Sonoma/Napa Trip Report

[iowaguy]

Since I used this Board a fair amount in planning a short trip to the Sonoma Valley area about a week ago (with a few excursions to Northern Sonoma and to Napa), I thought I would post a report. We packed a lot of great meals into 4-5 days. We stayed in the town of Sonoma, so we tended to have dinners there, with lunches further afield.

Our first dinner, and probably our favorite, was at The General's Daughter. We've been to the town of Sonoma 3 or 4 times before, and I'd never been too excited about trying this place, but I'd read in the past year or so that the new chef, Preston Dishman, was really turning things around. We had a truly wonderful dinner here. Chef Dishman is from the South, but has more recently worked at Gary Danko, and the style is a bit of a curious combination of a lighter Californian style with a focus on fresh Sonoma ingredients, with a slight southern twist that is a bit heavier. Somehow, it works very well, and results in some dishes you won't have elsewhere. The menu allows you to pick 3, 4 or 5 courses, and you can pick anything off the menu for those courses. The 4 of us at our table, anticipating several intense days of eating ahead, chose the 3-course menu, and we're glad we did. Before we got to our chosen first course, the chef had brought out, to each of us at the table, 3 courses to start, compliments of the house. We started with a small portion of she-crab soup, with Dungeness crab. Next was a melange of fresh mushrooms in a light cream sauce over a toasted brioche. Another southern dish followed---spicy fried shrimp with a charred fresh corn relish and tabasco aioli. A fig and arugula salad came next, followed by two perfectly cooked lamb chops with rosemary and a red-wine reduction. Two others at the table ordered the "Shrimp and Grits"---a house specialty, and my wife had the halibut over a tomato gumbo. Two of us ordered nicely arranged cheese courses with mostly Sonoma cheeses that we shared with the table, and then 2 ordered desserts---a Scharffenberger chocolate souffle and a peach tart tatin.The service was impeccable throughout, and afterward we were invited in to the kitchen, briefly, to say hello to the chef. They also have an excellent, and reasonably priced, wine list with some good selections from smaller Sonoma/Napa wineries. We had 2 bottles of "Fanucchi Trousseau Gris"---just delicious and good with some of the spicier food, and some "T-Vine Grenache," which was awesome. It was a memorable dinner, and amazingly, not too expensive.

Going out of order, my second favorite restaurant/meal was a very simple lunch at "Zin" in Healdsburg. I just love this place and would eat there all the time if I lived nearby. This is American comfort food done creatively, and perfectly, with amazingly fresh ingredients. While a lot of restaurants have an herb garden, at Zin they have an off-site garden that seems to supply almost all the produce on the menu. We started with fried green beans---made with green beans fresh from the "Zingarden" deep fried in a light tempura-like batter. None of us could stop eating these. The main course for me was a "BAMT" sandwich, made with Hobbs bacon, arugula,a house-made fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes from the Zingarden,and pesto mayonnaise, on a toasted housemade bread. The attention to every ingredient is what sets this place apart. Someone in our group ordered a burger and even that was great. Another thing I like at Zin is the wine list which has a phenomenal selection of zinfandels from small wineries mostly located in northern Sonoma.

We had a great dinner in the town of Sonoma at Cafe La Haye. We had loved a dinner here a few years ago, and we wondered whether it would be as good as we remembered, but it was. Its a tiny restaurant with some nice contemporary art and you feel good about it the minute you walk in. Its not groundbreaking cuisine, but everything was delicious---heirloom tomato salad, halibut with polenta and eggplant, lavender-crusted filet,peach and berry crisp.

The Girl and the Fig is another one of my Sonoma favorites from past visits. The food on this visit was a little more lackluster. The fig salad, which I had been craving, was overdressed. The halibut wasn't hot.One of our friends ordered a big bone-on pork chop and it was probably the best thing that night. I do enjoy the cheese bar they have in the bar---its fun to pick out some local cheeses, or some of the many French selections.maybe it was an off night. This restaurant has a lot of character and I'd go back.

We also ate one night at Bouchon in Yountville (we had a designated driver for the trek back to Sonoma). This is a really great small room---very festive vibe. The tables are close together but we were OK with this. Must say I prefer this to Bistro Jeanty, where we've eaten in past, although both are good. The bread and butter here are the best I've ever had--anywhere. We were shameless about asking for lots more. I had some "fluke" in a nicoise kind of preparation with tomatoes and olives--delicious. My wife ordered the gnocchi--- very good, but not great. I would say the same about the desserts (lemon tart and profiteroles). All in all though, a really fun place for dinner. Wish I'd had room for some of the raw bar selections.

Also had a lunch at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. I'm a big fan of Cindy Pawlcyn--we've eaten at Cindy's in the past and we also love Mustard's, for the same kind of food you get at Zin. Cindy's is a really cute place, and was perfect for a fairly simple lunch. The Campfire Pie for dessert is really outstanding.

One final food experience worth noting---we took a "culinary tour" at Chalk Hill Winery, and I would recommend this to any food or wine lover. First, Chalk Hill is an exceptionally beautiful winery---great views, lots of land, gorgeous buildings. Second, the wine is great--they're known for their chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, but they're reds are surprisingly good too. Anyway, it costs $40 per person, and you get about a 3-hour "event" consisting of a short winery tour, sitting down in the culinary garden with the gardener,meeting with the chef, and then having a 3-course food and wine pairing (full-size plates, not just a few bites)in a gorgeous room. Lots of fun, and a bargain.

Cheers.

---Jim Wine