Northern California

dry-creek-kitchen-healdsburg-ca-95448-signIt was my 33rd birthday and I decided to treat myself to a nice trip to Sonoma Valley. Some call it the “Jesus year”, but I like to call it another excuse to play in wine country! With all the choices for fine dining restaurants, I had quite a task to narrow it down to one. We are talking about one of the culinary meccas, people! While I knew I’d stay multiple days in Sonoma Valley, most nights were allocated to be spent with good friends, so that left me with one night all to myself. At the end of the day, I was extremely happy with my choice: Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen.

Charlie Palmer has made a name for himself since the 1980s with his first restaurant Aureole in New York. Ever since then, he’s won award after award, including two restaurants with Michelin stars (Aureole: New York, Las Vegas). Included in the restaurant bank of awards is Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, California, which he opened in 2001, located in the northern Sonoma Valley. From the coat check to the final escort to my taxi, I was incredibly pleased with my dining experience.

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Boon Eat + Drink in Guerneville on the Russian River is a delightful place with delightful food. We stopped by one Saturday to have lunch. The summertime crowd was out in force. The restaurant was pleasantly busy, but not too crowded.

Perusing the menu, I spotted the Boon Burger with grass fed beef, fiscalini aged white cheddar, arugula on a toasted milk bun with house made Parmesan herb chips ($11). I could not resist adding the truffle fries with house made ketchup and garlic aioli ($6). While we waited I soaked in the modern feel of this small storefront restaurant. It has a great vibe with both locals and visitors mixing in together.

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napadonutsWhilst in the Napa Valley, this Farmer gave into a deadly sin – no, not drunkenness in the wine country…gluttony! There's no beating around the bush about my love for food - I write about food, I photograph food, I travel to eat and relish in reading a cookbook like a good novel. Between design projects and book tours, I was able to squeeze in a few days in the Napa Valley proper after the ACS convention was adjourned. A dear friend from home said she would meet me there, and our journey through the aforementioned valley began.

Allow me to divulge a Farmer faux pas - I do not drink much wine and worried a trip to Napa would not be as grand sans vino - boy was I wrong! Trust me, I sipped and savored some of the best vintages the valley had to offer, yet it was the food that hung the moon for my Napa trip. As I'm in a food coma recovery program now, allow me to try my best at recalling some highlights from these days of delights. In the words of Julie Andrew's “Maria” from The Sound of Music, let's “start at the very beginning- a very good place to start!"

Boon Fly Café. This cafe nestled into The Carneros Inn is wonderful! Just outside of the town of Napa towards the Sanoma Valley, Boon Fly Cafe was highly recommended for its breakfast. Now, I truly adore a big breakfast and any place that offers a starter to the starting meal is right up my alley. I commenced with some hot Earl Grey and their famous donuts. The donuts were small and delicious and served in a small galvanized metal pail. I'm a sucker for galvanized anything and a galvanized pail of cinnamon sugar donuts just may be a Farmer's fave! I grew up with a cattle farm and our cows ate and drank from ginormous galvanized troughs- looks like I'm grazing in the same fashion! Once a farm boy, always a farm boy!

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ubuntuamuse.jpgNo man is an island; we are all interconnected by our humanity. That is the philosophy of Ubuntu, a belief rooted in Zulu culture that emphasizes people's allegiances, relationships, community, sharing, and generosity. Ubuntu, then, is an apt name for the Michelin-starred restaurant, which aims to connect patrons with the bounty of the earth through produce that is sustainably and biodynamically grown. Located in downtown Napa, Ubuntu is a restaurant, yoga studio, and store, all in one building. The dining space is quite modern and rustic with exposed brick, wood, steel, and conduit and features a wine bar with an expansive wine list and an open kitchen. I had the absolute pleasure of dining at Ubuntu on my day trip to Napa two weekends ago. What sets the restaurant apart is its all vegetable menu. All dishes are vegetarian or nearly vegan, but what some might consider a culinary limitation becomes limitless in the hands of executive chef Aaron London.

The saying is true that you eat with your eyes first. At Ubuntu everything looks like it is created by an artist. As you can see by the photographs, chef London presents food in a unique and very eye-catching way. The stunning dishes don't just stop at looks, they taste wonderful too. Many dishes, such as the salads, are just combinations of different vegetables prepared simply, but with amazing flavors that speak beyond their simplicity. It definitely has something to with the fact that all the produce used by the restaurant is sourced locally, much of it from the restaurant's own garden, about 10 miles outside downtown Napa. The care that goes into the garden and the cooking definitely shows on the plates.

 

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sliderbarshot.jpgSlider Bar Café in Palo Alto recently opened on the popular main drag, University Street. There were countless restaurants bustling on a Friday night, including this place. A striking, high ceilinged room welcomes folks to the café. We sat at the bar as all the tables were full. Slider Bar Café has a sophisticated take on the slider concept, also serving several micro brew type beers and mid-level wines. If you sit at the bar, the friendly bar tender will take your order and get your wine, while you watch the soccer game or ESPN on the flat screens behind the counter. If you sit at a table, you have to order at the counter, take a number and have the food brought out later.

Pat and I ordered up three sliders: the Classic American $2.89, a plain Classic American and a Mediterranean $3.69. The price drops for each additional slider you get. For instance, for the American, one slider costs $2.89. Two are $5.29. Three will set you back $7.49 and a dozen are $28. We also ordered baked fries $1.99. They don’t have a fryer.

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