Napa Valley is small in size but giant in impact. With over 400 wineries and counting, this valley first put California wine on the world map by winning the Judgement of Paris blind competitions 40 years ago, an event recounted in the film, ?Bottle Shock.?
A celebration of this historic event?along with 39 other events?comprised the 5th annual festival, aptly named, Flavor! Napa Valley. Yes, you will find Napa wines being poured at many other festivals around the globe, but there is no better place to sample its pleasures than Napa itself.
With Copia in the background chefs from Morimoto present food to guests at Flavor! Napa Valley’s ?Downtown StrEAT Market.?
First up was graduate Christopher Kostow who quickly rose to stardom garnering 3 Michelin stars for The Restaurant at Meadowood. Having predicted his meteoric rise long before it happened, we were particularly keen to experience his culinary prowess up close and personal. He shared a recipe for ?Fresh Cheese Gnudi” from his soon-to-be opened casual restaurant, The Charter Oak in St. Helena. Next up was Chef Tony Gemignani, who was throwing a pie.  It was a pizza pie, that is. This 11-time World Pizza Champion?who owns a cadre of eateries in the bay area?demonstrated his prowess like a true showman. Not only did we watch, we learned the finer points about dough, toppings and oven temperatures, as we gobbled up slices like there was no tomorrow.

But tomorrow did come, none too soon, to experience perh...