Wine Country Times

Located in the Carneros Resort and Spa on Sonoma Highway in Napa, the Boon Fly Café is named after a pioneer orchard grower in the Napa Valley and has been a popular eating spot in the wine country for years.

Carneros Resort and Spa Director of Marketing and E-Commerce Anne Elcon said the café offers a menu that is reflective of the Napa Wine Country.

"The Boon Fly Café serves modern rustic cuisine in a contemporary roadhouse atmosphere, offering fan-favorites like its signature Boon Fly donuts and nightly dinner specials like the fried chicken with free-range chicken, mashed Yukon gold potatoes and braised garden greens,” Elcon told Wine Country Times. “Named for Carneros pioneer Boon Fly, who planted orchards and vineyards in the area in the mid-1800s, the Boon Fly Café is an homage to local flavor, a family-friendly and popular local destination offering satisfying cuisine that’s based on the agricultural heritage of the region."

Descended from settlers of the early New England Colonies, Boon Fly was part of the great tradition of wagon trains that brought many of the early families West, according to the restaurant’s website. A maker of silk and fur hats in Fayette, Missouri, Fly led a wagon train out of the Show-Me State in 1849.

He made a modest fortune as a carpenter upon arriving in San Francisco before he ventured to the farmlands north of the city and settled outside of Napa on a property that would become known as the Fly District.

Over a century and a half later, the restaurant that bears his name has won numerous awards in bed-and-breakfast publications for the excellence of its food offerings, Elcon noted, adding that the restaurant served hungry firefighters last summer when wildfires struck the region. She said the restaurant’s choices for in-season produce grown locally and selected by Executive Chef Aaron Meneghelli, a homegrown product of Napa himself, makes the Boon Fly Café a staple among eateries in the Napa Valley.

“Known for its staple, signature Boon Fly donuts by the dozen, guests can expect other delicious options like green eggs and ham with poached farm-fresh eggs, honey-cured ham, lemon-leek cream, crispy hash browns and Boon Fly Benedict with thin-sliced Caggiano ham and jalapeño hollandaise,” Elcon said.