I Left My Heart in Napa Valley

So, it has been awhile since my last post, and it figures that the most exciting thing in my life, the most interesting thing worth writing about these days -- is food. Maybe I should rename this blog "All Eats Considered," as this seems to be a recurring theme.

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting San Fransisco and Napa Valley. The city was great, but Napa was truly incredible. My brother, his wife and son, my mother and I traveled to Chateau Montelena, Sterling Vineyards and Cakebread Cellars. All were out of this world, but Montelena was really special. The tasting room was sort of hushed and formal, but the staff was friendly, and Tommy poured several good wines in addition to one 1997 Reserve Cabernet that knocked our socks off. Corey (my nephew) got a kick out of the air tram ride at Sterling, and Nate and I broke away from the group for a few minutes to sample some of the premium wine in the reserve room. The Reserve Chardonnay was incredible. We wound down with some very high quality wines at Cakebread, and headed down to Yountville for dinner.

For those who know me well, you know that Yountville is a sort of Mecca for me, as it is home to the French Laundry. It is next to impossible for a normal person (like moi) to get a reservation at the French Laundry, but anyone can walk around it a few (dozen) times to breathe in the atmosphere, free of charge. Right down the street is a little French bistro called Bouchon, which is owned by Thomas Keller, who also owns the French Laundry. I'm convinced that Bouchon is a place for people like me who weren't able to get the highly-coveted FL reservation, but still want to experience Keller's genius. Not surprisingly, dinner at Bouchon was awesome.

The big whopper of the trip, culinarily speaking, was not at Bouchon, but at Manresa in Los Gatos. Holy smokes. My new friend Ya-Roo invited me to take part in a 5 hour, 20 course experience. The only way I can describe this meal is to list the dishes that were presented to us and my basic thoughts on each:

- Radis au beurre (fresh baby radishes, which we rolled in whipped butter and gray sea salt. Tasted like spicy California dirt. Magnificent.)
- Gougeres (fantastic warm little cheese puffs)
- Cioppino jelly (crab, scallops and mussels in light saffron jelly, served in a half shell -- very fresh)
- Corn Croquettes (quite possibly the most delicious/sensuous thing I have ever eaten. These little guys just explode into creamy goodness when you bite into them. I think Chef Kinch must make a corn/cream gelatin which melts when the croquettes are fried so that the warm liquid oozes in your mouth. Amazing.)
- Strawberry with hibiscus and lime (pretty self explanatory -- very good)
- The Egg (Chef Kinch's signature dish -- a strange yet intoxicating combination of barely-cooked egg yolk, whipped egg whites and savory cream, sherry vinegar, chives and maple syrup. This is right up there with the croquettes. Maybe even better, because of its complexity.)
- Broccoli and foie gras royale (who knew that broccoli and foie gras were a perfect combination?)
- Sardines with tomatoes (my least favorite bit of the bunch -- the sardines were too fishy for my taste, but the flavor was balanced nicely by the tomatoes, which were slightly spicy)
- Japanese fluke with olive oil and chives (this was heavenly -- barely visible on the plate, the fluke was sliced so thin and the flavor was heightened by smoky white soy sauce)
- Strawberry gazpacho (again, fairly self explanatory, yet excellent)
- Rouget with couscous (wonderful white fish which I had not tasted previously, with perfectly prepared couscous)
- Abalone with pig's feet (one of the richest dishes on the menu -- delicious, but fortunately small)
- Sweetbreads, braised gem lettuce, corn pudding (for someone who isn't a huge fan of sweetbreads, this was pretty darned good)
- Roast pigeon, raspberries crushed with almond oil (mmm)
- Prime beef roasted in its own fat, garden peas (seared on the outside, barely cooked on the inside - delicious)
- Melon sorbets with yogurt (honestly, I don't even remember this one, but it was surely good)
- Summer fruit crisp, corn ice cream (the corn ice cream was the showstopper of this dish)
- Strawberry soufflé, lemon custard (don't remember this one either)
- Chocolate marquis, condensed milk ice cream (easily a great substitution for getting laid)

Now you can see why this was without a doubt the most incredible dining experience of my life. Thank you, Chef Kinch, and your staff at Manresa.

Best New Restaurant in Maryland

The Westlawn Inn was named the Best New Restaurant in Maryland last night by the state's restaurant association. And rightfully so. Nestled on a small street in the little town of North Beach, the Westlawn Inn is serving cuisine that rivals many of the finest restaurants in Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis.

Last night, while the award was being presented to owner Lee Travers, I was happily enjoying the restaurant's spectacular new Spring menu. Much like every meal I have eaten there in the past, it was superb. The new crab spring rolls were especially tasty, with a brilliant combination of fresh jumbo lump crab, cilantro, grapefruit, mango and toasted pumpkin seeds. The imaginative halibut entree, with white asparagus, fava beans and open ravioli of morel mushrooms was skillfully prepared and absolutely delicious.

It is refreshing to know that the efforts of Lee, chef John and the rest of the staff at the Westlawn Inn are being recognized. The restaurant is a gem which, with the pending development of the North Beach bay front, most certainly has a long and successful future in front of it.

Terribly Overdue Wrap-Up of Asia

I have to apologize to anyone who still happens to be paying attention to this blog -- this wrap-up of my trip to Asia is sorely overdue.

My previous post was written on our last day in Tokyo, with high hopes of more fun things to report after a night on the town. Sure enough, the evening did hold quite a bit of material for this forum.

But I don't remember any of it, so I'll skip to the summary of the entire trip. Overall, Hong Kong was definitely more appealing to me than Tokyo. It seemed much more accessible, both in terms of size and culture, and I just felt more comfortable there than I did in Tokyo. Language was definitely a problem in Japan, and the city itself was so enormous that I never felt part of it. I'm sure the fact that our stay was so brief didn't help.

Bottom line -- I would go back to Hong Kong in a heartbeat. Tokyo, I'm not so sure.

The journey back to the U.S. was uneventful (no running!) and it certainly is nice to be home. If you've never had the opportunity to be on the other side of the world, let me be the first to tell you that when you are, it FEELS like you're on the other side of the world. And it makes coming home that much sweeter.

Happy Buns

Hi, everyone. Greetings from Tokyo.

You might think that the subject line is referring to some sort of Japanese food, particularly given the focus of my previous posts. But this time, it's not food I'm focusing on. Oh, no. I'm talking about the greatest invention mankind has ever produced. The thing I will miss most when I return home. I'm talking about heated toilet seats.

That's right! I have happy buns because they're always WARM!

The first time I encountered this ingenious invention was in the Japan Airlines business lounge at the airport. I thought it was just a nice touch for weary travelers. But they're everywhere! My hotel room even has one. There's a bunch of other stuff built into it (it's called a "Shower Toilet") that I haven't used yet, but the bun warmer is all the technology I need. I love Japan.

We've been in meetings the whole time, so we haven't been out on the town except for dinner last night (which was 14 courses -- all very authentic Japanese food, including "sea foie gras" or fish liver). I'm looking forward to getting out this afternoon/evening to see the city and hopefully get material for a few more good stories before we leave. I really want to be able to tell my friend Michi what I think of her home country beyond just giving restaurant commentary. :)

More to follow, hopefully in a few hours!

Lori

Now in Tokyo - Much to Report!

Hey, everybody. We are now in Tokyo, comfortably ensconced in what has got to be the most unbelievable hotel in the world. If I haven't mentioned it before, the Park Hyatt Tokyo is where the movie Lost in Translation was filmed. It is without a doubt the most incredible room I have ever seen. The view of Tokyo is absolutely breathtaking, and the room itself is simple, but very elegant.

WARNING -- most of the remaining thoughts on this blog are about food. So, if you're not interested in the culinary landscape of Hong Kong, you might as well save yourself some time and stop reading now.

Okay. The past few nights in Hong Kong were memorable, to put it mildly. We had dinner on Friday night at a Chinese restaurant that seemed to be a favorite of the locals. The food was great, but the atmosphere was what really made the place special. Hong Kong residents of all kinds were around us -- even the owner himself, whom we had the pleasure of meeting. I think we were the only foreigners in the place. Some of the stuff was a little weird (ie. the thousand year old eggs) but the meal overall was definitely one to remember. Any objection I have had to duck in the past has been obliterated by the duck we had a this place. MMMMM!!!

For those of you keeping score, we had a fairly mediocre meal at an Italian place our first night in Hong Kong. We took another shot at Italian fare at a restaurant called Va Bene, and I can say without hesitation that it was the BEST Italian meal I have had in my life. Perhaps one of the best meals period. Outstanding antipasti, great salad and a pasta/ravioli dish that I cannot even begin to describe except to say that it had beef inside and shavings of black truffle on top (!!!). It was so good that we felt compelled to compliment the chef in person -- and after a few glasses of wine (Antinori Tignanello -- oh yeah!), those of you who know me well KNOW that I just HAD to give him the double-cheek kiss. I didn't hear him say it, but apparently he said to someone else in our group that I could move into his kitchen if I wanted to. How sweet. :) I found out later that this guy has three Michelin stars to his name, so he's certainly no slouch.

Va Bene is in the expat district of Hong Kong, which also is home to a slew of great bars. So, after dinner, we went clubbing and met a bunch of great people, including two pilots (father and son) from Cathay Pacific and a VP at Credit Suisse in Switzerland. Oh, and a Chinese Elvis.

The following night, our last night in Hong Kong, we had dinner at Petrus, a French place that just happened to be in our hotel. Yet another great meal prepared by another great chef. We didn't get to meet the chef at Petrus, but the food was incredible and the service was top-notch. Had the weather been better, the view of Hong Kong would have been out of this world.

So, that's the wrap-up of our Hong Kong trip. I cannot wait to go back. It is a wonderful city full of wonderful people and great things to do. Definitely on my list of favorite cities.

Now we are in Tokyo. As I mentioned, the hotel is spectacular and I can't wait to see the rest of the city. We have meetings for the next two days, and then we leave, so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to see. But it's great being here all the same.

I miss everyone like crazy, and hope you are hanging in there. I heard the weather is getting bad again, so I hope you all are safe.

Take care, and hopefully there will be more to report tomorrow!

Lori

Meeting, Eating, Meeting and Eating Meat

Greetings from foggy Hong Kong!

Our two-day meeting just ended, so the next few will hopefully provide much more interesting material to write about.

Thank you to those who have written to harrass me about the jacket I bargained for the other day. But you can't have it. It's mine. Besides, you may not want it. I wore it last night to dinner and three of the buttons popped off at various points throughout the evening. You can imagine how great I felt in my cheap alley market jacket and air freshener perfume. :)

The people we have met so far on this trip have been amazing. I now have friends in Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore and here in HK. Everyone is very serious about the work we're doing, but also very willing to let loose and have fun. We had dinner last night at a restaurant on Repulse Bay. We ordered a bunch of Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food and everyone had a little bit of everything. Actually, more than a little bit. We've been eating a LOT during this trip. But, thankfully, we have also been laughing a lot and having great fun. This is a truly incredible group of people and I hope we will be able to come back and see them soon.

The view from my 50th floor hotel room is of the Peak, one of Hong Kong's most famous features. It's been pretty foggy the past few days, so I can't see the top of the Peak, but there are a bunch of buildings between our hotel and the mountain that light up beautifully at night. I hope the fog lifts before we leave so I can get the full impact of this view. I can't get a good photo of the view, but I did take one of the room and a few more from our adventures so far. As soon as I can figure out how to post them on this blog, I will.

That's all for now. Hope you all are doing well! I miss you!

Lori

Paying $35 for a $699 Jacket Makes Life Worth Living

Hey!

Just capped off a great day (including a successful shopping trip) with a fantastic dinner in the company of extremely interesting people. Not a bad day at all!

Today, I learned that negotiating is FUN! There is an incredible array of clothing, handbags and accessories for sale in various alleyways in Central Hong Kong, and the prices are all negotiable. I selected a beautiful embroidered jacket, original price $699 HK (about $100 US), and bargained the price down to $300 HK (appx. $35 US). How awesome is that??? I hope we get the chance to go back, because there is more to be done! Needless to say, bargaining is not welcome at Chanel, so I didn't spend any of my money there.

The only legitimate thing I purchased today, a bottle of sensational perfume from a great store called Shanghai Tang (www.shanghaitang.com), turned out to be "home fragrance," not perfume. Guess I didn't look carefully enough at the box. Or the bottle. Or the sign with the product description and price on it. But I've gotten a lot of compliments on the scent, so at least for me, it's a perfume. :)

Our serious meeting schedule starts tomorrow, but I hope to still have fun things to report. Stay tuned!

Lori

Snowman Bowties, Bill Clinton and Italian Food in Asia

Hey, everybody. Thank you for the comments and emails about the blog. Glad to know it's being read!

Today was an interesting day. We had meetings throughout, beginning at 7:30 a.m., including one with a former Financial Times writer (now PR exec) who was incredibly intelligent and extremely likable. He invited us to a private party at the the horse track and he wore a snowman bowtie. How fun is that???

We had a wonderful dim sum lunch (dumplings for breakfast and lunch, Mark!), finished our meetings and took a much-needed nap in the late afternoon. Met the group for dinner at a little Italian place in the mall in the lower levels of our hotel. When I say mall, ladies, I'm talking Louis Vuitton, Chloe, Celine, Bulgari, and everything else you can buy only in your dreams. And, the bookstore had Bill Clinton. The real guy! I'm not a Bill Clinton fan, but I was still excited that he was here signing his book. Didn't get the chance to hop in line for my own copy, but it was neat nonetheless. Not sure if he's staying in the hotel, but I have NO desire to find out. :)

Luggage update -- still don't have it, but it's supposed to be arriving in the next few hours. Fingers crossed!

We're going to have an opportunity to do some shopping tomorrow (the bargains here are SUPER), so if the luggage doesn't show up, I have an excuse to buy some new clothes! Yippee!

That's really all for today. Hong Kong is a cool city and the people are really nice. The weather is a bit chilly and dreary, but otherwise everything is great. I'm sure well have some fun tomorrow, with lots of stories to tell.

Keep in touch, everybody!

XOXO,
Lori

It Feels So Good to Be Out of an Airplane

Hi, everybody!

It takes a really, really long time to get to Asia. At least the way we did it. Nearly 30 hours door to door. But we're here!

The first indication that the trip might prove difficult was during our check-in at BWI. The ticket agent looked at our itinerary, scowled and told us we had an "illegal connection" from LA to Japan. She could override the system and allow us to go through, but she couldn't guarantee that we would make the flight out of LA. And she certainly couldn't promise that our bags would make it to Hong Kong. We were SO happy to know there would be an adventure waiting for us in LA.

The flight was fine. We were expecting to land about an hour and fifteen minutes before our flight to Japan departed. Which would have been cutting it close, but we had prepared ourselves for the possibility after our discussing with Grouchy Ticket Agent. Well, the plane ran behind schedule and we were circling LAX 50 minutes before our connecting flight was supposed to take off. Once that sucker pulled in to the gate, we took off. If you've never done it before, you should really try sitting still on a plane for 5 hours, then immediately switch to running at top speed with 50 pounds of various carry-on baggage, two untied shoes and a boss who's yelling at you because you run like a girl. Ok, well, actually Peter didn't see me running, but he would have yelled at me if he had. It was pathetic.

We did make the connection, thanks to the kind people at Japan Airlines. We made such good time that we were the first people to board the plane. Once we were settled in our seats, some other kind people from Japan Airlines started feeding us and pouring us drinks. I love Japan Airlines. The food was outstanding (Western and Japanese), the selection of wine was impressive and the service was better than any I've ever experienced on an airplane. We had our own little TVs and a selection of movies to watch and music to listen to. And they have shopping! You can order an Hermes scarf or a Cartier ring and they will bring it to you RIGHT THERE. I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to know I had the option.

After an 11+ hour flight, we had another close call at the airport in Tokyo. But we made it, thanks to a bit of American pushiness and a special line for business class travelers. This was the most challenging part of the trip, as our body clocks were really screwed up and we were absolutely sick of being cooped up on an airplane. And the only available movie on the flight was Taxi, with Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah. Not a good movie to begin with, but even worse the second time around, immediately after we had watched it for the first time on the aforementioned 11+ hour flight.

All of the running and stressing and heavy bags and dumb movies were worth it when we arrived in Hong Kong. We were greeted by a Rolls Royce from our hotel, and whisked through the city. It was so nice to be on the ground with an end in sight that we didn't even care too much that our luggage didn't make it.

There was a team of people to welcome us when we arrived at the Island Shangri-La. Everyone was very helpful and happy to be greeting two tired and grouchy Americans at 1:00 in the morning. Everyone has been so cheerful and accomodating on this trip -- Americans could definitely learn a thing or two from our Asian friends about good customer service.

So, I'm here in Hong Kong. It's 5:30 a.m. and I'm pretty much done with sleeping for now. We have a few meetings today, and I'm really excited to get out and see the city.

I hope this entry is at least partially coherent. Thank you for reading it, and hopefully there are a lot more to come!

Lori

Well, Here I Am

My brother will say it's about time.

The rest of my family won't care, but that's okay.

At least one person is sufficiently interested in what I have to say -- so Nate, this Blog's for you.