Getaways: Northern California (Part 3)

Welcome! You're reading part 3 of my round-up from our vacation to Northern California. Need to catch up? Read Part 1 and Part 2.

From the land of waterfalls and wildflowers, D and I drove north, past Carmel and straight by the Bay Area, and sojourned into the land of grapevines, wine country. No sooner had we passed San Francisco, the topography started to change. Fewer buildings, more sprawl, and -- importantly -- no fog. I tell you, the clouds hug that little city nice and tight. When you're in SF, you pretty much forget there is a sun. Then you go 15 minutes outside the city and, oh, right, there it is. Wine country was sunny, beautiful, and full of the good stuff.

This is the part where you'd hear two different stories if D had a blog. For me, wine country was, you know, about wine. For D, not as much. She's a beer drinker, and a serious one at that. Wine is less her thing, and I got a real kick out of watching her eyes glaze over as winemakers talked of caramel and spice, cherry and blueberry, barnyard funk, and long finishes.

Wine jargon aside, it's hard not to love this place. Everywhere you look, grapevines abound. Driving past wineries in Healdsburg on our first day in town, I couldn't stop staring at the rows upon rows of them. Grapevines look really young. They're so delicate; it's almost hard to believe they can stay upright. Most of the time, they're bound together in rows, held between two lines of string or wire. Their branches sprawl outward, and driving by a row of vines, it looks like the branches are holding hands. Clearly, I was mesmerized.

Our first stop was Michel Schlumberger, a biodynamic vineyard in Healdsburg with a sprawling, beautiful estate. Before settling on the portico for a tasting, we roamed their vineyard, stopped by the lake, and watched some sheep lazing in the shade.

The tasting at Schlumberger -- $10, a steal compared to the wineries in Napa -- was great, and we left with a bottle of Chardonnay and one of Merlot. (It's worth mentioning that we got several talking-tos about the redeeming qualities of Merlot. It seems "Sideways" has had a debilitating effect on Merlot sales that, despite Americans' goldfish-sized memories, somehow persists. We had some great Merlot while we were in town; don't believe Paul Giamatti, cute as he is.) There were a few other Healdsburg wineries, including Ridge, where we had some truly awesome Zinfandels, but Schlumberger was definitely our favorite. File it in the "don't miss" category.

The next day we played our cards a bit differently. The day started at Bouchon Bakery, where -- let's be honest here -- we totally pigged out on Thomas Keller's creations. Standing in line, we had planned to get 1 pastry each, and a coffee. But as we got closer to the ordering counter -- beneath which sits a display case full of delicious, delicious things -- we secretly decided to get two. Each. Plus a bag of bouchons, obviously -- how could I go to Bouchon Bakery and not get a bag of bouchons? Those dense, chocolatey cakes are to die for.

Armed with the good stuff, we strapped on our helmets and set out on bikes to explore the valley without the nuisance of a car. You guys? Highly recommended. Seriously. It's a beautiful ride through all those vineyards, it's easier to spot the ones you want to hit when you're only riding 15 miles an hour, and you work up enough of a sweat that you're ready, no, entitled, to have a few glasses of vino.

My favorite stop in Napa was Prager, a port winery that'll do a number on an empty stomach. (Maybe I should've bought more sweets from Bouchon.) Their royal port is one of the best glasses of sweet wine I've ever had, a close second to that glass of Tokaji I had at Komi a couple years ago. If the stuff weren't 100 smackeroos per bottle, I'd have bought some.

A 40 mile bike ride earns a girl some food. D and I stopped at Paninoteca Ottimo, Michael Chiarello's sandwich shop, for lunch. I've never been a fan of the guy -- his Food Network show is supremely annoying and he wears way too much make up -- but we had some pretty tasty sandwiches, so I'll lay off the criticism.

Three posts later, it's probably quite clear that our trip was out of this world. There's more from the vacation that I didn't share, so if you have questions about specific spots, recommendations, or whatever, please pretty please either leave a comment or shoot me an email. To the rest of y'all -- especially you NorCal experts out there -- what are the 1-2 places folks coming to town shouldn't miss? Leave'em in the comments.

I'm working like a dog, but I'll be back soon with a recipe for something so easy and quick, even a girl with a crazy work schedule can whip it together. Stay tuned.

Getaways: Northern California (Part 2)

Welcome! You're reading Part 2 of my round-up from our recent trip to the Bay Area, Wine Country, and Big Sur. Need to catch up? Here's Part 1. It's just as well that I have a vacation to talk about....there's not much cooking in my kitchen these days. Work has gotten crazy again, and let's just say there's a lot more Chop't takeout in my life than I'd like to admit. I'll do my best to share what few treats I do whip up, though, and I'll be back up to speed in no time.

Where were we? Ah, yes. We were on the west coast, where the views, the coffee, and the weather could all be described as cool.

What, lukewarm coffee doesn't do it for you? I hear ya. I was put off at first, for sure: when it's 50 degrees outside and you don't have a scarf, you pretty much need a cup of hot joe to warm those hands. But that not-quite-hot brew is purposeful: the folks at Blue Bottle (i.e. my new best friends) told me that if you brew the water too hot, the beans burn, the milk scalds, and the flavor is lost. Duly noted. ($tarbucks, ya hear?)

It doesn't hurt that Blue Bottle uses Clover organic milk in their coffee. In fact, that's one of the great things about SF: every little cafe uses organic milk. That's just the way it is. And, as you can see in that first picture -- this is the real highlight -- Blue Bottle individually brews every cup of coffee. It simply can't get fresher than that. While we were staying across from the Ferry Building, D and I made Blue Bottle a morning ritual. We sat on high stools at the bar around the corner from the Blue Bottle stand, read a few papers, sipped coffee, and ate homemade caramelized Belgian waffles that were, quite simply, the best waffles I've ever had. Complaints? None.

I'd been to SF a few times before, but D had never been. With the few days we had in the city, I felt compelled to show off some of the city's tourist attractions. Lombard street, for example. From where we're standing in the picture above, it looks like a normal SF street - hilly but not insane. But see that curvy part, far in the distance? That's the crazy part. First of all, it's hella steep. Thigh-crampingly steep, my friends. And see those twists and turns? The street is a practical labyrinth. I have fond memories of hiking up that thing a few times, then looking down to survey my accomplishment. D, however, had no interest in repeating the adventure, so we observed from far away.

Yes, we rode the cable car. Yes, it was a cheap thrill. Yes, I'd do it again.

I want to tell you about Big Sur, so I'll make this brief, but holy effers, did I spend some time photographing real estate. Every house is a different color, every house has its own funky details, and together, they make for one awesomely colorful neighborhood after another.

Our couple days in SF came to an end in no time; before we knew it, we were heading south along the coast, with mountains on one side and the ocean to the other. The road was...winding.

But we made it safe and sound, and our first stop? Why of course: Big Sur Bakery. (Yes, that Big Sur Bakery.)

D plopped down in a chair on the patio while I squinted into the display case, eyeing our options for lunch. We settled on 2 pieces of focaccia -- one with heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese, the other with spinach, onions, and feta -- and a fat slice of raspberry streudel. People, best raspberry streudel of my life. I hope the recipe is in the Big Sur Cookbook, because I pretty much ordered it hoping for that streudel recipe. Cross your fingers for me, will ya?

The raspberry streudel wasn't the only standout at Big Sur Bakery. Both nights we had dinner there, I kicked things off with a beautiful plate of house-marinated olives, swimming in a pool of thick, fragrant olive oil. Pretty freakin' awesome.

As great as Big Sur Bakery was, food wasn't the real highlight of our time in Big Sur. If you've never been, the scenery there is the real draw. The mountains hug the coast, wild-flowers cover the landscape, and the water and sky are perfect-blue. To soak it all in, we went hiking for a few hours, walked aimlessly along the beach, and -- the real highlight, for which sadly there are no pictures -- rode through some of the back trails and onto the beach on horseback. While the coastline is beautiful, if you stick to the road, you'll miss some of the most stunning landscapes in the area. It was especially neat to see it all on horseback, from higher up. Big Sur is the kind of place that makes you want to turn off your cellphone, stow that lap top, and enjoy the peace and quiet of being disconnected. Our hotel room didn't even have a TV; we just read a lot before bed. Writing this now, I'm jealous of myself-3-weeks-ago who was there.

All vacations must come to an end. But this one's far from over, at least as it concerns this blog: I still haven't made a peep about wine country. Stay tuned...that's for Part 3.

Getaways: Northern California (Part 1)

Alas, we are back from vacation. Yes, it was far too short. Yes, I can still taste those last precious drops of bracingly strong Blue Bottle Coffee. (If you follow me on twitter, you know the full extent of my obsession: I've been seeking an alternative anywhere, anywhere in DC, and today I almost resorted to joining the Blue Bottle monthly coffee club. Talk about excessive.) The coffee shops and restaurants in San Francisco leave absolutely nothing to be desired, and the farmers' markets, ohh, the farmers' markets...their reputation far precedes this post. The only thing missing was a kitchen to cook all that great produce. Much as it would have been nice to saute some asparagus (asparagus! in August!) or steam a couple of artichokes, it was almost as nice to know I had something exciting to come home to.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves; surely, you're here for the pictures. I have lots of those -- an embarrassing number, some would say. But there was so much to photograph! So many steep hilly streets, so much drool-worthy food, so many beautiful grape vines and olive trees and sheep (who knew?), so much good coffee (am I belaboring the point?), it was hard to know where to start. I can tell you this, though: we did a lot of research before this trip (and by "we," clearly I mean I) about what to do in NorCal (and by "what to do" clearly I mean what to eat) and the research paid off. Here's just a smattering of some favorite moments.

Pizzeria Delfina. The night we arrived on the west coast, we were chilly (weather in SF was in the 50s), jetlagged, and just a bit hungry. We waited for an hour outside Delfina, as apparently thin crust pizza is all the rage! in SF right now. (For once, something came to DC before it hit SF...go figure.) While the pizza at Pizzeria Delfina didn't top our local stuff, the vibe there -- hipsters with pixie cuts and scarves leaning against mural-covered walls, drinking wine and, oh yea, eating pizza -- was loads better than the screaming kids at 2Amys. I dig.

Humphrey Slocombe. Okay, I confess -- not exactly a highlight, though I'm glad we braved the buzz and went. The texture of Humphrey Slocombe ice cream is not quite right, but the flavors...well, you gotta laugh at Elvis the FAT years (banana and bacon) and Jesus Juice (red wine, coke).

After trying a few of the weird ones, I went all traditional with Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee and McEvoy olive oil. D saw a tin roof sundae on the menu and ordered it, not knowing it came with three scoops, a dump of chocolate sauce, and a bag full of candied nuts. Whoops.

Another day, we were walking through Chinatown and stumbled across a shop with bins upon bins of ginger. Who knew there were so many different kinds of ginger?

My eyes still adjusting as we left the ginger store, I started thinking about our next meal. We'd been thinking about trying dim sum for lunch, but the lack of vegetarian options had deterred us. That's when I caught a glimpse of a line forming outside a little restaurant.

For all the folks in line, the wait was only about 15 minutes. At the direction of the hostess, we ducked inside and made our way to a small table against the wall, where we found menus boasting about 15 different kinds of hot and cold ramen. Sushi, too. I had a bowl of very spicy green onion ramen that burned my face off, in the best possible way.

Cheesy as it may sound, one of my favorite things about our trip was the roaming around. For instance, one morning, on the way to see a childhood friend of D's, we walked our way up the Embarcadero, along the northern tip of the city, all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. We caught some beautiful views along the way.

I've got loads more to share. SF was just a small part of our trip, a couple days there on either end sandwiching adventures in Big Sur and Wine Country. I'd share it all at once, but that wouldn't be any fun, now would it? Guess you'll have to stay tuned.