My recent trip to SF and Napa/Sonoma

[shacke]

I figured it would take a while to post completely and I wasn't sure if I should break my meals up amongst other threads, but I decided to post everything here with the exception of my experience at The General's Daughter which I thought deserved its own thread here.

We came back to San Francisco for the first time since we moved back east in 1998 in order to commemorate our 10th anniversary. We stayed in the city for a couple of days, moved up into Napa/Sonoma and then back down for 2 more days before returning home.

I was reticent to use flash inside restaurants so in some places I did not photograph and some pictures reflect the low light environment. Such are the breaks I guess!

To be continued......

[shacke]

First stop was the Ferry Market, fresh off the plane. Both my wife and I wanted to get to Acme bakery so we thought we would stick to bread and cheese for a snack.

Cowgirl Creamery

I am a big fan of strong goat cheese and the first cheese is known as "Pave" and since it was locally made in Healdsburg, I was all over it. The other cheese is Pata Cabra, much more mild and firm.

Acme Bakery

We settled on a Pain Au Lavain to go with our cheese. It was beautiful and you just have to have sourdough in this town. True to form, it was still great eating the next morning in the hotel room.

Afterward, we strolled around the building and were impressed by this chocolatier....

This very much reminds me of a local chocolate made in Philadelphia called John and Kira's (fka Jubilee). The flavors are very subtle. In some cases I actually could not detect the advertised addition (ie lavender). Nonetheless, these were some good bites. The rose caramel was particularly good.

To be continued.....

[shacke]

Sunday morning dim sum .......

I had not planned on a dim sum run but friends wanted to see us and chose Yank Sing. The food is solid if not a little timid at times, perhaps more geared to less adventurous Americans? That notwithstanding, it was a very good meal and my first time trying "soup dumplings". Despite the large Asian community in Philadelphia, I haven't really seen them here. There was a thread in the local PA forum a ways back about them too as someone was searching for them. Luckily, I didn't burn my tongue.

The soup dumpling

Har Gao and Siu Mai

Shrimp in rice noodle

Poultry in lettuce cup topped with pine nuts (presumably squab or chicken)

baked pork bun

To be continued......

[shacke]

Dinner on Sunday was at Ozumo. I had gotten this recommendation from a friend. It was too dark to photograph anything.

The sushi was excellent and the atmosphere quite hip. There was a lot of hot food offered on the menu as well but we stuck mainly to the fish.

Word of caution, it was not cheap at all. Granted, we drank a fair amount of sake

Dinner on Saturday was at Bacco which IIRC is in Noe. This was very good Italian. I had wanted to get to Delfina but it wasn't in the cards this time around. To be honest, after a week and not a picture to help jog my memory, I don't remember everything we had. Suffice it to say, it was a very good meal. Limited wine list.

To be continued....

Edited October 21, 2006 by shacke (log)

[shacke]

When we lived in SF, there was one place in the "new chinatown" section in the Richmond at 6th and Clement that was serving these wild tapioca drinks. Now we all know of "bubble tea" but back then it was the first to serve them. Since then, it has come across the coast to Philadelphia but no where is it the same. These drinks are based on milk and coffe mate (yes) rather than black tea. We were just dying to return and it was like old times. If you can, stop by there. It's called "Sweet Delite". They were featured in one of the major food mags a couple of years back which made me homesick but I also knew it meant they were doing well enough to survive until my reunion. Beware an imitiation down the street called Sweet 'Delight'!

My stand-by was always hot coconut but this is a custard tapioca - cold. Rockin!

to be continued....

[shacke]

Up we then went to stay in Sonoma. Eagerly awaiting our French Laundry meal, we stopped down the road for a little bite earlier in the day.

The small breads (pretzel rolls and pain mie) you see in the racks on the right showed up at dinner at TFL

The signature chocolate bouchon was a mini marvel. Holy cow.

This was an amazing banana creme caramel tart topped with coffee cream and candied nuts.

This was a perfect snack in the sun, with an espresso. aahh...

to be continued.....

[docsconz]

My mouth is watering, Evan. I'm looking forward to the rest. I' will have to click on your report from The General's Daughter. I am bummed that I won't be able to get therre during my all-too brief upcoming trip.

[shacke]

Next up .....

We arrived a few minnutes early to find the other couple we were dining with already relaxing in the garden, wine glasses in hand. I visited the vegetable/herb garden across the street but at this time of year, it wasn't nearly as striking as some of the terrific pictures shown in the FL thread.

I was much happier with this meal than one I enjoyed at Per Se. Not that that wasn't great food but I thought it didn't live up to the hype and the cost. Here in yountville however, the atmosphere alone is worth a few points. I remember Shola (of Studiokitchen fame) telling me a while back that looking at concrete vs a garden affects the two dining experiences. I have to agree.

Gulleteer experiences at TFL are well documented and I will leave restating the obvious to others. The meal was exquisite and the service top notch. This time around, we let the food dominate and did not drink too much wine. A bottle of cali chard and a new world pinot was all we ordered and we didn't finish them amongst the 4 of us.

I did not use flash but thanks to Adobe photoshop they manipulated nicely. I know I should get thrown out the the club for admitting this but I forgot to grab the menu for recall purposes and by dessert the constant camera clicking was irking the mere mortals at the table. What-e-vuh...

Oysters and pearls

Torchon of foie gras over fennel

Hamachi sashimi

Sunchoke salad

Pan seared suzuki, chanterelles, artichoke puree

Lobster cooked in sweet butter, beet essence

Duck breast, applewood bacon, cornbread croutons, swiss chard

Chateaubriand of veal, sweetbread ravioli, baby artichokes, carrots

Some specific comments...

I have had the oysters and pearls twice now - on both coasts - and this may very well be the greatest dish I have ever had. The complete and total shizzy. Give me this 9 times and call it dinner.

After reading much of the lobster cooked in sweet butter, I must say that it was one of the best presentations of the night. Served over a beet essence, this flavor combinations were innovative and delightful. One did need a knife to cut it but from a flavor standpoint it was top notch.

The chateaubriand of veal aside sweetbread ravioli was just supremely delicious - each with its own terrific mouthfeel. The silkiness of the meat along side of generous chunky filling of the stuffed pasta.

All in all, if you can get a table go go go. If you have been and can go back, do do do.

To be continued.....

[shacke]

Final stop was Chez Panisse. It was the one restaurant we were upset that we never visited when we lived there briefly and so we made sure to return.

Baked Sonoma goat cheese with garden lettuces

Pizzetta with house cured pancetta, potato and rosemary

Pizza with wild nettles

Grilled Hoffman Farm chicken al mattone with shell beans and sage

Warren pear-huckleberry crisp with vanilla ice cream

I can see how Chez Panisse was such a culinary revolution. This meal was so outstanding in its simplicity and I can only imagine way back when, when it was the first discovered restaurant of its kind built on the use of local, ultrafresh and high quality components.

From the looks of things and the descriptors, you can be lulled into thinking this is ordinary fare. It is not. Case in point was my chicken entree. Apart from the amateur photography, it really is nothing to look at. Each piece of the dish was eye poppingly delicious. The chicken - a boneless thigh and leg - was seared in between two cast iron skillets and was perfectly perfectly perfectly cooked. The jus was so good it needed to be sopped up at the end with more bread. Even the beans were some of the best I have had anywhere. I overheard a diner at the next table tell his friend it was the greatest chicken he ever had. My wife said the same of her taste - 15 minutes earlier. It was ethereal and yet not at all avant garde. I very much get the sustained hype and it's well deserved. I will never return to the bay area without going back.

you can bet your bippy that I will be testing out the dual skillet method before then....

What a great trip we had ......

... stop

[docsconz]

Great report, Evan! I will be back at TFL in a week and a half, but will likely have the same photography issues that you did as we will be dining with non-eG friends.

I assume that you were at Chez Panisse for dinner? What night of the week was that? I vowed to go to dinner downstairs at CP next time I was in the area, but unfortunately won't have the opportunity this time either. C'est la vie!

[snekse]

you can bet your bippy that I will be testing out the dual skillet method before then....

Do you know how they stacked the skillets? Were they nested like spoons or bottom to bottom? And now that I think about it, do you know if it was done stove top or in the oven?

[Carolyn Tillie]

you can bet your bippy that I will be testing out the dual skillet method before then....

Do you know how they stacked the skillets? Were they nested like spoons or bottom to bottom? And now that I think about it, do you know if it was done stove top or in the oven?

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They could have been using authentic mattones. Note - Paula Wolfert showcased the mattone in a Food & Wine article a year or two ago, bit I can't find it online.

[snekse]

They could have been using authentic mattones. Note - Paula Wolfert showcased the mattone in a Food & Wine article a year or two ago, bit I can't find it online.

Is that brick, clay or enameled cast iron a la Le Creuset? That would be perfect for making Pommes Anna!

[shacke]

I assume that you were at Chez Panisse for dinner? What night of the week was that? I vowed to go to dinner downstairs at CP next time I was in the area, but unfortunately won't have the opportunity this time either. C'est la vie!

←

We were there for lunch on Thursday. After your experience there, I figured it was a worthwhile option. Since dinner is a set menu, I don't think my wife would have liked that option. I would do the same meal again tomorrow - you are a lucky dog!

They could have been using authentic mattones. Note - Paula Wolfert showcased the mattone in a Food & Wine article a year or two ago, bit I can't find it online.

Carloyn, I am pretty sure they were not what you have linked to. I asked since mattone means 'brick' in Italian whether they were cooked under brick and the server said they used 2 cast iron skillets.

Snekse, I can only assume they were one on top of each other since otherwise there would be no contact. I assume they used two really hot skillets and cooked it stove top but I don't know for sure.

[docsconz]

I thought that was lunch! I'm glad you enjoyed it. As much as I would love go return to CP for lunch, I really, really want to try dinner there. Next time I will have to make sure I do that and General's Daughter.

[Carolyn Tillie]

They could have been using authentic mattones. Note - Paula Wolfert showcased the mattone in a Food & Wine article a year or two ago, bit I can't find it online.

Is that brick, clay or enameled cast iron a la Le Creuset? That would be perfect for making Pommes Anna!

←

Traditionally, they are clay.

Carloyn, I am pretty sure they were not what you have linked to. I asked since mattone means 'brick' in Italian whether they were cooked under brick and the server said they used 2 cast iron skillets.

I guess being pedantic, technically if one uses the phrase al mattone, it would TRADITIONALLY involve the use of a cooking mattone which is, yes, a big brick. I actually had a similar dish at Manzanita in Healdsburg and on my particular evening (even though they had mattones to use), utilized cast iron skillets because the recently-hired chef had not yet been instructed in the proper heating and use of the clay mattone.

[Swicks]

Wow, what a trip!

*drool*