Napa day!!

meet Jon. he requested not to be in any photos in this blog but i refuse to oblige. i suckered him into taking a photo with me even though he tried to avoid it because i'm sneaky like that. he pretty much got forced into it....but for good reason, of course. he just graduated from law school so we took a day to head to Napa with the intentions of eating Thomas Keller's famous fried chicken at Ad Hoc to celebrate. let me preface the day by saying that we planned this fried chicken meal a couple months in advance. 

trying not to spoil our long awaited dinner, we wanted to go wine tasting while nibbling on something light for lunch. before our 5 o'clock dinner reservation, we went to the city of Fulton to partake in a wine and food pairing at Kendall Jackson, a beautiful winery. they also offer wine and cheese or wine and dessert pairings (from $20-$30). this wine/food pairing was sort of amazing. the food was really tasty and the offerings were awesome. for $30, i couldn't imagine a better way to spend a couple hours.  i would recommend going to Kendall Jackson to anybody who wishes to walk away from Sonoma with a great wine tasting experience. 

it was a beautiful day! perfect weather.

we opted for the food and wine pairing which includes seven wines and seven bites. i'm not much of a wine drinker, but "when in Rome," right? 

1st course

goat and sheeps milk cheese with a Sorrel sauce and pine nuts. served with sauvignon blanc.

house cured king salmon with pea puree and marcona almonds. served with chardonnay.

2nd course

mushroom arancini stuffed with truffle cheese, with a pinot noir aioli. served with pinot noir.

sweet tea brined pork belly slider with a syrah bbq sauce. served with syrah.

Korean style kobe beef lettuce wrap. served with cabernet.

3rd course

goat cheese cheesecake with lemon curd and almond and riesling oil brittle. with pineapple sage. served with riesling.

Mama Frischkorn's caramel corn. served with chardonnay.

after picking up some macaroons and other goodies from Bouchon Bakery, we headed to Ad Hoc for the long awaited fried chicken. having not eaten very much (those seven bites were not very big, i promise....or maybe i just have a giant stomach) throughout the day and saving our appetite, we were super excited to finally taste the ever so famous fried chicken. when we walked into the restaurant, i glanced at the day's menu and saw the word "brisket." my heart sank and i blurted out "so today isn't the.....huh?" and the hostess replied "no fried chicken is every other week." while it was saddening and disappointing, it was almost comical. we had planned this day for months prior and saved our stomachs for that very moment only to instantly lose interest in the food on the night's menu. but.....sh*t happens, and we were sure the food would be good anyway. so brisket it was! 

if you aren't already aware, Ad Hoc is Thomas Keller's lowest end restaurant offering 4 course family style dinners for $52/person. it usually involves a salad, an entree course, a cheese course and a dessert. a damned good value if you ask me.

gem salad with blue cheese, apples and candied pecans.

potato salad with corn and arugula

smoked wagyu beef brisket and pulled pork sandwich. this brisket was SO good!! and the sandwich was super tasty too. the bread was perfectly toasted and buttery!

lamb chopper. stone fruit jam. black pepper flatbread. yum!! the sweet, salty and creamy was a perfect pairing.

"root beer float," which was root beer ice cream immersed in cream soda. the root beer ice cream was friggin awesome. super creamy and definitely tasted of root beer.

chocolate crackle cookies. looks like nothing special but they were perfectly moist and deeply chocolaty. i fell in love with these cookies. i've made them myself before but they were not nearly as spectacular as these!

though we didn't succeed in getting fried chicken, we definitely had a good dinner and a good day in general. Jon is a funny one and awesome company! and while i probably haven't seen him for liiiiiiike seven years, it's as if no time has passed. well, except that he's about to become a lawyer!

Jon, we'll get that fried chicken when you pass the BAR!!!