i'm about to sound pretentious, and i'm sorry. but....Kim and i are foodies. sometimes people think of themselves as foodies but they really are just posing wishfully. just because you like food isn't qualifying enough. just because you eat a lot doesn't mean jack. a foodie to me is somebody who knows food. if you don't know what a bearnaise sauce is or know that there are such things as purple potatoes (not yams) or white asparagus, then you are not a foodie. if you do not actively seek new restaurants or interesting foods, you aren't a foodie. if you have no idea who Thomas Keller is or have no interest in watching Top Chef, then you haven't reached the threshold throwing you in to foodiedom. if you aren't willing to pay $15 for an amazing appetizer that is the size of a silver dollar, then the value of your dollar is different than the value of mine. as i said, Kim and i are foodies.
so this past sunday we decided to have a Napa foodstravaganza/girl date. we were going to get brunch, massages, and dinner and fill the inbetween times with seeking other delicious things. sounds like a good way to spend a weekend to me. you guys are going to think i'm making this up when i go through all of the things Kim and i ate on sunday. it's kind of ridiculous. i don't even know how i put away so much food. seriously. my mouth may as well be a vacuum of morsels.
we started our day with a quick stop off at Model Bakery to see if they still had any of their famous giant english muffins but sadly they were already out. we then headed to our reservations at Ad Hoc for brunch but upon entering the restaurant, we noticed that the menu for the day was classic eggs benedicts, green beans with almonds and chocolate mousse. none of that was particularly appealing to us so we opted to leave and find a different place to have brunch/lunch. we got to Bouchon just as they were opening and luckily were seated immediately outside on that sun shiny day.
Kim and i have similar tastes and have an unspoken understanding that everything we were going to eat for the day was going to be shared between us so that we could taste the maximum amount of dishes that our stomachs could stomach. we decided to get a few appetizers and every single one of them was fan-friggin-tastic.
lobster bisque served with a lobster beignet. the "beignet" was pretty much full of lobster, lightly breaded and deep fried. the texture of the soup was just right and the flavor was exploding. there are mushrooms hidden in there somewhere.
finally i can say that i have eaten at all three of Thomas Keller's restaurants on Washington St. mini life goal achieved!!
after lunch we headed over to check out the Ox Bow Market. Kim had never been and i wanted her to see what i can only describe as a mini Ferry Building. we got some Ritual coffee because it's damn good stuff.
mocha. not in the slightest bit sweet. it doesn't need anything. it's fantastic on it's own.
right after we left Bouchon, i called Fatted Calf to see if they were going to have any of their porchetta cooked for that day. the guy informed me that it'd be ready by 1pm, so after we got our coffee, we went to Fatted Calf to pick up some porchetta to take home. if you've ever had Roli Roti's porchetta sandwich at the Ferry Building farmers market and love it, you will fall even harder in love with the porchetta at Fatted Calf. i don't know what it is but it's effing amazing stuff. there's a Fatted Calf in SF, however they don't have a kitchen to cook the porchetta there fresh. trust me, if you're ever in Napa pick up some porchetta and a loaf of crusty bread from Model Bakery and you'll be happy. Kim and i each got a pound of porchetta to go. (it was just as amazing the next day)
looks gross, tastes SO good. don't doubt me.
it was time for our massages and they were good. but really there's no room in this post to talk about massages. onward! more food!
we had a few hours to kill before our 7:15pm reservations for Bottega and found our way to Sift, a cupcake shop. i had never heard of this place, but it boasts winning Cupcake Wars on Food Network so i figured it must be good. they have flavors such as pink champagne, limonatta, and car bomb. but when we bit in to the cupcakes we were disappointed. it wasn't even worth taking two bites of. the cake was really dense and not that moist, and the overall appearance was very homemade. i couldn't believe they won Cupcake Wars.
lemon berry cooler and cookies and cream
not satisfied with the cupcakes we had just thrown away, we decided to satisfy our sweet tooths by splitting a strawberry rhubarb macaroon we'd picked up from Bouchon earlier in the day. i'm not sure if it's the special of the day or if they have this flavor seasonally but it was fan-friggin-tastic! it was light and airy with a nice crumble and was filled with not just the traditional filling but with jam as well. i was never a fan of macaroons but after eating that one i think i became one. i couldn't believe how good it was. because we had time to kill, we went back to Bouchon Bakery and i picked up a few more macaroons to take home.
strawberry rhubarb, pistachio and espresso
look at the size of this monster!!
although we'd spent the whole day eating, we somehow left plenty of room for dinner. when i eat out with Kim, it's awesome because 1) she's good company and great conversation, 2) i don't feel like a jerk for wanting to order one of every course, forcing the other person to feel obligated to pay more if we split the bill, and 3) as previously mentioned, we already know we're sharing everything and have similar taste.
while waiting anxiously in their patio area we both combed the menu while matching reviews on our Yelp apps to see which dishes were our best bet. there were a couple of dishes that we'd already known about and a couple that we weren't intending on getting but changed our mind when it came down to business. by the time we sat down for dinner we were ready to recite our order.
everything we had at Bottega was either really well executed or blew me away. everything. even the lemonade was noticeably fresh and perfectly tart. again, this is going to seem like an intense amount of food, and it was. don't worry, we took some home. but it was necessary to try as much as possible. you never know if or when you're going to go back to a restaurant so for me it's worth it to try a bunch of things to get a good grasp on whether you really like a place or not. and at a restaurant with a celebrity chef (Michael Chiarello) as the face of it, i'm more inclined to judge the food.
can you believe that even olive oil that came with the bread made me smile? it had little pieces of cheese and herbs in it. i kept eating this throughout the whole meal.
a similar egg dish was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Salty Goodness but the original dish included pork belly. we've had pork belly plenty of times so it wasn't a big deal that it wasn't on this menu. what was absolutely a necessity to try was the egg. soft boiled so that the middle was still runny, yet deep fried with a nice crispy crunch. how exactly did they do that without overcooking the egg?? it's definitely an egg you should try. and the asparagus was really tender and had lots of natural flavor. i tend to dislike asparagus but most asparagus doesn't taste like this one does.
polenta under a glass!!!! this was not originally something we cared to order, however upon reading reviews, it became evident that it was something we had to order and i'm so SO glad we did! excellently creamy polenta that still had texture to it, cooked so that the top layer ended up with a sort of cheesy crust (think cheese cooked on a flat top so that it's bubbling like in this photo here). then you mix in the carmelized wild mushrooms and top it with a pork jus served on the side and it's all kinds of wonderful. i really was more than pleasantly surprised by this dish. it seriously made me want to do a happy dance. i've never had a better polenta in my life and i'll be shocked if i ever find one better.
meyer lemon strozzapretti with crab and pork cracklin. the bites i had with the cracklin made the dish. without the cracklin, it was still very good but the pasta was cooked a little more al dente than i like.
calabrian sausage and lemon ricotta tortellini with broccoli rabe and tomato pork jus. i didn't know what calabrian sausage was but apparently it's a spiced sausage. it's a lot like chorizo. surprisingly, more than anything i enjoyed the broccoli rabe most from this plate.
the short rib, which is something that i think nearly every table ordered. this is a dish that is recommended by the servers for good reason. it's perfectly tender and has good flavor. i think the only way to accurately describe it is succulent. i ate the leftovers a couple of days later and it was still just as good.
whole fish with skin cooked crisp. served with more of that super fresh seasonal asparagus and fennel puree. there was some kind of relish on the plate that i didn't love. but the fish was seasoned well and was prepared so as not to overpower the fish with sauces or too many herbs/spices.
doesn't this molten chocolate cake with hazelnut creme anglaise look spectacular? as the server wafted the scent of luscious chocolate towards our noses, my mouth salivated in anticipation of tasting what i thought might be an exceptional molten chocolate cake. sadly we found a hair in it and told the server in hopes that he'd take it off the bill but let us keep it to eat around the hair. (yeah, we like food that much. or maybe i should just speak for myself. i would have just eaten around the hair. it's not like someone sneezed in it! go ahead and judge.) when we told him we weren't willing to wait another 30 min for a new one to bake, he took it away and brought us a plate of cookies to take home on the house. they were decent, but were not even close to being a good replacement for the molten chocolate cake.
i love a good girl day. i couldn't have asked for a better day out with Kim! it's always best to enjoy food with people who love food themselves and can appreciate it the same way you do. next we have our annual Flag Day expensive restaurant tradition in June to look forward to! look out for a post on Cyrus, a two Michelin star restaurant in Healdsburg. i can't wait!!!
you just made me super hungry...
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