SiseFromm

The Boudin Blanc was a chalkboard special. My wife didn't understand why I would order that over the multitude of bistro classics on the main menu. I passed over Steak Frites, Moules Frites, Gnocchi, Trout with Almonds, Rilletes . . . all the biggies. Then she realized the genius. Silky, heavenly potatoes pureed with cream and emulsified with cold butter. Tender white sausage made from pork and veal, cooked to perfection in I believe a court bouillon of some sort. Nothing could have set off those two ingredients like the prunes though. I've never, ever had a prune like this. I don't know where they came from or what their preparation was, but the sweet chew of those little gems in conjunction with the sausage, potatoes, and brown butter was absolutely divine. On our second trip there, Holly, my wife, ordered it immediately as it was still on the board. From Paul Franson: "Cucina la Carte, the deli behind Vintage 1870 in Yountville, has closed. It's rumored that Thomas Keller from the French Laundry may take over the space for a retail operation, possibly a French-style butcher shop." ← We were eating at Redd and happened to sit next to the manager at French Laundry as well as one of the cooks (and gardner). They were the ones I believe that mentioned the French Laundry butcher. I might be wrong about that though. We talked to soooo many people when we were up there. Yountville is truly a gem. It's one of the greatest foodie/restaurant spots I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. If I could, I would go there every year for a week at least.

We ended up eating at Bouchon three times during our stay in Yountville. Five I suppose if you count our two trips to the bakery for heavenly macaroons, doughnuts, eclairs, and jellies. Bouchon was beyond good. I died when we received the cod brandade fritters with oven-dried tomatoes. Salty, smoky, cruchy, creamy. They were perfect. I thought the boudin blanc with pureed potatoes and french prunes was about as close to a perfect dish as anybody might ever get. Damn it was good. Did anybody hear about the French Laundry Inn being planned? How about the new French Laundry Butcher also opening in Yountville?

I'll agree the dining room was somewhat sparse, which is why we opted to eat in the bar. I've also heard other people mention that for a wine country restaurant, it has a distinctly urban feel. To me, that isn't bad. The Valley is mostly rustic/contemporary French so it's nice to see a restaurant that feels more like San Francisco than Yountville. We were at Villagio Inn & Spa so we would just walk across the street. The convenience of that can't be beat.

Shaun (ChuckYouFarley) sent me his photos from New Year's Eve. Some look amazing, others didn't work so well. I think the problem was all the wine pairings, which were spot on by Providence's wine guy. Best buy? The 2003 Montebuena Rioja we found for under $7 a bottle. Anyway, here you go: lemon jelee, truffe noire, creme leger: nantucket bay scallops, american caviar, apples3: foie gras confit, spiced pumpkin, pedro ximenez sherry, pumpkin seed oil: maine lobster, parsnip-pear puree: rouget de roche, eggplant, red wine vinegar, crispy chorizo: quinault river steelhead, red beets, salsify, tender dandelion greens: turbot, crispy confit pork belly, lentils, truffled jus de poulet: market cheeses: We didn't get any photos of the blood orange sorbet (which was amazing), the chocolate truffle tart with candied kumquats and vanilla bean ice cream, nor of the petits fours. All in all? Cirimusti is at the top of his game. The food was perfect all the way around. I thought the staff uniforms needed some work, but Vincenzo, the best bartender on the planet, made up for it in strides with his cucumber water martini, his mint/yuzuu/tangerine cocktail, and whatever that heavenly pink thing was with the strong honey finish.

We loved our experiences at Redd. The Braised Pork Belly with Salsify Puree, Burdock, and Soy Caramel is worth the trip. The wine list needs some time to be fleshed out, but all in all we had great meals there (three times in one week since we were staying in Yountville). We ate at the bar all three times which I thought was nicer and warmer than the dining room.

Providence ROCKED New Year's Eve. Best bartender ever. Cirimusti is gentlemen. More to come with full review and photos. I want the bartender to move into my house permanently.

We eat at Native Foods in Costa Mesa all the time. Tanya is doing great things with animal-free products! When cooking for vegans, I've made a lovely roast of seasonal vegetables (For now, cipollini onions, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and winter sqaush come to mind) then finish with a sauce by deglazing with white wine and lemon juice, then whisking in vegan sour cream off the heat (check your local health food store) and fresh herbs. Served over polenta cooked in vegetable stock is the way to go. I also make a sauteed vegetable "mousse" that I pipe into canolli and cook with Mario Batali's ubiquitous "Basic Tomato Sauce" recipe. For a warm pasta/tuck-in kind of meal, that's tough to beat as well. Our neighbors are peace activists and strong vegans and they love coming over for dinners.

Blood orange sorbet, huh? I haven't seen any at the market yet this year. I missed the last couple of weeks though. We'll see on Saturday. I've been waiting for them to hit since they're the star in several winter cocktails I make from January through March. Here's to hoping.

We were in Los Angeles for a few days over Christmas (just got back today) and Providence is the buzz word of 2005. Every chef/foodie I spoke with while we were up there eating at Dakota and Lucques went on and on about Ciramusti. I feel like this is the perfect moment to hit the restaurant, ala Keller in the latter nineties or Splichal when he just had Patina, ironically in the same spot on Melrose.

When life gives you tangerines, you make Sauteed Foie Gras with Tangerine Szechuan Pepper Gastrique:

It has already been mentioned twice here in this thread, but pan-roasting is a great technique for sweetbreads and one not used very often. Frying them lightly to a crispy state seems to be more of the norm. Some years ago Daniel Boulud appeared on Julia Child's PBS show. He roasted veal chops and whole sweetbreads with trimmed vegetables, veal stock, and herbs. It was a beautiful family style meal, if your family's last name is Boulud I suppose. I pilfered this technique and recipe and everybody raved about it. The sweetbreads had a lovely texture and the sauce, a reduction of veal stock with butter, was enough to make everybody swoon. This video clip may still be floating around out there. In fact, try Julia's "Lessons with Master Chefs" video series and search for the segment. I think it's cut into two parts due to the length of the segment.

Your meal and experience sound amazing. We're headed up there ourselves with lunch reservations at Bouchon on Tuesday and Thursday of the week begginning 12/05/2005. I hope we're in for meals as good as yours.

It was pretty damn good. The 2000's are a thing of beauty. Could it have waited a few more years? Definitely, but it would have been no use trying to convince me of that on Saturday night.

As a satisfied participant of the dinner, I can only comment that my teeth were purple at the end of the evening. Big fat reds were sort of the wine of the evening, and I thought they worked perfectly with such obvious pairings as a shepard's pie with sticky veal reduction. We definitely rang in the new season with about as heavy a meal as I'll probably eat all year. That is, at least until my week in Yountville at the beginning of December. The pork belly was out of sight and the French onion soup was the best I've had anywhere, period. I guess sweating onions for 8 hours pays off, a point to which I cheered as we raised our glasses. Good times. P.S., the gougeres were probably the highlight of the evening. I think I shoved about twenty of them into my gullet.

Hey all. It was a 2000 Chateau La Couspade Margeaux. A magnum to be exact, which we polished off in spades. What a night. It's your typical braise, topped with pureed root vegetables. Basically, sear off the duck legs and thighs, set aside, saute the aromatics, deglaze with wine, reduce by half, add the duck, cover with veal stock, cook for several hours. I removed the duck to cool so I could shred the meat from the bone, removed the spent vegetables and herbs, and covered the pulled duck meat with the strained stock/wine. The next day I defatted, reheated, strained again. Then again. Then again. Finally, I sauteed a dice of carrots, folded into the duck, reduced the sauce, filled the gratin dishes, then covered with potatoes and celeriac I pureed with cream and butter. Voila.

I reached Preston and scheduled dinner for two at 8:00pm on Wednesday. I told him about my penchant for organ meats so hopefully hearts and sweetbreads will make an appearance on our menu. I can't wait! This is shaping up to be a great trip.

Initially we were going to be staying in Healdsburg but decided it was a completely different trip than Yountville. We opted to go with the more familiar. I checked the map and it's a definite trek from where we're staying. I think I'm going to stick with the plan to relax and to choose casual eateries and tucked away wineries.

For all of my insistence on simple, casual dining for our wine trip in December, a friend recommended Cyrus in Healdsburg. Has anybody been there?

those are all great choices, cant go wrong in wine country, if you get over to sonoma come and see us, we would love to cook and pour for you, preston dishman generals daughter 707-938-4004 ← Preston - I tried calling a bit ago but was unable to reach you. I will call again, or you can email directly at rjcoulston@comcast.net. I also made reservations for Martini House for Monday evening (12/05).

Have you actually eaten at Cindy's yet? It seems very Suzanne Goin'ish to me, which is right up my alley. Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Braised Meats and Charred Tomato Sauce? Sounds perfect! Spanish and cool and casual and delicious.

I'm a fan of his to be sure. Farallon is always a must-stop-in restaurant for me when I'm in the city. A lunch of head-on shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce and a cold vodka martini at the bar is about as good as life gets. For some reason though, Martini House doesn't do much for me. Holly and I reviewed the site and the menu and it looks awesome of course, but it just didn't click for me. I even watched the documentary of the opening of the restaruant a few years back. Then again I may have to give it a go if two people hastily recommended it. You are right though that it fits the description of what I'm looking for this trip. I just don't have the energy or focus this trip to do the whole French Laundry thing. My work is too stressful right now so I don't want to think that hard about my food. I want it to wash over me, along with good bottles of ripe fruit wines California is so famous for.

I LOVE Chateau Potelle. That spot is one of my favorites and I regularly buy their VGS bottles. Cool people, and a French-style wine production. Great recommendation.

Bouchon of course, twice actually (both reservations are for lunch). We're also going to check out Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. Other than that, we'll play it by ear. I have no desire this trip to commit myself to multi-coursed, multi-hour meals with white tablecloths and foam and gelees, and torchons and what not. Just bistro food, casual environments, and lots and lots of good wine.

With so much to choose from now (thanks everybody), I think our dance card is going to be full all week. I'll check out Biale tonight when I get home. My experience is that one smaller winery leads to another. Once you start talking and they realize you're not a total nut job, I usually get good referrals so I'll be knee deep in wine by the end of the week. I can't think of a better vacation! I'll report back when I'm home, but that won't be until mid-December since I'm traveling for business the following week.

I scheduled an appointment to meet with Lamborn on Thursday, December 8th at 4:00pm. I'm excited to talk with them about their wines and to try their Zinfandel. When we spoke by phone, Mike Lamborn was extremely professional and gracious so I'm hoping for a good visit. I'm particularly interested in talking with him about vine management. He mentioned the vineyard is tough to find and tucked back into the woods, which intrigues me all the more. I'm betting we'll take a small supper with us to enjoy either before or after our tasting. Thanks for the recommendation!