Where to eat in Napa and Sonoma

As promised! The second half of our trip to California in food, of course. 

We drove up to Napa Valley and went straight to lunch at Mustard's Grill

Starting with a beautiful tomato salad...

as well as grilled peach and burrata toast.

Arrived in Napa

and headed straight to a champagne and reds tasting at Domaine Carneros. It felt like we were at a European castle, it's so beautiful!

Then we arrived at our hotel, but the room wasn't ready

So cocktails on the house for us! A cucumber vodka, watermelon + lime situation for me.

Later that evening, dinner at Farm (our hotel's restaurant!)

Starting with a simple amuse-bouche from the kitchen.

Then the scallop crudo

with plenty of beautiful radishes.

And the gnocchi

with squash blossoms!

And perfect salmon

that was crispy on the outside + tender on the inside. Served with a corn salad I would like to order in pints.

Finishing with a cheesecake situation

with berries and edible flowers

And a lavender cake situation too!

And if that wasn't enough...

a few more treats to finish with!

Next morning, we started with wine tasting right away

First stop, Silverado Vineyards. The views were incredible.

And some red was sipped on their beautiful patio.

D'aw!

Then to a smaller vineyard, The Terraces

While smaller they have so much going on there. Beautiful wines, small batches of ciders...

and barrels of balsamic vinegar.

This stuff was the real deal + we were lucky enough to taste a little bit of their work.

And their vineyard was adorable.

And then they let us picnic at their picnic tables

So we enjoyed cold cuts, shrimp cocktail, cheeses + lots of other goodies in the sun. And of courses there was wine too.

And dessert too!

Cheesecakes, grapes + cookies.

And the final stop for the day, Inglenook.

I passed on wine, but enjoyed an iced mocha while strolling through this historic property.

Ok maybe I had a sip...

and took that classic "I'm in a vineyard and you're not" shot.

After a trip to the pool

we took an Uber over to Michael Chiarello's restaurant Bottega. Starting with calamari coated in rice flour served with squid ink aioli. 

Salumi and cheese

served with vine-dried raisins. 

And a crudo

served on a LARGE salt block. 

Moving onto risotto

with a prosciutto-wrapped fig!

Ending with a fig cake...

and an up-side down cake with hazelnuts!

Next morning we started early with a trip to Sonoma for the day

Starting at Benziger Family Winery.

This winery focused on biodynamic wines

meaning that the wines are created eco-responsibly. And this white one was one of my favorites from the trip!

How amazing is their wine cave!

Well, the part where you get to dine in a wine cave at least.

Next we ran over to B.R. Cohn

A wine and olive oil company. They also have an adorable gourmet shop where you can taste their olive oils + vinegars.

I mean, how cute!

And we finished at Repris

With white on their picnic tables...

And red in their wine cave.

Their really really cool wine cave.

And their amazing space where they produce the wines.

Finishing with even more wine

and delicious things to snack on.

Another dip in the pool, then to Celadon for dinner.

Diving into coconut-fried prawn salad...

and crispy braised pork belly

with fresh watermelon.

And to finish up

vanilla creme brûlée with caramelized bananas. So good!

And sad it was our last day, but we finished with breakfast at our hotel.

Eggs Benedict with jalapeño hollandaise, thick-cut ham + crispy hash browns.

Are you traveling to Napa and Sonoma soon? I'd love to hear what places are on your list!