Trekked up to Napa for a day and visited some wineries:
9:30am Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company (1400 Oak Ave, Saint Helena, CA 94574)
Stopped in at this cute little coffee shop downtown for my morning coffee fix. The place is adorable, and there's a bunch of townies mixed with some tourists, just hanging out. I love almond, so I was enticed by their Almond Mocha Fantasia, which was fantastic!
I have to admit this was the stop I was the least excited about because the wines they sell in grocery stores always seem so low-budget and lame. Decided to come and try it anyway, because they were offering an intro to wine tasting tour, which was great for newbies like us, and because I read raving reviews about how beautiful the place was. So we booked the 10:15am Taste of Beringer Tour, and since it was muggy out and early in the morning, it turned out to be just us and another couple. More tastings for us! The tour was great; our tour guide took us around the place and into the cellars and caves and the whole rundown of the place. Ended up buying 4 bottles to get 20% off :) The tour was ~$20/person, and for the number of tastings we ended up getting, it was well worth the cost.
Lunch stop: V. Sattui Vineyards
Decided to do V. Sattui for lunch after reading about their deli/[mini]marketplace, which is great! It was raining out so we ended up eating in the wine cellar instead of the picnic tables outside. Bummer, but still kind of cool. Great sandwiches, selection of cheeses, and Napa Valley novelties. I also love their wine selections, but unfortunately I was pretty dismayed by the service we got. Some of their employees need to take a chill pill. See my Yelp review for the full story, since this is supposed to be the 'whirlwind' recap :)
Luna Vineyards:
This place is for you if you like really deep, robust, intense reds. I don't really, but the boy does, so alas we went. They have a small yet pricey selection, and there aren't too many people going in and out of here. We didn't stay too long, but I have to say they have some pretty respectable service. We let the server know we were there with a mission to get a bottle of something nice, and she generously gave us a complimentary reserve tasting of a flight of 5.
Hog Island Oyster Co.:
Made a pit stop on the way back down at Hog Island in downtown Napa on Main St. We had wanted to go to the oyster farm that they have in SF, but there wasn't enough time in the trip for that, so I decided I had to at least stop in at here and satisfy my desire for a big platter of raw oysters. Really fresh stuff, and I didn't get sick afterward so that's an A+ my book for any place involving oysters.
Back in Cupertino:
Potsticker King
Got some snacks pre dinner. Nothing special, but a fun stop anyway. The scallion pancakes are delish, potstickers are meh (which is ridiculous for a place called Potsticker King but whatev), and the tofu was prettty tasty but I love tofu so I may be biased. BBQ short ribs were alright - good flavor but pretty dry.
Beard Papa's:
Have been meaning to try this place for forever. Verdict: eh. I like normal cream puffs. The ones at Vons/Safeway are amazing. So are the ones in the frozen section at Costco. Interesting concept though. Tried the vanilla and the coffee.
Seafood Feast + Southland Flavor Cafe (the english name sounds so weird) takeout:
Yum 2.99/lb crabs at 99 Ranch; God Bless asian people. And some jah jan mien, xiao long bao and pig ears. Delish. Oh, and Taiwan beer <3
And that's all! Well, that wasn't all, at all, but that's all I stopped in the middle of hoarking to take pictures of. :)
-fatty monkey out
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