Weekend in SF / Napa

[hhlodesign]

I know I'm going out of order, but I have some time now to post the French Laundry pictures so I'll start with those.  I don't have the menu with me--I think I put them in hhlodesign's bag, so he can tell you more about the ingredients in each dish.

gougeres

salmon cornets

oysters and pearls - sabayon of pearl tapioca with beua soleil oyster and russian sevruga caviar.

oyster with pickled cucumber, sevruga caviar

coddled hen egg with white truffle oil

(Sorry about the blurry pictures...someone with shaky hands were taking them!!) I choose not to use a flash in restuarant so as not to bother other diners!

brioche sticks...pan-fried in more butter. Love the composition of this. These were one of the highlights of the evening for me. Butter on top of butter dipped in butter. mmmmmmm!!!

egg custard with black truffle ragout (this was one of my favourite dishes of the night) Mine too!!!

I've never had such moist foie gras torchon...the consistency was definitely creamier than any other torchon I'd previously eaten. I wonder what their secret is...probably the quality of the foie.

($30 supplement for this)

Moulard duck foie gras en terrine, banana puree, shaved celery branch, and ginger bread crumble. Best foie gras terrine I've ever had. I prefer seared to torchon style, but this was truely amazing!

seared foie with Medjool date

($30 supplement) Amazing as well! the date was very sweet, but was accompanied by these daikon pieces that really balanced the dish.

mackerel with vegetables...this was very flavourful. I loved the strong, oily fish with the bright sweetness of the red peppers. Escabeche of atlantic king mackerel, vierge of piquillo peppers, young fava beans, cauliflower and cilantro with armano manni "per mio figlio" extra virgin olive oil. Wonderful dish. I've never seen mackerle with black flesh liek this. Great blend of flavors.

seared tuna with bok choy (the bok choy was so sweet! Love the vegetables at FL.) Sauted "Pave" of Spanish blue fin tuna, pickled purple top turnips, ginger glazed bok choy and green peppercorn emulsion. Found this dish a bit boring, but Ling's right, the bok choy was very flavorful.

lobster "Caesar" (lobster cooked sous vide, braised romaine, shaved dried mullet roe, Parm crisp) Cute idea, but this dish was kind of bland.

I'm missing a picture of the other lobster preparation...the one with beets and leeks. Maybe hhlodesign has it. The beet and leek lobster dish was amazing! I tend to like bolder flavours.

Sorry, this dish I forgot to photograph. It was one of my favorites of the evening. Maine lobster tail sous vide, with melted king richard leeks, "pommes maxiim's" and red beet essence. Not only were the colors beautiful in this dish, the beet and leak combination worked perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the lobster. Loved this dish!!!

boudin noir, quail egg. Fried quail egg, griddled "pain perdu", san marzano tomato marmelade and "laitue frisee". Mmmmmmmm quail egg!!!

chicken and white asparagus. I think the sweet asparagus stole the show on this dish--I was surprised to find the chicken quite dry. Agree on the chicken

Elysian Fields lamb...this was cooked too much for my liking, and I found it a bit dry again. Great flavour in the lamb, though. The best part of this dish (and one of the high points of the meal) was the meaty king trumpet mushroom! 

As Ling and I talked about our meals on the drive to the airport, the question was posed, "what was the best thing you've eaten on this trip?" Top of my list, the king trumpet mushroom in this dish!

The cheese was quite mild. Served with apricot and hazelnuts. This was pretty good on the walnut bread that came with the course, though the raisin bread made it too sweet. I would've preferred a more challenging cheese course though...the runnier and smellier the better.

"Hoch y'brig" slow poached apricots, candied hazelnuts and "mache" lettuce.Beautifully presented cheese plate.

Cara Cara orange sorbet, and rhubarb jelly, I think. Yep, very nice and refreshing

blanking on this dessert...(drank too much wine) hhlodesign will fill you in 

Not on the menu, nut I believe it was brown butter ice cream with a chocolate prailine.

Love the bold presentation! That piece of "wire" is actually just pulled sugar. The cake was layered with ganache and mint filling.

there was peanut butter and caramel on the inside...another beautifully composed dessert

creme brulee and these cookies made from the pate choux from the gougeres, rolled super thin and baked with sugar on top

pots de creme

the best chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. (Some genius thought of clipping the clothespin on the edge of the pot. So artistic.  ) Pure Genius!

chocolates

L-R: peanut butter, licorce, caramel, espresso, rhubarb (I think)

kitchen (I was amazed by how small it actually is!)

I don't know if they were listening to our nonstop food conversation at the table, recognized that this was an experience of a lifetime for us, or recognized the infamous Ling from eGullet, but when they dropped off the check, the maitre'd stated that when we were ready, he'd like to give us a tour of the kitchen. We didn't even have to ask! I thought that was a very nice touch.

←

I should also note that Ling and I asked to have 3 half bottles paired with our meal in the $50-$60 range. The sommelier chose some very nice wines that actually came in under what we asked.

Klien Constantina, "Vin de Constance" Constantia, South Africa, 2000

Ancien, Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2003

Renard, Syrah, Dry Creek, 2002

and with our foie gras course we had glasses of Brundlmayer, Reisling, "Zobinger Heiligenstein-alte reben," Kamptal, 2003

The service was impeccable. I can't think of a single hiccup that night. We had our main server, the sommelier, and one other guy at our table all night. Plus numerous other, too many to count, bringing out courses and filling water glasses and bread.

Aside: We had 3 choices for bread, parisien baguette, ciabata, and some wheat kind. Ling asked, "Would it be gauche if I asked for all three?" When he came back with the bread for the cheese course, he went straight to Ling and placed the basket on the table for her!

They found a perfect balance of extremely professional service, without feeling stodgy and stuffy.

Was it worth $400 a head? Is any meal? I think of it as a once in a lifetime experience. It was one of the best meals I've had in my life. (But I also have meals that cost less than $10 on that list.)

Edited April 13, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[Carlsbad]

Interesting thread. Yes, Fleur de Lys is a French restaurant, very much so. I'm sure they have some part of a Sonoma duck on the menu most of the time. If they do my experience is that it will be from a very good Sonoma duck. Not inventive? Take a look at the menu. No, you won't get 15 "courses", but there are few places in SF that are as discreetly inventive in my opinion. The vegetarian menu is terrific and it was there long before it was as fashionable. Expensive? Of course it is. It is a special occassion place. However, if you order 3 half bottles of $20 retail wine for two, you can't spend half that $400 a person you'll apparently spend at the FL. If you order the wine pairings, it's $115 for the three course menu, $133 for the 4 course menu, $153 for the 5 course menu, and $123 for the 5 course vegetarian menu, all without tax or tip. The wine list is pretty deep and the mark-up is too high, so be careful if you order off the list.

All that said, If I were going to Manresa, TFL, and Chez Panisse on consecutive nights, I would want a little break from that kind of eating.

[Ling]

Klien Constantina, "Vin de Constance" Constantia, South Africa, 2000

Ancien, Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2003

Renard, Syrah, Dry Creek, 2002

and with our foie gras course we had glasses of Brundlmayer, Reisling, "Zobinger Heiligenstein-alte reben," Kamptal, 2003

I loved the Riesling! It was very sweet, but good with the torchon. The date that came with the seared foie was also one of the highlights of my FL meal. My second favourite wine was the Syrah.

Aside: We had 3 choices for bread, parisien baguette, ciabata, and some wheat kind. Ling asked, "Would it be gauche if I asked for all three?" When he came back with the bread for the cheese course, he went straight to Ling and placed the basket on the table for her!

HOW EMBARASSING! I can't believe you posted that for all the world to see....

But yeah, I did ask the waiter (with a charming smile, of course! ) if it would be "terribly gauche if I asked for all three" only because I am so into baked goods (as I'm sure you all know) and wanted to see the crust and crumb of each bread.

Also, the unsalted butter was ridiculously rich. I needed a vehicle to get as much butter into my mouth as possible. And for some reason, I think spooning butter directly into my mouth would be frowned upon at FL.

My favourite bread was the wheat one. It had a nice, crisp crust, and a moist, open crumb.

[Daniel]

Wow, wow, wow.. Great pictures, great reporting.. Thank you for sharing all of this.What an amazing trip..

[Ling]

Bouchon Bakery

Here are my favourite almond croissants!!

Here are the "bouchon"...this is what the bakery's named after. They are like brownies with chocolate chips in them.

Edited April 13, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

Don Giovanni

They start you off with some awesome fried bread. Mmm...fried....

This was one of my favourite wines of the trip.

This is the best pizza I'd ever eaten. The crust was even thinner than the crust at Chez Panisse, and there was a nice amount of charring. (I tried to smear the runny yolk on every slice of pizza. The only way this pizza could possibly be improved is if they put an extra egg on top!)

We shared the rabbit and sausage pasta, so this is a half portion. Pasta was cooked a little bit past al dente, but the sauce was so incredible that all is forgiven.

Loved Don Giovanni...9/10!

Edited April 13, 2006 by Ling (log)

[ulterior epicure]

Ling and hhlodesign!

Thanks for the continued posting! All very great!

Ling, I couldn't help but notice from your pictures that Bouchon Bakery sells macarons. Did you happen to try any? The reason I ask is because I was recently at Per Se where they gave each of the diners a little package of house-made macarons.

I'll admit that I didn't eat them that same day (couldn't stomach it after such a large meal), and in fact waited quite a many days. When I did eat them, I noticed that they were much more "dense" than the macarons I've had in France and the rest of Europe. By dense I mean to say that they had much courser and larger bits of almond (?) in the almond flour than the "crispier" almost-meringue-like ones in Europe.

It seems that macarons can vary greatly (boy, I guess that was an understatement). However, I find them best in bakeries and not in restaurants, which is why I ask how the Bouchon Bakery version might compare.

[Just as a note: For example, the ones I recently had at Jean Georges in New York were mini button macarons that were unpleasantly hard as marbles. As too were the slightly larger coffee macarons ones I had at 3-star Hof van Cleve in Belgium. Bar none, the best restaurant macarons I have had were at 2-star Mosconi in Luxembourg, where on both visits, Madame Mosconi stuffed generously large and ethereally light, airy and crisp - yet impossibly tender - chocolate macarons to me as I left. The ganache being at once a part of the macaron halves as much having their own distict ooey-gooey wonderfulness quite apart from the meringue-y biscuits.]

I'm also posting this on the Bouchon Bakery (Warner Center) in the NY Forum.

Edited April 13, 2006 by ulterior epicure (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

All I can say is I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!

It's such a wonderful gift that you share your experiences............it might be as close as I come to any of these great places.......and I value you taking me there!

........just a thought.........it would be auesome if you took some shots of the insides of your pastries and or bonbons..........that would mean alot to me, please and thank-you..........if that's ever possible.

[ulterior epicure]

To avoid stealing thunder from Ling and hhlodesign's awesome trip and reporting, I'm moving my own solicitations for SF/Napa eating suggestions to this thread.

Thanks!

u.e.

[Pontormo]

Wow, wow, wow.. Great pictures, great reporting.. Thank you for sharing all of this.What an amazing trip..

←

Daniel: Speaking of travel reporting...

Henry: You manage to make even the most humble buildings and rows of grape vines look like stupendous works of architecture.

Really, the photography both you and Lorna provide really makes this thread a real pleasure. You two prove how much a strong affinity for one's subject makes for a great picture Thank you!

[Ling]

Ling, I couldn't help but notice from your pictures that Bouchon Bakery sells macarons.  Did you happen to try any? 

←

No, I didn't. I don't really care for macaroons, and my friend had purchased some from Bouchon Bakery and told me that the ones from Sen5es in Vancouver were better.

[Ling]

All I can say is I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!

It's such a wonderful gift that you share your experiences............it might be as close as I come to any of these great places.......and I value you taking me there!

........just a thought.........it would be auesome if you took some shots of the insides of your pastries and or bonbons..........that would mean alot to me, please and thank-you..........if that's ever possible.

←

I'm so sorry! I ate all the pastries that same day we bought them, so I didn't get any interior shots! I should've though...darn. Sorry!

[mkjr]

This was one of my favourite wines of the trip.

←

Question? Out of all the wineries to go in Napa, how did you settle on Darioush and Cakebread? Both are very solid mid tier wines but a rather odd pair. Did you BYOW the half bottle? The whole roman thing is a little cheesy at Dariosh. I prefer tasting in garages and knowing that the price I am paying for is not covering the morgage (although as others will know I am one to talk). Your whole post is making me want to go back to SFO ASAP - and fueling my desire to blow off Bay Street big law and try out Market Street big law (only reason is so I am closer to Napa since the hours suck just as bad). Too bad the current price of real estate is so evil in the bay area. Nice to see Dariosh is still making bottles that can be used as weapons.

[rancho_gordo]

The whole roman thing is a little cheesy at Dariosh.

←

No cheesier than all the pretend Mediterranean villas!

I think it's Persian, not Roman, by the way.

[hhlodesign]

This was one of my favourite wines of the trip.

←

Question? Out of all the wineries to go in Napa, how did you settle on Darioush and Cakebread? Both are very solid mid tier wines but a rather odd pair. Did you BYOW the half bottle? The whole roman thing is a little cheesy at Dariosh. I prefer tasting in garages and knowing that the price I am paying for is not covering the morgage (although as others will know I am one to talk). Your whole post is making me want to go back to SFO ASAP - and fueling my desire to blow off Bay Street big law and try out Market Street big law (only reason is so I am closer to Napa since the hours suck just as bad). Too bad the current price of real estate is so evil in the bay area. Nice to see Dariosh is still making bottles that can be used as weapons.

←

Not being a wine expert, I asked two of my favorite chefs up in Seattle what wineries we should check out.

Shannon Galusha of Veil suggested Cakebread (he lived in Napa for a while when he worked at the FL)

William Belickis of Mistral suggested Darioush.

I did mention to them that we didn't want to go to the touristy ones.

And Darioush is meant to be Persian. Not my style, but still nicely executed. They did have my favorite chairs though:

By Le Corbusier

[hhlodesign]

This is the best pizza I'd ever eaten. The crust was even thinner than the crust at Chez Panisse, and there was a nice amount of charring. (I tried to smear the runny yolk on every slice of pizza. The only way this pizza could possibly be improved is if they put an extra egg on top!)

I absolutley loved this pizza! Bacon, onions, pecorino, and that lovely runny egg yolk smothered over the entire pizza! I still dream of it! I agree with Ling though, more egg. Maybe even a few quail eggs instead of one chicken egg. Mmmmmmmm quail egg!!!

We shared the rabbit and sausage pasta, so this is a half portion. Pasta was cooked a little bit past al dente, but the sauce was so incredible that all is forgiven. 

One of my favorite things on the trip! Yes, the pasta was a bit overdone, but that sauce! Oh that sauce!!!

Loved Don Giovanni...9/10!  Me too!!!

←

[hhlodesign]

And just to prove that we did not only eat on this trip:

We drove down Lombard Street on the way to Napa.

Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge on the way out as well. I pointed out the Palace of Fine Arts and Alcatraz. Three birds, one stone!

We even took in the Golden Gate on the way back to the airport too!

Of course we were eating Bouchon Bakery Pastries at the time.

What an incredible trip. Great food, great wine, great company, great setting. One of the best weekends of my life!

[Ling]

Question?  Out of all the wineries to go in Napa, how did you settle on Darioush and Cakebread?  Both are very solid mid tier wines but a rather odd pair.  Did you BYOW the half bottle?  The whole roman thing is a little cheesy at Dariosh.  

Mid-tier level wines are fine with me. I can't afford wines that are over $100 a bottle on a regular basis, and I'm not so far along in my wine education (very rudimentary at this stage, I assure you! ) that I would be able to tell the difference between a good $100 bottle and a good $300 bottle.

(I'll also admit to wanting to go to "Cakebread" because of the name. "Cake-Bread"--come on! How could I pass that up?!!! )

I did save your PM with the winery suggestions and I hope to make it down to San Fran again soon so I can visit them!

We (well, hhlodesign) bought the half bottle from the Don Giovanni wine list.

If the Persian thing at Darioush is cheesy, then label me the Princess of Cheese. (Neil's Yard stilton, preferably.) I thought Darioush looked cool!

The Le Corbusier (or "The Crow", as I learned he's labelled) chairs were pretty stylish.

Edited April 13, 2006 by Ling (log)

[ulterior epicure]

The Le Corbusier chairs were cool to sit in!

A "hairy" proposition, to be sure!

u.e.

[Ling]

^Oops, you quoted me and I just edited my post. I thought I sounded very juvenile in my original post.

[little ms foodie]

I loved Aqua in las vegas, did not like Aqua in S.F. when mina was involved with both. This report makes me glad we didn't choose this for one of our dinners there. While I probably would have enjoyed it more than The Slanted Door, it would probably have hurt a bit more than The Slanted Door.

←

I also loved Aqua in vegas and loved Aqua when in SF but Mino had already left. It was our favorite meal in SF 2 years ago.

I agree that things like waiting for wine, wrong vintage, overcooked food, etc in high end restaurants is more than a bit annoying. But your photos are great! Thanks for sharing (I'm still reading!)

[Pontormo]

Bouchon Bakery

←

See those beautiful glazed tea cakes, the loaves propped up between the second and third cards on the top of the case?

Man, oh man are they ever AMAZING!!!!!!!

The richness of the butter is just right. The lemon? ummmm.... And something else, but what could it be?

...so I've been told .

[mkjr]

The whole roman thing is a little cheesy at Dariosh.

←

No cheesier than all the pretend Mediterranean villas!

I think it's Persian, not Roman, by the way.

←

Agreed. Many thanks for correcting me.

[Ling]

What an incredible trip. Great food, great wine, great company, great setting. One of the best weekends of my life!

←

That's only because you weren't driving a Porsche.