Eats: French Blue in St. Helena, Napa Valley

Attractive décor and lots of locals (including Carl Doumani, owner of Quixote, one of the most pleasingly provocative wineries in NV, designed by the late Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hunderwtasser, lunching inside with a friend). Outside can be noisy due to the trucks on Highway 29, but the place is popular: a former reporter from the St. Helena Star, a couple of winemakers, etc., all under big umbrellas. My companion found her shrimp and corn bisque with lime chili cream tasty if a bit thin, and the mouse-like shrimp presentation new and interesting. My grilled California sea bass with heirloom summer beans and cherry tomato jam was delicious if a tad over-done, my 2010 Bonny Doone white Le Cigare Volant (an Arroyo Seco Rhone listed under “Exotic Whites”) perfect. I would have shot the whole thing with my iphone but the NV matron at the next table said she deplored such behavior.