jessd: The Sonoma Recap

Weekend in the California wine country was not a disappointment. We arrived on Friday afternoon and were whisked off in a sweet Chrysler mini-van for 9pm dinner reservations at El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma that came recommended from a friend's boss. After a fig and cava cocktail we dined on some pretty delicious foods - gnocchi with chanterelles, cured meats with pickled red onions, housemade sauerkraut, etc. Great way to start the weekend, but we were all exhausted from the work week and were cuddled in bed at the Sonoma Creek Inn before midnight. Being the "old lady" of the group, I was really happy with this plan.

The next morning we woke up to a gloomy sky and rain. Not happy news coming from Seattle and its marathon months of bad weather this summer and fall. We grabbed a little breakfast downstairs at the Creekside Cafe and then decided to brave the elements and stick with our original plan - rent bikes and peddle to the wineries around Sonoma. The former Mayor of Sonoma showed up in his Volkswagon bus loaded with six bicycles... he's now the proprietor of Goodtime Tours but was actually Mayor of the town for many years. He was fabulous - got us all suited up with saddle bags in case we wanted to load them up with wine bottles, gave us a great map with suggestions for stops and gave us the fabled history of his VW which he bought new. It now has over 500,000 miles on it.

So off we went in the mist to our first stop which was for a cheese tasting rather than a wine tasting (former Mayor approved cheese!). We got sidelined temporarily with one flat tire, but Mayor Doug showed up in about 4 minutes to pump it up and get us back on our way.

Most of the wineries were mediocre (except KAZ* which I'll get to in a moment) but the food in this town is truly outstanding. Saturday night we, being the responsible drinkers we are, called a cab to drive us to our dinner reservation. Six ladies in a cab is a tight squeeze so my friend Emily & I ended up in the front chatting it up with our friendly driver. He had moved to Sonoma in '79 from New York. He knew nothing about the town but when an old high school girlfriend called him up and said, "Jimmy, you need to head out here to Sonoma when you get off probation" he listened. He said he flew out a few weeks later and since there wasn't much heroin in Sonoma things started to get better for him. Jimmy was an open book apparently. He suggested the scallops at our destination for dinner because they are his wife's favorite, and off we went.

After our day of riding and boozing and making new friends, dinner was at the girl & the fig. It was truly one of the top dining experiences of my life. The food was great, our server (Mary, a woman in her fifties who seriously knew her stuff) was outstanding and the restaurant itself cozy and lively without being loud or
trying too hard. We had some great local wines recommended by Mary while munching on grilled fig & arugula salad (a signature dish), steak tartare, scallops & pork belly, flat iron steak served with truffle mac & cheese, and crispy duck. We finished off with a pear tart & creme fraiche and a panna cotta with huckleberries & pomogranate. There is no doubt, I'm going to dream about this meal.

Much to this old lady's delight, the group concencus was to head back to the hotel for some well deserved sleep. We called a cab for our return trip and, as evidence for how small Sonoma is, Jimmy pulled up about ten minutes later. He was excited to hear about our meal and share some more stories. Then he announced that he wanted to play us a song to end the night. He rustled through his cds, pushed one into the player and turned up the volume. Within three notes I had a smile on my face - it was Neil Young. So Emily and I sang Neil Young in the front seat with Jimmy as we drove the couple miles on a dark road to our hotel.

Sunday we hopped back on the bikes and headed into town for some breakfast at the Sunflower Cafe. Again, delicious but the truly memorable moment had nothing to do with the food. We were sitting outside at a table in the sun waiting for our food when two small kids came out ahead of their parents. There was a huge fountain in the middle of the patio that they immediately gravitated to. I actually hadn't noticed until I heard something fall into the water - the small toddler had somehow managed to fall in within seconds. He was completely submerged and was pulled out by a stranger sitting next to the fountain. If you've heard anything about my experience this summer you can imagine the small panic attack I had at this moment. The mother had just walked outside when the kid got pulled out (she really wasn't far behind him, it just all happened incredibly fast) and tried to calm him down as he cried uncontrollably. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure he'll be staying away from fountains for a while.

We did a little shopping around the square, returned our bikes to Mayor Doug who came to the town square to pick them up and then we headed out into the countryside for some more wine tasting in the minivan. We tracked down KAZ which was an amazing find. Tiny place, super friendly owner, delicious wine and some great photo opps. We decided to purchase a case of wine between the five of us who flew down to California and have it shipped back to Seattle. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one of the two bottles I bought I got to bottle myself right out of the barrel. A trip to wine country doesn't really improve from there.

With a little bit of drama aside (it is six women traveling together after all), the weekend was absolutely perfect. I'm not sure what's next, but that one will be hard to beat.

The full album is still being compiled from all cameras, but in the meantime my pics are here.