If you’re looking for something to do beyond just taste wine while in Napa Valley, then visit St. Helena’s Main Street for a truly unconventional experience!
While staying at The Ink House in Napa Valley, Pat and I found ourselves with a bit of free time after our wine tasting. Our host, Brian Woolery, recommended we take a stroll down St. Helena’s Main Street. I didn’t have this street originally on my itinerary and wasn’t exactly sure if there would be anything interesting to see. But being a journalist, I decided I would go explore and see what Main Street had to offer. I was beyond surprised at the unconventional, unique and one-of-a-kind stores St. Helena had to offer. St. Helena’s Main Street has officially made it on my MUST-DO list when visiting Napa Valley!
Interesting Fact:
St. Helena is actually pronounced St. Heleena, not St. Helena.
The Main Street with all its fun stores begins at Adams Street ends by Spring Street. We started off on Adams Street and made our way “downtown.”
1. Olivier Napa Valley
Walk into Olivier and you feel as if you’ve stepped into Provence, France. This store has been open since 1999. It is a local favorite and has begun to branch out to other areas due to its wide success. Olivier specializes in locally-produced oils, vinegars, condiments, gift baskets and more from the Napa Valley region mixed with a large selection of products and tableware exported from Provence, France. The highlight of the store is all the tastings they have for every single product in the store. All the olive oils are beautifully contained in copper tins with taps that allow you to pour and taste with a delightful morsel of soft baguette. The store even offers vegan options, for those interested. The attention to detail is impeccable making it truly a one-of-a-kind Napa Valley experience. From the store to the packaging everything is gourmet.
Keep an eye out for…
Some of their unique products to keep an eye out for are the Orange Tarragon and Lemon Pepper Dipping Oils, Portobello Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade, the White Bean Dip with Caramelized Garlic and Sage, and the Orange Honey Grilling Sauce. But you really can’t go wrong with anything!
2. Woodhouse Chocolate
It was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit the day we were in St. Helena. So when we walked by a sign in front of Woodhouse Chocolate that read “cold brew coffee,” we didn’t hesitate one second. Little did we know that we had walked into a more elegant Willy Wonka chocolate house. Patrick and I have a sweet tooth, so were entranced by the myriad of chocolate options that stocked the shelves of Woodhouse Chocolate. Envision chocolate chess pieces and chess boards, avocados, bees, heels, grapes (for the harvest of course!), and during the year various Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween characters and more. Not only did they have chocolates, but they had s’mores, truffles, hot chocolates, chocolate covered oreos, chocolate pops, cookies, toffee and more.
Woodhouse Chocolate is a family-owned company of Chocolatiers inspired by the movie Chocolat, devoted to creating works of art using local and sustainable ingredients whenever possible. The Anderson and Wood family’s mission is to create the world’s most flavorful and rich chocolates and confections. The chocolates are produced in typical European style and are handmade in a historic 1890s stone and brick building not too far from the store.
Artisan chocolates are a bit more expensive, but so worth the price and mid-day snack. Pat and I bought one chocolate each along with an Equator cold brew. We were asked if we wanted the coffee to go, to which we responded yes. Little did we know that it would be handed to us in a cute plastic to-go bag with a straw. The bag had 2 holes on the top for us to carry the coffee around town, almost like a bag! What an interesting branding twist and definitely worth the ‘gram. Pat was a little puzzled at first, but after a while he got used to it. And for those who are wondering, no—the plastic bag did not impart any plastic flavor on the coffee. Needless to say, after this experience we left the “mug life” to live the “bag life.”
3. Ottoman Art
If you want to feel like you’ve stepped into Turkey, head over to Ottoman Art. The shop is adorned with Turkish lamps, ceramic plates, bowls, cases, rugs, and even imported boots, handbags, towels, scarves, soaps and more! The owner, Ibrahim Agirman, travels back to Turkey frequently to restock his inventory. His boots and lanterns were some of my favorite products.
4. The Model Bakery
All the locals know of The Model Bakery, a bakery that has been around since 1908. In fact, they still bake some of their product using the original brick ovens built in the 1920’s…!! You can stop by and grab a quick lunch, soup, or sandwich, but what they are really known for are their baked goods. Specifically their famous English muffins! Now I know what you are thinking…English muffins? How is that a “baked good”? Well these muffins are. In fact they are so good, Oprah Winfrey has her people fly the English Muffins in from St. Helena all the way to her LA home. They taste like a soft, delicious, flaky buttery cronut (kind of) in my opinion. Our stay, The Ink House, would pick them up for us every day bright and early in the morning so we could enjoy them with breakfast. They sell out fast so if you want them, you have to get there early in the AM.
It was love at first bite. We ate the muffins with butter and jam, to phrase it nicely, because we would devour them to be honest. We ate them cold and they were soft and fluffy. The bakery was inspired by Mitchell’s visits to Europe where she fell in love with European-style bakeries. Mitchell managed to achieve everything a European-style bakery is and beyond. She stays up all night baking up to 2,000 dinner rolls and 1,700 English muffins per day. Today, the muffins are still hand baked at the Main Street location, but due to how old the bakery is, the remaining bread is now made at their second location at Oxbow Market. If you only have time to visit one place when in St. Helena, it’s The Model Bakery.
5. Ana’s Cantina
I stumbled upon Ana’s Cantina and decided to take a peak inside because of the old school vibes outside the building. I was right to take a look. From the ceiling hung hundreds, if not thousands of dollar bills! I later found out this dive bar was a local hotspot for the regulars. With a pool table, a jukebox, and performances by local bands, this is the place to chill on weeknights and during football Sundays.
This bar has some AWESOME history. After WWII, men used to gather here at 6AM to have a drink before boarding a bus to go work at the Mare Island shipyards. The story behind the dollar bills is even cooler. The owners took down the old fake ceiling that used to cover the original wooden ceiling. Today, they let customers hang dollar bills, $5 bills and $20 bills on the wooden ceiling. At the end of the year, all the money collected goes to charity. I recommend this place for a low-key evening, unless it’s Thursday and it’s Karaoke night, then get ready for a night of fun.
6. Erin Martin Design Showroom
What made me step into the Erin Martin Design Showroom was the 14 foot high T-rex that was placed in the middle of the Showroom. I had to walk in and know if it was real or fake. It was real, it had a name—Roosevelt—and was 66 million years old! You can buy it for the price of only 3.9 million dollars. Not bad for a dinosaur am I right? Other fun elements in the Erin Martin Design Showroom included a Holiday Inn Express neon sign and a fun painting of lips with a neon sign that reads “Drink more Whiskey! (Or Go Die).” It’s these sort of fun and quirky products that make up the Erin Martin Design Showroom. You’ll never know what you find in there! Erin Martin herself designed the gallery with this concept in mind. To place a high value on things that make her smile or laugh. Trust me, every piece in her Showroom does exactly that.
