Aadi learned to smell the wine and was happy doing that while we sipped. And we all enjoyed the beautiful landscape from the vantage points to be had from the vineyards. Wineries often have that great blend of rustic and chic, just naturally. After all making wine is an agricultural process, while enjoying it is cultivation of the senses.

The first vineyard we visited was Domaine Drouhin. It was also the most beautiful of the very few places we made it out to. The gardens were lovely, the interiors had beams and you could look upon the metal barrels, and there was a lovely veranda for sipping and taking in the view.

The day we were at Drouhin was so clear you could see both Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson. It was magnificent. But my little quick shot cam couldn’t pick up the mountains. Here is a parting shot of their garden.

On the way down the hill we saw a sign for olive oil tasting, and since many places were about to close we decided to go for it, and came home with a few oils from the Oregon Olive Mill, shown below.

I have done an oil tasting with friends before, but I am always surprised by how spicy the aftertaste, and amazed at the diversity of flavors you can pick up: varying degrees of softness and sharpness, fruitiness and mintiness…very fun.

The next day took us out to Carlton where we made a detour at the local park for Aadi and met some locals who are in the wine biz. It is so interesting to learn of people who love wine so much that they uproot and move to the somewhat lonely and isolated wine countries to pursue their passions.

Our main stop here was the Carlton Winemaker’s Studio where we sampled wines from several wineries who have collaborated on this tasting room. Again, I was struck by the urban feel and vibe in contrast to REALLY small town and backroads feel of the area. These experiences are what make wine country so fun.

Carlton also had a great little lunch place called The Filling Station Deli, with an entire menu of vegetarian sandwiches!

We also went to Lange Estate (sorry no pics). This was a crazy gravel road ride up steep hills, with twists and turns, but worth it as we enjoyed these wines the best and met the friendliest pouring staff. Michael and I tasted separately as Aadi was napping soundly in the car.

Our last vineyard was a crazy trek all the way down to Salem, Oregon: Cristom Vineyards. Another beautiful place and we really loved the Viognier, but we were done with dragging baby to wine tastings!

Since we were headed so far South we decided to take a major detour to Silver Falls State Park up in the Cascade Mountain Range. On the way we saw a honey bee farm just outside of Silverton, OR. Really lovely and unusual sight. Michael immediately pulled over to snap a pic.

We ate a nice lunch in Silverton at the Rolling Hills Cafe.

Again, we found good veggie options as a nice surprise. This seemed like a really cute town that would be worth strolling in but we were in a bit of a hurry to meet up with friends in Portland. So on we headed to Silver Falls State Park.

Aadi’s first little trail walk! These images are all of North Falls. The first is a vantage point a little way up the road where the fall seems dwarfed by tall pines. Then as you get closer you can see a side view, and walk all the way around, behind the falling water where it is cool with that lovely roar of rushing water.

Since we were not prepared for a serious hike we got creative with the photography. I was trying to capture the lovely ferns and the towering height of the pine trees.

Quick note: with baby in tow I had a tough time taking as many photos as usual so I have borrowed from websites, etc, in some cases.

from fenouil website

Day ONE took us to the Pearl District. We had lunch at the NY Times reviewed restaurant Fenouil, recommended by my friends Clare and Justin. Lovely French food with an accommodating staff . Generally Portland is very vegetarian focused, but this IS a french restaurant after all, so they custom made a vegetable plate for me and a fruit plate for Aadi. The restaurant was bright with rustic elements, and very comfortable seating.

posted on flickr

Afterwards we went outside and were met with the unexpected surprise of the Jamison Square Fountain where kids were swimming with delight in the water, which ebbs and flows like the tides. Aadi, of course, ran straight into the water without reservation.

We checked out the boutiques and tea shops in Pearl District as we strolled back towards downtown, with a MAJOR stop at Powell’s Books!! We were in heaven. Aadi had fallen asleep after his heaps of fruit and frolicking in the water, so we could peruse freely while he napped in his stroller.

on powell's website

It definitely feels more like a library with its color-coded numerical index system, multiple rooms and floors, and no frills atmosphere. It is a book heaven with titles you can’t find everywhere, and several locations including one with a sole focus on home and garden that I couldn’t fit into this visit. Another NYC comparison: people in Portland buy more books per capita than in NYC. A good city to host the largest independent bookseller in the world!

Day TWO took us to our first breakfast meal of the trip. I always LOVE breakfast food, and Bijou Cafe was REALLY good.

There is a wait to get in on a Sunday morning, but not too long and well worth it! I had a garden vegetable omelet which had sauteed fennel, cauliflower, carrot, and other veggies in it. Very different. They also added goat cheddar which took the whole thing to a new level.  Aadi once again received a gorgeous pile of locally grown fruit, this time atop Nancy’s Yogurt. Lovely, lovely meal.

from nytimes.com

Bijou is right near the famed Portland Saturday Market (also open Sundays), an outdoor shopping bazaar with interesting arts, handicrafts, and imports. I always find cute jewelry, beachy dresses, indian print spreads, artwork, fudge, jams, handbags. Bring $100 in cash and it will go a long way to getting you souvenirs for everyone on your list. There is also live music and great food.

photo by pie

The other neighborhood we kind of checked out was NW Alberta Street. We ended up there on a fluke, though it was recommended, but I would go back in a second to get a better look. This neighborhood is very funky. Every shop we peeked into had devoted at least some wall space to local artisits’ galleries. Michael bought vegan shoes made of hemp and recycled car tires from Pie Footwear.

photo by tour de crepes

photo by tour de crepes

We then ate across the street at Tour de Crepes. We didn’t know what to think when we ordered at the window of the kitchen, which was an outdoor trailer behind the restaurant!

photo by tour de crepes

The crepes were REALLY good! And the place is VERY kid-friendly to boot.

DAY 3 was a day of friends and family. We met Clare and her son Harrison for a quick tour of the Portland Zoo. Aadi and Harrison bonded over their shared love of trains, as we took the ZOO train. This train gives you a good scenic tour of Portland’s vast forested park area.

Clare suggested lunch at Old Wives Tale Restaurant. This place looks like a basic diner, but it is chock full of vegetarian options and has a playroom for kids. This is my refrain for Portland dining, I know, but hey: “the food was REALLY good.” Here is Harrison and Aadi hangin’ in the playroom.

For dinner we headed back to “the pearl” and had the most wonderful meal at Andina with my cousin and his family. This Peruvian restaurant is SO good, and very veg-friendly. They provide separate menus for vegetarians so that you know you can eat anything on the list!

We sampled a lot of everything. And the kids did so well here too, though not necessarily a top choice for a family meal. Here are the two sweet peas making friends over dinner, in Andina.

This post is the first of the in-store tasting recipes series!

These treats are great easy to make dessert bites that will have gourmet written all over them when you serve them to guests! I picked up all the ingredients at the Eden Gourmet in South Orange. This recipe makes eight dessert bites.

• 1 pkg of 8 Dobla Belgian Chocolate Dessert Cups
• 1 jar ready made vanilla custard filling
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 4 lychee fruits cut in half (fresh or canned)
• Ina Garten’s raspberry sauce (garnish)

Spoon about one tablespoon of vanilla custard into each of the chocolate dessert cups. Gently smooth out the custard into a flat top with the back of a spoon or a knife. Sprinkle a thin layer of finely ground cardamom powder over the top of the custard. Press half a lychee fruit, cut side down into the custards and then spoon a small amount of raspberry sauce to the side to add a spot of color.

Try in furbish over the next week or two to see if you like! So far they have been a HUGE hit!

We actually had fun while Aadi annoyed some of the other visitors by hooting in the photography galleries to hear himself echo while we reviewed the history of printing processes. The architecture and design exhibit looked great but we had to give Aadi a break so headed up to the 6th floor cafe where we feed him berries with cream, drank super dark columbian coffee and split a MOMA sundae made with sorbet, berries, and cheesecake. It was all REALLY tasty. 

And then we found ourselves face to face with a magnificent Picasso and several other masterpieces on the sixth floor. I wanted to cry. Modern art speaks to me in a very visceral way. I felt like our whirlwind dash through the painting and sculpture galleries gave me just what I needed, though I’m not sure just what that is yet. And since Aadi was SO ready to call it a day we had to stop only at those things which really stopped us in our tracks. Here is what really spoke to me:

This piece is “Mlle Pogany” by Constantin Brancusi. They actually had 6 or 7 pieces by Brancusi on display together, but this one I found entrancing. I swung back a second time to look at it again. The simplicity of it is so masterful. And yet there is complexity. Is she prayerful, mournful, enraptured? If you go, look at her from different angles and see what strikes. To me she was simply, sublimely thoughtful.

“Girl Before a Mirror” by Pablo Picasso, 1932. Public faces, private faces. Self-perception. Mortality. I suppose there is a reason why I was riveted by this piece.

This is “The Piano Lesson” by Henri Matisse, 1916. I so adore the work of Matisse. The vibrant and masterful use of color draws me to his painting. But I think the fact that he so often renders interiors is also very interesting to me. I know what I like! This piece is mesmerizing to look at in person.

I think I am seeing a theme as I write this. Each piece shows an introspective figure, perhaps navigating competing emotions and influences in the most internal ways. Hmm. Do I need more time to myself or what?!

What will strike you when you go? A particular color? A mood? A sense of movement or stillness? I do tend to look for themes as I experience life and I invite you to try this way of being on as well.

You’d never know it, but this photo has no meat in it. This is an authentic Philly cheese steak done vegetarian. I loved it! Who said vegetarian food has to be organic, macrobiotic, health food? Gianna’s Grille on 6th Street, right off of South Street does a whole array of vegetarian hoagies and pizzas. Vegan friendly options abound as well. Here’s Michael in Gianna’s.

While on South Street I went to Garland of Letters, a new age bookstore that I can never pass up. I’ve been going there for years and I think it’s kind of an institution on South Street. I picked up the classic, The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer this time.

Across the street from Garland of Letters is a scene more typical of South Street, including the pick up truck with some youngsters from New Jersey cruising the strip:

Driving back to NJ I got some quick shots from the car too. An old Philly neighborhood.

The Ben Franklin bridge. This will always be my favorite bridge. It is so familiar but I always associate it with a certain level of adventure, as I used to drive in with gal pals from high school on Friday nights.

As we walked through the market we began the first of a series of comparisons between NYC and Philly. The Reading Market just seemed so much more “old-fashioned” than the Chelsea Market, which actually feels more like a theme park, if only in comparison. The vendors at Reading are in booth-like set ups in an open space, and their signage is more than retro in many cases. Check out the vibe:

As it turns out, my observations about the two markets have some basis in historical fact. The Reading Terminal Market is actually a historic indoor market established in 1892, while the Chelsea Market is circa 1990, though located in a rehabbed industrial space that was a biscuit and baking company, also built in the 1890′s. The Reading Terminal Market is run by a nonprofit 501c3 established by the Philadelphia City Council, while the Chelsea Market is a commercial enterprise. I do love the Chelsea Market (esp. The Green Table), but there is a special charm to the Reading Market. It feels particularly genuine to me.

While we were there we also picked up some apple quince spread and some lemon honey, both to be enjoyed with good cheeses. Last night we spread the lemon honey on some nice Manchego we bought at the market too and it was simple but GOOD.  

We also treated ourselves to one of my favorite desserts with the Old City coffee: dark chocolate covered pretzels!

The WINE! Michael and I spent two days in wine country, one day in Napa and the next in Sonoma.

NAPA
The first place we went to was Cakebread Cellars. It is a pristine place. Beautiful building and grounds. Good wine too. Especially the whites: Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. While on the wine trails we met some folks who had done a food and wine pairing here and they said it was phenomenal. I trust them because we liked a lot of the same wines, and one of them is a winemaker himself! Do the tour at Cakebread just so you can look at the beams in the ceiling of their storage cellar, amazing architecture that is simultaneously rustic and sophisticated.

The storage cellar at Cakebread

Our second stop was Frog’s Leap Winery. If you only do one tour in Napa make it this one. The wines are made of organic grapes, and the tour makes you feel like you’re a real guest on a lovely family farm.

The garden at Frog’s Leap

They also grow organic vegetables in the garden that they let people on the tours take home with them.

Michael loved the Leapfrogmilch, a Reisling on the drier side, and I absolutely swooned while drinking the new Syrah. I thought it smelled like crème brulee. You get a chance to see the bottling facilities here too, which were the only ones we saw up close.

Bottling facilities at Frog’s Leap

We took a quick stop at St. Supery, actually like a super winery. It felt slightly impersonal and industrial, but they have these displays above the tasting room that include boxes that allow you to smell different things, like fresh mown hay or bell pepper, so that you can test how well your nose picks up specific scents that you might find in wine. But the real reason to go is that they have the absolute best Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tasted. It was like drinking a yummy guava juice drink. I loved it.

Our last vineyard of the day was Robert Sinskey. More beautiful grounds and more wines made of organic grapes. The lovely thing about the tasting here was the food they gave you with the tasting! There was a delicious spring onion soup cup you got with one of the whites, and the best olive tapenade I’ve ever had served with the merlot. Mrs. Sinskey is a chef, quite gifted too from what I can tell.

This is me tipsy by the fish pond at Robert Sinskey:

Our hotel provided a tasting in the evening by Steltzner. The Merlot tasted like pure chocolate.

SONOMA
We headed out to Benziger in the morning where we met up with my brother, Ravi. This is THE tour to do in Sonoma, if you only do one. It is actually a quite informative exploration into biodynamic farming and a chance to check out some real caves.

Here is the garden they grow amid the vines to attract good bugs to eat the bad bugs. Pretty, no?

The guide was truly knowledgeable, and the grounds are astonishingly beautiful.

The tasting room is quite commercial with a sizable shop. The wines weren’t my favorite, but they were good enough and the tour made Benziger well worth the stop.

We wandered into Arrowood a little lost and quickly tasted a number of wines. The place lacked personality and real charm, I thought, but the have a very good Viognier that tastes like honey to me.

Then we found what we were looking for at Imagery. This place shares a drive with Arrowood and is owned by the Benziger family. More lovely gardens. But the key here is some really cool merchandise and a LOT of really good wine. We liked almost everything we tasted quite a lot and I went nuts for these cute polka-dotted flutes they had in a range of colors. We couldn’t leave the place without the white burgundy and the syrah.

Last stop was Roshambo, a vineyard on the Russian River up by Healdsburg. It was quite hip and different from all our other stops. If it weren’t for the sweeping views of the vines and the river, I would have thought the tasting room was some hip spot in Manhattan. The building was very high modern with waved ceiling that mimicked the river outside. They had cool modern water fountain-sculpture walls in the courtyard. The wine was good. And nicely affordable. We highly recommend. We joined the wine club thanks to expert salesmanship of the staff and we will let you know how we like our shipments! Our favorite in the tasting room was the zinfandel.

For our first meal, we lunched at Ti Couz, a quirky crepe and salad place in the Mission. Michael and I were instantly in love with SF food. The crepes were nutty in flavor, and had many options for fillings. I had a savory one with cheese and tomatoes folded inside, AND a sweet one topped with red wine poached pears, chocolate sauce, and gelato. Both were equally delicious! We sat towards the front of the restaurant where the windows were tossed wide open and we could appreciate the sounds of the street and the first of our sun-filled days in the Bay Area (I’m not lying. We had sun every single day. Eat your heart out.). Sheila aptly noted that there is much to be said about eating at a restaurant that specializes in a certain type of food, a kind of guarantee for practiced excellence in that particular food genre. The texture, consistency, flavor, and execution of the crepes at Ti Couz are an amen to that sentiment.

Jordan took us to brunch at Chloe’s in Noe Valley. I love how restaurants in SF trust people to put their own names on the wait lists for tables. We did play by the rules and landed a sidewalk table in a few minutes. More sun and dining al fresco, though I had misplaced my sunglasses. Youch! But the food eased the stinging in my eyes. I forget what I ordered but the taste of the pancakes Jordan and Michael had are forever part of my taste bud memory. Pumpkin spice and maple pecan flavored batters were fried into the yummiest, fluffy yet crispy cakes I’ve ever eaten. You get great bread with jam and butter too, and the coffee is good.

In Santa Cruz we had appetizers with a Beauregard Chardonnay at Carniglia’s on the wharf. The wine smelt like honeysuckle and the crostini toasts with goat cheese and roasted garlic bulb spreads was mellow and delicious. The atmosphere was elegant with fine silver and white tablecloths, just like Grandma Stewart would approve of. And you can’t beat the view of the Pacific.

Back in SF we found ourselves at the Ferry Building on the day of the Farmer’s Market. I insisted to Michael that we would find food for lunch there, and LO, we did! I gobbled up a St. Benoit French style yogurt with honey. It was so very good it seems unfair to call it just yogurt. It was more like yogurt candy and I will long to taste it again until I do. We also had good tamales and samosas to fill our bellies.

Zante’s Pizza and Indian Cuisine was the one meal I wish I’d eaten twice, perhaps because I am obsessed with Indo-fusion food and dream of opening my own restaurant or writing a cookbook in the genre. The Indian pizza was damn good. It combined several of my favorite comfort foods in one great dish! The pizza dough was a standard pizza pie dough, and then it was topped with spicy sauce, North Indian spiced eggplant, spiced spinach, spiced cauliflower, cilantro, and then, mozzarella cheese! Sounds weird but somehow it just worked! I think I wanted to eat it again so I could fully contemplate how it is that all the flavors worked together. I highly recommend the experience.

The next night Sheila and Jordan took us to Burma Superstar, a place with a loyal cult following. This was my first foray into Burmese food and I wasn’t disappointed. I was reminded of Malaysian cuisine except the flavors and forms are much closer to Indian food. We sampled quite a lot of the menu, but what I remember most was the Samusa Soup, a curried soup with pieces of samosa and chickpea dumplings floating in it and the dessert, a chocolate torte topped with ginger ice cream. YUM! The Nan Gyi Dok ordered in a vegetarian version was also good. Drink the ginger beer with your meal for the total experience.

In the Napa Valley we picked up lunch at the Oakville Grocery. This place is totally packed around the lunch hours, but with good reason. They have a plethora of yummy salads, cheeses, breads, and spreads. Our favorite was a roasted corn salad scented with cumin with some sliced fennel strips and other aromatic veggies. The corn was naturally sweet and delicious. The sourdough was great. We had a nice goat cheese with smoked paprika sprinkled on top and a chunk of Emmentaler. We also got this chocolate with candied ginger pieces (yummy) and mission fig spread by the girl & the fig. Both were amazing. We had to search for nice grounds to eat the food at and the lovely folks at Frog’s Leap Winery let us use the staff dining table located under a pergola of wisteria that smelled just like jasmine. So lovely. Don’t tell them we told you about it because they don’t allow picnicking on the grounds.

For dinner in Napa we had reservations at Hurley’s in Yountville. We were exhausted but the prospect of food perked us up–at first. The waiter seemed disappointed that we were 1) vegetarian and 2) too hung over to drink any more wine, but when he checked back in the kitchen several dishes were cooked in vegetarian stock and were entirely veggie or at least easily modified. Michael had a wonderful mushroom risotto and I had a butternut squash ravioli that started out tasting good, but as the meal went along I became curious about what spices and herbs were in the cream sauce. The sliced herb was sage, but it took Michael’s superior taste buds to say, “Something in here is also used in curries.” Then I knew it. “It’s curry powder,” I said unenthusiastically. That did it. I don’t tend to like curry powder because no one who cooks curries would ever use it in an actual curry. Suddenly I wasn’t feeling like finishing my food. Maybe it was the curry powder but more likely it was because the waiter went out of his way to not speak another word to us all night. He just stood over the table until we told him what we wanted for desert, and he placed the bill on our table and walked away with a flourish.

The next day we were in Sonoma Valley and we ate at the Healdsburg Bar and Grill. They have a great outdoor dining space and veggie burgers and portabello mushroom sandwiches. The delicious sandwich buns and fries greatly elevated the standard fare.

Back in SF we had another great pizza pie at the Arizmendi Bakery. It had asiago and fresh spinach on it, and though it was stuff-your-face tasty, Sanjay and I both found that we had a chalky feeling in our mouths after eating the spinach! I think we both felt relieved that we were not the only people on earth to feel uncomfortable after eating fresh spinach. Michael researched the issue, in only the way Michael can, and found that scientists believe that the presence of oxalic acid is what causes some people to feel “chalky mouth” after eating spinach.

In Oakland we had a nice coffee at Gaylord’s and then went across the street for our absolute worst Bay area eating experience at Lotus Thai. It was so bad that I still feel sad thinking about it. It’s food. Shouldn’t people who run a restaurant care more about it? It’s just so SAD.

The next day we went to the Greens Restaurant on the Marina for brunch. Another food experience that leaves me feeling a little sad. This is what we had been waiting for, the famous Greens Restaurant, vegetarian temple and haven. The food was far from bad. It was good, but it wasn’t…revolutionary. Maybe it started the revolution and now everyone has copied them, but it doesn’t seem to be staying ahead of the game. Or maybe it is because we did the Sunday brunch rather than dinner. I did enjoy gazing out at the Golden Gate Bridge while I ate my fruit topped French toast though. Sigh.

Later that night we ate tapas at Ramblas, suggested by Ravi’s girlfriend Abby. It was a spot on choice. The atmosphere was urban and the food was good. Nice Patatas Bravas, which is a prerequisite for any tapas place. The Tortilla Espanola was a very good version of the cold potato omelet you find at most tapas places, but I was especially psyched by all the more unusual and wide ranging vegetarian options on the menu. We had the Potaje, chickpea and spinach soup with Manchego crostini. Very different. A little heavy on smoked paprika in the flavor, but good. We had the delicious Empanadillas de verdura, small empanadas with goat and manchego cheese, spinach, and pine nuts. My favorite was a dish with wide roasted pepper strips stuffed with cheeses. We drank the obligatory pitchers of sangria to go with everything, but it was flavored with vanilla which was a little too overpowering and masked the yummy rose flavor that naturally occurs when you soak the fruit in the liquors.

For our last meal out in SF Michael and I treated ourselves to a wine lunch at Herbivore, vegan mecca. Michael was beside himself. This is his favorite sort of cuisine: healthy, fresh, anything with soba noodles, seitan, tempeh, or tofu. I always kind of miss the gobs of butter and cheese myself. But we had very good food nonetheless accompanied by the Bonny Doon Big House White, a good neutral table wine. Michael got, of course, soba noodles with grilled tofu and vegetables in a wasabi-kicked sauce. I had a Mediterranean wrap with seitan, hummus, and spicy harissa sauce. It was yummy. My favorite part of the meal was the chocolate milkshake I treated myself to for dessert. Made with soy milk and soy ice cream, they also blended up whole chunks of dark chocolate in there. It was dee-lish, as Auntie Rene would say.

And that’s all folks. Stay tuned for more on SF and, of course, the pleasures of home too.