Napa and Sonoma counties are our favorites for short getaways. Here you’ll find award winning wineries, world famous restaurants (visited by foodies around the world), and smaller eateries offering both creative and delicious (but more affordable) fare. Besides the unique wine and food scene, the views are just beautiful: acres of vineyards, rolling hills, lazy rivers, and green orchards. This is where you go in California to enjoy a relaxing break with great wines, delicious food, and a mediterranean climate.
Articles
Recipes, travel notes, and family stories.
One benefit of living in California is the variety and authenticity of international food, including our favorite little treat: Taiwanese bubble tea! Over the years, my husband and I have tried lots of bubble tea places between San Jose and Mountain View. Many of them are well known chains like Happy Lemon, Teaspoon, and Gong Cha.
We finally were able to get a reservation at The French Laundry, the world famous restaurant of the celebrity chef Thomas Keller.
2020 has been a brutal year for the restaurant industry because of COVID-19. On top of this, many restaurants and vineyards in Napa valley were destroyed by the Glass Fire in Sep 2020. The Restaurant at Meadowood (TRAM) was unfortunately one of them. We were lucky to dine there in July 2020 before it was destroyed.
Left: Petit fours
Kir Breton
We ate at Wakuriya - a one star Japanese kaiseki restaurant in San Francisco bay area - to relive the memory of our honeymoon in Japan last December.
Whenever my husband and I visit a city, we try to find at least one signature dining experience that not only gives us the chance to try delicious food we’ve never had before, but also helps us learn more about the local culture.
The day we arrived in Tokyo, our Tabelog concierge sent us an email to see if we would be interested in a tempura dinner at Takiya. This restaurant is unusually hard to get in since it is new and hot. We got lucky because someone canceled their reservation at the last minute. I was a bit skeptical about a dinner of just tempura, so I went with some doubt. We ended up having a blast. The dinner was one of the highlights of our trip in Japan.
Tokyo, where extremes exist in harmony, is a travel destination like no other. The latest technology is often invented here, while pen and paper are still widely used for bookkeeping. You can enjoy the view from 2000 feet on top of the Tokyo Skytree, and you can enjoy dinner in old style tatami rooms around the corner. You will encounter people in kimonos in Ginza and the Asakusa temple district, and you will see young people challenging the traditional definition of fashion and beauty in Shibuya. It is a city full of surprises.