After a week of heavy eating, and taking visitors to slick winery
tasting rooms and noisy bistros with wine lists longer than
the list of candidates running in the California Recall, we
need a special hideaway. A place that whisks us away to a simpler
time, a quieter time; where Margaritas, and not Merlots, are
served with dinner.
Nothing fills the bill better than Wappo Taco, a new (as of
summer 2003) neo-taqueria located in Calistoga’s old train
station.
The setting looks like something you’d expect to see in
an Antonio Banderas movie; as we sit waiting for our $19 pitcher
of marvelous Margaritas, my mind strums the Simon & Garfunkel
tune…”I’m sittin’ in a railway station…”
This railway station was built in the 1800s to welcome health
conscious individuals into the valley for the burgeoning mud
bath business (let it not be said that there is money in mud…).
Aaron Bauman and Michelle Mutrux, who have operated the successful
(and wonderful) Wappo Bar & Bistro in Calistoga for ten
years, always wanted to open a small restaurant specializing
in unusual Mexican dishes, a place for locals could hang out.
Wappo Taco is the embodiment of their vision.
Walk into the cantina, sit at a small booth or table; order
from a packed menu of cheap ‘n cheerful selections, many
of them unusual, then amble over to the salsa bar and make a
selection from five different salsas and half-a-dozen different
condiments that can be added to your enchiladas, tostadas, carnitas
or flautas.
The house specialty – and worth the drive to Calistoga
from Napa town – is a wonderful duck carnitas taco, which
presents a crunchy mass of smoky, confit-style duck snippets
packed into a crisp taco.
We also like the flauta de pato, which presents tasty duck morsels
rolled into a cigar-shaped wrapper, served with sour cream,
green salsa and shredded Romaine. While the dish may leave a
bit of a burn on your tongue, the antidote is simple: rinse
with a mouthful of Margarita. The ones made here are extra-tangy,
goosed with loads of fresh lime. Alternative beverages are available;
there’s a modest selection of inexpensive wines and beer.
Wappo Taco is more than a taqueria – or as some might
spell it, a tacky-ria, based on previous, less desirable
dining experiences. Aaron and Michelle have gone out of their
way to find authentic Mexican dishes that rarely find their
way onto Norcal restaurant menus.
“We’re just working on a tostada of bacalao made
with cod, tomatoes, potatoes and capers that’ll be dressed
with a tangy chipotle mayo,” says Aaron. “And we’re
refining the classic chile relleno, which will be stuffed with
corn, rice, cream and cheese and topped with a classic almond
and walnut sauce.” Not what they’re serving in your
hometown Taco Bell, to be sure.
The great thing about Wappo Taco is that you don’t have
to have any reservations about eating here – or for eating
here. You can just about always know that there’s a table
available and the fare is simple, inexpensive and filling. Which
is what a getaway from the abundant lifestyle of Napa Valley
is all about.
Wappo
Taco, 1458 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga. 707-942-8165. |
