Posted in Napa Valley, tagged Cindy Pawlcyn, cindy's backstreet kitchen, duck, food, James Beard, jazz, mustards grill, Napa Valley, review, St. Helena, wine on May 15, 2008 | No Comments »
For our first night in Napa we decided to check out Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. The owner Cindy Pawlcyn, is the James Beard award-winning cookbook author, Chef and owner of Mustards Grill, so we knew it would be good. It was a beautiful evening so we chose to sit outside on the small [...]
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Posted in Napa Valley, tagged barrels, caves, Del Dotto, food, napa, tasting, tour, wine, winery on May 14, 2008 | No Comments »
We have been going to Napa for many years. For the first time we decided to check out the Del Dotto Cave Experience & Barrel Tasting as it was recommended by a friend. The tour starts off with some history about the winery owner, some background about the caves and info on the different kinds [...]
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Mike & I took a trip to Napa May 8-11. Our weekend started off with a visit to the Oxbow Public Market. It is a new market in downtown Napa (very similar to the Ferry Building in SF). I had first heard about this establishment when reading the January 2008 Food & Wine Magazine 100 [...]
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I don’t usually blog about chain restaurants but I’m going to make an exception for the Cheese Steak Shop in Pleasanton. I have been going to this place since high school– so over 18 years! I have never been able to find a restaurant without “cheesesteak” in the name that can do it like they [...]
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On our last night in Vegas we decided to have a light, casual meal at Mario Batali’s Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian. The restaurant is located in the Grand Canal Shoppes area of the hotel.
We started things off with a Caprese salad. It was the most interesting and tasty version of a caprese salad [...]
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For our ”Big” night out in Las Vegas we decided to dine at Picasso which is located in the Bellagio Hotel. Mike had always wanted to go. Picasso named after artist Pablo Picasso serves elegant French cuisine with a Spanish influence and is prepared by chef Julian Serrano. The award winning restaurant has paintings and ceramic art by Picasso throughout [...]
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As you may have guessed from the previous post Mike and I spent the weekend in Vegas. Since I am a food network fanatic I decided we would check out a couple of the iron chef restaurants while in town. We started things off with brunch at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace. I was [...]
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If you’re in Las Vegas and looking for a wine bar, stop by Double Helix in the beautiful Palazzo Hotel. They offer VERY generous 2 and 5 oz. glasses of wine from around the world. Due to their unique preservation system they are able to offer highly sought-after wines not usually poured by the glass. Mike was impressed by [...]
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Have you ever seen the mob of people on a Saturday or Sunday morning on the corner of Main & Maple in LG?
Well, they are waiting for a table at the Southern Kitchen, another small diner in Los Gatos. I had to venture in to see what all the fuss was about.
I of course had [...]
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Posted in San Jose/Silicon Valley, tagged burger, chicken, food, fries, onion strings, san jose, santana row, shakes, the counter on April 11, 2008 | 3 Comments »
If you’re at Santana Row in San Jose and you want a slammin’ burger, stop by the Counter. The beef/chicken is tender and always tastes extremely fresh. Be warned a little goes a long way. I always leave feeling stuffed. This is the only burger I usually end up eating with a fork and knife. It’s a [...]
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Whenever I’m in my old stompin’ grounds and I’m craving a turkey sandwich, I stop by Gimanelli’s. It’s a fantastic little Italian deli with a variety of sandwiches, homemade soups, pastas and salads. It is located in downtown Pleasanton and is a little hard to find but is worth the search. Cruise by if you’re in the area around lunchtime.
Address: 915 Main [...]
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For Mike’s birthday we went to the Plumed Horse in Saratoga. It recently re-opened after a lengthy remodel. The lodge like decor has disapeared and has become ultra modern. The dining area is fairly small. There are ~17 tables packed into a single room. It looks like there will be more areas to dine but [...]
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I had heard that the Los Gatos Cafe was one of the best breakfast joints in the area. We finally made it over last weekend. It is located on the end of the main drag in LG near highway 9. You probably would never notice it unless you were looking for it. It is a diner [...]
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My prayers have been answered…THIS summer Sprinkles Cupcakes is opening up in Palo Alto. It’s not my backyard but it’s closer than LA. I’m truly excited. It will be at the Stanford shopping center. Start your diets now!
image © sprinkles cupcakes
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Here is another shout out to a local hot-spot. Sweet Pea’s is a small cafe in Los Gatos. We go all the time for lunch especially on a nice day because most of the seating <if you can get one> is outside. The sandwiches are delicious. They use a lot of fresh ingredients. My favorite is the [...]
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As I flipped through the Feb. issue of Sunset Magazine I saw an article entitled “What to do in Northern California in February”. They list Fleur de Cocoa in Los Gatos as having a uber-licious hot chocolate. How could I not want to try that?! So I did and it was screaming hot, super thick, [...]
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James Randall is another treasure in Los Gatos. Mike and I went for our first time last weekend. When you walk in you will feel as though you stepped into your parent’s living room. It’s a very small restaurant, dimly lit with candles and a fireplace. This evening the place was filled to capacity (30 [...]
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My favorite cuisine is Italian. All my life I have been searching for the perfect bowl of ragu. I have found it (well at least the best so far). If you stroll the streets of downtown Saratoga you will find a handful of quirky stores and upscale/expensive restaurants. To our surprise last year a quaint [...]
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Growing up I was not into sweets. My mom would have to toss my Halloween candy in December because it was still sitting on the floor of my closet. As I have aged things have changed. I now really enjoy desserts. In 2006 Mike and I were in Beverly Hills and as we were driving down [...]
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The Slanted Door is a modern Vietnamese restaurant located in the newly renovated Ferry building in San Francisco. It has a nice simple, clean design. If you can get a seat by the window (which we did) it has great views of the bay. Along the main wall to maximize space tables are situated tightly. [...]
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