Oh, Napa Valley, how I love you! I was last here in January of 2011 and I hope to never wait two+ years again! We are, however, here for work (tough job but someone’s gotta do it…). Dave has an athlete racing the Vineman Ironman 70.3 triathlon tomorrow and I am doing a cooking demonstration on simple ways to eat more plants – plus a book signing – at the Whole Foods Napa culinary center tomorrow afternoon.
We landed in Oakland yesterday morning, rented our car and boom, we were checked in to our hotel by noon! Dave and I were talking about all of the restaurants we have enjoyed in the area over the years and I decided to not refer to some vegan recommendations I recently received and instead go to restaurants we have enjoyed to see what they could do for me.
Rutherford Grill delivered.
The place was packed, as usual, so we dined at the bar (as usual). We asked for a “big cab” and were very pleased with the Mi Sueno.
I chatted with the friendly bartenders and learned that the kale salad could be made vegan by holding the cheese (the peanut vinaigrette dressing is already vegan) and the veggie burger – made with soy, beans and rice – was vegan, just hold the bun (egg) and cheese. Easiest lunch order at a non-vegan restaurant ever!
The kale salad was phenomenal! I could have doubled the order and it would have been a perfectly huge, fabulous lunch. The veggie burger was very good but the salad was the winner.
Right after lunch I ran to the FedEx Kinkos in Napa to print copies of the recipes I will make for the cooking demo tomorrow. The glamorous life of work travel.
Last night we had drinks with friends in St. Helena
before dinner at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena. Truth be told, I wasn’t too sure how things would go for me as a vegan. Dave called earlier in the week and was essentially told that I could have some salad – hold the meat and cheese – and rice. Um, not too sexy or exciting. Turns out, it’s all about the delivery (someone at Farmstead might want to train the folks who answer the phone on how to make salads and rice exciting … because they can be!)
I started with the soup special, a gazpacho, which was superb. The kale salad,with a lemon poppy dressing, could be made vegan by holding the cheese. I spied some roasted almonds on another entrée on the menu and the server mentioned a special starter with grilled peaches, ricotta cheese and ham. I asked her to hold the cheese on the kale salad but to add roasted almonds and grilled peaches. It was divine and I encouraged them to put the salad on the menu, as I made it, and call it the JL. Not so sure that will happen. Finally, I ordered the California arborio rice with asparagus, green garlic, mushrooms, and herbs; by holding the parmesan, it’s vegan. And it’s incredible. This was an outstanding meal, with outstanding service, and the two servers were hip to the vegan thing and were terrific.
This morning I’m sipping coffee in bed and preparing for tomorrow’s event at Whole Foods Napa.
If you’re in the area I hope you’ll come out and say hi!
4 thoughts on “Fabulous Vegan Eats in Napa Valley + See you tomorrow at Whole Foods?”
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Those meals look amazing! I live over north of Sacramento, CA and recently we were traveling along the Northern CA coast and I had such good luck with finding vegan friendly items at regular restaurants. The wait staff were always so helpful in leading me in the right direction. Since I have only been eating whole foods plant strong since March I was delighted to find that some regular menu items could be altered to suit my needs. We also found many places that had Vegan entrees already available.
Wishing you all the best with your book signing!
Thanks, @TamiNutmegNotebook:disqus!
Sorry I missed this! Napa is my local WF store.. would have been great to see your presentation…
I’m sorry, too, @tammy_l:disqus! Maybe I can come back when my pressure cooking cookbook comes out! 🙂