Napa or Bust

I’m behind in recapping our Nor Cal trip.  Friday night we ate dinner with my second cousin, her mom and her daughter, which was a treat since we do not see them too often. 

Third cousins!

We stayed overnight at D’s brother’s place, who graciously let us crash.  Saturday morning we went to see our friends (who are expecting twins!) and had brunch at their house.  After brunch we drove to Napa.  The traffic was pretty bad.  k was just starting to feel queasy when we pulled up to Addendum, where D’s parents were waiting for us. 

Thomas Keller, who runs the ridiculously expensive French Laundry ($270 per person, food only), opened up a more reasonably priced restaurant just down the street called Ad Hoc.  Now reasonable is relative of course, being that Ad Hoc’s dinner menu is around $52 per person.  However, TK is a smart business man and is now making his famous fried chicken available to the masses for $16 per person at Addendum.    

It also came with corn salad and potatoes.  We also tried the barbecue combo (brisket and ribs) but we liked the fried chicken the best.  Crispy and juicy!

For dinner we ate at Bui Café, but I did not take pictures. 

For Sunday breakfast we went to our favorite TK establishment, Bouchon Bakery.

D is serious about his pastries.

Chocolate donut (with Valrhona chocolate pearls, cherry chocolate scone, blueberry danish, pistachio and espresso macaron).  The macarons were for D’s parents, and we only finished half of the scone lest you think we over-ate.  Hehe.

  

The kids actually declared the donut “too sweet” but I loved the semi-sweet chocolate pudding filling inside. The blueberry danish was an all-around winner, though.