I'd been working from my virtual office in St. Helena when my friend Lorraine mentioned she was in San Francisco at a conference. It finished on Friday so I invited her to come for the weekend.
She arrived with fried chicken, ribs, and sides from Ad Hoc, 'cuz that is what friends do, and we had a wonderful lunch on the patio before taking to the pool with Aperol Spritz's.
That evening we walked to Goose & Gander for cocktails and light snacks before Ubering to our late dinner reservations at Press.
I'd been to Press before and it was just as good this time. They have a very unique wine list, so if you like smaller, more obscure Napa producers, this is the place for you! Also the hangar steak was amazing!
The next morning after we walked to Model Bakery for coffee and breakfast, we decided to walk the long way home to see more of charming St. Helena. Unfortunately the long way to a bit longer than planned and we ended up running quite late for our reservations at Schramsberg. We almost missed our tour and tasting which would have been sad and weird as I missed the only other reservation I had at the same winery, 12 years ago during the homeowner's wedding weekend.
But we made it! And we had a great time on the tour and tasting in the cave.
We made an obligatory stop at the famous Napa sign on our way to lunch at Solbar.
I've also been to Solbar multiple times; the food is always solid and it has a can't-be-beat atmosphere on their terrace. We had a very fun lunch.
That evening we walked from the house to Archetype for dinner, another great repeat spot. Chef Reed was in the kitchen and he and the manager Guy recognized me from my lunch and brunch with the girls just months before. Lorraine and I sat at the pass and had a fantastic meal, getting some special treatment from Chef and his bartender Paul.
At the end of the night they finished us off with mini Ramos gin fizzes and warm cookies on the house. Delicious!
Lorraine and I capped her weekend stay the next day with a decadent brunch at the famous Auberge du Soleil. We were seated at a table on the deck with absolutely gorgeous views of the valley.
We had an excellent 3 course meal for $65 and loved that the iPad wine menu had lots of options for wine pours by the ½ and full glass.
I couldn't pass up the seared foie gras with cherries on chocolate pain perdu. Sometimes having no willpower is a good thing!
My duck confit hash with slow-cooked eggs and red wine sauce was also fantastic. And the lemon tart we shared for dessert was sooooo good!
It was a great end to a lovely virtual work week and a fun girl's weekend.
All Napa photos here.
Other posts from this trip:
Virtual Office-Napa
Vineyard Business
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