Clementine comes into its own, celebrates one year in Yountville
A year after opening its doors in one of Yountville’s most recognizable historic buildings, Clementine celebrated its first anniversary Tuesday with a lively gathering that reflected much of what the restaurant set out to be: colorful, seasonal, approachable and a bit whimsical.
Guests gathered Aug. 11 on Clementine’s outdoor deck, where towering floral “trees” held signature craft cocktails, including the Clementine Aperol Spritz, margaritas and basil martinis.
Servers circulated with white and rosé wines and a generous progression of tastes from the restaurant’s kitchen, including wood-grilled octopus skewers, heirloom tomato tartlets, Tomales Bay oysters, pickled Blue Lake green beans, melon gazpacho shots, spice-rubbed Petaluma chicken skewers, beef carpaccio crostini, lamb kofta skewers, zucchini pancakes, cavatelli pasta and yellowfin tuna tartare. House-made seasonal gelato and sorbet followed.
For Clementine chef Rebecca Weitzman, the first birthday was also an opportunity to reflect on what happens to a restaurant after the opening-day plans, menus and expectations meet a year’s worth of actual diners.
“No restaurant stays exactly what it sets out to be,” Weitzman said. “Restaurants are what they grow into. Hopefully, over this first year, we’ve been able to find our niche in Yountville while staying true to what we wanted Clementine to be.”
Weitzman is also culinary director and executive chef at Estate Yountville of which the restaurant is a part. She opened Clementine on Aug. 14, 2025, following a transformation of the historic brick building on Washington Street.
The property had previously housed restaurants including Pacific Blues, Platform 8 and Coqueta. Its transformation offered some early clues as the red brick exterior was softened with a subtle, green-hued limewash. Inside and out, muted shades of peach and green, original brickwork and whimsical design details gave the restaurant an elegant but relaxed feel.
Designer Candace Hickman said that preserving the history of the former train station outpost, originally built in the 1800s, was central to the design. Original brickwork was retained, while the limewash brought “a sense of lightness and renewal.”
Clementine serves California cuisine that leans into Mediterranean influences and Northern California’s seasonal ingredients, with a fundamental vision that has remained largely unchanged: ingredient-driven, seasonal cooking that takes the food seriously without taking itself too seriously.
What has changed is a natural consequence of operating a restaurant day after day and learning what resonates with guests. Clementine has continued to refine its personality in Yountville, a town where diners have no shortage of exceptional restaurants.
The menu changes with the seasons, but several dishes have endured. Wood-grilled Tomales Bay oysters, salt-baked branzino, squash blossom and burrata flatbread and a wood-grilled pork porterhouse chop have become signature dishes and remained on the menu since Clementine’s early days. Other dishes and ideas reappear in different forms as the seasons and available ingredients change.
That evolution is familiar for Weitzman, whose career has taken her from New York to Mexico and Colorado before Yountville.
She previously worked at Flora Farms in San José del Cabo, Mexico, where she earned a Michelin Green Star, served as corporate chef for Forgeois Group in Manhattan. She also worked at Cedar Lakes Estate in upstate New York and Chalk Point Kitchen in SoHo.
A year in, that sense of playfulness at Clementine that was instilled at the start was evident at the anniversary party. It was a celebration of Clementine’s first year, but also a glimpse at the restaurant it has become.
Clementine is at 6525 Washington St. in Yountville. The opening hours are Wednesday through Monday with brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; an intermezzo menu from 2:30 to 5 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations, available via OpenTable, are recommended.
The Estate Yountville is part of the parent company that owns the Yountville Sun.
