Our Story

Second chances and rebirth are nothing new to Dan Kaiser. As a 9-year-old he was found drowned in his family’s swimming pool. His mother, Theresa, lifted the unresponsive boy from the water and handed him to his father, Richard, who immediately began CPR. Minutes passed but still no response. Richard kept at it — pressing up and down — as they both hoped for a miracle. Seconds later the little boy coughed and sputtered back to life.

Decades after that harrowing event Dan, his wife Carolina, and his father and mother co-own the Calistoga Italian restaurant Amaro, which recently replaced their previous Wine Country bistro-styled eatery, Veraison.

“My parents have always taught me to keep at it, no matter what,” Dan said. “We should have made this change a few years back, but with the fires and the pandemic we’ve been pretty much in survival mode since first opening. Now we have a chance to relaunch with something new.”

“Taylor has ties to Northern Italy, while Carolina’s family was originally from Fiesole near Florence, and my mother’s family comes from Naples in the south,” Dan Kaiser said. “Our menu will reflect this breadth by having a range of Italian dishes — gnocchi, pastas, braised meats and pizza — an Italian-focused wine list and one of the most extensive selections of Amaro in the country.”