When Four Points’ Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen was built, the Italian restaurant’s wood-burning pizza oven was constructed, and the remainder of the building added around it.
“[The oven] burns 24/7,” Napa Flats managing partner Dana Dupree said. “We lit [the oven] a couple of a days before we opened, and it has continued to burn ever since.”
Napa Flats began in College Station, and the RR 620 restaurant, which opened in January, is the Texas chain’s newest undertaking.
The restaurant’s fire-baked pizza consists of homemade, hand-stretched dough. Pizza varieties include Brazos BBQ Chicken ($9-$14) with homemade barbecue sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano and red onions; and Prosciutto Arugula Fontina ($9-$14) that incorporates mozzarella, prosciutto, and baby arugula with shaved parmigiana cheese.
Founder Tom Kenney said he began Napa Flats with inspiration from authentic California cuisine. He said he made frequent trips to California for research and brought together the flavors and food he liked.
“Pizza is a blank palette that you can play around with so easily,” Kenney said. “My hope is the restaurant provides a broad scope of anything, from fresh fish to chicken sandwiches. We wanted an eclectic menu that was familiar but not common.”
Although pizza served as Napa Flats’ focus when the eatery began, the restaurant has since added other menu items. It serves made-from-scratch dishes, including a wood-fired grilled avocado appetizer ($7) filled with chimichurri sauce, and a Palo Alto dip ($8), consisting of sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes blended with cream cheese.
The Zucchini Primavera main course ($10-$14), made from zucchini noodles, is an example of the other offerings on the restaurant’s menu. Napa Flats also makes its own mozzarella and hand-cuts its steaks and fish.
The restaurant’s gelato, made in-house, incorporates milk from Texas cows but uses machinery and ingredients imported from Italy, Dupree said. Napa Flats’ staff includes a gelato chef whose job is to create a great-tasting gelato, she said.
The restaurant leaders chose to open a Four Points site because the area is underserved and needs more good restaurants, Kenney said.
“Our customers are great and are happy about what we are bringing out here,” Dupree said.
New chef at the helm
In July, Daniel Hatcher will start his role as the new head chef at Napa Flats’ Four Points restaurant.
A native of Louisiana, Hatcher will bring his expertise in farm-to-table foods and Cajun seafood to the eatery, founder Tom Kenney said.
“[Hatcher] will create new menu items that incorporate Southern cuisine with our wood-fired cooking,” Kenney said.
8300 N. RR 620, Ste. 100, Austin 512-640-8384 www.napaflats.com Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
