Napa Switch Up: Cindy Pawlcyn's Brassica Becomes a Casual American

Chef Cindy Pawlcyn will be bringing her signature Americana fare to St. Helena

By Meesha Halm

Up in St. Helena, Cindy Pawlcyn found out the hard way that you can’t make people eat their broccoli. Brassica, the one-year old pan-Mediterranean (itself a redux of her previous restaurant Go Fish), named after the family of vegetables which includes of cabbage, mustard, Brussels sprouts and, yes, broccoli, will be closing this Sunday. Pawlcyn is jettisoning the concept (which she deems was “too esoteric” for the general wine country visitors streaming through the valley) in favor of an Americana-oriented kid-friendly spot under the straightforward name of Cindy Pawlcyn’s Wood Grill and Wine Bar, or CP’s for short.

Pawlcyn is known as the doyenne of farm-fresh updated versions of Americana cuisine stretching back from her days at Fog City Diner and the Buckeye Roadhouse to current Wine Country blockbusters Mustard’s Grill and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, so the switch makes sense. An excited Pawlcyn told us this morning that with the change, "I get to cook from the heart, recreating all the food that I grew up on, only it will be my own updated version of it."

She and current chef Darren McDonald, who is staying on, will be bringing all new interpretations of her greatest hits and comfort classics from her repertoire to CP’s. Opening menu items will include starters such as salt and pepper calamari ($11) and sweet crispy pork belly with Thai chili jam ($11) and main courses such as braised short ribs clubhouse-style ($23) and a Niman Ranch lamb mixed grill ($28). In addition, Pawlcyn assures us she’ll be keeping the innovative wine program that she instituted at Brassica last year that entails multiple size pours of local wines not available in tasting rooms and one of the largest wines-by-the-glass program in the valley.

The physical space, which will only remain dark for a few days, won’t be undergoing many changes, though Pawlcyn hints that the exterior might get a fresh coat of paint. In other Pawlycn kitchen news, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen's executive chef Michael Fosters is taking over the helm at Mustards, while Brassica’s former sous-chef John Trunk will assume the vacancy over at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. In other words, it’s all staying in the family.

Cindy’s Wood Grill & Wine Bar/CP’s: 641 Main St, St. Helena; 707-963-0700, opening Wednesday, September 5.