Wine Country

Hello again my friends...

Yes, I'm blogging again. Two days in a row. I know, that's pretty remarkable. But, I have many events in my recent history to chronicle so it compells me to blog a bit more frequently. Enough with the idle thoughts, let's get to the point.

So, as I informed all of you yesterday, I graduated from culinary school last week. For my ceremony, my family came out for a visit. And, as always, it was great to see them again. I saw my parents just a couple of months ago, but my brother came this time and that was the first time I've seen him in like 6 months. So I was very happy to see him. It was his first trip to California and to the Bay Area, so I wanted to show him much of the area. He got to see Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Haight & Ashbury, and even ride the Cable Cars (which I've yet to do). So, he made the most of his trip. We also went to Napa so that he could do some wine tasting while he was here.

Napa is definitely wine country, there's no disputing that. But with the great wines that they produce, much of the other food in the area gets overlooked. We visited three wineries including my favorite, V. Sattui. V. Sattui is a small place that offers far more than just wine. All of the employees are very friendly and knowledgable about all of their products, not just the wines. They offer an assortment of cheeses, jams, jellies, relishes, and cured meats along with the wines. A place like this has a way of opening the eyes of food people. You won't find any duck confit or foie gras or sauces strained 32 times here. It's very basic and very simple. Some salami, asiago, and a bottle of wine does more for human happiness than the pretentious imagination of some overpaid egotistical chef with a Michelin star. Sitting at that picnic table with my family, seeing them enjoying themselves, was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was a moment that was rustic, simple, and void of any false pretenses or judgements. And that is just the way that food, and life, should be.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Culinarian,

Jordan