The small farmers market in Yountville happens every Wednesday during the season. From late afternoon into the early evening it offers a nice selection of vegetables, flowers of varying shapes, colors and types. Sometimes a litter of puppies might be offered to good homes, or you can pet an alpaca or take home a big bundle of fresh herbs from Mark of Big Ranch Farm. Perhaps a local restaurant or vintner will be there, offering samples.

There are margueritas on the lawn and porch of Compadres restaurant – the market is almost literally in their front yard. Across the street other spectators and shoppers sip wine or an aperitif at one of the small outdoor tables of Bouchon. At the other end of the parking lot, the deck of Pacific Blues is always a popular resting spot. Or try a California roll, or a sample of mustard.

In the last decade Yountville has become a culinary destination. It is, as they say in the red French Michelin guides, ‘ça vaut le voyage.’ A place ‘worth the trip.’ It has, according to locals, more fine restaurants per capita than any other town in the country. From the Napa Valley Grille, Brix and Mustards at one end, to Piatti to the south, and with more in between, it is a culinary mecca. Soon, chef Bob Hurley’s long-awaited restaurant will open across the street and gourmets will have yet one more reason to make the trip to the town of barely 3,000 souls, and many of those, perhaps half, are residents of the Veterans Home up on the hill.

Thomas Keller, world famous chef and owner of the French Laundry (and Bouchon, as well as a new bakery soon to open next door) has been known to sign cookbooks at the Yountville Farmers markets, and local chefs and their assistants are regulars. Sometimes there is music, but always there is a contented buzz, and with that buzz, each year the market has become a bit more popular. More vendors, more to see and do, more customers. It has grown the way markets such as this are meant to grow – organically, not artificially – in the same way the best produce comes to market.