Posted on Sep 14, 2009 under Archives |
Bottega is housed in the Vintage 1870 Marketplace complex
Food Network star and “Top Chef Master” finalist Michael Chiarello’s new Bottega (6525 Washington Street, www.botteganapavalley.com) restaurant is part of the refurbished Vintage 1870 Marketplace complex in the heart of Yountville. The 90-seat eatery features old wood floors, timber beams and brick walls amidst new Venetian plaster walls, fireplaces and Murano glass chandeliers. The Italian inspired menu offers stuzzichine (bites to share), antipasta, pasta, secondi (main courses), contorni (vegetable sides) and desserts. Bottega (Italian for “workshop”), is across the street from Chiarello’s Napa Style store.
Bottega outside lounge
The restaurant has tall ceilings, lots of windows and light with a mix of brick and wood. One reason the atmosphere inside is so friendly is because of Chiarello, who steps out of the kitchen freqently to greet and chat with diners. I sat down with Chiarello for a chat before Bottega opened for lunch (next post features interview) and then sampled some of his homey Italian food.
Bruschetta Trio
We started off with a large appetizer featuring a bruschetta trio – pepperonata, heirloom tomato and basil, and carrot and eggplant caponata wiht goat cheese. All three were delicious and huge, my fave was the caponata with goat cheese.
Pesce Crudo
The menu offers a daily pesce crudo – raw fish, and mine featured fresh tuna and salmon served on a block of ice.
Risotto del giorno
My friend Gabriela had the risotto del giorno, creamy risotto with pork and mushrooms. This was also huge (you can easily split most of the main course between two people) and delicious. I ordered the smoked and braised short ribs with preserved lemon spinach – definitely one of the most tender short ribs I have had.
smoked and braised short ribs
Near the end of our meal, Chef Chiarello came out to say hello and thanked us for dropping by. The restaurant was packed for lunch service and the chef made time to stop for pictures and sign autographs for everyone before heading back into the kitchen.
Chef Michael Chiarello, stopping by at our table at Bottega
We finished our meal with a lovely chocolate souffle.
Chocolate Souffle
One other thing to mention, the wine list at Bottega, as well as the food, is a great bargain. The selection is outstanding and the pricing is very affordable – most restaurants markups are three times wholesale or higher, but at Bottega they are just double. The chef also offers 18 choices by the quartino – which basically comes to about one and a half glasses. I highly recommend stopping by Bottega on your next winetasting trip – either for lunch or dinner. Reservations recommended, 707/945-1050.
Posted on Sep 13, 2009 under Archives |
Thomas Keller's ad hoc restaurant
I had been looking forward to sampling the menu at Thomas Keller’s latest Yountville eatery for months. Opened in 2006 as a temporary placeholder restaurant for Keller’s burger joint, ad hoc originated as an impromptu concept – a four course prix-fixe dinner that changes daily. The burger joint never materialized and ad hoc remains a place to sample simple homey food in a historic vintage estate building. Chef Dave Cruz’s (interview can be heard in previous post) meals feature superbly done comfort foods at a great price – $49 includes appetizer, main course, cheese dish and dessert. My friend Joan joined me for dinner, below is what we tasted during dinner.
ad hoc interior
You can go to ad hoc’s website to find out what is on the menu for that night’s dinner. We had a fabulous menu, here it is:
Board menu
Our dinner started with a lovely gift from Chef Cruz – a nice watermelon appetizer with a balsamic reduction. A perfect way to start a dinner on a hot evening.
Watermelon appetizer
We also got a lovely softshell crab appetizer, not on the menu, made especially for us by the chef. This was so delicious and a great treat.
Softshell crab appetizer, yummy.
Our appetizer off of the set menu was a lovely Jacobsen Orchard fig salad, with goat cheese, baby red oak lettuce, house cured pancetta, roasted pecans, in a maple vinaigrette. The fresh goat cheese accented the figs perfectly, with a nice spicy bite from the pancetta and a bit of sweetness from the pecans.
Fig salad
the fig salad was so good it deserved a close up
Next came the main course, a hickory smoked prime beef ribeye with marinated garden heirloom tomatoes from the French Laundry (down the road) garden and sweet onionsin a red wine cream. The beef was cooked perfectly. This was served with a side german butterball potato salad with fresh green beans.
Steak and tomatoes
This menu still makes my mouth water, here was my plate
Side was a lovely light summer potato salad with fresh beans
Throughout the meal we also sampled many many glasses of superb wines, some are only available at ad hoc and French Laundry. Next course was the cheese plate, all delicious and served with a vanilla pear compote and toasted brioche.
Cheese course
Joan and I loved this entire menu. For dessert we had a fresh carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
carrot cake
Joan and me, ad hoc restaurant, yountville
It’s worth a drive from SF (about an hour) just to taste the great menu at ad hoc. You never know what will be featured, but it is a sure bet it will be delicious and very reasonable – $49 for the entire set menu. Reservations are a must, 6476 Washington Street, Yountville, 707/944-2487.
Posted on Sep 13, 2009 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews |
ad hoc Chef de Cuisine Dave Cruz
While on assignment for a wine country story, I had to stop in ad hoc, Thomas Keller’s newest Yountville eatery. Chef de Cuisine Dave Cruz was nice enough to step into the back garden to chat about the menu and his style of cooking. Chef Cruz graduated from the CIA in New York and worked at various restaurants in New York City before joining the staff at Bouchon. He was instrumental in ad hoc’s opening in 2006 and now leads and supervises the kitchen.
ad hoc garden
Posted on Sep 12, 2009 under Archives |
Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant
In addition to outstanding wines, pastoral charm and lush green vine-covered rolling hills, California’s wine country is home to Yountville, the most celebrated restaurant town in the world. The area, a 40-minute drive from the Russian River Valley, boasts more Michelin stars per capita than any place in America. On the way to Yountville, I stopped by the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant (2555 Main Street, www.ciachef.com) for a front row seat to watch CIA students create culinary delights. Formerly the Christian Brothers Greystone Winery, the Culinary Institute of America cooking school, shop and restaurant are housed in this monumental 1889 Gothic stone structure.
The restaurant serves lunch and dinner on the patio and inside.
Entrance to restaurant
The kitchen is open enabling guests to watch chefs and students prepare meals.
open kitchen
After I talked to a few of the servers (all CIA students), the chef sent out some nice appetizers. The first was a lovely burrata with creamy fresh mozzarella, local heirloom tomatoes and an olive relish.
Burrata appetizer, number 1
Next the chef sent out a tasty spinach and ricotta gnocchi with baby zucchini, squash, romano beans in a yellow tomato jus.
spinach and ricotta gnocchi
Then came my main dish, a beautifully cooked Alaskan Wild Coho Salmon with Yukon gold potato puree, cucumber ribbons, pickled onions, curried heirloom potato chips in a dill puree. Delicious. The salmon skin was extra crispy.
Alaskan Wild Coho Salmon
After thanking the staff and chefs for a lovely meal, I wandered over to the CIA shop. I spent a while looking at all the marvelous cooking tools and searching for gifts to take back home. Greystone is a great place to visit for lunch or dinner on a break from winetasting.
Greystone store
