Culinography: The Thomas (Napa)

I had a lot of fun shooting recently with Chef Brad Farmerie (of Public in NYC) for his new restaurant in Napa called The Thomas. There has been a lot of buzz over the building itself, which has a prime location on Main Street in downtown Napa. It was the site of a crime scene in the 1970's and has been vacant ever since!



Farmerie landed the much coveted space along with the design firm, AvroKo, and together they have impeccably restored the three-story building in the most stylish (and comfortable) way.



Fagiani's Bar at The Thomas is on the ground floor, a dining room, kitchen and floating wine cellar are on the second, and another bar and dining space is on the roof, overlooking the rolling hills of Napa Valley. It's really a stunning spot, with gorgeous food and drinks to match.

The team from AvroKo was amazing to work with -- they were open to me taking a different approach (like shooting outside, on the ground!). We shot these dishes at Copia in Napa, a communal garden of sorts for local chefs -- it's almost like a little farm, walking distance from Main Street. I loved being able to take the dishes into the garden and shoot outdoors among the growing vegetables and fruit trees.


Chilled corn soup with Dungeness crab, avocado, huitalacoche crouton and smoked paprika oil. 


Beet gnudi with Cowgirl Creamery cottage cheese and a smoked almond celery pesto


Heirloom tomato salad with baby mozzarella and basil seeds


Green goddess salad with cucumber and hericot vert


Market tart with crème fraiche ice cream (its currently a passion fruit curd and golden raspberries) 

The restaurant is also very connected to fresh, local produce and I wanted to photos to reflect that abundance that Napa is known for. The light in Napa is so golden and warm like Tuscany, which made shooting there an absolute dream.


Left to right: Cory Colton, pastry chef; Brad Farmerie, executive chef; Jason Kupper, chef de cuisine

I recommend stopping by for a Negroni (on tap!) on the roof next time you're in wine country!



THE THOMAS
813 Main Street
Napa, CA
T: 707.226.7821