Monday, April 27, 2009

Just say "Wow" to Point Reyes

We did the Point Reyes hike yesterday, and it was awesome! 13 miles was a bit too much. The last 3 miles we were both wishing a golf cart would ride by to take us to the car. But we climbed a mountain, walked along the seashore, and saw some fantastic views. I'll post tons of photos later.

The food has been pretty good so far. At Redd I had the best truffled lobster risotto - the most perfect rice dish I've ever consumed. And my entrée - a skate wing with peas and carrots - was my favorite entrée of the trip so far.

The food at Bouchon wasn't mind-blowing, but was certainly classic French perfectly executed. I had French onion soup (just fantastic) and roasted chicken with peas and greens. This chicken was local and organic, and so much more flavorful than anything you can buy in the grocery store in Mississippi.

Ad Hoc was pretty terrible. They have a set menu each night. We'd been checking the web all week and saw fantastic food. Then on our night there was a good salad with a bland piquillo pepper vinaigrette, truly nasty flat-iron blade steak, fennel gratin, and pecan cake with vanilla ice cream. The cake and ice cream were the only redeeming parts of the meal. If we weren't at a Thomas Keller establishment I might not have believed that the meat we were served was beef. It was so fatty and oily. Ick!! The fennel was unforgiveable. The menu said it was "braised" but it was too slimy to have been braised. I've prepared braised fennel many times and mine tastes good, with sweet, concentrated flavor. If I had to guess, I would say it had been par-boiled and finished in the oven. Eeeww.

Today, we have a wine intensive day. Exciting! We have only been to a few tastings and tour so far and a Pinot Noir class at the Culinary Institute of America. I can't wait to share my photos from Nickle & Nickle and Far Niente.

- Posted from my iPhone with BlogPress

5 comments:

Leah Maria said...

I can't wait to see pictures of everything!! Sounds like y'all are having such a wonderful time!

Ana said...

I have to confess, I have a google alert every day when someone on the web srtied about Keller and Pinot! We have a small winery called Keller Estate and we make Pinot Noir! Yet I always get lots of people raving about THomas Keller and this must be one of the few times that I see something far from positive! What a pity! Enjoy your vacation!

Susie S said...

I can't wait to see the pictures and hear all about it! Have fun on your wine tours!

Ginger said...

What a wonderful vacation! So glad you're having fun, and can't wait to see pictures!

Casey said...

Very cool times! Don't you hate it when you go to a "good" restaurant and end up with a dish you could and have prepared better yourself! Doesn't happen much but when it does... cant wait to see pics!