girl & the goat

Our first dinner reservation in Chicago was at Girl & the Goat. It's the restaurant of Chef Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef season 4. It was in West Loop, which wasn't very convenient via public transportation from where we were staying in River North, so we ended up taking a cab there. It was chilly outside anyway.

girl & the goat

The decor was somewhat rustic, with lots of warm wood, and it was pleasantly crowded inside—pretty lively for 6pm on a Tuesday night.


One of the interesting things we noticed when we got the menu was that there was a bread section. Most restaurants automatically bring you the obligatory bread, which is good but not terribly exciting. It's really just a filler—fill time before the rest of the food comes out, fill space in your stomach so you're not starving for too long. A few places have an olive tapenade or oil & vinegar, but it's often just good quality butter. Not exactly ground breaking.

The exciting thing here is that the bread isn't an opportunity missed. By offering three creative options for bread with accompaniments, and charging for them, the bread becomes a meaningful course rather than filler. It's also a lot less likely to go to waste. We chose the "Esteban Fresas":

esteban fresas . strawberry butter . strawberry rhubarb agrodolce

esteban fresas

This was a great way to start the meal. The bread was warm and fresh—kind of a dense, wheaty mini-loaf with almonds on top. To go with it, there was strawberry butter and strawberry rhubarb agrodolce. The strawberry butter had only a hint of sweetness, a little salt, and some strawberry flavor. Meanwhile, the agrodolce had the sweetness of the strawberries, as well as the acidity to cut through the butter. If the dessert menu hadn't been so appealing, I might have been tempted to end the meal with this too.


The next to arrive was our selection from the vegetable column of the menu:

roasted beets . green beans . white anchovy . avocado creme fraiche

roasted beets

I've come to enjoy beet salads, but a lot of them seem to be pretty similar. This one was a little different, though. It had green beans, white anchovy, avocado creme friache, and bread crumbs instead of greens, citrus, and/or cheese. There was a refreshing summer-like coolness to it all, balanced by the savory white anchovy and the crunchy breadcrumbs.

Goat came soon after. With the restaurant being called Girl & the Goat, I was expecting at least one goat dish on the menu. In fact, it had its own category on the smaller menu with the bread and the oyster preparations. We went with the Goat Carpaccio, which I was curious to try.

goat carpaccio . tongue-olive vinaigrette . smoked roe

goat carpaccio

It wasn't quite as memorable a dish as the previous couple, but it was still very tasty. The things that left the biggest impression were the delicate texture of the goat, sliced paper-thin, and the tangy acid of the vinaigrette. Good stuff.


The other revelation of the meal for me was the fish course:

pan roasted halibut . brandade . grilled asparagus . green garlic . blackberry

pan roasted halibut

I let Steve make our selection from the fish column of the menu. I probably would have chosen the crudo, the calamari with rabbit ravioli or the one with the soft shell crab over the more typical (read: boring) fish fillet. However, Steve chose well in this case. The halibut was complemented really well by the salt cod in the brandade, the slices of asparagus, the tiny potato chips, and the fruity blackberry sauce. This was certainly not lacking in personality.


One more savory course to go:

goat chorizo flatbread . ramp pesto . rhubarb . fresh ricotta

goat chorizo flatbread

More goat, but this one was from the meat column of the menu. It was a good combination for a flatbread. The goat itself wasn't too different from lamb or even beef, although a side by side comparison would probably show otherwise. Either way, it was good. The rhubarb on top was a nice touch too; we wondered if it was pickled, because it was somewhat acidic. The tragic part in all of this was that we couldn't finish it and still have room for dessert. We took the rest back to the hotel with us, but with no fridge in our room, we had to throw it away the next day. At least the kitchen got the message that we liked it.


But dessert was indeed necessary, especially with an option like this:

rhubarb n' lemon . shortcake . buttermilk panna cotta . lemon gelato . salted graham cracker

rhubarb n' lemon

What's not to like about layers of dessert in a Mason jar? Nothing, that's what. I guess it was a little hard to get all the way down to the bottom... But each new layer was a fun surprise in flavor or texture. There was the buttermilk panna cotta on top, the salty graham cracker crumbs, the cold lemon gelato, some spongy shortcake, and tart rhubarb compote, if I remember correctly. I may not have been able to eat all of the flatbread, but I finished this (with a little help from Steve).


Of the meals we had in Chicago, Girl & the Goat was one of my very favorites. It's just the sort of restaurant that Steve and I really like—small plates to share—and every dish was interesting (in a good way). I especially liked the unexpected use of fruit with the bread and the halibut. I don't know if that's a new trend, a Chicago thing or a Stephanie Izard thing, but I approve. Now, if we can just get back to Chicago some day to eat there again...
  

wineless in wine country

Contrary to the title of this post, we were not completely wineless on our last day in Napa.  However, Wednesday began without the wine tastings of the previous two days.  After checking out of our hotel, we headed to the Round Pond Olive Mill in Rutherford for a different kind of tasting.  I had come across Round Pond while looking at travel websites.  They have a winery across the street, but I was trying to find some options for things to do that didn't involve wine.  A tour and tasting at the olive mill turned out to be a nice switch, and it gave us a rest from the alcohol.

round pond

We got there around 10am for the tour, and we ended up in a group of about 10 people.  The tour itself was interesting, but it didn't travel very far.  We spent a while right outside the building, standing next to one of the olive trees.  There, we learned a little about growing olives: the main kinds they have (Spanish and Italian), the things they have to do to avoid pests (keep the ground free of dead fruit and trim the trees so that there's more space between the top part of the trunk and the branches), and how best to harvest the fruit to avoid bruising (by hand).

Having covered all that, we went back inside and examined the working part of the building.  We were told that Round Pond is one of the only olive oil producers in the area with its own mill, so they don't have to transport the olives before processing them or work around a shared mill's busy schedule.  As a result, higher quality is retained, and the oil doesn't get the bitterness that comes from bruised fruit. There was a machine with big stone wheels for crushing the olives, old school style, as well as more modern centrifuges for separating the oil from the water.  I didn't actually take any pictures of the machinery; it didn't seem particularly photogenic to me.

tasting spread

The tasting part of the tour and tasting, however, was indeed picture-worthy.  At the table, we each had two blue glasses, which contained tastes of olive oil.  The first was the Italian Varietal, and the second was the Blood Orange.  The blue glasses were used so that color would not be a factor in the tasting.  So we tried each of the olive oils, after a little instruction in the correct way to do so.  We warmed the cup in our hands a bit, took a sip, and then slurped in some air—not unlike Hannibal Lecter with the fava beans and chianti.  It was kind of silly, but it did make it easier to taste the flavors in the oil without it simply coating the tongue.
  
I ended up liking the Blood Orange better than the Italian.  The Italian Varietal was more assertive and spicier, while the Blood Orange was made with the more mellow Spanish olive varieties.  The blood orange flavor was also better incorporated than I might have expected.  Rather than just infusing olive oil with flavor, they actually grind the fruit peels with olives to get more of their oils thoroughly melded with the olive oil.
 
Next up to taste was red wine vinegar.  Round Pond makes two kinds, which makes sense, since the winery has plenty of red wine and red wine grapes.  We tried the Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot vinegar first, but I preferred the Sangiovese-Nebbiolo-Petit Verdot, which just seemed better balanced to me.  Again, the tasting involved some tricks.  For the vinegar, we were provided with two sugar cubes.  The idea is to get a drop of vinegar on a sugar cube and then suck it out.  The sugar is supposed to compensate for the acid of the vinegar and make it more palatable.  Of course, if you accidentally get too much vinegar on the sugar cube, it disintegrates into a sticky mess.  Not that one of us would ever do that... (Steve.)

ready for tasting

After the official tasting of the oil and vinegar, we were left on our own to mix and match with the various Round Pond products and the food on the table.  There were pieces of bread, salad greens, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, strawberries, blue cheese, and pecorino cheese.  I made myself a nice salad with my favorites of the oil and vinegar and tried the two oils again, with bread this time.

In addition to the oils and vinegars, Round Pond produces meyer lemon and blood orange syrups.  (Presumably, they're using the parts of the fruits that aren't getting used in the flavored olive oils.)  They were pretty sweet, but they went well with the salty pecorino cheese.  The meyer lemon syrup was also tasty with the strawberries.

In the end, we bought a bottle each of the Blood Orange Olive Oil and the Sangiovese-Nebbiolo-Petit Verdot Vinegar.  They also had these adorable little bottles, so we got one of the Italian Varietal and one of the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil.

mini bottles

After Round Pond Olive Mill, we made a quick stop at nearby Honig to purchase a bottle of their Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.  We had done a tasting there last year, by appointment, but we didn't bother to do one this year.  Still, I wanted to bring home a bottle of the dessert wine, so we dropped by and bought one.

  

By this time, it was almost noon.  Despite our little snack at the olive mill, we were hungry enough to stop for some lunch before driving back home.  We decided that Bottega would be good for that.

  

bottega

We ate dinner at Michael Chiarello's restaurant in Yountville at the start of our trip last year—the picture above is from that evening.  Unfortunately, we had eaten too big a snack too late that day, so didn't feel like we had really done the place justice.  Lunch was a good chance to try again and taste some more dishes.
 
We each ordered a glass of wine—sparkling for me and red for Steve—and started with one of the specials: a salmon tartare.

salmon tartare

I should mention that we were seated outside on the covered patio.  I was excited to sit outside, because it seemed so picturesque.  What I didn't think about beforehand was the effect that the orange canopy would have on pictures taken under it.  My camera (and Lightroom) tried its best to compensate for it, but all of the pictures ended up exceptionally red-pink.  It took all of my meager skills at using Lightroom to make them look like they weren't radioactive.  The first and third pictures of the meal still aren't quite right, but believe me, they're a whole lot better than they were.
 
The picture of my lunch entree fared a little better.
 
Swiss Chard & Ricotta Raviolo, farm fresh egg yolk & sage browned butter parmigiano
  

raviolo

When I ordered this, our waiter made sure that I knew that it had runny egg yolk in it, which oozes out when the raviolo is cut open.  I guess they're used to tourists, many of whom are scared of anything that's not fully cooked.  I have no problem with it, as long as the chef knows what he or she is doing.  My only problem with the raviolo was that the dough was a little gluey around the edges.  Other than that, the flavors were great.

Steve also got a pasta dish:
  
Garganelli with tomato braised rabbit sugo, wild mushrooms & ricotta

garganelli

Again, not the best picture, but Steve enjoyed the food.  It was more his style of pasta, though: braised and earthy.  I tend to prefer cheesy and/or lemony.
  
We didn't see Chef Chiarello at all during our lunch, but apparently, he was at work in the kitchen.  We heard our waiter talking to a table that arrived a while after us, introducing a new appetizer special that Chiarello was testing out.  It must have been really new, since it wasn't being offered when we arrived.  The other table was asking about a dish that they had seen on the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  They were told that that dish wasn't on the menu at the time, but they could try this new appetizer, made by Michael Chiarello himself.  Not a bad consolation prize, really.
 
After lunch, there was just one more stop to make: Bouchon Bakery, across the street.  I wanted to get some cookies to take home with us.  We had gotten a TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo) the year before, so I wanted to get some of those for sure.  But last year, I hadn't known if I was allergic to almonds or not, which prevented me from trying the macarons.  This year, there was no such deterrent.  We left with an assortment of French macarons, several TKOs, and a foie gras dog biscuit to give to Dan and Carmen's dog, Enzo.  Steve's parents were going on a camping trip the next weekend with Dan and Carmen, so we sent along a TKO and a vanilla macaron for each couple to share.  (They were all pretty big cookies.)
 
The day after we got back, I did the obligatory photo shoot with the remaining macarons.  We had eaten the caramel one already, but we still had coffee, vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry.  In case you're wondering, they tasted as good as they looked.
 

macarons

And thus ends the recounting of the second anniversary Napa trip.  (Finally.)  It was a lovely visit to wine country, and although we didn't experience as many wineries as last time, the food more than made up for it.  I would gladly return to any of the restaurants we tried, especially the Restaurant at Meadowood, which just earned its third Michelin star.  The French Laundry is the only other three-star Michelin restaurant in the Bay Area, so that's quite an accomplishment.

redd dinner

Redd was the last restaurant we visited for dinner while we were in Napa Valley.  Located on the main road in Yountville, it was just a short walk there from the Yountville Inn.  We passed it every morning on the way to and from Bouchon Bakery for breakfast, so it made sense to snap a few exterior pictures of it on Tuesday morning, while it was still quiet but set for lunch.
 

redd

There's a nice courtyard for outdoor dining, as well as a regular dining room inside.  We didn't request outdoor seating in our reservation, so we were seated inside.  I probably could have gotten better pictures outside, but I was fine with sitting inside too.
 

courtyard

Steve and I decided to order off the regular menu for this meal, rather than getting another tasting menu.  After two sizable dinners the previous nights, I wasn't sure I could make it through a third in a row.  Of course, we ended up ordering enough a la carte that we probably had about the same amount of food anyway.  But at least we had the control to order the dishes that really appealed to us.
 
First to arrive:
 
Yellowfin tuna tartare, asian pear, chili oil, fried rice, cilantro
 

tuna tartare

The fried rice was served on the side, because it was fried in peanut oil, which may or may not be safe.  Even without it, it was a good dish.  I liked the combination of tuna and avocado with the crisp and fruity Asian pear.  The evening sunlight was coming through the windows just right, however, so I ended up with this one crazy dramatic picture.  By the time the next dishes came, the light was more even.
 
Carnaroli risotto, maine lobster, meyer lemon confit, truffle oil
   

lobster risotto

We pretty much had to try this one.  I like risottos and lobster, so I was curious.  It didn't disappoint; I gladly accepted more than my half of it.  The downside was that since it was risotto, it made me full faster.
 
Caramelized diver scallops, cauliflower puree, almonds, balsamic reduction
 

scallops

This was one of Steve's picks.  I'm not much of a scallop person, so I let him have two of the three while I ate more of the risotto.  I will admit that this was the prettiest dish we ordered, but I probably appreciated the cauliflower puree and other accompaniments more than the scallops themselves.
 
Potato gnocchi, lamb bolognese, parmesan
 

gnocchi

We had decided to get two larger plates in addition to our three smaller ones, and this was my pick.  It was a half order, which turned out to be plenty.  The gnocchi were lovely and pillowy, with some browning on the outsides, but the lamb bolognese was a little heavy for my diminishing appetite.
 
Liberty farms duck breast, shelling bean cassoulet, thyme jus
 

duck breast

Steve's choice was the duck breast, and I ended up only eating one slice.  It was cooked perfectly, and the beans complemented it well, but it was still more of a Steve dish.  I'm happier with lighter fare when I'm having multiple dishes at a restaurant.
 
I managed to find room for dessert, though.  I couldn't resist when I saw this on the menu:
 
Peach "summer pudding", sauternes cake, sabayon, fried almonds
 

summer pudding

This was my kind of dessert.  There was a spongy cake on the bottom, soaked in a white dessert wine and topped with peaches and a creamy sabayon sauce.  There some iciness on top too, so there might have been a peach granita as well.  The stuff that looked like parmesan cheese turned out to be grated white chocolate, but the fried almonds were left off because of frying in peanut oil again.  Nevertheless, it was the dessert that I enjoyed most on our trip.
 
The last bites, served with the check, were a couple grapefruit truffles and two pieces of toffee.  Lucky for me, the toffee was made with almonds, so I was able to eat it.
 

truffles & toffee

Redd turned out to be a good restaurant choice.  It would be interesting to go back sometime, eat outside, and maybe order the tasting menu.  A couple of the dishes seem to have an Eastern slant, but overall it's fresh, seasonal, wine country food done well.

the restaurant at meadowood

As of August 16, I've added another restaurant to my "Best Meals of All Time" list.  The French Laundry has been at the top since 2007, with Cafe Boulud and Le Bernardin a few spots below.  But I've found a new #2: the Restaurant at Meadowood.

Deciding where to eat dinner for our second anniversary was a matter of choosing from among several highly rated restaurants in the Napa Valley.  But it wasn't until I checked the Napa area on my "Restaurants to Try" Google Map that I remembered Meadowood as an option.  A few months before, I had read Michael Bauer's SF Chronicle review of the restaurant.  I had never heard of it, but there he was, giving the restaurant four stars—his highest rating.  So I saved it to my map and promptly forgot about it.

When I finally remembered it, while planning the trip, I went to the restaurant's website.  It's part of a resort, so the website is not your typical flashy restaurant page.  Nevertheless, I was able to watch a few videos about the place, look at sample tasting menus, and read more about the chef.  Christopher Kostow was one of Food & Wine's best new chefs of 2009, and the restaurant has two Michelin stars.  It's not the three stars of the French Laundry, but it's still really impressive.  I showed Steve, and he agreed that it would be a good place to eat for our anniversary.

It was about a 15-20 minute drive up Silverado Trail from Yountville to the resort, around St. Helena.  We turned off the main road, went through some vineyards, and found ourselves in a wooded area at the resort.  Steve thought it reminded him of the resort we stayed at in Hawaii during our honeymoon, probably because of the guardhouse at the entrance.  The rest of it reminded me a little of the Inn at Otter Crest, where we stayed a few years ago in Oregon.  The guard gave us directions to the restaurant, and we drove along, past some tennis courts, to the main parking area.  With a little help from the person at the main desk, we found the restaurant, tucked away to the side.
 

meadowood

We made our way inside and were seated in the dining room, next to a window.  Since we were the first ones there at 6pm, I didn't feel bad about pointing my camera at the rest of the room for a couple pictures.  It was elegant, but somewhat small and just cozy enough.  With lots of windows on one side of the polygon, there was plenty of light.  And when the sun dropped a little, they opened the shade next to us so we had a nice view of the golf course and surrounding pine trees.
 

flower & dining room

I didn't look very much at most of the menu.  At places like this, we usually just get the main tasting menu and trust that the chef knows what he's doing, considering he's been this successful.  Here, they offer prix fixe menus with choices for three or four courses, in addition to the chef's tasting menu.  If we were to go again, we'd probably do the smaller one, but we had to go all out for our anniversary.  Luckily, nothing had to be adjusted to accommodate my allergies, since we know now that almonds and mushrooms are both safe.  It was nice to know that I wasn't missing any components, so I could enjoy the dishes as they were meant to be.
  

menu

We also ordered one full wine pairing to share, which they split between two glasses for us.  It was good that we did that, because even half a taste of seven wines was a lot.  They may have been extra generous with their pours, though, knowing that it was a special occasion. 

The first bite to come out of the kitchen were just perfect.  It was brought to us on a little brown velvet pillow (one for each of us, actually), but I put mine on my bread and butter plate for the picture.

gourmet cheese cracker

It was a pillow itself, but the outside was crisp like a cracker.  It was filled with fromage blanc and topped with little herbs.  It tasted great and it was just so pretty.

Next was another canapé... or two. 

more canapes

There was something with squid and perhaps potato (on the right) and there were baby carrots and radishes served with an herb infused snow (on the left).  I have a bad memory for things I don't see in writing, so that's the best I can do for a description for those.  The vegetables and snow were certainly memorable, though.  I've seen pictures of other versions of this served with "dirt," but the snow provided an interesting temperature difference in addition to the whimsy.

The last of the "first bites" came in the form of a baked potato parfait.

baked potato parfait

There were layers of various potato flavors in custards and purees, including one layer that tasted like potato skins.  According to Chef Kostow via the restaurant's website, there are actually "six layers of potato goodness in each bite." On top were oysters and caviar.  In some ways, it reminded me of "Oysters and Pearls" at the French Laundry, but this dish was clearly showcasing the potato flavors rather than the oysters.  The one problem with it was that the whole thing was a little on the salty side.  (By mistake, I'm sure.)  Unfortunately, that eclipsed some of the subtler potato flavors.

The first regular dish was next to arrive, however, and it turned out to be one of my favorites.

Wagyu Beef Cured in Meadowood Pine
Hamachi, Scandinavian Flavors

wagyu beef cured in meadowood pine

I didn't quite know what to expect from the "Scandinavian flavors," but the dish worked very well as a whole.  There was a thin strip of the cured beef, with a smaller strip of hamachi down the middle, and sea beans, caviar, dill, and other things from the garden on top.  I didn't notice much of the pine flavor in the beef, but its contribution was probably pretty subtle, like everything else.  Part of the charm was the presentation, with the tiny leaves and bits of herbs.  It was served with a small steamed pumpernickel bun, which was also pretty cute.
  
Beans, Fresh and Dried
Smoked Avocado, Cumin, Squid

beans, fresh and dried

The second course was an interesting presentation of heirloom beans, featuring a few varieties from Rancho Gordo.  Upon hearing the description of the dish, Steve asked which varieties they were.  Our waiter returned a few minutes later, after asking the chef, and told us that they were Good Mother Stallard, Rio Zape, and Santa Maria Pinquito.  (They probably don't get that question very often.)  The beans were paired with some subtle squid (the name of my next album btw), and some smoked avocado, which was a novel twist.

The next dish was one of the most curious for me:
 
Red Abalone and Local Chicken
Black Garlic, Mendocino Seaweed, Grated Foie Gras

red abalone and local chicken

Having never had most of these ingredients before, aside from chicken, I had no idea what to expect.  In fact, I even had trouble identifying which ingredients were which on the plate.  There was a black tortellini, which might have contained the chicken and abalone.  The pasta itself was, perhaps, made with the black garlic.  Then, there were chewy pieces of seaweed and slices of mushroom.  The textures and toothsomeness were just as interesting as the flavors themselves.  This is the dish that I'd be most interested to try again in an effort to wrap my head around it better.

But there were still more courses to experience, and the subsequent one was pretty cool too.

Salad of Lamb Neck and Tongue
Compressed Melon, Dried Lime, Turmeric

salad of lamb neck and tongue

The container reminded me of a TV dinner, but its contents were about the furthest thing from it.  There were a lot of components, and many of them were... different.  The lamb tongue was probably the rarer-looking piece of meat, which was flavorful and tender.  I believe the neck bits were the pieces that looked a little like bacon, but they weren't really crisp like bacon.  The texture was closer to pork belly.  The light green strip and the orange diced bits were compressed melon, which I had never had before.  They vacuum seal the melon to compress it, trapping in all of the juices.  The result is something that's more dense and has more concentrated flavor than actual melon.  I really liked it, since I've never loved the texture and wateriness of melon.  I think the darker green dice was gelled mint, and the bright orange crisps may have been something like sweet potato chips.  To round it out, there were a couple dollops of creme fraiche and some leaves.  I'm not sure where the dried lime came in, but it was all good.

"Charred" Bavette
Morels, Snap Peas, Foie Gras Butter

"charred" bavette

This was amazingly dainty for the heaviest meat course on the tasting menu.  Then again, each dish we had had so far had been presented in a way to emphasize the sophistication and the freshness.  The main component here was the "charred" bavette steak, again with the Wagyu beef.  The quotes around "charred" referred to the fact that its dark color came from a rub of mushrooms—simultaneously sweet and earthy.  Underneath were lines of the foie gras butter and most likely a balsamic reduction.  Accompanying it was "laminated potato" with herbs between the thin layers.  Under the strips of potato sat a couple of morels.  Perched on top were snap peas, a tiny onion (probably cipollini), and some tiny chive flowers.  The whole presentation was lovely, but I was losing steam.  And by "steam," I mean appetite.  Steve was happy to finish my dish for me, although I was sad to miss out on eating most of it.  During a smaller meal, I would have happily eaten two of these.

Unfortunately, there was still one more savory course to go: cheese.  (I know, poor me.)

Mimolette Cromesquis
Padron Peppers, Pizzo Leaves

mimolette cromesquis

These were the chef's take on jalapeño poppers.  The cheese was cheddary, and the peppers that accompanied them were little padron peppers, which are usually not very spicy.  This course was actually served with beer, rather than wine.  It was a fun twist, but I'm still more of a wine person than a beer person.  Also, I was already at the point where I couldn't take any more savory food.  Again, Steve performed his public service and ate my last couple bites.

Finally, it was time for sweet.  This I could handle.
   
Lemon Sorbet
Nasturtium, Tiny Licorice

lemon sorbet

It was a simple presentation of light and refreshing lemon sorbet, but it was kicked up a notch (bam!) with a candied nasturtium petal and subtle licorice—the micro greens on top, maybe?  I hadn't had candied nasturtium before, but I had had the regular flowers in a soup.  They're naturally kind of sweet, so it worked well to candy the petal and pair it with slightly tart lemon.

Then, the main dessert:
 
Chocolate Almond Fudge
Olive, Brioche, Tomato

chocolate almond fudge

It was certainly an interesting idea, putting olives with chocolate and almonds.  I'm not sure it made the most satisfying dessert, though.  I'm not a big fan of olives, so even though its marriage with the chocolate kind of worked, it wasn't my favorite combination.  I think the tomato element was the clear gelee, but it didn't assert itself very much.  Anyway, points for originality.

Final bites came in the form of little coconut macarons and chocolate truffles.

mignardises

Unlike our meal at the French Laundry, we weren't subjected to a parade of lovely desserts after the two that were already included on the printed menu.  Those were charming, but excessive and almost depressing, since I was already quite full by that point.  The macaron and truffle, on the other hand, were just enough.  What's one more tiny bite, especially if it's a light-as-air coconut macaron?

As we were looking at the check, we got a visit from Chef Kostow at our table.  He was probably doing his nightly rounds to greet the diners, and we were most likely the first ones to finish our dinner.  He seemed like a really nice guy—and relatively young too.  He thanked us for dining at his restaurant, and we thanked him for the wonderful food.
 
While each course was amazing and beautiful on its own, part of what made the meal such a memorable experience was the service.  It was the typical wine country fine dining style—easy and comfortable, yet refined.  A couple of the service staff remarked on my camera, but it was always in a welcoming way, and I never felt awkward about taking pictures of the food.  We also bonded a little with our waiter, after he asked where we were visiting from.  We soon learned that he had once lived in our neighborhood, in the house next to the one with the really ugly paint job.  He used to shop at our usual corner produce store and get burritos from our favorite place.  He was friendly and engaging, but he also was very articulate and polite.  He seemed to fit in perfectly.

The Restaurant at Meadowood was only slightly less formal than the French Laundry, but that was probably the main reason for having one less Michelin star.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed it just as much.  The meal was relaxed, well-paced, and pleasant all around.  It really was the perfect place to spend our anniversary.
 
When it was over and we could eat no more, we left Meadowood and drove back to Yountville to exchange anniversary presents.  It was our "cottonversary," so Steve got me a stuffed corduroy elephant to go with the corduroy pig that we already had.  I got him a random t-shirt from the pirate store that said "Mercury Cougar-Rama Muscle Car-'Splosion" and a dish towel from Anthropologie that actually listed the traditional anniversary gifts for each year.  Who knows what we'll find for year three—leather or crystal—but hopefully, we'll find somewhere good to eat.


Side note: Steve and I saw Christopher Kostow compete on Iron Chef America less than a month after our dinner.  It was Battle Oatmeal against Cat Cora and—Spoiler Alert!—he won.  :)

morimoto napa

The first fancy dinner of our stay in wine country this time was at Morimoto Napa on Sunday evening.  Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's newest restaurant opened in July, just in time for our mid-August trip.  I knew Steve would be especially interested in eating there, so I made sure to fit it into our schedule.  Luckily, getting reservations on OpenTable for 5:30 on a Sunday night was pretty easy.
 
When we arrived, we were asked whether we would like to sit inside or outside.  While the dining room was appealing in modern yellow and gray, with warm woods and grapevines on the walls, I knew that the light would be more conducive to taking photos out on the patio.  We would also have a nice view of the Napa River, even though it's not the prettiest this time of year.
 
As we were led from the lounge area, past the open kitchen, we saw Morimoto himself standing at the pass in his black chef's jacket, striped apron, shorts, and running shoes.  I maintained my composure, but I was definitely thinking, "It's him!  He's here!!"  (squee!)  I really hadn't expected to see the chef, but the restaurant was still new enough that he was there to oversee things.  Most of the time, he appeared to be watching the food going out, making sure everything was up to his standards, but leaving the cooking to his crew.
 
We were shown to a table on the covered patio, next to the building.

menu

 
The design on the menu and wine list covers seemed to be a stylized version of the grapevines that decorated the dining room.  The menu itself was rather large, but we saved ourselves the burden of choosing by ordering the Omakase tasting menu.

setting

  
It had been hot all afternoon, so we ordered a couple cocktails to start off the meal.  Steve got the Tokyo Tea (bombay gin, lychee liquer, jasmine tea) and I went for the Lychee-Yuzu Daiquiri (matuselem rum, nigori sake whipped cream).  Mine was certainly the more girly of the two, but it wasn't a sugar bomb.  It was subtly sweet and refreshing—perfect for the evening.
  

tokyo tea & lychee-yuzu daiquiri

Our first course was a very Iron Chefy presentation of tuna tartare.
 
Toro Tartare
black nori paste, wasabi, crème fraiche, chopped chives, avocado, and rice crackers
  

toro tartare

Served on a bamboo tablet, it was finely chopped toro with various accompaniments.  The idea was to use the little shovel to get some tuna and one of the garnishes or condiments, then dip it in the dashi soy sauce and eat it.  I didn't have the black nori paste on mine, since it apparently had some sort of allergen in it, but I didn't miss it.  The whole dish was both fun and tasty.  I wasn't a big fan of the wasabi, but that's no surprise.  The other choices were satisfying, and the tuna was good on its own with the soy sauce too.  The little red ball in front was a yamamomo or mountain peach, to be eaten as a palette cleanser.  It was fruity and sweet and maybe a little tangy.
 
The second course was another favorite:
 
Kampachi 
light ginger sauce, soy sauce
  

kampachi

There were three bites of kampachi, also known as amberjack, which is a lot like my favorite, yellowtail.  I know there was soy sauce and ginger, but I don't remember exactly what else was on it.  Since we didn't have a set menu in writing, I wasn't able to take pictures of the descriptions.  I had to use the online menu and people's blogs for reference.  In any case, this was good.  I would have happily eaten more than three bites.
 
Next was a dish that was, in fact, on the regular menu.
 
Foie Gras Chawan Mushi
duck breast, wasabi, sweet soy sauce
  

chawan mushi

On first glance, one would think that the chawan mushi might be a soup.  However, one would be wrong.  Instead, it was a foie gras custard at the bottom with a tangier gelatin on top of that and a slice of duck breast on top of that.  The foie custard was really rich, so the flavor of the gelatin balanced it well.  I even did as the server instructed and used a tiny bit of wasabi in many of my bites.  (I mean tiny.)  I enjoyed the added flavor, as long as I didn't use too much.  Really, the best part of the dish was the duck breast.  It was perfectly cooked.
 
An intermezzo came after:
 
Kombucha
kelp tea
  

kombucha

It was a hot broth served in an adorable little teapot, and it tasted like the sea.  It was salty and flavorful, almost like a chicken broth.  I enjoyed about a cup and a half before giving the rest to Steve.  It started to remind me of how the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon smelled, which was not necessarily a good thing anymore.  The broth was probably just more concentrated at the bottom of the pot.
 
Having thoroughly intermezzed, it was now time for more courses.  The first of these looked a lot like a fondue.
 
Bagna Cauda
garlic, anchovy, local vegetable

bagna cauda

  
In the container above the candle was some garlic and anchovy paste in oil.  We were instructed to wait until a few bubbles started rising to the surface and then start dipping things.  There were several vegetables, a couple pieces of lightly breaded chicken, and a couple spicy croutons (behind the container of oil).  My favorites ended up being the cherry tomato, the carrot, and a baby turnip.  It was probably because those were the things that had a little sweetness to play against the saltiness and savoriness of the garlic and anchovy.
 
Nigiri
tuna, fluke, hamachi, mackerel, giant clam
  

sushi sampler

  
And what would dinner at Morimoto be without a little sushi?  Well, I do think it would have been better—for me, at least—without the wasabi on that sushi.  There's a reason I usually stick to sashimi and rolls at sushi restaurants, avoiding the nigiri.  That reason is wasabi, a dab of which is almost always between the fish and the rice.  Because Morimoto is a well known sushi chef, I was willing to try each these as they were intended, wasabi and all.  Unfortunately, all I could concentrate on was the wasabi.  It overshadowed the flavor of the fish and the rice for me, so I couldn't really tell you which of these I liked best.  I do remember that the giant clam was unexpectedly sweet, but I had some problems with the slimey texture.  Also, there's no way I can get most of these down in a single bite, like you're supposed to.   I'll stick to my sashimi and rolls strategy for a while longer.
  
Meat was next—the final savory course. 

  

Lobster 'Epice'
garam masala, lemon creme fraiche

  

Wagyu Beef
carmelized onions

  

Pork Loin
spicy tofu sauce

surf & turf & turf

  
By the time this course came, I was getting full.  I had most of my lobster claw (the best part) and a bite of the half-tail, both of with were spicy but good.  The lemon creme fraiche was a pleasantly cooling counterpart.  I also got through a bite or two of the pork loin, but I avoided the tofu sauce underneath, because of my slight soy protein allergy.  Then, I managed one bite of the wagyu beef before trading plates with Steve to let him finish mine.  It's always so sad to not finish such wonderful meat, but there comes a point in these meals when I just can't eat anymore protein.  I can tell that it's good, but it stops appealing to me, and I don't want to have to choke it down.  That's where Steve comes in handy.  He can usually finish what I can't, so at least the plates don't go back to the kitchen too full.
 
Thankfully, there was only one course left now.  They offered us coffee, which was a very good sign that dessert was coming.  I reserve my coffee drinking for the occasional morning or afternoon, but Steve got some.
   

coffee service

This was the point at which I realized just how much they must like the teardrop shape and playing that against circles.  The cream container (in front) had a teardrop top and circular bottom, the coffee cup had the same, but the handle was at the point of the teardrop, and the saucer was also similarly shaped, with a circular cup to hold the sugar packets.  The kombucha tea and the chawan mushi had come on teardrop-shaped saucers too.
 
Steve and I each got different desserts, due to the fact that the dessert on the tasting menu was all about the pistachios.
 
Pistachio Ice Cream 
poached peaches, roasted pistachios, and champagne sabayon

pistachio ice cream

I was served a sampling of sorbets instead.
 
trio of sorbets
raspberry-wasabi, white peach-miso, pineapple

sorbet trio

 
My favorite of these was the white peach-miso.  It was creamy and peachy and light.  The pineapple was also really good, but it was a little icier and not as smooth.  I took one bite of the raspberry-wasabi sorbet and promptly gave the rest to Steve.  The wasabi definitely came through, and it was clearly not my thing.  I've never been a big fan of concentrated raspberry flavor either, so that was another count against it for me.
 
I was a little disappointed that the desserts weren't more elaborate for the tasting menu.  I'd much rather have regular plated dessert than ice cream at a fancy restaurant, and many fancy restaurants with tasting menus do separate sorbet and dessert courses.  I had seen pictures of a donut dessert from Morimoto Napa, with donut holes and several little dipping sauces or powders.  It would probably need to be scaled down to fewer donut holes and less of the condiments to work for a tasting menu, but I think it would have bookended the meal nicely.  The concept is similar to the tuna tartare, and it's a bit more impressive than ice cream or sorbet.  I considered ordering it after our last course, but I was too full anyway.
 
My other criticism of the restaurant was that the service was rather slow that night.  I'm can forgive it, since it's a new restaurant.  They were probably still getting used to things, and I'm sure Morimoto demands a lot from the chefs preparing his food.  However, we got there at 5:30pm and finished dinner after 9:00pm.  I would expect that kind of time frame at the French Laundry, but there were fewer courses here and the pace felt off.  There was a lot of lag time between courses, especially in the latter half of the meal, as it got darker and chillier outside.  The heaters weren't terribly effective, so I was glad I had brought a cardigan and had a napkin to cover the part of my lap that my dress did not.  Our server also neglected to notice when Steve had finished his cocktail and ask if he'd like something else.  A couple courses went by before he started asking others to get her so he could order a beer.  Hopefully, they've gotten all the kinks ironed out now.
 
It really was a good meal, despite a few issues.  On the way out, I somehow got up the nerve to ask Chef Morimoto for a picture.  I had seen him pose for a few with other patrons, so I knew that he probably would if I asked.  Still, I'm usually way too big of a coward to actually do it.  I ended up acting on impulse, though, knowing that I'd probably regret it if I chickened out.  The chef was standing against the wall, watching the action in the kitchen, with a look of concentration on his face.  When I asked if he'd mind if I took a picture, he replied "no flash."  I assured him that I wouldn't use any—I almost never do—and I took two frames of him and Steve together, before thanking him and telling him that the meal was wonderful.

the morimoto

  
It was a kind of dark, so only Morimoto is really in focus, but he's one that matters more anyway.  He was a little intimidating, even though he was nice about letting me take the picture.  I can see how intense he must be and how his chefs must feel, working under his watchful eye in the new kitchen.
 
With that, we left Morimoto Napa, stopping across the street to take one last picture of the place.

morimoto napa

Overall, it was a memorable experience.  I'm glad we did the tasting menu, but I would definitely order a la carte if we were to return.  I'd get the toro tartare again, maybe his layered sashimi dish that comes with the little pipettes of sauces, the sea urchin carbonara, and probably the donuts.  (See this blog for pictures of those.)  I'm sure Steve would want something with meat, but I'd be happy with sashimi, pasta, and dessert.  Asian cuisine may not be my favorite; however, there's still plenty for me to love here.