Sunday, February 3, 2008

Out to lunch

We went out to lunch with our gourmande club yesterday. We drove 2 hours in the rain to get to the beautiful Napa Valley where we had reservations here:




First we ordered temptations. I could make a meal of these bites. They are sooooo good.


I always go for the soup first. It was cold and wet outside and this cream of cauliflower soup was nice and warm.


Then we tasted this mushroom pate on corn chips. Just your basic Super Bowl snack. Riiiiight.


These beef short ribs were prepared to melt-in-your-mouth perfection



I love calamari. This had a spicy sauce. Although it looks like it, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Velveeta.

This is endive with a dab of catfish/potato souffle topped with caviar. Oh my, scrummy!

Then we moved on to the starters.



The Lord of the Manor ordered this starter. I think this was the only disappointing dish. It was French Onion Soup topped with a Gruyere cheese souffle. I think we prefer the simpler version without the souffle topping.

I had the butternut squash soup with pumpkin seed and roasted poblano salsa. I think this was the best starter on the table although Kim's organic apple salad was pretty good too. (We always share tastes.)



Here's my entree; Caraway Crusted Pork Shank with sauerkraut and sage spatzle. It was quite good, but LOM says his hanger steak was better.



And then we moved on to the best part: dessert. This is poached pear with madeleine and creme fraiche sorbet. Notice all the forks trying to get in there?


And this is molten lava cake with vanilla bean ice cream. I could have eaten that all by myself. Heaven on a plate!

We also had the classic creme brulee. One can never go wrong ordering this. What a sweet ending to a perfect meal.


6 comments:

  1. Wow Laura - cerainly worth 2 hrs. in rain for a spread like that! I love cauliflower soup - will be making some later today.
    Glad you indulged and enjoyed dessert too!

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  2. What a gorgeous lunch! Simply a wonderful meal -- true food porn for we foodie types here at Rosemary Cottage! Sorry to hear about LOM's shoulder woes -- hope he gets it fixed very soon so you both can be out-and-about at such lovely lunch spots!

    Jan at Rosemary Cottage

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  3. Yummy, how long were you there. What fun. Hope, LOM's shoulder will get fixed soon. My hubby has the same whoo, same reasons, he is a cabinet maker & has lifted up more heavy things than I care to think about. The other day he went to tie his shoe & yelled out in pain. So, it comes & goes at this point. But, simple little movements done wrong will make him yell. amy

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  4. Yummy, how long were you there. What fun. Hope, LOM's shoulder will get fixed soon. My hubby has the same whoo, same reasons, he is a cabinet maker & has lifted up more heavy things than I care to think about. The other day he went to tie his shoe & yelled out in pain. So, it comes & goes at this point. But, simple little movements done wrong will make him yell. amy

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  5. Hi Laura,
    I've missed a few of your posts and am just now catching up, so...

    Good luck to your husband on his surgery (and to you, too!)

    Congratulations to your daughter on her award!

    LOOOOOVE those dishes!

    and I just gained five lbs. reading about your dinner! :)
    xoxo,
    Mary

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  6. Laura..... Laura!!!!! please... please please...... i want to eat your pictures please.....

    on our honeymoon my husband took me to Auberge De Soleil at Napa.

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