allez cuisine!

It’s Thursday, so here we are linking up with other bloggers around the internet for Instagram Travel Thursday (with some of our pictures from Instagram & others from our nice camera) for another installment of our most recent trip to Northern California!  Find the first posts herehere, here, & here…& be sure to check out other traveler’s adventures through the link up at Hines-Sight Blog.  

Waking up with breakfast delivered right to your door is a wonderful way to start the day.

So is a visit to Chappellet.  So, obviously we were in for a good one.

Yes, we made our way up Pritchard Hill to Chappellet while on our honeymoon, but I’m pretty sure their wine & these views will never get old.

chappelletChappellet is a family operation, with an outstanding winemaker (don’t miss out on Phillip Titus’s own family label, Titus, which is actually made at the Chappellet facility) & an incredible focus on sustainability.  The only reason their new winemaking facility won’t receive the highest LEED certification is because they’re lacking access to public transportation.  Because they’re on the side of a mountain.

We met back up with our friends for lunch at Bottega, another encore from our honeymoon.  We sat on the patio & sipped wine (as you should) & ordered Black Pepper Bucatini alla Carbonara: soft cooked hen egg, grilled escarole, guanciale & parmigiano brodo, Black Garlic Spaghetti Grande: head-on gulf prawns, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, calabrian chili, citrus essence & bonito flakes, Duck Three Ways: roasted breast, confit leg, duck liver mousse, Sierra Beauty apple passata, spiced hazelnuts & watercress, & Forno Roasted Truffle Rubbed Chicken Breast: Heirloom tomato panzanella, olive oil poached fresh dug potatoes, chicken jus…then just passed the plates around & around.

bottega lunchYou know that Kikkoman ad calling umami the fifth taste?  I always kind of got what they were saying, but actually tasted it for the first time in that black garlic.  Soy sauce?  You’ve got nothing on black garlic.

After lunch, we walked over to Hill Family Estate’s tasting room for a quick sip.  In an area where Cabernet is king, this winery is producing some really amazing Merlots…& Cabs as well 🙂

hill family merlot - life with the lushersWe spent the rest of the afternoon meandering around Oxbow Public Market & downtown Napa, popping in to Downtown Joe’s for some beer & baseball (the San Francisco Giants were on their way to winning the World Series).

sanctification | life with the lushersNightfall took us to Morimoto Napa.

morimoto napa  life with the lushersThat Morimoto.  The OG Iron Chef.  & his restaurant was a mere 217 feet away from our hotel, according to Google Maps.

Inside, it was all clean modern lines, wood & leather furniture & intriguing lighting, but we opted to sit on the patio.  We enjoyed cocktails, appetizers, sushi & dessert, & it was all as fresh & innovative & delicious as you would expect.

morimoto  life with the lushers& with all of that, it was time for bed.

instagram travel thursday

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4 Responses to allez cuisine!

  1. That place and the food look amazing!!! Thanks for joining us for IGTravelThursday 🙂

  2. Satu VW says:

    Ah, Californian wine and food, wish I could (easily) get some here in Norway! It was great to find your blog & post through the Instagram Travel Thursday!

  3. What a great trip. Just wonderful. I’m so glad you linked up again this week. So glad you did.

    Leigh

  4. Monique says:

    Great wine, wonderful food and amazing food. I’m making a note of all of these places.

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