Frog Princesse in Santa Rosa, Napa Valley, Point Reyes (2018 edition)

[FrogPrincesse]

Good afternoon everyone!

 

A few days ago I left San Diego for Santa Rosa, on my way to Napa Valley. It’s my first time here (I’ve been to Sonoma two years ago, but never Napa). I thought I’d document my food adventures here!

[chefmd]

Napa valley is my happy place.  I will follow your adventures with a smile on my face and a glass of wine in my hand.

[FrogPrincesse]

Day 1 - Santa Rosa

 

The flight from SD to Santa Rosa is a short one, less than two hours. Arrival late afternoon, just in time for dinner at bird and the bottle, a place I had discovered two years ago. They have a menu with a lot of items grilled in their wood-fired oven, heavy on seafood options which is perfect for me.

 

 

 

 

Also an interesting cocktail menu, most of them with a drinking vinegar as one of the components.

 

I went with the B&B, their twist on the Martini with St George Botanivore gin, Carpano dry vermouth, dill drinking vinegar, cucumber water, lime, agave syrup. The dill and and gin flavors dominated. The other drink is their take on the Penicillin which they call The Prescription (Monkey Shoulder Scotch, honey shrub, orgeat, lemon).

 

 

No pictures of the food, sadly (we were too busy eating with our hands). My favorites were the grilled pawns (very simple and high quality, the juices from the heads a special treat) and the king crab legs that were served with melted butter mixed with lemon confit and gochujang, really delicious.

Edited July 5, 2018 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Day 2 - Calistoga and St Helena

 

That evening we settled into our rental in Calistoga and had a lazy brunch the next morning at Solbar, the restaurant at the Solage property just outside of town.

 

We did our best to ignore the prices ($11 smoothies!) and were relieved to find that the food was truly delicious. My daughter declared her fruit smoothie the best she ever had. I had a Ramos Gin Fizz that wasn’t photogenic but had the requisite meringue top and tasted wonderful. I ate a light and very well seasoned blue crab and avocado toast with grapefruit, just what I needed after all the food from the night before.

 

Edited July 5, 2018 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I shall enjoy this - been a while since I've been in the area but thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Walking around Calistoga I spotted this really cool modern pottery in a store featuring local artisans called blackbird. I really liked the large platter but it was a bit too big for my suitcase!

 

 

At Copperfield’s Books, this book about wine in the local interests section caught my attention. I know relatively little about wine and it seemed esoteric enough; I was curious so I bought it. From what I can tell so far, it’s a reflexion on modern winemaking techniques and how they can best be used to make wines that still have soul. It’s full of science so I had to have it.

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Still walking around town, we followed a “chocolate” sign to find a railroad car converted into a little jewel of a chocolate shop, Earth & Sky Chocolates. We got an assortment of ganaches. They use Cacao Barry for the chocolate, and the ganaches are rich with wonderful flavors. Green tea & jasmine and the “plain” ganache are my favorites so far.

 

 

Not sure there is a way to embed Flickr videos into eGullet. Here is a link to a video of the full display.

Edited July 4, 2018 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

That evening we went to St Helena. First, to get some provisions at Sunshine Markets. I spent a bit of time there in awe of the cheese selection, with many California creameries very well represented (video). I got an assortment to enjoy later in our bungalow - St George (cow), Pianoforte (cow from Andante creamery, inspired by the St Marcellin), Pepato (sheep from Bellwether Farm), Acappella (goat, Andante’s version of Selles sur Cher), and the tiniest piece of Boont Corners (goat/sheep from Penny Royal Farms, in the Tomme style).

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Dinner was part of the reason for the trip - I wanted to try chef Chris Consentino’s new restaurant in St Helena, Acacia House. I had already followed him from Incanto to Cockscomb and was curious to try this one. And I wasn’t disappointed! The menu is fairly limited but changes often, and there were several good options.

 

 

 

Hamachi crudo hidden under delicate little beads of tempura. The green powder was dehydrated seabean. 

 

 

Seared foie gras served in a litte Dutch baby pancake, like a decadent take on breakfast. This reminded me of the waffle and foie gras dish at Animal in LA, but a million times more refined. It was wonderful.

 

 

Iberico pork schnitzel, the signature dish. Imagine the most tender and also most flavorful pork you’ve ever had, pounded thin and perfectly crisped. 

 

 

Not very photogenic, this was the pasta with octopus and nduja breadcrumbs, and plenty of butter in the sauce. A great pasta dish and the octopus was very tender.

 

 

 

 

I loved my dessert - rhubarb and strawberries, with cream and little meringue pieces, and strawberry ice cream. It was airy and intensely flavorful at the same time.

 

 

[Smithy]

Menus like the Acacia House menu, above, make me realize just what a cooking rut I've fallen into. Even little things like a change-up in my salads would be an improvement! The schnitzel photo is inspiring me to give schnitzel another run, and I have to think that nduja bread crumbs on pasta with butter would be good even without the octopus.

 

As for this comment:

 

8 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Walking around Calistoga I spotted this really cool modern pottery in a store featuring local artisans called blackbird. I really liked the large platter but it was a bit too big for my suitcase!

 

I'll bet they ship. (I love spending other people's money. ) My favorite vase, a huge thing from a shop in Santa Rosa, came home that way.

 

I look forward to seeing more of your trip! I've loved my visits to the area, and it's been a few years.

[Shelby]

11 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

The flight from SD to Santa Rosa is a short one, less than two hours. Arrival late afternoon, just in time for dinner at bird and the bottle, a place I had discovered two years ago. They have a menu with a lot of items grilled in their wood-fired oven, heavy on seafood options which is perfect for me.

 

 

 

 

Also an interesting cocktail menu, most of them with a drinking vinegar as one of the components.

 

I went with the B&B, their twist on the Martini with St George Botanivore gin, Carpano dry vermouth, dill drinking vinegar, cucumber water, lime, agave syrup. The dill and and gin flavors dominated. The other drink is their take on the Penicillin which they call The Prescription (Monkey Shoulder Scotch, honey shrub, orgeat, lemon).

 

 

No pictures of the food, sadly (we were too busy eating with our hands). My favorites were the grilled pawns (very simple and high quality, the juices from the heads a special treat) and the king crab legs that were served with melted butter mixed with lemon confit and gochujang, really delicious.

 

Wooo Hooo!!!  I, too, will travel along with my (cheap, boxed) wine in my hand.

 

I chuckled at the menu "Food Without A Face" .  

[kayb]

Swooning over the schnitzel...

[FrogPrincesse]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

Menus like the Acacia House menu, above, make me realize just what a cooking rut I've fallen into. Even little things like a change-up in my salads would be an improvement! The schnitzel photo is inspiring me to give schnitzel another run, and I have to think that nduja bread crumbs on pasta with butter would be good even without the octopus.

You hit it the nail on the head.  Not only does this restaurant serve delicious food, but there is inspiration to be found in every dish. That’s what makes it special to me.

[FrogPrincesse]

11 hours ago, Shelby said:

 I chuckled at the menu "Food Without A Face" .  

That made me smile too!

[FrogPrincesse]

10 hours ago, kayb said:

Swooning over the schnitzel...

I usually don’t care much for schnitzel but would order this one again in a heartbeat. Apparently the recipe is in his new book and was also published online (the accompaniment is a bit different, at Acacia House it was served with a watercress salad rather than snap peas). Here is the link.

[FrogPrincesse]

Day 3 - Yountville

 

The day started with breakfast at “home” with some of the goodies we had bought at the supermarket in Calistoga (Cal Mart). I was very happy to find that they had Bouchon bread in their selection! A local apricot jam (from We Love Jam) was a great pairing (apricot jam if my favorite, and this variety has a distinctive taste, almost like a hint of spice).

 

 

 

Not so great was this yogurt with sea buckthorn. It looked weird so I had to try it, but it ended up being quite cheesy for a yogurt, and the berries were very astringent. Not my favorite combo! Coffee from Calistoga Roastery.

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Lunch at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. Cute place, French in an almost cliché way, and a menu full of classics.

 

 

 

Local wines well represented

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

It’s taking an awfully long time for my pictures to upload (less than 10 pics in 24 hours...) because I am not in an area with good WiFi. I will resume as soon as I am able to!

 

[FrogPrincesse]

OMG it took 2 days and my Bistro Jeanty pictures have finally uploaded. The last one to upload was the snails picture! 😆 

[FrogPrincesse]

So we started with the Paradigm rosé to accompany the foie gras au torchon (which is prepared with armagnac and served with figs on the side), and escargots with pastis. The torchon was great (not enough brioche with it, but that is typical), the escargots super tender and tasty.

 

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Snails in garlic butter with bread = heaven on earth😍

[FrogPrincesse]

4 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Snails in garlic butter with bread = heaven on earth😍

Absolutely. We made sure to get that little ceramic dish all clean and ate most of the baguette in the process (and asked for a second basket of course, we love our bread!).

[FrogPrincesse]

For my main dish, I decided to go “light” with the pied de cochon pané. It’s a pig’s foot, entirely deboned and reconstituted, covered in fine breadcrumbs and fried. It’s crunchy on the outside, and decadently rich and gelatinous inside. Lettuce salad on the side.

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

My husband ordered the rabbit which was prepared two-ways (pancetta-wrapped loin and braised leg) with a banquette-style sauce full of morels and peas, and served with fresh pappardelle pasta.

 

 

My daughter went for the classic steak frites.

 

 

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

For my main dish, I decided to go “light” with the pied de cochon pané. It’s a pig’s foot, entirely deboned and reconstituted, covered in fine breadcrumbs and fried. It’s crunchy on the outside, and decadently rich and gelatinous inside. Lettuce salad on the side.

 

 

 

Ohhhhhhhhh you are killing me.  I want.