Napa Day 2

Day two was chock full of good food, beautiful weather, and classic Napa experiences, new and old.We woke up hungry on day two, maybe because none of us were used to a completely vegetarian dinner. We decided to try Boon Fly Cafe at the Carneros Inn because it is widely touted as the best breakfast in Napa.

Given the rave reviews and the beautiful Saturday morning, we expected a crowd, and were pleasantly surprised to find none, even though it was nearly 10am. The only catch was that by the time we got there and sat down, our lunch reservation was only a couple hours away; and we were all very much looking forward to lunch (see below). So we tried to be conservative in our ordering, though some of us succeeded more than others.

The Changs exercised restraint, ordering just Poppa Joe's Eggs in a Hole and a dozen bite-sized donuts to share with the table.


The Chuangs, on the other hand, not only had a donut or two each, but also ordered a breakfast flatbread, which turned out to be unexpectedly humongous, and the Boon Fly Benedict, which was so good I couldn't help but finish (Mark felt the same way about the hash browns on my plate).


It turns out Mikey's ideal weekend involves total carb meals, so in addition to a couple of donuts, he also had the triple stack of buttermilk griddle cakes, and finished them, even though they were served with pure Maple syrup, and he prefers the fake stuff.

Needless to say, we needed to walk it off if we had any chance of eating lunch. We tried to do just that at the farmers market, which was adjacent to the Oxbow Public Market and just starting up its season again. For those of us used to the farmers markets throughout the Bay Area, it was sorely disappointing. So we headed into Oxbow, which was a bit more interesting. All-in-all, though, none of it lived up to the SF Ferry Building, which it seemed to be modeled after.

Lunch hour was fast approaching and we still had no room in our stomachs, so I pushed back our lunch reservation another hour, and played a game of Agricola.

A little competition was what we needed to work up just enough of an appetite. So we headed to Bistro Jeanty for a late lunch.


Per usual, the beet salad, tomato soup, and escarole salad with soft-boiled egg and bacon dressing were favorites.

We also tried a few new items, including the rillette de canard (duck pate served with cornichons), langue d'agneau (warm lamb tongue and potato salad), grilled Jack Smelt and risotto with grilled rabbit loin.

Nothing disappointed, least of which the fresh desserts: strawberries with creme fraiche and brown sugar; vanilla bean ice cream (they actually serve gelato, but they don't call it gelato).


No one gave Bouchon Bakery a second look as we passed it on our way back to the car. We couldn't even think about it. Instead, we headed to Silver Oak Cellars to taste their current Cabernet offerings.

They were pouring their 2004, 2005 Alexander Valley and 2005 Napa Valley Cabernets, none of which lived up to my memories of their 2001-2002 offerings.

We did some more wine tasting, as well as olive oil tasting, at Long Meadow Ranch, which was a more productive adventure. Their 2005 E.J. Church Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was excellent, as were both of their extra virgin olive oils.

Thanks to my unfailing foresight (or blind luck), our dinner reservations at Terra were late. Despite the restaurant's awkward layout (two dining rooms separated by a cramped entranceway, which the hostess had to lead us back through to get to our table), I found the ambience stylishly charming, from the handwritten menu to the larger-than-life minimalist floral arrangements.


Further minimizing our faith in the Michelin-star system, we really weren't that impressed with the savory dishes. The only really memorable main dish was the broiled sake marinated black cod.

The experience was redeemed by the desserts, however, for those of us that had room for dessert. The butterscotch pot de creme with apple funnel cake was richly divine and the best dessert of the weekend thus far.

A perfect end to a beautiful Napa Valley day. For better (and other) pictures of the food we ate, visit Wendy's photography blog.