We stayed at Napa for a night. Napa was a lot quieter than I expected.
Read some great reviews about Carpe Diem wine bar on Yelp so we have decided to drop by.
We were led to the bar
We have ordered a few small plates to share and a sparkling wine flight, where we have 3 small glasses of sparkling wine to try out.
Crab stuffed squash blossom - This was my favourite out of all.
Home made burrata - it was very creamy. The bread provided was chargrilled.
Braised short rib tamales - I remember there wasn't much filling inside. The wrapping was thick
Katsu - very average
Sparkling wine tasting
(One sad news about this wine bar is there was a 6.0 earthquake a few weeks later and that the building collapsed :( They are now rebuilding the restaurant and they now open a counter at the Oxbow market)
On the next day, we went to Model Bakery at Oxbow market for breakfast.
We have ordered a breakfast sandwich.
The English muffin was sooooo butter and soft.
This is the best I have ever had.
We then drove to Mumm Napa for a tour
First we were shown the different grapes they use for their sparkling wine, explaining how they grow, manage and mix the grapes to produce the diff types of wine.
He talked through the process involved and have shown us all the big machines they use.
Of course, the tour wouldn't be complete without a little taste of their sparkling wine.
I find it rather interesting that they actually have live yeast inside to make the bubbles.
They then tilt the bottle so that all the yeast deposits at the neck of the bottle
They then freeze it and just chop the end off to remove them.
The complete range they offer.
You should definitely buy a few bottles while you are there as it is a lot cheaper.
(They also offer great military discount)
We then drove to Youtville and wanted to see if we could get a table at French Laundry :p
but don't think they open in the afternoon ..
booooooo ...
It was a lovely area to walk around anayway
We got a table at Bouchon instead - which is opened by Thomas Keller too.
A more casual bistro.
Beignets de Brandade de Morue
cod brandade with tomato confît
& fried sage
Gnudi aux Truffes
ricotta-parmesan dumplings
with black winter truffles
One of those specials - Chicken salad
The bread they served on the side was really good too!
Freshly baked.
After the meal, we stopped by the bakery next door and bought some macaroons :)
On the way back, we stopped by the Jellybean factory at Fairfield :p
It was packed with kids!!!! (a bit of a mess)
There was a long queue for the tour but we have wanted for it anyway.
I guess we queued for roughly 30min?
Around the factory, they have a few paintings done using jelly beans :p
The tour was alright :p It was free and you get a free bag of jelly bean at the end of the tour.
However, if time is tight then I wouldn't bother going unless you are a huge fans.
No photo can be taken during the tour.
I love watching the program - how it's made.
I don't think I had a good overview of the process from the tour though....
but it's free, what do you expect :p
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