Hospitality Business Magazine

One of the joys of the Napa and Sonoma areas is that everything is so close together. So even heading out of town in the wrong direction was not a problem and only meant we got to see beautiful wineries and mansions from different angles…

The restaurant kitchen at Meadowood

First appointment, an early lunch at Meadowood Resort. While it would have been nice to have had a dinner booking for the 3 star Michelin The Restaurant we were settling with lunch at The Grill and a post prandial meeting with Chef Christopher Kostow and a tour of the extensive kitchen gardens.

The Grill – Wild yellowfin ahi ceviche

Another chef runs The Grill and we were not disappointed. They did apologise for the extensive golf course renovations going on noisily disrupting the usual vista but as ‘She’ pointed out, what could be better than great food AND Tonka toys in action. The rest of the blog today is mainly going to consist of food and restaurant visual porn because not much more needs to be said…

For the evening we’d planned a wee jaunt over the hills to Sonoma Mission Inn’s Santé Restaurant. Another windy road, even a 5 mile an hour corner, but by now I was a pro and my passenger was no longer breaking knuckles clutching at her seat or anything else she could grab. She even managed to spot a bit of wildlife at one particularly sharp bend.

Sante – Truffled egg custard

The chef at Santé had done his time at The French Laundry back where we were staying in Yountville. It was his young sous chef on for the night, and he did his mentor proud. He did us proud too with several extra tastings and a comprehensive tour of the kitchen afterwards. Another exquisite setting, exquisite food and exquisite service. So again rather than words I am just providing more food porn. If there was one thing though, it was that extra ‘egg’ taster. A delicate cheese custard topped with a wild mushroom duxelle. Pure taste and textural heaven.

We took the flat road home.