Napa Valley

A couple weeks ago, Porgy and I took an impromptu day-off from work and went to Napa Valley for some delicious wine and food loving.


We first stopped at the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville for yummy pastries – I had the bacon cheddar scone and Porgy had the cross bun. Heavenly!


then off to Frog’s Leap Winery to sample their wine flight...


more wine flight at Grgich Hills Estate ...


and finally we had a couple glasses of smooth Cabernet Sauvignon tasting at Silver Oaks.


On the way back we stopped by at BarbersQ to fuel ourselves for the drive home. I got the full rack of baby back ribs while Porgy had the lamb sliders. Their ribs are definitely one of the better ones that I have had since I moved to the SF Bay Area a decade ago. It is annoying that I cannot find a good American-style BBQ restaurant in San Francisco. Do you know a good BBQ restaurant in San Francisco that I should check out?


PS: Since I was the designated driver, I only sipped, swirled and spit the wine. It’s hard for me but it’s the responsible thing to do.

Margarita

This weekend I splurged on a few delicious goodies and skipped going to the gym (again!) I hope my food-craving trend does not continue on much longer because I'm freaking out thinking how much running I have to do to burn all these calories off so I can be prepared for the summer.

Kara's Cupcakes - Java, Fleur De Sel, Chocolate Velvet and Kara's Karrot cupcakes


Yum Yum Fish Sushi - Rainbow, Salmon Skin and Spicy Hamachi rolls and Unagi nigiri


and homemade Margaritas (thanks for the recipe, Liza!) – Yes, surprisingly enough I enjoyed drinking the Margaritas while having sushi or maybe I was already too sloshed up to care?

Ingredients:
1.5 oz blue agave sweetener
2 oz sparkling water
4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
6 oz Tequila
0.5 oz Triple sSec

Directions:

• Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker.
• Add a handful of ice cubes.
• Shake vigorously.
• Use the lime wedges to moisten tumbler glasses and coat with salt.
• Pour the tequila mixture into the glass, add more ice cubes if necessary.

Lemon Drop Cocktails

One of our favorite ways to use up all these lemons that I zested for scones was to make a few Lemon Drop cocktails – we either have it straight up in a martini glass or over ice in a tumbler glass. My lemon drop recipe is pretty simple and can be adjusted according to taste.


Ingredients:
6 oz vodka
3 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 oz Triple Sec or orange flavored liquor (Grand Marnier)
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

• Chill a couple martini glasses in the freezer.
• Pour the lemon juice, vodka and triple sec into a shaker.
• Add a handful of ice cubes and shake vigorously.
• Use the lemon wedges to moisten the glasses and coat with sugar.
• Strain the lemon vodka mixture into the glass.
  

Rickhouse

On the way back from lunch today, I walked past Rickhouse, the new bar from Bourbon & Branch folks. While peaking through the windows, the manager (Brian, the guy on the right with the blue shirt and blazer on the 2nd picture) was nice enough to invite us in to check out the place. It was bigger, super nice and definitely has a different feel than Ginger's (i.e. not hole-in-the-wall at all). He said that it will open today (Wednesday, July 1st) at 5pm as mentioned on Eater SF article yesterday. I am contemplating whether I should skip gym today and go to Rickhouse instead. Oh yeah... the drink menu booklet is pretty darn nice too. It's leather bound and nicely design!

The main bar at the front


In the back...


View from the back to the front of the bar


Note: Again iPhone pictures... not the best quality but good enough.

7/1/09 Review: Went there after work ... The bar and the staff were nice and the drink menu was extensive (maybe a bit too ambitious?). It took us awhile to get our drinks but it's understandable because it was their first day after all. I enjoyed the Capricorn drink (made with Javanese Arak liquor) but Porgy didn't enjoy his Mint Julep since there's only a couple of sips in the glass and it's 90% crushed ice. I will definitely go back there again in a month or so to give them time to work out the kinks before making my final take on Rickhouse. The concept reminds me Clover Club in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn — hopefully, in time, it will be as good. We all still miss Ginger's though.

Mint Julep

I've been drinking mint juleps every night in the past week using the recipe from Joy the Baker because last Sunday was the Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, i improvised it a little bit by using both basil and mint leaves.


Ingredients:
10 basil leaves
10 mint leaves
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
bourbon
sparkling water (or filtered water)

Directions:

• Muddle the leaves and sugar using 1 tablespoon of bourbon until leaves are bruised and the sugar is dissolved
• Fill the cup with ice cubes
• Pour in the bourbon to 1/3 (or 1/2 if you want stronger) of the glass
• Top with the sparkling or filtered water
• Garnish with fresh mint leaves

Blue Bottle Coffee

Compilation of pictures from my early and mid morning visits to Blue Bottle Coffee Cafe at the Mint Plaza in San Francisco in the past year or so with Danny, Mo-Fo, Porgy and ShunBun.

The coffee:


Breakfast food:
You can't get hot breakfast food until 8am. Before that, you can only get the brioche.

Friday Sushi

A relaxing Friday evening started with Rye Manhattans at 83 Proof ...


... and followed by a sushi dinner at Daimaru Sushi.

First round (from the top, clockwise): Amaebi (sweet shrimp), Sake (salmon), Hamachi (yellow tail), Uni (sea urchin) and Aji (spanich mackerel).


Second round (not shown): Walu (butterfish) and Caterpillar Roll (unagi with avocado roll).