Eating in San Francisco - Day Five

Day Five

We got up early and had the breakfast buffet at the hotel. We also made our dinner reservations for that evening for Millenium Restaurant, a highly regarded upscale vegan restaurant (more about that later). We were picked up in front of our hotel by our van tour guide Maria for our Muir Woods and Sonoma Wine Country excursion. Sonoma is a bit more rural and less touristy than Napa so we thought we might like it better. After picking up some other people we headed out over the Golden Gate Bridge, past Sausalito to the Muir Woods National Monument (redwood forest) where we had about an hour and 15 minutes to walk the trails and see the redwood trees. We wanted to walk a longish loop so had to keep up a good pace to get back to the van in time, which we did, but of course there were a few others who were late so we spent another 15 minutes waiting in the van for them.

We then drove to Sonoma, stopping first at the Viansa Winery, not to taste wine but to nibble at their large selection of dips and spreads samples. There is also a nice view out back so we all took pictures. I remembered that my digital camera has a panoramic setting (and a Photo Stitch-ing program on my computer) so I gave that a try (the image is above, the people on the side are a couple from our group). From there we went to the Sonoma Plaza area and split up for a lunch break. A. and I wanted to eat at a Himalayan restaurant called Taste of the Himalayas that also has a location in SF and Berkeley but we didn't know where on the plaza it was (the plaza was quite large and we had a limited amount of time). I had the restaurant's SF phone number so our wonderful tour guide Maria took out her cell phone and called the number, then got the Sonoma number and called them and asked where exactly they were. It's a good thing she did because it ended up that they were down a pedestrian alley and we probably would have missed it. We decided to get the lunch buffet instead of ordering individual dishes from the menu. The food had no labels so we don't really know what we ate, but it was tasty (although not hot enough, temperature-wise I mean). Afterwards we went to the Chocolate Cow for a little cup of gelato which we ate while we walked around the plaza back to the van.

From there we went to the Valley of the Moon Winery where we began our actual wine tasting. We were allowed 4 free tastings each (although I only tried three). I'm not a big wine drinker (I drink about an inch of wine once in a while and generally prefer red wines) so am not a good judge, but I think A. found one that he liked. We weren't buying any wines since the wineries can't ship wine to PA and our trip was right after the airplane's ban on liquids (and it just wasn't worth the effort or expense to ship them back ourselves) but A. did inquire as to availability in PA. There were some wines that were made from grapes on old vines and some from a mix of old and new vine grapes. Right outside the tasting room were some old vines that Maria took us out to and let us sample some of the grapes off the vine.

We then went to a boutique winery tasting room (which was not at a vineyard but in a storefront) in Glen Ellen called Navillus Birney/Audelssa. The manager there, who poured us many, many small glasses of wine, was originally from Pittsburgh and quite a character. The wines there were good (and quite expensive) and there was one particular wine that A. really liked a lot (I can't remember which). BTW, no one was spitting any wine out at any of these places, but not everyone drank their whole tasting portion. I gave mine to A. after taking a few sips most of the time.

Next we went to Cline Vineyards, a bigger winery whose wines we can find more easily back home. They had a lot of wines to taste there also. We then headed back to SF, stopping at a Golden Gate Bridge lookout point to take pictures (the GG Bridge photo I took that is on the Day One blog entry is from that stop).

By the time we got back to our hotel we had just enough time to change our clothes and walk to Millenium. This particular night they were having a prix fixe 5 course Heirloom Tomato dinner. It was our most expensive meal of the trip, but it was definitely an experience! Everything beautifully presented and tasty. I took the menu home with me so I could remember all the details :-) For the first three courses there were no choices.

The first course was Fried Green "Early Girl" Tomatoes & Walla Walla Onions (lavender tartar sauce, tomato green peppercorn-horseradish reduction). A. also chose to have the wine pairings (a 2oz. glass of wine they chose for each course). The wine was a Sauvignon Blanc, Goisot, Saint-Gris, Burgundy, France, 03.

Our next course was Avocado & Jicama Stuffed "Bellstar" Tomato (Crane Melon & cucumber methi salad). The wine pairing was a Riesling, Dr. Loosen, Blue Slate' Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, 05.

The third course was a Chilled Gold "Jubilee" Tomato & Macadamia Nut Puree (Gravenstein apple & pineapple relish). This was kind of like a thick soup and excellent. The wine pairing was a Gewurztaminer, Corazon, Anderson Valley, CA, 02.

For the entree we had a choice of two. A. chose the Brandywine Tomato Napoleon (borage tofu "cheese", roasted sweet corn cream, seared lobster mushrooms, toasted bread crumbs, smoked pimenton-vanilla oil) with a wine pairing of Zinfandel, Quivira, Dry Creek Valley, CA 03. I had the Grilled Zucchini Lasagnette (tomato pasta, radicchio salad, Sicilian green olive vinaigrette, creamy saffron, marinated tomato & Tongue of Fire bean ragu). I did not have the wine pairing, but it would have been Sangiovese, Chance Creek, Redwood Valley, Mendocino, CA 03. We tried each other's entrees but I preferred my own, it was really, really good.

There was also a choice of two for dessert so A. ordered one and I ordered the other and we shared. A. ordered the Son of Black New Zealand Tomato & Peach Crisp (Thai basil ice cream, lemongrass anglaise, candied ginger) with a wine pairing of Late Harvest Chenin Blanc, Domaine Cady, Loire Valley, France, 98. I ordered the Candied Heirloom Tomato & Black Pepper Cheesecake (fig & Copia tomato sauce, balsamic reduction). The wine pairing would have been 10 Year Tawny Port, Smith & Woodhouse, Portugal. Both desserts were very good but I preferred the cheesecake that I had ordered.

We were really, really full! We were a little surprised that we could be that full on a meal of mainly vegetables, but there were 5 courses. A. started to get really sick of wine by the end, between the 20+ wines he had sampled during the day and then the 5 wine pairings (which I did help him with by drinking a few sips of each wine) he thought he couldn't drink one more drop and didn't finish two of the glasses.

We didn't partake of these but they also had a "Build Your Own" Bloody Mary Bar, which we saw as we came in. There was a long table filled with all kinds of different tomatoes and other fixings you could pick out. Also on the menu was a House Infused Tomato, Lemon Thyme & Basil Vodka Martini.

It was definitely our most interesting meal of the trip!