Napa, California: Today was going to be a bit lazy, but with lunch AND dinner. Dave rode his bike (per usual) and I did not walk (not per usual) because it was just too dang cold. (I brought the wrong clothing, foolishly only looking at predicted high temperatures and not the lows… and it is going to begin raining tomorrow for the entire weekend, so we are hitting the highway first thing tomorrow.)
And it was a very lazy day due to the back gate from the RV park being closed due to some-sort of planned police drills (always a good thing for your police to practice stuff), walking into town would require walking on the highway and I said no… so we drove 1/2 mile across the river to downtown Napa, and walked around there for quite a while before heading to Masaharu Morimoto’s new Asia restaurant. He calls it Pan-Asian fusion food. This establishment is a bit more casual than his Morimoto restaurant just down the street from Asia, and we had a very good time and delicious foods - and the Casual Encounter cocktail (cucumber-infused vodka, lemon & ginger liquor) is on the menu at Asia as well.
I cracked up to see the “warriors” are wearing Chef Morimoto’s signature eye glasses.
We wanted to try so many things, but with only two people it is difficult, so we ordered two appetizers and one salad to share.
My goodness did we eat our weight in Karaage chicken in Japan last month. We would grab it from any of the thousands of corner convenience stores in Tokyo to eat in our hotel room after returning from the track meet at 11p. Morimoto’s Karaage is unique from any we have ever had (any where in the world), as it was marinated chicken breast cubes coated in maybe panko or just flour (?), when usually marinated chicken thigh is simply tossed in potato or corn starch and fried. It is usually not served topped with a sauce either. It’s all in the marinade, and the chicken pieces are fried twice. Whatever he did with this, I don’t care because it was delicious… but I still will make it at home with chicken thighs.
Peking Duck Tacos were next, served in a fried wonton wrapper. Very clever. The shredded Peking Duck was garnished with what usually comes with an order of Peking Duck - green onion and hoisin sauce. Hard to see from the photo, but they were very small - like four bites - but four bites of perfection. Now how can I serve this as a one-bite canapé?
Wow, with this salad refreshing. It was barely spicy, but the quality of the cucumbers was outstanding. Just so crunchy, you know they were dressed just before heading out to our table. And how about that beautiful bowl? Dang, it would not fit in my purse!
After our lunch, we walked around the river front for a few minutes, watched the Venetian-style gondoliers pushing tourists in the water, bought a few postcards, and then went to a grocer to stock-up on food for the next few days. World Series games and Duck football will be controlling our weekend travel schedule.
One of Dave’s favorite restaurant in the Napa Valley is Bistro Jeanty, a very popular French place in Yountville. We had an early dinner reservations and the owner met us like we were old friends, yet we have only been once since COVID. Obviously we looked like movie stars (or DT was the only man wearing a sports coat - and not wearing a baseball cap) because we were seated directly in front of the fireplace. Boom!
We shared the special appetizer - duck confit and goat cheese rillettes with pickled vegetables.
This was a very nice dish and the second duck we had enjoyed today! Dave had another appetizer for his entree - house-made smoked trout - which did not photograph well, but was lovely. I ordered the sole meunière, which I truly enjoy and order it here often.
The mashed potatoes were very buttery, and you just know we are having some sort of sole spread for our appetizer this weekend.
It’s been a fun and relaxing few days in Napa. Hope we can come back soon. It was convenient to have the RV so I could stock up on a few things and have the fridge to buy cheeses etc. We need to remember many restaurants and venues are not fully open this time of year, except in weekends. Now we know why it is so difficult to get a campsite on a weekend in Napa!
Until my next update from the road, I remain, your Napa correspondent.
Campground Information: Napa Valley Expo RV Park.