day six

Breakfast with Celeste was delicious. More fruit with yogurt, granola, and whipped crème, this time no chocolate and instead a piece of some sort of coffee cake. For the main course, an egg soufflé with a potato base and covered with cheese, topped with salsa. It was fantastic! Celeste had told us to check out Rubicon Estates, which used to be Coppala, because of the history.
It was right down the road from Round Pond (our 12:30 appointment for olive oil tasting), so we went. The history truly was amazing, and the preservation is too. We skipped tasting at that point, though, so we could get to Round Pond in time.
We were the only ones signed up for the 12:30 time slot, so we got a private tour!

At Round Pond they use 3 types of Spanish olives and 5 types of Italian. Many places pick all of their olives and just press them together, but at Round Pond, they do it similar to wine: each type gets pressed on its own, and then the owner tastes each one and decides how to blend them. They are also the only one that has a stone press and a hammer mill press. The stone press just pulverizes everything,

and the other pierces the skins. When they pick the olives though, they get a lot of leaves and stems in with them, so it runs down a conveyor belt, past a vacuum that is only strong enough to pick up the stems and leaves. They head into the presses to get smashed or pierced. Then they go into a horizontal centrifuge where the spinning action separates the pulp from the oil and little bit of water. Then the oil and water goes into a vertical centrifuge that sends the water to the bottom and the oil to the top where it comes out ready to eat (although this is the point where Round Pond blends them). Our tour guide, Jill, explained that many “infuse” their oils with different things, such as lemon, by simply adding the flavor at the end. Round Pond instead throws the peels of lemons or blood oranges into the press, so the flavor is with it all along. Then, they decided to start doing something with the edible sections of this fruit, so they started making syrups out of them.
We went into a room to taste them all, along with Round Pond’s vinegars. First we learned how to taste professionally. Professional tasting cups are blue in color so that the color of the oil will not affect your opinion, because apparently the color of oil has nothing to do with its taste. We placed about 1 teaspoon of oil in our mouths, coated our mouths and then sucked in air to oxygenated the oil in our mouths. It was quite an experience as the nuiances of the oil shone through such as the pepperyness of the Italian blend (we ended up coughing during the tasting of this oil which was considered polite). Then we tasted the vinegars on sugar cubes, and then the oils on different foods. We didn’t realize just how different foods could taste; breads, okay, but for example, the tomato was good with the Italian oil, but it was fantastic with the Meyer lemon olive oil. The Italian oil was very peppery; on its own, it made us cough (which is considered a good thing). The Spanish oil was much more buttery, in part because at Round Pond, they pick the Spanish olives after they have matured much more. Jill got us each a bite of homemade vanilla ice cream and had us sprinkle a bit of sea salt on it and drizzle the Spanish oil on top. We thought it sounded odd—when she brought the ice cream out, we assumed it was for the blood orange syrup—it was delicious! We ate our fill and then placed our order, which was difficult to make decisions on because everything was so wonderful.
We drove up to St. Helena and looked around all of the shops. While we were out walking, we noticed a familiar face walking down the street toward us. It was Joe Montana. We were too slow on the uptake so we don’t have a picture as proof. He ducked into the home furnishing store that we had just come out from before we could get out the camera. We continued on our way up the row of shops. We bought a painting of a vineyard with the mountains behind it, and a tray made out of an old wine barrel. Then we picked up an olive wood cheese board at the local olive oil place. We ate a bit of salad at a little Italian place who met our two requirements- light food, and a bathroom. We then stopped at Dean and Deluca’s, an extravagant grocery store that also sells many food-related products. They have an entire shelf of salts and sugars to buy in bulk—vanilla sugar, tarragon sugar, sea salt, Himalayan salt, and about 35 more! They even stocked a 10 year version of the Jura scotch, which we wondered if it might be better than the 6 year.
We headed back to Rubicon Estate for the tasting, which was decent, but nothing we wanted to buy.
We drove back to Sonoma to check in at Ramekins, where we were the only guests that night (yes, the place where we had our cooking classes- notice a theme in the decor?)




Then we went down to the girl & the fig for an excellent meal. To drink, Emily ordered a “gin”ger basil martini… the basil was a little overpowering, so although she drank it all, she wouldn’t order it again. Ryan chose the “red varietal flight” (see the list below). All of the girl & the fig’s wines are Rhones, so the red flight consisted of grenache, syrah, etc. We started with a cheese plate, which consisted of 6 cheeses, including fiscalini bandage wrapped cheddar (modesto, california), les levezou (a french sheep's milk cheese), and bellwether farms pepato (sonoma's own sheep's milk; surrounded by black peppercorns):

Ryan started with a wild boar ragout with an oven dried tomato and polenta.

Emily had a bowl of hot potato and green garlic soup.

After this first course, the entrees came out. Ryan had a filet of grilled tuna topped with an olive tapenade and grilled artichokes, roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
Emily had a steak, which was MUCH better than the night before’s. The flavor had been seared inside, and there was a green garlic butter that went on top. The steak was served with a side of potato confit.
For dessert, Ryan had a cheesecake parfait with a blackberry coulis sauce that was delicious.

Emily had profitaroles: cream puffs stuffed with homemade vanilla ice cream, drizzled with bittersweet chocolate.

We had such a great dinner we wanted to get a memento from the restaurant- lucky for us, they sell silver figs as paperweights and bookshelf decorations). We asked for one but were told that they had sold out. They said they had one left but it was marred up from being glued to the table. Emily explained that we were on our honeymoon and we ended up with the fig at a discount. After dinner, we headed back to Ramekins to get some sleep.

Wines for 31 May 2009:
Rubicon Estate, Captain’s Reserve, Pinot Noir, 2006, $38 – this was the best of the Rubicon wines that we were able to taste (the $145 a bottle Rubicon was not open for tasting the day we went), but it was not as enjoyable as the McManis Pinot Noir that we usually drink and especially not for the price difference
Rubicon Estate, Captain’s Reserve, Zinfandel, 2005, $30 – too many tannins and too spicy for our liking
Rubicon Estate, Captain’s Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, $52 – our third favorite wine at Rubicon
Rubicon Estate, Cabernet Franc, 2006, $56 – a interesting varietal, the smell was not indicative of the fruity taste but again not worth the price
Rubicon Estate, CASK, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, $75 – the second best wine at Rubicon
Girl and the Fig Red Varietal Flight ($15 for 5 tastes):
Mas de Guiot, Grenache-Syrah, France, 2007 – a very good wine (Ryan’s favorite of the flight)
Monte Oton, Garnacha, Spain, 2007 – too much bite (also paired with the tuna which made the wine more enjoyable)
River Run, Carignane, Cienega Valley, 2006 – a very good fruit-filled wine (Emily’s favorite of the flight)
Philippe & Vincent, Jaboulet, France, 2006 – another great wine in the flight
Cline Cellars “Ancient Vine”, Mourvedre, Contra Costa County, 2007 – good but a little complex for the cheeses we were having

day five

We started the day with breakfast from Celeste. Celeste reminds us of Renee Saper, causing us to think that Renee should run a B&B (she pretty much already does, right?) Our first course was apples and bananas covered in yogurt and granola, topped with some whipped cream and what we later discovered was cabernet chocolate sauce (Emily complained that there was something “off” about the chocolate and that it wasn’t pure, while Ryan quite enjoyed it). Next up was a French toast bake. We decided to push back our reservations for lunch to 1:45 so we would have room.
At Celeste’s suggestion, we headed north to Vincent Arroyo Winery. Arroyo does no distribution; everyone buys it right at the winery. They showed us a newly planted vineyard. They don’t use any irrigation; just rainfall. They also have a fantastic balsamic vinegar. We were able to test a wine right out of the barrel that won’t be released until this fall.

We also got to taste a wine (which was our favorite) made of grapes from only one particular vineyard, which was planted back in the 60s. They were able to ship to Ohio! We couldn’t linger, though, because we had one more stop at Sterling Vineyards before lunch.
We went to Sterling primarily for their tour—they take you on a gondola above the vineyards so you can get to see the whole thing.

Ryan was a bit nervous about the whole experience, but he did really well and even enjoyed the trip! At Chandon, one of the engineers spoke to someone else in our group about the difference of storing barrels sideways or upright, and at Arroyo they explained that in order to be sure there isn’t any air in the barrels, they fill them until the sides of the barrel get stained from spilling wine. At Sterling, the solution seemed to be giant barrels stored upright. We were able to admire the mountains from the top of their building,


and then it was on to the tasting room to go as quickly as possible. The Malvasia Bianca was our favorite Sterling wine—a white! They explained that the sugar is removed, so most might be 6%, where this wine is only 3%. This meant we got all of the flavors of citrus and ginger without the sickening sweetness. We confirmed they are all available online, as we didn’t have time to buy now, and then we zipped off to lunch.
Lunch was at Auberge du Soleil, which was one of those places where you can’t imagine ever having enough money to actually fit in. We sat on the terrace, which overlooks the mountains and some vineyards, making Emily feel a bit like watching the serfs working in the fields. As it was brunch, it was a set menu with some options. We started with a mimosa and a bellini, in which, after our trip to Chandon, we were able to appreciate how tiny the bubbles were. We were then served bread and mini muffins with a butter and a lemon-something that Emily hadn’t realized was lemon until put on her multigrain bread (it was much better with the scone-like muffins). As a first course, Ryan chose the onion tartelette with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and watercress, served with a side of sweet onion-mustard.
Emily got the Ahi tuna tartare with wakame, cucumber, and ginger dressing to be placed atop brioche.

Next was halibut topped with onion served with turnips, lima beans, brussel sprouts, carrots and artichoke hearts, in a fava bean sauce for Ryan, and meyer lemon risotto with artichokes, parmesan, tarragon, and yuzu emulsion for Emily (yes, Emily got risotto AGAIN!) This risotto was more refreshing than the last, which kept it from feeling too heavy. For dessert, Ryan selected the chocolate dumplings in filo dough with a side of tarragon ice cream,

while Emily chose the strawberries with frommage mousse, basil ice cream, and little muffin-y almost oatmeal-cookie things whose name escapes us.

Each of us was happy with our own choice. The presentation was gorgeous, and Emily marveled at the ability to create some of these combinations.
We drove back to the B&B for a quick nap, then headed to Napa’s town center. Like Sonoma, much of Napa closes down early. We looked at a few different places, but haven’t committed to buying anything as of yet. We returned to have wine with the other guests and try to figure out what to do about dinner. We checked out the Oxbow Public Market, which is more similar to Dayton’s. Here, we found a winery that lets you create your own wine! You have to set up an appointment and commit to at least 2 cases, so we weren’t able to do it, but you try them all and then blend them into something you are happy with, choose a bottle shape, design a label and its text, and decide if you want foil or wax wrap.
We ended up at the Rutherford Grill, a place Ryan wanted to try. Emily was just craving some sort of simple beef. There was an hour wait so we sat at the outdoor bar and ordered a drink. Emily had a Bocce Ball (orange-pineapple, disaronno, and rum) and Ryan had a McCallan 12 year. After talking with the bartender for a few we found out he was getting married in September. Before we left for our table, he gave Ryan a small taste of GlenMorangie 18 year.
We started with their skillet cornbread. Lesson learned: only order cornbread in its native areas. California puts weird things in it, like artichokes, which is a very confusing taste given the sweetness of cornbread. Ryan ordered the Pork ribs, and Emily chose the filet. The ribs were cooked well but did not compare to Mongomery Inn BBQ. The filet was a very nice piece of meat, but they seemingly did nothing to enhance its flavor, just put it on the grill. A good Midwestern steak house is not to be had out here. They did serve mashed potatoes (with kale and cabbage mixed in), and while Ryan thought they were good, they did not deserve the praise given to them by the locals. The locals say that they are the best potatoes in the valley, but as Emily pointed out, this was day 5 and it was the first time we had seen potatoes on any menu. Not much of a competition for the valley’s best potatoes.

Wines for 30 May 2009:
Vincent Arroyo Nameless, 2006, $30 – tannins were too strong
Vincent Arroyo Entrada, 2006, $65 – Ryan really enjoyed this blend, Emily still felt it had a bit of a bitter taste
Vincent Arroyo Bodega, 2006, $40
Vincent Arroyo Sangiovese, 2007 (out of the barrel; release 1 Spetember 2009), $22
Vincent Arroyo Petit Syrah, 2006, $32 – the 2006 was more fruity than the 2002
Vincent Arroyo Petit Syrah, 2002 – the 2002 was sweeter than the 2006
Vincent Arroyo Petit Syrah: Rattlesnake Acres: 2004, $62; 2005, $58; 2007, $50 – we tasted the 2004, but bought the 2007, and plan to age it at least for a couple years; perhaps this will become anniversary wine or something
Sterling Vineyards Cellar Club Pinot Gris, 2007, $26 – nice and refreshing, but little flavor
Sterling Vineyards Cellar Club Sangiovese, 2006, $30 – decent, Ryan wouldn’t turn away a glass, but not nearly as good as the Arroyo
Sterling Vineyards Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, $40 – this cab was pretty good, for a cab
Sterling Vineyards Cellar Club Malvasia Bianca, $30 ($28 on website) – sweet flavors without coming off sugary
Terry Hoage ‘The Hedge’, Syrah, Paso Robles, 2005, $12 by the glass – very fruity flavors, the bbq sauce needed more spice to pair well with this wine

day four

What a whirlwind day! We expected to go to the farmer’s market for breakfast, but couldn’t find it in the Sonoma Plaza, so we went to one of the bakery-cafés, which was really crowded. Emily had roasted garlic with brie. We were surprised how different the brie tasted out here; almost like a thick butter—something that would actually cause us to consider ourselves “brie eaters”. Ryan ordered a breakfast croissant with cheddar, sausage and egg. We also picked up a few mint cookies with chocolate filling for the drive to Napa.
We discovered the sign pointing toward the market, so we headed out there. What a letdown! The Dayton market is larger and much nicer. However, we picked up some bing cherries.
We checked out of El Dorado and headed out to Napa. We had lunch at a place Amy had suggested, Villa Corona, for some authentic Mexican. It was great, and definitely authentic, but way too much food. Although we were tired, it was time for our first wine tasting at Domaine Chandon.

Chandon specializes in sparkling wines (which we are admittingly not typically fond of), but we wanted to learn more about it and they had a very interesting Pinot Meunier which we really wanted to taste. It had also been suggested as a great tour in the “Wine Country for First Timers” section of our guidebook.
We learned a lot at Chandon. For sustainability purposes, they are using dogs in the fields to kill the blue-black sharp shooters. They also grow Cabernet (which they don’t use in wine making) along the edges of the vineyards. This is so that the sharp shooters get to these grapes and stop, not reaching the Pinot Noir further in the vineyard. We were a bit surprised to realize that Pinot Noir grapes are used to create sparkling wines. The other two grapes that Chandon uses exclusively are Chardonnay, and Pinot Muenier, which is also a dark grape. Heading inside, we saw the huge vats, and the old riggling racks.

Today, Chandon uses the VLM instead of a master riggler, which stands for “Very Large Machine”. Each vat is then compared and mixed to create the wines. We got to see the barrel room, including a few stainless steel barrels, which are used for a couple of “unoaked” varieties. We smelled the difference between a traditional and an unoaked Chardonnay. The unoaked variety smelled very sweet and fruity (something that we would be more likely to drink as opposed to the buttery oaky traditional Chardonnay.
After the tour we headed to a secluded patio where we got to taste the Brut Classic, Pinot Noir Brut, Extra Dry Riche, Etoile Brut, Pinot Noir, and the Pinot Meunier (which was only because we had previously mentioned we liked red wines and it was our honeymoon).

Rebekah, our “ambassador”, gave us a cream cheese- bleu cheese- walnut spread that showcased the sparkling wines. The sparkling wines really act as a palate cleanser for such things, and we were able to see how they might be useful with most appetizers. Our least favorite was the Pinot Noir Brut (which was actually the wine highest rated by Wine Spectator at 93 points). The Riche tasted similar to the Martin-Weyrich Muscato that Emily likes (partially because they use “a touch” of Muscat grapes in the making of the Riche), but it didn’t have the bit of zip at the end, which is a nice touch to the Muscato. The Etoile Brut was the best of the sparkling, but we didn’t think the price difference between it and the Brut Classic was worth it. The Pinot Noir was not our favorite Pinot, although we would both finish a glass. The Pinot Meunier, however, was absolutely fantastic. Rebekah gave us a list of things that each of their wines pair well with, and this one listed “grilled meats with sautéed mushrooms”. We thought that Emily’s mom’s flank steak and mushrooms with spicy mustard would be perfect for this wine. Chandon, it seems, (and others) can’t ship to Ohio currently. So one call to Cadi and a promise of a big sister tax, and we were out $250… 6 bottles of the Pinot Meunier (one for Cadi, one for Emily’s parents), 1 of the unoaked Chardonnay to try, and 2 of the Brut Classic. We left with a new appreciation for sparkling wines, even if they may not be the first thing we reach for.
We headed to McClelland-Priest Bed and Breakfast to check in… There was a packet on the porch for us, as Celeste was out running errands. She had upgraded us to the master suite, the Carducci, which was incredibly nice of her, but disappointed us, because we had been looking forward to the private patio of the Firenze room.
The Carducci room has a four poster king size bed, which Emily is afraid that Ryan may decide he wants when we get a second dog. After a quick nap, it was time to head back to Sonoma for our second cooking class.
We were the first ones to arrive for the beer and appetizers class. We had hoped it would be slightly smaller, and it was- 14 people this time instead of 17. This was also a younger crowd, likely due to the time (6:30-9:30 on a Friday), and there was a large number of men, likely due to the beer. The chef, Nicole Kollock, seemed more approachable that Chat had, as much as we enjoyed the Thai class. We made the bite size peach cobblers with raspberry sauce, and because of the class size, we were the only ones working on it.

Ryan made the raspberry sauce all on his own, pureeing and straining the seeds out. The peaches here came in season less than a month ago, and they were fantastic; hopefully we will be able to pick some up to bring home before we leave. Once the cobblers went into the oven, we went to help with the tempura. We coated the vegetables and the shrimp and slid them into the oil. Nicole informed us that if the oil is the right temperature (350-375), then deep frying isn’t too bad for you because the batter immediately creates a seal that keeps the oil from getting to the food. This experience also persuaded Ryan that we don’t need to own a deep fryer; a deep pot will work just fine. All of the foods were delicious, and the beer pairings were fun, even if they didn’t all quite work. The Peche Lambic was (unsurprisingly) Emily’s favorite. Nicole said we could use this same pretzel method to make pretzel rolls, which Emily was excited about because it means we don’t have to wait until Saturdays to make Griffin paninis like from Beanster's.
We headed back to Napa, and promptly went to bed.

Wines (and beers) for 29 May 2009:
Domaine Chandon, Brut Classic, $22 – good for a sparkling wine
Domaine Chandon, Pinot Noir Brut, $30 – this was a much heavier sparkling wine (something that we were not fully prepared for), Ryan would be willing to give it another chance but thinks it need food alongside it, Emily did not care for the smell of the wine
Domaine Chandon, Extra Dry Riche, $22 – very sweet, would be good for sipping on a patio
Domaine Chandon, Etoile Brut, $40 – good but for us it didn’t seem considerably better that the Brut Classic (it was more complex, we could taste the buttered toast)
Domaine Chandon, Pinot Noir, Carneos, 2006, $35 – good but we prefer the McManis Pinot Noir
Domaine Chandon, Pinot Meunier, Carneos, 2006, $35 – our favorite wine from Chandon

Lagnitaus IPA
Kirin Ichiban – good stuff
Peroni – Ryan thought it was ok but it will not replace an Oberon with pizza
Franziskaner Club Weiss Hefeweizen
Singha Ale – Ryan would order this beer again while eating Indian
Peche Lambic – tasted like a “dessert beer”

day three

Yesterday we noticed a place next door called the Sunflower Café that looked like a good breakfast place, and they were playing good music (Collective Soul), so we decided to try breakfast there. The good music continued (Live, RHCP, Vertical Horizon, etc.), seemingly playing off of Ryan’s iPod. Ryan selected a lox omelette with capers, sour cream, tomato, and red onion. Emily chose a turkey and pesto omelette that had a few red onion pieces inside as well. The eggs were light and fluffy, and overall tasty. After breakfast, we walked out back into the garden. There were large birds bathing in the fountain and various flowers.
At 11 we headed to our first cooking class at Ramekins, Thai foods. We were given a rundown on what defines Thai cooking (lemongrass, white ginger, kaffir lime, and chilies), and then we did a brief overview of each of the recipes. Emily had expected to be able to eat all but the pork satay and the prawn soup, but was surprised to find that many Thai dishes have a shrimp element to them. She decided to eat all of the dishes that didn’t have pieces of shrimp in them. We were assigned to help cook the Red Curry Chicken with Pineapple.

Another woman almost ruined our experience with this because she was extremely critical (i.e. Emily’s pineapple chunks were a little large and the red curry was too spicy), while making large mistakes herself (i.e. adding all of the coconut cream at the beginning, which meant the curry lost all of its spice and continually stirring the dish once the pineapple had been added). We attributed it to being young looking, and hoped she felt bad for her behavior when overhearing us tell others that we were on our honeymoon. Because the curry had been cut by the coconut cream and the pineapple, Ryan ended up adding the rest of an 8 ounce can of red curry paste. Unfortunately, because this curry was put in later it, added some spice (not enough) but no flavor (it was not able to become fragrant as it would if given time to simmer like in the beginning of the recipe). All of the dishes were delicious (although the red curry wasn’t what it should be like). Emily’s favorite was (not surprisingly) the chicken satay and the pad thai. Ryan really enjoyed the spicy beef salad. The chef, Chat Mingkwan, has written 6 books. We decided to purchase his vegetarian cookbook, Buddha's Table, hoping to determine a good way to combine the recipes we received with the book so that we could remove the shrimp elements.
Afterwards, Ryan took a nap and Emily got a chance to do some reading. We went to dinner at The Red Grape, the locals’ favorite pizza place. Overall, it was not as good as Dewey’s. We ordered a four cheese white pizza with artichokes and mushrooms (and garlic). Emily felt that one of the cheeses was particularly salty and gave pockets of the pizza bad taste (probably the pecorino romano). The mushrooms were exceptionally good though.
We went back to the room and watched the end of the spelling bee (instead of getting ice cream) and fell asleep.

Wine for 28 May 2009:
Pellegrini, Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, 2005, $26 — Gets better as it breathes; was too strong at first. Went well with pizza, but Ryan has no desire to ever drink it again. One better: Di Arie. One worse: Ravenswood.

day two

We started the day early, eating breakfast in the bar: a delicious apple turnover for Ryan and a smoothie (pomegranate, banana, ginger, and orange juice) for Emily.

We went to the spa to try the bathing ritual. First a grape seed exfoliating scrub in a shower, then into a pool kept around 92 degrees.

After 15 minutes of relaxing in the pool, sipping cool water, we moved into the 102 degree whirl pool. We went into a quick cool shower, then onto a wet steam room. It was really dark, with blue lights, and lots of fog. We found it difficult to breathe because of the water vapor, which smelled of eucalyptus. We went into the dry sauna, where we warmed back up. By this time we were feeling pretty relaxed and we still had half an hour before our treatment. We went to the lounge area, where we tasted some “elixirs” and ate some almonds and fruit. Emily managed to fall asleep for a few minutes due to the whole relaxing experience. We went upstairs to begin our treatment with a lavender bubble bath in a large copper tub. Next we were covered with a lavender, grape seed, and tea tree oil scrub and wrapped up for a while… where Emily managed to fall asleep again. They massaged our heads and feet during this time. Once the wrap was complete, we received full body massages.
After quick showers, we checked out of the hotel and returned to the spa boutique for some gifts. next we received free smoothies as a gift from the spa. Ryan chose orange juice, strawberry, and raspberry, while Emily got another vanilla float.
We next moved onto the yarn store, where we chose some yarn from a local alpaca to be made into something as yet undetermined. the locals seem to be fairly impatient drivers. as we were turning into the yarn shop, we were passed by several cars (and one large (Ryder-sized) truck, who went off the shoulder just to get around us.
When we were getting ready to leave the yarn shop, Ryan started to look up driving directions to the Sonoma Plaza. The iphone thought we were about 12 miles south of town when really we were about 7 miles northwest. The yarn shop owner helped to clear things up and gave us easy directions to the plaza. we left the yarn shop and drove to Sonoma’s main plaza to try some tacos at Maya. They were simple, made of hangar steak pieces and cheese, but they were delicious. We walked around to scope out places to visit later, and found some promising leads. We also visited the three dog barkery, which sells a few treats at dlm. We didn’t want to buy anything yet, so plan to return at the end of our trip so that the treats are at their freshest.
by this time we were able to check into El Dorado Hotel, so we did just that and took a nice long nap. The hotel is much more modern than its look from the outside.

After our nap, we walked around the plaza again to determine what we had missed and look at the menus.
We returned to El Dorado for dinner at El Dorado Kitchen and sat outside on their large patio. It was half price wine night, so we selected an expensive blend. We started with “farm frites”, which were asparagus fries served with a lemon wedge and aioli sauce that were fantastic… sort of a vegetarian calamari.

Next we had chilled spring garlic soup, which had a few shreds of radish in it and was topped with what was likely basil oil. Emily thought the soup would be made slightly better with a few scallions, but we both enjoyed it immensely. For the entrees, Ryan got a leg of lamb with lamb jus and lamb confit with a bean and frisee topping,
while Emily chose a truffle risotto (yes, Emily got RISOTTO!)
The risotto was quite tasty, although it was a bit too rich to eat as an entire meal—it would have complemented the lamb with its simple flavors perfectly as a side dish. having a long list of delicious sounding desserts, we settled on the s’more tart, as we felt it was most unusual. a buttery graham cracker crust with heavy chocolate ganache topped with Italian meringue, served with vanilla gelato and caramel sauce.
Emily decided the gelato was her favorite part and that the caramel was delicious but not as fantastic as the one from the Wine Gallery.
We attempted to stay up until a reasonable hour, but pretty much failed miserably.

Wines for 27 May 2009: (see picture) Muscardini “Tesoro” Sangiovese/Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, 2006. $38 (Half Price)—didn’t go with the lamb as well as expected. Good, but not $70-good.

day one

Worst time with tsa in Dayton. The lines are now divided, and we ended up in the “family and medical liquids” line because there wasn’t a sign explaining the differences between the 3 lines until you’d stood in line for 10 minutes. Our line was by far the slowest but we had no idea because it seemed to be moving okay until we started watching people we’d gotten in line before going through. We were lucky that boarding was delayed a few minutes.
the flight to minneapolis was uneventful. a little bit down the concourse from the gate we landed, there was a giant snoopy that we decided to get our first honeymoon picture with. We asked a man who appeared to be taking a picture of his daughter’s my little pony with the snoopy, and he obliged (although he didn’t hold long enough, so we never got a picture)
He then asked if we were on our honeymoon, and when we said yes, he took us to the delta sky club. These places are absolutely ridiculous! The changing table in the bathroom was stainless steel. The floors are marble. There are free fancy coffee machines as well as danishes, bagels, and alcohol to make your own drinks. There are free newspapers and magazines, wifi, computer stations, printers, and copiers. The chairs are large and comfy.
We left the club after about an hour and a half in order to eat a larger breakfast. We found ourselves at ike’s, a hometown kind of place. it was good, although probably not worth writing much more about. We ate enough to hold us over until much much later, then left for our gate.
Upon landing in San Francisco, we headed to baggage claim where our three bags were among the first 20 out (our plane had 174 people). We got onto a train to get to hertz. We managed to get a dog-loving agent, so she saw pictures of Henry and Milo, and then when she found out that we were on our honeymoon, she upgraded us to a 2010 Ford Mustang convertible.
The trunk space only holds two of our bags, but it was by far the best way to go over the golden gate bridge, which we did as we headed out to Sonoma.
We had a bit of trouble finding the hotel, but managed to find the yarn shop less than a block away. No time to check it out yet, as we had places to be, but we plan to tomorrow.
We checked into the Sonoma Mission Inn, where we were informed that they had managed to upgrade us to a Mission Suite (which contains a king size bed, non-smoking, romantic Jacuzzi, patio, fireplace, complimentary wine and wine tasting), which we later determined usually costs $449 a night!


We walked in; the place was gorgeous, and a bottle of champagne was waiting for us. We didn’t have time to enjoy it yet though, because we had treatments in half an hour. We changed and walked over to the spa. We were too late to enjoy the bathing ritual, but plan to arrive with plenty of time tomorrow morning. For now, we enjoyed the fresh strawberries and oranges along with the mint and lime flavored water.
Emily got the vanilla floatation. They dry-exfoliated her with these gloves, then slathered her with body butter. She was wrapped in towels and sheets and then the table lowered into hot water, where she stayed for 45 minutes as the therapist massaged her head, neck, and feet. At the conclusion, they provided a vanilla float smoothie. during the session Emily asked the therapist about good local Mexican food and she recommended two places: the taco cart across the street and Maya (a sit down restaurant) which is located in the plaza. we plan on having the taco cart for lunch tomorrow and going over to Maya later in the week while we are staying at El Dorado which is on the plaza.
Ryan enjoyed the watsu massage, which involved his therapist to move and stretch him in may different ways under water. his legs were supported at the knee by floats, and while it did not deeply massage his back, he called it the “most relaxing thing he has ever done”.
We came back to the room and drank a little champagne on the patio. We hadn’t made dinner plans, so we decided to head to the four diamond rated hotel restaurant, Santé. After ordering they served us a course of chilled leek and onion soup topped with a little basil oil and served with some dehydrated carrot to sprinkle on top next to a little brioche topped with black truffle mousse. I wish we’d remembered to get a picture, but we didn’t. Then the bread and butter came. There were two types of butter—a French, and a Californian. neither were salted, and there was French sea salt in between the two that you sprinkle on top.
It was all fantastic, and interesting to see how the different breads took the butters differently. Then, because it was our honeymoon, the chef prepared an extra dish for us. It was presented on three plates of concentric sizes, with napkins in between the layers. It was a cauliflower custard with black truffle shavings and black truffle oil. This we were both pleased to discover was fantastic. Our dinners soon came... Emily had an artichoke ravioli with pickled pearl onions and a lemon beurre sauce. Ryan’s dish was a Bodega Bay duck breast with huckleberry reduction, wilted spinach underneath, caramelized pearl onions, and a side of duck confit hash browns with a quail egg on top.
For dessert we split a blueberry and almond financier that reminded us of a muffin/cupcake mix. It was topped with lemon thyme sorbet which was much creamier than expected, and a candied lemon along with a blueberry reduction sauce. They had written happy honeymoon in chocolate sauce along the edge.
We walked back to our room, where we crashed finally.

Wines for 26 May 2009:
Buena Vista, Syrah, Carneros, 2005, $15 by the glass – All the wines at Sante were expensive but Ryan decided that a glass of wine with the duck breast would be great,. This glass of wine was the cheapest on the menu but it was very good, especially with the duck.