The dining in California wine country mellows out

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA -- Wine-country visitors checking out the harvest will discover that the most inviting new restaurants among the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties are small, casual gems that are more analogous to quaffable Zinfandels than blockbuster Cabs.

Not that there's anything wrong with the famous anchors of the dining scene — in Michelin's just-published 2009 San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country Guide, The French Laundry in Yountville retains its three-star rating, Cyrus in Healdsburg and The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena keep their two-star ratings, and eight other places hold onto their lone stars.

But in this tanking economy, wine country can sustain only so much grandeur, and so the best of the newcomers (with a few exceptions) offer a simpler, scaled-down approach that invites grazing on the region's world-class bounty. Think small plates, wine bars, local cheeses and house-cured meats. All of the above can be found under one roof at the new Oxbow Public Market complex (oxbowpublicmarket.com) in the town of Napa, or scattered among the menus at these recently opened places:

Scopa

Healdsburg's utterly charming town square has emerged as the dining center of northern Sonoma County over the past few years, thanks in part to upscale tourist-oriented places such as Cyrus, Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen and a handful of excellent bistros catering mostly to locals. The newest star among the latter group is Scopa, a narrow 36-seat space with a heart as wide as the nearby Alexander Valley. Ari and Dawnelise Rosen opened the room in May as a showcase for chef Ari's rustic Italian small plates, and the lively dinner party vibe hasn't relented since. The compact menu of creative pizzas, antipasti, pastas and meat dishes draws customers in, and the gentle prices (you can satisfy your cravings for about $25) keep them coming back.

•Must-try dish:Burrata cheese on grilled bread with arugula and Italian peppers•Entrees:$15 to $20 •Contact:707-433-5282; scopahealdsburg.com

Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio

If vegetable-centric restaurants aren't a part of your normal repertoire but yet you're curious, then visit one — and make it this one in downtown Napa — in the fall, when the greatest variety of produce is available. Ubuntu (the name is defined as "humanity toward others") touts meatless dishes made from "daily-harvested food," much of it from chef Jeremy Fox's biodynamic gardens, and it is revelatory. Start with a snack of irresistible Marcona almonds dusted with lavender and sea salt, and then work your way through a series of thrillingly flavored cold and hot small plates (cauliflower roasted in an iron pot with curry spices is a signature) or even the frequently changing eight-course "garden menu." Save room for one of pastry chef Deanie Fox's (Jeremy's wife) creations, perhaps a vegan mini cupcake or a raspberry sorbet float. There's feasting for the eyes as well — the interior is made mostly from green materials and incorporates striking modern sculptures, paintings and art installations, and an upstairs yoga studio, partly visible through a translucent panel.

• Must-try dish:Watermelon and lemongrass soup with basil seed "caviar," mint, whipped coconut milk and kaffir lime, thickened with bread • Entrees:$9 to $16; tasting menu, $125 including wine pairings • Contact:707-251-5656; ubuntunapa.com

NapaStyle Paninoteca & Wine Bar

Eight years after leaving the popular Tra Vigne restaurant/retail complex that he founded in St. Helena, chef/restaurateur/lifestyle maven Michael Chiarello is re-emerging down-valley this year on several fronts in the mini restaurant mecca of Yountville. Chiarello, who hosts TV series for the Food Network and PBS, writes cookbooks, owns Chiarello Family Vineyards and runs the NapaStyle gourmet food/lifestyle products company, opened a NapaStyle store in July at the V Marketplace that includes retail space, a wine bar and a panini bar/salumeria (with dine-in and take-out options). By the end of the year, he plans to return to cooking at an upscale farm-to-table restaurant called Bottega, opening next door. If the quality of the Italian-style cured meats, cheeses, breads, salads and pickled vegetables served up at Paninoteca is any indication, Bottega could be a worthy successor to Tra Vigne.

•Must-try dish:Panini of slow-roasted Duroc pork served on a ciabatta roll with fontina cheese and fruit mustard •Entrees:$6.75 to $15 • Contact:707-945-1229; napastyleottimocafe.com

La Toque

An elegant exception to the small/casual trend is Ken Frank's sophisticated French/American restaurant La Toque, which has just reopened in Napa's new Westin Verasa Napa hotel following a successful decade-long run in Rutherford just up the road. The approach to the food is the same — top-notch fresh/seasonal ingredients are paired in seductive ways and accented with deeply flavored sauces and luxury ingredients such as truffles — but now the menu's more flexible. Instead of one fixed-price menu, Frank offers a full-blown "chef's table menu," but also two-, three- and four-course options that diners can construct themselves. Each comes with optional wine pairings, which can boost the tab another 60%. Given that the cellar is full of hard-to-find bottles and that the sumptuous modern setting cries out for celebration, it may be worth the leap.

•Must-try dish:Lamb loin with cumin-scented carrot puree and chickpea fries •Entrees:Fixed-price menus $49 to $120 • Contact:707-257-5157; latoque.com

Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria

Veteran wine-country travelers who feel they've been crowded out of the emerging scene in Healdsburg know to head just north to the former stagecoach stop of Geyserville, tucked away in the Alexander Valley vineyards of northern Sonoma County. Along its lone main street, one can find affordable lodging, a few art galleries and tasting rooms, and two really fine eateries owned by the same group — Santi, a midpriced old-world Italian restaurant, and Diavola, its even-more-casual sibling that opened a few doors down in June. Executive chef Dino Bugica's calling cards are nicely priced pizzas with just-right, half-limp crusts; hearty paninis; and salumi and sausages cured in-house. Grab a window-side table for a dazzling view of the Mayacamas peaks and relax with a value-priced wine from the mostly Italian list.

•Must-try dish:Vegetable antipasti, with roasted eggplant, pickled zucchini with sage, mangia tutto beans, mozzarella, roasted cauliflower and cipollini onions, and roasted peppers •Entrees:$10.50 to $15.75 •Contact:707-814-0111; diavolapizzeria.com