Rabbit and sausage jambalaya and Creole fried chicken from Coop's Place
a perfect Ramos gin fizz at the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel
the typical end of every night – congregating outside the Old Absinthe House
On Sunday I returned from Tales of the Cocktail, an annual cocktail conference in New Orleans. I'll do my best to give a recap shortly, but for now, pictures are worth a thousand words.
Sunday, NYC Triathlon; today, heading to NOLA for Tales of the Cocktail. Gotta have some balance in life folks!! Drink, food, music, fun, friends, and HEAT all await me.
Next Wednesday morning I'm heading down to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, a multi-day party conference revolving around all things boozy (and in my case, of course, food). I was looking at a Facebook event that someone set up to see who's heading down, and looking at those I know on the list — about 30, give or take – I didn't know almost any of you last year. It's kind of amazing how many new and wonderful people are now part of my world, and I feel incredibly lucky to have met you all. I can't wait to have fun in NOLA with you all (although I'm a little nervous, I'll admit)!!
PS — I'm bringing my gym clothes and do plan on working out at least a little while I'm there. Announcing it here so that you can all laugh in my face when you see me.
Sunday we met our small group in Calistoga, and set off for another day on our bikes. The weather was absolutely gorgeous — we truly lucked out. Our first stop of the day was Envy Wines, where I really liked the 2007 Bee Bee's Blend, and then literally down the driveway, across the street and up the next driveway into Summers Estate Winery where I got to taste a grape varietal I had never tasted before — charbono. After a bit of a ride, we stopped for our final tasting of the day and lunch at Lava Vine, where I enjoyed their 2007 Knight's Valley Syrah and their port-style dessert wine (served with salted chocolate), both so delicious that I considered shipping some home to NYC.
After a quick stop at Clos Pegase to see some of the art collection, Dad and I headed back to town in order to shower and clean up in time for our early bird dinner reservation at ad hoc. I generally can't handle eating that early, but despite the hour, we had a delicious meal before we drove back into SF to stay at our hotel near the airport — we both had 7:15 a.m. flights the next day. ad hoc offers a prix fixe menu — one selection per day — and that day it was a mixed green salad, braised short ribs, a goat cheese course (they swapped mine w/a cow's milk cheese), and a buttermilk layer cake. Delicious.
The flight home, early as it was, was pleasantly uneventful, but I arrived home to find that the LOST finale hadn't taped properly — major disaster, as I had very deliberately avoided it the night before when it aired. Oh well.
Thanks to dad for a wonderful trip — looking forward to more. You can see the pictures here.
Once again, apologies for the delay. It's been a busy week!
Sorry for the delay, kids, but it's been a rough re-entry!
On Saturday morning we woke up and drove the winding roads to Healdsburg from Calistoga, where we met with the rest of our group for the day — about nine in total. Tom, our fearless leader, got everyone geared up on their bikes and off we went to Bella Vineyards & Wine Cave, for our first tasting of the day. But first, less than a mile out, I rode through some glass, and although I tried to avoid it, I heard a hiss and — wham — I got a flat in my back tire. After flagging down Tom for a new tube and a tire lever, we got it changed and were back on the road in no time.
Bella was indeed bella - the scenery was gorgeous, and I am still trying to figure out a way to host a dinner in the private room inside the wine cave. My favorite at Bella was the 2008 Two Patch Zinfandel. Next, after a healthy ride, on to Peterson Winery, where I loved the 2007 Peterson Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. While we were tasting, Tom had set up a lovely lunch, filled with local produce and cheese. After lunch, it was down the hill and riding through some chilly wind to Everett Ridge Winery (also at the top of a hill). Now, although Bella was quite scenic, by the time we got to Everett the sun was shining, and we sat outside overlooking a stunning valley — I could have stayed all afternoon, sipping wine and munching cheese puffs (yes, the puffy Cheetos kind — more on that in my next post).
We rode a mile back into town to finish up for a total of about 20 miles for the day. After a shower we headed to St. Helena to visit some friends for a pre-dinner drink/snack. Their kitchen/living/dining area was laid out exactly how I'd want mine to be if I had that kind of space — open, airy, with a big island allowing for folks to hang out while the hosts cook. Sigh.
We then headed back to Calistoga for dinner at JoLe. After all that wine tasting, Dad and I opted for a beer and a cocktail, respectively (when I saw some of the booze selections, and noticed the house-made vermouth, I knew I was in good hands). Dinner was delicious, but we were fading rapidly, and we went home for a hard-earned good nights sleep.
After a somewhat fitful sleep (tiki drinks make for weird dreams, perhaps?), I woke up, packed, and met my Dad, who had flown in from NYC and driven into SF to pick me up. We headed out across the Bay Bridge towards Napa, where we had planned a cycling/winery trip. We stopped along the way in St. Helena at Farmstead to have lunch and catch up with Adam (my college boyfriend), who is now living full-time in Napa.
After lunch we continued on to Calistoga, our home base for the next two nights. A representative from the bike tour company met us at the hotel, set us up on bikes, and suggested a short, warm-up route for the day. Despite a few sprinkles, we enjoyed the ride, and even stopped at Twomey for our first wine tasting of the weekend.
We dined at the Inn at Calistoga, and headed off to get a good night's sleep for the following day.
In a sad attempt to undo some of the caloric damage from the prior day, I started my day with a run in Golden Gate Park, which was lovely. Although Wednesday had been sort of cold and drizzly, Thursday was absolutely sunny and gorgeous. Through the magic of Facebook and Twitter, I learned that two New York friends were actually in San Francisco, so we met up for dim sum at Yank Sing for lunch (not only was it great company, but dim sum is hard to eat alone!).
After lunch, Doug and I wandered to the Ferry Building (again) for a shot of Blue Bottle Coffee (my macchiato is shown here sideways for some reason, but it's still pretty) and then wandered around a bit. Doug and I know each other from college a cappella — the Amalgamates — and the other two friends I had arranged to meet later in the day were also from the Mates. We totally took advantage of this. When I met up with Jonathan at about 4, we didn't tell him that Doug was with him and took him by surprise. We then went to Smuggler's Cove to meet up with Spike at 5:15, and didn't tell him that Jonathan or Doug were with me. It was a great surprise to all and a truly fun mini-reunion over a drink at the diviest bar ever (the 21 Club — Jonathan's favorite) and excellent tiki drinks.
After cocktail hour, I went to meet @M_Quinn and @CatinCal for dinner at Tropisueno where I recapped my highlights from the MCC, and they scared me to death about Tales, and we generally caught up and had a lovely time. Finally, I touched base with Lynnette (the other aforementioned NYC friend), and met up with her and Ty and their friends for a drink at Nopa. All in all a wonderful day, then off for a good night's sleep before meeting my dad to head out to Napa/Sonoma.
I arrived on the late side on Tuesday night and was picked up at the airport by my friend Eric (who has also been kind enough to let me stay with him and his family). As a New Yorker, it still feels like such a treat to get picked up at the airport for some reason. After a much-needed good night's sleep I walked from my temporary home in Noe Valley to the Mission in search of Dynamo Donuts. Can I please mention how much I love the Mission? I had to stop myself from going into several little storefronts to buy tamales, there's art everywhere, and the taquerias look amazing. But I had my mission – the maple-glazed bacon apple donut. And yes, it was as amazing as it sounds. I washed it down with some Turkish coffee from Philz (served with a sprig of mint), then headed to the Ferry Terminal building to buy a few small gifts. Unable to resist, I had a half dozen Hog Island oysters as a pre-lunch snack. I then walked to the Civic Center area, where I wandered through the farmers market, then hopped on the BART back to the Mission, where I got to catch up with my friend Austin over a chicken mole burrito from Papalote. I walked back homeward over and through the hills in Noe Valley, admiring the beautiful houses on Delores Street and wondering how cyclists make it up the monster hills. I then went back and relaxed for a while until Eric, Bill and little miss Eva returned home. We rounded out the evening with dinner at the local Thai place, where Eva was treated like a celebrity, then caught up on LOST.
Yes, it was a food-heavy day (will pay for it later on the scale, no doubt), but just wandering around makes me realize how much I like it here. At one point I saw a guy with a special dog leash designed to attach to a bike. You're telling me I can ride my bike to get a maple-glazed bacon donut with my dog?! And why have I not moved here yet?
Is this not a gorgeous view? Now imagine you're looking out on it while nibbling on fried clams or a delicious lobster roll. Breathe in the salt air. Ahhh, Maine. Heading off for the weekend, folks, and hoping that a trip to Two Lights is on the agenda.
I'm in Washington DC at the annual Pro Bono Institute. It's the second day of the conference, and my third day down here, and it has been very successful so far. On the work front, I had a good meeting with the folks in my DC office about focusing on some new pro bono projects, which I'll try to get moving once I'm back in the office next week, and I co-moderated a panel, which colleagues told me they enjoyed. On the social front, I went out Wednesday night with @TMFIII and @jasonmader, who took me to the Tabard Inn. The cocktails, by Chantal Tseng, were delicious, and the company was delightful. We followed up with a quick stop at the Passenger, which was somewhat overrun due to St. Patrick's Day and overflow from a nearby TV/radio correspondents' dinner.
Although I went to bed at a reasonable hour Wednesday night, given the long day I had yesterday, I was about ready to fall over when my meetings ended at 8pm, but I had arranged (as I tend to do at conferences) a group dinner at Zaytinya. It was great, but somewhat slow-paced, and didn't end until 11:30, which felt like about 3 a.m. to me.
Slept well last night, and after writing this week's cocktail column, it's off to the races again. I'm hoping to sneak in a workout somewhere today, and looking forward to our reception with Ruth Bader Ginsburg tonight!
