Oakville Grocery (Napa Valley) - with Recipe!

Two separate groups of friends were visiting from out of town, and Napa Valley was definitely on their itinerary. I ended up going to Napa Valley twice in one weekend (a record for me lol) but had two extremely fun but completely different experiences. I am going to spend the next few posts on some of the places we visited since it seems that I haven't written about any places in Napa at all.


On my first trip, we started early in the day and had a full day of wine-tastings booked so we didn't really have time to stop for lunch. We just stopped at Oakville Grocery for some quick bites and we were on our way. Oakville Grocery is a cute little market on the way to many of the popular wineries in Napa Valley. It carries a number of gourmet items and it's a great stop to pick up sandwiches, cheeses, etc. if you want to do a picnic. Even though we know their sandwiches are great, we opted for some salads since we wanted something lighter. I got the chicken salad and it was delicious. The chicken was moist and the sauce was pretty light. It was surprisingly filling and I'm glad I loaded up on protein because we had many wine-tastings ahead of us!

I'm also including a recipe in here (first time on my blog!) that I got from Oakville Grocery (www.oakvillegrocery.com). I wanted to find their chicken salad recipe but it wasn't on their website but I saw this chicken skewer recipe that looked really good so I wanted to share with my readers:

Sesame Chicken Skewers

1 lb. boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 10-12 strips

Marinade
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 lg. Egg, beaten
1 tsp. Chili Paste or Hot Sauce
1 tsp. Salt

Dry Ingredients
1 cup all purpose Flour
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped fine
1/2 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp Paprika
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds
1/4 cup Black Sesame Seeds

Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup Oakville's Apricot Preserves Seasonal Selection
1/3 cup Oakville's Sherry, Garlic & Herb Mustard

Marinate chicken for up to one hour before cooking.

Skewer each piece lengthwise on bamboo skewers.

Roll marinated chicken in dry ingredients and let stand for 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.

Bake on oiled cookie sheets, turning chicken to coat in oil at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Pulse Dipping Sauce ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Serve at room temperature.

Oakville Grocery

7856 St. Helena Hwy
Oakville, CA 94562

(707) 944-8802

Sons & Daughters (San Francisco)

Tucked away on Bush St, Sons & Daughters serves up an inspired menu full of fresh local ingredients. When you walk in, you can see into the small kitchen and the dining room is decorated with classic paintings over the fireplace. Overall it feels very cozy and warm.

When I went (which was a little while back - yes I know I am behind lol!), they offered both a prix-fixe menu, four courses for $48, as well as an a la carte menu. I heard they have changed it to prix-fixe only now at a higher price but the food is still inspiring.

The dinner started off with an amuse bouche of oysters with cucumber water, which was nicely done and very refreshing. I had wanted to try Sons & Daughters because I heard that they had lobster sashimi as an appetizer, but sadly, the night I went they already changed their menu and no longer offered it. Instead, I ordered the seared foie gras since I normally would never give up a chance to eat foie gras! There is a supplemental fee of $5 for the foie, but it was a generaous cut and definitely worth the price.

What was interesting was that for dessert they offered foie gras with apples, lemon verbana, and almonds. I can never say no to foie gras! The concept might have sounded great but the execution was a little lacking. It was basically a chilled foie gras terrine mixed with fruits and nuts. Personally, I'd prefer something that exemplifies the essence of dessert. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the unique concepts but this dish felt more like a heavy appetizer than a nice way to finish off the meal.

Nonetheless, I had a nice meal that didn't break the bank. Even though they have increased their prices, the food is definitely still worth trying out. Be sure to make a reservation though since this restaurant has gained much popularity and is very small. Bon Appetit!

End of El Bulli (elBulli) as we know it...

As I write this, the chefs at El Bulli are busily preparing to serve their last meals ever at the restaurant. With legendary chef Ferran Adrià moving about the kitchen giving instructions, the 45 chefs are turning out dish after dish of wildest culinary imagination. Yes, El Bulli is closing today and it is the end of an era. Widely regarded as the best restaurant in the world, El Bulli has long been the culinary Mecca for foodies, and its chef, Ferran Adrià, has long been considered the father of modern gastronomy and is often compared to Dalí and Picasso. Millions of requests are sent from all over the globe every year for a chance to get one of the 8,000 seatings that the restaurant serves during the 6 months that it is open. And when Ferran Adrià announced that he was closing the restaurant to reopen as a culinary think tank of sorts in 2014, the frenzy hit a fever pitch.

A handful of friends and I have sent in our requests over the years, but none of us have had any luck getting a table. Knowing that the restaurant was closing soon, I sent in my request earlier in the year without too much hope. So when I woke up one Saturday morning to see an email from El Bulli informing me that I have secured a reservation, I was ecstatic! I booked the trip without hesitation and we flew to Spain for an experience of a lifetime.

When our group of 6 arrived at the restaurant, the staff greeted us warmly and offered a tour of the kitchen, where we met Chef Ferran Adrià, who was very friendly and took time out amidst instructing his chefs to chat with us and pose for pictures. Behind us, many chefs (45, we were told) bustled around the kitchen, prepping for an evening of 48 courses. Yes, 48 courses. The staff informed us that we can choose to see the menu of be surprised – we opted to be surprised of course. And thus begin a night of culinary magic. Here are some highlights:

To start our meal, the staff led us outside to the patio, which had a beautiful view of the water, for some cocktails. Of course, even the aperitifs were done Ferran Adrià-style. We began with “pillow like a cocktail,” which is their version of Piña Colada, consisting of rum ice cubes, freeze-dried pineapple chunks, and dippin’ dot-like coconut ice cream encased in cotton candy-like exterior. As we tore off bites and popped them into our mouths, the components melted and the flavors mixed to become a very strong drink!

The next “drink” was called “mojito and apple flute” but it just looked like a sandwich to me. Basically it was a mint mojito slush sandwiched between two baguette-like “bread.” Even though we ate it as if it were a sandwich, the flavors blended together as soon as it hit the tongue and became a mojito.

Just two un-cocktail-like drinks later, I was already starting to feel buzzed. (Yes, I’m a lightweight!) They served another drink called the “gin fizz,” where a swirl of warm foam was piped on top of icy gin slush and lemon zest. The warmness of the foam contrasted well against the icy cold gin and the flavors blended to deliver another scrumptious drink.

Of course you can’t have cocktails without some olives! A plate of “spherical olives” appeared on our table along with a jar filled with more olives. We were told to eat the olives whole and the bubble exploded in the mouth bursting with flavors of olive.

After a few more courses of amuse bouches (although arguably the whole meal felt like a series of amuse-bouches), we were led to our table inside the restaurant, which reminded me of going to someone’s house in the countryside. We were seated at a large table designed for 8, and we lamented the fact that we could have invited 2 more people to enjoy this experience with us! They set two large white orbs on our table for us to share, and as we ooh’ed and aah’ed over it, they cracked the egg-like sphere and shaved what looked like nutmeg onto it. This was the “gorgonzola balloon” and it tasted like a very light version of the cheese and it melted quickly on the tongue.

Hard to believe but we were only on the 9^th course out of a 48-course marathon. It was a wonderful start to an unforgettable experience. Please stay tuned for the next installment of my El Bulli adventure…