On Day 3, we were joined by our friends Jessica and Mark and spent the day visiting wineries. On our last day, we headed down to San Francisco first thing in the morning. We again met up with Jessica and Mark to see their lovely, new, larger apartment and to get some tasty dim sum, before flying back to Austin.
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124 Matheson Street
Healdsburg, CA 95448-4118
(707) 433-3200
We decided to have a picnic lunch at one of the wineries. We stopped by Oakville Grocery’s Healdsburg outpost (the original is in Napa Valley) which was located conveniently one block from our hotel. They have a fantastic selection of foodstuffs ranging from fresh fruit, meats, cheese and olives to sandwiches and pizzas. The store is super cute as well.
We made our first stop at Peay Vineyards. Stephen and I had our first Peay wine at Trio, in Austin, and were hooked. They produce lovely, European influenced pinots and cold-climate syrahs. They are actually located at the northernmost reaches of Sonoma in Cloverdale. To celebrate their spring release, they had a lovely party with all of the current wines, as well as cheese and salumi selections and fantastic grilled sausage sandwiches. The party was held in their winery which is situated in the middle of down town Cloverdale. It was a great experience as we to try old release wines and all of the new ones that weren’t sold out. Yummy. We spent the rest of the afternoon roaming through the Russian River Valley. We had our picnic lunch at Rochioli Winery. It is a pretty vineyard with a great picnic area. They were very sweet and we enjoyed one of their current sauvignon blancs with our lunch. From there we headed on to Arista. A Texan family is behind this recent addition and they’ve started making some pretty good pinots. A winery to keep on your radar. Next we ventured to Gary Farrell. Stephen and I first went to Gary Farrell 5 years ago with Stephen’s friend Reid. It was our first wine tasting ever, and this pretty winery holds a special place in my heart. We acquired some of their library merlots and enjoyed the view. Our second to last stop was at Moshin Vineyards. They were hilarious. They have pretty decent wines and the tasting room and staff are highly amusing. While we sipped the wines against a musical backdrop of Lady Gaga, we listened to stories regarding the making of the wines. They had great one liners like “when you opt to do native yeast fermentation, don’t fill up the barrels completely, they overflow….” Finally, we went to J Vineyards to finish up with some sparkling wine. We tried vintage and late-disgorgement wines which were intriguing. The staff was not great. They were the least informed we’d ever met. Not the best experience, but tasty wines.
317 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448-4105
(707) 922-5399
For our last night in the wine country, we revisited Charlie Palmer’s restaurant, conveniently located in the bottom of our stylish hotel. Of all the meals we had, this one was the most approachable. You weren’t wondering as to the ingredient combination or puzzled by a foam. Now I happen to adore adventuresome chefs, so approachable isn’t necessarily what I look for, but I know some folks do. If you want great food you understand, this is the place for you.
We started with the Sonoma Greens Salad which I expected to be composed of delicate spring leaves, but we got some pretty hearty romaine wedges instead. The dressing was nice, and I enjoyed crunching my way through. I then had the Coriander Crusted Duck with Caramelized Onions, Celeriac Mousseline and Confit. I ordered medium and it came out medium! The chefs out here don’t seem to be suffering from the under-doneness I’ve found elsewhere. I also ordered a side of the Ragout of Mushrooms, which was large and had tasty trumpets in it (my fave). Stephen had the Poached Guinea Hen with Peas and Ham. He also ordered a side of veggies which contained lovely summer squash and thinly sliced fennel. For dessert we split the ice cream/sorbet. It came in a triangle presentation of nine flavors. I loved the pistachio, the mint and the espresso-Baileys. Oh the strawberry rhubarb was superb. The chocolate and chili was a little heated for me, but overall, quite tasty!
For wine, we had a pinot off of their extremely Sonoma–focused wine list. You would be hard pressed to find a wine not from this specific area. We ended up trying out a 2007 Kosta Browne (K vineyard). It was a little unapproachable at first, but it opened up nicely with rich earthy undertones, and delicate red fruit on the palate.
Dry Creek Kitchen occupies a beautiful space. It has huge glass windows with large open areas under vaulted ceilings. Each of the tables is covered with a white table cloth, pots of ivy adorn the tops and the warm glow of firelight is cast about the place. The ambience supports the new American cuisine to perfection. This is a lovely restaurant.
49 Stevenson Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 541-4949
I try to get dim sum every time I head to San Francisco. I always go to Yank Sing, which has multiple locations around down town. This location is tucked away on a side street, and it gets pretty crowded fast on the weekends. We always order a pot of jasmine tea and order what we fancy from the carts that are pushed around the dining room. One of their specialties is the Shanghai Dumpling or “soup” dumpling – a broth is carefully encased in a delicate wonton – and it is quite tasty. I also always order their pork baos and the egg custards. It’s a great place to gorge on lovely Chinese dumplings!
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