Napa Valley weekend--long (6 meals)

[Fine]

I've been remiss in posting on C-hnd for quite a while: I tend to get my opinions off my chest in response to Open Table's requests for comments plus I've been working on an after-the-fact reconstruction of a month-long trip (France/Italy) last October.

Had 3 dinners and 3 lunches last week in Calistoga and environs. The first three establishments are all in Calistoga: This was our first visit to Solbar. It started out well w. v. friendly reception from one staff member then decanting of our wine by another; however, my BH's martini order seemed to throw the staff into a state of paralysis, the drink finally arriving--with no apology--simultaneous with apps, which included intensely rich but tasty ricotta agnolotti and generous crab "salad," thankfully almost all just crustacean, with a little foam (a first and I hope last for me, since it looked like something the live critter might have "coughed" up) plus a few radish slices and a barely noticeable avocado-green godess(sic). We also ordered the sea salt flat bread, which was enjoyable but, like the house-made bread, breadsticks, and corn muffins(!), left a residue of olive oil on fingers and palate. Two of the dips accompanying it--white bean and romescu--were also overly rich for starters; I did not try the third, a salsa verde. I wasn't quite prepared for the Lucky Pig's resemblance to Vietnamese do-it-yourself items, which the menu/staff hadn't made clear, and neither of us was dressed for dealing with drippy stuff in a rather dark dining room. The black sesame crepes were ice cold, and the pork shoulder came from a bit too lean an animal to be truly succulent The serving of meat was huge, even for the requisite two-person order, and it really didn't fall apart when touched with chopsticks as the server had promised. The accompaniments--peanuts, lettuce, etc.--were fine, but a more garlicky, slightly fattier and also presliced piece of meat would have made the dish more enjoyable. I realize the apparent contradiction between my comments on overly rich and/or oily items and this, but IMO there's necessary and unnecessary fat, depending on the foodstuff. Once upon a time I cooked pork butt often; even though there was never a hint of pink, the marbling kept the meat tender and super-flavorful, and no one ever objected to the little pile of discarded fat on the plate at the end of the meal. I understand that all US pork today, especially heritage--this was Duroc--probably is leaner than in the past; still chefs need to find a way to cook it sufficiently without letting it get so dry it risks choking the unsuspecting diner. My BH would be unlikely to go back, but I might--nothing missed by that much and the generous portions speak well for the attitude of the house.

Lunch at Sarafornia--a place that's usually bustling--found it virtually empty around 1. My tuna nicoise sand on rye (a variety of bread not mentioned on the menu but available when I asked) was better than usual, my BH's chorizo omelette perhaps a tad less tasty than in the past. Even the 2-shot latte wasn't quite as weak as I remember from many previous breakfasts and lunches!

Judging by the crowd mid-evening on Fri, I'd say JoLe is quite a success. The food was super rich but on the whole super delicious; the waiter was pleasant but unbelievably forgetful. In his favor, he did come by to apologize for the slow arrival of our food: I decline to comment on roasted cauliflower w. lentils, raisins, butternut curry since I like my crucifers tender, not half raw, and am not a great fan of curry powder; Sea Scallops on potato latkas[sic], undetectable apple sauce, and mushrooms featured v. tasty mollusks, enjoyable if slightly too oily and not-quite-latkeslike, slivered, fried potatoes;, and pleasant fungi; veal sweetbreads w. frisee, fried egg, lentils, and mustard needed--as did the other meat preps--some contrasting element, be it acidic fruit, detectable vinegar on the greens, or another source of tartness to balance the too-similar shade of all the rather rich, delicate-flavored components; crispy Niman Ranch pork belly was utterly delicious, even though the other ingredients--avocado, v. mild tangerine, and sesame & soy caramel did nothing to alleviate its overwhelming richness; braised oxtail w. oven-dried tomatoes, potato gnocchi, and totally superfluous parmesan was also quite wonderful. (I thought I could finesse the problem by asking for olive oil and balsamic vinegar to go with our bread, but the vinegar came incorporated into the oil!) My lemon and raspberry sorbets were OK, the cranberry just plain weird and tasting of anything but the featured berry. The other dessert was hazelnut crepes, on which we're both drawing a blank. Sorry. We do recall the disappointingly syrupy Meyer Family Zinfandel Port.

Another booming place was Cindy's Back Street Kitchen in St. Helena. It was a good thing I'd reserved ahead, since a lunchtime table would have been impossible to snag without it. The staff was exceptionally well trained and welcoming. My salad of roquette and other greens, papaya, avocado, and filberts was most enjoyable, despite my suspicion, from reading the menus of her stable of restaurants, that Cindy Pawlcyn does not subscribe to the principles of sustainability and organics many of her colleagues (and I) do. The menu struck me as aimed at folks who eat lunch as their main meal--lots of what I think of as dinner items but also lots of gooey desserts.

I must have read 20 menus preparing for our visit: One thing that struck me was how successful the distributors of Loch Duart Scottish farm-raised salmon are throughout the Valley, an oddity since it's on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Avoid list and more chefs in this area than anywhere else I know of appear to care about sustainability, local sourcing, etc.

We returned that evening to dine next door to Cindy's at Terra. The dinner bill lists my pricy but oh so good lobster salad as "trotter"! That's funny but telling: Garnishing the seafood were two delicious little cubed pretend-croutons made from that ingredient; the rest was a generous portion of remarkably good-for-out-of-season Maine lobster with just enough chewy escarole to let you know it was supposed to be a salad and the subtlest sauce gribiche I've ever encountered, which would normally have troubled me since I love this French version of tartar sauce, but in this case it permitted the other ingredients to star. Indeed, if not for the chopped hard-boiled-egg whites to remind me of the menu's promise, I'd have forgotten it was supposed to dress the shellfish. My BH's fried rock shrimp w. organic greens paled by comparison but was certainly satisfactory. I loved my buttermilk-fried quails (2) with slice of delicious bacon and mashed potatoes (it seems to me there may have been some Brussels sprouts, but that's what happens when one doesn't think it's necessary to take notes). There were also some sauteed mushrooms referred to as a sauce. My BH enjoyed the tripe-Rancho Gordo bean-pasta dish, though again, it was very good rather than dazzling. We shared a rich, maple bread pudding+, but I confess the only time I ever liked bread pudding was in, I believe, a Cajun place where the pastry cook used a wonderfully flavorful raisiny dark bread for the main ingredient. This was fine, though I still feel disappointed when I visit a restaurant that touts a pastry chef and there's little if any pie, tart, or other true pastry item offered. I remain a total sucker for fruit tarts even though my mille feuilles days are behind me in both my own and others' kitchens. Despite v. minor quibbles, I thought this was a superb meal. I was sorry only that our '82 Certan de May was not showing at its best to do the chef's creations complete justice. Indeed, all three wines we brought along on this mini-vacation were mildly disappointing--'70 Grace-Dieu and '01 Quintessa red, the latter a gift back in '05. (I was startled--and a bit shocked--when the waiter at JoLe asked if we'd just bought it at the winery that day, a practice I've always looked askance at! I think that was before he saw the vintage.)

Lunch with a friend at a completely pedestrian-looking place in Napa called First Squeeze provided a little respite from the previous days' indulgences, with diced bacon and hard-cooked egg topping a large, pleasant spinach salad. flavored further by marinated red onions.

My background and nature, along with the standards I set for myself in the kitchen, combine to make me what most would consider hypercritical, but I readily admit that most areas would be thrilled to have even one of the three dinner houses described above.

With menus now available online for most larger restaurants, I no longert feel compelled to mention prices.