Ribs – Braised Beef Shortrib
The Dish: Beef Ribs (Braised Beef Shortrib)
The braised beef shortribs at Redd in Yountville is a terrific beef plate. This beef shortrib is smartly braised, and each bite tingles the palate, which dismounts with a sharp, tangy surprise via the delicate horseradish crust. The rich rib gravy is dark as the moonless night, and a good savory deepening to the smooth potato puree, which itself is a soft counterpoint to the slightly crispy veggies. (I had a Napa style—read, upscale—version of succotash.) Overall, Redd’s braised beef shortrib is a perfectly balanced dish with sumptuous flavors that make one quickly lose interest in conversation. It’s that distracting, and that good, but probably not the ideal lunch if you’re rolling through wine country. It’s heavy but lovely.
Described on the menu as: “Braised beef shortrib, horseradish crust, potato puree, early spring vegetables”
The Spot: Redd, Yountville CA
With all the great restaurants in Northern California’s wine country, it’s hard for visitors to discern which are hype and which are worth the ‘I’m in wine country on vacation so I won’t squawk at the bill’ type of pleasure that all the restaurants here should provide. Thankfully, I found every experience at Redd, and every dish, of the highest quality. It’s among my favorite dining spots in Napa Valley.
Its pristinely simple décor certainly whispers post-modern cool, but Redd’s infused with enough warmth to avoid stuffiness. Careful, stylish selection of tables, chairs, even silverware, and an occasional eruption of fresh flowers for chlorophyll and color imbue Redd’s refreshingly Spartan design.
The Damage: $25
The Grade: Exceptional / Awesome (5 out of 5)
The Skinny: Redd
6480 Washington St, Yountville, CA 94599
Phone: (707) 944-2222
Website: http://www.reddyountville.com/
Meat Meister's Food & Travel Blog: Beefy, Porky, Ducky, Deery 
We discovered Redd when we moved to Sausalito in 2005 and began exploring Napa’s restaurants. It’s been our favorite restaurant, ever, and anywhere, since we first had lunch and then dinner there. We go there three or four times a year, for our anniversary, my birthday, my husband’s birthday, various celebrations-for-the-hell-of-it… and so on. And the braised beef short ribs with a horseradish crust is my personal favorite.
After two dinners and three lunches at Redd, we decided to go there only for lunch. It’s a quieter place at lunch and the menu is not much different — which is to say, the lunch menu includes the short ribs (else, I’d be there for dinner only).
If asparagus soup is on the menu (it won’t be if asparagus is out of season), you might want to order it; it’s superb. The weekend we discovered Redd, I ordered asparagus soup in five different Napa restaurants. Only Redd’s was truly asparagus-y.