Valley Of Plenty: The French Laundry

Picture this. A perfect, California blue sky. A bright, shining sun. Mountains surrounding a valley like a frame with not a tall building in sight. And yes, grapes, vineyards and wineries as far as the eye can see. There's not much to not like about Napa Valley. It seems to offer the idyllic, carefree life that most of us yearn for but never get around to, and does so in the most spectacular of surroundings. Add to that an unheard concentration of some of the best restaurants anywhere and Napa almost starts to sound like paradise. I feel like every trip up there will make me want to come back for more - a cause certainly helped this time by a long-awaited visit to the French Laundry.

Sambar By The Bay: Dosa

There are a number of times that I have asked and been asked the question - "If there was only one type of food you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?" Invariably, I have only one answer to that - South Indian, and more specifically, dosa. It is far and away my favourite food. The crisp rice-lentil pancake accompanied by a steaming hot bowl of sambar, potato masala and chutney just make for a perfect, well balanced meal. It is my first meal in the morning each time I go home and the only dish I can really eat multiple sittings in a row! There was a time back in college that any trip to New York would always involve a first stop at Pongal, which at the time was the only place in the city you could get a decent dosa. Times have changed since then and the arrival of Saravanaa Bhavan and Tiffinwallah have made Pongal an afterthought for dosa in New York. However, as I have discovered on some of my recent trips there, the Bay Area has developed its own contender in the imaginatively named Dosa.

The Great Fish Sauce Debate: E&O Trading Company

It happens without fail - each time I visit California, I wonder why I don't live there. The sun is almost always shining, people are much friendlier and happier, life moves at a much more pleasant pace and yes, one could own a car! The Bay Area takes all of that and raises it to even greater heights, with San Francisco being one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. I was once visiting an office that had floor to ceiling windows, looking straight out over the bay, and wondered how anyone could get any work done with a view like that. William Henry Davies was probably looking out that window when he mused on having time to stand and stare.

My latest trip out to "Cali" was definitely not a shining example of my driving skills (let's just say a concrete pylon on the I-80 looked like it could use a few splashes of metallic grey paint), but was still memorable all the same. WH and I had spent a majority of the day driving to San Francisco and, despite having an early flight out the next morning, decided to venture out to grab some dinner. My iPhone scoped out some of the restaurants in the area for me and showed that E&O Trading Company was just a short walk from our hotel. A late flight had forced me to miss my last reservation at E&O and so I grabbed at the chance to finally eat there.