Sunday, January 15, 2012

RAVE - Solbar, Calistoga

After a perfect day sampling wines from Cliff Lede and Joseph Phelps' wineries, we retired and partially revived at Joy's vacation home above Calistoga, and hit the town again Saturday night.

Rather than suffering from being part of a spa (and forcing salads on every guest), Solbar cleverly color-codes the "light" and the "hearty" dishes on the menu.

My hearty choices included the Duck Confit and the Wagyu Brisket "cooked sous-vide for 42 hours and then braised in its juices".  The rest of the party had scallops, escarole salad, pork belly, petrale soul, and the like.

Solbar is super-stylish, especially so for wine country, where "style" too often translates into cute foliage and a super-abundance of wine paraphernalia.

The michelin-starred restaurant boasts plenty of choices, and we pushed the boat out dessert-wise, with fried apple pie, basque cake, chocolate marquis, and lemon parfait with chopped cookies.

Definitely a place to re-visit, perhaps on a warmer evening where we can sit outside in the glamorous gardens.

1 comment:

Bill Eley said...

All very well stated....