Fine backstreet fare

By: Peter Posert

One of the Napa Valley’s seemingly best kept secrets can be found in a small and intimate outdoor café a block off 1st Street.

Petit Soleil, positioned just around the back streets of the town on Clay Street, is a lively, fresh and fun destination for healthy dishes nestled alongside traditional café fare.

What is really fun at Petit Soleil are the dishes delving on the lighter side. Rolled oats with berries, granola with dried cherries and cranberries and the coup de grace – the avocado toast. On the lunch side, there are burgers and fries, fried chicken sandwiches, and some wonderful salads for lunch and a vegetable thyme sandwich that is perfectly sized with a bowl of soup or a small salad. 

Nothing in Napa can be had for the price of peanuts with how much the town has scaled upward, but at Petit Soleil, you will feel like you are in that little unknown backstreet bistro, dining on fine, freshly cooked fare, produced by folks who are clearly intentional about getting you back on your feet shopping and wine tasting with a healthy and delicious meal.