For our anniversary, we decided to celebrate by heading out to the wine country in northern California. We spent several days in Napa Valley and Sonoma. Unfortunately, the weather was not great - it rained a lot! But as a result, everything was vibrant, almost hyperbolic, in its greenness. Quite beautiful.
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On day one, it took us forever to get out of SFO and so we just made a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger. It was actually the first time I had one of their famed burgers. I confess that I am not much of a fast food person. I have to say, they are pretty tasty, though, like all fast food burgers (or burgers in general), quite heavy. I ordered a cheeseburger with grilled onions. It came with their special sauce, which appears to be some derivation of russian dressing. What really impressed us was their to go service -they gave us trays for our food and basically extra-large napkins to catch any stray food. Very nice! Our only tasting on Thursday was at Chappellet at Pritchard Hill. It is located far to the east of Napa valley. It is a bit hard to get up there, as it is at a high elevation, but it is very pretty. They are known for their cabernets, but of course they do a bunch of merlots, zins, cab francs, chards, etc. Apparently they are going to be doing a chenin blanc soon. That will be interesting to taste! We ended up tasting a chardonnay, a cab franc, a merlot, They were lovely to us and we got to taste a 1973 Cabernet. Pretty fantastic - wines that are that old just have a completely different character.
6526 Yount Street
Yountville, CA 94599-1270
(707) 204-6000
We spent our first night in Yountville at this gorgeous, spare, environmentally-conscious hotel. I liked it a lot. Our room was spacious and calming. We had a fireplace and cool automatic shades on all of the windows. The outdoor architecture was beautiful. They have different designated areas designed around specific trees - we were in Magnolia, we also wandered through Olive and Birch. Plus they had a wonderful kitchen garden with a crazy artichoke plant. Lots of water features and stone work decorate the spaces. This is a soothing place with attentive staff and a high level of quality. I would definitely go back!
1245 Main St
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 255-7150
Wow. The folks here represent 18 small, boutique producers. We found some wines really like - all under the Ancien label - and one wine maker we think is amazing - Phillipe Melka. The tasting room is located in downtown Napa in a nice old building that apparently used to be a laundry. It has a lovely bar and they will pour you a tasting for $25 - 6 wines. We must have tasted 10 or 12, because I was a tough cookie. We learned a lot, though. We enjoyed stopping by before dinner.
1140 Main Street
Napa, CA 94559-2639
(707) 251-5656
Ubuntu was fantastic. This place was crazy good, and a little bit crazy too. The restaurant cum yoga studio is right on main street in Napa. The space is a large and open. There is a bar to the right, part of the kitchen is on display in the back and there is a large communal table in the middle and smaller tables dispersed around the perimeter. There are definitely some interesting sculptures - the people, the cow bell. Large photo collage artwork with inspiring sayings on the wall - imagine no possessions, etc. The waiters are helpful and very proudly tell you that the name is zulu and means extending humanity towards all (bit of BS if you ask me).
We started with a lovely snack of chickpeas with romesco sauce. They were tender and succulent and gently spiced. The menu changes depending on what is in their biodynamic garden and what they can get organic produce-wise. We had the signature dish, which was spring leaves on a sardinian flatbread with thinly sliced and toasted mushrooms and truffled cheese. It was light and a paean to all that is spring. Then we had the gnocchi with roasted and raw turnips. The raw turnips were almost sweet! Lovely pesto - Stephen wished for more greens. Then we had a curry with lemongrass and calcots. The presentation was gorgeous and unexpected - the curry was cold, but tasty! Finally, we had the grits, with the eggs, ricotta and chard. This was the heaviest dish by far, but again a harmonious melding of flavors and textures. All together, wonderful. Not necessarily as light and healthy as I would have anticipated. The wine list is small - all biodynamic growers and such. We had too - a sauvignon blanc and a colombard (reminded me of a torrontes).
Desserts were spectacular - Stephen had the chocolate and I had the pain perdue. I would go back to this restaurant in a heartbeat. Yum!
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