San Francisco Wedding Photographer » Food

Meadowood – The Restaurant, Napa Valley

jay — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:09:08 +0000

We had an amazing time this weekend up in Napa Valley with Margie and Jim and their friends Steve and Vivian from LA. The food was decadent, the wines were fabulous, and the conversations were lively – the weekend flew by, and it was such an incredible time!

I will blog about the rest of the trip in later entries, but let’s kick it off with food. We made reservations at The Restaurant at Meadowood which had been awarded with 2 Michelin Stars. The chef had changed since the time the 2 stars were awarded, and we didn’t quite know what to expect with the new chef. Our worries quickly subsided when the food started coming – the presentation, originality, and the tastes were amazing – we’d highly recommend the Kobe Ribeye and the Corn Souffle.

It was a challenge to photograph the food as the lighting changed constantly during the 4.5 hour dinner…

Below is the Chef’s Tasting Menu, followed by the current menu:

Chef’s Tasting Menu

Cold Smoked Toro and Osetra Caviar
Crème Fraiche, Spring Onion, Warm Brioche

Foie Gras and Strawberries

Citrus Cured Spanish Mackerel
Yellow Gazpacho Sorbet, Celery

Lobster and Sweetbread
Morels, Turnip, Summer Truffle

Sonoma Poussin
Cockles, Chorizo, Haricot Vert

Slow Cooked Beef Tenderloin
Melted Spring Onion, Thyme

Fresh Andante Dairy Goat Cheese
Peaches, Olive Oil

Dark Chocolate and Cherries
Banyuls, Cherry Pit, Maple Syrup

Chez TJ Restaurant and Happy Birthday!

jay — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:38:29 +0000

Happy Birthday, Peggy!

We celebrated Peggy’s birthday last night at Chez TJ, a contemporary French restaurant in Mountain View that recently received a 2-star rating from the Michelin Guide. Our friends Margie and Jim and Peggy’s sister Cat all came over to our house in Mountain View before heading out to the restaurant. There were quite a few memorable dishes including the foie gras trio, habibut fennel, lamb “four cuts”, and the desserts – orange mocha mudpie and summer berries! We each ordered different dishes and in the end got a chance to sample almost everything on the menu.

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White Corn Veloute Tarragon Gnocchi, Summer Truffle
with 2006 Prius Verdejo, Rueda, Spain

Heirloom Tomato Cubes Balsamic Gelee, Pistou Goat Cheese
with 2006 Moshin Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley, California

Cucumber-Mango Lobster Salad Mint, Yogurt-Creme Fraiche
with 2005 Esterlina Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, California

Hudson Valley Foie Gras Trio: Summer Truffle, Torchon, Peche-Romarin
with 2006 Viento Reisling, Columbia Gorge, Oregon

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Seared Californian Halibut Fennel, Saffron Saveur
with 2004 Chateau de la Preuille Muscadet, Loire, France

Day Boat Scallop Paire Asparagus, Chanterelle, Preserve Lemon
with 2004 Macon Cruzille Les Avoueries, Burgundy, France

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Elysian Farms Lamb “Four Cuts” Artichoke Arpege, Lemon Thyme Garlic Jus
with 2004 Rosso di Montalcino, Montalcino, Italy

Meyer Angus Sirloin-Mishima Ranch “Kobe” Short Rib Zucchini Melange, Cabernet Jus
with 2004 Domenico Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California

California Duck “Salmis” Rainbow Chard, Roasted Porcini, Apricot Gastrique
with 2006 Summers Charbono, Napa Valley, California
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Fromage Plate: Crottin, Chevre, Fourme d’Ambert, Tete de Moine, Brillat-Savarin
with 2002 Chateau Peyruchet, Bordeaux, France

Summer Berry Flood Blueberry Financier, Jus de Fruits Rouge
with Kir Royale (Black Currant and Sparkling Wine)

Pineapple Carpaccio, Spiced Cake, Vanilla Nougat, Rum Gelee
with Hana-Awaka Sake “Sparkling Flower”, Hyogo, Japan

Orange Mocha Mudpie, Chocolate Ice Cream, Trifle
with Domenico Orange Muscat, San Carlos, California
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Cooking Party: Crepe!

jay — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:09:25 +0000

This is starting to feel like an episode of “Iron Chef” – today’s theme is CREPE! Thankfully there was no ticking clock or some un-pronounceable secret ingredient.

Cooking Party: Chinese!

jay — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:46:31 +0000

It’s once again the time for our monthly cooking party! Instead of tackling ambitious recipes from likes of Thomas Keller, Michael Mina, and Ming Tsai as we (okay, the lovely ladies… guys were mostly drinking beer and watching TV) did in the past months, we were ready for some simpler dishes. We prepared honey prawn, egg tarts (with egg white only!), fried rice noodle, and rice-covered meatball!

Dinner at Gary Danko, San Francisco

jay — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:05:52 +0000

Gary Danko is definitely one of our favorite restaurants in San Francisco: the service is impeccable and the food never disappoints!

Wine Tasting and Great Food – Ain’t Napa Great?

jay — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:22:56 +0000

We had been working our tails off since mid December and throughout the holidays, and it was time for us to take a little breather. This weekend, we headed up to Napa with Margie and Jim for a little wine tasting, fine dining, and an adventure in the African safari (next entry).

The weather threatened to rain all day Saturday, but surprisingly the rain never came. We got a chance to go around Napa without having to dig out the rain gear.

For dinner, we made reservations at “FARM”, located at the luxurious Carneros Inn. (On a side note, given the potential bad weather, we thought there may had been cancellations at The French Laundry – no such luck.) Nevertheless, the dining experience at FARM was wonderful. The ambiance of the restaurant was modern, colorful, and stylish. The food was fantastic – but I’ll stop there. Peggy and her friends are starting another blog to chat about all of our dining experiences/reviews and all the cooking parties they plan to organize to try out recipes from various (famous) cookbooks. So, I’ll leave the food review to them and crosslink later.

That evening, we stayed at Railway Inn in Yountville. These were converted from the original railway cars and the interior was cozy. The only drawback was the noise from the AC/heater unit – woke us up a few times throughout the night.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast and coffee at Bouchon Bakery across the street from the Railway Inn, but before I had a chance to take a picture, a bite was already missing from the fresh, warm croissant. It was that tempting! Afterwards, we wandered our way over to The French Laundry. While it was only 9:00AM, we could already see a lot of people working feverishly in the kitchen (through the back windows). Across the street from the restaurant was a garden of vegetation – we saw chefs from The French Laundry coming out to the field to fetch the freshest ingredients. One of these days, we’ll make it there…

FOOD!!! Always a new experience in Chinese cuisine

jay — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:11:01 +0000

I’ve had my fair share of Chinese food, but every time I visit parts of China, I am always amazed just how much variation there is. One thing I like to do whenever I ask the concierge for suggestions is to ask them where they would personally go to eat, not where they typically send the “foreigners”. I’ve gotten some great suggestions throughout the years, really getting a chance to sample what locals eat. In this case, I wanted to try some traditional Beijing cookings.

This was a traditional dish with intestines, liver, and lung. The flavor was intense with lots of spices.

Traditional noodle with (zha-jiang) sauce – only 9 yuan, or little over US$1.

This was actually eggplant – all mashed up. A cold appetizers.

This was stewed pork – the pork was so tender and juicy. Surprisingly, the garlic was surprisingly edible – didn’t have the typical sting of fresh garlic.

This was funny – the written title on this guy’s towel roughly translates to “waiter” in very traditional Chinese, a word found only in those shows depicting old days of China (think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)…

Finally, I do have my limits when it comes to trying new things – look what I found on the street…