We were fortunate to be able to review a fairly new restaurant in Calistoga dedicated to wood-fired pizza and a bit more. Fleetwood anchors at the end of Napa Valley’s storied Silverado Trail just on the outskirts of town, a short 3-5 minute drive from the main drag. Offering both indoor and outdoor dining options, you can see the vineyards, farms, hot springs, and ranches in the distance. Inspired by California’s wineries, the place has a modern Italian and Mediterranean vibe.
The chef and manager is all about the food and….the wine. Chef Drew Glassell emphasizes seasonality and wood-fired locally inspired fine foods and pizzas. They love to celebrate artists, makers, vintners, and farmers. Yup, they sometimes have live music as well, although because we were there mid-week, we didn’t experience it during our visit.
Fleetwood’s Wood-Fire Oven
If you read us often, you know we’re big wine lovers here and almost always opt for wine when we review a restaurant. There were some fun cocktails on the menu — all fresh — so Anthony had to try one, encouraged by the manager of course. He went for the Mertillo, which is a combination of gin, huckleberry, honey, lime and tonic. Want something a little more exotic? Then go for their Pesca Perfecto, which combines rum, peach, lemon, ginger beer with a float of dark rum.
Check out their oh so delicious wood-fired pizzas.
If champagne or bubbly is more your thing, they’ve got you covered as well. They offer a lovely Schramsberg “brut rose” from Napa. Or, you can get a blanc de blanc from Frank Family in Carneros. As for me, I went with the 2018 Chardonnay from Clif Family, which I understand has a female winemaker.
Outdoors, you can sit at regular tables or around a firepit — fun lights fill the air overhead and laced throughout the trees to provide a relaxing and romantic ambiance.
Appetizers and cocktails at Fleetwood
Appetizers include a pickled combo (yum), roasted peppers in olive oil (below), as well as a chilled grilled prawn cocktail, oak-grilled heart of romaine with anchovies and caper berries, a seasonal chopped salad, wood-oven roasted meatballs and a burrata with grilled peaches, watercress, pickled onions and grilled bread.
Below, their scrumptious wood oven roasted meatballs, which are half pork and half beef with pork rinds to bind them.
Meatballs at Fleetwood
Take a look at their Burrata below.
As for mains, go for one of their pizzas if you’re a pizza lover because of their wood-fired ovens. Speck Ham, Buffalo Mozzarella and Pladini are among the options. Their speck ham pizza comes with truffle tremor, caramelized onions and oak grilled broccoli rabe.
We tend to go for less starch and carb options as often as we can, so opted for their Oak Grilled Salmon (below) which they serve with artichokes, arugula and cherry tomatoes and their Rocky Chicken Breast, which comes with farro, glazed cippolini and green beans in a herb-chicken sauce.
The Oak Grilled Salmon
Above and below: Fleetwood’s Rocky Chicken Breast with Farro
They also have a burger if you have kids in tow and a Striploin Steak which is accompanied by Gnocchi, Roasted Garlic, King Trumpets, Baby Peppers and Truffle Balsamico.
Moving onto desserts, they offer a Polenta Cake with roasted strawberries, zabaglione and amaretti crumbs and a Cannoli with orange blossom mascarpone, amarena cherries and pistachios.
Above, the Polenta Cake at Fleetwood.
Above and below, their ever so delicious Cannoli with powdered sugar, a great way to end a meal.
Two thumbs up — it was a divine experience, one we’d definitely recommend. Be sure to see our Luxury Foodies post on Fleetwood on Instagram as well.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to review more restaurants during this stay, but be sure to read our 2018 foodie guide for fun options.
DETAILS:
Fleetwood
1880 Lincoln Avenue
Calistoga CA 94515
707.709.4410
https://www.fleetwoodcalistoga.com/
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Note: we were hosted by the restaurant but all opinions expressed are entirely our own.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
