Carly Hiebert / Calistoga, CA

Drinking Light 

Solage Resort in Calistoga was voted the top resort in Northern California in 2022 by Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Its Solbar Restaurant earned a Michelin star in 2010 under Chef Brandon Sharp, who used The Perfect Purée in seasonal sorbets. Bar Supervisor Carly Hiebert’s staff followed his lead and discovered endless inspiration.

Solbar divides its menu into light, delicate flavors to stimulate the palate, and bold, savory dishes to comfort the soul —  all while showcasing the best of Napa Valley’s fresh, seasonal ingredients. Carly’s zero-proof Steph Stuff appeals to the lighter side. It has refreshing flavors of orange and cucumber from Lyre’s Aperitif Dry, aromatic allspice and cardamom from Seedlip Spice, and a burst of intense citrus from The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley Blood Orange Concentrate. Rich simple syrup, lemon, and tonic balance the bold concentrate. Carly describes the drink as a “zero-proof spritz-adjacent cocktail.”

Flavor Forward

Carly and her team turn to the “The Flavor Bible” by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page for ideas and advice. “Honestly, we’re always thinking about what makes sense for the season — pomegranate for the winter, stone fruit in the summer, apples and pears in the fall,” Carly says.

Eight years in the making, “The Flavor Bible” declares cuisine is undergoing a historic transformation: With the global availability of ingredients, dishes are now based more on flavor than geography. “The Flavor Bible” supports this new approach to cooking by showing chefs how to pair ingredients and coax the most flavor from them.

“ ‘The Flavor Bible’ is a great resource for looking at complementary flavors,” Carly says. “It’s a food-focused book, but if you break down tasting notes in your spirits, you can see a lot of harmonies at play here. Gin with its bright citrus, bourbon with its spiced-baked apple notes, tequila with its salinity, etc.”

Flavors from The Perfect Purée fit into many seasonal recipes and save valuable prep time. Solbar regularly uses Blood Orange, Kiwi, Mango, Passion Fruit, Pink Guava, Prickly Pear, and White Peach. Its reliance on The Perfect Purée grew during the pandemic when the already tight labor market evaporated. “This industry has always had a hard time staffing, but it really came to a head with Covid,” Carly says. “If you can save an hour or two in prep, that really makes a huge difference in what else you’re able to accomplish in a shift!”

Solage is constantly approached by brands asking the award-winning restaurant to try their purées. The reality, says Carly, is those brands rarely come close to resembling a house-made purée. Her many years of taste testing help her detect authentic flavor. “They’re either loaded with preservatives that give them an off-flavor or you can tell they used produce that was well past its prime. It’s rare that you can save time and not compromise the quality of your offerings by outsourcing prep. The Perfect Purée really is one of the rare exceptions to the rule that house-made is always better.”