I love San Francisco -- it is my favorite city in the US. There’s so much to do in the city and within a couple of hours you can be in some of the most beautiful (and palette pleasing) places in the world … some of my favorites are Napa/Sonoma, Monterey/Carmel/Pebble Beach and Big Sur. Back in the day when I was a travelling consultant I would “have” to be there at least once a month for work, now I ‘m lucky if I can get out there every few years for “research”.
In my four days, I did a little bit of everything. I spent an afternoon in Walnut Creek walking around the quaint town and window shopping at my holy trinity of stores: Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Crate and Barrel. I spent another afternoon in Sausalito, having lunch at a sidewalk café and browsing the local shops and art galleries. I laid out at the hotel pool drinking cold Coronas (yes I drink other beverages not just wine) for the good part of a day and spent an entire day in Napa!
In the 4 days I was there, I gained 3 pounds! Here are some of the food highlights from my trip.
My first meal was lunch at Artisan Bistro in Lafayette (a small town between the city and Napa that I like to use as home base). I started with an organic heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese on a bed of arugula that was dressed with pesto and balsamic vinegar. The main part of my meal was a croque monsieur (a grown up French grilled cheese sandwich) which was filled with gooey Gruyere cheese and salty ham in between perfectly crisp and golden pieces of bread. I decided to skip dessert since I nibbled on the shoestring fries on my plate.
Believe it or not, I was hungry a few hours later and ate at Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek. I am not sure how I got away with this but at most of the restaurants I went to I was able to get tasting portions of the dishes I ordered. Given that its summer I couldn’t resist the caprese salad with vine ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and as a bonus, olives. My next course was ravioli (made at the restaurant) stuffed with butternut squash and walnuts and served in a tomato sauce with brown butter, parmesan cheese and crispy sage. This was so fantastic that my next course seemed just okay: thinly pounded veal sautéed with sliced artichokes and lemon which was served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables. I continued my feast with dessert: chilled zabaione with fresh berries and peach sorbet which was topped with fresh whipped cream and a cherry! I slept good that night.
Day two was spent mostly in Sausalito. I had a late lunch at Poggio Trattoria. I had plans for a big dinner in the city so I went with a light lunch, a Margherita pizza (tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil) with prosciutto di parma and arugula. The arugula was amazing … it was crisp with a nice peppery bite. It added a nice touch to the pizza which I had with a glass of petite syrah.
In my four days, I did a little bit of everything. I spent an afternoon in Walnut Creek walking around the quaint town and window shopping at my holy trinity of stores: Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Crate and Barrel. I spent another afternoon in Sausalito, having lunch at a sidewalk café and browsing the local shops and art galleries. I laid out at the hotel pool drinking cold Coronas (yes I drink other beverages not just wine) for the good part of a day and spent an entire day in Napa!
In the 4 days I was there, I gained 3 pounds! Here are some of the food highlights from my trip.
My first meal was lunch at Artisan Bistro in Lafayette (a small town between the city and Napa that I like to use as home base). I started with an organic heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese on a bed of arugula that was dressed with pesto and balsamic vinegar. The main part of my meal was a croque monsieur (a grown up French grilled cheese sandwich) which was filled with gooey Gruyere cheese and salty ham in between perfectly crisp and golden pieces of bread. I decided to skip dessert since I nibbled on the shoestring fries on my plate.
Believe it or not, I was hungry a few hours later and ate at Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek. I am not sure how I got away with this but at most of the restaurants I went to I was able to get tasting portions of the dishes I ordered. Given that its summer I couldn’t resist the caprese salad with vine ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and as a bonus, olives. My next course was ravioli (made at the restaurant) stuffed with butternut squash and walnuts and served in a tomato sauce with brown butter, parmesan cheese and crispy sage. This was so fantastic that my next course seemed just okay: thinly pounded veal sautéed with sliced artichokes and lemon which was served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables. I continued my feast with dessert: chilled zabaione with fresh berries and peach sorbet which was topped with fresh whipped cream and a cherry! I slept good that night.
Day two was spent mostly in Sausalito. I had a late lunch at Poggio Trattoria. I had plans for a big dinner in the city so I went with a light lunch, a Margherita pizza (tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil) with prosciutto di parma and arugula. The arugula was amazing … it was crisp with a nice peppery bite. It added a nice touch to the pizza which I had with a glass of petite syrah.
After some sightseeing in the city, I had worked up an appetite and was ready for dinner at Epic Roast House on the Embarcadero. The restaurant was right on the water overlooking the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. I got there a bit before the sun went down was took this picture. This is pretty much the view from my table. Again I had tasting portions … I started with a warm spinach salad with bacon and a poached duck egg. For dinner I had the wood oven roasted halibut which was delicious. The fish was light yet firm and was served with fennel on a gratin of potatoes and onions and topped with crispy mushrooms. The highlight of the meal was beignets and coffee. What an amazing presentation. First they brought a latte bowl which they poured in caramel. Then coffee from a French Press was added to the caramel and topped with fresh whipped cream. The beignets were delivered to the table in a paper bag, warm and dusted with powdered sugar. These beignets put Café du Monde to shame. A nice Merry Edwards Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley helped with digestion.Day three was focused on wine more than food. However, I did start the day with a latte and glazed donut from the Oakville Grocery … I needed a solid base for all the wine I would be tasting. Four wineries later I had to get real food in me and stopped for lunch at Go Fish on Main Street in St. Helena. I went for quantity (and quality) starting with the shrimp cocktail, then a taste of the crispy calamari that was served with a lime aioli and finished with a half of the citrus chipotle chicken breast sandwich. No dessert and just water.
By the time I got to the last winery, I was so excited by their cheese plate I had to get it … it was three cheese (a sharp cheddar, brie and goat cheese), roasted almonds, dried apricots and dried pears and cashews served with melba toast. What a nice pairing with the champagnes I was drinking. By the end of the day, I dragged myself back to the hotel and had a Reuben and a beer and called it a night.Most of my last day was spent at the pool with beer and salty snacks. For dinner I went back to Walnut Creek and ate at Lark Creek. I was intrigued with the blue cheese soufflé so I ordered that in the name of research. Note to self: must reverse engineer the recipe for that. It was fantastic. While it had the texture of a traditional soufflé, it was brought to the table in about 10 minutes and was delicious ... not overly blue cheesey … plus it was served with baby arugula dressed with a cherry-balsamic vinaigrette. I opted for the half portion of the bacon wrapped meatloaf which came with horseradish mashed potatoes and sautéed wax beans. Beans, schmeans. I left those on the plate to save room for dessert. Since they did minis … I tried both the butterscotch pudding and chocolate cream pie. While both of them were delicious, the butterscotch pudding won hands down. Another note to self: perfect butterscotch pudding. I was on a merlot kick from the day before so I drank the Twenty Rows Merlot with dinner. I slept good that night too.
Then I got on a plane the next day and came home 3 pounds heavier. I can see why now.
Stay tuned for the wines I tasted in Napa.
