Doin' It Up, Laundry Style

At long last, FRENCH LAUNDRY was last weekend! We have been waiting (as you blog readers know), since last SPRING to get a reservation at this Yountville establishment. Let me start by saying, it did not disappoint!!!

We headed up to Napa on Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel (Silverado), then hung out until about 4:30 when it was cocktail hour (for us at least) in the main bar of the hotel. We enjoyed a glass of bubbly before our fancy "taxi" (black sedan - I felt very celeb-like) arrived.


Dave's adorable bowtie Dad picked out from Ben Silver in Charleston


Chris, Valerie & Us Outside the Restaurant

Our reservation was at 5:30pm and it was perfect (especially for my self-diagnosed narcolepsy at all the wrong times). The servers were extremely knowledgable without being snooty. In fact, I think they were all around our age, which made it easier to relax!

The sommelier was very helpful in helping us select each wine. We each started with a glass of "something" (all over the board). We brought a very special bottle of red with us that a dear friend gave us and we enjoyed every last drop! We then ordered two more bottles that the sommelier picked out for us (we had to give a price range as the CHEAPEST bottle on the menu was about $110 - somehow, my "frugal" self played it cool, though!). He did not disappoint and we absolutely enjoyed ourselves without getting crazy tipsy (remember, we were at this meal for 3 HOURS!).

The food, the food, the food. This ain't your mama's mac'n'cheese, y'all! Here is the menu from that night (changes daily):



After two delicious "Amuse Bouche" tasty creations, we started with the 1st course - "Oysters and Pearls". They were delicious and the perfect taster to lead us into the second course - choice of salad or Foie Gras. I had the salad, while the three of them upgraded to the Foie Gras and it was DIVINE! One of my favorite courses, for sure. The only comparison is like the richest peanut butter you can imagine (minus the peanut flavor) that just melts in your mouth, on a warm brioche...YUM! 3rd course I had Tuna Tartare which was done to perfection, then for the 4th course - wait for it - Maine Lobster "mitts" that, as I understand it, are the tiniest part of the inside of the claw. Each piece was about the size of a half-dollar and was heaven in the mouth. I agree with Valerie - I could eat an entire vat of just that! 5th course was a delicious Quail and we had to take a break after that! We went outside into the garden area and even though it was chilly, it was a perfect intermission to get some fresh air, let our delicious wine and food settle, and get right back in to enjoy the remaining courses. For the 6th course, I had the Lamb Ribeye which was coated in some type of bread crumbs and when you put your fork down on the meat, it just sinks in from the tenderness. Ahhhhh. The 7th course brought a perfectly paired cheese selection, followed by a sorbet for the 8th course, and then we finished our 9th and final course with dessert. Oh, dessert. I had the chocolate mousse with banana ice cream that was out of this world, Chris had the pineapple, and Dave & Valerie ordered "off the menu", requesting some folkloric "doughnut holes & coffee" that Valerie had heard about. Wow. Their choice was amazing - a fresh-fresh-fresh gourmet doughnut hole accompanied by a semifreddo coffee of sorts...it was divine! After all 9+ courses were over, they then brought additional sweets (an entire tower of them, actually) and we devoured those as well!

We finished the night with a kitchen tour. It was a symphony of activity in there. I recalled my days waitressing at The Ground Round while at BC and - well - let's just say it was nothing like that!


Taking our Kitchen Tour


Quick Kitchen Tour...Serenity!


The four of us - good times!


Until Next Time...or I should say, "Until We Hit the Lotto", French Laundry!

Thank you, Bryand-Clark Family, for making this all possible! More photos from the adventure can be found here.

We stayed the day in Napa on Sunday, having a glass of sparkling at Mumm, then meandering back to San Fran. After having "the meal of our lives", what kind of dinner could we possibly follow that up with? Oh yeah...we are klassy-with-a-k. We had Lucky Charms & Soy Milk at home. BALLERS!

We've Got Wings.

Not Buffalo Wings (quite possibly my favorite food of all time), but rather YOGA ANTI-GRAVITY WINGS! We tried a new class today at Crunch and it was so fun! Very different and at times bizarrely uncomfortable, but so unique and definitely a fun workout.

Here is their video on YouTube which hardly does it justice:



Dave and I were FAR more awkward than the people in the video, but we more or less held our own for first-timers!

House of Prime Rib....A Carnivore's Dream

Being as frugal as I am, you can guess that I am a HUGE fan of Goldstar, a site that offers half price discounts to tons of activities in various cities (plays, comedy, tours, music, etc.). If you haven't checked it out, you're sleepin'...there are great deals on there!

Before the holidays, we saw that a play called Santaland Diaries, written by David Sedaris, was being performed at a small theater downtown. Our friends Jen & Alex are Sedaris fans and we got our $10 tickets to see the show. The show is about Sedaris' experience one holiday season working as an ELF at Macy's. It goes through some pretty funny scenarios, though I must admit would be much funnier if performed by David Sedaris himself. Alas, it was nice to see a live performance. Afterwards, we were all in the mood for some red meat and Jen & Alex suggested this place called The House of Prime Rib. We had seen this place on Van Ness (a major street in SF, clogged with rather tacky storefronts) and figured it was a really old tourist trap. Just goes to show our IGNORANCE as we walked in to a Carnivore Mecca! The interior design is classic and tasteful. We were there on a Sunday night at 5:30pm, expecting the crowd inside to be just us and blue-hairs. Instead, the place was PACKED and we had to wait an hour until our 6:30pm reservation had arrived!

I should start by saying the service is phenomenal. These are professionals who not only do a fantastic job at "serving", but have wonderful personalities and immediately bond with your table, making you feel like you are the only VIP in the house.

As for the menu, there are basically two choices....Prime Rib four different ways, or seafood. That's IT. Sweet and simple! Also included is a house salad, baked potato and a choice of creamed spinach or creamed corn (you might be able to tell from this description that this is definitely NOT somewhere to go if you're on a diet or don't want a heart attack to hit you...though that might be worth it because the food is so darn good).

We took a short video, which in no way captures the joy in our hearts. I think we were all stunned at the slabs of delicious cow before us, but know the excitement is deep within!



My coworker, Matt, goes to House of Prime Rib ("HOPR" as I will now affectionately name it) for his Guys' Night a few times a year and I honestly never got it as to why they picked this place. I assumed it was some type of dirty hole-in-the-wall where "men can be men" and eat more prime rib than should be allowable by law. I have now SEEN THE LIGHT. For those of you in SF that had the same misconception, stop what you're doing and find a special occasion to go there NOW!

Although Santaland Diaries was a bit disappointing (Jen, Alex and Dave all had to be nudged to stay awake during portions...surprisingly, my narcoleptic self was not the issue...once), we have now dedicated HOPR as an annual holiday tradition for the Bauer/Bryand households! Jen is pregnant with their first child, so I am publicly calling DIBS on the baby's leftovers!!!

Dad's Day!

Although belated, I wanted to share one of my favorite days of the holiday. For Dad's Xmas present this year (technically last year), we created "Dad's Day". We wrote clues (aka cheesy poems) that led Dad through a day-long scavenger hunt!

The first clue instructed him to meet us at the front door at 10am with exercise shoes on. We started with a family walk around their neighborhood, then came back and he discovered Clue #2 in the mailbox, which led him to find a jump rope hidden in the garden. My dad has always liked the CONCEPT of jump roping, but I wouldn't say he's entering a competition anytime soon. Dave and I have been the family jump roping "connoisseurs" for the last several years because we got such great experience when we were taking boxing classes in San Diego.

Here's a recap of Dad's Jump Roping Skillz (yes, with a "z"):

The turnaround is my favorite part

And just to give some perspective, check this out (48 seconds long):


Can we acknowledge the huge GRIN on her face???

Clue #3 led the guys to a "Man Spa" in downtown Charleston called Gents (try not to judge them on their horrendous website). It's pretty much a man dream...you walk in and are asked if you want a beer to get the treatment going. On the coffee table are issues of GQ, Maxim, even Playboy! You are then led to your treatment of choice (old-fashioned shave, haircut, massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, etc.) where there is a beautiful bombshell woman awaiting you. No happy endings here (this is my DAD, people!), but definitely a great way to get your man to enjoy a little pampering of his own.


The guys post-Gents

After Gents, we grabbed lunch and headed back to Mt. Pleasant for a few hours before Cocktail Hour took place and (thanks to our Designated Driver, Pregnant Lindsay), we then went back to Charleston to eat at Slightly North of Broad. None of the "kids" had ever been there, so we were excited!


SNOB

Clue #5 led us to have "the best" coconut cake in all of Charleston, at Peninsula Grill. We intended to just grab a slice or two and eat standing up in the bar area (if you've been there, a rather small/narrow space), but we were instead pleasantly surprised as we were ushered into a semi-private drawing room where we had our own waiter and everything! I must say, the coconut cake was DIVINE!


Royal Treatment at Peninsula Grill

Our final clue was leading the group to High Cotton for some live jazz, but we were all POOPED and had to give up after the coconut cake.

What a great day for ALL of us! I'm not sure of my favorite part, but I can put a strong vote behind the jump rope "competition"!!

New Years in Charleston, Y'all!

After almost a week in Connecticut, we spent a week in Charleston visiting with Dad & Carolyn! Lindsay and Jon spent Xmas in Texas with Jon's parents, then met us in Charleston as well which was perfect!

Dad & Carolyn moved into a new house last spring and it was the first time any of us "kids" got to see the new pad! We all fell in love with it and immediately felt at home there. The neighborhood is wonderful and the house and yard allow them the space they have wanted after 10+ years in downtown Charleston!

On New Years Eve, along with Resolutions, we had a Twisting Contest (I debated posting the video, but fear incriminating those of us who perhaps are not Professional Twisters???), Vodka Oyster Shooters and a Fireworks Tank Contest amongst other things! It was a great night...here are some of the highlights:


Festive Hats Set the Mood!


The Guys' Skimmers are Also a Tradition


I'm not sure who invented the concept of Oyster Shooters, but the should be forced to listen to Barbara Streisdand music on repeat in a padded room with no windows....HORRIBLE!


The TANKS! Yep, Fireworks are LEGAL in SC! Gotta Love the Dirty South


The Group...

New Years Day brought us to Sullivan's Island where the annual Dunleavy's Polar Bear "Take the Plunge" Swim takes place every year! Last year we participated, but this year it was just TOO COLD!!! Miraculously, thousands of others did not share our opinion and dressed for the occasion! Me? I decided champagne was a friendlier companion than the frigid waters....


The Ambush to the Ocean


You can see by our clothes how COLD it was!

More to follow on the Charleston trip, especially "Dad's Day" (our gift to Dad this year for Christmas). So fun - we miss everyone already!

Christmas in Connecticut!

We spent Christmas this year in snowy white Connecticut with Dave's family and it was great! We got to see almost everybody on our "wish list" and had a great time.

On Christmas Eve, the Bryand side of the family came over to the house - so fun!


The Bryand Men...


...And the Ladies!

We also had a night to go out with "just the kids" - a first for me. I've known Dave's family since we were 19, but it's taken 11 years for me to go out socially with his cousins - what a blast!


Dave and the Ladies


Dave's Hottie Cousins

It's always hard to leave the family...especially when we know it will be several months until we see them again! We had a fun time though and it was on to Charleston from there! More to come...

New Year, New Me!

2009 is heeeeeere! I am several blog posts behind, so we'll be out of order, but wanted to acknowledge that it's January 7th and New Years Resolutions have certainly kicked in!

Our family has the tradition (from my Dad) to create New Years Resolutions every year and present them to each other to kick off the new year. Last year I shared them publicly on the blog and it helped me stay accountable for my goals. I am posting an update on what was accomplished last year and what I'm "recycling" for 2009!

Brooklyn's 2009 (and a few 2008!) Resolutions
Mind:
* Refresh and Relearn Spanish with a Rosetta Stone Course
* Take a Photoshop course (1st Qtr 2008)
* Take Advanced Excel course (1st Qtr 2008)

Body:
* Maintain average weight of 140 lbs!
* Complete one Int'l Triathlon (note: completed SPRINT triathlon in 2008...this will be 2x distance!)
* Complete Kaiser San Fran 1/2 Marathon in FASTER time than La Jolla Half in 2008
* 20 (boy) Push-Ups! (YES! I can do this now, but need to keep it up in 2009!)

Love/Family:
* Take at least TWO trips with the love of my life...(DAVE...not my other love, CHOCOLATE)
* Spoil the HECK out of my new nephew!!!

One of the resolutions will be knocked off the list on February 1st - the Kaiser SF Half Marathon! I am running it along with Beth, Heidi (tri partner in crime), and two friends from our BC days - Brian & Abbey! The highlight of that day and weekend is that our friend Katie is flying in from Connecticut!!! We got to visit with her and her hubby Paul over Christmas and she booked a ticket to visit us at the end of this month! She will be running the 5K with Dave (his agreement with her was that if she came to SF, he would run a 5K with her...little did he know she would take him up on it!!!).


Route for the SF Kaiser Half Marathon

And since I am slightly out of order for the blog, here is a picture of us visiting Katie & Paul last month at their house. We had great wine and snacks while we also got to see her brother Keith (Dave & Keith grew up together), Keith's stellar wife, Nicole, and their adorable baby boy, Jake.


What's better than mid-day wine tasting??

So let's go, 2009!!! As Oprah says (yes, I am quoting her...don't judge me), "LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE"

xoxo