Redd restaurant in Yountville is like a Rorschach test, revealing the culinary soul of owner Richard Reddington.

The perfectly square minces of carrots and see-through crescents of celery floating in the intense matsutake mushroom consomme ($14) expose the chef's passionate perfectionism. Flavors are clean and pristine; every ingredient plays a crucial role in the blend, as do all the elements of the almost stark interior of the restaurant itself.

Earlier in his career, Reddington hip-hopped from restaurant to restaurant. He plied his trade on both coasts and even talked his way into several three-star kitchens in France. The Chronicle discovered him in 1999 as chef of the tiny Chapeau in the Richmond and quickly named him a Rising Star.

He proved his mettle once again at Napa Valley's Auberge du Soleil, where he worked from 2000 to 2004. The owners offered to back him in a restaurant in San Francisco, and when that didn't work out they offered to revamp one of their other properties, Piatti.

Reddington was very involved in the design of the 65-seat dining room, helping to create this visual representation of his artistic soul.

The largely unadorned white walls and glowing satin cabreuva vermelha wood floors from South America foretell the purity of his cooking. The large windows overlooking the 25-seat patio represent the way he celebrates ingredients by making each individual flavor count. The fine craftsmanship of the sleek, red cedar framing around the doors and the tailored look of the pitched wood roof help to focus the interior, much like the way he finely crafts every element on the plate.

A vegetarian main course celebrates squash ($19), which he stuffs into tender pasta ravioli and delicately showers with precise cubes of parsnips, celery root and squash interspersed with chanterelles and frilly caps of black trumpet mushrooms. A Parmesan emulsion glazes the top, resembling a delicately veined raku ceramic. It takes a true artist to raise such plebeian ingredients to such uncommon heights.

A spider web of intensely flavored ham hock emulsion blankets the lentils surrounding a succulent quail ($13). He also encases a fillet of Tai snapper ($25) in a crisp potato crust, neatly arranging it on savory cabbage with silken lobster bacon butter. Lots of people do similar crusts these days, but Reddington's take is refined and luxurious.

A shimmering mound of gelee -- kind of an upper-crust version of Jell-O -- gilds a salad composed of crab, tangerine, fennel and creamy slices of avocado ($14).

The menu, like almost every other these days, offers several raw fish dishes. Marinated yellowfin tuna ($13)paves a white plate, with the arrangements of beets, radishes and lemon oil drizzles looking like a psychedelic bonsai garden. While these are artful flourishes, they're far from superfluous. Redd's use of emulsions, crusts, gelee and crudo show he's not immune to trends, yet he handles them with finesse.

Reddington has a profound ability to brighten rustic preparations. Few cooks could best his al dente risotto ($15) blended with chunks of lobster, lemon confit and white truffle oil. Roasted chicken ($23) excels whether placed over a potato puree with carrots and salsify ragout with giblet sauce, or the current configuration with white beans, rapini, Meyer lemon and thyme.

Braised short ribs feature a horseradish crust ($28). Redd serves a duck breast with confit leg, plating them with sweet potatoes and savoy cabbage ($25), and he matches a pork chop ($24) with mustard spaetzle, Swiss chard and cippolini onions.

The delicately balanced combinations make them an easy match for wine, another plus for a restaurant in Wine Country. In addition to the a la carte items, the menu features a five-course tasting menu for $70 ($100 with wine) and nine courses for $105 ($160 with wine).

For some diners, the sleek, minimal interior may be too stark, but I love it. It's by New York designer Peter Guzy, who also was involved in several New York-area projects, including Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Guzy defines the entry with a skylight and a pitched polished wood ceiling, with the bar on the left and more seating on the right. The dining room ceiling echoes the walls' whiteness, and is punctuated with evenly spaced halogen lights that sparkle like diamonds.

The only art in the dining room comes from three black and white paintings arranged in a line above a service breakfront. When they're not needed, the staff often lines up on that side of the room, looking like part of the decor in their black shirts and long black-and-white aprons. They are well coached in the art of serving and know the menu and wine list, but some can be stiff and officious on occasion.

The curved Gubi Danish chairs, with thin chrome legs, also contribute to the clean lines. Covered in cool gray with a polished walnut back, they have a modern, midcentury sensibility, yet are extremely comfortable. The chrome-base tables are nicely spaced and luxuriously appointed with white tablecloths, large napkins and high-quality accoutrements. Even though the noise can be intense, because of the spacing diners can generally hear each other speak.

The restaurant acts as an empty canvas waiting to be painted by the arriving patrons. One night a middle-aged woman, meticulously groomed but casually dressed, walked through the dining room letting her $20,000 Hermes Birkin handbag lead the way. Sitting on the other side of the room was a matron with a rock the size of a quarter. Michael Mondavi and his entourage took their places in the center of the room, surrounded by a gaggle of solicitous waiters. Redd is like this every night, filled with the Who's Who of Napa Valley -- the old monied set, and those who make their gracious living from the land.

It is an ideal place to be seen by these influential patrons, but more importantly, it's a flawless showcase for Reddington's food.

Redd's wine list offers excellent choices at every level

Creating a wine list in the Napa Valley is a touchy affair, filled with politics and intrigue. How can you attract the vintners as diners if you don't include their wine? It's a problem every Bay Area restaurateur faces, but it's magnified in the Wine Country.

Alan Murray has navigated those waters beautifully at Redd, creating a comprehensive selection that's peppered with the best names and some hard-to-find wines. Yet he also includes competition from the other side of the Mayacamas Mountains, those from Central and Southern California, and even some of the best wine made on the other side of the Atlantic.

Considering the inventory and knowledgeable service, the prices are fair, with exceptional offerings at every price point. The markup is higher at the lower levels, but all the wines are good.

For $24 , you can get the 2004 Foxglove Edna Valley Chardonnay, which retails for about $10. For $300, you can get the 2001 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, which would cost about $200 -- if you could acquire it.

The list begins with 16 carefully selected by-the-glass offerings, including the 2004 Selene Hyde Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ($12) and the 2002 Miner Family Napa Valley Syrah ($10). That's followed by 28 half-bottles, 21 sparkling wines and Champagnes, and more than 150 full-bottle selections.

Cocktails are trendy, and Redd weighs in with its own concoctions (all $11) such as a pomegranate martini, a California Gibson with the Roth vodka made from wine grapes, and a Redd Mai Tai. There's also a small list of dessert wines, including two bubblies, late harvest wines, Port and Madeira.

If you bring your own wine, corkage is $25. Corkage is waived if you also buy a bottle from the list.

-- M.B.

    6480 Washington St. (near Oak Circle), 
Yountville; (707) 944-2222. 
    Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; brunch 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m 
Sunday; dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. nightly. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards 
accepted. Free lot. 

    Overall:         THREE AND A HALF STARS 
    Food:            THREE AND A HALF STARS 
    Service:         THREE STARS 
    Atmosphere:      THREE AND A HALF STARS 
    Prices:          $$$$ 
    Noise Rating:    BOMB 
    Pluses: Superb food; sleek, refined decor; well-trained servers, and 
excellent wine list. 
    Minuses: At peak times, the noise can be intense; waiters can be 
