We had such a great time on our food tour in New Orleans, we decided
to book one in Napa from a company called Epicurean Adventures.
Our first stop is the Model Bakery. We had seen the other Model Bakery
the previous day in St. Helena, but didn't stop because the people were
lined up out the door. Our tour guide went in and bought us...
...these lovely English muffins. They are not baked; they are pan-griddled,
and fabulous. It's done with sourdough, and has corn meal in the crust,
and he brought fresh honey and apricot jam from local farms.
Over to the downtown and the Lucero Olive Oil company...
...for an olive oil tasting. We don't really recommend tasting olive
oil straight; perhaps if they had given us some bread or something to
dip into the oil. Just trying to take a sip of pure olive oil in the morning
is not really appetizing.
This, however, was an odd treat. They served vanilla ice cream, with
a little chocolate-infused olive oil on top, and some blackberry-flavored
balsamic vinegar. Shockingly, this was actually very good.
Thomas Keller (of the French Laundry) discovered the beans from this
little grocery and put these guys on the map.
You can join the "bean of the month" club if you like. We're
not really sure what Kimberly is thinking in this photo.
We stopped for a little snack of beer and cheese at this lovely little
grocer.
Out back, under the canopy, ....
...we sampled a couple of local brews, and a couple of local cheeses,
all delicious.
The almost-gone cheese on the left is from the Cowgirl Creamery. It is
a triple-cream cheese akin to Humboldt Fog. By the way, the Cowgirl Creamery
is also the maker of the world's most beautiful cheese: Truffle Tremor.
Inside the grocer, you can get cheeses and beers and wines and picnic
supplies.
On to a farm-to-table lunch at the Farmstead Restaurant...
... at the Long Meadow Ranch Winery.
Our menu for the day. Everything was served family-style for our group
of nine.
Here is a cheddar cheese biscuit, some steak tartare on a crust, and
the wood-grilled LMR peach with country ham, lemon ricotta, basil and
honey.
This is Wade eating kale salad, and actually asking for seconds. Shocking!
Of course, it was served with a Parmesan crisp on top.
Our tour guide Andrew. Note the fresh cut ham (prosciutto-style) in the
background.
More courses. Top left is a variety of local potatoes. Bottom left is
grilled rib-eye with tomatoes. Over to the right is a green bean and wax
bean salad, whichi was the one bad course. Everything else was wonderful.
Now stuffed and full of wine again, we head to the local chocolatier.
Here we are in the back of the shop where they are packing chocolates.
It's Saturday, so it is actually quiet in the back, but Andrew explains
the difference between molded chocolates and enrobed chocolates.
A sampling in the front of the store.
We then took a drive out to the CIA: the Culinary Institute of America.
They offer various programs in desserts, beverages, savories, etc. This
is high-end stuff, like $30,000 a year.
Inside, a look into the combination gift shop (for tourists) and bookstore
(for students).
A teaching room, with a kitchen up front and tiers of student seats.
On the way back, we took a quick drive on the Michelin Mile in Yountville.
Of course, we had just been there two days earlier at the French Laundry.
Another snack in the afternoon. I don't know how this place stays in
business, as it is pretty much a small garden with a greenhouse.
Here's our chef with a sip of wine, and some prosciutto-wrapped around
a nectarine fresh off the tree, and lavender and honey on top.
We went for a walk into the downtown on the final day, and passed a house
for our friend Darrolyn.
We kept it simple and had some tapas at a place called Zuzu's since we
were still full from the food tour.
