If you didn’t already know, July 18th is National Caviar Day. The bad news is that it’s already passed for 2025, the good news is that it will come again next year, so you have lots of time to get your plan together and go to Napa.
I celebrated National Caviar Day for the first time on Saturday, July 19th in St. Helena, California, in the heart of Napa Valley. I began by attending the first ever class at Under-Study in Napa, a “culinary playground” in the same complex as their sister restaurant, PRESS. The space is completely remodeled, open for the first time as a classroom under the leadership of Samantha Rudd, Chef Partner Philip Tessier, and Managing Partner Justin Williams.
The space is beautiful – a workshop, a classroom and kitchen all in one. The Caviar 101 tasting event kicked off what will be an evolving calendar of creative chef-led events, demos and classes. Schramsberg Vineyards and Tsar Nicoulai Caviar paired up to teach us about the perfection that is sparkling wine and caviar bites.
The Michelin starred Chef Phillip Tessier, was joined by the owners of Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, Marai and Ali Bolourchi, as they introduced each caviar and its perfect pairing while Kelly Duarte Bernys from Shramsberg poured the bubbles. Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, located in the Sacramento Valley, is actually the largest sturgeon farm in the United States, and they provide a majority of the caviar produced in the United States. They place great emphasis on stewardship and sustainable practices, including a “free range” lifestyle for the fish, no antibiotics, and an aquaponics system that takes the fish waste and turns it into fertilizer for vegetables.
Due to overfishing, the sturgeon is actually an endangered species, so it’s necessary that caviar comes from ethically sourced farm raised sturgeon, like Tsar Nicoulai. Check the CITES information on the bottom of your caviar package for complete information about your caviar’s origins.
Each culinary combo had its own playful flair – Chef Philip mentioned that “Under-Study is for taking something elite and making it fun”, and I definitely experienced that in every pairing. The first bite of the day was trout roe (not caviar! It has to be sturgeon to be caviar) and a potato crostini, paired with the Shramsberg Brut Rose.
The second pairing was the “Top Chef” famous lobster corn dog from sister restaurant PRESS, paired with Tsar Nicoulai’s Classic Caviar and Schramsberg’s high acidity Blanc de Blanc. The classic caviar has a rich, fatty flavor, and tastes salty, smooth and divine with the corn dog. With the blanc de blanc to cut through the fat – the bite was delicious.
The final pairing from Under-Study was the buttery Malossal Osetra caviar paired with a PRESS staple, Pretzel bread and a special whipped lavender butter. This was accompanied by Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs, a citrusy sparkling Pinot Noir which has been served at presidential inaugurations in every administration since the 1970s.
After the incredible tasting, I made my way to the Under-Study patio, where earlier I had spied Top Chef Season 22 Contestant Chef Vincenzo Loseto outside personally making my favorite bite of BottleRock Napa 2025: the Nitro French Fry Soft Serve with Potato Crumble and Tsar Nicolai Caviar. At Bottlerock, I thought that this was a once in a lifetime dessert, but here was a second opportunity! It was just as fabulous as I remembered. Thank you, National Caviar Day.
National Caviar Day did not end there on the patio; it blissfully continued with a fabulous dinner at Charlie’s, a Napa neighborhood restaurant owned by St. Helena’s very own Chef Elliot Bell.
Born in New Zealand and raised in Iowa, Chef Elliot Bell is known in the neighborhood for his work in the community as a volunteer firefighter, and from his previous position as Executive Sous Chef at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. Charlie’s opened in 2023 to be a community focused, family run casual restaurant with his unique finesse.
I started off with a CA Passionfruit Rum Highball, a delicious and refreshing cocktail with 8-year rum, passionfruit, ginger beer and lime. Sipping my drink, I learned about a super-secret menu items, including my new Holy Grail of foods: Chicken Nuggets. And these nuggets come with Royal Ossetra Caviar and fancy ranch.
All my friends know that for the most part I eat like a five-year old, so the mixture of elegant preparation with classic comfort food at Charlies is perfection for my palette. I tried their fried chicken with house hot sauce and sweet corn rigatoni, made with bacon cured heritage pork jowl, sweet corn and wild morels. I also ordered a side of their house “Hawaiian” Rolls, which are brushed with charred pineapple fat and house cultured butter. The rolls and the butter together were life-changingly good, and should be a mandatory side with every meal.
After dinner just when I felt like I couldn’t take one more bite, dessert arrived. I ordered the wood-fired oven peach cobbler but the chef sent out a beautiful chocolate cake and a blueberry and whipped cream concoction that blew my mind. First of all, I don’t like blueberries and I have them removed from restaurant breakfast parfaits on a regular basis. But after I tried this dish with fresh blueberries hand-picked from Madrona Family Farms I feel like I have been wrong about everything. It actually was one of my favorite bites of the week and that is saying a lot after my time in Napa for 3 days. I don’t know how they grow these magical berries but stop by their farm or Charlie’s and try them as soon as possible.
After a decadent and delicious day, National Caviar Day may just be my new favorite holiday!