Port Bou, Spain

When taking the train along the southwest coast of France, going into Spain, you have to change trains immediately upon entering Spain at Port Bou. There were a couple of hours in between trains, so I grabbed my bags and headed down into the village.

Port Bou seems to be a small, sleepy village, (granted, it was Sunday,) that clusters around a small, sheltered port on the Mediterranean. Tall cliffs surround the city on every side, so it was very still, sunny, and warm, even vineyards were growing on steep terraces over the town. There is a trim embarcadero along the sea, and a gravelly beach right in the midst of the town, with restaurants and hotels clustered around, facing the small harbor. Through a cleft in the rocks, you can see out to the broader sea, a narrow alleyway which you would have to shoot through to get a boat to open ocean. There were sunbathers on the sand, and children scrambling over rocks near the cliffs, exploring the tidepools.

I sat at a restaurant across the street from the sea, and ordered the menu of the day - fried sardines and paella, with a carafe of rose. The sardines here are delicious - larger fish than what we are accustomed to calling sardines here, and they are fresh, simply slit along the belly to clean them, a scrape of the knife to take the larger scales away, and then dredged through a light flour and salt batter before being dropped in olive oil. They come out crispy, delicate, and delicious - you can pretty much scrape them lightly off the bone with the tip of your fork, flip them over and repeat. Delicious! The last time I had sardines this good was at Pilar, in Napa, and they were Santa Barbara caught sardines.

The Paella was just okay. It was oily, and seemed to be heated up rather than made to order - but then they have a restaurant to run.

I wish I would have had more time to enjoy the sun, sit on the beach, and sip rose, but I had to get on my train back to Barcelona.

More pics, click here

Convection oven, toaster oven, and hotplate

I really love our new kitchen. The convection oven, the range with a really high-powered burner and fine control at the low-end, especially the dishwasher, and the easy access to the refrigerator, with the freezer down below, and the refrigerated shelves up top, where you can see them easily. Now I know that kitchens get fancier than ours - but this is really good compared to what I am used to, and we do just fine with this setup.

In Avignon, I got a good reminder that it is not the quality or layout of the kitchen that matters - it is ingredients, understanding of these ingredients, and organization that makes for really good food. I ducked into a wine bar with a kitchen that was turning out really solid regional food - I sat at the bar which also was the kitchen, and watched as two waitresses and one cook turned out plate after plate of food for a packed room and patio - with only a small convection oven (like the kind they use at Starbucks to heat up your disgusting breakfast sandwich thing,) a basic toaster oven, and an electric hotplate. There was a commercial dishwasher as well, and a sink, but that was essentially it! They were making oxtail, toasted sandwiches, roasted marrow bones, soups, salads, plates of cheeses, escargot, beef tartare, and many other things at a breakneck pace while keeping the diners happily plied with glasses, tastes, or bottles of wine from a blackboard listing around 30 selections.

The people next to me turned out to be friendly and fun; Franck is in the cork business, selling to wineries all around France. Kris is a baker, and sells her breads out of Les Halles, nearby. They were really fun, and we ended up going out for drinks at a friend's restaurant with an American chef. It was a great last night in France before catching the morning train back towards Barcelona.

More pictures from Avignon here:

Montpellier – “Tamarillos”

On Monday, I had lunch at Philippe Chapon's "Tamarillos" restaurant, appropriately located at #2, Place du Marche aux Fleurs in Montpellier.

Pierre, though not much more than 40 years old, has had a strong career before starting his own restaurant in Montpellier. He trained as a patisserie chef, and was the French Champion chef in desserts twice, and worked in some amazing kitchens through his early career. His own restaurant is small in size, and nicely suited to turning out perfectionist cuisine that is inventive, delicious, and refreshingly lively in flavor.

I just had the lunch menu at this tasting – I am planning to go back Thursday evening for the full degustation menu.

Here are some notes from the menu – I will list them in order – photos are above, hopefully in the same order as the notes. Sorry, again just my iphone camera was on this jaunt, and it could be better as a camera.

Amuse Bouche: Foie Gras Vanille – This was a delicate slice of foie gras terrine, scented gently with vanilla, textured perfectly on toast points. Perfect!

Entrée: Scallops, seared and served with a warm spinach salad, pistachio, and fresh flowers. This had a balsamic reduction over the top – the flowers were impossible for me to identify, but they looked almost as if they could be arugula flowers, except that they were blue. This was delicious – the scallops were perfect. I had heard that all the French fisherman are on strike because of diesel prices, but Philippe knowingly said, "not ALL fishermen" so apparently he has a source that is happy to keep good clients well provided.

Plat: Veal Cutlet, Chestnut puree, sauce a l'Orange: This was incredible – delicate, fragrant, almost honeyed in aroma. There were tiny white flowers dusted over the surface of the veal, I would have sworn that they were Olive flowers – their nectar was beautiful and intense without being intrusive in the experience of the food. The orange sauce was light, zesty, just barely sweet, and delicious. Veal prepared just to rare – perfect.

Refreshment: Les eaux des Fleurs – (waters of flowers) – this was a light infusion of sorrel and hibiscus flowers, almost like a cold tea, slightly sweet and a perfect palate cleanser.

Desert: Tarte Vanille, dry Poires - this was great too. A classic, rich vanilla tarte, with crisps of pear as an accent. Light, delicious, perfect.

Café: a chocolate and hazelnut crisp served with the café. Sugars for the café are infused with various flowers. Perfect and delicious.

Notes on a few wines that I had with the meal:

Had a perfect rose to start with – not sure of the producer now…

2004 Chateau Puech-Haut, Saint Drezery – Deep color, dark chocolate character, aged tannin character, fruit receding towards dried fruits, plums, figs; very good wine.

2006 Chateau de Cazeneuve, "Les Calcaires", Pic St Loup – Deep color, fig & dust, great tannin, a bit of heat which this wine will certainly grow into. Fruit is secondary to herbal, chocolate, rich dried characters. Love the dusty, cocoa texture.

Mas Amiel "Cuvee Special" 10 Ans D'Age, Maury Appellation Controllee – This was a Banyuls-type dessert wine. It was served chilled. The label says that it is aged for 1 year outdoors in glass bottles, and then another 9 years in barriques prior to bottling. Simply GREAT. Chocolate / Tobacco / preserved cherries. Great residual tannins – this wine really held onto them throughout the slight sweetness and through the aging.

This is a must-visit for any serious foodie whom finds themselves near Montpellier.

Tamarillo's
2 Rue du Marche aux Fleurs
34000 Montpellier, FRANCE
04 67 600 600 phone
04 67 600 601 fax
www.tamarillos.biz

Bienvenue a Montpellier, (or "Merci Beaucoup, Por Favor...")

Wow...

I just went out for what I had only hoped to be at most an uneventful but tasty dinner. Something good, but casual, hearty, but with a certain amount of style. I even wore the same clothes that I had been sitting on the train in; absolutely a cliche of bad American style - jeans, brightly modern plastic hiking boots, a company polo shirt, and a company logo ball cap, with a rain slicker layer to top it all off and fend off the cloudbursts.

Instead, I had a really interesting evening...

The place that I happened into (Chez Boris) was almost by accident - I really was looking for something quieter, but I was drawn to the warm, narrow room, and it was obvious that Vin was important here. I had to squeeze through the crush of people drinking at the front, and made my way back to the almost deserted rear of the restaurant, seeking a seat. Still totally insecure about communicating in French, I basically said something like, "...is possible, me to dinner??..."

I think that I asked this of the chef too, which only makes it worse... Fortunately, they only ridiculed me for a short time before welcoming me in and making me comfortable. With the menu in front of me, they asked "what do you like to eat??" They couldn't have known just what a loaded question that is for me... Under pressure, I scanned the menu, and lacking Cassoulet, or Bouillabaisse (which I was to learn later was a fortunate thing, as all the French fisherman have been on strike for the past 10 days, so the word on the street is; "don't order the fish!!") I quickly decided on Tartare de Boeuf, (raw chopped beef, served with garnish and a raw egg yolk atop the mound of delicious meat.) I asked also for a glass of a regional red wine, and was brought a very good glass of Syrah.

I enjoyed talking with the staff; the Garde Manger chef is from Senegal, and is studying Mathematics at the University. He is going to graduate next year, and is hoping to move to Canada or Great Brittan to pursue his career. The server did not speak English at all, but was patient with my French, and very attentive despite a very busy evening to be on her own.

Once I finished with my meal, I ordered a glass of Banyuls, since I had been through the appellation that very afternoon. The wine was interesting, almost a bit leathery or horehound candy-like, with a lot of tannin that even pierced through the sweetness to some degree. This is a really different animal than Port or Maderia after all, and the Grenache character really comes screaming through in the dried strawberry and grapefruit rind / positive cigarette butt kind of aromatics, (really, that is a positive descriptor for Grenache in my book; nearly like the aroma of a well-enjoyed brunch, appropriately ended with a single, savored smoke, stubbed out in the rind of the half-grapefruit... Guess you have to be there...)

Since the hub-bub had died down in the front of the bar, I moved up front to watch the rain and to order an espresso and cognac. I settled in with that, and was almost immediately interrupted with "Americans always want cognac. Why can't they enjoy white wine? It always has to be cognac or Jack Daniels or something...." I looked up, and was being menaced by the guy at the next table, sitting with several of his friends.

Before I could even begin to think of how to respond, he continued, "where are you from? Here have some white wine with us!" Before I knew it, I was having drinks with Eric and his friends, Carolina, Elise, Philippe, and Elizabeth (I THINK that I have those all correct...) They were great, and welcoming, and fun, and able to switch between French and English enough that I could follow the conversation, and yet left enough of it in French that I had to work a bit to understand.

It turns out that Eric seems to know everyone, and that Philippe is one of the most talented chefs in the region, with his own restaurant, Tamarillos nearby in the plaza down the street. From what I gather, his specialty is in creating elaborate presentations utilizing fruits & flowers - he has worked under several of the best chefs in the country, and has won the national desserts competitions twice. I am going to go to lunch there tomorrow at 1pm, I can't wait to be amazed, and later this week, we are going to visit some of his friends whom are among the best upcoming vintners in the region.

Myself, Philippe, and Carolina went out for another drink after we finished the evening - bidding farewell to the rest of the troupe. We ended up at a loud Irish bar, with a load of nice, but young, college kids from Dublin on our tail - they are in town to spend three weeks of immersion in the French language; (not sure how that is working out if they are hanging out in an English-speaking Irish pub on their time off...)

While we were there, one of Philippe's friends, Dominique, came by - he owns 2 bars in town; one is a small dance-club sort of place, with a DJ and lot of drinking dancing young people. The other is new, still under construction, and he is just going to have an initial soft opening on Thursday of this week. The new place is called Foch (2, Place Rebuffy, Montpellier 06 15 29 52 51,) for the avenue that it borders, and it will be a wine bar / restaurant with a quiet, sophisticated ambiance, and a sophisticated degustasion menu, and with a unique dining room that will open onto two separate terraces, one on a square, and one under a shady, tree-lined street. He pointed at the tree and told me that "...in Provance, this tree is magical..." Not sure what kind it was, but I took him at his word. He told us that he wanted this new place to be only wine and beer - he had had the other bar for 10 years, and having the alcohol and loud music always brought him troubles. I didn't know it then, but it wouldn't be long before I witnessed this first hand.

We left Foch, locking up and heading over to Dominique's other bar, less than 2 blocks away. It was busy, lots of dancing, drinking kids. I had a drink, danced a bit, and started to fade, as it was already 1 am. I started to say goodbye to Philippe and Carolina, and headed toward the door. Dominique was in the doorway, obviously having words with a kid who was in the entryway. As I approached, I saw that this guy was holding several purses in his hand, and another guy outside was holding a couple more. It looked like they helped themselves to the purses while people were dancing inside.

I don't know exactly what happened. I think that the one kid tried to walk off with the purses, and either Dominique threatened to call the police on the kid, or something. Anyway, the kid turned around and whipped the purses at Dominique with all his might, along with a bottle of some sort of booze that broke into shards. At this, several guys grabbed the two and a big melee broke out. Hard to tell who was getting the worst of it, but eventually one of the thieves was down on the ground and someone started to kick him hard. Someone pulled the kicker away from him, and then he got up and attacked Dominique again, knocking him to the ground and knocking his glasses off. Eventually people pulled the thieves up off him, and started punching them again. Someone handed Dominique a canister of something and in a second he had walked up to one of the kids and squirted him with mace straight in the face for a good second. As the other thief came to try to help, he got a solid dose as well.

The two thieves staggered down the street in pain; I could smell the pepper spray in the air and it was choking even at 20 yards. I made a decision; time to go straight home before the night got any more exciting, and I did just that.

Can I just take a moment to thank Eric, Philippe, Carolina, Dominique, and their friends for their hospitality? When you are totally a stranger to a region, to be taken under wing by such great people with insider knowledge is such a fantastic gift. I resolve to be that person in the future when I come across people from other areas. Merci Beaucoup!

"Gorillas in our Midst"

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=114593

Appropo of nothing; this is just some seriously good, seriously funny writing about bouncers at nightclubs, told from the experienced viewpoint of a longtime bartender in NYC. It appeared today on egullet.org, which is a great food / restaurant / chef writing site that acts as an online magazine, forum, and cooperative blog.

Playing with your Food?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7335351.stm

Wow - this story was on BBC today, a German inventor has designed a restaurant that completely eliminates the servers - all the food and drink is ordered via touch-screen, and delivered via a very cool gravity rail system to your seat. You swipe a card to pay for your order, and you can look up where the ingredients came from on the touch screen while you wait for your order!

Almost like the old-school 'Automat' restaurants, only the food is freshly prepared and delivered hot! Plus, the rail system is very nifty looking.

'Mama Dip's Country Kitchen' Chapel Hill, NC

My flight was delayed so I had time to stop at 'Mama Dip's Country Kitchen' in Chapel Hill for breakfast. Grits, homemade biscuits, jam and two eggs with country ham. It was tasty.

Country ham is a kind of salty, rustic cousin of prosciutto, or Jamòn Serrano, made by packing the raw hindquarter of the pig in salt for a period of time before hanging it to cure over the winter, losing moisture and gaining complex flavors as enzymatic fermentations transform the flesh. The exterior of the ham can develop a lush growth of fungus, like some cheeses, or like Italian Soppressata. I saw some of these at a farmers co-op in Raleigh, but forgot to take a photo. Sometimes they are smoked, but I think that they are traditionally raw cured, and I suppose there is a lot of regional variation and individual secret recipes.

By the way, this is an entirely text messaged post, so now is a great time for you to be suitably impressed at my newfound texting prowess! Now off to Philly, Phoenix, then SBP!

'Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q' Raleigh, North Carolina

I suddenly had to go to Raleigh, North Carolina this week, to meet with the largest synthetic cork manufacturer in the world, at their headquarters, in Zebulon, NC - they were interested in a production-scale closure trial that I have been working on for the past 2 years, and I met with their R&D team, and their enologists, whom were in visiting from Belgium.

I resolved firmly in my heart that I would sample North Carolina Bar-B-Q (I don't know the significance of this spelling, vs BBQ or Barbeque, but I trust that there must be a difference!) The way I understand it, North Carolina Bar-B-Q differentiates itself regionally from other styles in the following ways; it is always Pork based, apparently a shredded shoulder, or roast of some sorts; the sauce is not tomato based, not sweet, but rather consists of vinegar, peppers, and spices.

It was brought to my attention by my friend, Bob Carruthers, who moved with his family from SLO to Chapel Hill (they used to be our next door neighbors,) that there are actually two distinct BBQ (abbreviating, apologies if I offend someone's sense of Bar-B-Q' propriety...) styles within North Carolina - the 'Eastern' which is very plainly prepared pork with just a little vinegar sauce, and the Western, or 'Lexington' style, which only uses pork shoulder, and has a sweeter, slightly more tomato-based sauce. Tons more about North Carolina BBQ in this paper titled "What is North Carolina-Style BBQ?" by H.Kent Craig.

In his paper, Craig says, "It's easier to be a Master Chef at the New York Academy Of Culinary Arts & Sciences, it's easier to be be a Professor Of Sanskrit at the Sorbone, it's easier to be a Master Steak Chef at Blackie's in DC, than it is to be a Master BBQ Chef Of Eastern-NC-BBQ. That's because Eastern-NC-Style BBQ is plain whole-hog pork meat, with just the tiniest bit of vinegar-based "sauce" which isn't a sauce at all, applied as a moistening agent. Eastern-Style BBQ is usually one of two grades; either excellent, or close to inedible."

I had expressed my interest in exploring NC BBQ to one of the research scientists, whom also happened to be a native of the area. One of the places that I had copied out of my 'Road Food' book, called 'Murray's Barbecue' was on my list of places to visit, but I still asked for a recommendation. I was told that Smithfield's, despite being a chain, did a very credible, authentic job.

The next day, when I went in search of Murray's, I was disappointed. (I later found out that it closed, back in 2005.) I could not locate it anywhere, and when I called the number listed, there was no answer. Fortunately, I remembered the Smithfield's recommendation, and found several listings within 10 miles of where I was. I chose the closest one on my GPS navigator, and was there in just a few minutes.

I ordered the Chicken 'N Bar-B-Que Platter, and a glass of Sweet Tea - when the food arrived, it was a mass (see photo above!) of shredded, tender pork shoulder (almost like carnitas, but not fried - moist and roasted and with authentic 'porky' flavor - YUMM!!!) Beside the pork was a mound of excellent, finely chopped coleslaw, and a pile of hushpuppies. Topping the plate were two pieces of crisply coated, peppery fried chicken.

The pork was great, I loved the spicy, tangy sauce, but you didn't need much to bring the flavor of the pork up. I can see why a sandwich, which usually would include the coleslaw heaped on top of the pork and bun, could be such a classic match up. The fried chicken was great, but I just couldn't finish all of the food, so I left most of the second piece of chicken, and some of the hushpuppies.

Sometimes I hear people say that we don't really have an American Cuisine. When faced with traditional food culture in the southern US, especially, I have to disagree. It is amazing, beautiful, and reassuring to see the intense regionalism, traditionalism, and pride with which BBQ in particular, and southern cooking in general is practiced.

Does anyone know what happened to Murray's? (4700 Old Poole Road, Raleigh) (I found out that it has closed.) Are there other suggestions of quality, traditional, or idiosyncratic BBQ, Bar-B-Que, or Barbeque that should be sought out in the future? (see this link for a great forum on current NC BBQ places.) How about Smithfield's? Do you think that I really got a fair taste of NC BBQ, or was that just commercialized, mediocre chain food? (It was still tasty!)

A link that I found, to a Carolina BBQ discussion board

La Palapa

La Palapa
3820 Broad St., San Luis Obispo
805-541-2700

I love Mexican food. San Luis Obispo has decent (but still far from excellent,) taco shops (and even better taco trucks, at the Sunday morning swap meet!) For Sopes or Mole enchiladas, Chile Peppers is the place to go. For Lengua tacos, definitely Tacos de Acapulco. Mariscos frescos, other seafood and occasionally goat tacos at the little stand on Santa Rosa street, near the corner with Foothill.

There is a new addition near the winery that bears mention. La Palapa opened recently in Marigold Center, and is a convienient place to eat. The service is cheerful, but inexpert. You need to be a bit assertive here if you are in a hurry - they almost never drop the check on your table until you physically flag them down and request it. I have taken to going up to the register at the exit, and standing there with my wallet open. That seems to expedite things.

Try the Sopa de Pozole. It is served complete with an array of spicy sauces, dry peppers, herbs, onions, lime and cilantro, so you can bring it up to the flavor that you prefer. The Chile Verde is the best that I have had around here, bright, tangy, and flavorful - they include lots of tomatillas and sliced Nopales (cactus paddles) in the recipe, which I have not seen elsewhere locally.

This is really good food, especially for a warm up on a cold, rainy winter day!

President's Day Weekend - Saturday

Let's just say that Kristin and I are both pretty tired. We arrived at the house (the 'project?') at 8am, and we just arrived home about 20 minutes ago. We made some serious headway today, though!

So much happened, in fact, that it is hard to remember it all, and in fact, we forgot to take photos of every part of it.

Loaded the truck with all the baseboard trim and some of the carpet that we ripped off the stairs the day before, as well as the ceiling fans, (the Habitat for Humanity RE-Store didn't want any more ceiling fans, and we don't need them...) and went to the landfill. There is no carpet recycling place in Atascadero apparently - though the carpet installers we were referred to by Green Goods added "carpet recycling" on his estimate. Someone correct me if I am wrong?

The landfill is pretty cool, it is out in the countryside, among some almond orchards, and we saw our friend Kathleen, whom we know from The Park Restaurant in SLO, she used to manage events for Maegan & Jeff there. She is a professionally trained chef in her own right, and I think that she is a director, or at least a very active part of the local Slow Food Convivium. Anyway, the landfill uses longhorn cattle to graze the hillsides and keep the fire hazard to a minimum, it is really scenic, and we could just about see our house on the drive back, from the banks of the Salinas River, which is actually above ground right now, which is a rare occurance.

We also went to pretty much all of the hardware and lighting stores in town, getting the lay of the land. Kristin really liked Miner's Hardware, and said "I'm never going back to Home Depot again!" We will see how that plays out, but we found some good tools and supplies that we needed, and got a sense of what is available.

Then we went back, pruned some rose bushes, had our washer and dryer delivered and installed, had the refrigerator delivered, plugged into the outlet in the garage, and now we will have cold beer and sodas available! I ripped out carpeting on the stairs to the garage, Kristin removed all of the contact paper in the kitchen cabinets, which was no small task. The oven and dishwasher were hauled away by the guys from Idler's, so we ripped out the rest of the vinyl flooring. Then we took down all of the cabinet pulls and drawers, removed all of the doors to the garage for refinishing.

We tried to make it to Green Goods to finalize the order for carpet before they closed, but it turns out that they close early on Saturdays, so we missed it. We went looking for a salad, or something healthy for dinner. There are a TON of Mexican restaurants in Atascadero, and they look to be better than most of the options in SLO, but we had breakfast burritos for breakfast (and lunch) so we ended up at Hoover's cafe 101, which has its own brewery as well. KLC had fish & chips, I had prime rib. We earned it today! The beer was good too.

After dinner, just for good measure, we ripped out ALL OF THE CARPETING FROM THE ENTIRE DOWNSTAIRS!! It looks great, we really feel like we accomplished something, and the truck is loaded and ready for another trip to the landfill tomorrow!

Time for sleeping now...

The Girl & The Fig- Sonoma

I was in Sonoma County for winery business the latter part of last week, and had opportunity to dine at The Girl & the Fig; on the town square in Sonoma, (110 West Spain Street, Sonoma California (707) 938 3634.)

This is Sondra Bernstein’s comfortable wine-country bistro, casual and homey; informed by traditional French bistro fare and hearty country cooking. The wine list is all Rhone varieties, (with the exception of a few bubblies…) and well chosen, with none of the usual cop-outs, or uninspired name-dropping. Several of our hometown favorites were represented, including several selections each from Robert Hall in Paso Robles, & Alban Vineyards; next door to our own vineyards here in Edna Valley. They even had two selections that were purchased at the Hospice du Rhone barrel auction, and bottled specifically for The Girl & The Fig, including a Jaffeur’s Syrah from my friend Michael Larner’s vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley, of Santa Barbara County.

Nestled in a comfortable location below the Sonoma Hotel, it has the added bonus of being just 2 blocks from the excellent Friday morning Farmer’s Market. The menu certainly seems to draw, in substance or inspiration, on the marvellous local produce on display there each week.

We started with the “Tower of Cheese,” a selection of several local and international examples of the art of fromage. In addition to the cheeses we were served several thin slices of charcuterie, as well as a fig paste, and a chutney of onion. Here are a few of the selections we were presented with:

Vella Dry Jack Reserve- This is an excellent local Sonoma cheese. It is no newcomer to the artisinal cheese movement, indeed it has remained basically as-is for decades. Similar in grain to a Parmigino, it has a bit more richness, less salty, more earthy. According to the table notes, the rind is cured with a mixture of vegetable oil, cocoa, and pepper.

Redwood Hill Boucheret- This was a domestic, bloomy-rinded goat’s milk cheese with a distinct sour-rich flavor, and a silky texture. Was quite good; but overshadowed by some of the drier cheeses we were tasting. I intend to order one of these cheeses and enjoy it further.

Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar- I loved this cheese!! From Modesto, it had an amazing tang, and rich, full, nutty expression, almost like an aged Gouda from Holland. I bought a pound to bring home for KLC.

Pierre Robert- If you have not had this cheese, you have not experienced one of the most pleasurable, decadent experiences available to your palate, courtesy of our friend the cow. A rich, triple crème cheese, the menu stated that it is enriched with crème fraiche. Although this is a cheese that I am well acquainted with, it was a welcome presence on our cheese tower. Just another brilliant example that proves “fat equals flavor.”

Cypress Grove, “Pee-Wee Pyramid”- As its name implies, this is an exquisite goat’s milk cheese in the shape of a pyramid, (minus the chopped off tip…) From the makers of the fabulous Humbolt Fog, it is similar to the crumbly exterior portion of its famous sibling, with a great tangy flavor. Has layers of creamy and crumbly texture contrasts that makes it a beautiful cheese to served sliced on a plate or salad. This is another that I had to take home!

Ailene des Vignes- I did not have this cheese on our cheese tower, but was intrigued by the description on the cheese menu, and had to bring some home. “This Tome de Chevre is a white wine washed ‘drunken goat’ cheese. This is a small, artisan student-produced production- each wheel is numbered.” I found it to be fairly bland, safe, and uninteresting compared with some of the other really striking cheeses. Perhaps if I allow it to warm to room temperature, some of the aroma will come out of it, but it was not my favorite overall.

So enchanted by the cheeses we enjoyed at the beginning of the evening, I continued in a similar vein, with a charcuterie plate. Really great thin-sliced salami and thicker, dried Portugeese style chorizo. In addition, there was a pate of duck liver, coarser and more rustic than foie gras, but flavorful and quite a tasty match with the Syrah we were drinking with dinner.

I chose a small plate as my entrée course, the Duck Confit. It was amazingly tender and delicious, with a fall-off the bone richness and depth of flavor. The duck was served on a leaf of butter lettuce, with a lentil ragout, richly flavored with smoky bacon. This was a great dish for the rich Rhone varieties on the menu, and paired well with the Grenache we had on the table. This would be a stellar partner with a racier Pinot Noir; something to echo the earthiness of the duck, and cut through the richness with some acidity and persistance.

Dessert was a nice touch; pumpkin cheesecake, and a glass of Muscat Beaume de Venise. The cheesecake must have included some cheddar or gouda, or some other slightly pungent cheese that made a nice balance to the sweetness of the pumpkin. A bit of clove echoed the floral spice of the Muscat well. (Perhaps this was a bit of a sweetness overload, but I only get to do this once in a while…)

I definitely enjoyed the experience, great service, small cosy room, and food that will be remembered for a long, long time! Looks as though work will continue to bring me up to Sonoma with some regularity; I am looking forward to getting to know this great area better!