To discover the restaurant boasting the largest collection of Napa Valley wines in the world, one must travel to Press Restaurant in Saint Helena, in the United States. It may not be surprising, given its location in the heart of Napa Valley, the country’s most renowned wine region. However, it is truly remarkable and unique that one restaurant has a wine menu consisting of an astonishing 2,700 Napa Valley wines. What is at least as remarkable, is the fabulous cuisine of Philip Tessier, the chef of Press Restaurant, who uses the best local and seasonal ingredients and turns them into mouthwatering dishes.

Concept & location

Press Restaurant is situated south of Saint Helena, in the middle of Napa Valley, with the Mayacamas mountains to the left and the Vaca mountains to the right. The restaurant can be found on the main road and when driving around in this part of Napa Valley to visit wineries, there is a high chance that you will drive by several times per day. The restaurant was opened many years ago by Leslie Rudd. Rudd started several companies in Kansas, but he fell in love with Napa Valley, moved there and started Rudd Winery.

Some time later, he decided to open Press Restaurant as a way to celebrate Napa Valley wines and to create a place for the community and for the local people. Initially, the restaurant was mainly a steakhouse and patrons would eat traditional American fare such as baked potatoes, creamed spinach and steak. When Rudd’s daughter Samantha took over the restaurant, the concept changed. She attracted a chef for a temporary consultancy project. That chef initially would stay a few months, but COVID came and those few months became a much longer period. The chef started to slowly change the food offering of the restaurant. While respecting the history and the legacy of Press Restaurant, they evolved step by step to the refined food they are serving today.

The menu format has transformed from an a la carte menu to a tasting menu, which changed a restaurant visit to Press Restaurant into a much more curated experience than before. When you are having lunch or dinner in Press Restaurant, you can see the mountains on both sides and you are surrounded by vineyards. The restaurant itself has that light, airy, sort of refined, modern farmhouse atmosphere. An atmosphere which also completely changes around sunset. A nice additional element is the fact that they have a large fireplace which is lit during the winter months to add to the whole experience.

The restaurant is open seven days a week for dinner, and they turn tables on average three times per service.

The Chef & the team

The chef responsible for transforming the casual restaurant into the refined culinary haven it is today, is Chef Philip Tessier. Tessier considers himself a culinary orphan, as his parents were not skilled in cooking. His mother only began to cook after marrying at the age of forty. Out of necessity, Tessier began cooking for his family as a child, sparking his love for food at a very young age. By the age of fifteen, he realized his passion for cooking and aspired to one day own his own restaurant. He took a job in a hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he grew up, and was surrounded by culinary school graduates, motivating him to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he studied for two years.

From there, Tessier’s career progressed rapidly. He worked for Roger Vergé at Le Moulin de Mougins in France before returning to the United States, where a friend helped him secure a position with Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin. Following his time at Le Bernardin, he joined the opening team of Chef Thomas Keller’s first New York restaurant, Per Se, where he worked for three and a half years and rose to the position of sous chef. Following the birth of his daughter, Tessier and his family decided to leave New York. Chef Keller then offered him the opportunity to become the chef at Bouchon in Yountville, a role he held for three and a half years before moving to The French Laundry, where he served as executive sous chef for about three years. Tessier also mentored the American team for the Bocuse d’Or, leading them to a gold medal victory. In 2019, he joined Press Restaurant as the chef, embarking on a journey to transform it into an acclaimed fine dining establishment. Under his leadership, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2020. The size of the kitchen team varies throughout the year, depending on whether it is high season or low season, but consists during service of around twelve chefs. The team is very international, with some Americans but also chefs from Indonesia, Brazil, Italy,…

Gastronomy / Cooking Style

The chef aims at creating a sense of place. His intention is to offer the pinnacle of Napa Valley cuisine and pair it with the best wines from the region. Even though the restaurant is a very comfortable space, Tessier aims at serving food which is sophisticated and very elevated. But at the same time, we also discover some form of refined simplicity in the dishes that are being served. Every dish is inspired by the farms the chef collaborates with and you can tell that a lot of effort is being invested to bring everything together in a cooking style that makes a lot of sense for the location the restaurant is situated in. From that perspective, we could describe the cooking style as modern American. Tessier also incorporates influences from the regions where his chefs are originating from. This freedom is in his view exactly what modern American means. That also resonates perfectly with Napa Valley, a region which is determined by winemakers and families who moved there from all over the world. Even though this international influence, in line with the cooking style of the chefs where he was groomed, the base of Philip’s cooking style is French.

Each season, Press Restaurant is launching a new menu. But also between seasons, dishes change based on the availability of products. The creation of new dishes happens under the guidance and leadership of Tessier, but he involves the whole team which makes it a team effort and responsibility. Some of the dishes we tried :

Service & Wine

Perfectly in line with the feeling that the chef wants to create for his guests, the atmosphere in Press Restaurant is rather comfortable and cozy. The entire staff is very friendly and accessible. The team succeeds in creating a relaxed atmosphere in which, as a guest, you never experience any pressure to act in a specific way. Even though we would not call the experience casual, it stays very far away from being formal. They include a form of playfulness in the way they deal with guests, without losing that level of sophistication and refinement that makes sense for a restaurant of this level. Even though we experienced slightly different service styles among the various waiters we had at our table, in general the service is spot on, has an eye for attention and as there are quite a high number of service staff, it is fast and easy to attract attention in case you would need anything.

The wine program in Press Restaurant is rather unique. With 2700 Napa Valley wines, they have the biggest collection of wines from this region in the world. Initially, that is also the only wine region they had covered on their wine menu. In the meanwhile, they have added wine from other regions, specifically to cater for the needs of their local guests. As a Napa Valley wine maker, you might not immediately be open to drink your neighbor’s wine during a visit to a fine dining restaurant, and this they have solved by adding some old world wines to their beverage program.

Why go? 

Whether or not you are a wine enthusiast, a visit to Napa Valley is always a mesmerizing experience. The natural beauty is stunning, and the vineyards only further enhance the charm of this gorgeous part of the world. The region boasts numerous wonderful restaurants and Press Restaurant is definitely no exception. Chef Philip Tessier and his team create delectable, contemporary dishes rooted in French gastronomy, using the finest local ingredients of the region. Enjoying this exceptional cuisine in a bright and welcoming restaurant, surrounded by fabulous mountain views and attended to by courteous staff, only adds to the experience.