43588 Tue Feb 14 09:18:48 -0800 2006 4 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 213448 Another trip has come and gone and we are back to cold snowy Cleveland, but this is what we ate: CINDY'S BACKSTREET KITCHEN We left the city and headed North, so dinner was in St. Helena at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. We have been to Mustards, we have the Mustard's cookbook and make many of the recipes, we enjoy Cindy Pawlcyn's flavor ideas. With that said, we were totally disappointed in Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. Appitizer was forgettable, have no idea what we ate! For dinner, husband had the mushroom tamale. It tasted like it was stuffed with mascarpone, yuck. We made the one from the Mustards cookbook when we got home just to have some of that great flavor. I had the meatloaf. The best part of that dish was the sauteed greens it came with. The garlic mashed potatoes were flavorless and the meatloaf had a weird texture. We were so bummed that we wasted a meal here. RUTHERFORD GRILL This is an old stand-by for us. I love the a la carte enchillada's and husband adores the "hacked" chicken salad. Always consistant, friendly service and great food (even if it is a chain ;-). We never have a problem getting a seat at the bar. BEAR REPUBLIC BREWING CO. We had visited so many wineries and were tired so we just went for something casual. Decent pub grub. A highlight was the Press sandwich, a chicken breast with brie, sweet caramalized onions, and smoky bacon on a sourdough baguette. HOFFMAN HOUSE, next door to Geyserville Inn Husbands breakfast was AWESOME. Eggs benedict over crab cakes. We will make a version of this at home, but using lump crab meat. I had vanilla french toast, not bad, not special either. We tried to find the Russian River Brewing Co, not knowing that the location in Santa Rosa we were looking for is on the Korbel property and just a deli that serves Russian River beer. Hubby had a corn dog that wasn't warm enough and I had a chicken salad sandwich....too much mayo in the salad. Live and learn.... Tue Feb 14 09:18:48 -0800 2006 0 Shel 1 213452 Sorry to hear that about your Cindy's experience. I'm a regular there and have always enjoyed the food, bar/wine, and service - probably because I'm there a lot. It sounds like a major off night for them. My sympathies. Tue Feb 14 09:55:06 -0800 2006 213448 0 Tony 1 213460 A Press and a Racer 5 are a great way to cleanse the palatte in the middle of a day of Russian River Valley wine tasting. Tue Feb 14 11:24:32 -0800 2006 213448 0 nja 1 213471 not in santa rosa? Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/37378#174080 Tue Feb 14 12:31:10 -0800 2006 213448 0 try this 2 213521 According to the guide book we had with us there was a branch of the RRBC next to Korbel on River Road. Next time we'll try the one of 4th. Thanks! Tue Feb 14 16:25:19 -0800 2006 213471 0 Shel