My evening at Ad Hoc ranks pretty high on the list of Best July 4th Celebrations that I’ve ever experienced. For those who are unfamiliar, ad hoc is owned by Chef Thomas Keller, generally considered to be the best chef in the country. He is also the owner of The French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, and Per Se. Ad Hoc is an entirely different style of restaurant from his other spaces. It’s casual, family style, and was never intended to be a permanent restaurant. From the website:
The building at 6476 Washington Street was originally intended to be a very different type of restaurant. While we were designing it we thought we’d experiment by opening a temporary restaurant and calling it Ad Hoc, which literally means, “for this purpose.” The idea for Ad Hoc was simple - 5 days a week we’d offer a 4 course family style menu that changed each day, accompanied by a small, accessible wine list in a casual setting reminiscent of home. We wanted a place to dine for our community and ourselves. The decision to change over the restaurant, however, was taken out of our hands by our guests. The response was so positive, we simply couldn’t close. So, in September, 2007, we decided to stay open permanently and now we’re serving dinner 5 nights a week as well as Sunday brunch.
On the evening we visited Ad Hoc, it happened to be the 4th of July. The restaurant had a festive atmosphere, and the menu that night was classic Americana. When you visit Ad Hoc, there is no decision to make. 4 courses, $49 a head. Everything is served family-style. A note of caution, the wine list doesn’t have a bottle under $40, so you know how they’re making the money back.

Our menu:
- salad of chilled melon with balsamic and feta
- lobster rolls with corn on the cob, boiled potatoes, and slaw
- cheese course: a sheep’s milk cheese from WI served with white nectarines
- dessert: red velvet cupcakes served with homemade buttermilk ice cream and mixed berries.
The restaurant had a great atmosphere. While the food was amazing, it was a place you could bring anyone (they always have a vegetarian option and fish option and can make substitutions for allergies, etc). We saw big families, children included, couples, parties…It also felt like a neighborhood spot, a place locals would eat. In fact, when we talked to the employees at the wine tasting rooms, several of them said they had been, or had plans to go.

The salad was simple and refreshing. I remember remarking that even the frisee salad had a beautiful dressing on it. The restaurant sources ingredients from the same local garden that serves The French Laundry.

Four lobster rolls, veggies and slaw made for the perfect backyard cookout vibe. We each only ate one lobster roll, and saved the rest for lunch the next day. The food was simple, but as they say on Top Chef, “nice, clean flavors.” Also- per my mom- “the best damn bread I’ve ever had.” The actual rolls came from Bouchon Bakery, natch.

The cheese course, with the freshest, juiciest white nectarines. The fruit paired perfectly with the cheese. I tend to prefer cheese as an appetizer, rather than a palate cleanser, or semi-dessert course. So in my perfect world, this would have been the first course.

The appropriately red, white and blue dessert. The homemade ice cream was indescribably smooth and creamy. I ate my cupcake in the natural way (break off the bottom and make the icing the center of a cake sandwich). My mom, a red velvet hater, agreed that the cupcakes were delicious. Again, this fit in perfectly with the picnic vibe. The whole night felt like a really good friend was making us delicious food.
I would like to get the cookbook, “Ad Hoc at Home” and see how hard it would be to replicate these recipes. I’m sure I wouldn’t have access to the same quality ingredients, but I liked that the food was so accessible and comforting.
I was also impressed by the fact that the restaurant halted service at 9:15 when the local fireworks show started. All of the restaurant guests brought their wine out on the patio and enjoyed the show together. When we got back inside, our waiter was ready to bring us the next course. He was warm and friendly, and happy to share all kinds of information about the restaurant with us. In fact, he is the artist who drew their famous butcher-pig logo.

Out of all of the restaurants I’ve been to in Napa and Sonoma, I would probably recommend Ad Hoc as my first choice. It isn’t the most elegant, but I feel it’s the most likely to make the average person very happy.
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