In an effort to dine at all
3000 San Francisco restaurants(700 and counting) and visit all 600 Napa
wineries(300 and counting), my wife Linda and I recently had the pleasure to
experience the magnificent Meadowood Resort in Napa Valley.
Located only an hour drive from our home in Danville, Meadowood
offers a magical, memorable world class experience that defines excellence.
.
The resort offers a variety of luxurious guest rooms, a 9 hole
recently renovated golf course, tennis, spa and a 3 star Michelin rated
restaurant.
We enjoyed playing golf at the 9 hole 2000 yard perfectly
manicured and recently renovated course. The course reminded us of the pure
beauty of Lake Tahoe courses with stately pine trees flanking the Par 3 Golf
Course. There is also a high tech learning center that offers lessons and a
unique hickory golf experience. You can choose to play the course with a set of
hickory golf clubs just like the golfers originally used in Scotland.
After golf, the nearby newly constructed spa, offers a
peaceful surrounding and a variety of treatments to relax you before your 3
star dining experience.
The Restaurant at Meadowood is one of five 3 star Michelin rated
restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. French Laundry, Benu, Saison and Manresa are
the other 4. We have been to Thomas Keller's French Laundry and also to famous
Michelin chef Alain Ducasse's Jules Verne restaurant located at the top
of the world renown Eiffel Tower in Paris. As a result, we were looking forward
to Chef Christopher Kostow's creations as he also crafted his cooking skills in
France.
We were not disappointed as we enjoyed a heavenly experience of
excellent service and passionate presentations from the 13 course price fixed
menu.
The Restaurant at Meadowood has the privilege of being surrounded
by hillsides that include creeks, woodlands and a lot of natural bounty. The
food is prepared with an element of surprise and engages diners with a
progression of dishes presented from cold courses to warm courses. The thirteen-course meal begins with an okra flower stuffed with
an okra paste inside, served on a beautiful piece of pottery.
Textures
are a common thread that runs through all the dishes. Diners are engaged with an orchestrated
progression of dishes. No menus are provided until the end of the meal. Each
dish is a "surprise".
The
pottery was amazing. A local artist provided the dishes with unique shapes and
textures that perfectly complements the food and makes it magical.
A
poussin prepared inside a round bread loaf as a cooking vessel was a
favorite. Prior to being cooked, the
dish was brought to our table on a bed of multi colored corn kernels. The
waiter explained the cooking process which made us eager to see the
result. The poussin was clean and
beautifully flavored and a highlight among the courses.
By the
6th course we gave ourselves away to the experience... and we were somewhere
over the rainbow.
The
staff was very well trained and delightful to talk with. They all have a variety of experiences and
come from many different locations in the world. They took the fine dining experience over the
top. We had the opportunity to tour the kitchen where all the staff welcomed us
in unison as we entered. Each station was displayed as artists at work.
In conclusion, we would definitely recommend you put Meadowood
on your bucket list.
Meadowood is a Dream...........
The experience will be an eternal joy to add to your foodie and fun memory bank. For more information and to make reservations go to:
www.meadowood.com
