Marinus

First bite

Marinus located at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley is often considered the pinnacle of Carmel dining. I have been wanting to come to the restaurant and the lodge for quite a while, but it's not dog friendly. But leaving Shaddy at my parents for one night allowed us for a quick visit. Luckily, we'd arrive just one day after the restaurant had returned from a three week winter hiatus. We didn't even look at the menu and knew we were going all in with the chef's six course tasting complete with wine pairing for two, which we later decided was a bad idea. The dining room is small with about twenty tables, about which only a third were filled. We were seated as requested, in the corner of the room with booth like seating. It gave us a full view of the entire dining room and allowed us to take pictures in peace without bothering nearby patrons. Our first bite was a gruyere cheese puff, similar idea to the ones found at TFL, only differing in that they sucked. We didn't put much thought into how difficult it was to make these awesome, but our attention was quickly diverted by the following items.

Brioche and Wheat roll

The bread service was diligent and unique in that only about a dozen fresh rolls filled a basket, lined with fresh rosemary. There were two options, a wheat roll and a brioche. The brioche was extremely buttery and addictive, and the wheat was very tasty, bursting with wheat flavor. We appreciated the good bread and consumed a lot of it, as we tried to keep pace with our pairings throughout the evening.

We were started with a glass of 2007 Blanc de Blanc's from Schramsberg Vineyard in the Napa Valley. We're still wine rookies, so we tend to enjoy the lighter whites first, and this was no different.

Amuse Bouche

The accompanying amuse bouche was a minced smoked salmon concoction that mixed with a little cream and celery tasted like a crab louis salad, a clean fresh start.

Hiramasa sashimi, piment d'espelette, yuzu vinagarette, herb puree

Our first course was Hiramasa sashimi, served with a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Bernardus' Griva Vineyard. I wasn't extremely impressed by this first course. The fish was undoubtedly fresh, with a surprising bite to the texture, but both sauces killed the flavor of the sashimi. But even on its own, the over peppering of the fish, really distracted from the product. 

Dayboat Scallops with celery root puree, braised leek, and black winter truffle

The second course, which later proved to be Chu-Toro's favorite, was a dayboat scallop. The interesting twist was that the scallop was sliced horizontally in thirds with a thin black truffle in between each layer. The scallop was cooked as well as could be expected since it was later cut into thirds, which wasn't my preference but a original dish in our book. The truffle itself wasn't overpowering to the sweetness of the scallop, although pretty much everything else on dish did. The celery root puree and braised leek overpowered the natural scallop flavors, but as a whole, everything on the plate tasted good. It was paired with a 2008 Ingrid's Vineyard Chardonnay from Bernardus winery in Carmel Valley.

Sonoma Duck with Carnaroli Risotto, Chanterelle fois gras sauce

Although we always say we don't have any dietary restrictions or allergies, which we don't, Chu-Toro does not eat rabbit. She still has rabbits at her parents and can't ever imagine eating one, so the chef offered duck to her instead. The first bite I had of the duck was so-so, maybe simply overpowered by the risotto which I found a tad salty. But the bite I had of the duck on its own was excellent. There was a layer of fat and crispy duck skin that made the bite I had superb. Chu-Toro definitely enjoyed it as well, especially the risotto which she really liked. 

Rabbit from four story hill farms, carnaroli risotto, chaterelle, sauce fois gras

I've only had rabbit once before in Italy because Chu-Toro hates to see it on the table. But the combination of a couple glasses of wine, made her forget to guilt me away from it. The dish featured two parts, the loin and the leg. Both were amazing, juicy and melt in your mouth delicate. The loin was extremely tender and moist, perfectly seasoned and went well with the risotto (which was one level too salty). The second preparation was braised leg, which was also melt in your mouth delicious. The courses were paired with a 2008 Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir from Bernardus Winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Colorado Lamb, oak grilled, roasted cipollini, pomme ancienne, bernaise

We were already getting stuffed, probably from bread and wine by the time the last savory course arrived, we were overwhelmed by the size. The large cut of lamb was perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. We actually switched plates since mine was a little less gamey than Chu-Toro's cut. I actually prefer that anyways, and the juicy lamb was one of the best pieces I've ever had. It was just so juicy and tasty that I ended up finishing half of Chu-Toro's also. This was one of those dishes that chef Cal Stamenov let the product stand on its own and cooked it perfectly. The roasted cipollini and crisp pomme ancienne were great accompaniments but I didn't need or use the bernaise. This course was paired with a 2003 Bernardus Winery Marinus from Carmel Valley Estate.

Artisan cheeses (left to right) ossau-iraty, epoisses, blue d'auvergne

We were both stuffed by this point, so we really only took a bite of each cheese offering. The presentation itself was gorgeous, probably one of the most precise cheese plates I've ever been offered. It didn't beat the stinson cheesecake from Meadowwood as my favorite cheese course, but the selction and presentation will remain memorable. 
The cheese I liked the most was the soft epoisses, mainly because it was paired with the best honey I've ever had in my life. I didn't know honey was supposed to taste like that, and it was a perfect balance to that cheese. The apples were also a good pairing to the blue cheese. I appreciated the small pairings that went along with each cheese. A 2007 Castelli Knight Ranch Syrah from Wind Gap in the Russian River Valley moved us from really drunk to super drunk.

Intermezzo - Kiwi Sorbet with almond crumble

Although this was just a quick pallet cleanser, this was the best kiwi sorbet I've ever had, simply awesome.

Yuzu Citrus Parfait, green tea biscuit, blood orange, forbidden rice pudding, mango sorbet

The dessert course was all over the place, and although there was some really awesome components, the mango sorbet and yuzu, the dish as a whole just didn't blend together. It was served with a 2008 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Bernardus' Griva Vineyard. I ended up downing both of these sweet apricot port like dessert wines.

Petite Fours

We couldn't eat anymore and our heads were pounding from all the wine, so we simply asked for the petite fours to go. They looked cute the next morning.


All of our meals in the Carmel area to this point had been good at best. But Marinus did actually live up to the hype as the best place in the area. There's debate between here and L'Auberge Carmel, but until I do the comparison myself, chef Cal's fine dining gem wins. We are the most critical of protein courses and tend to appreciate fresh organic products cooked to perfection with minimal sauces. Marinus was able to accomplish that and provided really down to Earth, attentive service. I didn't even mention that our sommelier was really nice, providing refills to our wines whenever he spotted an empty glass. It probably helped he was drinking with another table who graciously shared their bottles with a lucky few servers. The ambiance is nice with a huge fire in the front of the dining room. Although we were definitely the youngest people there and feared for a snooty attitude, our server Mike made the evening comfortable throughout. By the time we attempted to stumble back to our rooms, our leftovers were in a box waiting at the door, with a sealed envelope with our menus, titled Mr. and Mrs. Law's tasting menu, a classy touch. If you're looking for a special meal in Carmel Valley, make sure you check out Marinus.


Rating 8/10
January 21, 2011

Crystal Fish Sushi

Monterey, CA

It's hard to trust Yelp reviews on freshness of sushi since people's opinion on the matter varies so much. Since we're self proclaimed sushi snobs, but have no right to be, this makes a gamble on a sushi restaurant that much more difficult. We could have gone to a pretty safe Californian cuisine place for dinner, but I was really craving sushi. So we figured, we'd drive by the place and see if it was legit. Sometimes when you look at the menu and walk by, you can just tell. Well, it's hard to fault a place that's nearly half full when they open at 5. By 6, every table was filled with a couple parties waiting. So at least we knew it was popular. But what I was really looking for was their specials menu. I get bored of the same salmon/yellowtail/tuna generic items that people eat, making them

Kirin and hot tea

"real" sushi eaters.  Their specials board looked promising for the evening, ocean trout, baby sardine, live Monterey shrimp, and escolar. I guess the thing throwing me off was that everybody's Yelp review mentioned how great their rolls were. A quality sushi place where their rolls are the highlight? Weird. Anyways, we attempted to rummage through the menu, but it was just too big. So like most of our sushi endeavors, we went with the sushi dinner (omakase) that included 12 pieces of nigiri and their special roll for the evening, tontoru roll. We also ordered hot green tea and a Kirin. Good miso soup always seems to start our meal off the right foot and it was no different here. The hot, rich miso was a good indication of things to come. 

12 piece sushi nigiri dinner

One of the first things that delighted me as our sushi dinner arrived was that there was no ebi, ikura or tamego, which are all fine items, but seem like a waste, when you only have 10-12 pieces. The other thing that I was happy about was that many of the specials were on the plate. From back row, left to right, was unagi, uni, crab, ocean trout, tai and blue fin tuna.The front row had albacor, hotate, escolar, sake, hamachi, and big eye tuna. Without going through each one, the highlights were the escolar, trout and surprisingly the unagi. The escolar was smooth and sweet and starting to become one of my favorites. The unagi is usually boring, but this one was really flavor full and memorable. The scallop (fishy) and tai (poorly cut) were the lowlights, but for the most part, all the items were fresh, solid offerings. 

Special Roll

I don't specifically recall what was in this roll, although I'm pretty sure it had soft shell crab in the interior. The whole evening, I faced one specific sushi chef who only made rolls, but he never rushed and put all his effort into precision slicing of everything he did. That, combined with the really great mixture of items made this roll really good. It wasn't over sauced or masked by one overpowering item, it just flowed really well and pleasantly surprised me.

Round 2

My second round of nigiri consisted of all specials, from top to bottom, Chu-Toro, baby tako,  escolar, live Monterey shrimp, and baby sardines. I've tried various types of sardines and decided to give them one more try, but can never find any that I like. Unfortunately, these were no different, tasting slightly bitter. I just have to accept that I don't jive with sardines. The baby tako, although chewy was notably fresh, as were the ami-ebi, which were good. The Chu-Toro, although tender, was not cut correctly, because both pieces had a little cartilage that detracted from its smoothness. 

Shrimp heads

Probably the best part of ordering ami-ebi is getting the deep fried heads, which were really amazing. You can tell the freshness of the shrimp because when you bite into this, its supposed to be really sweet, which it was in this case, a perfect ending.

I'm happy to have learned that the reviews behind this place are correct, Crystal Fish offers fresh fish, good rolls, a friendly staff and fair prices in Monterey. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again unless I needed a sushi fix in Monterey, but if I were a local, I'm sure I'd become a regular. 

Rating 7/10

January 22, 2011

La Bicyclette

Carmel, CA

When we searched for a lunch place in downtown Carmel, we read on Yelp how much people love la Bicyclette. We didn't come on our last visit with BroCo since people mentioned its not a kid friendly place. Probably because the menu varies with only a handful of options and is more catered for adults pallets. During our time there, we didn't see any kids either. We were probably considered the kiddies at the place since we opted to sit in a little covered house in the corner of the restaurant. I thought it seemed more private, but Chu-Toro thought i was being a huge dork. The daily offerings are written up on the blackboard, with about a variety of eight items. They also offer pizzas from a stone oven. We were intrigued by a couple things, and they all happened to be vegetarian. So, unexpectedly, we had a vegetarian lunch, starting with a Moroccan carrot soup. 

Moroccan Carrot Soupe

It was uniquely presented in a copper pot with a ladle and two bowls. The soup itself was rich, creamy and was a sophisticated blend of non overpowering carrot flavor.

Butternut Squash and Ravioli 

Next up was a butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce. Although it looked light, it actually ended up being a very heavy dish. Combined with bits of carrots, radishes, kale, hazelnuts and cheese, the individual items were fresh, but not sure if everything melded together as intended. Overall, an okay offering.

Forest Mushroom Pizza with Truffle oil

The pizza we ordered was also a little different from our normal orders, settling on a forest mushroom pizza with truffle oil. There's a heaviness about truffle oil that makes it the most predominant flavor in any dish. The pizza was decent, but not something I would especially recommend. I would say if you want a pizza, go to a Italian place. The whole French/Italian hybrid just didn't work well for the items we ordered. 

The service was good, and they obviously strive to utilize fresh ingredients, but maybe we just didn't order the best they had to offer. Although, two of the items we had, the soup and the ravioli were both on the fixed menu for dinner. While we sat in a half full restaurant for lunch, the phone was ringing off the hook for dinner reservations, so they must be doing something right here. Maybe its the proteins! I forgot to mention that during this meal I had the most expensive bottle of water in my life, a  $6.75 bottle of sparkling water, about the same price of the soup ($7), which was ridiculous. All in all, next time I'd try somewhere new or go back to Carmel Belle.

Rating 6/10

January 22, 2011

Venus Cafe

Cupertino, CA

One of the best things I learned about dining in Hong Kong last summer was about the lull period between 2-5 where a lot of cafes have a happy hour. There's an official Chinese phrase for this, but it escapes me.  You can usually get a combo meal with an entrée and warm milk tea for just a couple bucks. On our way to Carmel, we stopped off in Cupertino to run some errands and grab a quick bite to eat. I was really craving baked pork chop rice and a milk tea. So we found Venus Cafe on Yelp and decided to give it a try. Upon arrival at 1:00, every table was nearly filled and the dishes on every table were huge. Every table left with a to go box. The regular menu seemed large, but we only took a look at the lunch specials menu, everything for $7.25. An hour later, during happy hour, everything becomes $4.95, a great steal.

Garlic Bread and Tomato soup

Before we even ordered, we were given a cup of tea, slice of garlic bread and bowl of soup, all part of the lunch specials. The soup was surprisingly tasty and sweet, so probably had MSG and the garlic bread, at least soft, fresh and toasted, but nothing we wasted calories on. 

Baked Pork Chop Fried Rice

I went with the baked pork chop fried rice, which was gigantic. It came with two pork chops covered in a Chinese red tomato sauce and cheese. It wasn't the best I ever had, but curbed my craving. The quality isn't anything special but for seven bucks, its a solid, filling meal. 

Portuguese Chicken 

Chu-Toro went with the Portuguese chicken, which also came in a large, filled bowl. It was solid, good flavor, but you have to search for the chicken bits, since most of the item is potatoes and onions. It did come with two large scoops of rice and we ended up packing half of this for home. All in all, it hit the spot and barely dented the wallet. We'll probably try one of the other dozen HK cafes like this in the surrounding areas next time, but we're glad we gave it a try.

Rating 5.5/10

January 21, 2011

Buckhorn Steak & Roadhouse

Winters, CA

One of our favorite local restaurants is Buckhorn Steak & Roadhouse located in Winters. Over the past couple years, the Buckhorn Grill name has been permeating throughout Northern, CA with establishments in San Francisco, Napa and Sacramento, however, the original Buckhorn establishment is the only place with a full steakhouse menu. With a bevy of excellent grilled items and an extremely friendly staff, we've never had a bad meal there. With both of us taking a much needed Friday off, we treated ourselves with a rare Thursday night out. The place was packed at 7:30 and we waited 10 minutes before being seated. The place is great, but its pretty pricey. The good news is, they have daily specials and Thursday's have two perfect ones, a burger and beer (Coors or Bud) for $10 and steak and lobster for $30. Since I grabbed a beer while we waited, I opted for a root beer instead, but a huge burger and drink for ten bucks anywhere is steal, let alone a great place like Buckhorn's. 

Fresh sourdough bread

Once our order was taken, we were served a pipping hot loaf of toasted sourdough bread. Last time we came here with BroCo, he ate probably two loaves of this bread on his own and all the butter. It's really simple and really good. It went especially well with the soup that came with the lobster and steak entrée.

Beef Stew

The soup of the day, beef stew, was heavy and hearty. With large chunks of sirloin, potatoes and carrots, it was an extremely filling starter that was large enough for the two of us. 

Bacon and Cheese Sirloin Burger

Did I mention that this massive burger was only ten bucks. It was topped by bacon, cheese, and crispy roadhouse onions. The large patty had to be at least an inch thick of quality, juicy, flavor-full sirloin. It was an awesome, huge burger. The fries were also really good, crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. I was stuffed by the end of the meal but couldn't stop munching on these addictive potatoes. 

Steak and Lobster

Chu-Toro had the steak and lobster, although probably didn't even dent half of it. The huge sirloin was perfectly cooked medium rare, thick, juicy with a perfect smoky flavor. It's not the most tender or fattiest cut, but Buckhorn's cooks it perfectly and it makes every bite enjoyable. The lobster tail was sweet and delicious, but it was only about a half an inch thick. I'm not sure where the rest of it was. There was so much food anyways, it was a moot point. Not that, I needed something else on the plate to be tasty, but the mashed potatoes were rich, creamy and yummy too. 

When they asked us if we had room for dessert, I laughed. We were both destroyed. Chu-Toro even said she was full after the bread and stew. We were really stuffed and happy. Throughout the meal, the staff was attentive, kind and really down to earth. It's the type of neighborhood feel you'd expect after eating at the same place for years and makes you feel comfortable and welcomed. One of our local faves, and will be back soon.


Rating 8/10
January 20, 2011

Ippuku

Berkeley, CA

Oh Ippuku….I wanted to love you so much. With the glowing reviews from Mr. Bauer, the plug by Queen Alice Walters and the consistent affection provided by yelpers, it couldn’t be a miss, could it? I guess this is one such scenario where poor service really detracts from the enjoyment of the food. We had reservations for 6:30 on a Saturday night with Ghost. Earlier in the day, they called to confirm our reservations and casually mentioned that there were additional reservations at

Japanese table - No Shoes Please

 8:00 at our same table. We tried to make it there earlier as to not feel rushed, but with the combination of heavy fog on the roads and missing the BART, we eventually made it on time exactly at 6:30. The first thing you notice before even walking into the restaurant is the no phone and no photography signs. We tried to respect the rules as best we could by taking only one quick picture of each item discretely waiting for servers to pass us by, and thankfully they turned out pretty good. The décor is dark and simple, a long restaurant with booths along the left wall and traditional Japanese table (where you take off your shoes) along the right wall. The drinks are made in the front corner of the restaurant, with large bottles of sake/shochu hung upside down being dispensed, visually pretty cool. The food is prepared in an exposed kitchen in the back with a bar area where about six patrons can enjoy watching their food cooked.  The small booths are cozy, with a dark wood table, a variety of condiments (Japanese spices) housed in unique bottles and complimentary cabbage as you look over the menus. The cabbage is literally raw cabbage with a dollop of mayonnaise-like dipping sauce with Japanese spices, nothing worth wasting calories on.

Raw Cabbage and Meyer Lemon Chu-Hai ($7)

We started off with the vast alcohol menu, a long list of sake, shochu, and beers. I had previously read about the shochu flight so Ghost and I started with that combined with an Echigo, my favorite Japanese beer. Chu-Toro went with a Meyer lemon shochu with club soda cocktail. Interestingly, the drink came with a half lemon and a small juice squeezer so you can add as little or as much lemon as you like, a unique twist. Our Shochu flights contained three shots from left to right, lightest to strongest. The first was an Imo/sweet potato shochu called Beniazuma. The second, a Kome/short rice called Judai Kutahachi and the third a Awaamor/long rice Yaeyama Seifuku. It was fun to try, but none of them really stood out to me and prefer my overpriced Echigo.

Shochu flight ($12) and Echigo ($9)

The food menu is also pretty large, offering a wide range of items. Before we could really figure out specifically what we wanted, our server came by to remind us that another table was booked at 8 PM. We didn't think much of it, but it became a reoccurring theme the whole evening. Since we already initially felt rushed, we asked for some suggestions and pretty much ordered everything they recommended.

Mekyabetsu (Brussel Sprouts) ($5)

The first dish was Mekyabetsu (brussel sprout) skewers. I thought I had read in a previous review how these were “special” or “unique” these were, but there were simple three halved spouts on two skewers individually topped by the same mayonnaise sauce with the cabbage. Since this sauce was on a lot of items, I’m going to simply refer to it as house sauce.  It was good, but not a $5 item I’d recommend.

Ika Yaki (Whole roasted squid) ($10)

Next up was the whole roasted squid. Chu-Toro and I were first turned to this dish after having it at Uzen, a popular sushi joint at the end of College Ave where Berkeley turns into Oakland. Ever since that amazing offering, we generally order it at any Japanese restaurant that has it, but haven’t found another one to match. Ippuku’s was no different, a perfectly standard offering of the dish. Tender squid, not overcooked, but lacking the smoky flavor I had hoped for, served again with the house sauce.

Omakase Gushi ($14)

The yakatori omakase was up next, offering five different skewers parts of the chicken as selected by the chef. The dish came with (from furthest to closest) wing, gizzard, breast, liver and thigh with leek. I was really hoping for greatness here, but was disappointed. Not sure if it was because by the time I got to each one, they had cooled dramatically. The pace of the food was rapid, literally one dish after another only minutes apart. But the flavors of the yakatori weren't as good as the ones we had at Nombe. 

Bekonmochi (bacon wrapped mochi) ($5)

Bacon wrapped mochi was also a popular talked about item. It was interesting, nothing earth shattering from a flavor profile, it was exactly what it sounds like, bacon wrapped around gelatinous mochi. Cool to say you tried, but not a necessary dish.

Tori Yukka (chicken tartar) with egg ($9)

The one item I was most excited about was the Tori Yukka (chicken tartar) with egg. This dish alone made me understand why people love Ippuku. It was excellent. I’ve never had chicken tartar before mainly due to fear. But we were ensured of the amazing product and a flash boil of the chicken which turns the chicken into sashimi consistency. The flavor of the course was superb. The chicken was soft, sweet, smooth and really flavored well by the slight spiciness, the sesame oil and wonderful egg that brought everything together, a really awesome dish.

Jaga Bata (potatoes) ($5)

I’m not sure what the rage is about Jaga Buta, basically three halved roasted potatoes with clarified butter and house sauce for five bucks. We had it at Sumiya during our last Izakaya meal and although Ippuku’s were much better, still not sure I understand the rage. It’s literally just potatoes and butter.

Hoba Yaki (Duck) ($18)

Another highly recommended dish was the Hoba Yaki (duck), which came out with beautiful presentation atop a small stone pot on a steel grate. The fire below cooked the raw duck that was mixed in by a red miso sauce, pine nuts, enoki mushrooms and scallions. This was Chu-Toro’s favorite dish of the night.

The torrid pace continued throughout the first set of orders and immediately as our last dish came, our server asked if we wanted to order anything else since we only had 40 minutes until 8. Jeeze, the countdown was in full effect, it must have been Mr. Bauer himself requesting that specific table. Nonetheless, we ordered a couple more yakatori despite having a full table of food since we were on the clock. The pork belly, chicken breast with shiso and minced chicken were the next set of recommendations so we went with all of those.

Buta Bara (pork belly) skewers ($8)

I think I've come to the conclusion that pork belly is just not good in this form. You don’t get enough fat and the pork is usually chewy, at least thats the case on the last couple times I’ve gotten this. 

Ume-shiso Maki (chicken breast with shiso leaves) topped by seaweed ($8)

The Ume-shiso (chicken breast was shiso) was good, but mainly because I love shiso since it’s so fresh and flavorful. Chu-Toro complained that the chicken flavor was loss and overpowered by the combination of shiso and seaweed.

Tsukutama (minced chicken) with egg yolk ($7)

The tsukutama (minced chicken) was a single skewer, which I didn’t expect for $7. It came with a large raw egg yolk to coat the chicken meatball. It’s too bad it only came with one piece because it was my favorite yakatori of the evening.  Our server came back one more time and gave us the timer of 20 minutes before we had to leave and asked if we wanted dessert. I still had room for one or two dishes, but opted against dessert since I was still hungry. I asked for the ramen and the grilled rice balls. She replied, ramen is quick, but the rice balls take 20 minutes so we can’t do that one. I was taken back, but that was really the last draw. Seriously? Don’t we all wait 5-10 minutes for our reservations in a really crowded place? It’s not like we had people literally hovering for our table at that moment. 

Ippuku Ramen ($7)

To make things worst, the ramen is probably the worst ramen I’ve had at a Japanese restaurant. I might as well have opened a 25 cent package of Nissn Top Ramen. It was vastly over peppered and the chicken strips tasted like overcooked leftovers from an Albertson’s rotisserie chicken. Not a good note to end on, but we were out of time anyways and the bill was on the table seconds after the ramen arrived.

On top of everything, the bill came out to $160 before tip, a pretty pricy affair for hit and miss izaykaya food and pretty poor rushed service. I would much rather spend that amount at a solid sushi place where I can enjoy my meal. I’m not sure if izaykaya food is just not our thing, or we felt so rushed we couldn’t really enjoy the food, but Ippuku was a disappointment. Sure there was greatness in the chicken tartar and duck, but the yakatori was a roller coaster of highs and lows, the cost was pretty steep for what it is and sadly we won’t be coming back. 

Rating 5.5/10

January 15, 2011


The saving grace to the evening was walking to King Pin Donuts on Durant for a fresh, still warm, chocolate old fashion. Mmmm....
Also there's a place on Shattuck, John's Ice Cream which has $1 scoops with a sugar cone! Makes you want ice cream even in January. 

Bouchon Bakery

Regardless of the time of year, time of day, rain or shine, Bouchon Bakery is packed. We've been here a couple times before and have hit or miss items on every visit. But it's like a tradition to stand in line for breakfast when we stay in Yountville. So on our last day of vaca, Chu-Toro stood in a crowded line as Shaddy and I waited outside. It took probably 20 minutes to get through and we walked back to Bardessono to enjoy our breakfast. Not until we got back to the room did we find our that our ham and cheese croissant was missing. So we packed everything back up, and went to complain. Well apparently, we weren't the only ones getting screwed, because there were two other people that were complaining about the same thing. By the time is was our turn, they had run out of the item. Chu-Toro was livid and the staff wasn't every sympathetic. Anyways, we ended up getting a couple other items to replace it and went back a little upset.

Pecan Sticky Bun

The pecan sticky bun was our first item, sweet and sticky. It would have tasted a lot better if it was warmed, but the pecans were candied and crunchy, making it a nice pasty. 

Seasonal Fruit Crossiant and Breakfast Brioche

Our ham and cheese croissant was replaced by the seasonal fruit croissant and the breakfast brioche. I wasn't a big fan of the apple filling which was too sweet, but the croissant itself was really flaky and yummy. The best item was the breakfast brioche that had apricot bits and pistachios in the light buttery bread. It was really, really good. 

Brioche and Currant Rolls

We took the rolls home for dinner that night and the brioche was awesome. So much butter, how can you not like it? The currant roll was a wheat roll, that was kinda hard even after being in the oven, and the sweetness of the currants didn't really flow well with our meal. 

Citron tart

The citron tart we also took home for dessert that evening and it was a nice pallet cleansing finish to our meal. It was pretty tart with a nice crumble crust.

Shaddy Approved

They have foie gras biscuits for doggies, so Shaddy was happy to receive a few treats. Overall, our items were good, but we were both frustrated by the service, a reoccurring theme at the bakery. I guess until something else opens up, we'll continue going through the pains of waiting in line and hoping whatever we order turns out good.

December 31, 2010

Rating 6/10