Wine Country: Sonoma

Day Two of our Wine Country excursion was spent in Sonoma at a few choice wineries recommended by some Valley veterans.  We began at Valley of the Moon, then headed to Imagery and ended at Benziger.

Valley of the Moon

Valley of the Moon Barrel Cellar

Valley of the Moon Tasting Room

Ok friends, I am having some technical difficulties with the uploading of all my pictures, so I will have to finish this post when I can be smarter than the blogger...to be continued.

Walnut Creek and The Levies

After a hellacious year of ups and downs, we needed a serious vaca.  So we hopped a two-hour flight to Wine Country and stopped off to see one of my very besties Michelle, and her husband Dave in Walnut Creek.  For our first night's dinner they took us to Elevé: an upscale Vietnamese eatery located in oh-so-quaint downtown Walnut Creek.  I was a little skeptical since Vietnamese doesn't usually pair with "delicious" in my head...and PJB has nightmares of tripe that his college roommate made him eat.  I knew Walnut Creek and the Levies wouldn't do us wrong, so we decided to jump in head first.

To start the evening off, PJB had a Martinez (gin, vermouth, maraschino, bitters, and hand-cut ice) while Dave, Michelle and Yours Truly all ordered a Moscow Mule off of the restaurant's handcrafted cocktail menu. I can't wait to make this at home...{recipe to come}

Moscow Mule: Vodka, Lime, Ginger Syrup, Mint

We choose a few items from the menu to share:
Shrimp Spring Rolls soft rice paper, lettuce, cucumber, mint, vermicelli and peanut sauce
Classic Imperial Rolls crispy wrap, chicken, shrimp, earwood mushrooms, sweet onions, cilantro, nước chấm
Five Spice Chicken pan roasted half chicken, spring salad
Wok-Tossed Flat Iron Steak sliced black angus beef, eggplant, japanese dry peppers, ginger
Braised Eggplant sweet onions, spicy plum sauce
Garlic Noodles with peanuts
Bottle of Malbec, Atamisque (Argentina), 2007 ~ we are in wine country
And lastly, a decadent chocolate cake to celebrate our 5-year anniversary.

All in all, my first taste of Vietnamese was surprisingly delightful.  I think it's too early to say you'll find me at the corner Pho Cafe in Mesa, but I will certainly be looking for an Elevé-esque eatery in Phoenix.  Or just impose on our friends to take us in and eat there again.

We capped the night off at Sasa, a hip small-plate asian restaurant/bar also in downtown Walnut Creek.  I had a Spiced Pear Martini...I am also making this one at home for sure {recipe to come}


Left to Right:
Spiced Pear Martini: Vodka Infused Ginger Cinnamon Syrup, Pear Puree, Cranberry Juice, Lemon Juice
Prosecco

We headed home and as you can imagine, slept very soundly from all the good food and drink.  The next morning we grabbed a bagel and Starbucks from the shopping center just across the way from the Levies' beautiful home, and headed down to Sonoma to begin Day 2 of our no-wine-left-behind excursion.