Lisa's Culinary Atrocities

Sunburned ears and a head full of beautiful cars and important faces, I am in awe of the past number of days. We (my beloved Father and I) just finished attending the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion & Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It was a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to go through my photographs and try to relive my experience through words. I fully intend on doing so but FIRST I must tell you about, truly, one of the best meals I have ever had in my entire life—I kid you not.

Oh WHOOPS—how’d that get in there?!

Anyway…

I am not the heartiest of meat eaters, especially red meat (last steak I’ve had was maybe 10 years ago) but Dear Sweet Jesus, Holy Mother of God, Good Lord and Hot Damn, our dinner last evening at El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma gave me an entirely new perspective towards food. One thing I realized is that a $30+ plate is (can be) absolutely worth it. When it was first presented I thought “where’s my food!” … Well, after the first bite I was a changed person, enveloped in sweet endogenous opioid peptides in a way I never thought possible… (moment of silence as I can still feel the after-effects.) The other thing I realized is that one can go to an In-N-Out and gloriously consume at light speed, but something about a really REALLY good plate of properly thought out and well executed food is that the seemingly inherent need to stuff ones face, especially if delicious, was completely dissolved. Every bite and every following second was permeated with the perfect balance of flavor and texture. All senses were in full action. I had gone to culinary heaven.  Did I mention that it was truly one of the best meals I have ever had in my entire life?

It was started with a plate of mixed greens, pickled strawberries, laura chenel cabecou goat cheese and a champagne vinegarette.

My Father had the Roasted Petaluma Chicken with quinoa, roasted pattypan, chicken jus and squash blossom pesto.  UNbelievable.

I had Seared Prime New York, with bourguignonne, pommes rosti, sautéed spinach, poached partridge egg (not in a pear tree), sauce béarnaise and bordelaise. Each bite followed with muffled yummy noises and head lolling.

We paired our meals with a 2007 Thorne Pinot Noir that was perfect with both the chicken and the steak.

Topped off with Talisker and Bruichladdich single malt scotches, the night was complete.

So moving on…it is nice to finally have a slower pace to our days as opposed to the 7am-10pm barrage of car activities. Today we will plan our winery and vineyard tours and live at a nice slow pace. Ahhhhh…I am enjoying being human.  May I please do this forever?