The Culinary Timeline is a side-project that I've been working on since October. I'm hoping to have most of it complete by the end of January, with any luck. Until then, updates around here will be weekly, rather than twice weekly. Do stay tuned.
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Al Pastor Tacos @ La Luna Market, Rutherford.
When I was working as a wine educator in Rutherford and Oakville, quick lunch options were unusually scarce. Aside from an occasional Dean & DeLuca sandwich, Mexican food was the only feasible option up valley — not that I ever complained all that much. Being a native of California, Mexican food will always be a staple for me, and the tacos on this page represent literally hundreds of past lunches, especially the tacos al pastor at La Luna Market, pictured above. Conservatively, I’ve eaten over one thousand tacos at La [... read more ...]
Quintessa features a unique and creative set-up for wine-making: The grapes are sorted and destemmed at roof level, then gravity-fed into the winery via the skylights. The custom-made conduit, pictured above, funnels the grapes from the skylights into the fermentation tanks below (click the photo for higher resolution).
I scheduled a wine-tasting session at Quintessa last week, and if there’s one thing that I appreciate about Quintessa’s format, it’s the rare opportunity to taste a three-year vertical of premium Napa Cabernet. At the moment, Quintessa is pouring its 2005, 2006 and 2007 vintages, and I carefully evaluated all [... read more ...]
The banh mi sandwich @ Auberge du Soleil, with a yellow and green bean salad (not pictured: Auberge's unrivaled patio view).
Back when I first moved to the Napa Valley, I took a job as a line cook at Auberge du Soleil, and despite two years of chef school and several years of prior professional experience, Auberge proved to be an education unto itself. It not only redefined my standards, but it also redefined stress and adrenaline. These elements are inseparable, especially with Michelin-star cooking, and I reserve so much respect and admiration for the line cooks who [... read more ...]
Pizzas on Parade (clockwise, from upper left): Oenotri, Solbar, Redd, Pizzeria Azzurro, Auberge du Soleil, Uva, Cantinara Piero, Ca' Momi, Boon Fly Cafe, Pizzeria Tra Vigne, Papa Joe's, Bistro Don Giovanni.
If there’s one food that can achieve total global supremacy, pizza seems like the natural front-runner. You don’t ever have to sell anybody on pizza. It just seems to endear itself to everybody, like a wealthy uncle, or a gregarious bartender. Although pizza has only become popular here in America since World War II, different schools of thought regarding pizza have already emerged: Individual preferences towards pizza [... read more ...]
As I spent 2009 combing the Napa Valley for great wines (the one definite perk of living here and being in the wine business), I decided to pay special attention to the Cabernets that were priced at $50 or less, hoping to one day compile a list of favorites. In order to confirm their merit, I plan to eventually put all of these wines into blind tastings alongside a few of their $100 counterparts, just to see how they fare against the big boys (I suspect that many of these lesser-priced wines will easily rise to the top). But [... read more ...]
With everything in the Napa Valley finally slowing down to a winter’s pace, I caught up with Chris Pedemonte this morning to taste a couple upcoming releases of Pedemonte Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. A relative newcomer compared to many of its neighbors in Rutherford, Pedemonte Cellars was founded with the 2004 vintage, and has already produced a string of noteworthy Rutherford Cabs. With an annual production that averages only about 300 cases, Pedemonte offers truly hand-crafted wines at an artisanal, almost Old-World scale. Although the wines from Pedemonte Cellars may a bit difficult to locate in most markets, they can [... read more ...]
Elizabeth Spencer has been one of my favorite wineries for quite some time now, although I have never actually mentioned that fact here. Frankly, I’m not sure why I’ve never said anything before. But like I have said, the Thirsty Reader is by no means comprehensive: if I happen to discover something that strikes me as noteworthy, then I’ll usually try to mention it here, if I have the time. Sometimes I get sidetracked, or I get lazy. Sometimes, I’ll postpone an entry if I don’t feel like I ever have the time or the energy to do an [... read more ...]
I realize that Memorial Day is all about remembering those who served our country, but since I also had the day to go wine tasting, I decided it would be somewhat appropriate to visit a few of the pioneering wineries here in the Napa Valley, in order to sample the current releases from such stalwarts as Grgich Hills, Heitz Cellars and Duckhorn Wine Company (I had Chateau Montelena on my itinerary as well, but they were closed for the holiday).
Since I have lived here in the Napa Valley, I have visited each of these three wineries countless times [... read more ...]
I made an impromptu visit to Piña Cellars yesterday, and I tasted a couple of their current Cabernet releases. All in all, the winery produces four different bottlings of single-vineyard Cabernets, with a fifth bottling on the way for the 2006 campaign. All five of the Piña vineyards are located along the eastern portion of the Napa Valley, with properties occupying four of Napa’s sub-appellations, including Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Howell Mountain (Piña’s fifth vineyard is planted at the base of Atlas Peak, but is not within the strict boundaries of that appellation).
The first [... read more ...]
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