Hidden inside a cookware store in downtown Napa is a restaurant that stands out from the many other eateries and wine bars dotting First Street.
Hestan Napa, a boutique selling high-end pans and ranges that fetch up to $20,000, is also home to a farm-to-table eatery helmed by a veteran San Francisco chef. Mark Dommen, former chef and co-owner of the Financial District’s storied One Market, is quietly cooking some of the best food of his career at its restaurant.
A store might seem like an unusual place for Dommen to land after closing his restaurant across from the Embarcadero in 2025. After all, Dommen has served U.S. presidents and hosted the NFL during the Super Bowl over his two decades in San Francisco. But, as it turns out, the move is actually a coming-home moment for Dommen, a longtime Napa resident who cooked in the valley long before stepping into a San Francisco kitchen.
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And Hestan Napa is not just any store. Its founder is cookware king and pioneering engineer Stanley Cheng, who innovated stainless steel cookware by infusing it with molecular titanium for increased durability and heat distribution. Hestan cookware is a favorite among big-time chefs and used in the kitchens of the French Laundry and Per Se. The store, however, is tricky to find. Tucked behind the Archer Hotel, it’s located in a courtyard next to the now-shuttered Charlie Palmer Steak Napa.
The outdoor dining area at Hestan Napa in downtown Napa, Calif.
Dietrich Krous/hestan
The Hestan Culinary store features stainless steel pots and pans coated with titanium.
Hestan/Courtesy of Hestan
Depending on which way you enter the courtyard, you’ll likely see the restaurant’s glass-encased outdoor dining patio before you see the retail store. It’s all gleaming stainless steel from floor to ceiling; you’ll see chic tables fashioned from oak barrels, a wine bar and, in the back, the entrance to what I can only imagine is the most state-of-the-art kitchen.
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After a few impressive meals at the Hestan Napa restaurant — including a $49 three-course lunch option — I reached out to Dommen to learn more about life after One Market, which closed last June after 32 years. Its closure coincided with founder-partner Michael Dellar’s retirement plans and unsuccessful attempts to sell the restaurant, which never fully recovered from its pandemic-era losses, Dellar told SFGATE in 2025.
Dommen, who helmed One Market’s kitchen for over 20 years, was instrumental in earning it a Michelin star, which it held onto for five consecutive years. Despite the sadness that comes with closing a restaurant, Dommen admits he was a little excited about this next chapter in his life. It’s pretty obvious why.
“I miss San Francisco, I miss the energy, but I don’t miss sitting in the car two hours a day,” said Dommen, who has lived in Napa since 2001.
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Mark Dommen, formerly of San Francisco’s One Market, helms the Hestan Napa restaurant in Napa, Calif.
Dietrich Krous/Hestan
Pan-seared scallops with celtuce at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE
Of course, the store was still just “metal studs and concrete floors” when Dommen saw it for the first time. After taking a much-needed vacation last summer, he started testing recipes in July, and in November debuted the restaurant and store with the Chengs. Stanley Cheng’s wife, Helen, is co-owner. “Hestan” is a combination of their names.
The Chengs have a lot of history in the area. Stanley is the CEO of Meyer Corp., the largest cookware distributor in the country and the second-largest in the world, according to the company’s website. Based in Vallejo, Meyer manufactures and distributes many popular brands, including Circulon, Farberware and KitchenAid. Hestan Culinary is manufactured in Anaheim.
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In 1996, the couple purchased a former cattle ranch on the remote eastern slopes of the Napa Valley and started planting what would eventually become their 110-acre wine estate. They grow everything they bottle, from cabernet sauvignon to petit verdot, and feature Hestan Vineyards wines at the restaurant and at their tasting room in Yountville.
Duck breast with beet au jus at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif.
Jessica Yadegaran /SFGATE
The lemon tart is a standout dessert at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE
Dommen and Stanley Cheng go way back. Dommen was the opening chef at Napa’s Copia back in the early aughts, when Cheng was a trustee of the Julia Child-backed museum for food and culture.
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He said Cheng sets the bar really high.
“Because of his engineering background, he really understands what high quality is, whether it’s products or ingredients,” Dommen said. “For a chef, it’s great because I cook with the best cookware on the best appliances and I get to source the best ingredients.”
From Cheng’s perspective, Dommen was a natural fit for this concept.
“As a Napa Valley resident and leader in modern American cuisine, Chef Dommen embodies the spirit of Hestan, merging Michelin-caliber technique with innovation and terroir,” he said. “Chef Dommen’s arrival marks more than the opening of a restaurant, it signifies a new chapter for both Hestan Culinary and the Napa Valley dining scene.”
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Australian wagyu beef carpaccio at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif.
Juan Pablo Serani/Hestan
Hamachi crudo with kohlrabi at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif.
Jessica Yadegaran/SFGATE
Before the opening, Dommen spent time visiting downtown Napa’s restaurants and studying their menus. “My goal was to do stuff that not everyone was doing,” he said. “I also have a personal goal that I try not to repeat the same dishes I make. That forces me to be creative and not get lazy.”
Take the roasted maitake mushroom. It arrives on the plate looking like one big, gorgeous umami bloom; its smoky and savory flavors are balanced by a sweetish turnip puree and a bright, glossy herb emulsion ($26). Duck breast ($36) is babied to perfection, beginning with a slow roast, mostly on the skin side, and a hefty basting in butter, garlic and thyme. From the bones, they make a duck jus, and separately juice beets into a reduction that’s all blended together with sherry vinegar and poured over the duck tableside.
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Hamachi crudo ($25) is not scarce in Napa, but at Hestan Napa the raw fish arrives in an emulsion of lemony French sorrel, which Dommen grows at home, with basil oil and serrano chilis. It’s bright and flavorful — and very pretty. My top dish: pan-seared dayboat scallops ($38). Dommen pairs the plump, buttery bivalves with slivers of celtuce, the mild, crispy lettuce-like vegetable that’s more commonly seen in Asian cooking. From One Market, only one dish carried over: the chickpea fries with cilantro aioli. ($14). They’re made with chickpea flour, semolina and milk, and get their kick from harissa.
Dellar reminded Dommen how beloved the fries were in San Francisco.
The wine bar at Hestan Napa, which doubles as a restaurant and retail store, in downtown Napa, Calif.
Dietrich Krous/Hestan
The duck liver mousse at Hestan Napa in Napa, Calif., is topped with cacao nibs.
Dietrich Krous/Hestan
“I was talking to him about the menu (before we opened) and he was like, ‘No chickpea fries?’ They’re great, and people loved them,” Dommen recalled. So he added them to the Hestan opening menu and they’ve done just as well in Napa.
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Dommen is working five days a week at Hestan Napa, but still manages to get to San Francisco pretty often. His dentist is still in the city, after all, and he likes to eat out there and see old colleagues. His last great SF meal was at Arquet in the Ferry Building. A lot of One Market alums work there, he said.
Still, nothing beats working close to home, especially Dommen’s, where he has a “a little urban farm” with a vegetable garden, fruit trees, pizza oven and full outdoor kitchen.
“I miss the energy in San Francisco. It’s completely different in Napa,” he said. “But this allows me to be closer to my home and community.”
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Hestan Napa, 1300 First St., Suite 291, Napa. Open Thursday through Monday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Retail store is open 10 a.m.-9 p.m.