Charlie Palmer Steak in downtown Napa, Calif., will open with veteran Charlie Palmer Group chef Jeffery Russell at the helm. Russell, an upstate New York native and Culinary Institute of America graduate, brings a decade of experience working with Chef Charlie Palmer, as well as a lifelong love for the nation’s growing regions and homegrown produce. Moving to Napa from his leadership at Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C., Russell’s steakhouse expertise and refined classic techniques come to the fore with the restaurant’s opening in 2017.
Charlie Palmer Steak will be a 150-seat restaurant positioned on the ground floor of Archer Hotel Napa with a shared central lobby bar. In addition to Charlie Palmer Steak, Russell will oversee all food offerings at the hotel, including the bar, chef’s show kitchen and pool deck on the hotel’s destination rooftop; in-room dining; and all culinary for those who choose to meet or celebrate in Archer’s 17,000-plus square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. No stranger to high volume, Russell previously served as executive chef at the 300-seat Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C. for four years, which also does a significant private event and catering business at the foot of the U.S. Capitol Building.
At Charlie Palmer Steak Napa, Russell draws on his vast experience with sustainable whole animal butchery and inventive charcuterie production to create a robust menu of prime steaks and chops. He will bring a selection of his signature dishes from Washington, D.C., including a Wagyu beef carpaccio, classic tuna tartare and lobster corn dogs. Following his passion for local ingredients and exceptional produce, Russell looks to area farms and ranchers for inspiration and menu development with visits to Devil’s Gulch Ranch, Hidden Pond Farm, Oak Hill Farms, Bernier Farms, with more to come during pre-opening and beyond. Thanks to the prolific regional producers, Russell’s menu will feature American classics, with a distinctive Napa approach.