South is another restaurant I visited during the Appetite Stimulus Plan event. I was there with two of the guys I work with for a quick lunch and we had a fabulous time.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I hate drippy salads and this one was just perfect. My only tiny small complaint is when the lettuce leaves are just so darn big. But I think I can get over that.

The previous time I was here I had the fish and chips, which are outstanding and bursting with flavor. I particularly enjoy their wine list as it’s totally unique and not the same old California and French wines. They’ve got wines from Tasmania and Australia and the way the break it up on the wine list is really fun.

Why is South so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)
Food: 8
Drinks: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Price: $30/person
Summary: Must go!

French and fabulous. Fringale is in my neighborhood of SOMA so it’s a quick walk from work for lunch and an even closer walk from my house for dinner.

I went to Fringale for lunch during the Appetite Stimulus Plan that Open Table did this month. Three course lunch for $21. Not bad. My mixed greens salad was crisp with just the right amount of dressing. I hate salads that have really drippy dressing. That was the most memorable part of the meal. My main course was a pasta dish that was good, but not great.

The atmosphere makes you feel like you just stumbled into a secret place only the locals know about…which is sorta true.

My only complaint is the size of the dessert they offered for lunch! It’s so darn big! I hate wasting food, but who can eat like that and then go back to work?! I just want a taste!

Anyway…you should go if you’re in the neighborhood.

Why is Fingale so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)
Food: 7
Drinks: I had water. The wine list looked great though.
Atmosphere: 8
Price: $20/person
Summary: Worth a visit.

Heston and I went up to Napa with my mom to spend some time and went to one of her favorite Napa restaurants, Bistro Jeanty. This is one of the most French places I’ve been outside of France. I loved our waiter. He reminded me of Javier from the TV show Felicity. (I adored that show.)

We couldn’t decide which bottle of wine to order so we ordered our meals first. I got the Salade de Betteraves, which was beet and mache salad with feta cheese and citrus dressing. It was perfectly balanced with sweet and savory flavors. My mom got the Salade de Laitue, which was a butter lettuce salad with a mustard vinaigrette. I tried that one too and it was very yummy.

At this point we had finally decided on a bottle of wine. We ordered a bottle of 2005 Rafanelli Zin that was just outstanding. It tasted like plum and black cherry. Soo yum!

For our main courses here is what we got: (I’ll comment on all since we all tried each others.)

Heston had the Cassoulet, which is baked beans with duck confit, sausage and apple smoked bacon. He loved it and I thought it was simply amazing. The portion was rather large though. I think 2-3 people could have had one!

My mom enjoyed the Coq Au Vin, which is chicken, mushrooms, bacon and red wine stew. I grew up having this dish and this was a fabulously flavorful rendition of it. I think the key is cooking the chicken on the bone.

I had the Sole Meuniere, which is a sole fillet, mashed potatoes with a lemon caper butter sauce. This was very rich and was also the first time that I’ve ever enjoyed capers! They really added a lot to the dish.

All in all it was a great lunch and I wish we could go back. The only thing I might change would be the portions, because they were so large! I can’t really find anything else to complain about. The atmosphere was just so warm and welcoming. I felt like I was sitting in my great aunt’s kitchen in Orleans, France.

Why is Bistro Jeanty so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)
Food: 8
Drinks: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Price: $50/person
Summary: Must go!

I’ve been back to CandyBar and Boulevard since my reviews of both of them. They both got much better the second time.

While I still think Candybar is a bit misguided, they did tell me that they are in the process of re-doing the menu to improve it even more. It’s a great place to go after dinner to have one more drink and something sweet. The atmosphere just can’t be beat either.

I know my review of Boulevard was rather shocking since Boulevard seems to have quite the following around here. I think their filet is just a bit of a let down. I got the short ribs this second time and really enjoyed them. They just had so much more flavor than that silly filet! It could also be that we were able to have some fabulous wine since it was a special occasion. Patz & Hall Durrell Chardonnay and a Hope & Grace pinot noir. The wine alone made the experience.

That’s all for now.

I took Heston to Bouchon in Yountville for his birthday. We had tried to go while we were in Vegas, but they were closed for a private event. It was perfect because we were in Yountville for the day picking up our wine club shipment at Goosecross and had a great day doing some tastings. Bouchon is the little sister of the famed French Laundry, also in Yountville.

We ordered a bottle of Hirsch Vinyards 2006 Pinot Noir Bohan Dillon. It had a great earth flavor with some blackberry and vanilla flavors as well.

It was recommended that we try the mussels here so we did. Wow. So wonderfully fresh. They were perfect. We shared those as well as a simple green salad with goat cheese. Both were fantastic!

For my main course I ordered the Coquille St. Jacques- seared sea scallops with piquillo peppers, asparagus, marcona almonds, green garlic & chorizo broth. Heston thought it was weird to put chorizo and scallops together. I disagree. The flavor of the chorizo gave the scallops a welcome bit of spice! The wine was a great compliment.

Ever since we went to Boulevard a few weeks ago Heston is obsessed with ribs. He ordered the Plats de Cotes de Boeuf- slow braised beef short ribs, spring onions, horseradish pain perdu & red wine beef jus. He seemed to think that the flavor a much flatter than at Boulevard, but he wants me to be sure to mention that they were still fantastic.

Dessert was a plate of profiteroles and so rich and wonderful. The ice cream was fresh and delightful. A great and memorable experience overall.

Why is Bouchon so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)

Food: 8

Drinks: 8

Atmosphere: 8

Price: $80/person

Summary: Must go!

After hearing about how we just had to try Boulevard for so long Heston and I finally gave in.  It’s a bit of an early birthday celebration for H.

Our reservation was at 7:15pm, which is pretty early for us.  It was still light outside! They sat us in this cozy little corner table that was tucked away from everyone else.  We ordered our now signature Hanger One Kaffir Lime Gimlets.

To start I had the Mariquita Farm Beets & Red Lettuces salad.  It is served with pistachio and blood orange oil with Mad River goat cheese.  Anything with goat cheese I’m totally sold on.  The beets were marinated perfectly and they were quite tasty with the goat cheese.

Heston had the La Quercia Artisanal Prosciutto & White Asparagus with toasted hazelnuts, arugula, shaved parmesan, white balsamic & extra virgin olive oil.  His asparagus was killer and went supremely with the proscuitto.

Both salads were amazing.

For our main course I had the Filet Mignon.  It had cognac peppercorn sauce that completely fell flat with me.  I was so disappointed with it!  It made the entire filet less than exciting.  It also came with green peppercorn salsa verde over the fingerly potatoes that was disappointing as well.  The whole plate was just bland…

Heston faired better than I did with his BBQ Angus short ribs.  After he ordered it he confessed that he’d never had ribs before.  (He was a vegetarian for most of his life.)  His ribs were amazing.  I don’t really care for ribs, but these were wonderful.

All in all it was a good night.  I would have just been happy with my salad though.  I think I’ll have to try this one again sometime though.

Why is Boulevard so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)

Food: 8

Drinks:8

Atmosphere: 7.75

Price: $101/person

Heston wanted to make Valentine’s Day this year extra special so we decided to try Fleur de Lys.  They had a special Valentine’s Day menu that was seriously amazing.  It was the best meal I think I’ve ever had.

Wine:  Patz & Hall Chardonnay Hyde Vinyard

Menu:

White Gazpacho, Truffle Popcorn with ris de veau with sea urchin - How can you go wrong with truffle popcorn?!
Trio of Chestnut- Chestnut soup with Osetra caviar, Chestnut gratin with sea scallop, and Chestnut and crab fritters.  They were pouring our Patz & Hall as this came out and I remember thinking…WOW…this is so wonderful together.  The wine really brought out all the flavors in the chestnuts.

Jumbo Galapago Prawns- with coconut milk, lemon grass, ginger, shiitake and curry vinaigrette.  This was my favorite of the three starters.  I’m a big Thai food fan so when this game out I was in heaven.  The flavors were so bold and perfect.

For my main course I had the “Tender Filet Mignon topped with Seared Foie Gras”.  This was simply the best filet I’ve ever consumed.  Every filet after this one has fallen completely flat.  It came with shaved truffles, truffled mashed potatoes, and the most amazing sauce I’ve ever tasted.  My words are not doing this filet justice and it’s just sad.  I enjoyed this with a wonderful glass of Santa Barbara Pinot Noir

Heston had the “Oven Roasted Boneless Qual on Creamed Corn, Rustic Winter Vegetables”.  He said he truly enjoyed his since he’s sick of having the same old chicken or beef.  I tried some of his and it went so well with the Patz & Hall.

When the sommelier realized Heston is a Hall of Patz & Hall he invited us back to eat anytime we like.  He said we always have a table.  As we walked out of the restaurant…at 12:45am I might add…we were bid a goodnight by none other than Hubert Keller!  We were both in awe.  He’s truly very talented.

I can’t wait to go back!

Why is Fleur de Lys so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)

Food: 9.5

Drinks: 9

Atmosphere: 9

Price: $90/person

In looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day present for my boyfriend, Heston, I knew I wanted to get him a membership to a wine club to one of our favorite wineries in Napa or Sonoma. I finally decided that I would go with Goosecross for his membership. We’ve been to the winery a few times and I’m on their mailing list. I noticed that they were having a special event for Valentine’s day yesterday the 9th of Feb. I decided that this would be the perfect time to give Heston his membership to the wine club and a great way to enjoy the day together.

First, the weather yesterday was amazingly beautiful and couldn’t have been better for a day of wine tasting! We arrived to the winery around noon and were greeted by Colleen Topper, the owner of Goosecross. She gave us each a glass and gave us the low-down on what they were offering for the afternoon. We went over and tried some 2006 Viognier and found some bread and cheese to nibble on. We went and sat in the sun looking out over the vineyards. After a little bit we decided to go inside to sample a few more wines as it was getting quite warm out.

They were offering some tank tastings of some almost finished wine. One was their chardonnay that had yet to be filtered. It was surprisingly good for not being quite finished or filtered yet.

I think that these special events at a winery like this, because it is so small, is very unique because not that many people are able to come and the winery is able to let people sample pretty much anything they like.

Heston and I were able to talk to the winemakers about exactly what they would pair with each wine. For example, I had no idea that Chenin Blanc would work well with Thai food. (Goosecross’s Chenin Blanc is wonderful…by the way.)

The best thing I tasted all day was the 2003 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. We were able to try it decanted and then, as a comparison, we tried it straight from the bottle to the glass. Wow, what a difference it makes. You can really taste how the wine opens up in a decanter. Some people think that opening a bottle of wine and letting it sit for 30 minutes is the same as placing it in a decanter. This is just not true.

We picked up Heston’s four bottles that he gets in his latest wine club order. Here is what he got:

2006 Sauvignon Blanc

2005 Zinfandel

2006 Tempranillo

2007 Viognier (which has only been released to wine club members…they arent even tasting it yet!)

I’ll give an update on Goosecross in April when Heston receives his next installment of the wine club. If you’re interested in the wine clubs that Goosecross offers you can find them here.

Since I was in the north bay I decided to go visit another friend of mine, Elena, that lives in Occidental. Since I graduated from Sonoma State this area is familiar to me, but I hadn’t been back in more than two years. It was great to drive around the area again. Elena suggested we to go Bistro des Copains as a special occasion since we rarely get to see each other.

We got there and sat right down. It was a Wednesday night, but apparently during the weekend it’s not as easy to get a table. Wednesday nights they have a special for $1 oysters. We promptly ordered some and when they arrived they tasted great. So fresh. They were served with a spicy sauce that really did the oysters justice.

Then we ordered some wine. We decided on a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Mia’s Playground from the Alexander Valley. It had aromas of dark chocolate and cherries. It was an excellent choice.

I ordered scallops that were served with a caramelized fennel and cippolini onion risotto and wild mushroom broth. All I have to say is wow. The key was to get a little bit of everything in each bite. I’m not usually a huge risotto fan because I always feel like they’re so heavy, but I decided on this dish because I can’t pass up scallops. Speaking of the scallops…oh gosh those were done perfectly. The menu can be found here.

I know that I just said that we ordered red wine and then I had scallops, which generally goes with white. I took one for the team as the two friends I was with both ordered dark meat. I must say that these actually went very well together…surprisingly. You can find their wine list on their website.

Bistro des Copains reminded me of eating at a place called Chez Paul this past summer in Paris. It was on a hidden street far away from everything and the food was very flavorful. It felt like being back in Paris to me…and that will make anyone happy! I could have done the entire thing again…except I was so full.

Ratings (out of 10):

Food: 8.5

Atmosphere:  7.5

Jardinere is a restaurant for special occasions. It’s quite fancy. The menu reflects what season it is, which is wonderful because it really allows the chef to showcase the food when it’s at it’s best. The wine list has lots of French, Californian, Italian and even some Oregon wines.

They have invited a jazz singer for Valentine’s Day and are planning a prix fixe menu for $125/person. I think that’s pretty reasonable considering a lot of other places are charging far more than that for a Vday feast.

One of the best parts of Jarinere is that they use organic and sustainable foods. They compost waste and recycle as well. They really care about the environment and it shows.

If you don’t want to go for dinner you should at least check it out for drinks. The bar feels like you’re sitting in a giant champagne glass. I was there to enjoy some champagne before dinner (at Chapeau!) with my boyfriend on our anniversary last year. We started talking with one of the bartenders and he suggested that I try a drink called the Old Cuban. If you do nothing else at Jardinere…go for the Old Cuban! It’s like a mojito but instead of being topped with soda you top it with champange. It’s amazing. Enjoy!

Ratings (out of 10):

Food: 8
Atmosphere: 8