La Toque is a Michelin Star contemporary restaurant located in Napa California in the Westin Verasa Hotel. A Toque is a white chef’s hat. This restaurant has a large Toque outside waving around like a flag.

Inside is modern and classic. Diners in the main dining room can look into the kitchen with the windows in the wall.

The second dining room is decorated different and has tables set with tablecloths and heavy silverware.

It’s a high end place. They give you hot towels to clean your hands to start out with.

We ordered from the a la carte menu.

Then they started us off with this tiny amuse bouche that was so tiny but exploded with so much flavor (pistachio flavored). It was so amazing I could have eaten a bunch of them.

Next we were off with fresh baked crusty bread and butter with sea salt.

Our first appetizer is the koji cured hamachi with grapefruit leech de Tigre, serrano Chile oil, and compressed celtuce.

Compressed celtuce…….A fancy dancy celery without strings goes really well with fish and flavors that melts in your mouth….

Next they split the three cheese agnolotti with ramps, and vin jaune, and morel mushrooms.

All good here too….no complaints.

For my main I got the pan roasted Gulf Red Snapper with FENNEL MARMALADE (game changer) radishes and vermouth.

These flavors go magically well together. The fennel marmalade is amazing here…….(I’m going to steal that idea for my dishes)……..

My husband got the dry aged duck breast with fancy carrots, carrot puree, and this really amazing smoked duck fat confit potato and duck jus.

And of course we had to get one of La Torque;s amazing desserts.

This was an fantabulous chocolate hazelnut dacquoise with chocolate-amaretto ice cream.

I thought we were done and they handed each of us a little box of handmade sweets.

I have to say La Torque in Napa CA is –

Worth a Fork!

La Torque 1314 McKinstry St Napa CA

707-257-5157

www.LaToque.com

Everything is subject to change.

La Calenda is an Oaxacan Style Mexican Restaurant located in Yountville California. This restaurant is part of the Thomas Keller Group of restaurants and is only steps away from Bouchon, Ad Hoc/ Addendum and is a Michelin Guide recommended restaurant.

The last time I was here I was so blown away with how fabulous the food was I ate here twice. That was back in 2019 before the pandemic. The menu has changed since my last visit and La Calenda now also takes reservations now.

Here’s how it looks on the patio.

Here’s the inside.

They set you up with silverware by giving it to you in a crock with your napkins.

The drink menus are different too. Today I tried some sort of Negroni with smoked mushrooms and mezcal.

I think it’s delicious and really different with that smoked mushroom flavor. (and often I don’t care for smoked things…not all but many are too smokey for me)

We started with the mushroom tacos. We had mushroom tacos before here that we REALLY ENJOYED here pictured below.

They differed tonight. Pictured below. (they differ a little)

The habanero salsa is very flavorful and good but these mushroom tacos have less flavors than before……..still good ….same tortilla…..but not Fantabulous.

We also tried the ensalada de sandia (watermelon pepitas, radish, Chile piquin, salsa macha, and mint).

This was nice flavorful and very light……Actually I would enjoy this as a light dessert anywhere…It is savory but also is lightly sweet. We both like it…anyone would like it.

For my main I had something very similar to before. pescado zarandeado (fish of the day (both times branzino) this time grilled adobo marinated with greens.

It was very good. The fish seems so fresh and the adobo marinate taste really great. But that hoya leaf marinated branzino from last time popped more….(pictured below with avocado tomatillo salsa)

My husband also got a dish very similar to a time before. This time he got the enchiladas de mole negro con pollo (chicken enchiladas with mole negro and queso fresco).

I tasted them….The mole is good and flavorful….The white meat chicken is very soft and tender but just taste boiled. I don’t remember how the dish he had last time tasted but he preferred the green mole dish from last time that he got with pork jowl beans.

On another visit we were absolutely CRAZY of the tacos they offered before. (these are old presentations and most are not on current menu)

Fish tacos

Crazy about the sour orange anichote pollo and pollo pibil tacos they used to offer.

Well our most recent visit to La Calenda was good so I can’t be unhappy. But my last visits were OUT OF BOUNDS FANTABULOUS. I don’t know if some menus are more delicious than other or if they have had some changes in the kitchen.

That was my 2022 visit to La Calenda in Yountville CA.

www.LaCalendaMex.com

6518 Washington St Yountville CA

1-833-682-TACO (8226)

Everything is subject to change.

Ad Hoc is a family style full service restaurant by chef Thomas Keller listed in the Michelin Guide. They usually offer a multi course dinner for a set price. Additional menu items may be offered.

It’s not a fancy place but is always very neat and clean looking. You can sit at the bar or inside.

Tonight they started us off with crusty fresh baked bread and butter.

Next course was spring vegetable salad of snow peas, crisp English peas, fancy radishes, with creamy tarragon dressing.

Our main course tonight was the Famous buttermilk fried chicken.

It was seasoned to perfection…..It was incredibly moist and tender. It also was shattering crisp.

We also added on the additional Black Truffle Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

Maybe not 100% perfection but very good and better than most macaroni and cheese that you get out at restaurants. It does have a nice truffle flavor but I can taste flour in the sauce but maybe most people can’t.

Side dishes were green beans almandine.

Potato salad.

The potato salad taste like pickle juice..and mustard.

Incase you were wondering………

This was an enormous amount of food. We had to bring at least half back with us.

Not done yet there’s more!

One of the tastiest treats was the next course of Mahon cheese with pretzel epi and hot honey mustard……

Dessert tonight was called strawberries and cream…It was a parfait of pannacotta topped with strawberries that were topped with Chantilly cream.

That was my 2022 trip to Ad Hoc in Yountville CA

Some of the dishes we had here previously were- (pictures either were poor or I couldn’t find)

soda bread with honey butter

endive and watercress salad

corned beef with Guinness gravy (only dish I didn’t care for…it was more like beefy brisket)

cornbread stuffed quail

chicken and sausage Jambalaya

chateau

peanut butter ice cream sandwich

ice cream and Bailey’s laced brownie bites

The Current Ad Hoc Menu can be found on the Thomas Keller Website.

www.ThomasKeller.com

6476 Washington St Yountville CA

707-944-2487

Everything is subject to change.