San Francisco & Napa: A Tour of Wine Country Highlighted by etoile at Domaine Chandon

We couldn't visit San Fran area without heading into Wine Country of course. Although we do not consider ourselves wine enthusiasts, we gratefully took recommendations for those more knowledgeable than ourselves. I think we if we lived closer, we might very well become wine lovers as the wineries we visited were all great experiences.

Beringer: This was our first stop in the Napa area, a Taste of Beringer tour booked by our hotel. It came highly recommended and did not disappoint. The winery is beautiful and full of history - from the Rhine house to the 200 year old leaning oak. Beringer was actually only one of two wineries to stay open during prohibition (the other was Beaulieu Vineyard). Our tour guide, Jack, was awesome - an older man with a passion for wine and matter-of-fact quips. Some of the more interesting things we learned and wines we tried as we toured the property:

• Smell your glass after it is emptied - the taste and smell was a new experience for us!
• The tunnels are all man-made, by "the same people who built the railroads" (Jack said he had to be PC).
• Caesar changed storing wine in clay pots to casks - wine was stored in barrels from there on.
• There are 7 gardeners dedicated to keeping the property beautiful.
• If you don't think there is enough to do on the property already, there's a picnic area and bocci ball court!
• The Wines: We had a chardonnay to start with a strong "butterscotch" after taste, a zinfandel, a cab, and a cab port. The portions were plenty and poured fast - I had to chug my zinfandel just to get going on the cab! We left with a bottle of the cab port, a unique fortified wine that was none-too-sweet.

Domaine Chandon: While we did not actually do a tasting here, Domaine Chandon is an absolute must stop. It is just on the edge of Yountville, and is grand from the moment you enter, driving through an arch with the vineyards in the background. We were lucky to get a lunch reservation last minute at the restaurant etoile. The Chef, Perry Hoffman, literally grew up in fine dining, as his parents were the original owners of French Laundry. We were treated to a wonderful table on the patio, overlooking the garden (which could have fooled me as a well manicured fairway). Of course, we had to try some of the sparkling wines Chandon is famous for - I had a pinot noir rose and Tony had a reserve chardonnay. We learned afterwards that several of the sparkling wines were favourites at events hosted by the Bush administration. Our lunch was....AMAZING, one of my favourite meals on the trip.

• Appetizers: A delicious beef tartar topped with black truffle, served with toasts and crostinis. This beef tartar may have surpassed my favourite at Living Room in Calgary! Tony had hamachi sashimi with his summer prix fixe menu.
• Mains: I had a wonderful lobster crepe served with a yuzu foam - best crepe ever of course! Tony had perfectly caramelized scallops, served at just the right temperature.
• Dessert: Tony's prix fixe came with a summery strawberry tart.

The experience was so serene and pleasant - don't let Hoffman's young age fool you, he is a culinary master already earning a Michelin Star! Even if you don't stop in for a full meal, the bubbly bar offers a range of mouth watering snacks, like caviar and dungeness crab. Who couldn't use a bubbly stop??

Stag's Leap: This was a highly recommended winery stop - there are actually TWO Stag's Leap wineries as it is the name of the area, but we found the "older" one. We tasted 4 estate wines: An un-memorable chardonnay, Fay cabernet which from where it comes from in the vineyard, is a lighter wine, SLV (Stag's Leap Vineyard) and the Cask23, with grapes from the best of Fay and SLV. I liked the Cask23 while Tony was happy with the SLV - Stag's Leap wine is an indulgence for sure, but I have to say, neither of us were learned enough about cabs to appreciate the quality at $200/bottle for the Cask23, so we left without a bottle.

Pine Ridge: This was the second winery that came highly recommended. We had a flight of cab tastings here: Napa Valley, Oakville, Stag's Leap , and Fortis. The Napa Valley was a standard red wine you could throw down with any red meat, Oakville had a lingering oak aftertaste that I surprisingly enjoyed, The Stag's Leap was one of the best cabs I've had, and so easy to drink and I could have finished the bottle! We regrettably did not pick up the Stag's Leap, but were happy to have experienced such a lovely wine. I would definitely visit this winery again!

Opus One: I had only heard of Opus for its...well...opulence. We had noticed the winery on our first day in the area, its out of the world building. We of course, did not make an appointment for a tour or a tasting, but were still given a "partner" card to the retail store (think cigar room) to purchase. Pretty hard to fork out so much money for a wine we didn't have the opportunity to taste....but I still have to say, the winery is worth a visit if even just for photos. You can buy a bottle and enjoy it on the stunning roof top. We ran into some fellow Canadians who were doing just that (and complaining about how to ship wine back via Air Canada!). An experience, albeit stuffy, for sure, and maybe next time we will go with friends and enjoy it's grandeur.

Mondavi: Our last winery stop was Robert Mondavi - thankfully open until 5pm! Their tasting was more flexible, with a number of reds and whites, 4 to your liking. We decided to have some whites for a change (and I was a little cab'd out). We had an unoaked chardonnay that I quite enjoyed, fermented in steel tanks. Mondavi brought the fume blanc to the region, but it was not a wine I was a fan of. No doubt, I enjoyed the sweet Moscato d'Oro, but alas, I think our Canadian ice wine is better and not worth my packing. We were happy to get in a last tasting, but but it was none too spectacular.

V.Sattui: Although we did not have any wine here, this is a must stop in wine country because of its deli! We stopped by for a snack between wineries that was much needed - V. Sattui features a lush, green picnic area where we indulged in prociutto and cheese. We were introduced the "hottest" in cheese, Carboncino, which is a combination of cow, goat and sheep's milk, and although I laughed when the guy told us it was the latest and greatest in cheese....it really was delicious! There is also a Dean & Deluca conveniently located across the street, but we preferred the food we found at V. Sattui.

San Francisco: Tastes of Fusion at Ame

Tony poured over reviews and enlisted the help of Chowhounders to find the best restaurants for our short visit to SF. Ame at the St. Regis hotel was one that came widely recommended based on our tastes and favourites, and thus, was our first fine dining stop in the city! Luckily, it was only a short walk from our hotel, the W, walkable even in Louboutins :) (an awesome gift thanks bridesmaids!!!).

Back to the food: Tony and I were most excited by the sashimi bar menu, and thought to do as we have in the past - just eat that list! But there were also mains that caught my eye - always the tragedy of a great menu, we cannot decide what to eat! In the end, we opted to do the Taste of Ame Sashimi Bar (which had a nibble of everything we wanted), and still had room to try other appetizers and hot mains.

The Taste of Ame Sashimi Bar included the daily crudo, served simply with olive oil and lemon; uni bruschetta, which I think had no uni taste so was a bit disappointing; tempura poke, which again was a bit disappointing because we loved having poke in Hawaii so much, it felt like the "tempura" took away from the experience; a "kaisen" sashimi salad that was quite delicious; and our favourite, cuttlefish noodles tossed with sea urchin (this dish was tasty!), quail egg, fresh roe, avocado, seaweed and some young jalapenos to give it a kick, all served in a cute little bamboo container. To go again, we would just have the cuttlefish noodles - but we were glad to have had a taste of everything.

Next we followed up with the Chawan-mushi, savoury Japanese custard. We LOVED this dish the first time we had it in Japan at a Hokkaido restaurant. The Ame version featured lobster and mushrooms...yum! In previous tastes, the "good stuff" was always hidden at the bottom of the custard - Ame's version included some lobster right on top, but also hid some of the delicious seafood and mushrooms within the large bowl....the biggest bowl of savoury custard we had had. No complaints!

We still had room for the mains, Alaskan black cod in a shiso sauce with shrimp wontons and mushrooms, and grilled liberty duck with sour cherry cabernet sauce and foie gras. While I liked the cod, we have a lot of good cod these days even in Toronto so it did not stand out to me, and the shrimp wontons were only ok - made with fresh pasta, but I did not feel like it added anything in particular to the dish. The duck was really well prepared, just perfect and with more than enough to share between us. The sauce had a nice flavour and how can you really go wrong with foie gras on top?

We still managed to have room for dessert, and had a chocolate mousse with burnt marshmallow (think s'mores!) and soy caramel. Was very unique and glad we had a chance to try it.

Overall, Ame was a good experience. We managed to "accidentally" order a whole 750mL bottle of sake, which of course we didn't finish, and they graciously let us take the rest of the bottle home :) We would go again to eat some of the favourites like the cuttlefish noodles and the custard, but as a Michelin star restaurant, we left a little bit disappointed. We feel like we've had some more elevated culinary and service experiences at less recognized restaurants in other cities.

San Francisco: Fresh Crab at Fisherman's Wharf!

One of the main reasons I love SF is for Fisherman's Wharf - I love the casual, crowded atmosphere in which to get some delicious food! Delicious seafood-streetfood!? I was in heaven! It was our first stop as soon as we arrived in San Francisco - I needed to see the ocean and get some sourdough and chowder in me! We explored Pier 39, which was more bustling than I remember, crowded with tourists and restaurants at every corner. We quickly ducked into Chowders for white (New England) clam chowder in sourdough bowl and a crab and shrimp poorboy. It was tasty and satisfying! We also ventured over to the seafood stands on Taylor street - this is what I came for! We managed to indulge in a bowl of lobster bisque from Nick's before happily heading back to the hotel.

But of course, one visit was not enough. After touring some of the best restaurants in SF and Napa area, I was craving just some good ol' crab! We made one more visit to the wharf for an early lunch before leaving the city. Getting down there early was key, as the stalls were not yet crowded and we had the luxury of scoping out each stand before making a decision. I had read some good reviews on Aliotos online, and was ready to even fork out for a restaurant sit-down meal....but alas, the crab stand was the best deal and featured a small patio seating area for patrons (being early also allowed us to find a table without any problems!). We ordered a small crab, cracked and guts included (honestly, what a waste otherwise!) which took up two paper trays, a crab sandwich (which had the best reviews - amazingly sweet crab meat), and even some clam chowder. This was probably one of my favourite meals in the city, and was exactly what I was craving - delicious and sweet fresh crab while enjoying the beautiful weather! I like to think we were attracting a bit of a crowd as I happily enjoyed my crab, since many stopped to watch us dive through our cracked crab. Yummmmm. I have no doubt the restaurant is fantastic, but if you ask me, the crab stand is the way to go - my whole succulent crab only cost me $13 and is prepared the best way possible, STEAMED and FRESH! Restaurants will run you $30+. We even took a crab sandwich to go for the flight! In truth, I can't really say it is better crab than the other stands, but we had such a great experience, I'd be happy to go back any day!!

A Taste of Kaiseki at Hashimoto

Every year, we look for the top Japanese restaurant on the Toronto Life list, and every year, the only 5 star is always this mysterious Hashimoto that was out in Mississauga. For Tony's birthday this year, I decided it could be the unique experience I was looking for, and worth a rare drive out to the burbs.

Hashimoto only seats 6 people a night, so I felt lucky to get a reservation at all. It's very discrete, located in a random strip mall near the airport - you'd never believe there was an acclaimed restaurant tucked into the corner. Beyond the store front's standard glass door is a sliding door - felt like a secret entrance, and you step inside to a different world. The windows are covered and the interior is quite dark, but serene and intimate. The decor is all very deliberate, to transport patrons to a traditional Japanese kaiseki house, where meals are had in private rooms. It is all about the experience of being one with the exquisite food you are about to have.

We were greeted by a young and articulate Japanese man, Kei. As there is no menu at Hashimoto, there was nothing to look over. He asked us if we were interested in sake and then brought out two small imported bottles and started telling us about the origins and how they were made contributing to the taste. We ultimately went with a small draft that the chef said would be a great one to start with. We knew we wouldn't drink a lot because we still had to drive home, but could not resist our love for great sake.

Our 8 course meal began soon after the sake was poured, and we were the only patrons in the room. Talk about exclusivity!

The appetizer course was a sign of things to come: two small plates, one with a matcha sesame tofu in a sweet pea sauce. The second was an assortment of goodies including firefly squid in a miso based paste (had a mild wasabi/horse radish taste that was amazing), a beautiful mountain potato infused with cherry blossom to give it a pink colour and shaped as a star (honestly, was so cute I didn't want to eat it!), and fresh squid fried in such a light and tasty batter, you could barely tell it was fried, not oily in the least and so delicate.

Course 2 was sashimi, a porgy fish (aka bream), which is the same family as snapper. It was served on an elevated white porcelain platter, the lid adorned by a crane. The sashimi slices were presented like flower pedals, accompanied by fresh wasabi (so amazing!). I dabbed a little wasabi in my pedals of sashimi...yum.

Course 3 was soup, it smelled amazing as soon as I removed the lid. It was served in a bowl like your avg miso soup, and so the surprise inside was all the more spectacular. Duck breast was served on a lotus root paste and edamame egg custard as the center piece in a deliciously thick sweet pea soup. Amazing.

The next course was grilled salt water eel, served with the spine deep fried on the side and a lime-like sudachi fruit. The boxed eel also came with a yellow and purple potato and sweet potato pallet cleanser - it looked like a playdough ball, was so cute. Loved this dish, was very tasty.

Course 4 was a stewed eggplant purée, lightly fried to keep it's shape and served with slivers of fried ginger on top. The purée was amazing.

The meat course was probably our favorite. Waygu beef served with matcha salt (I want to put this on everything!), a side of fresh corn very lightly fried (to hold the sweet kernels together). The corn was incredible!! We had two little bundles, and I wish we had more. This dish also came with Hashimoto's signature daicon crane. I really didn't want to eat it, but the wings and tail all detach to be dipped in a carrot sauce. Crazy detailed and intricate.

The main course was 3 dishes: steamed porgy on rice (Tony loved the rice!), and soba infused with cherry blossom to give it a slightly sweet taste, served with fried shrimp in Japanese bread crumbs in a delicious broth. The third dish had Japanese pickles, including daicon marinated in squid ink and topped with sesame. This dish is traditionally meant to fill guests, so much to Tony's delight, we were offered seconds! Despite the delicate nature of the food and seemingly small portions, I was actually quite full already!

The final course, dessert, was spectacular. It was a plum preserved for 7-8 days combined with jelly made from the juices to create a crystal looking dessert. It was served on shaved ice with red bean and condensed milk. The dessert was absolutely beautiful and an incredible work of art.

Hashimoto was amazing. It is an intimate and beautiful experience that really allows you to focus on food. Everything was prepared lightly and delicately, using the freshest ingredients by season and smartly combined to create a wonderfully simple yet complex set of flavours. Nothing short of genius. The total menu generally changes every season, but the dishes can change in nature day to day. It is an experience to be had, everything carefully planned and executed I loved that many of the courses were served with lids - it was like opening a present each time! Our experience was topped with a meeting with Hashimoto himself! He was such a sweet Japanese man. He told of his sadness leaving the Mississauga location they had been in for 20 years, the first ten as a catering company before he pursued his dream to open a kaiseki, which he was formally trained. We learned that our host, who told us in detail about each dish, was actually his son, one of two who are pursuing studies in kaiseki to take over the family business - one in Kyoto at a time. All the more meaningful that his sons will continue this exquisite art form.

Hashimoto, you were worth the drive! And we couldn't take photos, that would obviously ruin the experience, but visit the site for some beautiful pictures.

Eating Our Way Through London!

Many of you already know that I am soon to be married. When my girls asked what kind of stagette I would like, I naturally thought of far off places and great food. Thankfully, they were all up to the challenge and so to London we went! Here are some of the food adventure highlights:

Red Fort: our first stop in London was an Indian restaurant of course, in Soho. Red Fort was newly renovated and offered a great deal for lunch: 3 courses for 12£. I, of course, ventured off the set menu and had a monk fish tiki to start and prawn risotto. Overall, the best value was still the 3 course meals, which came with more than enough sides for all of us to share. You really can't go wrong with Indian food in London.


Olivomare: good thing we walked around a lot because dinner found us at Olivomare, a Sardinian restaurant featuring lots of seafood! It was a funky place with a great vibe and plenty of delicious sounding items on the menu to choose from. I had cuttlefish with squid ink to start, which was literally a giant slab of cuttlefish (yum) and shared the sea urchin crostini. My general belief is that sea urchin is only good in Japan...but the crostini was pretty good. I still prefer sea urchin fresh and sashimi style, but it was uniquely prepared here, boasting a nice, sweet flavor. For mains, Lorena and I shared a Sardinian stew, which frankly was a bit disappointing although filled with lots of fish, and a more impressive salt crusted sea bream. The fish was uniquely prepared and the highlight of my meal. For dessert, we decided to try the one thing on the menu we didn't recognize, the sebada. essentially a light, puffy cheese fritter dipped in honey. It was delicious!


The Woseley: This is the hottest new place for brunch in London! It is so popular, in fact, there was no way for us to get a weekend brunch reservation so Friday it was. And of course, it was still packed! We were welcomed with a lovely pastry basket to celebrate Lorena's birthday and my stagette (although it said happy birthday to us both but whatever), thanks to Marissa. After a big start, I still found room for my crepe complet - a savory crepe filled with eggs, cheese, and bacon...lots of bacon. In fact, there was lots of bacon for everyone! A delicious brunch at this grand cafe, definitely worth checking out, but make early reservations!

The Orangery: A visit to London, and in particular, Kensington Palace, would not be complete without high tea. We had our taste of traditional tea (albeit iced because it was far too hot for regular tea) at the beautiful Orangery that was built for Queen Anne. There are an assortment of wonderful teas, cakes and pastries. I indulged in a delicious chocolate hazelnut torte. And the highlight? We ran into Stella McCartney on our way out!! What a bonus to have a celebrity siting - Stella with her kids and husband in tow for high tea. Felt like we were hanging with locals :)


Salt Yard: Friday night found us at this small casual chic restaurant, which reminded me of Trevor's Kitchen in Toronto. We were ready to go tapa crazy. Lorena, Rita and I arrived first and we were quick to order a charcuterie and cheese plate to start, we opted for the Spanish selection for both. While we had lots and lots of food, the highlights were the mackerel crostini (great suggestion from Marissa), the mackerel tartar, confit of pork belly, and roasted spring chicken with truffles macaroni. We ordered some vegetable dishes, but frankly none were very good. Stick to the meat and fishes!


Borough Market: Saturday was a new food adventure as we explored Borough Market. It was like foodie heaven! It was packed with goodies of all sorts, and plenty bustling as well. Our first stop was also my favorite, raclette melted on potatoes. The cheese smelled extremely strong, so i was a bit worried to start, but it was absolutely delicious! We got 2 between the 6 of us, which was more than filling enough. Our other stops included wild boar sausage, served with both cranberry and peppercorn sauce, and seared scallops served with bacon. The market also boasted a number of other homey items like a mushroom pate we would have all loved to take home but was just too inconvenient to carry around in the heat. Borough Market is a must stop.

A fine meal at The Queen and Beaver

There are a number of gems on Elm Street, including Adega for a wonderful seafood Cataplana , and Matagali for some amazing butter chicken. We were thrilled to stop in The Queen and Beaver last weekend for a quick dinner before heading out for the night. On the outside, The Queen and Beaver looks like a fine dining establishment, and on entering, you get almost an old Victorian feel. Since we had not made reservations, we ended up sitting at the bar on the first floor - we are not picky and it was no less of an experience! The restaurant has an old style charm, but not pretentious or overly homey. This was reflected by the staff as well - mild mannered, well dressed, and genuinely pleasant. I was also pleased by the old style china used to serve our food, a touch of class not found in your average pub - an average pub this is not!

We had previewed the menu online, and was enticed by several items offered, but alas settled on a pretty minimal dinner: we started with pressed quail and foie gras with prune chutney - a surprisingly light choice (not as fatty as you'd think), and the chutney was delicious, adding a unique flavour to the foie gras main.

We shared the rabbit & potato pie for the main - I had imagined some kind of pot pie but this was NOT an ordinary pie. It was served as a slice of pie (like a slice of apple pie) with thick layers of delicious potatoes and savoury rabbit. Other than the crust being a bit burnt (but who cares about the crust?), it was absolutely amazing - the perfect comfort meal! I can still taste the great flavours of the rabbit and potato mix...and generally, I dislike potatoes. And as it was served with a large portion of salad on the side, it felt like a reasonably healthy meal too! It's one of those meals you just crave some days.

I loved The Queen and Beaver, and since there are many more items yet for me to try, I know I'll be back. A great spot to dine casually or for a food adventure. Next time, I want to try the potted duck, the calf's liver with blueberry glaze, and mushroom pithivier. Be sure to stop in for some delicious food with old English charm! Oh, and check out the review on Toronto Life's best new restaurant list.

Origin - A New Tapas Adventure. Delicious!!

There are many many delicious restaurants in Toronto, and I can't say we have been to them all, but Colborne Lane is one of our favourites - see my experience with the best dessert in the world, no joke, it's worth every penny! Imagine my excitement when I heard gastronomy genius Claudio Aprile was opening a new, more affordable restaurant. It didn't open in time to celebrate my birthday, but Tony still managed to score us a reservation. We were happy to experience Origin with our fellow foodie friends, Jon and Stella.

Origin's menu is divided into 5 sections: Snacks & Sides, Raw Bar, Mozzarella Bar (surprisingly, my favourite), Chilled, Hot, and Sweet. The beauty of eating with more people is you can eat more items! Instead of picking what we wanted, we did the reverse - between the raw bar and hot menu, we eliminated the items we didn't like and went from there :)

Our extensive tasting experience included:

Smoked cod croquettes - one bite snacks

Shrimp seviche

Tuna salad with pear, avocado in ponzu - this was one of my favourites, it was sweet and fresh

Wild striped bass crudo

Spicy beef hand roll - was good but difficult to share. Reminds me of the ebi shooter at Blowfish, everyone needs their own!

Fior di latte with mushrooms and truffle oil - honestly, how can anything with mushrooms and truffle oil taste bad? This was a selection from the mozzarella bar, which was surprisingly delicious and very unique.

Bufala mozzarella with pear, pine nuts and honey was also delicious, a unique sweet taste.

Cured wild salmon

Chinois duck wrap - Stella and I both zoned in on this item right away!

Grilled rock hen - also one of the favourites. The rock hen was juicy and tender, the accompanying dates and olives added a unique flavour.

Calamari - this was probably the biggest dish, plenty to share!

Miso glazed black cod - which sounds really typical, but this was really quite delicious, served in a mushroom broth and crispy soba (the waiter insisted we eat it).

Shrimp in black garlic butter - yes, as good as it sounds! Even the chickpeas, which I am normally not a fan of, were crispy and delicious.

Chorizo - to be honest, was pretty boring, I don't remember what it tasted like.

Wow...that was a lot of food, right? Don't worry, small bites for us all,

we were able to try everything! There was still room for dessert, so we indulged in the unique dulce de leche (milk candy) with hot chocolate cake and soft serve. A funny story about the cake, actually, ours came with a "happy birthday," so I thought it was because Tony told them it was my birthday (albeit late), but it was actually meant for the couple next to us...and we just happened to order the same dessert! Cake's cake, right? :) I also want to mention there are FLOATS on the sweets menu, something to try next time.

We had a great time at Origin - great food and great company with really chic yet casual decor. However, we did have some food envy - tables around us had whole lobster entrees, apparently a special that we were not told about. In the end, I guess it just looked like Chinese style ginger and onion lobster, but still - we never would have turned down lobster! Ultimately, if you like trying lots of different things, you have to check out Origin, an affordable tasting experience. Don't forget the mozza bar, a unique offering and better than you think, I guarantee!