If you're ever in the area be sure to visit:
For $10 each we sampled 6 local wines. I've always been more of a beer person and never quite knew what wine I liked, but after tasting the Gamay Rouge I am in love. It paired perfectly with the bbq tri tip, salmon, ribs, fire grilled pizza and the assortment of cheeses we enjoyed in the beautiful picnic area (bring a blanket). It was the perfect place for our family photo shoot captured by JZ Lim Photography.
After seeing so many micro reviews of this place on Facebook and hearing tons about it from my sister and niece, I finally got to try the macaroons that it's famous for. It's no wonder there is always a line going out the door. The best way I can describe it is that when you bite into one, your mouth will experience 3 stages of yumminess: 1) airy, wafery flakiness 2) slow motion chewiness, and 3) not too sweet buttery creaminess.
The only negative (but funny as sh*t) thing I have to mention was the racist lady in line who stated that, "...all of China must be here!" Yea... No worries though. My family has too much of a sense of humor to let that bring us down. In fact my sister, Roxanne, killed her with kindness by letting the rude lady and her family go ahead of us (the son later told us they're visiting from Texas). Our other sister Joi's boyfriend, who we were also celebrating Black History Month for on top of Dad's birthday, thank you very much, was cracking folks up in line by offering them "watahhhh" while they waited patiently. All worth it for a mocha macaroon. LOL.
Along with exercise (and drinking red wine everyday) our dad has been taking good care of his health. When I asked him what kind of cuisine he'd like for his 60th birthday he mentioned Mediterranean. Ryan found Tarla Grill in downtown Napa, and I am so glad he did. With our fairly large group of 16 people, the manager, Yusuf Topal, went above and beyond to accommodate us. When I called to make the reservation, he immediately offered their private room at no charge. He suggested that we order from five of their fixed menus and even allowed our six small and not so small kids in our party order from a separate menu.
The room was a wanna be designer's dream with its modern, clean lines, artwork, industrial looking ceiling, and not to mention their Bose system that was blasting what we all agreed was probably the Beyonce station on Pandora. And yes, we all sang along to her and the likes of Lauren Hill, Neyo, Adele, Alicia Keys, and Trey Songz while dining on delicious hummus, house salad with amazing feta cheese and lemon dressing, zucchini cakes with Tzatziki sauce, white truffle and mushroom meatballs, pan roasted cod with squash kambocha, baklava and gelato. YUM.
After saying thank you and good night to the manager and our awesome servers, Dad stated that it was the best birthday he's ever had. My heart is happy.
The room was a wanna be designer's dream with its modern, clean lines, artwork, industrial looking ceiling, and not to mention their Bose system that was blasting what we all agreed was probably the Beyonce station on Pandora. And yes, we all sang along to her and the likes of Lauren Hill, Neyo, Adele, Alicia Keys, and Trey Songz while dining on delicious hummus, house salad with amazing feta cheese and lemon dressing, zucchini cakes with Tzatziki sauce, white truffle and mushroom meatballs, pan roasted cod with squash kambocha, baklava and gelato. YUM.
After saying thank you and good night to the manager and our awesome servers, Dad stated that it was the best birthday he's ever had. My heart is happy.
