Zuni Baby One More Time
Last weekend in San Fransisco was fantastic.
Tiago and I hit the road around 5.30am on Saturday. Here's what Tiago likes on road trips:
On the way there he likes:
-any green protein shake
-lots of Smart Water
-stopping to pee only at Starbucks
-as many hours of This American Life as will fit in his iPod
-peanut butter cookies or mixed nuts or hazelnut piroulines (sp??)
-a girlfriend in the passenger seat who always falls asleep with her mouth open
We got to Florian's place around 11.30am, where we met Willy the overly excited snoring black pug. After a quick but decadent snack of toasted french bread and melted brie, we hopped into Emily's awesome hybrid car and headed toward Sonoma county.
We ended up in the Alexander Valley at Hanna Winery where we had a rather extensive tasting. Every wine at this place was fantastic. We were totally floored. We were there until closing, when we bought a chilled bottle of their sauvignon blanc and a case of their velvety 2000 merlot to share. The sauvignon blanc was for the picnic that Florian and Emily had packed for us. We sat at the picnic table outside the tasting room and took in the view. The woman who had conducted the tasting recommended that we pick a few pinot noir grapes off the vine to compare them to the finished product, so we headed into the vineyard. Florian had a somewhat liberal interpretation of "a few" and damn near raped the vineyard. (which was ok since they had already harvested all they were gonna use in their wines this season. But still.) Tiago discovered raisins - sun-dried grapes left too long on the vine and turned into pure sugar. They were incredible. We all got really giddy running around the vineyard and picking grapes and raisins off the vines. We were also drunk. That helped.
Lunch was exactly what you'd want to eat on a vineyard just before sunset: crusty french bread, thin salty-sweet proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pesto, hummus, big juicy tomatoes, and a few home-grown tomatoes that Tiago and I had taken with us from the garden. And that sauvignon blanc. Dessert was tangerine slices wrapped in basil leaves and homemade caramels from Florian's sister.
We decided to take the scenic route back to the city. It was beautiful. Since we were near the coast, the fog rolled in between the redwoods and gave everything that feeling of hazy impressionism. We saw a deer by the side of the road, as well as an owl in flight. Unfortunately the zig-zag of the curvy coastal road and the copious amounts of wine consumed during the tasting and the picnic lunch left me horribly motion sick and I spent most of the lovely scenic trip back curled up in a sad little ball in the backseat, head on Tiago's lap, frequently moaning, "don't touch me i'll baaaaaaaaaaarf".
Dinner that night was sushi. I wasn't fully recovered from the motion sickness so I started easy with some hot tea and miso soup, then was feeling good enough dig into some fish. Fish was good!!
After dinner, we went back to Florian's place. Tiago was a zombie since he had been up since 5am, so he fell asleep on the couch. The rest of us started watching a movie but I couldn't focus because Willy had fallen asleep on my lap and was snoring up a storm and was SO CUTE.
Next day we all got up late and went to Zuni Cafe for brunch. Oh Zuni Cafe. How I love thee. Let me count the ways.
First we got some bloody mary's. They were PERFECT. Spicy tomato juice, good vodka, a hit of balsamic vinegar, and a teaspoon or two of this incredible mix of finely chopped shallots, red chilies, and ground black pepper. (and of course, celery stick). I don't think I'll ever have another one again. It won't be as good.
There were so many interesting things on the menu, none of us could decide what to get. So we got a bunch of small things and shared everything:
-a variety of raw oysters. I had one sweetwater from Hog Bay and one really beefy oyster from Humboldt.
-polenta with marscapone
-a salad of endive, black mission figs, Mt. Vikos (I think) feta, Sweet100 tomatoes, and parmesan
-Serrano ham with farro, Sweet100's, and 2 varieties of basil in basil oil and lemon juice (recipe for this can be found in the Zuni Cafe cookbook....will link later)
-portabello mushroom soup with lemon oil. Lemme stop right here. I had one spoonful of this and almost cried cuz it was so good. Mushroom soup is usually either tasteless mushrooms in clear broth or tasteless mushrooms overpowered by cream. This was pure mushroom bliss. And the lemon oil just made it sing. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it...brb....
-ok. Then we had black mission figs and raspberries. Perfect simple combo. Best raspberries. Best figs.
-Finally, we felt that we had room to try one more thing. So we got the house-cured anchovies with paper-thin celery slices, parmesan, and nicoise (sp?) olives and some more crusty bread. We spread some butter on the bread, then an anchovy fillet with as much delicious oil as we could transport on a fork, then a few slices of celery, and topped with parmesan. The parmesan and the bread were the first flavors to hit the mouth....then the hearty ocean smell of the anchovies permeated the nostrils on the exhale.....then a little crunch from the celery.
I was eyeing the mocha pot de creme for dessert, but we all thought we were ready to die of happiness so we decided to leave it for next time.
We left Zuni (which turned out to be only like $20 per person) and went for a walk around nearby Dolores park. After watching the clouds for a while it was time to head back to Florian's place, pack up and head back to LA.
On the way back Tiago likes:
-herby crackers, havarti cheese, and Italian sliced turkey
-something snacky, i.e. Pirate's Booty
-stopping to pee only at the same Starbucks we hit on the way up the previous day
-something caffeinated i.e. Starbucks' frapuccino (in a bottle). This time we were lucky and had Guarana (thanks to Florian)
-the leftover hours of This American Life
-a few bottles of extremely tasty wine in the trunk
Tiago and I hit the road around 5.30am on Saturday. Here's what Tiago likes on road trips:
On the way there he likes:
-any green protein shake
-lots of Smart Water
-stopping to pee only at Starbucks
-as many hours of This American Life as will fit in his iPod
-peanut butter cookies or mixed nuts or hazelnut piroulines (sp??)
-a girlfriend in the passenger seat who always falls asleep with her mouth open
We got to Florian's place around 11.30am, where we met Willy the overly excited snoring black pug. After a quick but decadent snack of toasted french bread and melted brie, we hopped into Emily's awesome hybrid car and headed toward Sonoma county.
We ended up in the Alexander Valley at Hanna Winery where we had a rather extensive tasting. Every wine at this place was fantastic. We were totally floored. We were there until closing, when we bought a chilled bottle of their sauvignon blanc and a case of their velvety 2000 merlot to share. The sauvignon blanc was for the picnic that Florian and Emily had packed for us. We sat at the picnic table outside the tasting room and took in the view. The woman who had conducted the tasting recommended that we pick a few pinot noir grapes off the vine to compare them to the finished product, so we headed into the vineyard. Florian had a somewhat liberal interpretation of "a few" and damn near raped the vineyard. (which was ok since they had already harvested all they were gonna use in their wines this season. But still.) Tiago discovered raisins - sun-dried grapes left too long on the vine and turned into pure sugar. They were incredible. We all got really giddy running around the vineyard and picking grapes and raisins off the vines. We were also drunk. That helped.
Lunch was exactly what you'd want to eat on a vineyard just before sunset: crusty french bread, thin salty-sweet proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pesto, hummus, big juicy tomatoes, and a few home-grown tomatoes that Tiago and I had taken with us from the garden. And that sauvignon blanc. Dessert was tangerine slices wrapped in basil leaves and homemade caramels from Florian's sister.
We decided to take the scenic route back to the city. It was beautiful. Since we were near the coast, the fog rolled in between the redwoods and gave everything that feeling of hazy impressionism. We saw a deer by the side of the road, as well as an owl in flight. Unfortunately the zig-zag of the curvy coastal road and the copious amounts of wine consumed during the tasting and the picnic lunch left me horribly motion sick and I spent most of the lovely scenic trip back curled up in a sad little ball in the backseat, head on Tiago's lap, frequently moaning, "don't touch me i'll baaaaaaaaaaarf".
Dinner that night was sushi. I wasn't fully recovered from the motion sickness so I started easy with some hot tea and miso soup, then was feeling good enough dig into some fish. Fish was good!!
After dinner, we went back to Florian's place. Tiago was a zombie since he had been up since 5am, so he fell asleep on the couch. The rest of us started watching a movie but I couldn't focus because Willy had fallen asleep on my lap and was snoring up a storm and was SO CUTE.
Next day we all got up late and went to Zuni Cafe for brunch. Oh Zuni Cafe. How I love thee. Let me count the ways.
First we got some bloody mary's. They were PERFECT. Spicy tomato juice, good vodka, a hit of balsamic vinegar, and a teaspoon or two of this incredible mix of finely chopped shallots, red chilies, and ground black pepper. (and of course, celery stick). I don't think I'll ever have another one again. It won't be as good.
There were so many interesting things on the menu, none of us could decide what to get. So we got a bunch of small things and shared everything:
-a variety of raw oysters. I had one sweetwater from Hog Bay and one really beefy oyster from Humboldt.
-polenta with marscapone
-a salad of endive, black mission figs, Mt. Vikos (I think) feta, Sweet100 tomatoes, and parmesan
-Serrano ham with farro, Sweet100's, and 2 varieties of basil in basil oil and lemon juice (recipe for this can be found in the Zuni Cafe cookbook....will link later)
-portabello mushroom soup with lemon oil. Lemme stop right here. I had one spoonful of this and almost cried cuz it was so good. Mushroom soup is usually either tasteless mushrooms in clear broth or tasteless mushrooms overpowered by cream. This was pure mushroom bliss. And the lemon oil just made it sing. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it...brb....
-ok. Then we had black mission figs and raspberries. Perfect simple combo. Best raspberries. Best figs.
-Finally, we felt that we had room to try one more thing. So we got the house-cured anchovies with paper-thin celery slices, parmesan, and nicoise (sp?) olives and some more crusty bread. We spread some butter on the bread, then an anchovy fillet with as much delicious oil as we could transport on a fork, then a few slices of celery, and topped with parmesan. The parmesan and the bread were the first flavors to hit the mouth....then the hearty ocean smell of the anchovies permeated the nostrils on the exhale.....then a little crunch from the celery.
I was eyeing the mocha pot de creme for dessert, but we all thought we were ready to die of happiness so we decided to leave it for next time.
We left Zuni (which turned out to be only like $20 per person) and went for a walk around nearby Dolores park. After watching the clouds for a while it was time to head back to Florian's place, pack up and head back to LA.
On the way back Tiago likes:
-herby crackers, havarti cheese, and Italian sliced turkey
-something snacky, i.e. Pirate's Booty
-stopping to pee only at the same Starbucks we hit on the way up the previous day
-something caffeinated i.e. Starbucks' frapuccino (in a bottle). This time we were lucky and had Guarana (thanks to Florian)
-the leftover hours of This American Life
-a few bottles of extremely tasty wine in the trunk
posted by Myasorubka at 4:35 PM
2 Comments:
You realize, of course, that after a post of this length your blog will not be able to handle another one until, like, February.
now i'm hungry.
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