Napa's rise as a city where you want to stop and eat rather than bypass as you drive to and from wineries will be further enhanced this fall when Ken Frank moves his seamless La Toque restaurant from Rutherford to the Westin Verasa Napa hotel nearing completion along Napa River.

La Toque was one of 23 Bay Area restaurants to be annointed with one star when Michelin critics released their first California guide in 2006.

Frank, one of the state's more acclaimed chefs for his contemporary if classically grounded interpretation of French cooking over the past 35 years, moved La Toque from Los Angeles to Napa Valley 10 years ago.

He is to have more to say of the pending relocation late this month, though early indications are that the Westin will give him a more spacious and luxurious setting than the quarters La Toque occupies at Rancho Caymus Inn in Rutherford, where the restaurant is to remain open until September.

The new Westin is a short stroll from another new Napa culinary attraction, Oxbow Public Market, featured in The Bee's Taste section this past Wednesday.