We really like going to Napa. Be it wine tasting with friends, a drive along the Silvarado trail, a little hike, or a weekend getaway; it has always been fun. This time we stayed local for labor day weekend to spend Kan's birthday in Napa.
Napa is ideal for a romantic getaway, and there is no planning required if you live in the bay area. Book a nice bed and breakfast in Calistoga or Yountville. There are tons of spas nearby, and great places to eat. The hot air balloon ride sounds nice, we could not do it since it was raining the day we were booked for it.
The Hennessey House Bed and Breakfast was really good. This beautiful house was built in 1889 and each of the 10 rooms is designed differently and elegantly.
Each season in Napa is uniquely beautiful. We are not much into wine tasting, but we did enjoy the tour of the wine cellars.
Napa has the only two restaurants in the bay area that have been awarded 3 Michelin stars - The French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood. A 3- star rating means that the food is exceptional and worth a special journey to the country. Reservations are very hard to get and need to be made months in advance. A while back we went to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for lunch, and it was pretty good.
We went to Frascati in San Francisco for the Birthday dinner, and it was just incredible. It is an elegant restaurant serving amazing food with the freshest ingredients. Its is great for vegetarians. We started with the artisanal cheese plate, watermelon salad, gnocchi and black mission fig. The russet potato gnocchi with leeks, butternut squash, mushroom, white truffle and corn was the best appetizer. The best main dish was the veggie tagliatelle. The flavors took me back to our recent trip to Italy. The black and white bread pudding and the apple cobbler were good but not as spectacular as the earlier courses.
-Yam & Dee
