A couple of weekends ago, Emmelle planned a wonderful Sunday afternoon for us highlighted by a splendid Thai massage and an afternoon meal at Michael Chiarello's Bottega restaurant in Napa Valley. We've been waiting to eat here for a long time, even having had to cancel a reservation a year earlier. Who wouldn't want to eat here? We have a finalist from Top Chef Masters' inaugural season in our own backyard!
I actually remember watching Chiarello on PBS a few years before food became a staple of television entertainment and always thought that he made great, exquisite food (I could also sense that he's probably a bit of a prick). Even now, I'll always stop and watch until at least the end of a segment if his Food TV show happens to be on air; everything he makes appears stunning, and he executes complex techniques so effortlessly. Even now, I feel like I can prepare a great rack of lamb and serve it to a group of ten on my backyard deck. I've never tried and I don't have a backyard, but Chiarello tells me I can. Not even Rachel Ray's thirty minute calorie bombs instill that sort of confidence in me.
I digress.
Our experience was enjoyable. It was a busy Sunday afternoon, and weekend wine aficionados packed the large dining area. Hands down the best thing we ate was the sumptuous Green Eggs and Ham (below), which coincidentally, appeared on Food TV's Best Thing I Ever Ate program.
In general, I try to limit our epicurean excursions of Italian places to uniquely exceptional establishments. I can't stand slurping down a pricey plate of pasta when I know that I can execute it better in my own kitchen with my dull knives and substandard skills. However, when we do dine at finer Italian (or Italian-inspired) restaurants, I absolutely love the notion that the pasta dish is a build up to the main course. An appetizer. It's my type of cuisine.
Somebody get me a pasta maker. And a flight to Rome.
Thanks for stopping by!
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