As proprietors of Terra, a restaurant steeped in tradition and housed in a century-old fieldstone building in the Napa Valley wine country, and as chefs who are passionate about food, we have thought a lot about what compels us to cook. And what we have come to realize is this: at Terra, we cook from our hearts. That's why we named our cookbook Terra: Cooking from the Heart of the Napa Valley. We consider the restaurant an extension of our home, and each guest an invited guest. We try to reflect this feeling in the way we prepare our food, the ambiance of the dining room, and the hospitality of our staff.



Our restaurant is also a reflection of who we are -- our heritages, our travels, our memories, and our tastes. Each of Hiro's dishes contain traces of his Japanese ancestry and classical French and Italian training. Lissa's pastry menu and her management of the restaurant's hospitality are seasoned by her Lebanese heritage and her roots in the Napa Valley. Each of these components is fundamental to the foods we prepare. We hope that if you try very hard, you will taste our history in them.