A Love of Latin

Thomas Keller is most known for his Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry and its famous garden located directly across the street in Yountville.  And if you don't know about The French Laundry, then most foodies are aware of his restaurant Bouchon which is located in several locations throughout the United States.  But few are probably aware of his other Napa Valley restaurant located just minutes down the street from The French Laundry and Bouchon which serves just as excellent of food in a casual environment.

Similar to The French Laundry the menu at Ad Hoc is preset for the evening and only announced on that day, so if you are a limited eater then I'm not sure that this restaurant is for you.  But once seated they do ask if you have any food allergies, so you should not be concerned by that.  Your only choices for the remainder of the evening will be beverages and whether or not you want to partake in the optional meal supplement.  All courses are served family style and with each new course you also get a fresh plate and silverware, so no need to worry about keeping your plate or fork clean.

The first course was a salad made of vegetables picked that morning from The French Laundry Garden.  I've never tasted vegetables so fresh tasting and crisp - just off the farm.  This was not the easiest plate to share as I wanted to just eat off the main plate to be sure I got every bit of yumminess.  That was the one down side of the dressing being served beneath the veggies on the plate.

TFL Garden Tomato & Cucumber Salad (brokaw avocado, belgian endive, english peas, oranges, frisée, sesame dressing)

The second course was indescribable.  Usually when short ribs are prepared, in order to break down the connective tissue the meat is slow cooked for hours and all the marbling is gone having drained to the bottom of the pan to make a hearty au jus.  But these are not your usual braised short ribs.  I've never had anything like them.  Once you slice into them the meat is pink and tender and full of marbling.  No short rib will ever come close to the ones I had at Ad Hoc that evening.  The vegetables again were fresh from the garden and the potatoes were as creamy as could be.

Braised Beef Short Ribs (garlic whipped potatoes, broccolini, blistered shishito peppers, mokum carrots, tokyo turnips, sauce japonais)

We decided to get the additional entree with our meal, but it just resulted in the meal being too much food.  My husband noted that this entree was probably his least favorite of all of our courses, and I would probably agree.  That said, Ad Hoc's least successful is better than most restaurant's specialities.  And while I'm not much of a fan of calamari, this calamari was cooked perfectly and really held the flavor of the subtle curry.

Seafood Curry (rock shrimp, pei mussels, monterey squid, jasmine rice)

When the cheese course was served my husband grabbed a slice of cheese before I could even take a picture of the plate.  The cheese alone was decadent, but once drizzled with honey, it was heavenly.

San Joaquin Gold (candied cashews, honey, k&j orchards pluots)

By the time the dessert course was served there was "no room at the inn."  I struggled to finish my panna cotta which had a subtle earl grey flavor.  In fact I had seen many patrons take their oat tuiles to go, but I didn't want to miss one bite and to be able to experience the flavor combination.  Ultimately I never finished my panna cotta and found myself rolling out of the restaurant, but I have no regrets.

Earl Grey Panna Cotta (yellow nectarines, oat tuile)

This was not our first trip to Ad Hoc, nor will it be the last.  Previously we experienced their Sunday brunch which is just as wonderful, and I hope that some day I can experience their fried chicken as it has a reputation as strong as that of The French Laundry.  If you're in the Napa Valley I strongly recommend going to Ad Hoc with its Michelin quality food in a casual atmosphere with a reasonable price of $52 per person.

Napa Style indeed

No trip to Napa is complete without visiting Michael Chiarello's signature restaurant Bottega Napa.  On this trip to Napa I learned that Chef Chiarello owns the home goods store, Napa Style, located just across the way from his own restaurant, Bottega Napa.  On our last visit we had dinner at Bottega, but this time we decided to do lunch.

I don't know how we didn't remember the complimentary bread and sauce as the sauce is heaven on earth.  I Googled the recipe and found out its name "Salsa di Parmigiano."  Just call it heaven.  I plan on making it at home over and over again.  I almost regretted ordering anything off the menu as my entire meal could have been the bread and salsa.

Salsa di Parmigiano

For our appetizer we decided on the Green Eggs and Ham. Here the green is the caramelized zucchini and the ham is the guanciale, so not what one thinks of when they think of the Dr. Seuss book.  Never the less, quite tasty.

Green Eggs and Ham (caramelized zucchini, cherry tomato confit, guanciale, crispy soft cooked egg, sweet corn sabayon, Redwood Hills Crottin)

We were both intrigued by the peach salad with perfectly ripened peaches: not too sweet and not too soft.  My only complaint was that it was difficult to eat the pistachios as they were chopped a little too finely.  Otherwise, its a light refreshing salad.

Local Peach Salad (honey ricotta, purslane, pistachios, fennel pollen, and Muscat vinaigrette)

As soon as I saw this on the menu I knew my husband would order it.  The big giveaway was the first two words in the name: Black Garlic.  Again my husband was faced with head-on prawns, making us joke that every entree he would have on our trip would have to include the headed crustacean.  The dish comes with the bonito flakes on the side and the server stating that the chef recommends them on top.  In case you don't know what bonito flakes are they are flakes of dried, smoked bonito fish.  If you're a fan of Iron Chef America then you know that Chef Morimoto is often making a dashi with these.

Black Garlic Spaghetti Grande (head-on gulf prawns, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, calabrian chili, citrus essence and bonito flakes)

I decided to go for the risotto of the day because it was made with crab.  And lots of it.  Crab broth was used in the preparation of the risotto along with bits of crab, and then a generous helping of crab on top.  There was nothing left as I think this was the best risotto I have ever had.

Dungeness Crab Risotto - the Risotto del Giorno

Even though we were only at lunch we decided to go for dessert.  The crust was amazing - nice and think and not too sweet.  Everything about the crostata was delish!  And the ice cream, though we were sceptical as it was made with rosemary, was decadent as well.  The only item I wasn't sure about was the bing cherry espuma or foam.  I could have done without it.  This is definitely a dessert to share with one or two people as its way too decadent and too large for just one person.

Cherry Pistachio Crostata (with bing cherry espuma, pistachio oil, and honey rosemary gelato)

Having now had both lunch and dinner at Bottega Napa I can definitely say that I will be back again.  But my question is: when are they going to offer breakfast as well?

The Son of Neptune

If you are a fan of Iron Chef America, then you must be a fan of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.  Chef Morimoto only has a few restaurants, so whenever I'm in the neighborhood I feel obligated to take advantage of the opportunity.  This time we were in Napa, California so a late night stop into Morimoto Napa was in order.

We had been here once before and yet somehow I had forgotten how loud it is inside the restaurant.  The decor is beautiful, but it allows for the sound to reverberate off of the walls making your own table conversation difficult to hear.  But your mouth will be too busy eating the decadent food that you won't mind.

The first thing I ordered was the White Lily which I think is The Best Drink On Earth Period.  I had the non-alcoholic version at Morimoto in Manhattan, but have made sure to have the hard version the two times I've been to his Napa location.  The drink is so subtle and so tasty and I think there should be more yuzu products in American markets as yuzu is the perfect citrus fruit.

White Lily (shochu, calpico, yuzu juice and fresh lemon)

This time we started with the hamachi tartare having tried the toro tartare on our last visit.  The presentation is the same, just different fish.  The whole dish comes on a bowl of shredded ice to keep everything cool.  You scoop a little bit of fish on your shovel (the silverware that comes with the dish) and then dip it into any of the six available toppings: nori paste (yum!), wasabi, sour cream, chives, guacamole, rice cracker balls).  Its up to you to come up with all of the various combinations available.  Personally I love the nori paste with a little wasabi and some chives. My husband and I seem to make a game out of this with our various shovel designs in the fish and the constant competition to gather up the others remnants on the side.

hamachi tartare (wasabi, nori paste, sour cream)

My husband knowingly ordered what I had eaten on our last trip, but it turns out that I ordered the same thing he had previously ordered as well.  I guess you can say we are creatures of habit.  All I knew was that tonight I wanted beef, so I ordered the surf and turf so that I could still take advantage of having Morimoto's fish.  The dish was divine, but strangely I preferred the veggies beneath the steak.

surf and turf (snake river farms wagyu, hamachi, black garlic, nuoc cham)

Since we're big lovers of Korean food we had to try Morimoto's kimchees, again not realizing that we had already done so on our previous trip.  Well, at least it was a pleasant mistake.  There were three different kinds of kimchee: cucumber, which was not as hot as it always seems to be in Korean restaurants; radish; cabbage, but not the traditional kind.  Admittedly I was disappointed that they didn't offer the traditional cabbage kimchee, but I wasn't exactly in a Korean restaurant so I'm not sure what I was expecting.

morimoto kimchees

And below is the heavenly dish I got to enjoy on our last visit.  Its like a Japanese cioppino, but so much better.  Be prepared though, as the shrimp comes with heads included.  I have to admit I was envious of my husband's meal, and yet saddened that Morimoto doesn't have a restaurant in Los Angeles as this is the dish that I would want when its cold and I'm not feeling well.  I think this might be the Japanese equivalent of Jewish penicillin.

seafood toban yaki (lobster, king crab, mussels, clams, sea scallop, red miso sake broth)

For dessert we finally varied from our previous experience and ordered the yuzu souffle because we both love yuzu.  If I recall correctly I think our server even told us that it was gluten free, so take a note all of you out there who suffer through a gluten-free diet as you won't be suffering on this night.  And because it isn't made with flour it cooks rather quickly, so if you're tired and don't want to wait the traditional twenty or so minutes for a souffle then you are in luck.  The only flaw with the dish is that its simply too small.  I wanted more even though I was stuffed to the gills.

yuzu souffle (boysenberry ice cream, lemon sugar tuille)

Any time you are in a city where there is a Morimoto restaurant I have one instruction for you: Go.