Brooke and I are foodies. We love it all – finding a good recipe, picking out produce, cooking, food photographs, the smells and the tastes. This past July, we spent a few days in California with family for a little foodie vacation. We have some great food in the Midwest, but the food in California can just be unreal. Even dive restaurants are amazing.
During out little trip, I simply brought one camera and a box of film. Over a few days, we toured Sonoma and Napa valleys from our base in Santa Rosa. Included below are a few photos from our exciting vacation, with notes where it makes sense.
We flew into San Francisco and had a brief layover for lunch. We practically picked a place at random and it was excellent. Note – they had clam pie on the menu 😉
Above – a little stop in Muir Woods on the way north. Below, Brooke is planning our daily stops the old school way – a map on the hood of a car.
I must admit, I really wanted to buy the chicken during some shopping. Alas, it would not fit in our backyard. Below is our favorite winery – Littorai. It is not open to the public, but gave us a personal tour of their bio-dynamically farmed vineyard. I also wanted a duck.
Stag’s leap was one of the best “public” tasting we went to. Also, Stag’s Leap Artemis Cab is a favorite of ours.
If you recognize the building above-left, then two points. If you can name the chef, then 5 marks. If you were lucky enough to eat there, then 10 points. Best.restaurant.experience.EVAR!
We spent a good 30 minutes waiting to get into Bouchon Bakery one morning. It was totally worth it. We then walked across the street to a Yountville park to eat our bounty.
Above left – scenes from Yountville. At right is Elyse Winery. We discovered them at the French Laundry. They make the only Zinfandel wine I love. Their Howell Mountain Zin is a peppery heaven.
For those interested in the technical details, the above was all photographed on my Mamiya 645 AFD-II with mostly Fuji Pro 400h film. No digital at all.
