OXBOW Public Market, Napa CA

Farmer’s Markets flourish in Marin and Sonoma counties. They're fun, with food and music and your pick of the best in organic produce. You find them in malls, parking lots and on the main streets of small towns. So when we heard about the new public market in the Oxbow district of Napa, we had to go. Napa is a town that can be easily bypassed as you drive to St Helena or Calistoga, the heart of the wine county, but driving to the market through downtown Napa is a delight. Beautiful turn of the century homes and buildings are matched with riverfront condos and lofts.

To get there take the First Street exit off of Highway 29 and follow the signs. As soon as you spot the The Napa Valley Wine Train at Soscol Avenue you know you're getting close, in fact the market is in walking distance of the train. The market is located on a bend of the Napa River, beautiful! The building, unlike the downtown area, is modern with lots of corrugated sheet metal and little to no landscaping to soften its lines. Our first mistake was to think this was a farmers market. Inside the building are various vendors including food stands with only one organic produce market. The farmers market starts in May and goes through the middle of September and is held across the street every Tuesday and Saturday. Inside the building there are multiple mini stores including a meat market, and an olive oil purveyor, Hog Island Oysters, Three Twins ice cream and Rotisario.

We think food is the key here.Pica Pica a Venezuelan food stand specializes in Arepas , which is a grilled corn flatbread much like a pita. They are hot and crispy, split and filled with various yummy fillings. Ours was the Pabellon, with shredded skirt steak, fried plantains and black bean paste. With that we had a frosty glass of frozen coconut lemonade, much like a slushy and slightly tart. Worth the trip.

In an adjacent building you’ll find Taylor's Automatic Refresher the all American hamburger restaurant - one of three in the bay area. Lest you think that the food is ordinary the line around the building will tell you otherwise. Real milkshakes, perfect hamburgers, ahi tuna burgers and sweet potato fries just name a few of their offerings. Not to be missed.
Next door is Model Bakery.Great breads, sandwiches and fresh baked pizza, but we finished off our Pica Pica lunch with cookies. Big and round with crunchy edges and chewy centers. You have got to try the chocolate chip walnut cookies and almond macaroons.

All in all the market is a great place to eat and a beautiful drive, but as a destination in itself I think it is better as part of a day’s excursion to wine county. We are going to go back when the farmer’s market is up and running and will post an update. Thanks for reading.