company Joie de Vivre because I was looking for joy in my life,” he says.

Conley is the author of three acclaimed books: The Rebel Rules – Daring to Be Yourself in Business, Marketing That Matters – Ten Practices to Profit Your Business and Change The World, and PEAK.

Along with Conley, highly-regarded professionals from the worlds of food, wine, and tourism will present the latest industry tips and trends. The atmosphere is casual. The information is crucial. There are sessions about four tracks for success: Service, Marketing, Operations and Human Resources.

Who Should Attend?
• Directors and managers in wineries, hotels,
restaurants, food service and spas
• Managers and staff who deal with the
Hospitality Industry
• Staff of local and regional hospitality businesses
• Consultants for the hospitality industry

“Last year was exceptional,” says Sara Scott, Executive Chef at Folio Enteca and Winery, which opened recently at the new Oxbow Public Market on First Street in Napa.

“I attended the Hospitality Symposium last year and it gave me a fabulous overview of the hospitality and restaurant business. I received the broad perspective AND specific information such as financial reports and lots of marketing ideas. It provided all pieces to the puzzle, all in one day.”

The Hospitality Institute has partnered with the Job Connection, the Napa County Workforce Investment Board, Regional Occupational Programs and Napa Valley Chambers of Commerce. Visit www.nvchi.org for a listing of the full program, speaker bios, and registration information or, call the Napa Valley College Small Business Development office at 707-253-3210. The cost for one attendee is $125. A second attendee from the same company is $100.
http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Business Review – February 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine Business Review February 2008.

Baker Street Downtown
By Craig Smith

Baker Street Downtown, at 1018 First Street (just west of Main) is a radically different business than it was when Brenda Roberts bought it in 1986.

“The business was originally on Jefferson near Mary’s Pizza Shack. The store was only 600 square feet, and was strictly a tobacco shop. I was the fourth owner, and I let things run as they had until I got a sense of the business,” says Roberts.

Baker Street is now one of the premier cigar stores on the West coast: for example, it was the first to be allowed to carry Fuente Opus X in the mid ’90s. Today, however, Roberts also carries an extensive line of clocks, women’s purses, men’s and women’s jewelry, flasks, walking sticks and canes, card cases, games, decorative accessories for the home and more. Why all these products as well as tobacco?

“My customers have asked for these things, and I always try to accommodate them. Listening to people who shop with you is the single most important thing a business can do to be successful,” Roberts says. Other factors contributing to her success include staying open at night (“We need to be available when people want to shop,”) and truly enjoying her customers (“We want to provide people with a positive experience in their rushed lives”). Roberts says her staff, which has become like a family, is a large part of the reason people like to shop at Baker Street.

A self-described Air Force brat, Roberts grew up in Colorado and moved to Napa in 1982 to be the production director for KVON. She did on-air work there as well, and is still the voice of Baker Street ads. Roberts left radio to work in a mergers and acquisitions firm in San Francisco, tried modeling for a couple of years and ran a communications firm, but it wasn’t until she had the chance to buy Baker Street that she found her niche.

“I always liked retail and this was the ultimate challenge.”

As a business owner, Roberts was initially shocked at how much there was to do, and says that it never lets up. “I love it, but retail is hard work.” She built the business on Jefferson and opened a second location in St. Helena, which she operated for five years. All the while, she was paying attention to what was going on in downtown Napa, and eventually decided it was time to close the other two locations and open up on First Street.

“I used to say that if you want to kill a business, move it to downtown,” Roberts laughs. “But the changes going on now are amazing. Downtown is a good place to do business, and it’s getting better all the time.”

Roberts was one of the first women to successfully run a tobacco store, and was featured in a 1998 issue of Cigar Aficionado. If anybody is going to have something special, it’s she.

Roberts loves what she does. “Cigars are about relaxation and socialization. I travel a lot, and have met some fascinating people over a cigar. That’s why I do this.”

Although her “off hours” are few, Roberts spends much of her free time volunteering in the community. She’s been a Soroptimist, which she considers to be her number-one commitment, since 1995, and is a past president of that organization. Currently, she is on the board of the Napa Chamber of Commerce and the Napa Downtown Association. The best place to find her, however, is at Baker Street. “It’s a busy life, but I love it.”

Baker Street is open 7 days a week and every evening except Sunday. Call 255-4434 or visit www.bakerstreettime.com.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com

Restaurant Review – February 2008

Napa Valley Marketplace Magazine Restaurant Review February 2008

Bleaux Magnolia

By “The Elusive Epicurean”

I have a French surname, and because of this, people have assumed many things: that I speak French (I don’t), that I cook (not so much), and that I must ever be chic (er, no). Sadly, I must report that my ancestors crossed the Atlantic centuries ago. Whatever innate sartorial or culinary talents they possessed have clearly been frittered away throughout the generations. I am as un-French as anyone.

Sometimes, though, I am haunted by the Might Have Been. The culinary legacy of my grannie with the oh-so French name was this: dinner upon dinner of chopped hot dogs, cottage cheese mounds, and experimental microwave cookery. But, what might have been? What if my ancestors had hoofed it all the way to Louisiana instead of plopping down in Kankakee? Would I have been raised on tasty cuisine? I can only dream.

After eating dinner at Bleaux Magnolia, dream I do. I had already eaten much of their lunch menu, mostly as takeaway and all delicious. My favorite is the pulled pork sandwich ($10). The pork is deliciously tender; cooked in a pomegranate-molasses-rum barbeque sauce, then served with a persimmon macadamia slaw on a soft roll. And, I can never order lunch without getting the “Voodoo Sweet Potato Steak Fries”, served with a chipotle aioli ($5). Yum!

Delicious as their lunch goodies are, I was unprepared for the exceptional dinner that Bleaux Magnolia turned out. If you haven’t yet eaten at this little jewel of a restaurant in downtown Napa, you’ve been missing out.

Happily, Bleaux Magnolia’s tasting menus are a great way to sample this take on Creole fare. Both three- and five-course tasting menus are offered. We decided on the three-course, with wine pairing, at $48 per person ($33 without wine). Prices throughout are for ala carte items. And, while we’re talking fine print here, you will appreciate this: there is no corkage. Yes, that’s right. No corkage. Ever.

My companion, Miss Guinness, began with the butter leaf salad with roasted red and golden beets, candied macadamia nuts, rye croutons and a gorgonzola cheese dressing ($9). I chose the crab cakes, which were served with mango aioli and a persimmon-jicama-macadamia nut slaw ($13). Both were delicious. The gorgonzola dressing had a pleasing, subtle kick, and the crab cakes tasted fresh and homemade.

Miss Guinness is a vegetarian (her only failing) and, although specific vegetarian items aren’t listed on the menu, Bleaux Magnolia will happily prepare something special. Miss Guinness is always thrilled when she doesn’t have to stick to the requisite salad or pasta option, and Bleaux Magnolia didn’t disappoint. Her roasted vegetable gratin with trumpet mushrooms was so flavorful and satiating that even the most rabid carnivore would have been happy to go meat-free.

My first choice, the Niman Ranch pork osso bucco ($23), had sold out, so I ordered the cornbread-crusted catfish ($19). In the end I was grateful I’d ordered something I normally wouldn’t. This wasn’t some bland steamed fish that would get me a gold star from my trainer. Served with sautéed spinach, black-eyed peas, pork jowl, caramelized onions and a huckleberry sauce, this fish was decadently rich and delicious. I will order it again and again.

The grand finale was the bananas Foster. What can I say? It’s heavenly. And, the food pyramid does say to eat your fruit. Order two. Per person.

Bleaux Magnolia is located in downtown Napa at 1408 Clay Street. Tuesdays through Saturdays, lunch is served 11:30 to 2:30 and dinner 5 to 9. On Sundays, brunch is served 11 to 3 and dinner 5 to 9. Closed Mondays. For more information, call (707) 252-2230 or check out www.bleauxmagnolia.com.

http://www.napavalleymarketplace.com