Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

Bottega in Yountville CA – Worth a Fork!

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Bottega is an Italian Restaurant by celebrity chef Micheal Chiarello in Yountville California. The first thing you see is the hostess desk with lighted stones when you walk in…

Behind the hostess desk is one of the dining rooms and to the left is a bar area.

Dining rooms have a patio feel to them.

Tables are formal with linen, heavy silverware, polished glasses and copper hammered cups for water.

Beware of the little container that reads “sale.”

It looks just like grated cheese but it’s salt.

They now charge for bread but it’s only something like a dollar a person. The bread is so good that I woke up the next day tasting it in my mouth.

It’s so crusty and developed with flavors……They also serve the bread with a tasty garlic cheese spread…

We started out by sharing the Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad.

It was made with Marcona Almonds, egg, pecorino and Meyer Lemon Dressing…It was just delicious.

I had the Calabrian Marinated Chicken under a brick.

It’s one of the best chickens I ever tasted. So moist like butter but with a delicious not too spicy Calabrian Chili flavor developed in it and above……Insanely scrumptious………This is really masterful high quality chicken…..Ummm………There is plenty of chicken to eat…actually too much for one person…but nothing else. I think this plate would be best as a sharing plate so you could eat something else with it…..but the bread soaks it up well.

My husband got the Acorn fed Pork Shoulder that came with a Potato Croquette, Pancetta wrapped fruit and Broccoli Rabe.

What a nice combination protein, vegetable, meat wrapped fruit and potato……He loved it!

I saved room for dessert because they are usually great here.

Today we tried the Semi Freddo di Lemon.

It’s good but I don’t taste much lemon. It taste more like kumquat with ice cream topped with meringue and a thin burnt cookie.

The last dessert I had here was really great and I still remember it.

Clafoutis Type of Dessert From Bottega in Yountville CA

Below is another dish I enjoyed from a past visit.

Potato Dough Raviolo with spinach and Egg in Brown Butter Sage Sauce from Bottega

That was my 2019 visit to Bottega in Yountville CA. – Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.BottegaNapaValley.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Bistro Jeanty Yountville CA – Worth a Fork!

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Bistro Jeanty is a charming French Restaurant located in Yountville California that serves classic French Foods. According to Restaurant Guru Bistro Jeanty is a Michelin Selection and has two black knife-and-fork symbols.

It was perfect beautiful weather so we sat on the patio that was full of marble topped tables and lots of greenery with roses.

One of the specials of the evening were truffled deviled eggs so we tried them.

The deviled eggs came out quickly and were topped with fresh clipped chives and a side truffled mache. We also received a basket of baguette and butter. They eggs were creamy and seasoned well and laced with truffle. The baguettes were delicious and the butter tasted like it was from France.

For dinner I tried the Sole Meuniere.

The petrale sole was sweet and mild…..and was embellished with the tiniest sweetest capers I ever had. The fish rested over delicious creamy mashed potatoes and there was a pool of lemon caper butter sauce around everything.

My husband tried the cassoulet.

It was a pot of happiness full of falling apart duck confit, sausage, juicy apple smoked bacon, creamy beans and topped with herbed crumbs.

I’d say my trip to Bistro Jeantry was Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.BistroJeanty.com

Every Forking THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Addendum in Yountville CA – (Chef Thomas Keller’s Fried Chicken) – Worth a Fork!

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Addendum is a picnic area that serves boxed lunches behind Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Restaurant in Yountville California. Addendum means to add on and Addendum is an add on to Ad Hoc. Addendum is only open Thursdays threw Saturdays 11:00-2:00. The limited menu offers Thomas Keller’s Famous Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Pork Ribs and Pulled Pork Sandwiches that come with two changing sides. On the day of my visit they were also selling chocolate chip cookies and brownies. You can pre-order your lunch online or wait in line. The day I was there it wasn’t busy at all but that was on a Thursday.

You let them know that you are here at that shack and in a while they ran our order out to us.

Drum Roll………….Here it is!

We got two different chicken boxes. I got a breast, a leg and a wing. My husband got a thigh, a leg and a wing.

The Chicken is hot but not soggy at all. It’s sprinkled with fresh rosemary and fresh crushed salt of a good quality.

It’s VERY CRISP with incredibly moist chicken. It sure is delicious. It’s like there isn’t any skin. It’s just crunchy and flavorful. The chicken has a somewhat silky texture to it and is super moist and delicious. Then after a piece you want to try the sides.

Both sides are creamy today. On the left is very creamy Cole slaw. I can taste a lot of celery seed in it. It also taste more sour creamy than mayonnaise-ee. On the right is red skin potato salad. It is also very creamy and it also has a lot of celery seed in it. Neither salad is drippy. Both are well seasoned but heavy with celery seeds.

Back to the chicken it is just delicious and I can’t stop eating it.

It’s still hot and not oily or soggy anywhere……agian it seems like skinless chicken but I know it isn’t.

Going to try the corn muffin. It’s sweet……It’s like a pound cake mixed with a corn muffin but more the texture of pound cake. I’ll save it for the end.

I really did enjoy the Addendum’s (Thomas Keller’s) Fried Chicken……the only down side was that I was too full to enjoy a dinner later.

Addendum is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.ThomasKeller.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Gott’s Roadside Napa California – Worth a Fork!

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Gott’s is a small group of casual restaurants located in California. They offer burgers, other sandwiches, salads, sides and some specials in a semi fast casual environment. You order at the counter-

Then you pick a table outdoors or indoors.

In reasonable time your pager goes off and your off to the counter to pick up your order.

Today we tried the double cheeseburger, the ahi grade seared tuna with Asian slaw, ginger wasabi mayo, cilantro on an egg bun, fries with cheese jalapeño sauce and off the special menu fried Indian Style cauliflower.

The stand outs had to be the Ahi Tuna Sandwich and the Indian Style Cauliflower…..Nothing was bad about the cheeseburger or fries but they seemed average after the others. The burgers at Gott’s get cooked medium well but still turn out juicy. The Tuna Sandwich and the Cauliflower were full of bold exotic flavors. The tuna had ginger, wasabi and crunch from the slaw. It was spicy but delicious. Sure wasn’t an average burger. It was refreshing but it also woke you up. The Indian Beer Battered Cauliflower also had many great flavors going on with it….turmeric, ginger, chili and the dipping sauce was on the sweet side but very refreshing.

Gott’s uses Sir Kensington Brand Ketchup and mustard. We both never tried them before and I have to say WOW! They are great! That ketchup has so much more tomato flavor than the Heinz Brand I usually buy. That mustard is also delicious too!

I have to say Gott’s Roadside is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.GottsRoadside.com

Every FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to the Oakville Grocery in Oakville California

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The Oakville Grocery Store sells artisan foods, lots of cheeses, Californian Wines local foods, prepared foods and sandwiches for takeout.

Some baked goods.

I was surprised to find a lot of Arizona Hayden Flour Mills products.

We took out our fresh tasty sandwiches to eat because there are no eateries along the Silverado Trail. Sampled wine from many wineries. The atmosphere was stunning.

www.OakvilleGrocery.com

The Forking Truth

Acacia House by Chris Cosentino in St Helena CA – Worth a Fork

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The Acacia House by Top Chef Master Chris Cosentino is located in the Las Alcobal Hotel in St Helena California. The cuisine served is Californian Style that is bold yet refined. The restaurant is in a restored victorian mansion with a wrap around porch. Inside is modern and and with tones of mostly grey.

Today we were here for the Three Course $29.00 Lunch.

We both started with the sweet gem lettuce, bagna cauda (Italian anchovy garlic dip), crispy boquerones (marinated white anchovy), grated cheese and olive oil croutons.

WOW! What a great salad…..it’s like an extra special Caesar salad. the croutons are so light and tender and seem buttery but they are buttery from olive oil. the bagna cauda is the dressing and the boqurones are like tasty prizes in the salad.

For my main I got the avocado toast with smoked salmon, salad option instead of fries and $4.00 add on of salmon caviar.

It’s a knife and fork sandwich made on multigrain toasted bread. It’s dressed with a generous amount of creamy avocado that’s topped with silky thinly sliced salmon, shaved radish, salmon caviar and horseradish watercress. It all goes together well and doesn’t seem too heavy. There’s different textures going on with the sandwich. There’s crusty, creamy, silky, crunchy, herbal and popping. It’s all very good. The salad is lightly dressed with a slightly sweet almost creamy dressing that is slightly refreshing with the sandwich.

My husband goes for the pasta of the day that is rigatoni with 24 hour braised pork sugo.

He received a generous plate of well made rigatoni dressed with tender flavorful braised pork that was embellished with grated cheese and herbs. I just kept hearing…”this is REALLY GOOD!”

As great as that all was then we are gifted with really great desserts.

This is an example of a perfect lemon meringue. Everything about it is delicious! The thin crust is delicious. The meringue is delicious and charred……and doesn’t taste like egg white. But it is the lemon that really makes it. This is PERFECT….the right amount of lemon taste. Just the perfect tartness and not too sweet….It’s perfect.

We also share what they called a chocolate mousse.

It’s a very generous portion and it’s very detailed. Besides the mousse there’s a fennel pollen cream mixed with creme fraiche. Theres biscotti and a crunchy chocolate cookie. The mousse is very creamy and thick….to me it seems like a chocolate pot de creme and seems laced with something sort of fennel-like.

WOW the Acacia House by Chris Cosentino knocked it out of the park!

The Acacia House by Chris Cosentino is WORTH A FORK!

Worth a Fork!

www.LasAlcobasNapaValley.com

Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

La Calenda Oaxaco Mexican Restaurant – Yountville CA – Worth a Fork!

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La Calenda is a casual Oaxaco Style Mexican Restaurant located in Yountville California. This is a casual restaurant and doesn’t take reservations. They offer indoor seating, bar seating and a dog friendly patio. One would never guess that La Calenda is of the Thomas Keller group of restaurants but it is located in walking distance from Bouchon and Ad Hoc/Addendum.

On our first visit I got a mixed drink called Alma de Flor and it’s a drink that sounds pretty but came in a scull glass.

It was made with Mexican Rum, Gentian Amaro, Passionfruit Liquor, Creme de Cacao and Lime. My husband got a Margarita.

For dinner I had the Pescado Zarandeado Verde.

This was FORKING INCREDIBLE like from another planet delicious! It’s a very light meal but just right for me today. It’s branzino fish that is so fresh and light and dressed with really scrumptious Hoya Santa leaf marinade with greens and this equals scrumptious salsa avocado tomatillo on the side…….OHHHhhhhhhh it’s just a BOMB of delicious!

My husband got the Puerco en Mole Verde that came with two hand made purple tortillas and he also ordered a side of refried beans. (pork Jowl with white beans)

I’d say that this dinner is also for a lighter appetite but this plate was so delicious to my husband that he also wanted to return before our trip was over.

So we did!

Tonight they offered a Tuna Aguachile that also blew us away with flavors. DANG it was so amazing…….I could eat and drink the whole thing.

Then we shared three of the tacos. Oddly the tacos were very generous in size unlike the dinners……….? I didn’t expect that.

First we tried the mushroom tacos.

The Mushroom Tacos are big, meaty and delicious.

The fish tacos were batter dipped and covered with a mayonnaise based sauce and a chili vinegar sauce. They were fried nicely and were mild and meaty.

These tacos were both very good but the OMG FORKING INCREDIBLE Tacos were the Tacos de Pollo Pible…..OMG SUPER FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS!

Somehow achiote grilled chicken, sour orange pickled onions and habanero salsa is far more delicious than I can ever describe. WOW what FORKING amazing flavors! If I was here longer we might have made a third visit to try more!

La Calenda is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.LaCalendaMex.com

Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Fabio on Fire Peoria AZ – Worth a Fork! – Still Fabulous

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Fabio on Fire is a small Italian Restaurant located in Peoria Arizona. This restaurant specializes in serving Neapolitan Style Pizzas, house prepared pastas, baked goods, house made gelato and more. Fabio himself is already established as a mobile pizza vender and bakery that sets up at farmers markets, events and various festivals. The restaurant offers some bar seating, a dining room and a patio.

They start you off with Fabio’s fresh baked crusty bread and olive oil spiked with balsamic vinegar.

We started out by sharing the wood roasted beets over goat cheese with peppery arugula.

It’s delicious…the beets are fresh and sweet. Arugula adds that slight bitterness to balance the sweet. That creamy milky goat cheese. It’s so delicious.

I ordered the bufalina pizza.

This pizza has all kinds of flavors going on. The crust is chewy, very thin but also crisp. The sauce is rich and also sweet from San Marzano Tomatoes. There’s spicy slightly bitter arugula against sweet reduced balsamic and really great bufala cheese dressed with nutty parmesan and olive oil. It works together so well. Another benefit is that the pizza seems very light because it’s so thin. Tonight I ate half and still had room for that amazing gelato.

My husband tried the sausage ravioli special.

The Ravioli are topped with a creamy sauce and fresh herbs and are packed with a generous amount of sausage.

One of the many must get dishes is the Strawberry Gelato from Fabio on Fire.

Trust me…….This is Forking Incredible!  

Somehow he made strawberry taste better than strawberry….It’s like a glass of the best tasting strawberry you ever had…..In the past I also enjoyed the passionfruit flavor maybe just as much.

Another one of the must try dishes is the Spinach Ravioli in walnut sauce. (when they are offered)

WOW! Astonishingly great! I think the best ravioli I’ve ever tried anywhere.

A few of the other dishes we tried were- (there are more but I can’t find them)

Veal Tortellini
Diavola

I have to say Fabio on Fire is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.FabioonFire.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

FnB Restaurant of Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork – Forking Amazing!

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FnB Restaurant is a contemporary restaurant located in the arts district of Scottsdale Arizona. They serve an ever changing innovative menu of farm focused, globally inspired cuisine that also showcases the most amazing vegetable dishes. FnB is not a vegetarian restaurant as meat dishes are offered. The atmosphere is formal but also casual. They offer a small patio and have linen topped tables and bar seating.

You might find things on the menu that you are not familiar with such as Farcous….(French Chard Fritters) or Caltuce…….(Obscure vegetable also called stem lettuce), Babna Cauda (warm hot Italian dip) and many more. No fear the menu will be explained to you.

It’s always difficult to decide on what to order because there are so many interesting plates that you would want to try. The menu is usually broken down to cold sharing plates, warm sharing plates and entrees. It’s best to share as much as you can. They start you off with locally made Noble bread and high quality olive that is so delicious it’s impossible to pass up.

We started out with the salad of crunchy radishes, dates, pumpkin seeds with caper anchovy dressing.

It’s looks beautiful and taste light and delicious. The radishes are not strong tasting like the ones from the store. Instead the radishes have more of a sweet flavor. What a great starter!

The next sharing plate is Salmon Gefilte Fish with Pickled Beets, Beet Horse Radish, Pickled Eggs and Buttered Matzo.

WOW! If all Gefilte Fish did taste like this everyone would like them. These are mild with a light texture and enhanced with fresh herbs, eggs are great, beet horseradish is delicious….the pickled betts are also really special…..They have a predominant flavor that I’m not familiar with that goes so well with beets……I think the flavor is a sort of liquor and question my waiter on what it is…..He doesn’t tell me so it’s secret. Love the beets.

Dinners arrives with our additional sharing plate of Corona Beans with Grilled Radicchio, Salsa Verde, Provolone.

Dang I just got full but I must at least try a little of both. The Beans are not like any beans I had before…..Think of Gigante Beans….they are like anorexic beans compared to the sweet extra plump Corona Beans….Each bean is almost delicious meal. They are in a broth with all kinds of fresh flavors with provolone….They are just amazing. The Mexican Grouper Fish is Stunning…..It taste as fresh as can be and is prepared to perfect it really does melt in the mouth with these delicious flavors brushed on. Really one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever tasted. The plate is also served with heirloom cauliflower, snap peas, and sunflower seeds. Really an incredible beautiful and better than amazing plates.

We didn’t share a dinner because my husband wanted the Lamb Loin with Arizona Grains, Tepary Beans, Green Beans, Chermoula and Mint.

I won’t eat lamb but my husband says that I wouldn’t know the difference between this lamb and beef. He says it’s very good and also loves all the grains, beans and vegetables with this plate.

I want to do dessert but I can’t because the food was so FORKING AMAZING I couldn’t stop eating the sharing plates. I have a large box and a small box to bring home.

Here is what I could have tried if I paced myself better.

Every Thing was FnB was Forking Amazing!

Worth a Fork! You would drive across town to dine here!

www.FnBRestaurant.com

Below are only a few of the past plates we enjoyed at FnB.

Langos Hungarian Fried (potato) Bread Salad
Butterkin Squash
This is 1/2 of the Pink Grouper
Apple Sharlotka
House Cured Salmon
Melon Salad
Halabut
Duck
Berry Shortcake
Broccoli with Tangerine aioli and pistachios
Trout Riliette
Soft Shell Crab

Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Italian Passover and Italian Easter in Metro Phoenix Arizona – Veneto Trattoria and Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante

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There were several Italian Restaurants serving Easter Meals in Metro Phoenix in 2019. One Italian Restaurant called Veneto Trattoria in Scottsdale Arizona differed from the other restaurants and offered Passover Dinners in Venetian Style to honor the Jews of ancient Italy. It seemed interesting to us so we gave it a try. Incase you didn’t know….Passover is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelite’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. Passover dinners were $42.50. The daily menu was also offered.

We were seated on the patio. It’s a nice large patio with shade and lovely marble top tables.

We received complimentary matzo with a honey nut marmalade. (pictured at top of page)

Our first course was Venetian Style Matzo Ball Soup called Polpette in Brodo di Matza e Pollo all Veneziana.

It’s a light chicken broth with thin bars of celery, other vegetables and chicken. The matzo ball is light and fluffy. I don’t know what makes this Venetian Style but it’s a good bowl of Matzo Ball soup.

For my dinner I picked the Sautéed Petrale Sole with sweet tomatoes and golden raisins that came with braised fennel and sweet potato kanederli (a pasta that is similar to gnocchi).

The sole is mild, tender and flakes well. It’s prepared nicely. The sweet tomatoes with the raisins tastes more sweet than savory. The fennel is almost like a steak and is very good. Sweet potato kanederli are made nicely and have a flavor that compliments everything.

My husband tried the Chicken stuffed with Dry Cherries and Pine Nuts sautéed in dry cherry wine.

I tried a small bite. The chicken is tender like butter. The stuffing is more savory than I was expecting…slightly mineral-like but tasty and delicious.

Last course was an Almond Cake Drizzled with Chocolate Sauce called – Torta Di Mandorle.

The cake is quite great! It’s spongy, light and very moist. It’s not too sweet. It’s studded with a few surprises. It’s just very good!

That was Italian Passover Ancient Venetian Style at Veneto Trattoria.

www.VenetoTrattoria.com

Then on Easter Sunday we did a bunny hop over to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale for Easter.

Incase you were wondering what Easter is I can tell you that it is not about chocolate bunnies and jellybeans. Easter is the Christian Holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the New Testament.

They offered the regular menu, the lunch menu, a brunch menu and the Easter Specials.

They started us off with fresh baked breads, soft butter, olive oil and house spicy oil. We both decided to try the Spaghetti al Salmone.

The home made fresh pasta was very good! it was studded with chunks of wild caught salmon and blistered tiny sweet tomatoes in a saffron laced light slightly creamy sauce that had a little bit of heat to it. It was very reasonably priced at only $18.00 for a holiday meal.

We also shared the Easter Dessert Special of Limoncello Tiramisu.

Wow this is also really great! I like this more than traditional tiramisu. It’s light, lemony, not too sweet with the right amount of tartness. The layers of soaked lady fingers taste like limoncello…. It’s a treat and a sweet ending!

That was Easter at Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.

www.BoteggaRistorante.com

That was so great that Veneto Trattoria served ancient Venetian Style Passover Dinner and that Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante served the public on Easter with a nice special.

Everything is subject to change I don’t Forking know if these restaurants will serve Easter or Passover next year.

The Forking Truth