I never thought I’d be so happy to hear the foghorn this morning, and see some rain in the forecast for Thursday (come on, you can do it!). It was strange to drive up to Wine Country this past weekend and see the fields look so parched. No green, velvety grasses. But after emailing with a family friend about his current existence in -11 temps, I definitely know where I’d rather be.
My mom and I headed up to sunny St. Helena on Friday afternoon for a fun mother-daughter getaway (I recommend them highly). We checked in at the Wydown Hotel (this cute boutique hotel is the way to go) and my mom says, “It’s time for bubbles!” I am not one to disagree with that statement, ever. We also tried out the new menu at La Condesa (I am going to be very sorry their excellent tortilla soup is so far away), and the next day after a morning walk we had a fantastic brunch at French Blue—it’s literally across the street from the Wydown, too handy. I’ll share a full recap soon!
Wanted to do a quick shout-out to the site Swimmingly, who asked me to contribute to their annual year in food and music. Considering what an amazing year I had of both, it was a fun little piece to write. (You can read posts from all over here.)
This week we have some exciting sneak peeks at some soon-to-open places. I also want to remind you of this post I wrote for 7x7.com on where to go eat for the Lunar New Year, since the two-week celebration (and many special menus!) begin this Friday.
Let’s party. Marcia Gagliardi
I had a taste of the tortilla soup at La Condesa Napa, and now it haunts me. Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Jan 28 2014
