Espetón
NAPA, CALIFORNIA | JUNE 2025
As everyone arrived to our Napa Supper, we could tell they were a little bit confused. They had just driven away from town, up windy roads, past countless vineyards, far from any of the expected locations for a wine country Supper. Instead, they found themselves on the expansive wraparound porch of a neat family home, greeted by Cori and Carey Carlson, who run Napa Pasture Protein. The Carlsons invited us into their backyard for a Supper on their ranch, overlooking craggy, rolling hills covered in golden grasses and gnarled oak trees. The soundtrack of the warm, breezy day was the gentle ringing of bells tied to the necks of alpine goats and the occasional protestations of Tina the llama, who seemed to be wondering what all of these strangers were doing in her yard.
We dined in a budding olive grove, while Casey and Chef Rick Edge from Lucy at Bardessono Hotel & Spa expertly tended to a whole lamb roasting on a Asador nearby. Chef Rick actually suggested Supper on the ranch, because he thinks their lamb is some of the best he’s ever had. It’s every chef’s dream to break out of the kitchen and cook outside over open fire, and Chef Rick was equally focused and full of smiles as he passed between the pizza oven and the Asador all night, cooking and plating a beautiful meal inspired by Italian and Spanish flavors, full of ingredients grown in the valley or pulled from the Pacific Ocean nearby.
The sunny day faded into a lingering sunset as guests shook off that initial confusion, overtaken by a sense of connection to place and each other. Long after sunset, several tables stayed full as people lingered in the pleasantly warm night, making future travel plans with companions who were strangers just hours before and offering to share rides back down the windy roads to the valley floor.
WELCOME
As guests arrived, they were greeted at the entrance to Cori and Casey’s wraparound porch, which offered some much needed shade on the blue-sky day. Chef Edge was plating appetizers in front of the pizza oven, while we poured cold Sauvignon Blanc from Paso Robles and a crisp Sonoma Pet Nat to cool everyone down. A few brave guests wandered to greet the baby goats penned nearby or pet the horses lazing in their paddock.
A MENU BY RICK EDGE
Chef Rick Edge from Lucy, at Bardessono Hotel & Spa in downtown Yountville, was so excited to cook for us on the ranch. His menu braided Italian and Spanish influences with seasonal flavors from Napa and Sonoma counties. The result was a colorful, delicious feast filled with local ingredients stretching from the nearby seaside to the rugged mountains just beyond the table.
MENU
WELCOME
Lamb Meatballs Idiazabal cheese & Calabrian chili
Lucy Potatoes “Bravas”
Chilled Beausoleil Oysters uni, sweet lemon & caviar
Wines:
Hall Ranch Sauvignon Blanc
Ugly Duckling Pet Nat
ON THE TABLE
Chickpea Purée fire-roasted homemade flatbread
FIRST
Smoked Burrata Patch Farms tomatoes, roasted garlic, Genovese basil, rustic crostini
Wine: Martin Ray Sonoma Rosé
SECOND
Fire-Roasted Soft-Shell Crab Bloomsdale spinach, smoked bacon, maitake mushrooms
Wine: Little x Little Suisun Valley Chenin Blanc
MAIN
Argentinian Spit-Roasted Napa Pasture Farms Lamb summer peppers, chimichurri
Cavatelli with Lamb Bolognese piquillo peppers, Barolo wine, shaved pecorino
Wine: District Series 2021 Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon
DESSERT
Fire-Roasted Stone Fruits golden balsamic sabayon, whipped ricotta, Marcona almond brittle
WINE PAIRINGS
We sourced a few of our favorite vintages from some of the countless surrounding wineries, showcasing different sides of California wine country. From bright bubbles to a rich Cabernet Sauvignon from Yountville, just down the road, everyone enjoyed the breadth of personalities available from California’s many grapevines.
NIGHTCAP
For a sweet finish, Chef Edge roasted fresh summer stone fruits in the wood-fire oven, and served them dressed up with golden balsamic and whipped ricotta as the sky began to take on colors of pink and peach over the surrounding hilltops.
The evening ended with the entire table singing happy birthday to one guest, who arrived alone but left only after lingering long into the dark night in good conversation with new friends around the table.
SECRET LOCATION: NAPA PASTURE PROTEIN
Cori grew up just down the road from the ranch she now runs with her husband, Casey. She walks this land with the comfort and authority of someone who not only comes from it, but is one with it. Behind their expansive porch and pin-straight garden beds in the backyard, the land gets rugged fast, with livestock grazing alongside pigs wallowing at the base of the hillsides. The holistic grazing methods of Napa Pasture Protein are designed not only to care for the animals, but the land that they live on — because everyone is better off when the entire chain connected.
