October 27, 2011

Napa & Bay Area Food Trip

Spent a week in the Bay Area and Napa with my (preggo) cousins Ate Ria and Rizza. Rizza & I flew in from LA with my nephew Hoops. (Yes, his name is really Hoops.) First stop: the candy store at SFO Airport!

We were so hungry, so immediately after dropping our bags at my cousins’ apartment, we drove to Foster City for some Thai lunch.

Later in the day, my sis-in-law Elena & I spent a few hours shopping for the Lanot brothers at the strip mall in San Mateo. She flew back to Singapore that evening.

Since my cousins and I were all together that day, we decided to throw an impromptu baby shower for the preggos!

We had make-your-own tacos and I baked vegan choco chip cookies.

Tom got some cupcakes from Sprinkles and we played some baby shower games!

The next day, we drove to Napa.

Ate Ria planned our whole weekend. I was so excited for this trip!

Spent the entire time in the downtown area.

And we made it just in time for our reservation at Ubuntu…

…where I was about to experience the most amazing vegetarian meal of my life.

The restaurant is so nice, I bet no one cares that it’s actually vegetarian!!

Some appetizers: olives, crusted almonds and freshly baked bread

And then the REAL feast begins!

We chose to get the two Prix Fixe sets and shared it among ourselves.

(Hoopies had the mac & cheese.)

Summer Squash and 24-hour “Ox Heart” Carrots in a Cool Salad

Flavors of Yellow Thai Curry, Hazelnut-Coconut Crumble, Basil and Mint

Chilled Cantaloupe and Sage Gazpacho infused with Roasted Corn Husks

Spicy Charred Lime Peanuts, Pickled Watermelon Rind, Shiso Oil

Arbuckle Grits cooked with Goat’s Milk Whey, Peach-Pistachio-Basil Bud Soffrito

Pickled Green Tomato and Peach Salad with Noyaux Oil, Whipped Goat’s Milk

Warm Foccacia with Eggplant, Ground Cherry and Espelette Capponatta

Bronze Fennel spiced Eggplant, pickled ‘Eisley Wax’ Peppers, Ricotta

Silverado Trail Strawberry Pudding

Rhubarb Jam & Pickles, Cucumber Granita

Meyer Lemon Cake with Black Olive Caramel

Slow Roasted Apricots and Wild Plums, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Sorbet

Ummmm……YEAAAAH!!!!

At check-in time, we headed to our hotel, Avia.

It’s a charming boutique hotel on First Street.

Cute bathtub in the room!

I’m definitely doing this rotating TV for our studio.

Words behind the TV.

For dinner, we headed across the street to Oenotri.

They make their own pasta and pizza here!

Started it off with Fig & Arugula Salad

And this is whatever was left of my pizza. It was soooo good!

Donuts. We ordered two plates of these. Oops!

Hoops keeps many things in his pocket.

Like train cars, a green crayon, leaves, a piece of wood, and rocks. Cute!

He also likes to slurp his milk like a kitty.

There’s a cool design gallery beside the resto. Too bad it was closed then. (It was a Sunday)

We checked out the next morning, and on our way to the market, we saw this!

Train-freak Hoops freaked out!

AWWW, it was closed, too!!!

So we headed on to Oxbow Market.

Bought some Olive Oil spray and other ingredients for baking here!

And how cute are these doggie treats??

Before heading home, we had some of the most amazing garlic fries ever to land on my mouth. And we all shared that cornmeal & veggie sandwich. But those yuca fries!!!! Aaaahhh..