Weekend in SF / Napa

[hhlodesign]

This past weekend I took a trip to SF and Napa Valley with fellow eGer Ling. We had a fabulous time cramming as much into 2.5 days as we possibly could! We even fit in some touristy things.

This post will serve as an index. I'll add links to individual posts of specific places as I finish them. I'm sure Ling will be chiming in as well.

Friday:

Sharffen Berger Factory Tour

Berkley's Gourmet Ghetto

Chez Panisse Cafe

Saturday:

Tartine Bakery

The Slanted Door

Ferry Plaza Market

Michael Mina

The Carnelian Room

Sunday:

Bouchon Bakery

Cakebread Cellars

Bistro Don Giovanni

Darioush Winery

The French Laundry

We tried to get to Bouchon for a midnight snack (we stayed right across the street at the Villagio), but just couldn't force any more food down!

Monday:

Bouchon Bakery (which we ate on the ride to the airport.)

Edited April 12, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[hhlodesign]

Sharffen Berger Factory

As much of a chocolate fiend as Ling is, she had no idea that the Sharffen Berger factory was just a few miles from where we werer planning on having dinner on Friday night in Berkely. It was a nice surprise for her.

Our plane hit the ground at SFO at 2:15pm Friday afternoon. We had to get our luggage, rent a car, and cross the Bay Bridge to be at SB before our scheduled tour time of 4:30pm. We stepped into the front door at 4:29pm!

The smell of chocolate was overwhelming! The reception area was filled with all kinds of chocolate, books, and souvenirs for sale. But we had to time to shop as the tour was just starting. They led us through the offices to the back of the building were they had a small classroom like setting set up. It was here that they explained the entire process of cultivating, processing, roasting, and making, chocolate. They gave us samples the whole time. I was really quite educational for me. Espescially the differences between the different percentages of cacao and how they affect the tastes. I think I lliked the 62% the best.

I'm sure Ling will have plenty more to add to this, as she knew everything the tour guide was telling us already.

She bought me these as a Thank You:

Edited April 11, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[Ling]

Ahhh....you're making me sound like a know-it-all!

The chocolate tour was indeed a wonderful surprise! I found some chocolate bars, including a 68% and a 70% bar that is not available in Vancouver. I also got some chocolate-covered champagne grapes and a SB apron!

The tour started in a classroom-type setting and the tour guide went over the chocolate production process from bean to bar. She showed us pictures of the pods, the fermentation process, the various machines used in the factory, and then we put on our hairnets and eyemuffs and walked through the actual place where they were making the chocolate.

There was more chocolate sampling at the end of the tour, including the milk chocolate hazelnut bar which I also haven't seen in Vancouver.

[hhlodesign]

Berkley's Gourmet Ghetto

The area that Chez Panisse is located in has becaome known as the Gourmet Ghetto. We had a few hours to kill before our dinner rez at Chez Panisse Cafe so we decided to walk around and try not to ruin our dinner.

We started at the Cheese Board.

They just closed before we showed up, which is probabley a good thing because we would have gone crazy munching on samples. We could only just look through the front window

We then wandered into a small building with a few different shops in it. One of which was a Gourmet Chocolatier.

We sampled a ginger flavored chocolate which was divine!

I wanted to try some caviar, but forced myself to wait for dinner.

We ended up at a small wine shop / restaurant called Taste. They have numerous wines in these dispensers that keep them fresh. They dispence one ounce pours at various prices.

I love this concept, as we were able to try some very nice wines which we otherwise could not have afforded. Here are some expamples of what they sell one ounce pours of (sorry about the shaking hands, I didn't want ot use a flash):

We tried the Opus One

and this one (forgot to write down the name)

they also serve food. We didn't want to ruin dinner at CP, but it looked and smelled wonderful. we watched them prepare a seared foie gras dish with a side of shoestring fries:

Edited April 11, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[molto e]

I thought Taste looked interesting as well.

[Ling]

We then wandered into a small building with a few different shops in it. One of which was a Gourmet Chocolatier.

We tried a sampled of ginger flavored chocolate which was divine!

←

We had the ginger-wasabi chocolate, but the one I liked better was the gorgonzola chocolate! (Sounds weird, but it really was good.)

I love the concept of "Taste". The blurry shot of the wine is the Chateau Cheval Blanc Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru--I think it might have been 1999, but I'm not sure. That was my choice at "Taste". I liked it more than the Opus One.

[hhlodesign]

Chez Panisse Cafe

Dinner at Chez Panisse Cafe was one of the highlights of the trip! We couldn't get in downstairs, which may have been a blessing in disguise, as many local ffriends ahve told me that they would rather eat at the Cafe anyway.

We started with two salads. A puntarella with eggs (ling will have to help with my descriptions as I didn't take notes.)

And the famous warm goat cheese salad.

This was prabaely the best salad I've ever had! I'm not a salad kind of guy, so you can take my opinion here with a grain of salt (pun intended ) I felt the goat cheese was just the right texture and tempurature. Warm, but not hot; crispy and light without being oily. The greens were fresh and just lightly dressed, so the flavor that really came through was the goat cheese. Mmmmmm!!!!!!

The server helped us select a half bottle of Schauss Winery 1999 Zin from the Alexander Valley. We wanted something which would work with our salads, but still stand up to the upcoming entrees.

The choice was perfect!

We split a pizza next:

Sausage, swiss chard, and just cheese, no tomato sauce. The crust was perfectly baked. Just this side of "burnt" to be appropriately crispy. And super thin. Just the way I like it!

Next came the bison tenderlion with onion rings. The best onion rings either of us had ever had!!!

They were crispy and flaky, but not greasy at all. The ones at the bottom soaking up the bison juices even stayed crispy. Those were the best!!!

The bison tenderlion was good, but not very interseting. At any other restaurant I would have loved it. But I was expecting more at CP. It was the kind of thing I could have made at home. Just a good cut of meat cooked perfectly. Hard too complain about, but I did anyway.

I can't remember if we ate much of the veg.

Desserts:

Meyer Lemon Ice cream with biscotti and caramel sauce and a dash of whipped cream. Loved the ice cream and biscotti. LIng pointed out how original it was to make ice cream with meyer lemons, as opposed to sorbet like everyone else. Biscotti with bakedperfectly (both times )

Cream puffs with Valrhona chocolate sauce with pralines. I'll let ling talk about this one.

[Ling]

We didn't take any notes about the food on our trip, so we're trying our best to remember each dish.

First salad was puntarella, egg (yolk done to medium, as you can see in the picture) and anchovy. We also got a side of anchovies, which were great.

I loved the warm goat cheese salad, and I never usually even like salad! But the greens were so fresh and flavourful, and the oil in the dressing was such a good quality. There were these little crunchy grains of salt dispersed throughout the salad, and the goat cheese was pan-fried in a lot of butter. Delicious.

The sausage pizza was really great as well. At this point on our trip, it was the best pizza I had eaten in my life. The crust was so thin and crisp the entire way through--no sogging in the middle. Just excellent, simple ingredients prepared with great skill.

The onion rings, as hhlodesign, were the highlight of the buffalo dish. Not that the meat wasn't great (it was) but it was too cooked for me (came medium-rare, and I like my steaks done rare, especially when it's as lean as buffalo.)

The Meyer lemon ice-cream was great, but there was a lot of rind. Still, I enjoyed it very much.

The profiteroles were baked all the way through (i.e. dry in the center) and I prefer them slightly underbaked (i.e. still a tiny bit moist in the middle) when I make them at home. They were filled with vanilla pastry cream and the praline provided crunch.

Great meal, faultless service. 9/10. Loved the wine too!

[Carolyn Tillie]

and this one (forgot to write down the name)

←

That would be Cheval Blanc, the wine made infamous by the Sideways film...

[Ling]

The next morning, we got up bright and early to make our way to Tartine Bakery. I was so excited for my first morning bun!

[Ling]

There's no visible sign from the street, but we saw the line...

...and guessed this must be the place!

It was bustling in there.

The little girl in front of me was having a hard time choosing...

Her dad helped her out.

Pastry case:

Some savoury items, including a delicious-looking quiche.

I had to make my choices. It was very nerve-wracking and difficult, but I came away with--

My breakfast pastry of choice--the twice-baked almond croissant. The filling is incredibly generous, buttery and flecked with sliced almonds. This pastry is HUGE, but I had no trouble finishing it. The croissant was very flaky, and a cut above anything I've found in Vancouver. This was my favourite of the morning pastries.

Their famed morning bun--kind of like a cinnamon bun, but with some citrus flavouring. I liked how the citrus brightened up the rich dough and syrup.

Here's hhlodesign's breakfast, the ham and cheese croissant! Again, the croissant was great. Very buttery and flaky. The ham is from Niman Ranch and I love how they warmed the cheese with the croissant so it's soft and gooey. Delicious.

Here's my post-breakfast dessert--the banana cream tart. The crust was thick and browned all the way through. It had been brushed with Scharffen Berger chocolate before the sliced bananas, banana cream, and whipped cream were piled on.

Before the gluttony...

And mid-way through...he kept bugging me to save room since we had lunch reservations in less than an hour. I'll also admit to being horrible company at breakfast--I was shovelling it all in for a good 15 minutes straight, without speaking. I ignored the laughter coming from his general direction.

I gotta add too that these pastries are pretty big--at least 1.5x the size of the ones I buy in Vancouver. Not that I'm complaining.

Great breakfast! 8.5/10. I was pretty full...but we soldiered on to The Slanted Door.

Edited April 12, 2006 by Ling (log)

[hhlodesign]

Great meal, faultless service. 9/10. Loved the wine too!

←

Agree wholeheartedly!

I should point out our one bad experience at Chez Panisse Cafe. When the couple sitting next to us got up to leave (we were on our salad courses), the woman accidentally knocked over a glass of water which spilled all over our table, splashed onto our salad, and was dripping onto Ling. She mumbles "excuse me" and continues walking away ! We were both shocked that they didn't even bother to apologize or help clean up their mess. Even the table sitting on the other side of us gave us their napkins and called the server over right away. They saw the whole thing and said they had never seen anything so appallingly rude! The CP staff cleaned everything up and even offered to replace our half eaten salad. Luckily it wasn't the goat cheese one, just the puntarella one. World class service!

Edited April 11, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[Ling]

That would be Cheval Blanc, the wine made infamous by the Sideways film...

←

Yes, it is! That's why I had to try it!

[hhlodesign]

Before the gluttony...

And mid-way through...he kept bugging me to save room since we had lunch reservations in less than an hour.  I'll also admit to being horrible company at breakfast--I was shovelling it all in for a good 15 minutes straight, without speaking. I ignored the laughter coming from his general direction. 

←

I should point out that the "mid-way" through photo was actually supposed to be the "finished" photo. She just kept eating !

Edited April 11, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[ulterior epicure]

I thought Taste looked interesting as well.

←

Knowing little about wines, I couldn't help but notice the Millaire Ghiradelli wine listed... anything to do with the "chocolate people?"

u.e.

[Ling]

I should point out that the "mid-way" through photo was actually supposed to be the "finished" photo. She just kept eating  !

←

In my defense, I never like seeing food go to waste. Especially food of the very good/excellent pastry variety.

[brucebowe]

Our last trip to the Carnelian Room as a huge disappointment. Before, we had only gone to one of their private rooms that overlook the GG bridge. This time we were in the main room and it really seemed like an over-priced, pretentious, tourist-trap. Not nearly to the standards of the usual tourist places on the wharf.

When all was said and done, I dropped them an email with our remarks. No answer, which wasn't surprising.

I don't think we saw any other locals there.. (Actually, we're from the wine country, so we're not quite local...)

[Ling]

So lunch (less than an hour after Tartine) was at The Slanted Door, located in the Ferry Market. This was hhlodesign's choice for lunch, since I had chosen Tartine for breakfast.

hhlodesign's view was beautiful. (Mine was decidedly less so, since I was facing him. )

The Imperial spring rolls photographed beautifully. The kitchen did an excellent frying job on these, but we both felt that the flavour of the filling and the sauce was dumbed down. The spring rolls were even blander when you fold them up with the lettuce leaves and add the undressed noodles to your bite. This dish was fine, but not something I would order again.

We shared the ginger duck soup. The soup was very light and clear (something we didn't expect--a pleasant surprise!) It came with this spicy sauce that you could add to the soup base or use as a condiment for the duck. We thought the soup was very flavourful but agreed that the noodles were kind of on the mushy side...

Then came the Niman Ranch flank steak and noodles. This dish was also pretty good--the flank steak had much more fat than I expected for flank...a very good thing. Some bitter greens provided a nice foil to the rich meat.

Service was pretty informal. Mr. Architect commented that the decor and layout of the room reminded him of a cafeteria, and I agree with that.

Though the food was fine at The Slanted Door, there's so many better restaurants in San Fran that we'd probably skip this place if we were to go down again. The food in the Market looked much better. 6.5/10.

Edited April 12, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

Our last trip to the Carnelian Room as a huge disappointment.   Before, we had only gone to one of their private rooms that overlook the GG bridge.  This time we were in the main room and it really seemed like an over-priced, pretentious, tourist-trap.   Not nearly to the standards of the usual tourist places on the wharf. 

←

He surprised me with the trip more for the view than the food (we just had some drinks and split a creme brulee, leaving most of it untouched as it was just OK and we were pretty full from Michael Mina.)

The view was beautiful! (I'll skip ahead and post the Carnelian Room pictures here.)

View from the 52nd floor

half -eaten orange tea creme brulee, biscotti, lace cookie

I drank a lemon drop cocktail and he had something with vanilla Stoli and ginger ale (it was as appetizing as it sounds...bad choice on his part...heh heh.)

Edited April 11, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

Here are some pics from the market.

We didn't get to eat here, but they had stuff like sweetbreads, lamb cassoleut, and other goodies on the menu. It smelled so good from outside, and it was packed. I kind of wish we ate lunch here instead.

We had to skip this too...although I saw someone with a burger and it looked pretty good.

We passed by this place that sold tasting plates of flavoured caviar (whitefish roe). That night, I recognized the wasabi caviar on one of my dishes at Michael Mina.

Yeah, I was already pretty stuffed at this point. But how could I walk by Acme bread without getting some sourdough? (It was great--the best bread I ate on the trip.)

Cowgirl Creamery is located right next door to Acme. We were so impressed with the selection. I love Neil's Yard Dairy so we had to get a picture of this.

Some kind of beef "nigiri" that we found in a Japanese fusion deli. (Sacrilege!!!!) But it was pretty anyway.

I heart mushrooms.

Monster chantrelle! $19.00US a pound.

I was so excited to find Recchiutti Confections!

He told me to stick my hand in there so you can tell how big that chocolate egg is...

Display cases

He bought me a bunch of chocolates and we ate them outside on the bench. I picked all the 70% chocolate truffles (Ecaudor, Columbia, Noir Force, and some others I'm not recalling...) the fleur de sel one, and the star anise and pink peppercorn. We both really liked the fleur de sel (it is salted caramel inside) and didn't care for the star anise one too much. Of the plain truffles, I liked the Noir Force. I felt there was so much flavouring in the other truffles, and they were pretty sweet for 70% truffles.

We didn't take any pics of the Farmer's Market outside, but there were lots of good things to eat, including freshly-churned butter!

Edited April 11, 2006 by Ling (log)

[rancho_gordo]

We didn't take any pics of the Farmer's Market outside, but there were lots of good things to eat, including freshly-churned butter!

←

You must come say hi to me a the Rancho Gordo booth and Chardgirl at Mariquita Farms when you visit. It's a tradition!

Edited April 11, 2006 by rancho_gordo (log)

[Ling]

^I didn't know you two had booths down there! Maybe I'll be lucky enough to come down again in a few months. There are so many great places to eat down there I still haven't tried!

I've gotta get to work now so I'll let hhlodesign take over with the pictures.

[hhlodesign]

I've gotta get to work now so I'll let hhlodesign take over with the pictures. 

←

As if i don't work!

More to come tonight!

[docsconz]

It's funny to feel so nostalgic so soon. Your trip echoed a lot of what Molto and I did only we did it over a little bit longer period I am impressed by your gastric handling capabilities! We will have our own reports on The Slanted Door (similar response), Chez Panisse Cafe and Taylor's Automatic Refresher soon. I thought the mushroom shop was amazing!

I am very much enjoying your report and comparing notes.

[annachan]

Thanks for all the great pics and info. Neither the Slanted Door or the Carnelian Room are on my "good" list. IMHO, the food is average, prices high and very much of a tourist trap for me.

I'll be in Oakland tomorrow so I may stop by at the Epicurious Garden and check out Taste. The frites looks great!