Sonoma 2016 - Goose and Gander

The Napa Valley has so much great food and small cities to enjoy. For a recent bachelorette party, we dined at Goose and Gander in St. Helena.

I split with my friend and here was our small spread.

Cucumber Collins ($13) - Square One Cucumber Vodka, Yuzu Lemon, Fresh and pickled cucumber slices, Huckleberries, and seltzer.

Rosemary Pear Shrub ($13) - Gin, rosemary-pear shrub syrup, lemon, ginger, seltzer

Coastal Pimm's Cup ($13) - gin, lemon, bitters, ginger beer, bay laurel

($18) Grilled Spanish Octopus - Beluga lentils, frisee, Bosc pears, gribiche (cold egg sauce)
This was a very nice dish. The octopus was perfect. Just perfect. The size is small for the price and it was not identified on the menu as a small bite or appetizer portion. I really thought this was an entree. Regardless, great flavors and execution.

($13) Wild and Tame Mushrooms on Toast
Contrary to the above dish, this portion was bigger than expected. These 3 toast halves could be a meal itself. It's loaded with mushrooms in an herbed creme fraiche. So good.

($8) Roasted Bone Marrow
If you've had bone marrow before, there wasn't too much special about this. Served with a side salad of celery greens and fennel shavings. It's good, just not remarkable. 

($7) Duck Fat Fries
These were actually very good. I couldn't taste the duck fat but they are still excellent fries to share.

Chocolate Cake with hazelnut
Our bachelorette got a celebratory cake. It was a bit dry. The creme and chocolate were good. We appreciated the generosity.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The prices here are not indicative of portion size. Some items were more filling than expected and  then others were scant. I wish the menu gave a more accurate impression of the food. Other than that, service was nice, drinks were great, and some of the dishes were fantastic.

Goose and Gander has interesting decor like an old library. There are various type of areas to sit like the main floor, bottom floor, outdoors under the trees, and outdoors under the awning. We sat outdoors under the trees and it was a bit dusty. There was competition between multiple tables for the umbrellas and half our table ended up with harsh summer sun in their faces. This doesn't sound like a big issue but it was really hot that day and this made us uncomfortable.

Sonoma 2016 - Frank Family Vineyards - El Dorado Kitchen - AirBnB

A few weeks back, I went to my good friend's bachelorette getaway in Sonoma. We stayed at the cutest AirBnB ever. Totes perf for a girl's trip. It looked like someone bought all the teal and moroccan patterned items from Home Goods and decorated the home. We arrived on a Friday afternoon and cooked a light dinner before our reservation at The Girl & The Fig.

The next morning, we set out a large and mostly healthy breakfast spread with fresh summer fruits.

It was basically an avocado toast bar and here's my open faced avo-toast sandwich with pickled red onion. Yum.

After breakfast, we went to Frank Family Vineyards for their premium wine tasting and picnic. There were 5 wines poured and they gave an extra tasting of a dessert wine. 

Our picnic spread is all from Safeway.

Finally, brunch at El Dorado Kitchen before we left on Sunday. I really enjoyed my meal here a few years ago so I was happy to be back at this beautiful hotel and restaurant.

($14) Heirloom Tomato Salad - with corn, arugula, balsamic vinaigrette, and crostini.

It doesn't look like much but these tomatoes are big and filling. Definitely approved by this heirloom tomato fan.

($17) Smoked Salmon Benedict - on sourdough toast with braised greens, potatoes, and a mixed salad.

($12) Truffle Fries - one of the better truffle fries I've had. Nice and crispy and truffly.

Stay tuned for the next recaps of our Sonoma trip with reviews of The Girl & The Fig, and also Goose & Gander. Restaurants really like to name themselves something & something.

Napa Trip 2015 - Ad Hoc - Yountville

Thomas Keller is one of America's greatest chefs at the time. He's best known for The French Laundry in Yountville. For those not willing spend the money or can't get in, we can taste a bit of Keller's work at Ad Hoc or Addendum also in Yountville.

Ad Hoc is extremely crowded and popular or at least it was on a Saturday night and the reservation rules are strict. Your entire party must be present and there is only a 15 minute grace period for being tardy before the reservation is dropped. The meal is served family style and the menu is not announced until the day of. For $52 per person, we were served the following dishes.

Caesar salad with kale, tomatoes, fried capers, anchovies, and fried croutons. This salad sounds so simple yet it was so delicious and difficult to replicate exactly. The produce is fresh. The anchovy filets were of good quality. The fried capers were crunchy and salty. I think the dressing must be housemade. But those croutons though, so buttery and crunchy. There's also plenty to share amongst 10 people. I tried to make this at home and it wasn't the same even though I had all the ingredients right but the quality of my ingredients was subpar to Ad Hoc's.

Every element in the steak with potatoes, corn, and spinach dish was cooked perfectly. Perfect level of doneness for the meat. Perfect crunch on the potatoes. Perfect wilt on the spinach. It was just a tad plain for me. It's a large quantity though but there's only so much steak and potatoes I can eat at one time.

This crab mac and cheese was perfection. It cost an extra $21 to the table. Big macaroni pieces, melty cheeses, bread crumbs and crab pieces. 

I was really disappointed by this course of cheese, toast, and chopped olives because it was only just that. I don't really know what the point is here of slowing the pace of the meal at the end right before dessert. I would have preferred that we have the option to break apart the pre-fixe menu and eliminate this cheese dish for a lower total cost. I really didn't care for this, especially after already eating the main course. It wasn't even a very impressive type of cheese.

Cold chocolate cupcakes for the dessert. They were good but I wasn't wowed.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

In the end, all I remember is the salad and the crab mac and cheese which we had to pay extra for. $52 per person for this quantity of food is good but nothing else about Ad Hoc is worth it. If you went all the way to Napa, went through the trouble of making a reservation somewhere for dinner, anticipating a nice fancy meal, do all of that work for another place that will be more worth it. Everything was edible, everything was good, but what a big over-hype. Maybe it's over-hyped because many people eat here thinking it's their way in to a taste of French Laundry because it's by the same chef. 

Napa Trip 2015 - Morimoto Napa

Morimoto Napa has not changed much at all since my first visit in 2013. Many of my opinions are the same as 2 years ago as the restaurant's food remains consistently enjoyable. You can see my previous blog post for a more detailed description.

The bakery out front has been replaced with a sake bar which looks like this.

The dining room still bears an earthy theme with decorative branches and tree stump tables.

The menu remains the same and that's a good thing.

 ($8) Salmon Skin Roll

($5) Avocado Roll

We start with two rolls that are standard to every sushi restaurant, the salmon skin roll and avocado roll. Both of these were delicious. The rice was soft and sticky yet you can feel the individual grains.

 ($19) Rock shrimp tempura in wasabi aioli (whitish color) and spicy kochujang sauce (orange color)

These balls of shrimp don't sound or look like much until you taste them. If the wasabi in the aioli is fresh like it is used in other dishes at this restaurant, then it's an added bonus to the already mild spice level and creamy coating on the rock shrimp in the foreground. It was still bested by the kochujang rock shrimp which was an interesting salty, spicy, creamy flavor on crispy tempura and sweet meaty shrimp.

($29) Toro tartare

The toro tartare is a hit again. Another must have.
From left to right:

1) nori - the best sauce. Tastes like seasoned seaweed

2) fresh wasabi

3) sour cream

4) chives

5) avocado

6) rice crispy balls

The best combination is 1 with 6

($28) Sea Urchin Carbonara lunch set (soup not pictured)

This was also another must have from our last visit. Good as usual and there's nothing wrong with that!

($32) Spicy chirashi bowl

Last time we got the regular chirashi bowl which contained a generous helping of sashimi, tamago, and vegetables on top of that same well made sushi rice. This time, I ordered the spicy version which does not have the veggies, and is topped with house made kochujang sauce. Both versions of the chirashi bowl were good but I favor the non-spicy version more because it showcases the flavor of the fish better. 

That's it for lunch at Morimoto Napa. Next up is dinner at Ad Hoc by Thomas Keller.

Napa Trip 2015 - AirBnB, Madonna Estate Winery, Artesa Winery, The Model Bakery, Bouchon Bakery

Do you feel like you need a vacation from your vacation?

Last weekend, we took a group trip to Napa for the weekend. The AirBnB house our group stayed at had 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths in a great suburban neighborhood with lots of space. In the bathroom hung this picture which I felt is so fitting to my new life as a full time corporate employee, part time food writer, and now full time mother...But if you were here to read about motherhood rants, there's plenty of mommy blogs for your reading. Let's get to travel, food, and wine.

We went to the Oxbow Public Market in the morning to grab breakfast which included this very popular breakfast sandwich from The Model Bakery. The line to place the order was not long but it took a while to receive the sandwich. This is their signature regular breakfast sandwich on their fresh made English muffin. Quite possibly the best English muffin I've ever had - soft and with melty cheese and eggs. I think this sandwich is $6.95.

($7.95) chipotle breakfast sandwich on multigrain. It has eggs, cheese, avocado, and bacon. There's more flavor in this sandwich than the regular but the bread isn't as great. I should have stuck with the English muffin.

Our group was large and the only winery near us with the most affordable tasting fee and allowed us to bring outside food for a picnic was Madonna Estates. The tasting fee is $15 per person and we had a private tasting with just our group in a large room. We tasted 5 great wines. I bought a bottle of their crisp sweet Gewurztraminer although the Dolcetto was nice too.

We stopped by Frati Gelato Cafe by the riverwalk and I had an affogato with vanilla gelato. Refreshing!

And of course no trip to Napa is complete without a stop for Bouchon Bakery's famous gigantic macarons. I bought a box of all 8 flavors at $3.50 each. Fig was the seasonal flavor but Raspberry was my favorite.

Artesa Winery is really beautiful and scenic and crowded as heck. We managed to take a few shots by this gorgeous waterfall though.

Up next: Lunch at Morimoto Napa and dinner at Ad Hoc

Morimoto Napa + Bouchon Bakery - Napa and Yountville

Do you know which is my favorite cooking show? Not Top Chef and nothing with Gordon Ramsay -- it's Iron Chef America. And I enjoy the episodes with Chef Morimoto the most. His food has been on my "To Eat List" for ages. Finally the man I married, after almost 7 years of this relationship, agreed to take me to Morimoto Napa! It's about time...

($16) Morimoto bone marrow - roasted bone marrow with teriyaki sauce. There were teriyaki flavored piece of onion on top of the marrow which was then breaded and roasted, I think.

This was quite delicious but so fatty and the bones were much larger than expected. About 7" long and 2.5" wide. This was my first time having roasted bone marrow and I was really expecting the red bloody kind that you spread on pieces of crostini. This was the clear and fatty kind? We were told the kitchen sent us two orders by mistake, no wonder there was a whole lot of bone marrow to go around. Teriyaki onions and bread crumbs...mm yumbs.

($28) Toro tartare - That's one pricey appetizer! This is really the coolest tartare I've ever had. Well worth the experience. Raw toro is chopped and molded into the clear rectangular form,and served on ice. Using tiny metal spatulas, we would scrape some toro, and dip it in any or a combo of any of the sauces in the wooden block. From left to right:

1) nori - the best sauce. Tastes like seasoned seaweed

2) fresh wasabi

3) sour cream - I didn't really care for this.

4) chives

5) avocado - 3 to 5 are like a salad

6) rice crispy balls

The best combination is 1 with 6

($32) Morimoto style chirashi - 10 to 12 different fish and vegetables over rice. Super good. Fresh fish and lots of it. The rice wasn't even needed. It's like someone handing you a magical bowl of sashimi cubes. Phil ordered this, he's a simple man.

($28) Sea urchin carbonara lunch set - If I'm going to dine at one of my culinary idols' restaurants, I'm going to order something mind-blowingly complex and expect to be mind-blown. I am not a simple woman, BUT bonus points for me ordering a cheaper dish than Phil. Ah, she is not a gold digger afterall...=)

I was really happy with my lunch set. 

Top right: The sea urchin carbonara was creamy and savory. It's made with some type of udon noodles with bits of uni in the sauce and of course look at that big fat mother piece of uni on top. mm I love uni. Bottom right: Bonito and pomegranate seeds on a salad with pink daikon?!?! Yes, please! 

Top left: Nigiri and tuna rolls, can't go wrong.

Bottom left: I gave most of my tempura to Phil. I'm not a huge fan of tempura in general. In exchange I mooched off a bunch of his sashimi pieces. Happy wife, happy life.

($1) gummy candy - The front of the restaurant had a candy section where we bought this gummy candy with a toasted grain of rice inside. I really thought this was an insect larvae and we bought it for this reason. It was disappointing to be told it's just a grain of rice. Ugh just a ginger ale-like gummy candy.

Left: angel wings

Right: incomplete mustache

Well if non-insect larvae gummy candy and gingerbread mustaches weren't enough for dessert, we hopped on over to the famous Bouchon Bakery to buy 9 macarons the size of Phil's palm ($3.75/each). Don't worry, we didn't eat all these, they were for family.

...and I do consider myself to be part of my family. Told you they were big. Too sweet for me though. Pistachio and raspberry are the best but I want them to be reduced to one fifth the size and price -- sounds fair.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Morimoto Napa:
Service and food were great. I actually thought the prices were pretty fair given Morimoto's fame. Lunch put us at around $104 total pre-tax and tip and I was stuffed. But again, this is more than twice the usual budget for lunch so you judge for yourself if this is up your alley. I would recommend Morimoto Napa. I should write a suggestion to him to make candies with insect larvae inside. I was extremely let down by the lack of its existence, as you can tell.

Bouchon Bakery: Macaron review only

I would say only get these if you're already nearby and if you really love macarons. I was not nearby and I do not love macarons, so it was just a so-so experience.

Morimoto Napa on Yelp
Bounchon Bakery on Yelp