Maya Restaurant - Sonoma: A Mayan "Mexican food" experience

The place:  Maya Restaurant

Website:  http://www.mayarestaurant.com/


Lunch- December 2^nd , 2011

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A discovery that we made in one of the guidebooks (I’ll be putting together a blog in the coming days about the wineries we visited as well as the best books we used to plan this trip), our trip to Maya was made easier in that we had chosen to visit Domaine Carneros earlier in the day.  The unexpected discovery that we made when we arrive at the restaurant however was the fact that they on a corner that is situated in the main square of the city of Sonoma… and perfectly situated to do some shopping afterwards. 

We’ve had Mexican food in any number of places over the years (one of our absolute favorites is Mi Pueblo in Sarasota, FL that has some of the most authentic Mexican food that I’ve ever had… outside of the Southwest), but this was a truly unique take on the food as it was focused on a distinctly “Maya” take on the food…. Hence the name.  The physical restaurant is also interesting and comfortable as well.  At the center of the bar (which you can see here) is what they bill as a “Tequila temple”.  The restaurant stocks a huge variety of tequila and while we didn’t try any, recognized some names that one of our friends who is really “into” tequila has mentioned… that we hadn’t seen anywhere else

The food:

Chips and salsa

Steak sopes

Black Bean empanadas

Tortilla soup

The Results:

From the time that you sit down at your table and served your chips and salsa…. You know that this isn’t going to be a restaurant like you’ve been to before.  While they still have the standard red and green salsas, the similarity stops there in that the flavors of the both salsas (fair warning here… wait until you have a beverage in hand as they are both quite spicy) are more “smoky” in nature that any others that I’ve had in the past and from my perspective came from adobo of some kind.

The chips and salsa however were just setting the groundwork for the rest of our meals however as everything that was brought to our table met our “litmus test” of a flavor riot.

The steak sopas (which not only were chock full of real steak and generously drizzled with lime juice were also support by a unique and very tasty slaw that helped to cut the heat of the rest of the dish…. And frankly made it possible for me to finish them without reaching for my Tums.  We also ordered a bowl of tortilla soup and empenadas.   The tortilla soup was excellent and well flavored (although as a personal preference I enjoy it when the tortillas are still a bit crisp when the soup gets to the table) and again had the same “smoky” flavor to it that the salsas did  at the beginning on the meal.  The empanadas however were a big surprise.

As residents of FL, we’ve gotten accustomed to having empanadas that have a meat in them and the fact that these had black beans was a terrific surprise and added a great deal to the meal.   We found that each of the portions were quite generous, so you might want to consider sharing several things on the menu to give you a broader picture of what’s on the menu… and I’d also recommend a walk around the excellent central square of Sonoma afterwards to “walk off” those extra calories.

Bistro Don Giovanni: A Napa institution

The place:  Bistro Don Giovanni – Napa, CA


Website:  http://www.bistrodongiovanni.com/

                Dinner – December 1^st, 2011

Something of a local institution, we chose the Bistro for a pair of reasons… the first was that it gets rave reviews (which you’ll see below are well justified) and it was 5 minutes from our hotel in Napa… one thing that the guidebooks don’t bother telling you is that 2-3 wineries a day followed by fantastic meals is really hard work!  This place is exactly as advertised and has a terrific local feel to it.  

The food:

Bruschetta

Pork Chop Special

Hahn Estates Pinot Noir / Pear drop cocktail

The Results:

Laura and I have had Bruschetta in a number of places (for those of you who are local to Sarasota, FL I’d recommend that you swing by Main Street Bistro (on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch) as they have some of the best (and most unique) Bruschetta around.  This… however was on a whole different plane.   One of the things that we both look for when we’re ordering food is to find something that has a “riot” of flavors in it and this dish absolutely delivered on that.  Not entirely certain which of the flavors that we liked the best, but the combination of olive oil and the olive tapenade certainly made it something that we’ll have again on our next visit.

While it likely won’t be on the menu when you visit, the pork chop special was of the most amazing pieces of meat that I’ve ever put in my mouth.  One of the things that I try to do whenever I grill at home is to make an effort to ensure that the meat is as moist as possible.  The piece of pork that I had a Don Giovanni’s on this evening, certainly made it look like I’d always served dry meat.  The moistness of the meat was certainly something memorable, but the one major factor above that was the sweetness of it.  While it was served in a sweet sauce that appeared to be derived from the candies in fruitcake (which I didn’t actually eat) the sweetness of the meat and its tenderness made me feel like I had a ways to go before cooking pork chops at my house has risen to anywhere near this level.  

Bouchon: Why Thomas Keller restaurants really ARE must visit!

The place:  Bouchon – Yountville, CA

Website:  http://www.bouchonbistro.com/                Twitter:  @BouchonYV

                Lunch – December 1^st, 2011

So there are a few restaurants that you just “have to” go to when you are in Napa…. And this is absolutely one of them.  We had made a considered decision to make as many of the Thomas Keller restaurants that we could on this trip (French Laundry was out based on both price and inability to get a reservation) and picking Bouchon for lunch was a master stroke.  As you can see from the pictures, this is a terrific place both in and out and the fact that we arrived in the early afternoon (and it was a weekday) made a huge difference in our ability to simply walk in for lunch.  The dining room is much smaller than I expected , but with the sun shining in the front and the both the attentive service and (as you read below simply amazing food), this needs to go your list of “must dos” on your to do list for Napa

The food:

Lobster Bisque

Crouque Madame

The Results:

To say that the Lobster Bisque was crazy good would be the understatement of the century.  I’d had bisque on a number of occasions (one in particular worth mentioning is the lobster bisque that they serve at Charthouse… which you can get with Sherry on top but I digress), but this bowl all of those to shame.  For some reason, the cream level in this soup was above anything else that I had tasted before (and at $16/bowl it should be!), and couple with my sandwich made for one of the most amazing lunches I’ve ever had.

So what about that sandwich you ask?  My first clue I was moving in the right direction was when I ordered my Croque Madam, the server’s reaction was a simple “great choice”  As you can see from the shot below, this plate gets delivered with a mound of fries, but it’s gotta be by far the most amazing ham and cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had…. Don’t believe me?  Here’s the description right off the menu:

Croque Madame:  Grilled ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with fried egg and moray sauce served with french fries

Simply  put…. This was easily one of the best lunches Laura and I have ever had … and we paid for it.  This place is not cheap, but if you want to experience what is arguably one of the best restaurants we’ve ever been to… treat yourself like we did… at lunch!

Greystone Restaurant at CIA... another reason to visit Napa

The place:  Greystone Restaurant – Located at Culinary Institute of America:  St. Helena, CA

                Dinner – November 30^th, 2011

The first thing that you’ll see when you arrive at the Culinary Institute is that this place just “looks” like they make great food.  Laura and I arrived just as the sun was starting to go down completely (the Santa Ana winds were up pretty strongly and as a result it was very cool for us… and as a result we didn’t linger around the Institute as we would have if it had been warmer.  The entrance to the restaurant is on the north end of the building, but I’d encourage you to wander around a bit before you go in as this a great building.  We may have been at an advantage since the Xmas decorations were all up, but as we drove by it several times over the course of this trip, we always found the building drew our attention.

http://www.ciachef.edu/restaurants/wsgr/

The food:

“Chef’s bites” appetizers

Pan seared cod with vegetables, pumpkin seed relish and romesco sauce

DuBiase Pinot Noir

The Results:

Even if you aren’t an appetizer “type” of person, I would certainly recommend that you take the time to order this one.  Served in a unique dish that rotates and allows you to access all of the various dishes (were served 5), these offerings change each night and give you the chance to sample a variety of different foods without have to “commit” to a full plate.  Considering that the meals are prepared by students that are working with master chefs, there is some real variety and there is likely there will be something that will be a little “much” for your taste (we lucked out and liked everything that we had, but considering this changes nightly I’d be careful about guaranteeing anything.

The main course was in a word… superb.   The fish had been cooked to perfection so that it simply flaked off on my fork, but just as importantly went well with the vegetables that it was served over, but with the pumpkin relish and romesco sauce.  With all of the different flavors involved here, I expected this dinner to be a bit on the “confused” side from a taste perspective…. But the chefs here did a great job.

I was a little “wined out” by dinner, so I just chose a “basic” Pinot Noir that went fine with my dinner, but was nothing that compelling me to write a recommendation on (trust me when I say that this was the exception and not the rule of this trip.  One other comment on the venue itself....the main dining room is open and we were seated at a small two person table that was immediately next to the open kitchen. That was great for us as we love to watch the food being made, but when this place gears up in season (we just walked in which I guarantee you can’t do at other times of year), I would also expect the noise level to be high well.  All that said, a definite stop on your culinary tour of Napa

Brennan's Restaurant: A wonderful stop for a windy Napa day

The place:  Brannan’s Grill – Calistoga, CA

                Lunch – November 30^th, 2011

First lunch of the trip in Napa.  We’d spent the morning at Castello di Amarello  (Castle of Love) and after 2+ hours there headed a short distance away to Calistoga and tracked down a restaurant on the main drag called Brennan’s Grill.  -  http://www.brannansgrill.com/

Since late November is not exactly the high season for Calistoga (and as you’ll gather from several other of these postings this trip benefitted greatly from taking place in the “off season”), we were brought into an almost entirely empty restaurant and proceeded to have a fantastic meal.

The food:

Butternut squash soup

Mozzarella Grilled cheese

Red wine flight

The results:

At first glance, our soup bowl appeared to be rather small,  but once we dug into the soup found  that it was more than rich enough to satisfy our hunger and considering the wind was blowing a bit it went a long way towards warming our not quite acclimated Florida bodies on a cool northern Napa day

The sandwich was a pleasant discovery as we’re big fans of grilled cheese, but having one based on Mozz was something new.  The combination of the strong flavors from the soup coupled with the simplicity of the sandwich made for a great combination and this is certainly a soup that we’ll look into making once we get back to FL.

Although I had quite a few different wines at Castello di Amarello earlier in the day, this was a nice set of choices to go with the meal that we had chosen. All Napa Valley wines, my favorite of the three was the Allora Tresca (2006), but in the interest of full disclosure I’d had a few different tastes over the morning and can say that all three (which I’ve listed below), were tasty enough that I’d considering them all “try agains”.

Red Wine flight at Brennan’s:

Allora, Tresca – Napa Valley 2006

Bennett Lane, Maximus – Napa Valley 2006

Von Strasser, Cabernet Sauvignon – Napa Valley 2006

Eating with the Buckley's....

This is the first of my blog postings for Eating with the Buckleys.  I gave a great deal of thought to setting up this blog and my recent trip to California gave me an opportunity to start writing about my experiences... both in terms of foods that my wife Laura and I make at home in FL, but also things that we experience when we're eating out locally.... as well as when we're on the road.

The next half dozen postings are all about our recent trip to Napa (which unfortunately came to an end yesterday) and hopefully you'll find this content interesting... and perhaps helpful the next time you're in Napa.  I'll likely fiddle around with the format in the next few weeks, but at the moment, I'll break each posting into parts.... with the goal being telling you not only what the food was and the experience of eating it, but also to give you a sense of the time and place surrounding it... as we have found that time, place and story all impact the experience.

Hope you enjoy the journey as much as we already have... which the exact reason that we're launching Buckley Eats!