Dining in the Wine Country

It’s been too long since I’ve written any posts to the blog. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking, or dining out…. I have been busy, honest! It started out innocently enough…we decided to paint our house. In the process of painting, termite damage was found, house was tented and fumigated, (we had to move out for 3 days) termite damage is being repaired, and you know how one thing leads to another? New paint cries out for a new front door…and then the fence in the breezeway doesn’t look good there anymore…and then we might as well replace our gutters since they are leaking…hmmm, now the brick doesn’t look good with the new door…

We have been dining out and returned to a restaurant in Windsor (near Healdsburg, CA) in Sonoma County, Mirepoix.

This meal was fabulous! It was reasonably priced and the chef’s menu was innovative, well prepared and served with grace and humor. We were there with Bill’s childhood friends from So Cal. The four of us had difficulty choosing which dishes to try. Not one dish was a disappointment and while some were more delicious than others, all of them made us want to return for another meal! The menu merely lists the ingredients for each dish so you have to ask your server to tell you how the ingredients are prepared OR just go for the gusto and be pleasantly surprised!

The restaurant is very small and has only 8 tables so make reservations! Because it’s small, the setting is intimate and we talked with other patrons at nearby tables…we compared what we all ordered and raved in unison. Four-course dinner (you choose what your 4 courses will be) is $55 and there is also a tasting menu for $80.

The photos were taken with our iphones so they aren’t of the "Willie" quality but enough to give you an idea of the beautiful presentations that Matthew Bousquet created. Here is a sampling of what we ordered:



Onion Tart, with Goat Cheese, Bull’s Blood Beets and Caramelized Balsamic sauce that was served deconstructed & deliciously!




Albacore, Fennel, Grapefruit, Arugula, Toast, Olive.





Scallop, Oyster, Cauliflower, Caviar, Chive, Crème Fraiche, Champagne Foam. (photo, right)







Black Cod, Frites, Tarragon, Cashew, Lemon, Celery.







Sweetbreads, Horseradish, Potato and Brussel Sprouts.






Foie Gras, Peach, Prosciutto, Hazelnut, Yogurt, Black Pepper.








Duck, Plum, Edamame, Peanut, Scallion.








Pork, Brown Butter, Mushroom, Lentils, Garlic. This was the dish that was over the top! The Brown Butter was prepared like a Hollandaise. And, of course, we had “over the top” wines out of Bill’s cellar that complimented each dish!

I don't have photos of the following dishes but let your imaginations soar because they were wonderful!
Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, Pistachios and Parmigianino Reggiano.
Beef Tongue, Tomato, Horseradish.

I also went to a potluck picnic with our Friday Wine Group at Mt. Eden Vineyards and decided to take Zov’s Rice and Lentil Pilaf with Caramelized Onions as a side dish to Jeffrey’s Duck Legs Confit. I had 10 left over wild duck legs and decided to share them with this group and Jeffrey offered to “confit” them.

For dessert, I made a 3-layer Orange Cake with Caramel Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and an Orange Crème Anglaise filling. IMO, it looked prettier than it tasted but everyone else raved about it. I didn’t like the cake and thought it was too dry. Others like the crumb texture. It did have caramelized orange syrup that I was to soak the cake in but I thought it might make it too sweet. The reviews of this recipe complained that the cake was too sweet so I cut back on the sugar in the cake and didn’t soak as much of the syrup as the recipe required. The filling and frosting, however, is a killer combination so I just need to find a more moist cake recipe.

I served it with Thomas Kellar’s Vanilla Ice Cream that I flavored with orange zest. It was a big hit too! Well, with 10 egg yolks, 2 cups of cream and 2 cups of whole milk, how can anyone miss?

I am now trying dishes out of the Zuni Café cookbook. Some of the recipes are as detailed as Kellar’s and some of them are so vague that each ingredient is “to taste.”
I did not buy the cookbook but checked it out of the library and do not plan to purchase it because there were very few recipes that I want to try. I think I know what I want to prepare for our dinner. I’m going to try it out this week so I’ll let you know if I liked it or not!

Bon Appétit!