I don't remember what went on between Valentine's day and the end of April - that's why I'm suppose to update this thing... based on Facebook I spent some of those months farming an imaginary farm and tending imaginary fish. Mother's day in San Diego - and of course visits to Nick's on Broadway.

Dinner @ Nick's on Broadway: 4/30/2010

- Spring salad with walnut and honey vinaigrette
- Carrot & Parsnip Soup
- Scallop on pea greens with citrus
- Haddock on carrot puree with spring peas
- Smoked Chicken Salad on a roasted bread
- Roast Duck on fiddleheads and wild mushrooms with barley and star anise au jus
- Amuse bouche: Grapefruit sorbet & Champagne
- Sirloin with roast fingerlings, asparagus and videlia onion
- Chocolate and fruit - chocolate ganache, chocolate sorbet, chocolate custard and sliced grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and mint

And I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures for the blog, but it was some of the prettiest food that we have had at Nick's! It made me promise myself to not forget my camera again.

Dinners at Nick's on Broadway

After our December dinner, we didn't make it back to Nick's until Valentines Day. Brian and Alice went with us. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the variety of dishes leaving the kitchen, but the dishes that Derek prepared were delicious

http://nicksonbroadway.com/site/valentines-day-tasting-menu/

Saint Valentine’s Day Tasting Menu
February 13th + 14th 2010

Welcome to our Valentine’s celebration meal at nicks! Our very special menu includes four courses (with surprises) for just $50 per person (exclusive of beverage, tax and gratuity). Wine pairings are available with each course ($5 per course).

Please let your server know of any allergies. Enjoy!

‘At first we meet’
Golden potato + watercress soup with crème fraiche + olive oil or Butter-roasted sea scallops with cauliflower puree, frisee + citrus sauce

‘A second glance’
Sweet potato + celery root cake with baby greens salad + black pepper aioli or Crispy-skin salmon with creamy kale, thyme + allspice

‘Dinner for two’
Butternut squash risotto with parmesan, chives + fresh herbs or Petite Hereford Sirloin with French fingerlings, pork belly, onions + spiced port wine

‘Sweets for my sweet’
Tasting of dark chocolate pots de crème, chocolate truffle, clove-cocoa biscuits + red wine caramel with citrus fruits, berries + mint

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at nicks!


By Valentine's Day, we were on an every month and a half plan, so we were shooting for the end of March. I'm sure we made it, but I don't have what we ate written down, and I don't remember, that's why I started writing down what we ate in April...

Discovery of Nick's on Broadway in Providence, RI

In December, we planned to go to Providence, RI to see Avatar on the Providence Place IMAX 3D screen. It was an amazing movie! Of course, in our planning, we considered dinner a critical part of the plan. Stephen went to Trip Advisor, I went to Food Network - we both found this restaurant called Nick's on Broadway. So, we figured that we would give it a try.
It has become one of our favorites, we go back about once a month for the chef's tasting menu - 6 courses, and we have been writing down the dishes in our journal.

Other odd and entertaining things in Napa

There were a couple of crazy things we saw in Napa this time:
The Heitz Cellars Tasting Room had a miniature pincer that loved to sit in the fire place.


One morning we went to a breakfast place that had great muffins and eggs benedict. We sat near the restrooms, and I couldn't help myself - I had to take a picture!

Food in California

There was nothing that compared to "The French Laundry" of the 2009 trip, but we did finally make it to Taylor's Refresher.


We had to go twice, because the first time we got fish tacos and the Ahi tuna burger - which were both AWESOME!


We went back and got beef burgers, and I thought that the Ahi tuna burger was more interesting and better than the beef burger, but it was a very delicious beef burger.

All of the food on the trip was great! Liam's birthday dinner was pretty amazing also!

The Fog in Napa

Everywhere we went, people were complaining about the cold and the rain. Coming from Connecticut, we had little sympathy.

Nonetheless, it made Stag's Leap look very cool.


It also made the trip to Terra Valentine, which is at the top of Spring Mountain, sort of scary. Stephen and I felt like we were headed into the woods of Elron in Middle Earth. The trip was well worth it, the estate is something to behold and the wine was so tasty, Stephen joined the wine club - that makes five...

2010 January Napa Vineyard List

• Flora Springs - The Estate (visit #2) (wc)
  
• Heitz Cellars
  
• Ma(i)sonry
• Robert Craig Tasting Room
• Paraduxx (wc)
  
• Chappellet - (visit #2) (wc)
  
• Darioush
• Flora Springs - The Room
  
• Terra Valentine (wc)
  
• Domaine Chandon
• Robert Sinskey
• Shafer
  

It's been a while: January 2010 Napa & San Diego

It has been quite some time since we updated our blog, but we have not been idle. In January, we went to Napa Valley and San Diego for Liam's Birthday!



Napa was very rainy, but it was nice to visit in the off-season. There were several tastings where we were the only people at the tasting, where in May 2009, we would have been hardly able to get in on the tastings.




In the end, we visited 11 vineyards, some old some new.



Stephen kept the car out of the ditch, and the vineyards were actually beautiful. Next time we go in the winter, we will go after Liam's birthday for the Mustard Festival.