Day 7: Monterey

Next stop is Monterey Bay. We didn't stay very long, just enough for a quick stop in Loulou's Griddle in the Middle for my very first Tuna Melt, and I'm hooked! It was delicious, loved the atmosphere as well. After that we went for a little stroll and saw a few seals and cake shops, what more could you want really ?!

Day 6: Los Gatos.

And back in the car it is! Next destination: Los Gatos. 

Now you might be wondering why a french family, on holiday half way across the world for two weeks, travelling across California would decide to stop in Los Gatos of all places. I've got one word for you: Manresa, aka the best restaurant I've ever been to.

Now let me first explain the pictures here, arriving at our destination, we were hungry for some lunch and decided we probably ought to keep it light knowing we were eating in an amazing restaurant that very evening, so that's why we ended up at the Cheesecake factory! I know, I know, we sound very intelligent. But to be fair, we only shared two cheesecakes between four of us, and it was mostly for the experience (and to check if they really wore the uniforms Penny wears in The Big Bang Theory, which they do not... What happened there ?!). To be honest, we weren't a fan of the cheesecakes, but they weren't horrible, and the choices were impressive!

So anyway on to the important stuff: Dinner! 

I decided not to put photos of all the dishes we had, firstly because there were so many different dishes with many different components and I'm lazy, but mostly because I would find that a lack of respect towards the Chef. Instead I'm giving you a little taster of what we had to try to convince you to live the experience yourself. And it really was an experience, not only from the journey the food takes us on, every dish being an absolute sensation, I loved all the new techniques and slight asian inspirations in the meal. But even the service was something special, like a coordinated dance taking place around the tables. Basically I couldn't say enough amazing things about Manresa, if you can, GO! Well done Chef David Kinch, to me you are a genius. 

San Francisco

Day 5 : SF on the dock of the bay.

We went back to San Fransisco since both my mother and my brother had some meetings to go to. My amazingly talented big brother was given a spot in the city to paint and here's what he created: "The American Dream" by Dada. If you like it, might as well check out his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DarryPerierIllustrator/?fref=ts  (shameless promotion there!).

Getting back to food now, we had lunch in a little restaurant that specialises in Grilled Cheese, so obviously I decided to get soup, don't ask me why! It was very nice though, and we went for the classic pink lemonade, home made and delicious.

After a busy day of working and exploring we ended up on the peers for dinner, I had a clear aim to try the famous SF sourdough so we ended up in a crab restaurant, obviously we ate all things crab, except for the classic clam (and crab) chowder...served in sourdough bread! So nice.

The Napa Valley (day 2)

Well I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! It's embarassing really, I started uni last september and I've just been busy, and not really cooking anything spectacular either :p . Anyway, I think for the sake of closure I'm going to try finishing these posts about my trip las summer to California, however I doubt I'll be able to go into much detail, like names of restaurants etc. It's still lovely to look back at thes pictures of the best holiday of my life.

Day 4: Calistoga day 2.

We started out the day with a visit of a vineyard outside Calistoga, unfortunately i'm not old enough to drink in teh US so I was unable to participate in the tasting, but it was still a beautiful property and very interesting to see how they produced wine in America (originally beingfrom Bordeaux in France).

We had lunch in a little town, don't ask me what it was called though... I doremember it being delicious !

We obviously had to drive by the Old Faithful Geyser, and wait 45 minutes to see it, twas quite worth it though, I mean I'm sure there are more impressive ones out there especially in the US, but for my first I thought it was beautiful !

My old time favorite...Frozen yogurt:

Dinner was lovely, we had truffle pizza and iced tea in a cute little garden, aka bliss !

And that was it for day 4, absolutely brilliant day again.

The Napa Valley

So...I'm sorry I haven't written anything since day 2, there was both a lack of internet and then jet lag that got in my way. But let's pick up where we left off shall we ?

Day 3.

Leaving the wonderful San Francisco today, and heading up to Calistoga, a.k.a the Napa Valley. I've heard a lot about this place so I'm very much looking forward to visiting it. Big day, means big breakfast ! I had the pancakes in the Hotel restaurant and they were absolutely fabulous , I just can't get enough of american pancakes ! 

After that we got in our very american car and drove up to the San Francisco Bay bridge, took a few photos, and crossed it.

We also saw a line of food trucks getting ready for lunch, unfortunately it was too early for us to try them out.

We stopped at Saucilito for lunch, it was such a beautiful town. We ate on the terrasse of Le Garage, where I had a ham sandwich ( home-braised ham, avocado, garlic aioli, basically heaven ) and shared some chickpea chips (they reminded me of cecina which is a chickpea crepe I had in Italy a few years ago and was one of the nicest things I have ever eaten ! ) 

We arrived in Calistoga late afternoon, and wondered around our hotel, admiring the beautiful scenery. Being originally from Bordeaux, it was very strange to see vineyards surrounded by pine trees and olive trees, and there was something quite poetic about seeing these fields of green in the middle of dry, almost desert like, hills. 

We stopped for drinks in the garden of a cute little restaurants, and then bought some snacks at the supermarket for dinner. I had my very first beef jerky, flavored with chipotle and honey, and it was very nice. 

San Francisco adventure

Yesterday was San Francisco day 2, and it was "awesome" ( you have to imagine the american accent there ) !

I slept like a baby for 12 hours straight and woke up starving, good thing the first thing we did was head to a diner for a big american breakfast. I had the corned beef hash with two fried eggs and a pancake on the side ( because why not ), and everything was absolutely delicious, the pancake was the fluffiest that I've ever had, the hash was salty, crispy and moist and the eggs were cooked to perfection, all in all an incredible breakfast !

Then we headed to chinatown and looked around the markets, I loved all the fruit and vegetables they had, but I have to admit I wasn't a fan of the dried fish and bird claws, but to each their own. We weren't really hungry after that breakfast, but in the middle of the afternoon we stopped for some tea and ended up trying bubble tea. I didn't really know what I was putting in my rose black tea, but I wasn't a fan of the texture or sickly sweet taste that I ended up with. 

Finally we headed uptown for some nice healthy salad. I had the detox and loved all the textures and flavors that changed with every bite. Plus I tried a passion fruit matte drink...delicious ! It was a lovely dinner with a very nice atmosphere.