Cornerstone Cellars and Stepping Stone Cellars, Napa Valley

 

Cornerstone Cellars located in the middle of downtown Yountville, just a step away from some of the best restaurants in Napa Valley, 13C6D1F3-7DA7-4D5D-8109-8164E0A56613The French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, Ad Hoc, Bottega, Hurley’s, Redd and Redd Wood. Such a cute white painted cottage, think of a French country side, it’s much more spacious than it looks from the outside.

A long bar by the left side where you can chill and wines tasting, or reserve a table, where you can have a private tasting with your group. Plenty art works through out the tasting room and store, rack and rack of wines, as well as wine country souvenir for sale here. Another private tasting room for a larger group in the back where you can see a lot of their magnum bottles display through out the room.

9EF15376-AE9F-4884-9AA9-99234B14E75F    In 1991 Cornerstone Cellars was founded by Dr. Michael Dragutsky. Later managing partner Craig Camp from Napa Valley,  then current winemaker Jeff Keene from New Zealand came on board. They brought Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley to wine lovers.

We were lucky to chat with winemaker Jeff Keene and it was very informative and nothing better than having a winemaker poured
your wines, while walk you through the wines he makes.

Together with managing partner Craig Camp’s old world style background (he was importer of Burgundy & Bordeaux, and years of 31C3E691-F1E3-4C07-9420-1230BF1AFD46working at wineries in Italy); winemaker Jeff Keene, a New Zealand native and making wines here in Napa Valley. They now making elegant wines, terroir driven, balance in acidity and alcohol levels to pair with food better. I say they make old world style wines, the kind of wines that I personally love to drink. I don’t like wines with high alcohol, it just kills my taste bud.

With that said, we got to try some of their best selling wines, a few that memorable to me.

– 2011 Cornerstone, Cabernet Sauvignon, The Cornerstone, Napa Valley, Reserve; it’s a single vineyard, and only 100 cases made. A Bordeaux style blend of Cab, Merlot and Cab Franc. It was definitely a cooler vintage, in French Oak barrel for 22 months. This B4B52DB6-E2EC-47D8-906E-9427F149F067was a rare treat and a very gorgeous wine, round, elegant, silky, beautiful nose, and lingering finish. I enjoyed this every much.

– 2011 Cornerstone, Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley $80, ripe fruit, powerful, spices, full bodied, and long finish, this is a voluptuous wine. We love it.

– 2012 Cornerstone, Napa Valley, Sauvignon Blanc, steel then 5 months in used French Oak, tropical fruits, pineapple, honeydew, melon, citrus, bright, and crisp, it’s a perfect wine for shellfish and Sunday Brunch.

– 2011 Cornerstone Napa Valley, Cab Franc, black label $45, ripe tannins, round, tobacco, herbal aromatic, lingering on the finish, elegance, structure, and rounder with an edge. I’m not a fruits bomb girl, so anything savory, you got me, this bottle did it for me. Reasonable, deliver, and food friendly cab franc is a hard to find in Napa Valley for less than $45.

FullSizeRender   We also got to try the Oregon’s Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. It was quite nice as well. We can’t wait to come back.

They also offer 4 different wine club members, and all vary to to your desire. Check them out here: www.cornerstonecellars.com/Wine-Club and follow them on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/CornerstoneNapa  and Instagram here: https://instagram.com/craigcamp

So if you visit Yountville, Cornerstone Cellars tasting room is a perfect spot for you to drop in for some good wines tasting before your dinner reservation.

Tasting Fee is only $20, members are FREE. You got to try out 5 different wines. If you have a group of more than 4 people on the weekend, reservation is highly recommended.

Cornerstone Cellars
www.cornerstonecellars.com
6505 Washington Steet
Yountville, CA 94599
Tasting room: 1-707-945-0388
Email: TastingRoom@cornerstonecellars.com

by Manda Bear @1MandaBear

 

El Dorado Kitchen at El Dorado Hotel, Sonoma, CA

After a long day wine tasting in Sonoma County, we were eldorado1starving and ready to eat  our heart out. El Dorado Kitchen comes to our rescue. Knowing chef Armando Navarro from REDD in Napa, and I was excited to see what he was about to serve us.

El Dorado Kitchen is located in the El Dorado Hotel, it’s such a cute place, open kitchen, a 21-foot-long table fashioned from a single wood plank reclaimed from a Vermont bridge, lots of eldorado3windows for sun light, white trim, fresh flowers, something about this place is so romantic to me. Well, I was in the company of 2 other hot foodies/good friends 🙂

El Dorado Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. We were here for a dinner feast, and I wasn’t kidding.eldorado4

– Kusshi, South Puget Sound, Baywater Sweet oysters – a dozen of freshness!

– Ahi Tuna Tartare – Soy vinaigrette, wonton chips, asian pear, avocado, wasabi tobiko, micro cilantro – tasty, generous portion.

– Roasted Young Beets – Goat cheese mousse, orange, watercress, pistachio meringue – perfect for a warm summer night in Sonoma.
eldorado6
– Steamed Mussels – Chorizo, chickpeas, garlic, white wine broth, country croutons – the mussels weren’t plumed, but the broth was perfect for crouton dipping. It soaked up the broth and it was so good!

– The Truffles fries – oh goodness, gracious, this order is BIGGER than my head! However, it was perfect for dipping to the mussels broth!

– Chilled Corn Soup – Corn & shrimp salsa, chili oil, brioche crouton – it was nice and smooth, love.eldorado5

– Pork Belly – cherry tomato, pickled ramps, jalapeño vinaigrette – this was a SPECIAL order, since I’m allergic to watermelon, chef changed up the recipe. I love pork belly and this is why I work out regularly, so I can indulge this kind of goodness!

– Dungeness Crab Cake – Heirloom tomato gazpacho, avocado, sweet 100 tomatoes, pea shoots – fresh and sweet, beautiful plating.

– Housemade Ricotta & Lemon Ravioli – Roasted artichokes, asparagus, rutabaga, parmesan, guazzetto – delicious.

– Pork and ahi tuna tacos, special order from chef Armando Navarro – thank you for this – they offer on the bar menu.

eldoado5DESSERTS:

– Vanilla Tapioca – Peach, rhubarb gel, brioche, raspberry sorbet

– Baked Chocolate Mousse – Chocolate shortbread crumble, crème fraîche froth, mint chocolate chip ice cream

– Cherry Crisp – Lemon curd, streusel, cream cheese sorbet

For the wine list, El Dorado Kitchen carries almost 170 wines by the bottles and 30 by the glasses, majority Sonoma County, Napa, and decent choices of French wines, I’m impressed. I love that how all the local wines are small mark up, that was exactly what we did, ordered Sonoma wines.

Service was good, the food was so reasonably price point, GENEROUS PORTIONS, so we obviously over ordered ourselves. Thank you chef Armando for the extra love and changed the recipe because I was allergic to the watermelon.

eldorado2           During our dinner, there was a black out in Sonoma Square, the restaurant kept calm, and continue to serve us in extra candle lights, just about 5 minutes later, the light was back on, and everything was as smooth as nothing had happened.

My 2 girlfriends and I couldn’t even move by the time we finished the dinner. We are full, satisfied, and happy. I love it here and I can’t wait to bring more friends and family back here soon.

Follow chef on IG: http://instagram.com/chef_g_navarro

El Dorado Kitchen
www.EldoradoSonoma.com
405 1st St W,
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 996-3030

by Manda Bear – @1MandaBear

Zenshin, Chef Chris Recaido, at South Point Hotel, Las Vegas

I’ve followed Chef CHRIS RECAIDO on Instagram for sometimes
now www.Instagram/C_REC, have dined at his former place SENSEI sushi inside the Marriott Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii before. I told myself, I will visit him at Zenshin Asian Restaurant at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas at some point. zenshin5

I come to Vegas average 6 times a year, some trip like the CES one last month, I stayed for 8 days, I finally got to visit Chef Chris Ricaido. All I can say is WOW, I’m impressed.

If you look at their website, nowhere zenshin6mentioned his name besides the owner and the executive chef, or that their website is a bit dated, they even misspell the grape varietal. However, be sure to call in advance, to make sure chef Chris is in, you will be in for a real treat.

Zenshin Asian zenshin8Restaurant is spacious, you don’t have that feel of a cozy Japanese restaurant. It’s big and almost feels as you walk into a cafeteria. However, the oval sushi bar, makes it perfect for foodies, you can watch to chef and cooks do all their magic in front of you. Don’t let the look and feel of Zenshin discourage you.

Their HAPPY HOUR is amazing, such a great deal on cocktails and not-so-small-bites:zenshin1

– Strawberry Bangkok

– Rising Sun

– Beers & wine

– Hamachi Kama – Grilled Yellowtail Collar & Ponzu Sauce, the zenshin4CHEAPEST in Las Vegas! Order it!

– Teriyaki Beef Sliders or Soft Shell Crab Cake Sliders

– Karaage Chicken

Now the regular menu:

– Jalapeno Yellowtail – Hamachi, Jalapeno, Shiso, Tobiko & Truffle Ponzu – order this!

– Sizzlin’ Tuna – Sizzled with Grape Seed Oil, Ginger, Chives & Truffled Soy – delishzenshin3

– Teriyaki Beef – Marinated in Soy, Ginger, Garlic & Simply Grilled, simply falvorful.

– Uni with caviar, toro, tai, hamachi were all fresh and high-quality fish.

– Cucumber roll with tuna, hamachi, salmon was so delicious, fresh, and it was my FAV roll, off-the-menu, but if you request on a weekday, chef will do it for you.

zenshin2    I have met many chefs via Instagram and Twitter, Chef Chris Ricaido is 1 of the most genuine chefs, he’s humble, kind, young and very cute too!  And I probably enjoy his company a lot more because he’s from Hawaii where my half broski was born and raised, what not to love about him 🙂

zenshin9   Service was very attentive, the price point is so reasonable compared to everything on the main strip or San Francisco Bay Area. This is why I love to come to Vegas for food. TRUST ME, take a short cab drive to the South Point Hotel to check out Zenshin, it’s a perfect sushi spot for a big group or for family on budget.

Follow chef Chris Ricaido and you will see: www.Instagram/C_REC

Zenshin Restaurant
www.southpointcasino.com
9777 S Las Vegas Blvd,
Las Vegas, NV 89183
(702) 797-8538

by Manda Bear – @1MandaBear

Dining with Flynn, Chef Flynn McGarry, Eureka,

Chef Flynn McGarry was cooking at the age of 10, seriously, in his kitchen/bedroom. He’s now 16 years old, offers EUREKA – Los Angeles, a pop up  monthly to serve his fans. Chef Flynn continues to create tasting menus for EUREKA with pop ups in New York and

FlynnMcGarryrecently with summer pop ups in DTLA. And the latest one was at the Michelin Starred Atelier Crenn in San Francisco where I got lucky to score a reservation in late January 2015.

This prodigy young and talented chef had been self taught and his unifirst cook book was The French Laundry, yes, true story. Flynn has been staged at 3 Michelin Star Alinea in Chicago with chef Grant Achatz, as well as Eleven Madison Park in New York City with chef Daniel Humm, and work a long side of many talented chefs in Los Angeles.

I have been following him a little while and was so impressed with his discipline, dedication, love and passion for cooking, it’s just simply unbelievable.

steakWhen I was 12-16, I was a typical teenager running around school doing our teenager things! Look at this young bright chef-in-the-making.

He was on Time magazine’s 25 most influential teens list and his EUREKA pop up appeared on Zagat’s 30 under 30 Los Angeles 2014 list.

He has been on so many major magazines around the country as well as cooked on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
TODAY show with Chef Daniel Boulud, and was featured on NBC sunchokeNightly News.

For $160 tax and tips inclusive, for the dinner pop up, he served us 14 dishes, progressive new American cuisine. The ingredients he offers is high quality; the technique is truly Michelin Star style.

– Foie Gras
– Egg Yolk cured and gel with saffron, raw squash, yellow beet
– Razor clam
– Lobster roll – delicious
– Uni – brined in sea water with carrot and coffee was delicious and unusual pairing.
– Kohlrabi – confit in cheese fat was so good.
– pumpkin – roasted with mulling spices, bacon, Apple cider
– Sunchokes – pistachio, pear, barigoule – this was so tasty.
– Passmore Ranch sturgeon – grilled in cabbage leaves w/ cauliflower, ham hock, cabbage and sturgeon roulade.
– 21 days aged beet – bordelaise, wilted greens – interesting taste, fascinating flavor.
– Yorkshire pudding – I got to ask for more
– Belcampo Farms ribeye – grilled over Japanese charcoal with celery root, chicories, preserved lemon, amaranth – wish it was a bigger bite! Love the aromatic charred.
– Pistachio, frozen yogurt, cake, white chocolate, Meyer lemon.
– Coffe and parsnip
– Mignardises

Passmore-Ranch-TurbotService by the staff at Atelier Crenn was excellent.

Chef was working hard in the kitchen. He made sure every single dish left the kitchen was perfect. I got to chat with him for a bit. He was a little shy, skinny, and tall with handsome blonde hair. My girlfriends were teasing, we got to wait 2 more years till he turns 18, seriously.

Flynn-BearIt was a memorable meal, keep in mind he’s barely 16 years old. With this rate going, I’m not surprise he’s going to own his restaurant in a few years, and will be the youngest Michelin Star chef ever, in-the-making. I say 5 years from now!

Follow him on IG:  www.Instagram.com/DiningwithFlynn
Follow him on Twitter: www.Twittercom/DiningwithFlynn

by Manda Bear – @1MandaBear

Bardot Brasserie by Michael Mina at Aria Hotel, Las Vegas

Chef Michael Mina’s newest concept celebrates a renaissance of French technique

262b1314-67fb-4cc1-9fac-da71ad2a72bbBARDOT Brasserie, Las Vegas’ debut French concept from James Beard award-winning chef Michael Mina, is now open for dinner and weekend brunch at ARIA Resort & Casino. Paying homage to the skillful culinary techniques, celebrated libations and sexy atmosphere for which The City of Light is renowned, Chef Mina has created a stylish and unforgettable interpretation of a Parisian brasserie in the center of The Strip.
Le Menu
To create BARDOT’s menu, Chef Mina and Executive Chef Joshua Smith merged their travels to Paris with exceptional culinary techniques to develop an array of imaginative dishes.

  • Inspired Cuisine – Chef Mina pays homage to classic French cuisine presenting an exquisite array of signature dishes that celebrate the iconic café culture of Paris. Traditional Onion Soup Gratinée is a gourmet masterpiece that guests can customize with Perigord truffles, braised oxtail and a soft-poached egg; while wings offer an ode to the traditional Duck À L’Orange dish. BARDOT’s version of a Croque Madame is piled high with Paris Ham and Gruyére Fondue then topped with an over-easy organic egg.
  • FullSizeRender (1)Seafood Selections – BARDOT’s extensive seafood menu includes exotic dishes such as Monkfish Bourride, Sautéed Skate Wing and Yellowfin Tuna Niçoise, in addition to a seafood tower that guests can personalize with lobster, king crab, oysters, clams and shrimp.
  • Steak Frites – BARDOT offers the highest quality cuts of beef c369097a-e1d5-4541-abb0-a5ea8a3750c2cooked over an oak wood and charcoal grill. The restaurant’s Steak Frites is a perfect dish for French food aficionados and novices alike featuring an 8 oz. Flat Iron, 12 oz. Ribeye or 8 oz. Filet, which can be accompanied by béarnaise, au poivre, bordelaise or foie gras butter. Pair the dish with simply sinful beef fat fries and bon appétit!
  • Decadent Desserts – For dessert, Chefs Mina and Smith took the traditional French Macaron and cooked up a large-scale presentation of the ultra-decadent sweet, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Lemon fans will swoon over BARDOT’s Lemon Meringue Tart, prepared with market citrus and fresh berries, while lovers of the classic French desserts will marvel at the Mille Fueille, a caramelized puff pastry with vanilla crème patisserie.

Les Boissons
IMG_0029ARIA’s Mixologist Craig Schoettler, Wine Director Kim Wood and Mina Group’s Director of Cocktails Carlo Splendorini salute French drinking tradition with an inventive beverage menu that cannot be experienced elsewhere.

  • Finest Wines – Wood curated one of the most extensive by-the-glass programs, as well as the largest selection of French wines in Las Vegas at BARDOT, highlighting the finest small production and rare vintages from across the globe. Additionally, BARDOT will be one of the only restaurants in the country offering wines by the houses of Couly-Dutheil, Patrick Piuze and Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve, regarded as some of the finest in France.
  • Innovative Cocktails – The restaurant’s cocktail program 1B9A8C54-E3B7-461C-B65F-0614DAE6390Bcombines the best of French culture and Las Vegas style. Signature sips include And God Created Women, a satisfying layering of French spirits and egg whites; and the Voltaire, a cider-based cocktail that dazzles the senses with baked apple bitters and housemade ginger syrup.
  • Eclectic Brews – Beer enthusiasts will be delighted by more than 80 international hard-to-find varieties such as Germany’s Kulmbacher, Belgium’s N’ice Chouffe and France’s Jade Organic. BARDOT also boasts its own exclusive craft beer, Hors D’âge, brewed in Northern France in collaboration with Stillwater Artisanal Ales.
  • Historic Spirits – Schoettler scoured the beverage world to garner BARDOT Brasserie’s impressive collection of historic spirits, including cognacs dating back to 1811 and Las Vegas’ largest selection of Chartreuse, the legendary French liqueur distilled by Carthusian Monks.

L’atmosphére
ee1ce84a-b8b8-4547-898c-1a5b62c40417Created by Bishop Pass Interior Architectural Design Studio, BARDOT’s space exudes a dark and sexy, almost enigmatic atmosphere.

  • Big Brass Bar – A vibrant location for mingling with friends or grabbing a cocktail, BARDOT’s bar will catch visitors’ attention the minute they walk inside. Perched high above the zinc countertop is a maze of brass pipes connecting to form shelves for the venue’s high-end spirits and alcohol.
  • Chic Dining Room – BARDOT’s main dining room offers a traditional yet luxurious dining space. Walls of black lacquer are paneled with gold pen striping, surrounding a series of Parisian columns. Burgundy leather booths and bistro-style tables spread across a pristine marble floor, where guests can sneak a peek inside the restaurant’s show kitchen as they watch their meals come to life.
  • C2B43A10-F3A0-4AA8-B6E8-FDBE62EEB4B1Sidewalk Café – A nod to Parisian sidewalk cafes, BARDOT features intimate seating outside of the restaurant for an entertaining dining and people-watching experience. Situated in the courtyard overlooking ARIA’s second-floor promenade, the locale’s French-inspired storefront and high windows transport guests to a 20th century literary café in Paris.

BARDOT Brasserie is located on the second floor of ARIA. The restaurant’s hours of operation are:

  • Dinner daily from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
  • Brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday
  • Nightly happy hour from 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the bar and in the lounge

For reservations or for more information call 877.230.2742 or visit www.ARIA.com.  Follow BARDOT on Twitter and Instagram at @Bardot_LV.

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