the napse! an orgy of culinary proportions

we pulled into napa at around 6:30 exhausted and starving. we checked into the "riverpointe california vacation cottages," the timeshare my mom gave us using some kind of complicated point system. in a foolish move, the fine folks at RPVC tried to entice us into a sales spiel, a wine tour, a discounted whatnot...immediately. we grabbed our parking pass and hightailed it to our room. note to the fine folks at RPVC and like locales - wait until your guests at least have a chance to unpack before trying the hard-sell. i can't imagine feeling less inclined to listen than i was at that moment. we got directions into town and headed out for dinner.

i'll admit - we were tired. we were hungry. we were weak. too weak to listen to that little voice in our heads. you know the one. the voice of reason that says, look right again before you turn, or, that dog looks less than friendly, or, this "tuscany" place looks an awful lot like an olive garden. whatever, we thought, as we sipped our wine and picked at the oddly moldy-tasting greens in front of us, we have many more meals ahead of us here. it's a good thing we did...because "tuscany" is starting to sound like a bad word to me.

the next morning we began our tour of napa with a stop at bouchon bakery in yountville.



as we drove into town, i felt like i was on a movie set...the whole place felt like it was straight out of central casting. there was an unbroken row of restaurants i've read about...redd, bistro jeanty, bouchon, ad hoc & tfl and several others clearly geared toward the well-heeled, pampered foodie. it was a little creepy, actually, to think how much money is spent on food and wine each night on washington street...a little unneverved, but completely undeterred, we started our own little spending spree. we breakfasted at BB...a ham & cheese croissant, a caramel macaroon and the insanely divine chocolate donut pictured in my hot little hands here.



the coffee was exceptional. in fact, everything we tried at BB was amazing. i would be a heifer if it was in seattle. in this season of thanksgiving, i am forever grateful that it is safely far away.

sated and fully buzzed on sugar, fat and coffee, we went to vincent arroyo - our only appointment of the day. we went to arroyo on the reliable recommendation of anson & jenny klock...they know wine. we met the winemaker...ish. he was there, but seemed more interested in his dog than in us. he was kind of the reclusive genius type...known for petite sirah, which is not the most typical of napa wines, he apparently despises pinot noir and anything remotely trendy. i liked him, even though he wouldn't look at us. we went to a couple other places that day, the best of which was failla. we got to walk around and see the cave they're building onsite, and jason, the guy working the tasting room, was very friendly. we spent ages there. he suggested a couple of other wineries and a mexican place for lunch in calistoga. on the way, we stopped at a convenience store and saw a taco truck parked in back...seemed like fate, so we stopped in for a torta. a damn good torta. while in the lot, we met sherri, a supertaster from envy just down the road. she liked my boots and invited us over for a tasting. the wine was good - we got some rose for thanksgiving dinner and headed off to zahtila, which was our last stop of the day.

we were supposed to have dinner in sonoma that night, but we canceled. it's not super convenient to napa and we were beat, so we went into town and had dinner at annalien, a monsoon-ish vietnamese place downtown. it has the dubious distinction of being located next door to a new napa hotspot, ubuntu...yoga studio & restaurant. sounds like something out of L.A. Story. i couldn't imagine wanting to go to a place like that. ever. i don't care how carefully and sustainably picked those greens are.

dinner at annalien was great - in fact we went back our last night in town because we liked it (and the simple, clean flavors) so much. i'll jump around a little to tell the annalien story here, because it's so odd. so we went back on wednesday and we're so glad we did, because we got to meet annalien herself. picture, if you will, a woman in her mid-late 40's, maybe 4'8" on a tall day, and all of 75 pounds soaking wet. we must have missed her our first time in as we were there late...and i bet annalien was wasted by then. she was pretty drunk by 7:30 when we arrived the second time, and i noticed her sharing more than a couple glasses of wine with more than a couple of people at the bar. she clearly relishes her role as hostess, and flits around the room talking with the crowd of mostly regular patrons. at one point, she bounded over to our table, and unsure of whether or not she knew us, just hugged me. then she looked at me, tried (unsuccessfully,i'm thinking) to clear her eyes, and said, "you gorgeous." she turned to rob and said, "you lucky, she beautiful." then she calmly walked around to his side of the table, cracked him (hard!) over the head with the back of her hand and said, "she gorgeous, you fucked!" "shit, you fucked!" all three of us cracked up...whatever she meant, it was hilarious.

sunday was another power day...we started with brunch at the girl and the fig in sonoma. now this is the kind of place i would love to own someday. nice big bar, clean, simple menu with daily specials and a daily prix fixe. inventive but classic. i had a lovely champagne/fig cocktail and a pork tartine...the most perfect sandwich. ever. nice thick batard, sliced and marked on the grill, lovely aioli, lots of watercress, thinly sliced pork tenderloin and an apple/apricot/fig compote. on the side, a sexy little julienne of apple & celeriac. perfection. we returned for more tartine on wednesday...we headed back to napa for some silliness. went to BR Cohn, winemaker and manager of the doobie brothers. i think this was taken there.



we walked into and out of imagery - not our scene...on to arrowood. my notes say, "insane reserve 2002 cab - too good for us." and then we went to Mayo - and did 19 tastings. not kidding.



my photobucket caption for that one is, appropriately, "wasted." we had fun there, though. my notes say "2005 estate pinot...cook duck and drink this." they also say, "i would buy wine from me if i wrote the descriptions..."of the 2004 sonoma blend, the libertine, i say, "it's a slutty little wine...juicy, cheap and easy." need i mention we bought 6 bottles of the wee hoor?



fortunatley, rob was driving. unfortunately, i was taking the pictures!

in true rock-star fashion, however, after a power nap and a shower, we were ready for dinner at bouchon.



i like this one better, but i look scared. relax, it's only TK!



so...bouchon. it was good. really really good. perfectly executed, flawlessly prepared, expertly seasoned french bistro food, which, i guess, just doesn't thrill me. at least not at the price. i'm glad we went...and i'm really glad we brought our own wine, but it just wasn't interesting to me. we shared a charcuterie plate, a lobster salad and i had steak frites while rob had lamb with flageolets and lamb jus. his was great...but...i don't know. i'm glad i have the book.

monday we went to Mumm to drink some sparkly and look at their photo exhibit. they have some ansel adams in their permanent collection as well as some rotating photographic works. i love that space, the gallery sits on top of their caves, and you can see the barrels of future happiness aging away. the wines are kind of meh, but the view is great, the tastings generous and who can be dour when there are bubbles in your glass? we also went to regusci. the vineyard is gorgeous...they make olive oil and have tons of olive trees, and meyer lemon trees flank their patio. we loved their wines, and bought a cab and a pinot. next up was sinskey...we really like the pinot we're able to get here, but as the pourer noted, "it's a bit simple." something about that whole experience rubbed me the wrong way...and as we left rob said, "i don't think we'll ever buy their wine again..." i knew just what he meant.

we had lunch at taylor's automatic refresher, a napa institution. it's basically an old-school drive-in burger joint with really really good burgers. i had a vanilla coke with real vanilla syrup that tasted like i was 5. the lines are long, and you wait for your food out behind the counter, basically in the backyard. they call your name as your order is ready. i wrote as we were waiting, "the sun is beating on my back, a dog is barking and someone named cary grant just got his espresso shake." it was awesome.

through a connection with my sister and brother-in-law, we got an appointment at fisher. my notes say, "holy crap this wine is good." not only is the wine great, but the people and vineyard were amazing too.





after we tasted we wandered around the vineyard with sake, the owner's akita. we don't know why, exactly, but sake kept trying to bite rob's ass.



after a gallavant in the vineyard, who wouldn't be ready for *another* 10,000 calorie meal? we certainly were...so it was off to ad hoc, another TK restaurant. story of ad hoc: opened in 9/06 as a temporary (6 month) place that would serve home-style american food to foodies while he figured out how he wanted his *real* new place - burgers and half bottles - to be. it's been 14 months, and ad hoc is still around - who knows if he even intends to change it over. initially, the menu was supposed to change every day, but as time has gone on, it seems they've settled into a rotating menu with at least some items showing up every two weeks. when jenny & anson went, they had fried chicken. we were surprised to find the same menu when we went 8 months later. (in fact, we started to wonder if it's actually just a fried chicken place until our friend amy assured us she'd had osso bucco there.) it's a 3 course, family-style fixed price ($45) menu. the day we were there it was:

scallop brochette, mixed greens with satsuma & pink grapefruit supremes, citrus vinaigrette
fried chicken, buttermilk mashed potatoes, orange-honey buttered cornbread & green beans
warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream (initially it was a banana upside-down cake, but they ran out)

so ad hoc...best fried chicken of my life? definitely. if i was oprah - i would eschew ezells in favor of ad hoc. sides were also amazing - and the salad was wonderful. at that point, we really just wanted salad...but persevered for the children. another $200 meal once you add a modest bottle of wine tax and tip...i would go back there, though. it was really fun, and it would be a great place to go with friends...but god...so much food!

tuesday (still with me?? why??!) we went to SF to see our friends chris and amy who just got married. we got into town and had dim sum at my family's favorite, yank sing. they have these pea-vine dumplings that are so good, they alone are worth the price of airfare. we ate light (really!) so took a walk to ferry market and had dessert - a dozen oysters and a glass of wine at hog bay! ready for a nap, we checked into our hotel - le meridien, which i booked on orbitz. it looked like a good deal, but my experience with hotels in SF has been terrible. either they're outrageous, or they're transitional (the last place we stayed was lacking heat!) so we were delighted to see that the meridien seemed...nice. the kind lady at the front desk upgraded us to a bay view room...



not too shabby! we took a much needed afternoon off and watched tv and slept and then got ready for dinner at boulevard.

we had a drink in the bar beforehand. cho, this one is for you...we rarely both look good in the same photo, this being no exception, but you didn't want scenery (or, i assume another of the dozen shots i took of myself?) so here you go!



as i re-look at this photo i can literally see the effects of 5 days of excess. i appear to be sweating butter in this photo.

we had a great time and great food and wine with chris and amy, who just got back from their honeymoon in bali. they were kind enough to share a spectacular williams selyem pinot with us. great food, great cocktails, great company...i'd live in SF in a heartbeat.

wednesday we headed back to napa. the one winery we went to that day may have been our favorite. the terraces is just off the silverado trail around st. helena. it's another 100 year old vineyard (yawn) with several buildings and residences, including a tiny stone room where the owners are making balsamic vinegar. in addition to tasting their lovely wines, the awesome guy (whose name i forget!) who spent ages with us, drove us down to the tiny room and let us taste some of the 11 year old (almost ready!) vinegar. they're getting their barrels from modena and using zin grapes...standing in that tiny stone room with the afternoon light filtering in and tasting that vinegar was one of the highlights of my culinary life. there was just something extraordinary about that place...the owner was really funny - popping out of his office yelling, "you had the fried chicken??" the tasting room was in their kitchen... curry, the yellow dog...the big jeep thing nice tasting guy drove us around in, and the overall feel of the vineyard were so good. . people doing what they love and doing it well. it was the best possible end to our wine tasting.

thursday morning rob drove the 10 miles to bouchon bakery to get bread for thanksgiving dinner while i slept. (no epi left, but the baguettes don't suck either) and coffee and treats for us. seriously, that place could just kill a girl. we headed to sac to spend thanksgiving with rob's family. it was great to see them, and we went out friday night with some old friends...always fun to see them!

saturday we went up to the foothills of the sierra's to our friend brady's family cabin. we all cooked dinner and drank a ton of wine and sat by the fire and played hoopla (kind of an offshoot of cranium) which was really wonderful. we did not want to leave, but we headed back to sac on sunday for a classic roast dinner and finally home yesterday.

the only notable thing about yesterday is that i think i've overcome my fear of flying. our flight to portland was very bumpy. so bumpy that the skinny bitch across the aisle started crying. ok, i know that sounds harsh, but i really mean it as more of a descriptor than a character analysis. anyway - it was *very* bumpy, and rob was freaked (in a totally manly way) but i wasn't afraid at all. weird. now i can rank on SB again, because she really does deserve it. when we landed she called someone on her cell phone and was talking loudly about the flight and about how she was still shaking and she's cursing a blue streak, totally oblivious to the 6 year old child right in front of her. if MJ had seen the prop plane we had to fly to seattle on, her drama would have reached epic proportions. luckily, the worst of the weather was to the south of us, and aside from a little more shimmy than i like with my shake, the flight wasn't too bad. me, overcoming my fear of flight? we'll see...