Flour + Water

Erika, John and I decided to grab some pizza after eating ice cream and people watching (dessert first!) Last time I was in San Francisco, I really wanted to eat at Flour + Water, which is very close to David’s friend’s apartment, but we didn’t end up going there because the wait was too long. This time, luckily, we went there and there was practically no wait! It was meant to be. We shared everything and started out with bread:

We had to order the original margherita pizza:

And then another more savory option with prosciutto, red onions, and kale:

Some pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe:

And roasted root vegetables:

John before digging in:

The crust of the pizza was very delicious and my preference was the margherita pizza; plain but very tangy tomato sauce and creamy mozzarella. The pasta and roasted root veggies were also delicious – simple but just what we needed after drinking all weekend!

Bi-Rite Creamery San Francisco

On Sunday, John, Erika and I drove back to San Francisco together. John spent the day with us because he had a red eye back to Chicago and I stayed with Erika an extra night before heading back to the east coast. When we got back to the city, we went to Bi Rite, a local grocery store known for their ice cream:

The intention was to buy some snacks so we could sit at the nearby park and people watch. We ended up buying some fruit, cheeses and bread before heading across the street to get in the ice cream line. The day we got back to San Francisco was also the Bay to Breakers event, an all day drinking event where everyone dresses up in tutus and runs from one side of the city to another. While waiting in line, we saw all kinds of *interesting* people, including a guy on a recliner giving beer to people walking by. When we got to the front of the line, we had to figure out what we were going to get:

John and I sampled everything:

And since everything was really good, I got four scoops of ice cream:

The scoops are small, but we both devoured them:

We walked to the nearby park and enjoyed our ice cream…and then people watched and ate fresh fruit, cheese, and bread! It was such an amazing way to end the fun weekend.

Oleander House Bed and Breakfast

During our trip to Napa, we stayed at Oleander House B&B. David and Laura stayed there during one of their visits to the area and recommended we stay there as well because it’s very central to everything we wanted to do while we were visiting. The bed and breakfast has four rooms on the second floor (we occupied all of them) and then one room on the first floor (a mother and daughter were spending the weekend there together). The bed and breakfast:

Everything about Napa was perfect; the weather was slightly breezy and sunny with no humidity, the people were all super nice and the food was all fresh and so delicious! The innkeeper had a small garden and picked strawberries from there for our morning breakfasts:

She also had a beautiful garden:

In the back, she had a small yard with areas to relax and also had a hot tub (but it was way too warm). I told Ken that the next time we go to Napa, we should definitely stay there – it was so fun to hang out in the house, the food for breakfast was all delicious, and they have a really cute dog that is super friendly!

Bouchon

After a full day of wine tasting all over Napa, we settled in to dinner at Bouchon, a Thomas Keller restaurant that I love. There’s a Bouchon Bakery in New York that Ken and I go to all of the time, but their menu is limited compared to what this Bouchon offers. We started off with their signature bread with a white bean dip and butter:

My side of the table decided to share everything and order family style, so we started out with some beef tartare:

And whitefish with a melange of vegetables:

We shared some filet with fried onions:

And the seasonal gnocchi:

Everything was delicious, so much so that we ordered another side of French fries, even though we had some with another dish:

All of us at dinner:

The best part of the evening: Laura and David were generous enough to surprise all of us by paying for our meal there! Laura couldn’t come to the bachelorette party so this was her way of celebrating with us. It was so nice of her to do that…and they wrote us a note telling us that the meal was taken care of!

John went next door to pick up dessert for us – he bought tons of macarons:

And foie gras dog biscuits for his dog, Lucille! What a great meal to end the wonderful day.

Silver Oak Winery and Hill Family Estate

Our last two stops on our wine tour: Silver Oak and Hill Family Estate. Silver Oak focuses on cabernet sauvignon (my favorite type of wine!) and Angie set up a private tour for us. Since we had a private tour, they did some of the tour in their private room that features all of their reserve wines:

This magnum bottle of wine was so heavy – people buy them for weddings and special occasions instead of buying individual bottles:

Erika, Audrey, Angie and John goofing around in between flights of cabernet:

After drinking and walking through their aging rooms, we went to our final destination, Hill Family Estate. Kristen made a reservation for us there because her family belongs to the wine club – they were so nice to us and sat us in the back area with lots of cheese plates and bread:

They also let us sample anything on their menu because Kristen was a member and it was all free! John and Angie during the tasting:

Luckily, we were able to walk to our final destination (where we were having dinner) and relax a bit (and sober up!) before settling in for dinner at Bouchon.