Woodhouse Chocolate in St. Helena, CA

On my recent trip to Napa County, I finally got to visit Woodhouse Chocolate. It's a gorgeous little shop on Main Street, and it fits right in with the other boutiquey stores lining downtown St. Helena. The store is beautifully laid out, with marble counters, antique furniture, pretty displays (their winter display in the front window was of a fleet of marching black-and-white chocolate penguins across an arctic tundra of billowy cotton), and two glass-walled stations where representatives assist you with your selection of loose chocolates.

Now, Woodhouse Chocolate is expensive. And honestly, for the money, you can buy better chocolate. Recchiuti, for example, has a much more sophisticated line of confectionary chocolates, and I'd say now that Scharffen-Berger has been bought by the Hershey's conglomerate, Recchiuti rules the roost, at least in the Bay Area. The truffles I tried were not as flavorful as I had hoped, and tasted too buttery. When you get pieces this tiny, you hope for a burst of flavor, which was definitely lacking.

What Woodhouse does sell is style. As you can see, the boxes and the packaging are really lovely. Unfortunately, it's a definite issue of style over substance.

Here's a run-down of the chocolates I tried:

Brown Butter - Bland, and too buttery. Tasted fatty.
Fiori di Sicilia - Couldn't taste the marzipan. Orangy flavor more floral than fruity. Vanilla "cream" layer disgusting.
Honey - Good honey flavor. Very buttery ganache. Too mild.
Heart of Darkness - Better than the Sur de Lago (the chocolate ganache was smoother in the Heart of Darkness), but the nibs weren't crunchy; they were too soft.
Pecan Caramel - Terribly salty. Didn't enjoy this at all.
Praline Cream - Disgusting. Vanilla "cream" on top layer, hazelnut praline on bottom layer. Vanilla "ganache" was heinous.
Praline Noisette - One of the best of the bunch. Had a great deal of hazelnut flavor, and the chopped up hazelnuts made it tastier.
Quatre Epices - Tasted vaguely like pumpkin. Could have had a stronger flavor. Not terribly spicy (could taste cloves, cinnamon).
Raspberry Chambord - Too light. Not enough berry flavor, and the white ganache wasn't great. The white chocolate couverture tasted good, though.
Sur de Lago - Dark chocolate ganache with dark chocolate couverture. The ganache wasn't that smooth.
Toasted Coconut - Even with the white chocolate ganache, I enjoyed the coconut. Maybe because I didn't expect too much.
Wild Cherry - Good cherry flavor, but quite sweet. Almost like a cordial in flavor, but with dark chocolate ganache.


As my comments show, I really didn't enjoy these. You'd do much better with mail order from L.A. Burdick, Recchiuti, or La Maison. Those shops have clear, definite flavors, and superior ganaches. And I know this is blasphemy, but in some instances, See's makes better candy than this place. Don't waste your time with Woodhouse.

Napa Valley - Day 1 (Bistro Don Giovanni, Bistro Jeanty)

MH and I recently had a great trip to Napa, where we ate our way through some incredible restaurants. I'm going to present this in two parts, since there were so many notable restaurants we frequented!

Our first day in the county, we had lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni, an Italian bistro located in Napa town. The restaurant is big, bright, and cheery, done in warm yellow tones, with large Majollica decorative plates and great photographs on the walls. Despite the chilling rain outside, inside it was warm and convivial. Obviously, for lunch, it had a different feel than it would have for dinner. For example, the huge wood-burning fireplace was inactive.

This place is clearly a hit, both with the tourists and the locals. It was midweek, and MH and I got there around 11:45am. The parking lot was already half full. By the time we left an hour later, there wasn't a place in the lot to be had.

While munching on warm Foccacia bread with the Bistro's own extra virgin olive oil, we ordered three dishes: the Bistro Back Door Salad, Pizza "Margherita", and the Fettuccine alla "Lina." All were superb, and I'll describe them in turn.

First, we had the salad, which came with thinly sliced apples, candied walnuts, dabs of Schropshire Blue cheese, and was dressed in an apple-balsamic vinaigrette.










After a short while, our main dishes arrived (there was a lot of turnover at lunch). I had the pizza. It was warm, with an excellent thin crust. It was prepared with a well proportioned amount of tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese, with only a few basil leaves on top. The pizza was large (10"), but because it was so thin, it actually was the perfect amount of food for a country lunch. MH got the fettuccini, and was entranced by the porcini sausage ragu. The dish also had some parmesean cheese mixed in, which brought out the flavor of the pasta (fresh and perfectly al dente).

The service was good - attentive, but not overwhelming. We didn't make a reservation ahead of time, but if I were going to make one, I'd request one of the booths or a banquette. The seats in the middle of the restaurant are crowded, and once the place fills up (soon after noontime, or after 7pm, if you're going for dinner), the waiters have to squeeze their way through the center tables. It's not as nice as being along the sides, obviously.


Bistro Don Giovanni
7/10


That night for dinner, we went to Bistro Jeanty. This place blew me away. I love bistro food (verging on an obsession), and this place paid out in spades for me.

Bistro Jeanty is a classic French bistro, complete with wooden floors, a bar, and lots of kitsch on the walls. The front room contains the bar, is open onto the street, and has the communal table and a lot of traffic. The back room has well-spaced out tables, less traffic, and is cozier.

I'd made a reservation by telephone (they don't use Opentable), and we showed up promptly. Unfortunately, the only table they had available was a table in the front room right near the entranceway. It was the worst table (aside from the communal walk-in table) in the place. I asked nicely if we could wait for a table in the back room, and the hostess obliged. We had to wait for an extra 10 minutes, but it was worth it. We ended up getting a four-top in the back corner. Primo real-estate at a primo time. Tres bien!

The service was good, but not overwhelming, which was fine with us. Once we'd settled into our very desirable table, we were so content that nothing could have disturbed us. Add warm, delicious bread to the mix, and we were happy even before we got our dinner.

Without really knowing what we were doing, we ordered well. The portions are enormous, and if we had ordered both an appetizer and a main course, we definitely would not have been able to finish (remember that we had an excellent, large lunch). I ordered the Sole Meuniere with lemon-caper butter and mashed potatoes. The pieces of fish I got were huge - almost a sole and a half. The lemon-caper butter was sublime, withe right balance of citrus and butter. There were a few too many capers for my taste, but I'm not a big fan of the little nubbins. The potatoes were tasty, slightly salty, and very nicely done.

MH got the Entrecote Frites, a rib-eye steak with Bearnaise sauce and french fries. The steak was also huge, and had a mellow, aged taste. The frites were seriously good. I abandoned my mashed potatoes to try to snare as many as I could. They were thinly cut, perfectly fried, and nicely seasoned - not too salty - so as to allow the taste of the potato to shine through. Luckily, there were a lot of them, so MH didn't feel slighted.




We were able to manage dessert, the Citron Givre. It was lemon sorbet scooped inside a lemon rind and then re-frozen. The sorbet was smooth, with small pieces of rind. It was so lemony, it was almost bitter. It was actually served on a platter sprinkled with powdered sugar, which MH used to sweeten the sorbet. I loved it as it was - tart, slightly bitter, and icy cold. The perfect end to a great gastronomic day.

Bistro Jeanty
9/10

Moun of Tunis in Los Angeles, CA

TMD threw a huge birthday bash this weekend, so SM and I took a road trip. I won't deny that the food was a big draw. The birthday dinner was held at Moun of Tunis, a Moroccan restaurant in Hollywood. We had a private room and a banquet menu.

The private room was in the rear of the restaurant. When I say rear, I mean rear. The restaurant must have a dozen different rooms, and three of them were extremely private (swinging doors that closed). Ours was the biggest room in the restaurant, and was bedecked in tapestries, low seating areas, and textured cushions. The food and drinks were placed on low, wide silver tables. The room also had a (very loud) sound system, and a huge middle area for dancing.


We began the evening with hummus and pita bread. The hummus was creamy, tangy, and quite lemony. Spiced olives were also served as an appetizer. Although I love olives, I wasn't crazy about these; some were too soft, and I thought they were too oily.

Before the main courses were served, servers came around with a huge basin, and lots of towels. They poured warm rose-scented water over our hands, and we patted them dry on the towels (which also served as our napkins for the rest of the evening). Once we had settled into our low, sexy seating, the parade of food began.

To start, we had lentil soup (called harira) served in small ceramic cups. The broth was nicely spiced, and the lentils were tasty with a nice give to them. Servers eventually had to come around with spoons (even though we weren't supposed to use utensils), because the lentils got stuck to the bottom of the cups in clumps. We moved on to cooked kebabs of shrimp and vegetables (onions and green peppers). The kebabs were served on metal skewers that looked like huge letter openers. They were quite wicked-looking, and a friend at our table used them to carve up our subsequent dishes (the lack of utensils did make things slightly difficult, and we had to use what we could).

We were also served brik, a large pancake filled with soft-cooked eggs. The pancake was good, albeit a bit bland, but the soft cooked egg ran all over the plate, making it difficult to consume. The pancake didn't have the consistency of the Ethiopian injera, and was not as suitable for sopping up liquid. Raw eggs don't usually turn me off, but for some reason, this one did (perhaps because it wasn't served Japanese-style?).

Next up was a quartet of cold vegetable salad. I especially liked the vinegared carrot salad; it had a vaguely pickled taste to it, and the carrots were in good-sized chunks, easily grabbable with the bread that was provided. Another salad was of cooked onions; it was sweet and delicious. There was one disappointment - diced carrots flavored with rose-water. I can't stand food that tastes like flowers, and this was no exception.

I need to break from the food at this point to mention the belly dancer. Oh yes, there was belly dancing. She was a bit intrusive (it was, after all, a birthday party), but had high entertainment value, due to the fact that TMD, SM, and many others got up to dance with her each time she came into the room. I think she was slightly peeved at this (after all, having your clients dance with you destroys the opportunity for tips), but the whole thing was a riot. And now, back to the food.

The most unusual dish served during the evening was b'stilla - ground, spiced chicken (cooked with garlic, onion, and other spices) inside a puff pastry shell. The shell, however, was coated in powdered sugar and cinnamon, making for an unusual juxtaposition of sweet and savory. The dish smelled like dessert, but tasted like dinner. I, and everyone else at my table really enjoyed what I'd heard described before as "Moroccan chicken pie."

By this time, we were getting quite full (the portions, even divided between several people, are huge), but we still had several courses to go, including our "main" course. For the main, we had a choice of lemon chicken, lamb with artichokes, or salmon with vegetables. We chose the salmon, but got to try the chicken as well. Our salmon was so-so, slightly dry, but tasting of good broth (in which it had likely been cooked). However, the vegetable accompaniment to the salmon was good; onions and peppers which were not overdone. The chicken was delicious; it was moist, fragrant, and lemony.
We were simultaneously served couscous with vegetables and boulettes (little beef meatballs), which was my favorite dish. The couscous was cooked to perfection in chicken stock with onion, which made it really tasty. Each grain was distinct and crumbled in my mouth. Luckily, the couscous was served with spoons, which we were able to use to carve up the chicken and to take bites of fish.

It was close to 11pm at this point in the evening, and we were served moist cubes of almond cake to finish. Peppermint tea rounded out the evening. We all rolled out the door and into the brisk night air, thankful for a little cold to wake us out of our food-induced stupor.


Moun of Tunis
6/10

Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, CA

While I was in L.A. this weekend, I went with SM and TMD to the Huntington Library's Rose Garden Tea Room for tea. I've been to the Huntington many times before (sometimes to view the magnificent gardens, and sometimes just to have tea). The day we went was particularly fine; it was sunny, but not hot.

The tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room is the same every time. We started with our choice of tea. I chose Earl Grey, and TMD chose the Gold Rush Blend - kind of like their Christmas blend that only comes around once a year. The Gold Rush was too fruity for me.

We moved on to fresh-made warm scones. The scones come in excellent flavors, like chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin, apricot, and currant. Of course I love chocolate, but I really enjoyed the apricot scones this time. They are smaller than typical scones, but have a great crust on them. Usually, they are sprinkled with large-grain sugar.

They were properly served with clotted cream and preserves (orange marmalade and raspberry).


The main event is the buffet laden with little tea sandwiches, salads, cheese & crackers, and fresh fruit. You can go up as often as you like, which of course, we did.

I had some delicious salmon and cream cheese sandwiches. There were also egg salad, chicken salad, olive and cream cheese, and cucumber and cream cheese. I also had a very interesting Asian salad of marinated tofu, broccoli, and carrots.

There is also dessert of all manners in the form of petit fours, tarts, and other morsels. Of course, we tried everything. I thought the little slices of chocolate cake were too sweet and not chocolatey enough.

The fruit tarts, as usualy, were excellent. The strawberry shortcake was good (although TMD just ate strawberries and cream without the sponge cake base). I enjoyed the pecan squares, and the Huntington's signature shortbread was on display.

The best are little chocolate cups filled with lemon curd and whipped cream.

As you can see from the photos, we had a great time.

Huntington Library & Gardens Rose Garden Tea Room

8/10