The Nugget Grocery Store

[NVNVGirl]

I saw this was mentioned in another thread but thought it deserves it's own thread. This store is amazing, at least to someone who grew up in the Napa Valley and even tho I've seen some nice supermarkets, this one is really an experience! They've got a cooking school called The Shallot, a wine tasting room (and a great wine section), and incredible food court. The produce section of the store is so beautiful it'll bring tears to your eyes. Sheer poetry. If you are in the area, it's not far off I-80 and is worth a trip just for lunch. The address is 130 Browns Valley Parkway and is on the West side of the freeway. It's owned by a family who has, I believe 2 or 3 other stores in the Davis area. Wish they'd bring one down to Palm Desert! I'd live there

[melkor]

I need to go grocery shopping today anyway, I'll go check it out this afternoon and report back! Thanks for the heads up.

[NVNVGirl]

If you do go, have lunch there! They've got a lamb on focaccia that's excellent, or was the couple of times I've been there. My mom lives in Fairfield, so I try to go whenever I get up North. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I'll be interested to hear your review of it. Maybe I've just lead a really sheltered life, but I was blown away by the place.

[Mudpuppie]

Nugget is based in Woodland. There's an older, not-upscaled one there. There are two in Davis. One nice, on the fancy side, one not. There's also a new one in, I think, West Sac.

Nugget is my main store. I like their quality -- produce, cheese and bread especially. But what I really like is the way they treat their employees. It seems to come from the top down, too (as oppsed to being specific to one store's management). A lot of the college-aged kids who work there seem to genuinely like it. They're extremely helpful and -- gasp! -- pleasant, unlike many major supermarket chains. It's also a very clean store.

They get big points in my book -- and they'd have to, since their prices are a wee bit higher than, say, Safeway.

I do have one complaint with my store right now, though. They just moved their self-service olive bar to their deli section, so now you have to flag down an employee to get a scoop of olives. I find that annoying. Haven't asked why they made the change, yet.

Have to go try that Vacaville store! Never been in.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Get their Croissants!

Last July, I went on a Croissant binge and tried croissants from all over the valley. Here's my report: Carolyn's Quest for the Quintessential Croissant and Nugget's came out darn near the top for me!

Nugget is reminiscent of Whole Foods for me - large, accessible, with a great deal of variety.

[melkor]

So I'm back from my trip to Nugget. It's a nice store, similar to Wegmans in NY/NJ/etc. They have really nice produce and baked goods. I was impressed with their hot air coffee roaster in the store, it's a nice option for those who don't roast their own and don't have access to a small batch coffee roaster locally. Their prices are slightly higher than Vallergas & Raleys in Napa and significantly higher than what Trader Joes charges for similar products - but if it were closer to here I would likely shop there from time to time.

Overall, it seems to be the best grocery store in the area, it's quite strange that it is where it is.

[PamelaF]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here (been lurking since thanksgiving).

I love Nugget. Every month the Shallots cooking school hosts a winemaker dinner. These are wonderful events. I went on Wednesday night. The featured winery was Grgich Hills and the guest chef was Derek de La Paz from Napa Valley Grille.

The school room can seat about 30-40 people and the meal is prepared and plated in the room, so you get to watch the chef working. The demonstration kitchen has mirrors and a video monitor so you can see what's going on on the burners and and work surface.

We had four courses and five wines (all Grgich of course):

Seared Ahi Tuna, gingered Okinawan sweet potato puree, sun-dried cherry glaze, crispy leeks with Sauvignon Blanc.

Napa Valley Grille smokes a lot of their own meat and fish, the second course was:

House Smoked Salmon on a bagel chip drizzled with creme fraiche and capers, on a bed of frisee with Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Served with a beautiful Chardonnay.

The main course: Cabernet Braised Wild Boar with marscapone polenta and baby vegetables, served with both a Zinfandel and a Cabernet.

Dessert was Molten Chocolate cake with espresso glaze, raspberry sauce and vanilla bean gelato. The wine was Grgich "Violetta" a very unusual dessert wine made with a blend of late harvest reisling and chardonnay grapes that had also acquired the "noble rot". The resulting wine was much less sweet than a typical late harvest reisling, actually quite acidic, but with the rich body that you associate with dessert wines.

It was an incredible dinner and a great showing of the wines. I also find these events to be a lot more fun than just visiting a restaurant. You sit at communual tables so you get to meet and chat with the other attendees. The winery rep (in this case Violet Grgich, daughter of the founder) discusses the winery's history and the wines. The chef talks about his dishes and how he selected them to pair with the wines.

The bad news is that next month's event, featuring Robert Mondavi Winery, is already sold out. Now that I am posting this here, I guess I'd better make my reservation for March before that one sells out as well.

It would be nice to meet some local eGullet folks at one of these events.

Regards,

Pam

[Carolyn Tillie]

the Shallots cooking school

Funny... I submitted a proposal to them to teach a course or two. They never responded.

I still like them!

And WELCOME, Pamela!

Edited January 16, 2004 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[PamelaF]

Hi Carolyn, Thanks!

Give them another try, I think they are still working hard with only one or two people to get the school established.

Pam

[JAZ]

A very good friend of mine moved to Vacaville from San Franicsoc a couple of years ago and told me that one of the main reasons she was able to make the change was this market. I think she's taken a couple of classes from them and like them, as well.

[melkor]

I've since been back to Nugget a couple more times, I'm most impressed by their wine selection. They have one of my favorite grower champagnes for around $25/bottle Michel Turgy bdb brut NV - it's often $30-$40 a bottle. They also had a few bottles of 2001 JJ Prum Rieslings left. If it were 10 minutes closer I'd do most of my shopping there.

[Mudpuppie]

If it were 10 minutes closer I'd do most of my shopping there.

Hey, what's 10 minutes? It's two and a half songs on the radio, or half a Grateful Dead or Allman Brothers song. Is that worth a good grocery store? I'd say so.

[melkor]

Somehow it's not so bad to drive half an hour to get to the grocery store, once it's 40 minutes or involves paying a bridge toll it's too far away.