Bouchon Bistro, Yountville

Today, we had our lunch at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, CA. Bouchon Bistro and Bakery is run by the legendary chef Thomas Keller (owner of French Laundry, the only 3-Michelin-star restaurant in the area).

Inna ordered the French Onion Soup (which was delicious), and I ordered the Carrot and Squash Soup. My Carrot and Squash soup was exceptional, too.

My Carrot and Squash Soup both looked and tasted delicious!

Inna really liked her French Onion soup.

I ordered Boudin Blanc, a white sausage with mashed potatoes and plums, as my main course. The plums were incredibly delicious, and the sausage was very soft.

Inna ordered Grandmother's Rotisserie Chicken, and it was also quite scrumptious.

For dessert, we had Baba Au Rhum. It was so delicious!

We plan to eat here again when we're in the Napa or Calistoga area.

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Wine tasting in Benziger Winery

Today, we enjoyed exploring the beautiful Benziger Winery in Sonoma, CA. Benziger was the site where I first proposed to Inna - 12 years ago on May 5, 2001.

The winery has not changed much; it still looks well cared for and well-groomed.

Fall colors are everywhere, with many trees changing colors.

We saw many waterlilies and frogs in the ponds surrounding Benziger. There is even an owl house for the local owl. The owl is used to control pests, as it is a bird of prey that hunts rodents and helps keep the vineyard clear of them.

The grapes were ready for harvesting.

The autumn colors of yellow, red, and green permeate the winery. It's definitely the "fall" in California.

After walking around the Benziger grounds, we did a little wine tasting. We tasted 5 of Benziger's vintages but did not like them. However, we want the Benziger Winery to be a nice place to escape the city.

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Pancake Heaven at Solbar, Calistoga

We had a delicious breakfast and lunch at the Michelin 1-Star-rated Solbar Restaurant in Calistoga, California.

I love the Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup and have enjoyed them a few times. These are my all-time favorite pancakes anywhere!

Inna ordered the "Bodega Bay" - an English Muffin with Dungeness Crab - and it was also delicious!

During lunchtime (after a beautiful bike ride to Sterling Vineyards), we stopped at Solbar again - this time for lunch.

Inna ordered a cocktail - "Sex in the Valley," and it was a bit refreshing.

We ordered "Spicy Shrimp Lettuce Wraps" and a "Chicken with Lettuce" for lunch.

We also tried some Donut Holes, which were also delicious.

Both dishes were delicious and healthy. We really like Solbar!

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Relaxing at Indian Springs Resort & Spa in Calistoga

We arrived at Calistoga's Indian Springs Resort & Spa late in the evening, around 11:15 p.m.

Given the light traffic, the evening drive was not very exhausting. Luckily, we had just enough time to dip in the hot thermal pool of Indian Springs.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The next day, we got up early and went for a morning swim at the thermal pool. The morning was gorgeous, and we enjoyed the warm water. It's so relaxing to float around in the naturally heated pool.

When we finished relaxing, we returned to our suite to change for breakfast. We drove to our favorite restaurant, Solbar, less than a mile away.

I ordered my favorite Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup. I swear the drive to Calistoga is worth it just for these beauties!

Inna ordered the "Bodega Bay" special, which was also delicious.

After breakfast, we decided to ride a nice bike to Sterling Vineyards. Here is a short video of our bike ride there:

Sterling Vineyards looked quite busy - and they have a ramp to the top of the mountain for a nice overlook, but we decided against going up.

We had a wonderful, relaxing stay at Indian Springs Resort and Spa, nd hope to be back there again.

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Anniversary Dinner at the Plumed Horse

Today, we decided to have our 12th Wedding Anniversary dinner at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga.
We usually prefer to go to Manresa, but it was unavailable for our special day.

We ordered the "Chef's Autumn Tasting Menu," which was delicious! This is now Inna's favorite restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This little appetizer trifle was the Chef's opening number.

The first dish is "Maine Lobster with California Caviar." It was very nice.

The next dish was a soup.

The Black Pepper and Parmesan soufflé was so delicious! It was the best dish ever! We would get back for this dish! It's considered the signature dish for Plumed Horse.

The "Sonoma Rabbit" was quite delicious.

The "Filet of Beef Tenderloin" was soft and delicious.

The beef was so tender and juicy!

The first of 3 desserts was a cookie with some ice cream.

The next dessert was also delicious. It's the best ice cream we've ever tried.

The third and final dessert was Valrhona chocolate with raspberries.

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Review: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Berkeley Rep)

Today, we saw Berkeley Rep's production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike."
The play was exciting but not super entertaining.

SFGate has an interesting review of the play here.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Written by Christopher Durang
Directed by Richard E.T. White
Limited Season · Roda Theatre
September 20–October 25, 2013

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play!

Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission

Christopher Durang—Obie Award winner of such rollicking comedies asSister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Marriage of Bette & Boo—turns Chekhov on his head in this witty and incisive new farce for our modern hyperconnected world. In bucolic Bucks County, PA, Vanya and Sonia have frittered their lives away in their family’s farmhouse full of regret, angst and the alarmingly ambiguous prophecies of their addled housecleaner Cassandra. Enter their sister, self-absorbed movie star Masha, with her prized 20-something boy toy Spike, and the stage is set for an absurd weekend of general hilarity and global warming. This year’s Broadway sensation, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike delights audiences with its abundant comic twists while paying loving homage to Chekhov’s classic themes of loss and longing.

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Review: Apple iMac 27

Today, we purchased an Apple iMac 27 (2013+) to replace our Dell XPS One 2710 (which had problems with WiFi connectivity).

In comparison to Dell, Apple's iMac has some interesting differences:

Advantages of iMac 27

• iMac is much slimmer and much better looking
• iMac is much quieter, and I never heard the fan going off (Dell's fan is pretty loud)
• iMac has a much faster graphics chip (Nvidia 755m vs 640m)
• iMac has a better mouse and keyboard
• iMac supports the latest Wi-Fi (AC vs. 802.11a/b/g on Dell). Dell's Wifi was super slow.
• iMac can dual-boot OS X or Windows 7 using Boot Camp
• OS X is much better than Windows 8

Advantages of Dell XPS One

• Dell's screen has a much wider gamut and looks much better than the iMac's
• Dell has much better speakers and sound quality
• Dell has a CD/DVD drive for watching DVDs
• Dell has a much faster SSD (Crucial 256 mSATA)
• Dell dual boots Windows 7 or Windows 8
• Dell had a larger hard disk (2TB vs 1TB)
• Dell is more accessible to service and upgrade (most parts are easily removable and replaceable)
• Dell has a more extended warranty of 3 years, with on-site home service and 24/7 phone support.

After some time, I decided to return the iMac (it was within its 14-day return period) because I wanted an iMac with the PCIe SSD drive - not the 7,200 rpm hard disk. Also, I was not happy with the color quality of the Apple display - I thought that both Dell's XPS One and my HP ZR30w monitors were far superior. With an iMac, one is stuck with whatever display one gets.

An iMac is completely un-upgradeable - one cannot change the hard disk, add an SSD, or add additional memory. I like to be able to upgrade or replace parts as needed.

I decided to get an upgraded iMac with a 3.4 GHz i5 processor, Nvidia GTX 775 graphics, and a PCIe 256GB SSD instead of the 1TB hard disk.

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