Just got back from California last night after flying on United Airlines. It was the first time I'd flown them since 20 years ago. O'Hare is massive, but the airlines are only satisfactory- no peanuts, I was surprised. We had some spectacular food- including dinner the first night at Scoma's seafood house. The decor needs updating pretty bad, but the food is as solid as ever. I had a lump dungeness crab appetizer that was very fresh adorned with cocktail sauce. for dinner i had a shellfish sautee with included scallops, a langastino, and some rice and noodles. This restaurant is the kind of no frills seafood that lets the kitchen and the fruit of the sea shine. my stomach or tongue can't tell if the 20 year old clipping of Joe Montana that has faded to barely legible is my eye candy. excellent.
The second day took us north to Napa Valley. We stopped at a little mexican spot called Frida's in the town of Napa. I had two enchiladas that were as good as any I'd ever had. It was a strange sight seeing racks of wine glasses lined up instead of margarita glasses. Only in Napa. Dinner that night was a little spot called The French Laundry. I really don't know how to review this restaurant yet. Was it excellent? yes ...was it as good as per se or the inn at little washington? I don't think so. Service was great, Keller was absent, there were two servers that were easily stumpable, and I am always confused at the time between dishes as they vary to 10 minutes. I will do a separate review of this restaurant in detail.
The third day was an exhaustive, yet invigorating full day trip to the south. We left the hotel at 7:30 am and first went to the Winchester Mystery House. This place is really cool. Sarah Winchester was a gorgeous, brilliant woman who had some horrible misfortunes and a medium that pushed her over the edge. So she built on her house to keep the native american spirits at bay, and built, and built, and built. for 38 years, 24/7/365. There were stairs to nowhere, windows in the floor, and doors where the first step would leave you with a broken body. we continued south to the carmel highlands where we ate at Rocky Point Restaurant. Horst is an Austrian American who has a knack for hosting. His establishment overlooked as beautiful of a setting as there is in America. The fare was a mixture of Mexican and seafood. There were 18 of our friends on this trip, and at the final dinner we were reflecting on our favorite parts, and this restaurant came up again and again. Appetizers included jumbo breaded prawns, calamari, lump crab, clam chowder, and more. The calamari was cut in strips, not rings, which showed the freshness. I had a cheeseburger for lunch that was good, but overcooked. Marilyn had a chimichanga and decided to share..... lucky me. it was excellent. Later we went to the Carmel mission and shopping in Carmel, where I found a great jacket for $19.99 woo hoo! Clay and Trevor also picked one up. Upon returning from in not so fast coach, Jennifer and I settled into our room at the ritz-carlton with a pepperoni pizza from room service. after i ordered the pizza i ran downstairs to get a whiff of fresh air and ran into Chef Ron Siegel of the five star Dining Room. He was genial and I told him we would be dining with him the next day.
On the final day we had lunch at Cavallo Point. It is across the Golden Gate in Fort Baker Nat'l Historic Park. The food was good, butternut squash bisque with apples and creme fraiche, house made fresh pastries, and another cheeseburger on ciabatta bread that was cooked med as asked. I could see the bridge from my seat, and Jennifer had some corn meal pancakes that rocked! Life was good. The next day the New York Times reviewed the lodge-restaurant-area. I love being ahead of the curve. Dinner was at our hotel in the Dining Room. Kinda hard to describe this night. When you are at a table with 17 other diners, i guess it is hard to keep up to 5 star standards. The food was pretty good, but more like 4 star level. I'll touch more on this and add some photos with the French Laundry article. San Francisco still rocks, a very unique city that says live and let live. AE
The second day took us north to Napa Valley. We stopped at a little mexican spot called Frida's in the town of Napa. I had two enchiladas that were as good as any I'd ever had. It was a strange sight seeing racks of wine glasses lined up instead of margarita glasses. Only in Napa. Dinner that night was a little spot called The French Laundry. I really don't know how to review this restaurant yet. Was it excellent? yes ...was it as good as per se or the inn at little washington? I don't think so. Service was great, Keller was absent, there were two servers that were easily stumpable, and I am always confused at the time between dishes as they vary to 10 minutes. I will do a separate review of this restaurant in detail.
The third day was an exhaustive, yet invigorating full day trip to the south. We left the hotel at 7:30 am and first went to the Winchester Mystery House. This place is really cool. Sarah Winchester was a gorgeous, brilliant woman who had some horrible misfortunes and a medium that pushed her over the edge. So she built on her house to keep the native american spirits at bay, and built, and built, and built. for 38 years, 24/7/365. There were stairs to nowhere, windows in the floor, and doors where the first step would leave you with a broken body. we continued south to the carmel highlands where we ate at Rocky Point Restaurant. Horst is an Austrian American who has a knack for hosting. His establishment overlooked as beautiful of a setting as there is in America. The fare was a mixture of Mexican and seafood. There were 18 of our friends on this trip, and at the final dinner we were reflecting on our favorite parts, and this restaurant came up again and again. Appetizers included jumbo breaded prawns, calamari, lump crab, clam chowder, and more. The calamari was cut in strips, not rings, which showed the freshness. I had a cheeseburger for lunch that was good, but overcooked. Marilyn had a chimichanga and decided to share..... lucky me. it was excellent. Later we went to the Carmel mission and shopping in Carmel, where I found a great jacket for $19.99 woo hoo! Clay and Trevor also picked one up. Upon returning from in not so fast coach, Jennifer and I settled into our room at the ritz-carlton with a pepperoni pizza from room service. after i ordered the pizza i ran downstairs to get a whiff of fresh air and ran into Chef Ron Siegel of the five star Dining Room. He was genial and I told him we would be dining with him the next day.
On the final day we had lunch at Cavallo Point. It is across the Golden Gate in Fort Baker Nat'l Historic Park. The food was good, butternut squash bisque with apples and creme fraiche, house made fresh pastries, and another cheeseburger on ciabatta bread that was cooked med as asked. I could see the bridge from my seat, and Jennifer had some corn meal pancakes that rocked! Life was good. The next day the New York Times reviewed the lodge-restaurant-area. I love being ahead of the curve. Dinner was at our hotel in the Dining Room. Kinda hard to describe this night. When you are at a table with 17 other diners, i guess it is hard to keep up to 5 star standards. The food was pretty good, but more like 4 star level. I'll touch more on this and add some photos with the French Laundry article. San Francisco still rocks, a very unique city that says live and let live. AE
2 comments:
Rocky Point is one of my favorite spots on earth. The view is unmatched, and the beer and burgers are pretty good.
I'm looking forward to your French Laundry report, Ashley. On my last visit I thought the food was technically excellent but lacked soul, and the portions were obscenely large.
Next trip, you must dine at Manresa in Los Gatos.
Ashley, this post was excellent. I know your reviews are going to be scooped up!
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