wow.  i guess i wasn’t kidding when i said we would wrap this series up right around our first anniversary…i’ve got about a month to bring it in for a landing.

we woke up in napa valley on day three of our honeymoon & did i mention the weather couldn’t have been more perfect?  slightly chilly in the mornings & evenings & a perfect, rain & humidity free 75ish degrees during the day.

so we grabbed  jackets & off we went…{kara’s cupcakes: fleur de sel & meyer lemony lemon, the patio outside kara’s cupcakes, one aisle inside the market}

…on a walk down to oxbow public market for after breakfast cupcakes.

oxbow market is any food lover’s dream.  cupcakes, a wine shop, meat, cheese & seafood stands, fresh olive oils and an extensive spice shop all under one roof.  it was awesome.  we got some hard to find on the east coast chili powders, blood orange olive oil, garlic & rosemary olive oil & white balsamic vinegar.  oh.  and cupcakes.  overall win.{target napa}

quick stop at target, because i forgot to pack socks & off to yountville for lunch.

lunch at chef michael chiarello’s bottega, to be exact.

{spanked basil on the drink menu.  whaaaaa?, house cured olives, risotto del giorno: rosemary with pan fried pork, creamed cauliflower velvet soup, frette napkin: quite possibly the most expensive thing i’ve ever wiped my mouth with}

if you ever find yourself in the napa valley, GO.  chiarello?  that guy’s a rock star & this lunch goes down in history as the best meal we’ve ever had.  my risotto was so packed with flavor, but still so creamy & well balanced & topped with the most perfect lightly fried piece of pork…it couldn’t have gotten any better.  but the mister’s cauliflower soup stole the show.  cream, brown butter, blood orange olive oil, gremolata…i dream about this soup & regret not ordering a bowl, or three, for myself.

so good, that i begged chef chiarello for the recipe via twitter.  he didn’t give it up, but he followed me back, which is almost just as good & ZOMG CHEF CHIARELLO IS FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER!!!!  fingers crossed the recipe is in the bottega cookbook we’ve preordered.

we shopped around the napa style store & found a bottle of unfermented chardonnay for my 11 year old sister, since she likes to go out & order chardonnay, like on her 7th birthday.

this was also spotted.{1945 domaine de la romanée-conti la tache}

apparently it’s still good, so if you’ve got FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS laying around, go for it.