Memoir Tour, Design & Dining

Sarah Lopez Signs Memoir in Napa as Luigi Oldani Opens New Studio

St. Helena native Sarah Lopez brings her Simon & Schuster memoir 'I Chose to Be Here' to the Napa Valley Book Festival on November 14, sculptor and furniture maker Luigi Oldani opens a 3,500-square-foot studio on Walnut Street, and Napa Valley restaurants unveil November 26 Thanksgiving menus.

By Bay Area Chronicle · Syndicated from Napa Gate
Syndicated reporting from Napa Gate · Napa Gate
Published November 13, 2026 at 11:51 AM PST · 0 min read

Candid 35mm documentary photograph of a sunlit Napa Valley woodworking and furniture studio with curved walnut pieces and vineyard views. — Handcrafted curved walnut furniture and wood shavings inside a sunlit Napa Valley woodworking and sculpture studio overlooking autumn vineyards. · Napa Gate Staff

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Literary homecoming, bespoke woodworking, and autumn culinary traditions converged across Napa Valley this week as St. Helena native Sarah Lopez returned to headline the Napa Valley Book Festival, Milan-trained furniture sculptor Luigi Oldani opened a 3,500-square-foot studio on Walnut Street, and resort and neighborhood kitchens unveiled their November 26 Thanksgiving menus.

St. Helena Native Sarah Lopez Brings Memoir 'I Chose to Be Here' to Napa Valley Book Festival

Author and St. Helena High School graduate Sarah Lopez will return to the valley to present her debut memoir I Chose to Be Here (Simon & Schuster) on Saturday, November 14, 2026 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Blue Oak School at 1436 Polk Street with Bookmine (co-hosted by Napa Bookmine), according to the Napa Valley Register.

Expanded from her widely read 2024 New York Magazine (The Cut) essay, Lopez's book chronicles her upbringing in St. Helena, her undergraduate years at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and how she rebuilt her life and financial independence after encountering a sophisticated Manhattan confidence scheme in her early twenties.

Furniture Designer and Sculptor Luigi Oldani Opens 3,500-Square-Foot Studio on Walnut Street

In downtown Napa's arts corridor, Italian-born craftsman Luigi Oldani has opened a 3,500-square-foot workshop on Walnut Street in Napa combining a woodworking atelier and sculpture gallery, as profiled in the Napa Valley Register.

Trained in Milan before relocating from San Francisco to Napa Valley, Oldani crafts sculptural dining tables, consoles, and organic vessels from salvaged California walnut, valley oak, and bronze, sourcing storm-felled and orchard-cleared timber from local estates across Napa and Sonoma counties.

Six Napa Valley Restaurants Unveil Prix-Fixe Menus for Thanksgiving on November 26

For diners planning holiday gatherings on Thursday, November 26, 2026 across 6 featured venues, the Napa Valley Register's 2026 Thanksgiving Dining Guide detailed multi-course feasts and takeout packages from Calistoga to Carneros:

Resort Menus Bear at Stanly Ranch ($165), FARM ($160), Forum ($185): Bear at Stanly Ranch in Napa offers a four-course harvest menu at $165 per person; FARM at Carneros Resort and Spa serves a four-course wine country dinner at $160 per guest; and Forum at Meadowood in St. Helena presents a three-course holiday menu at $185 per person.
Valley Favorites Boon Fly Café ($95), Eight North, and Ember Steak ($135): Boon Fly Café at Carneros serves a three-course Thanksgiving supper at $95 per adult, Eight North in Yountville offers wood-fired seasonal specials, and Ember Steak at The Meritage Resort in Napa features a three-course holiday menu at $135 per guest.

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