Once again I find myself headed to wine country, but this time I travel to Sonoma Valley for a bachelorette party. One of my last blogs was to Napa and San Francisco. My love of the west coast is really showing through in my blogging. :) Either way - this experience was just as good as the last, but very different. Enjoy!
Thursday April 19th, 2012
I am staying Thursday night with my pals John & Lauren who live in the Marina area of San Francisco. It's ridiculously close to the waters' edge (1 block to be exact) and has some of the best views of the bay, Alcatraz and Golden Gate. While staying at their place, I could hear the ship horns which is quite an adjustment from living in the middle of the country. The marina neighborhood offers great local shopping and a variety of restaurants. My favorite part of this area is that there is a local feel and a strong sense of community. Many shops are neighborhood hangouts with a regular crowd. I love getting away from the tourist traps and seeing how the 'locals' do it. I highly recommend visiting this area the next time you are in San Fran. Its relaxing and very laid-back. Just up my alley.
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| San Francisco Marina Neighborhood |
We started at The Plant for lunch. A great local spot for organic cuisine. All are welcome: vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, what-have-you. If you like healthy eats with a wheat grass shot on the side, this is your place. John and I had the fish tacos which were pretty fantastic. Fresh ingredients, fresh seafood, and healthy portions - all with a 'no guilt' tag attached. John ventured into the land of juice, and upstaged my 'just the tacos' order with a fresh squeezed glass of beat juice and that wheat grass shot I mentioned earlier. Ick. Lauren ordered the veggie quinoa bowl which looked delicious and guaranteed to keep you regular. Holy fiber!
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| The Plant - Cafe Organic - interior |
After lunch Lauren and I decided to do some serious wedding shoe shopping. We hit Union Square which has a large variety of stores and provides excellent people watching.
Dinner is to be at Hubert Keller's famous restaurant on Sutter Street - Fleur de Lys. I've been wanting to eat here for years. I am beyond excited and Lauren is my date. We start with a glass of champagne, and decide we shall both have the 4 course tasting menu and we don't choose our items, we ask for the chef to surprise us. Best. Decision. Ever. We also ordered a bottle of viognier. Our waiter 'Boris' we believe was the Maitre' D who also provided us with a red wine for our meat course and dessert wines with our dessert course - on the house. He earned his tip that night for sure. He was lovely.
I wish I had taken better notes, but some of the dishes I more fondly remember:
- Cold gazpacho with cucumber creme
- Variety of fresh baked breads - baguette, brioche, fig and pistachio all with fresh whipped, room temperature butter (very important, I hate cold butter at restaurants)
- Baeckeoffe - duo of fois gras
- Sole topped with sea urchin covered in sea urchin and lobster sauce
- Trio of lamb - roasted loin, sous vide, and meatball
- Grilled filet of beef with lobster tail and lobster mac n' cheese in brioche
- Mushrooms and pesto on Brioche
- Chocolate souffle
- Fleurburger - a fun take on fries, burger and shake - all in an elegant dessert form
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| Interior of Restaurant |
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| Fleur Burger |
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| Filet with lobster tail and lobster mac & cheese |
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| Baeckoffe and fois gras burger |
We ended dinner with a near death experience in a cab right where our driver proceeded to race another cab 'tokyo drift' style through the streets of San Francisco. Luckily, Lauren and I were bubbly, giggly, and full of amazing food - enough to not care that were in serious danger via this idiot cab driver. We retired to the house with a glass of Alamos Malbec in hand...and called in a night. Good first day in Frisco. I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you Hubert and Mrs. Lauren!
Friday April 20th, 2012
Today I wake up slightly hung over from the previous nights festivities, but I am headed to Sonoma so I quickly slam a coconut water and banana, and chat with John and Lauren about where we are headed for breakfast. I like to eat...can you tell?
We walked down a local food hotspot - The Grove - with amazing coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and the biggest breakfast burrito I've ever seen. After walking off breakfast, I went for a run down to Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge, it was an awesome clear day with a low fog on the bay. It was the first warm day of the season. All the locals were out enjoying the day riding bikes, running, jogging, and playing on the beach.
Soon after, Diana and her bachelorette crew picked me up and we were headed to Sonoma! I met Diana through our fiances. They went to high shcool and college together, so the rest of the weekend will be spent with Diana and her bachelorette crew. Unfortunately the drive wasn't too exciting since traffic was a bitch, but I was able to spend time with Diana's mom and soon-to-be sister in law which was nice. We made it to our weekend home, and were so excited to see Villa Crivelli.
That night we enjoyed a gourmet meal made by chef Veronica Eicken with her local in-home chef business Gift of Thyme. The menu and pictures will show you that it was UH-mazing. Mmmmmmm. Lots of wine and great food later, we were all snuggled in our beds and ready for wine tasting the next day.
Saturday April 21st
The next day we wake, eat breakfast and the limo picks us up at 10:30am. We are ready for wine! We visited Jacuzzi Family Winery which not only has amazing wines. I picked up a Prosecco, Barbero, Valeriano, and Sagrantino - all very delicious and unique Italian wines. The Jacuzzi Winery also had the Olive Press which is a store specializing in olive oils and olive oil products - soaps, lotions, and even dog treats!
After Jacuzzi we went to Sonoma Square and visited Roche winery. We had a nice picnic lunch after picking up some fresh sandwiches at a local cheese store - the Sonoma Cheese Factory. We had a tasting at the winery and I went home with an award winning Pinot Noir (22 years in a row) and an amazing Chardonnay.
We walked down a local food hotspot - The Grove - with amazing coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and the biggest breakfast burrito I've ever seen. After walking off breakfast, I went for a run down to Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge, it was an awesome clear day with a low fog on the bay. It was the first warm day of the season. All the locals were out enjoying the day riding bikes, running, jogging, and playing on the beach.
Soon after, Diana and her bachelorette crew picked me up and we were headed to Sonoma! I met Diana through our fiances. They went to high shcool and college together, so the rest of the weekend will be spent with Diana and her bachelorette crew. Unfortunately the drive wasn't too exciting since traffic was a bitch, but I was able to spend time with Diana's mom and soon-to-be sister in law which was nice. We made it to our weekend home, and were so excited to see Villa Crivelli.
That night we enjoyed a gourmet meal made by chef Veronica Eicken with her local in-home chef business Gift of Thyme. The menu and pictures will show you that it was UH-mazing. Mmmmmmm. Lots of wine and great food later, we were all snuggled in our beds and ready for wine tasting the next day.
Saturday April 21st
The next day we wake, eat breakfast and the limo picks us up at 10:30am. We are ready for wine! We visited Jacuzzi Family Winery which not only has amazing wines. I picked up a Prosecco, Barbero, Valeriano, and Sagrantino - all very delicious and unique Italian wines. The Jacuzzi Winery also had the Olive Press which is a store specializing in olive oils and olive oil products - soaps, lotions, and even dog treats!
After Jacuzzi we went to Sonoma Square and visited Roche winery. We had a nice picnic lunch after picking up some fresh sandwiches at a local cheese store - the Sonoma Cheese Factory. We had a tasting at the winery and I went home with an award winning Pinot Noir (22 years in a row) and an amazing Chardonnay.
Last but not least we visited the oldest winery in Sonoma - Buena Vista. The grounds were beautiful with amazing architecture and picnic tables outside for lounging and savoring the wine samples. After our wine tasting we sat outside with a bottle of chardonnay, talked, and enjoyed the last winery of the day.
That evening we had a lingerie shower for Diana (the soon to be bride) and enjoyed pizza delivery - which after a day full of wine...was VERY much appreciated.
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| Diana & me!! |
Sunday, while everyone else slept, I snuck out super early to catch my shuttle to the airport and head back to Kansas City. I am exhausted, and ready for a long nap on the plane. Had a great weekend with fun friends, new friends, excellent food and wines. Couldn't be better! Wine country never disappoints.
