Tuesday, November 17, 2015

That cabbage; brunch; pizza…

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Eastside Road, November 16, 2015—
SATURDAY NIGHT, after a wine-and-canapé reception honoring a friend's 80th birthday, we came home to the second half of that stuffed cabbage, which was even better for its day in the icebox.

Sunday we went to see the Globe Theater perform Much Ado About Nothing over in the next county. It was a two o'clock matinee, and lunch before was preferable to dinner after — but, damn, it's Sunday; this is the Napa Valley; every place we were interested in was already booked, and what was left was serving brunch, a meal I never really enjoy.

Oh well. We had Bloody Marys to start, and then eggs: Benedict for the Contessa, corned beef hash and for me. I have to say the food could have been worse: but oh dear was it expensive!

• Meadowood Grill, 900 Meadowood Lane, Saint Helena, California; 707-531-4788
TODAY WE LUNCHED with our new octogenarian and her Brazilian exchange-student "daughter" from a few decades past, visiting with her daughter from Rio; and we returned for the occasion to another tourist destination hereabouts — one I thought I'd not return to when I last wrote about it. Like much of the Napa Valley, Francis Ford Coppola's obsessively manicured and somewhat self-conscious winery-restaurant-museum makes me uneasy; I feel out of my element and somewhat oppressed by unabashed display of wealth.

But I ordered better this time, choosing a simple pizza named for the director's daughter, the Sofia: simply prosciutto, parmesan shavings, and arugula. Not bad at all, and not expensive, either. That's it you see in the upper right corner of the photo, as I finished it this evening for dinner, along with a slice of my companion's mushroom-and-sausage pizza, some Middleton Ranch lima beans, and sliced tomato.

"Pitagora" (red Rhone-style blend), Francis Ford Coppola Winery, 2012: a bit sweet, fruity, sound, unexceptional
• Rustic, 300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville; 707-857-1400

I've been remiss in not mentioning an occasional dessert we've been enjoying these last few weeks: strawberries from Preston of Dry Creek, simply sliced and sprinkled with a bit of sugar. I used not to like strawberries very much, but the Healdsburg Farm Market has changed my mind over the years…IMG_1970.jpg

Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants

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