Thomas Keller's restaurant, The French Laundry, is beyond amazing. My husband and I went there once several years ago, and I ordered the vegitarian prixe fixe menu. The restaurant, as I remember it, was clean and crisp; it was the most perfect restaurant I'd ever gone to. It is definitely for special occasions. Reservations are absolutely necessary; there are legends about trying to get one. You basically need to call the restaurant first thing in the morning two months before you want to visit.
Keller's Bouchon is nowadays getting rave reviews. It is purposefully intended to be more casual than The French Laundry. It is a casual place, a social place, a place where people come to relax, talk, and eat. As Keller describes it, Bouchon is "a kind of home."
As we all know, a home is never perfect! My friends celebrated a birthday there, and absolutely loved it. I want to go soon!
Resources:
www.bouchonbistro.com
Bouchon
6534 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
Price - $31-50
Reservations: (707) 944-8037
There are also locations in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills
www.frenchlaundry.com
French Laundry
Reservations: (707) 944-2380 or online through opentable.com
Jackets required for both lunch and dinner service.
No jeans, shorts, or tennis shoes
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Rockridge Jazz and Wine Stroll
On May 11, the beautiful Rockridge neighborhood (in Oakland, California along College Avenue about a mile or two south of the UC Berkeley campus) will play host to its Jazz and Wine Stroll. Starting around 4:30pm, Rockridge neighborhood restaurants and shops will have live jazz, serve wine, and have a great time.
Market Hall will serve street fare.
A great time for couples!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Fox Theater
The Fox Theater is having its "A Taste of the Fox" event tonight at 6:00PM, April 30th. It is at the Fox Theater on Telegraph avenue in Oakland. The event is a benefit for the "Friends of the Oakland Fox Theater," and features Livermore Valley wineries and food from restaurants in uptown Oakland. The event will be located in the Mezzanine inside the historic Fox Theater. This will be the first event to be held in the Mezzanine since the theater reopened.
.
Historical Perspective (including from the Fox site):
The Fox first opened its doors in October 1928. At the time, the San Francisco Chronicle even called it, "different, novel, and mystic."
For more than three decades, the Fox theater was a first-run movie house, and the area around it was a bustling entertainment and movie district.
The Fox Theater closed its doors in 1966. The downtown lost its theaters, its department stores, and (some would say) its vitality.
The Fox survived an arson fire in 1973, and its increasing shabby condition let it to be derided as "the largest outdoor urinal in the world." The theater avoided an attempt to destroy it to create a parking lot in 1975, and was finally named a city landmark in 1978. Here's a photo circa 2002 (from Wikipedia):
In 1996, the Oakland native Phil Tagami, whose parents had their first date at the Fox theater, first approached the city officials about restoring the theater, but as he said, "I felt laughed at." Tagami, 42, was a high school drop out who cut his teeth working as a laborer in the construction business before starting to buy and fix up old buildings, mostly in Oakland, California.
Here's a great photo (taken by "vision63" and reposted under creative commons):
Here's a great photo (taken by "vision63" and reposted under creative commons):
Finally, after 40 silent years, the Fox Theater is open again. I began thinking more about the return of the Fox Theater when my nephew, who was visiting from out of state, recently went to a show there. He told me it was packed! My husband gave him advice on taking BART there from San Francisco, and we were both proud of this Oakland landmark being reborn! You can never underestimate the power of a woman to reinvent herself, even if she is a building!
The first Friday of the month is so much fun in downtown Oakland now. The restaurants, bars, and galleries are open, and we once again have a burgeoning arts district.
Resources:
Fox Oakland
April 30, "A Taste of the Fox"
6:00PM, Fox Theater
$75. General Admission
$100. Tasting package, plus includes Friend of the Oakland Fox Membership.
*proceeds benefit the friends of the Oakland Fox theater, a 501c3 public charitable non-profit corporation.
Oakland first Fridays- www.OaklandfirstFridays.com
Monday, April 23, 2012
Fireside Lodge B & B (www.tahoefiresidelodge.com) A high Sierra treat!
I heard about this B & B from a friend and
wanted to share the place, especially since this weekend is the last weekend
for Heavenly ski area (their last day of winter operations is April 29th, though my understanding is that the B&B is open year-round).
This is a log cabin style lodge. Check out the Fireside Lodge website for photos.
They offer complimentary bikes, are newly remodeled, and
are dog and pet friendly. They have a complimentary breakfast from
8-11:00AM.
I personally love a complimentary breakfast as that means I
can relax a bit more without worrying where to get coffee. There is also
a complimentary wine and cheese tasting from 5-7PM. Then, to top it all
off there is complimentary marshmallow roasting dusk till 9:00PM.
Whenever I have the opportunity to do marshmallow roasting, it is a
special night!
Their website includes the quote, "A guest
the first time, A friend for a lifetime." Looking forward to checking them out ourselves soon.
--COTC
Spring Skiing
The weather is warming up, but there are still opportunities for spring skiing!
Sunday, April 15th was the final day of nearly full operations. Heavenly will be closed Monday through Thursday and will reopen for one more weekend. Their last day is April 29th (this coming Sunday).
--COTC
Mammoth Mountain
Open until Memorial Day.
"Memorial Day madness at Mammoth": They are bringing a beach party to the snow on May 26 and 27th. There will be food and drink specials, apres parties, contests, snow volleyball and more!
You can stay at Mammoth Mountain Inn, for $103.00 queen and $152.10 queen.
Kirkwood
Kirkwood will be open 7 days through Sunday, April 22nd, 2012, then weekends (Friday- Sunday) after that until snow melts. Next year around the holidays I want to go on snow cat tour at Kirkwood. We had a complimentary snow cat ride at Heavenly and it was a blast, our son loved it (we'll post some pictures soon).
Heavenly
Alpine Meadows (www.skialpine.com) and Squaw Valley (www.squaw.com) are open daily through April
29th Alpine Meadows will stay open Friday through Sunday through May
13th.
--COTC
Friday, April 6, 2012
Time to Go to the Snow!
Last year, we went to North Shore, Lake Tahoe and stayed at the Resort at Squaw Creek. We have been waiting all season to go and now it is spring and time is running out! We are leaving Sunday and are looking at three properties:
Embassy Suites, Stateline, 1-877-497-8483
My good friend has stayed here several times. The advantages is that it is walking distance to gambling as well as skiing. Plus, there is a pool, free breakfast, as well as happy hour.
Aston Lakeland Village, We are looking at a 2 bedroom, 2 bath. It has an expanded continental breakfast, and there is a free shuttle to gambling and skiing. It is not walking distance to skiing as it is about a mile away.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Miami Beach
We now take our blog to Miami Beach. Home of art deco buildings with colors that you see nowhere else in the United States. The city with perhaps the most crazy, amazing, over-the-top nightlife in the world.
Getting off the plane in Miami, you're immediately struck by the heat and humidity. Palm trees are everywhere; probably way more prevalent than in California since even I would've otherwise thought I'd be accustomed to them.
Miami Beach itself is on a long, somewhat narrow island just off Miami. Crossing over the bridge to South Beach, the deep blue ocean water is vastly different from the waters of the Pacific that I'm used to. Immediately, you're surrounded by art deco. And the art deco buildings use pastel colors that convey vibrance.
Cars and people everywhere. The closer you get to Ocean Boulevard, the more expensive the cars seem to get.
Crossing over the bridge/causeway to Mid-Beach, the feeling is a bit different. This part of Miami Beach is still vacation-central. But, it is a bit further away from ground zero of Miami Beach nightlife. It is more city-like, and some parts are a bit more gritty. The area maintains that sort of character as you drive northward.
Coming in future posts:
* The Fontanebleu
* Nightlife
* The Delano
* What to do with kids
* Couples vs. Singles
And more!
Getting off the plane in Miami, you're immediately struck by the heat and humidity. Palm trees are everywhere; probably way more prevalent than in California since even I would've otherwise thought I'd be accustomed to them.
Miami Beach itself is on a long, somewhat narrow island just off Miami. Crossing over the bridge to South Beach, the deep blue ocean water is vastly different from the waters of the Pacific that I'm used to. Immediately, you're surrounded by art deco. And the art deco buildings use pastel colors that convey vibrance.
Cars and people everywhere. The closer you get to Ocean Boulevard, the more expensive the cars seem to get.
Crossing over the bridge/causeway to Mid-Beach, the feeling is a bit different. This part of Miami Beach is still vacation-central. But, it is a bit further away from ground zero of Miami Beach nightlife. It is more city-like, and some parts are a bit more gritty. The area maintains that sort of character as you drive northward.
Coming in future posts:
* The Fontanebleu
* Nightlife
* The Delano
* What to do with kids
* Couples vs. Singles
And more!
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