Ginger & rum, PB&J, bing cherry, olive oil, hazelnut crunch, and meyer lemon.
The French Laundry, Yountville CA
Another dessert freebie! I was SO full that I took my 3 truffles home. They didn’t look as shiny the next day, but they stil tasted AWESOME!
Praline mousse, “dacquoise”, meringue, and roasted banana sorbet. Chef’s Tasting Menu $270
The French Laundry, Yountville CA
This was one of those desserts that has a lot of amazing components but I couldn’t seem to enjoy them all at once. It all tasted great, but I was left with a feeling of disappointment. The tiny pieces of bananas were amazing, lol!
Project 365: Day 123
Mmm, had a great dinner at LaSalette last night. It’s a Portuguese tapas restaurant and everything was really good. We ended up walking back to The Lodge from downtown, enjoying the warm evening weather and viewing the Super Moon!
This morning was amazing! We grabbed a quick breakfast snack from the Carneros Bistro counter and just had a lazy morning poolside. David read the newspaper and I jumped in and out of the pool. We had a relaxed, yummy brunch at The Girl + The Fig before wine tasting at Buena Vista Winery, Gundlach Bundschu, and Anaba Wines. Gundlach Bundschu was my favorite of the three! I definitely want to come back at a later date and have a picnic day here.
Now we’re back in The City, having cocktails and getting hungry again, lol! It’s been a great weekend.
Bittersweet chocolate flavored ice cream with red chiles. Kids scoop $1.75
Fairfax Scoop, Fairfax CA
This was a very interesing scoop of ice cream with the red chiles. You could definitely taste the chiles and they added a little bit of “latin” heat. I liked it!
Peppermint flavored ice cream with chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, and fudge swirl. Junior size $2.20
Mitchell’s Ice Cream, San Francisco
Mmm! Mint used to be my favorite ice cream flavor as a kid. Add all the extra stuff and you’ve it even better!
Orange Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule, Papaveraceae) with purple Spanish Flag or West Indian lantana (Lantana camara, Verbenaceae) in the background, Dolores Park.
Mini chocolate button cookie.
Mini eclair.
Mini strawberry shortbread cookie.
Mini vanilla cream puff.
Non-fat latte.
Fantasia Coffee & Tea, San Jose CA
Stopped here for a coffee and sweets break while shopping in Santana Row for the first time. The sweets were ok, nothing special. I was able to talk the cashier to let me mix and match the pastries though since they were 5 pieces of $3.50. And it’s great to sit outside in the park area in front of the coffee shop on a bright, sunny day!
Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph. The interior of this basilica is beautiful! Unfortunately, they were having a service when we visited so we couldn’t look around as much as we wanted.
Valrhona flourless chocolate mousse cake on a thin layer of chocolate cake base. 10 inch round, $62
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco
I had some co-workers over shortly after my birthday and served this wonderfully delicious cake from Tartine Bakery. This is one of those cakes that a slice is more than enough. The cake was so rich and dense. I tried forcing people to take slices home because I didn’t want it in the house to tempt me. Suffice it to say I had more than my fair share.
You can see that the chocolate cake base is, indeed, very thin. The rest of the cake eats like a block of soft chocolate. Noms!
I love that the bakery provides a sheet on serving and keeping this cake. It reads, “Chocolate Souffle Cake, Opera Cake: Both of these cakes may be served cool or at room temperature. If served cool they are sliceable with a hot knife (run knife under very hot water and dry off to slice). The cakes may be served at room temperature, although they fillings will be considerably softer and more difficult to handle. The Opera will still be sliceable, however the Souffle Cake will have a soft, mousse-like consistency which some people prefer. These cakes keep well for several days in the refrigerator.”
Checkerboard cake topped with sugary icing and gold leaf. Complimentary
Benu, San Francisco
This was SO sweet! I hadn’t mentioned that this was my birthday dinner when I made the dinner reservation, but I mentioned it on the side at the beginning of the meal when we handed them our Dom Perignon. Our server obviously took note and brought this birthday surprise at the end of the meal. It came in this large black music box with blue lights on the side (I wish I had taken a photo of it). You turned the handle and it played “Happy Birthday”. I really wasn’t sure what it was, but Silverfox suggested that there was probably something inside so we lifted the lid and this cake was underneath. SO cute! Of course it tasted delicious, but birthday cakes always taste the best!
Pre fixe dinner $180
Benu, San Francisco
I’m not sure what all the flavors were, but they were beautiful and delicious. I also loved the presentation.
With white chocolate. Pre fixe dinner $180
Benu, San Francisco
This was a very fun dessert! I loved the flavor combination and textures. The grapefruit was fresh, the white chocolate sweet, and the espelette peppers nice and spicy. You can see a red dollop of the espelette on top, but there was also a layer of it on the very bottom. A nice surprise! I don’t know if you could call this an ice cream. It looked like it was frozen with liquid nitrogen or something, resulting in an airy crystallized texture. Like I said, very fun!
Project 365: Day 100
Wow, it’s the 100th day since I’ve started these Project 365 entries. I’m glad that I’ve stuck with it. It was great to be back at the office, but I’m looking forward to a weekend filled with absolutely nothing. Silverfox and I are gonna grab a quick dinner at Kasa Indian Eatery before having a Friday cocktail. We’re gonna have an early night since he flies out to Seattle tomorrow morning. I’m also still really tired and need to catch up on sleep.
Chocolate cake with whipped cream filling and icing, topped with assorted fruit and covered with chocolate sprinkles.
Sogo Bakery, Burlingame CA
The office got this light and delicious birthday cake for me. I was genuinely surprised when they presented it. I was SO preoccupied thinking about the upcoming weekend that it didn’t even cross my mind that my office would get a cake to jump start the celebration. Thanks guys!
I was surprised how much I liked this flavor. I got it on a whim, but it was really good! I didn’t realize there was dried coconut inside until a few nibbles into it. Very yummy. I don’t know if all the German chocolate cookies stay chunky and upright, but I liked it. The center stayed a little undercooked and was absolutely delicious! $1.25
Anthony’s Cookies, San Francisco
Ah, you really can’t go wrong with a well-executed classic. This chocolate chip cookie is soft and chewy and oh so good! I swear there’s a stick of butter in there! $1.25
Anthony’s Cookies, San Francisco
Vittle Monster 