Napa Valley

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Bistro Sabor, Napa

April 6, 2012 in Food, Restaurants, Tasting Room Series, wine by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Happy Friday! How’s your day going so far? Did you have a good week? I’m happy to say that this week was significantly better than last week. I had a lot of fun work projects and a fun night out with a friend. I also discovered a Yoga station on Pandora which has allowed me to spend some time practicing yoga on my own and keeping calm while getting these muscles ready for the marathon.

My major gripe this week is people who just don’t respond to emails, especially after I’ve taken the time to write a lot of helpful information. Ignoring emails seems to be a growing trend, and I don’t like it.

But I’m not here to gripe, I am here to share with you one of our favorite places to eat in Napa, Bistro Sabor. Located in the heart of the town of Napa, Bistro Sabor serves contemporary street-style Latin American food, has Happy Hour with great beer and wine options, and even offers Salsa dancing on Saturday nights. It’s an inexpensive, delicious, must-visit for us when we are in Napa.

Bistro Sabor was our first dinner on our last wine country trip. I was actually in the mood for a beer, and since I love their beer and pit bull logo, I had a Lagunitas IPA.

As always, we decided to share a couple of plates, the tamales of the day which were filled with pork and resting in a spicy habanero sauce, paired with beans and pico de gallo.

We also had the Dungeness crab quesadilla with cream cheese, salsa verde and pineapple salsa. Amazing. These were seriously stuffed with crab and cream cheese, kind of like crab rangoon only 100 times better because they were paired with the freshness of the salsa.

After a leisurely dinner, we walked down the street for a Passaggio wine tasting event at Quent Cordair Fine Art Gallery. We met the winemaker from Passaggio the last time we were in California, and as she is great and we love her wines, we were excited that our trip coincided with this event.

We got to taste her delicious unoaked Chardonnay; trust me, if you think you don’t like Chardonnay, I can almost guarantee you will like this! We also tasted a beautiful Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir. I wish this wine club shipped to Massachusetts, because I would join in a heartbeat!

I’m working a half day today, and then we are headed to see my family for the weekend. This week has been go-go-go, and I am super hyper because of the marathon, so it will be nice to unwind with family for Easter.

What are you up to this weekend?

Tags: beer, events, Food, Napa, Napa Valley, Restaurants, wine

Farmstead

April 3, 2012 in Food, Restaurants, Travel, wine by traveleatlove | 7 comments

I have to tell you that while I was getting ready to write this post, I just ended up staring at the pictures for a good 10 minutes, completely losing myself, my thoughts, and any motivation to write, just remembering and trying to transport myself back to the day that we visited Bardessono and Ma(i)sonry.

When I came to, I was still in my chair in Boston, and I’m okay with that. I could spend my time wishing I was somewhere else, but at the end of the day what a waste of time that would be. Someone we know experienced a terrible tragedy over the weekend, and as always, it has me thinking and trying to build in being grateful daily, not just when everything is sunny and spectacular. Life is short and beautiful, even when days feel never-ending and frustrating.

But memories, whether they be of vacation or people, or in this case a little bit of both, are pretty amazing.

After we finished our tasting at Ma(i)sonry, we were all pretty famished. Luckily our fabulous Napa Valley local and new friend had made us reservations at Farmstead in St. Helena.

The drive from Yountville to St. Helena has some pretty breathtaking spots along the way; if we weren’t late for lunch, I would have stopped and photographed more, but I think you get the gist. Mountains, vineyards, open sky, repeat.

The grounds surrounding Farmstead were beautiful with old gnarly trees that seemed sort of magical

Everything about the place seemed cozy and laid back, the perfect wine country vibe.

It had gotten a little chilly and gray, so we piled into a big booth and got started on the menu.

Farmstead lets you bring your own wine and does not charge a corkage fee, so we enjoyed just-purchased Black Bird Arriviste, an elegant, beautiful rosé that has summery written all over it. It will be back.

I was in a big meat-eating stage on our trip and decided to have the special of the day, a spicy sausage link with blue cheese cole slaw. I mostly wanted the blue cheese cole slaw, but when I tasted how spicy and delicious the sausage was, I was happy with the whole plate. It made my hair hot!

I cooled off a little with biscuits and honey butter. . . simply divine!

Farmstead is a place I would return again and again. The atmosphere was beautiful and relaxing, and the food was farm-to-table, local, in season, and made with organic and sustainable ingredients. I’d say it was pretty much the perfect place for lunch.

Don’t forget to enter my gift card giveaway if you haven’t already!

Tags: California, Food, Napa Valley, Restaurants, St. Helena, Travel, wine

Beignets and Bubbly

March 28, 2012 in Food, Restaurants, Travel by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Happy Wine Wednesday! How about a post about our adventures in wine country? I promise, I only have a few more to go. And I have to admit, I wish I had many, many more. I love writing about this stuff more than anything.

Let’s rewind a bit, shall we? On a warm, sunny Sonoma Saturday morning, my husband and I had breakfast, set out for massages at a spa on the Sonoma Plaza, and then hit the road to meet our friends over in Yountville. Before we went wine tasting, we had to fortify. Technically we had already eaten, but when invited to the sleek, swanky, and LEED Certifed (one of three hotels in the US) Bardessono with a Napa Valley local and other fun friends, you just don’t turn it down.

We’re no strangers to Yountville, and so we ended up arriving early and wandering around for a bit. The lines out of Bouchon Bakery were bananas, and in general the little town was bustling. You just can’t beat a blue sky day in Napa Valley.

On the way into the property, I snapped a photo of their sleeping vines, just waiting for bud break.

We checked out the beautifully designed patio, a great place to grab a cocktail after work. Bardessono is a spectacular property; I hear the rooms are incredible, though I will likely never see the inside of one; I did a quick search and the cheapest room was $800 a night.

Our friends were inside having brunch, so we joined them and each had a glass of Schramsberg Blanc de blancs. We were going to stick with just that, until we learned that the special of the day was freshly made beignets. Now, I am not one for a sweet breakfast, at all, but luckily the egg and bacon sandwich, banana, and yogurt I had eaten earlier were my breakfast. Beignets? Just a little snack.

The hot beignets were coated with sugar, offering a satisfying crunchiness as we bit into the hot, soft centers. The beignets were served with strawberry jam, chocolate sauce, and caramel. Not a crumb was wasted. And, of course, they went perfectly with the Schramsberg.