"Gary’s Wine & Marketplace, a fine wine and gourmet food emporium from New Jersey, is taking over the lease of the recently closed Dean & DeLuca store in St. Helena. Much like its predecessor, Gary’s will be stocking bottles, as well as cheese and charcuterie platters, fresh bread and olive oil, and picnic-ready deli salads and sandwiches. Owner Gary Fisch is pushing to open in September, but still needs to hire a chef, who’ll start from scratch and craft a totally new menu. Unlike the four locations in New Jersey, some of which sit next to strip malls and sub shops, this menu will be curated from and calibrated for the valley, featuring local and seasonal ingredients. Gary himself may be from Jersey, but he’s been a cabernet country regular going on three decades. During his 30 years in the wine business, he’s made pilgrimages to Napa Valley at least once a year, even putting his 19-year-old son to work scrubbing barrels in a summer internship. Fisch says he’s looking forward to splitting his time between the coasts, and has a personal attachment to the space." - Becky Duffett
