For the second weekend of our All-You-Can-Jet, we were supposed to be in Bermuda. But then there was this little thing called a hurricane. Oh, Igor, you really messed up our weekend plans. We had to cancel last minute and then rebook a trip immediately. (The pass requires at least three days in advance for all bookings.) We couldn’t book a flight for that Friday night so we decided to fly out Saturday morning at 7 a.m. Taro and I settled on Napa Valley – not quite Bermuda, but you also cannot beat Wine Country – and we headed off to adventure #2.
Even though we were thinking of a tropical island and sipping drinks along the beach, we salvaged the weekend with almost two days in Northern California. After spending what seemed like hours waiting for our car rental, we headed off and stopped first in St. Helena. We grabbed lunch at Giugni’s Deli, which has AMAZING sandwiches. The bread is soft and chewy, piles of meat and condiments are stacked, and they have their own secret Italian dressing that they add on to all their sandwiches. It was a great, light meal before we headed off for our wine adventure.
The first stop was Opus One, which we visited before approximately a year ago. I have to admit, at the time, I didn’t quite have an understanding of wine. I liked red wine, but couldn’t distinguish between the nuances and subtleties of different reds. I still can’t tell when there is a hint of raspberry or blackberry, but I am definitely much more open and can even drink drier reds. So, Opus One was good the first time, but this time, it was very good. I understood the difference in quality and it is quite evident that a year later, my palate has changed dramatically! After Opus One, we visited the Mondavi Winery, which was quite an experience. Taro and I signed up for the tour. The best part was definitely walking through the vineyard and picking off the grapes to try. Since it is almost harvest season, the grapes are ripe. It’s amazing when you have rows and rows of grapes, you can learn the differences in taste amongst them. I told Taro that our tour guide was in trouble because she didn’t know that I love eating grapes so Taro and I were just helping ourselves. After Mondavi, we actually visited one more before heading off to dinner. You really cannot compare to Napa. I love Solvang and Santa Ynez, but Napa is just…wonderful.
Saturday night’s dinner was at Press. Taro’s former coworker recommended it and it was a nice, casual dinner. It was more on the low-key side, which was nice. The most outstanding dish we had was actually the tomato salad. Taro and I absolutely love tomatoes and there were a variety on the plate along with cheese. Overall, it was a nice dinner although, if we had reservations for French Laundry, I would have gone in a heartbeat. Sigh…maybe next time.
Sunday morning started out on a fantastic note. Why? We had reservations at Ad Hoc. If you know me, I am in love with Thomas Keller. I absolutely loved Ad Hoc when we went there the first time. I loved Bouchon in Vegas and loved it in Los Angeles. I am still waiting to cross French Laundry off my list, but I was more than happy to dine at Ad Hoc. I was extremely giddy walking into the restaurant and could not wait to see what was on the menu. All I can say is it was nothing short of amazing: Salad of Living Butter Lettuce and Duck Confit and Waffles. It was Keller’s spin on chicken and waffles and wow. I don’t even know how to express how delicious it was. I devoured the entire thing, forgetting that dessert was still to come. And that, too, was amazing.
Foodie heaven. That’s all I can say.
After spending our time at Ad Hoc, Taro and I decided to do something crazy. We drove to Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero. Roundtrip it was a three hour ride, but we wanted to get olallieberry pie. Over a year ago, we heard a radio segment on KCRW about Duarte’s Tavern and we stopped by there on a road trip up to San Francisco. Back then, we shared a slice of pie a la mode and our only regret was that we didn’t each get our own slice. Since we had the time, we headed to Pescadero on the intent on not only having a slice of pie there, but bringing two pies back – as in back to LA. I know it sounds insane, but the pie is that good. Taro was a good sport in driving – especially since I fell asleep on the way there because of my Duck Confit and Waffles food coma – and it was quite an adventure, especially when we were heading back to San Francisco. I was wide awake on the trip back and we stopped by some of the beaches (if you can even call them that). However, the highlight was when I read all the random signs on the road. What caught my attention was the sign advertising a pumpkin patch and straw maze. Straw maze?!? I have never seen one before! I had to go and when we approached it, it was this unbelievable sight. Stacks and stacks of hay in order to compose an intricate maze! Part of me was a bit scared to go in – afterall, isn’t this always a trap in horror movies? – but it looked like so much fun. Taro and I had a blast – running around corners and bends and accidentally scaring a young boy, going through hidden doors and making circles, and then finally getting out! It was definitely a great stop and we were glad to discover Arata’s Pumpkin Farm.
Trip #2 was just pure fun. Yes, there was a delay in our flight, but you cannot beat a weekend of wine, good food, pie, and a straw maze. Hopefully next time, I will be at French Laundry - keeping my fingers crossed and extremely hopeful!
Crazy. Fun. Very straightforward, even when you don’t want her to be. Honest. Loving. A hug whenever you need one. The person who can drive me crazy, but someone I can rely on. These are all the ways you can describe my mom. She knows that she can drive me crazy, but I know I can do the same to her. And maybe that is why we get along so well, yet can easily drive each other mad. I am a mirror image at times and really, that isn’t so bad. Without my mom, who else would I call and tell a stupid, random story to? Who could I openly complain and whine to? She is my rock, the person who calls me simply for no reason, and the one who has raised me to become the person I am today.
So for this Mother’s Day, I wanted to treat her to something extra special. I wanted to share my love of food with her so I had to take her to Bouchon. I made reservations weeks in advance and was absolutely giddy that I was able to get us a table with little to no trouble. I was anticipating the day and when Sunday came along, I was ready for my palate to be surprised and overwhelmed with aromas and flavors. Did Bouchon disappoint? Of course not! With six of us there, we each ordered a different entree and shared pieces with each other. It was a treat to pass along a fork and sigh and smile to the wonders of Thomas Keller. Oh, Thomas Keller, I love you and your splendid pastries and dishes.
Dinner was absolutely amazing – even my dad said he would go back to Bouchon and he is a difficult man to please – and I was happy that my mom enjoyed the night out. It was fun to share in a dining experience with my parents and be surrounded by family. Afterall, what makes a meal even better is the company you keep. Happy Mother’s Day again, mom, and who knows where we will end up next year!
I started off with the Soup du Jour, which was fennel, while Vivian and my mom ordered Soupe a l’Oignon – French Onion Soup. The French Onion Soup was very rich; between the two, I would have to say the fennel was a bit more outstanding – rich in flavor as well, but lighter.
Taro, Vivian, my brother, and I absolutely love oysters. Vivian and my brother can easily eat a dozen each easily so we had to order some for dinner. We settled on 1 1/2 dozen. We had four different types and even though I cannot remember them off the top of my head, they were all fantastic.
My mom ordered the Thon Grillé à la Niçoise – grilled big eye tuna with pole beans, fingerling potatoes, arugula, hard boiled egg & radish (left). She really enjoyed the tuna, although I thought there were far stronger dishes that night on our table. The dish that my dad ordered, Gigot d’Agneau – roasted leg of lamb with herb scented panisse, artichokes à la barigoule & lamb jus – was actually very good (right).
My brother ordered the Steak Frites – pan-seared prime flatiron served with maître d’hôtel butter & French fries. The steak was perfectly medium-rare and the maître d’hôtel butter was definitely something different!
Vivian ordered the Magret de Canard – herb roasted duck breast with fennel bulb, citrus confit, red radish, mizuna & duck jus. When the waiter said that the duck breast would be moist with a crispy skin, he was not kidding! It was juicy and tender and one of the memorable dishes of the night. I have to say that the duck was the dish that stood out amongst the rest. However, everything was good! Bouchon never ceases to amaze me.
I ordered one of the specials for the night, which was an 11 ounce veal. I loved the presentation of it; my dish came in an All Clad cookware! If you know me well, you know my obsession with cooking utensils, cookware, my love of William Sonoma…I savored the truffles with each bite of the veal and loved having the corn mix in with the flavor of the veal.
Taro recently has been obsessed with chicken so naturally, he steered towards the chicken dish, Poulet Rôti – roasted chicken with riz rouge, Michigan sour cherries, wilted spinach & chicken jus (left). Similar to the duck, the chicken was so tender! It nearly fell off the fork and what Taro enjoyed most about the dish was the complementing flavor of the sour cherries. Of course, we could not end the night with entrees alone. We had to get dessert because the last time we were in Napa, I thoroughly enjoyed the pastries we bought from the bakery. We ordered some ice cream, chocolate and orange, (right) to go with the Chocolate Bouchons. I really enjoyed the orange ice cream and am considering picking the oranges off our tree so Taro could experiment with our own ice cream machine!
Chocolate Bouchons, which were simply delightful.
Our waiter was awesome. He told us that since we waited a while for our entrees to come out – seriously, I did not even notice a long gap between our soup and oysters to our entrees – he brought out three additional desserts! I was so surpised because really, we were too busy talking and enjoying the bread to notice an excessive amount of time passing. Regardless, the additional desserts were amazing. We really were in dessert heaven. Everyone really enjoyed the Crème Caramel (left) and I thought the other custard (right) was pretty delicious, too.
The last dessert was a Mousse au Chocolat Noir, which my dad devoured. He loves chocolate so he was happy to finish it off.
It was another great experience at Bouchon and I cannot wait to come back. The service was impeccable, the food was flawless, and I am just simply in love with all things Thomas Keller right now. Sigh…
As you can tell from my blog, I am fascinated with food. I always want to try new places, discover local favorites, and try different ethnic cuisines. I am a foodie at heart. So when I opened up an email from Williams Sonoma ( I love their stuff, by the way.) and they announced a book signing, I had to go. Why? Because it was Thomas Keller. Yes. The Thomas Keller in Pasadena. All I could think about was how this man alone makes me want to go back to Ad Hoc for waffles. Whenever I have waffles, I always compare it to the sourdough ones from Keller’s restaurant and I have yet to find one that matches the deliciousness of Ad Hoc waffles. On top of that, the pastries from Bouchon are amazing! Their food, also, does not fall short of expectations. Because of my positive experiences at both restaurants, and my desire to go to French Laundry, I had to meet this legendary man.
Taro thought I was slightly crazy for wanting to get a book signed by Keller, but he knows how much I enjoy watching Top Chef and cooking. He told me to go 30 minutes early and I actually thought that would be plenty of time. I didn’t expect a line to be around the corner! There were all sorts of people waiting – from aspiring chefs from Cordon Bleu to people who didn’t even know Thomas Keller’s name! Regardless I waited in line and after an hour and a half, I was in front of Thomas Keller.
What do I say? How do I act? Should I be nonchalant about it or do I rave about the food? I ended up telling him it was an honor meeting him and I truly enjoyed my experience at Ad Hoc – and slipped in the fact that I thought the sourdough waffles were amazing. That perked his ears and since I was also getting a copy of the French Laundry cookbook signed, he asked if I ever went there. I sadly said no, but told him I wanted to go this year. After a small chat, he took a picture with me and I walked away happily with two signed cookbooks.
I feel like such a nerd getting cookbooks signed, but I loved Ad Hoc and Bouchon. Plus when are you ever going to meet the chef? They are usually not at the restaurant and actually cooking so this is the next best thing. Maybe I will meet him again someday, but for now, I’m satisfied with that brief, giddy conversation I had with the man himself, Thomas Keller.
I was ecstatic that there was someone who was taking pictures at Williams Sonoma:
My signed copies of Ad Hoc and French Laundry:
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