First of all, my apologies for the long absence. I just did not have the energy to blog when we first got back from California. I've been cooking at home, but mostly just throwing things together, and not really following recipes. I have a few recipes in my stash that I plan to post next week, probably. And with the farmers' markets back in full swing with the late spring/early summer produce, I'm sure there will be plenty to blog about!
Back to the task at hand. We ate like crazy on our vacation. San Francisco is known for good food, certainly, and with good reason. The Napa Valley is also known for great food--lots of delicious locally grown produce, artisan cheeses, organic meat, and of course--fantastic wine. I almost wish I could say we'd been more mindful of the calories we consumed. But we weren't.
Highlights of San Francisco:
- Tiny Swedish pancakes at Sears Fine Food, which was, conveniently, right next to our hotel. It was so nice to start out a day of sightseeing with a filling breakfast. I also loved the sourdough French toast (my husband less so), but overall, it was just a great experience. The one more we diverged and went somewhere else, it was tasty, but we wished we'd gone to Sears!
- Amazing Parisian macarons and other tasty treats from Miette Patisserie at the Ferry Building. I tried the chocolate-lavender macaron, and I've got to be honest...it was better than any of the macarons I had in Paris. It was amazing. I ate it in teeny-tiny bites to try to make it last and refused to give my husband a bite (uncharacteristic). Now that I see they do a mail-order business, I am sorely tempted to have a box shipped to my house immediately. We also picked up some peanut butter cookies that served as our bedtime treat the rest of the week (on the occasion we were able to resist dessert with dinner, that is).
- My entire meal at Fleur de Lys. My chef crush on Hubert Keller knows no bounds. My husband and I had dined at the Las Vegas location in 2009 (now known simply as "Fleur"), and at the time, it was one of the best meals of our lives. We booked our reservation for our last night of our trip, thinking it would be a last hurrah of sorts. But as that Friday night reservation approached, we were so satiated with good food from our time in Napa (more on that in a bit) that we actually considered canceling. But wow, am I glad we didn't. We were smart this time and only did a three-course tasting menu with wine pairings, instead of the four we did in Vegas, because we recalled that there would also be an amuse-bouche and petits fours that came with the check. (In Vegas, the very sight of the petits fours had made me queasy; in San Francisco, I managed to make some room for them and enjoyed every last crumb.) I don't remember everything that we ate, but I vividly remember my appetizer course, which involved a little baeckeoffe (Alsatian casserole) of vegetables and foie gras in veal stock, topped with a delicious crust and slices of black truffles. On the side was a tiny little foie gras and duck sausage "burger." The dish was, as you might expect, divine. My other most vivid memory of our meal there was our dessert. We both opted for the souffle--I had the chocolate, and my husband tried the Grand Marnier. If you ever have the opportunity to dine at Fleur de Lys--and I hope that you do--I suggest, no, I urge, that you have the souffle. It is well worth all 1,383,394 calories. Promise. (Pictured: the souffle I had in Vegas in 2009. It looked pretty much the same this time, except the ice cream was a cherry-kirsch flavor instead of mocha.)
Highlights of Napa Valley (with pictures!) below the cut!
Highlights of Napa Valley:
- Dinner at Tra Vigne in St. Helena. Several friends had suggested we visit Tra Vigne, and I'll be honest--the menu looked good, but not that good. Unfortunately, it was raining the night we went there, so we didn't get to experience the amazing atmosphere on the patio, but it was a wonderful experience, nonetheless. I remember everything we ate for dinner that night (it was that good), but here are the highlights: the freshmade mozzarella "al minuto" is made when you order it. Seriously. It is a-may-zing. I can still taste it if I think hard enough. Served with warm bruschetta toasts (rubbed with garlic, of course). For my main course, I had the crispy duck leg confit risotto, with apples and thyme. It was so rich and flavorful, but comforting at the same time. I could only eat about half of it, but I tried to eat more, it was so good. (Pictures: mozzarella al minuto; I didn't take this shot--I found it via Google. Our toasts were not this brown!)
- The harissa-seasoned french fries at Carpe Diem in downtown Napa. We went there on the recommendation of the gentleman who poured us wine tastings at the Reynolds Family Winery. After a long day of tasting, it suited us perfectly. The food was delicious, but it didn't require us to think that hard. Everything we ate was great, but the french fries were spectacular. Crispy outside, fluffy inside, not too greasy, salty, and a tiny bit spicy. Yummmmm...
- The simple but perfectly exected menu we had at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc in Yountville. Unable to secure a reservation at The French Laundry, I decided to give his newer restaurant a shot. It almost seemed gimmicky--the restaurant has one set menu, a four course meal, that changes every day. You don't really get to make many decisions--there are, of course add-ons and wine pairings if you want them, but the menu is set. In some ways, it harkens to the best meal you ever had at your grandma's house--you didn't pick the menu then, either. I was actually able to take pictures here because we sat outside, and it was light enough for pictures until the dessert course (hence the flash--sorry!). Our first course was a simple salad--fresh mixed greens with pickled green beans, marinated cucumber slices, shaved sugar snap peas, and fried shallots in a light lemon vinaigrette.
The next course was a roasted Prime beef sirloin with caramelized cauliflower, creamed barley, and braised swiss chard, all drizzled with a beet vinaigrette.
We also opted to try the roasted beef bone marrow, which was the first time either of had had it. It was like foie gras in that it was so amazingly intense and rich, but with a slightly weird texture. It was delicious, but I can tell it's only meant to be an occasional treat!
The third course was a cheese course, which I often dread because there are so many cheeses I just don't like. I didn't get any pictures of this course, primarily because it was so yummy it disappeared very quickly. Ooops! The fourth and final course was a vanilla panna cotta with fresh local strawberries and oatmeal tuiles. It was perfection. Even my husband, who is not a vanilla-and-strawberries kinda guy had to admit it was amazing, and a perfect ending to the meal. We talked about how that's the benefit of having a schtick like Ad Hoc--because everyone is eating the same menu, you can make sure all of the courses flow together and balance one another!
There were probably dozens of other delicious things we ate on our vacation, but this is long enough as it is. Don't even get me started on the wine!
Bottom line: we'll be going back some day, for sure. And if you find yourself headed to San Francisco or the Napa Valley any time soon? Be sure to bring your appetite!
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