Essentials

Think about the places that have a well-thumbed place in your phone book: your florist, your mechanic, your bank perhaps? These are the everyday places that are first stops on your Saturday morning “to do” list (right after coffee and the paper, of course). They may not be glamorous, though they’re certainly a beautiful sight when you need them. They may not be the places you go or people you meet with out-of-town guests, though they make living here a lot more fabulous. Everyday services are the simple tasks and people who make what we all do just a little bit easier every single day.

>>2006 Winners in the Essentials Category

Best florist

There is something magical about making an unruly bunch of flowers look like they belong together. As any gardener knows, roses and tulips don’t often fall into neat lines, arrange themselves whimsically in vases or grow into perfect orbs. It takes a horticultural visionary like Leah Lowery and her team at Flaxx Floral Design to create masterful floral centerpieces that make you forget each individual flower and instead see the raw, ephemeral beauty of nature in each bouquet.

Best Caterer

Melissa Teaff is on the speed dial of just about anyone who’s ever organized an event in Napa. In fact, food is so important to planners of everything from ladies’ luncheons to big winery events that often times Teaf gets a call before anyone else—just to make sure she’s available. A Napa mainstay for social and businesses events for more than 25 years, Teaff and her team of chefs get kudos for their attention to detail, service and fresh, high-quality ingredients, even when feeding a cast of thousands.