Napa Valley Chef Anthony Stagnaro

Discover Chef Anthony Stagnaro's insider guide to dining in Napa Valley

For Chef Anthony Stagnaro, inspired cooking begins with extraordinary ingredients and a deep respect for flavor. At Bear, the signature restaurant at Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection, Chef Anthony Stagnaro leads with a simple principle: flavor comes first. For the Napa Valley–based chef, every dish is built around balance with salt, acid, fat, and sweetness used deliberately to elevate ingredients at their peak.

One dish that captures this philosophy is Bear’s Badger Flame beet preparation. The variety—grown on the property at The Grange since the team began farming in 2021—is naturally sweeter and less earthy than traditional beets, with a striking red-orange hue. Tossed in smoked bee pollen salt, paired with tart Cypress Grove goat cheese, and finished with an onion caramel made by slowly reducing fresh onion juice until its sugars deepen and concentrate, the dish is both familiar and unexpected.

“At its core, it’s a classic pairing—beet and goat cheese—but presented with the flair and intention that defines what we do at Bear.”

– Chef Anthony Stagnaro

Some of the restaurant’s most beloved dishes come with a bit of friendly debate. Crispy Rice has been a guest favorite since the restaurant opened, but Stagnaro recently introduced a bold reinterpretation—Remix Rice—layered with a warm spice–driven chili crunch, basil oil, and a fish sauce caramel, finished with Thai basil and Delfino cilantro. When he first shared it with a group of diners, the reactions were evenly split: half declared the new version better, while others remained loyal to the original. Instead of replacing a classic, Stagnaro decided to keep both on the menu, inviting guests to choose their favorite.

The chef’s connection to food runs deep. Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, Stagnaro grew up surrounded by mountains and forests, an upbringing that instilled a lasting respect for nature and the ingredients it provides. His father, also a chef, helped shape his palate early on. “He showed me why food tastes good—the techniques, balance, and textures that turn something simple into something memorable,” Stagnaro recalls.

That reverence for ingredients and flavor only deepened when he moved to Napa Valley. One formative moment came when he tasted a plum from Tenbrink Farms. “I thought I understood great produce,” he says. “But the moment I bit into one of Linda’s plums, I realized I had never experienced anything like it.”

In Napa Valley, dining reflects that same connection to the land. Ingredients often arrive from nearby farms the very morning they’re served, and meals unfold with an easy sense of place.

Even when he’s not in his own kitchen at Stanly Ranch, the chef’s compass points to flavor. Off the clock, he gravitates toward a handful of Napa Valley favorites that consistently deliver.

“I realize more and more that the farmers, foragers, and fishermen are the true stars of the show. I’m simply trying to tell their story through the lens of our kitchen.”

– Chef Anthony Stagnaro