Jim & Jamie’s Adventures In Napa

Last week we were asked to participate in a hospitality presentation at Peju Winery.  With a new chef, Marianne, at the helm of the food, and the winemaker, Sarah Fowler, still producing great wine, Peju is investing in a new series of food and wine pairing sessions.  The first was the wine and cheese: four distinct California cheeses paired with four of Peju’s wines.  The goat cheese stood out beautifully with the Sauvignon Blanc, the Humboldt Fog went well with the Provence, lamb prosciutto was paired with the 05 Merlot, and a sheep’s milk cheese with the 05 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The chef was informative, entertaining, and very engaging with the group (no more than fifteen in each session).  We followed this up with a tour of the grounds and discovered (finally!) that those funky trees they are growing are stripped down sycamores.  If you haven’t seen them, you should.  They are leafing all the way up each long trunk and the effect is hypnotic.  We toured the estate vineyard where their award-winning Cab comes from, as well as the chef’s herb and vegetable garden where everything was popping up in abundance.  Our hosts, Katie and Connor, talked to us about the energy-efficiency of the winery as it utilizes solar panels to produce close to 40% of the energy the winery uses to produce the wines.  We were taken through the barrel room and then fortunate enough to see the new bottling machine where they were just putting together a new bottle and label of a Syrah Rose. Returning to the main tasting room, we were escorted through the new tasting room addition that is very bright, beautiful, and contemporary.  We finished our day back upstairs for a second session, this time for tapas and wine pairing.  We started with a goat’s milk yogurt cheese with a pate paired with the 05 Merlot, moved to the lamb meatball with pomegranate reduction paired with the 05 Cabernet Franc, proceeded to the crostini with boar prosciutto and caramelized onions/macerated cherries which perfectly fit the 05 Fifty/Fifty blend, and finished with the Yellow Bell Pepper in tempura that was paired with the 04 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  Once the hour session was completed we made a beeline to the kitchen for a quick tour and then to the tasting room to purchase some of these wines.  We both highly recommend the experience (cheese tasting @$40; tapas tasting @ $60) and would encourage a guest to do BOTH (there may be a discount for both experiences in a single day)!  What a great way to spend a few hours drinking wine, enjoying the vineyards, and eating really great, creative food.  Currently these are being offered on Thursdays and Fridays.  Cheese tastings are at 11:00 a.m. and Tapas tastings are at 1:00 p.m.

We don’t often go out just for steak, but we were invited out by some returning guests (thank you!- not often we can go with all the work we have to do, but it is the tail end of the low season and we could afford the time), and they wanted to return to Cole’s with some friends they brought with them from Canada.  We love the look and feel of Cole’s: a little upscale, a little casual, a little contemporary.  With a full bar to order from it makes for a great cocktail restaurant for those who just want something other than wine to drink.  We stayed with our personal favorites, the filet mignon with the Sauce Bearnaise (tender, juicy, and scrumptious!), and we ordered the hash browns (not to be missed: crunchy on the exterior, tender interior, in the shape of an inverted bowl on the plate), the mushrooms (what is a great steak without sauteed mushrooms?), and the creamed spinach!  Okay, my arteries are clogged for a week, but what the heck!  We don’t get here often.   You will be happy to note that we did start with salads first, the Butter-lettuce salad with the creamy buttermilk dressing, our nod to healthy and fresh and green.  We paired the steaks with a Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon, without a doubt a great addition to the meal.  In the mood for steak?  Then Cole’s is the place for you.  Close to the Inn, a fifteen minute walk up First Street, or a two minute drive by car.  Reservations are recommended and required on weekends and the High Season.

Zuzu’s has been one of those restaurants that we have had on our list due to guest comments over the past year.  We’ve even had guests who were Tapas-style chefs go and come back raving about the food and we knew we had to go.  Well, we finally made it to the restaurant last week and we were ready for a feast.  I’ll tell you now that we only have one regret with the meal: we didn’t have enough room for more.  The problem was the paella.  We ordered enough for 3; we should have ordered enough for one, shared, and moved onto other dishes.  At first I though the tomato sauce on the paella was too tart, but then I kept eating it and wondered what the attraction was that kept me coming back for more.  It was served with a light and sweet cream sauce that was the perfect balance to the tomato.  We were half-way through that when the next course showed up: the flat iron steak with the chimichurri sauce which was Jamie’s favorite.  Then came the next, which I loved, the asparagus with Serrano ham, and we both loved the next course, scallops with the olives and meyer lemon.  The last course we ordered was the Bacalao with truffle oil which we pretty much fought over to finish, and then we were stuffed.  Argh!  Not enough room for more.  There were still many more flavors and options to try and we were so disappointed that there had been so much paella that we didn’t…couldn’t possibly….have room for more…..than dessert!  We settled on the apple empanada because a number of guests had talked about the tart apple with the hint of pepper on your throat to be finished with caramel sauce.  Whoa!  Really yummy!  Now I understand why our guests love this place so much.  Everything in small portions, shared family style, and paced out over the course of your meal.  One dish shows up, you begin to eat, and then another, and you add that to your plate, and then a third.  Dirty plate and don’t want to mix flavors?  No problem!  There are extra clean plates at the table and they are prompt to clear the dirty ones away.  Not sure how hungry you are?  Fine, then start with a few and order more as you go.  No reservations taken here, but worth the wait if you have to.  Definitely a great meal for those who are looking for something casual, different, flavorful, and fun.  The restaurant is only a two minute drive from the inn, or a fifteen minute walk.