It’s Thanksgiving morning here in the US, and Dick and I will be celebrating with a fine feast like every red-blooded American. Since we’re up in Napa Valley celebrating Dick’s birthday, I’ll be spared the cooking and we’ll go out for our feast. Dick will certainly have the traditional turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. I may vary from the traditional script, who knows?
What I do know is that our dinner can’t possible top the “farm to table” dining experience we had at JoLē in Calistoga for Dick’s birthday the other night. Three courses chosen from a list of about a dozen plus dessert, with wine pairings for each course carefully selected by their sommelier. It was divine decadence.
With four courses of wine, thank goodness it wasn’t a bike date. We only had to stumble upstairs to our room.
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- 1st course wines: Lichen Pinot Noir & Pinot Gris for me, Recuerdo Torrontés, an Argentine white wine for him.
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- My 1st course: Kale stew with ham and roasted potatoes. Soul food gone upscale, complete with the pot liquor.
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- His 1st course: Octopus roasted with potatoes and peppers in a hearty Mediterranean style.
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- 2nd course wines: Capture Sauvignon Blanc for me, red wine for him
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- My 2nd course: perfectly grilled scallops with currants and a delicate sauce.
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- His 2nd course: veal schnitzel surprisingly topped with crab meat.
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- 3rd course wines: Six Sigma Ranch Syrah for me, Gevrey Chambertin Bourdeaux for him.
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- My 3rd course: Lamb shanks topped with shaved fennel.
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- His 3rd course: White bean cassoulet topped with a quail egg.
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- Dessert course wines: A deep red port wine for me, a lighter red port for him.
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- Dessert for me: Dulce de Leche cake topped with carmelized marshmallow.
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- Dessert for him: The delightfully light JoLē signature coconut cream pie.
Of course, a meal expertly prepared with quality local ingredients and paired with exceptional wines doesn’t come cheap. It was the most expensive dinner we’ve shared and we aren’t particularly frugal on our weekly bike dates. But why not, birthdays only come once a year and none of us is getting any younger.
What was the best meal you’ve ever shared? What made it exceptional?
Jean
November 29, 2013 at 5:42 pm
Yes, we have cycled locally and on trips to some wonderful meals. Many. After all we’ve lived in Toronto, Vancouver BC and with my background on Chinese cuisine and his mother from southern Germany who baked 8 layer cake tortes (she could make puff pastry from scratch), we do have adventurous palates with expectation of some quality.
In terms of restaurant food, I do tend to lean on seafood dishes and meals on the Northwest coast, where the seafood is large and fresh. In terms of home made meals, he does a great pan seared bison dish with couscous / sautéed fennel bulb or with homemade spaetzle. Bison is decorated with Saskatoon berries cooked lightly in red wine sauce that has bison juice (after marinating meat in maple syrup, soy sauce, water, garlic, onions, etc.)
TinLizzie72
December 1, 2013 at 3:30 pm
That looks amazing! We were in Napa Valley Friday; so close again!
So far I think our best meal has been at Tivoli Gardens’ Nimb Brasserie in Copenhagen. I can’t remember what it was now, but remember that it was delicious, more than 2 courses, and we could watch it start to snow while we ate. Just heavenly!