This Tuesday my friends and I have plans to spend a day in Napa (the two days before we will be in Russian River and then Dry Creek). I just found out a few days ago that THE winery that I really wanted to visit on this whole trip is not open for tastings on Tuesdays (it's not on their website). I am very sad that I won't be able to go to Pride on Spring Mountain, and so now I am trying to figure out what to do instead. I was planning on visiting Pride and then Robert Keenan. We would then stop in St. Helena for picnic supplies and continue on to Robert Mondavi (one of my friends works for Constellation and we have a free reserve tasting that she would like to do). I also have a 4pm appointment with Tolucay to end our day.

We will be coming from Windsor and I am wondering if maybe we should visit Von Strasser, then Robert Keenan, and continue on with our day. The issue is that my husband's only request is that he gets to visit a couple mountain wineries. He is a server at an upscale restaurant in our city, and the sommelier and wine reps he works with has put in his head that this is what he needs to do. Obviously Pride would have been perfect and I also wanted to go. Are there better options for mountain wineries? Perhaps we should head to Mount Veeder instead? And Artesa also caught my attention as being somewhere with a beautiful view and good wines.

Just to throw it out there, we don't want to spend more than $20/person on tasting. We also don't want to visit places like Paloma and Smith-Madrone that don't charge and require appointments because honestly we won't likely be buying a lot of wine in Napa ($$), and at places like that I wouldn't feel comfortable not buying. I am looking for a couple mountain wineries with delicious wines and views, and I want to pay for my tasting so that I don't feel bad about not buying. Perhaps I will get some flack for this, but I would love some ideas.

Yes, it looks beautiful, doesn't it? We don't have very many opportunities to eat oysters right from the source, so I think it seems perfect. I read that the drive up from San Francisco is is beautiful too, probably prettier than driving up 101, albeit much longer...

You have given me some things to consider. Less driving time would be nice. I really did want to visit Aritsa b/c I liked what I had read about it, but it really is out of the way. I am skeptical about Merry Edwards b/c I thought that I had read that their wines are very "earthy" (??). I had Dutton-Goldfield on my list at one point but decided that, although the wines sound delicious, I would also like someplace with a little scenery. And we will already be visiting Paul Mathews, which is only a tasting room too. I will look into the other ones you mentioned.

I am a little confused about Hog Island. I am not interested in shucking my own oysters (I do it in my kitchen enough). I wanted to visit the boat, which opens at 11am and is a cafe with raw and BBQ oysters on it's menu. If we get there 15-20 minutes before 11am, I assumed we could place our order as soon as they open and simply eat a few oysters while looking at the view and be on our way.

Anyways, thank you and I will continue to revise. I am also having some issues with our Napa itinerary, but that may be a separate post.

Yes, I think you may be right. We will plan on not visiting Woodenhead, but if some reason we end up having time then we will stop by.

Honestly I would rather plan on too many wineries and as the day progresses, skipping a winery or two that are lower on our priority list. We won't have any appointments that day, although I am considering making an appointment at Lynmar. I read that an appointment is not necessary, but that it may be better as they are very busy. Thoughts?

And I am open to recommendations on wineries. This is what I came up with in my research, and considering our interests. One consideration is that we are coming from the coast and wanted to end up kind of near Armstrong Redwoods Reserve (not that we are really, I was having some trouble with that aspect). I would prefer places with pretty scenery and good wines. We are not big fans of Old World style wines, but don't desire fruit bombs either. We are looking for well balanced, fruit forward wines. I wanted tasting fees to be between $10-$15. And we thought it would be fun to throw in a sparkling wine tasting, in addition to trying some delicious Pinot Noirs. I am open to suggestions...

So we will plan on cutting out either Paul Mathew or Wooden Head. I think it might be feasible to visit 4 wineries since Arista is open until 5.

I will just go ahead and link the post I started a few months ago. I recently added my trip report too.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884970

Wild Flour sounds wonderful, but I just don't think we will have the time to stop on Sunday, especially in light of the lines that I have read about. I have a feeling I am already being somewhat ambitious about how much we can fit in that day.

The plan is to arrive at Hog Island at 11am (or a few minutes before) and stay for about 45 minutes in order to down a few oysters. Then we'll drive to Graton and visit the Paul Mathew tasting room, pick up lunch at Willow Wood (we'll call ahead), and then arrive at Lynmar at about 1:30pm. Then I would like to visit Iron Horse, Wooden Head, and Arista. Arista closes at 5pm so I plan on getting there no later than 4:30. We will skip Wooden Head if we are short on time. Then we would like to take a walk at Armstrong Redwoods at the end of the day. Dinner will be either at Boon Eat + Drink in Guerneville, Willis Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, or at Tomi Thai in Windsor (where our hotel is).

Does this seem unrealistic?

Ah yes, Willow Wood is where you suggested on my other post. Sorry, we are doing a RRV, Dry Creek, and Napa day in each area so my brain is overloaded from all the research and reading. But I certainly have been having fun reading your posts from the past few years! I already know my palate is nowhere as refined as yours, but it helps to hear someone's opinion when they know what they are taking about. Thank you for your contributions!

I was being lazy for a couple hours, but then I did call and ask :) It's $10/person reimbursed if wine is bought.

Oh yes, and Paul Mathews looks very interesting. How much is the tasting?

So can we get there and order take-out. Or is it more of a sit down place? We would prefer to take lunch with us and possibly eat at one of the wineries.

A week from this Sunday four of us will be driving up from San Francisco to Hog Island Oyster (first to arrive at 11am hopefully!) and then on over to Russian River via route 1 and Bodega Hwy, with our first stop possibly being Lynmar. Is there anyplace recommended to pick up lunch? I would rather not go into Santa Rosa as we'll only have about 4 hours to visit wineries that afternoon. I would prefer it was something fast but delicious of course. Like sandwiches to go?

Great! Thank you. We will most likely do one of those.

I will tack on my question here instead of starting a new thread. A week from this Sunday four of us will be driving up from San Francisco to Hog Island Oyster (first to arrive at 11am hopefully!) and then on over to RRV via route 1 and Bodega Hwy, with our first stop possibly being Lynmar. Is there anyplace recommended to pick up lunch? I would rather not go into Santa Rosa as we'll only have about 4 hours to visit wineries. I would prefer it was something fast but delicious of course. Like sandwiches to go? In Sebastopol?

I use this same cabonara recipe and it always comes out awesome. I get requests for it quite often.

Hello fellow Chowhounders. Thank you so much for your feedback and sorry that I did not report back sooner!

After checking into my hotel on Sunday, I walked to Saigon Sandwich and had a delicious bahn mi of roast pork and pate. I was starving and devoured the whole thing, even though I could feel myself becoming stuffed. I then wandered to Mission street and saw a great many homeless people in large groups. I finally found the picturesque area around 18th and saw many of the restaurants I had read about. I passed through Bi-Rite and thought about buying a bottle of wine for later, but didn't want to carry it or wait in the long, long line to pay. I then walked down Delores and watched the going ons at Mission Delores Park and gawked at all the awesome San Fransisco houses, wishing I could afford to live in one. I climbed many a hill and eventually crossed over to Church and arrived at Incanto wishing I was hungrier, but resolving to eat as much as I could anyways. I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of rose, which received a nod of approval from the bartender. First, I had a delicious pasta with enoki mushrooms, followed by a special of sea bass collar. I struggled to finish, but was quite content with my food choices. After walking the 3 plus miles to Incanto from my hotel, I decided to take the bus back. Unfortunately the one I was on broke down and I ended up having to walk quite a ways before catching another. I eventually made it back, and fell into bed exhausted.

On Monday I walked across the street from my hotel to Whole Foods to pick up a sandwich for my lunch. I took the bus to the Land's End Trail where I checked out Sutro Baths and then walked the trail. It was beautiful with an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I met very few people, but did cross paths with a coyote. We stared each other down for a bit, and then continued on our ways. Eventually I got to the end of the trail and bussed back to my hotel to freshen up a bit. Later I walked all over Nob Hill, up the hill to Coit Tower, and then though Little Italy to the Financial District. I wandered through the Ferry Building and tried to get some oysters at Hog Island, but they were too crowded. For dinner I decided on Cotogna and it was marvelous. Again I sat at the bar and I ordered a whiskey cocktail to warm me up (it was freezing out). After I finished I enjoyed an octopus starter followed by a rabbit pasta, along with a glass of Lagrein. All was wonderful and I was warm because I was sitting right in front of the open kitchen fire.

Tuesday ended up being a bit of a bust food wise. I was craving some more ethnic food, and also wanted to visit the Haight neighborhood. I tried to eat Pho at Turtle Tower only to find that they are closed on Tuesday (I know, I should have checked). So I took the bus down Market and stopped at Kasa Indian for a quick, cheap kati roll and some dal. I then walked around that area a little bit, and on up Divisadero to the Haight. I bought a couple scarves because I was still cold, and then boarded the bus to take the long way back to my hotel on Van Ness. I wanted to cut through Golden Gate Park so I could see it, but honestly what I saw wasn't that exciting. I checked out of my hotel and left my bag (I was flying out at midnight), and went to get a pedicure since I was going to warm weather Mexico and also had some time to kill. By then I was hungry again and so decided to walk to China Town. I went to Z & Y but it was closed with a sign on the door saying they had no gas (I felt as if I was already in Mexico). I shopped for a minute in one of the stores and then consulted my list/map. I saw I wasn't far from the Fairmont and I was curious to see the Tonga Room. I figured maybe I would shell out $20 for one of those awesomely gaudy drinks. I arrived and weaved through throngs of wealthy people dressed much better than I, and took the elevator to the basement only to find it was closed for a private party. By now I was a bit frustrated and hungry, so decided to try Burmese Kitchen. The atmosphere wasn't that great, and neither was the neighborhood. I ordered the tea leaf salad which I loved, but my coconut noodle entree was very disappointing. I really didn't know what to order so that was a problem. When I was finished I kept checking my phone for the bus schedule so that I would only have to wait a minute or two before boarding, but I ended up waiting at the bus stop for 10 minutes with a crazy man who was practically foaming at the mouth and a young kid who nobly kept placing himself between me and the scary guy every time the man tried to approach me. I eventually gave up on the bus and thanked the kid and walked very quickly to another stop a couple blocks away on Van Ness. I collected my bag from the hotel and took public transportation back to SFO.

All in all, my solo San Francisco trip was a success! I had so much fun being on my own, although I do appreciate traveling and eating with friends I will be back for one night in a couple weeks, along with my husband and another couple. We will be doing just one dinner before heading up to Sonoma County for 3 days. We'll eat at Incanto, Cotogna, AQ, or St. Vincent's most likely. Thanks again!!

I bought recently David Thompson's Thai Food and My Bombay Kitchen by Niloufer Ichaporia King. On my Amazon wishlist are Plenty: Yotam Ottolenghi, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, and Asian Tofu by Andrea Nguyen.

Thank you. I am looking into some of these!

I did a lot of research for a recent trip to HK and these are some of the places I discovered for eating on the cheap.

Kau Kee in Central (for beef brisket noodles)
Sing Heung Yuen in Central (for tomato noodles with egg, open air and across the street from Kau Kee)
MAK's, Wing Wah Noodle, or Tsim Chai Chee (for shrimp wonton noodles)
Chung's Cuisine or Tim Ho Wan (for reasonable and delectable dim sum)
Butao Ramen (for ramen noodles done 4 different ways, comfort food)
Joy Hings (for roasted meats and rice, it was cheap and good but get the BBQ pork, not the roasted pork)

I will be back, and probably soon! Most likely with my husband and/or friends, so then I will get to try lots more dishes.

Robert is right, I am not looking to eat a huge meal in one spot (unless I suddenly feel like it). I will probably hit up a couple different places, and if still hungry with get some cheap Mission Chinese or Vietnamese food on my way back to my hotel. AQ seems like it will work.

There is another Pok Pok in NYC. I have heard that it is not as good, but I am sure that it would be delicious even if it was almost at good. Maybe I will borrow your term and call my food forays "gastro grazing".

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed information. I will definitely check out the Coit Tower and the steps. You are correct in assuming that I don't really have a sweet tooth, and I also don't get excited about breakfast (coffee and toast will suffice) but Mama's certainly sounds interesting b/c of the crab. I just may be up early since I am coming from the east coast (not normally a morning person).

I figured that it might take a while to get to Land's End by bus. I was going to take either bus 18 or 38 all the way to 48th street, and then take a bus down California street (I think there is a stop at 38th) on the way back. Does this make sense? Sorry, I know this isn't very Chow.

Thanks again! I will be looking into all your dining suggestions!

The cocktails at Cheshire are good, but be prepared to wait a long time (and possibly be ignored by the bartenders) for those hand crafted concoctions.

Dinosaur is yummy and fun and loud and certainly worth visiting. I always enjoy the food, but am far from a BBQ connoisseur so I can't say a whole lot more than that. Just go!

I also bring out of town visitors to Pittsford Wegmans. The huge cafe area is impressive, along with the grocery store itself. I will probably get some flack for saying this, but I just don't find the food in the cafe to be that great. It is certainly adequate and worth visiting, but don't expect it to be as well seasoned and adventurous as a "foodie" might like. It is what it is. It's meant to please the average person whether they are looking for healthy or comfort food, sushi or Indian, etc. That being said, I would still suggest visiting.

I know this is an old thread, but it had so many responses that I thought I might add my two cents. Future visitors to Rochester will most likely be reading this. I think Good Luck is fantastic and we just had a wonderful meal there last weekend. I cannot agree about Lento. Their $1 oysters on Tuesday are great, but the food just does not deliver. I have eaten there 3 times in the past year or so, and while the menu sounds delicious, I have been disappointed by the actual dishes every time. I recently ordered a beef carpaccio and had to dress it myself by requesting lemon, salt, and pepper. I really want to like it there, but don't think I will be ordering food again. Rocco is wonderful but I am partial. Owl House (across the street from Rocco) does a good job of catering to both veggies & carnivores and I have always enjoyed my food, although have never been wowed. Cure has opened at the Public Market and that is quite delicious. Oh yes, and I did have dinner at Warfield's this summer and expected great things and found it didn't deliver. This is just my opinion...

I am embarrassed to say I ended up going to a horrible, florescent lit bar next door to my hotel. There were 2 creepy guys at the bar, but the martini was fine and my chicken quesadilla was not horrible. I was just too tired...

Hi grayelf! As you can see I have decided I better catch up on some trip reports :)

We went on a Thursday. We tried to get there early (5:30) b/c I knew about the wait, but it just wasn't happening. I think we may have arrived around 6:30-6:45?? We were put on the list and waited over an hour. They may have quoted us 2 hours, but I know we didn't wait nearly that long. They have a cocktail place next door, and it was a beautiful evening, so we passed the time pleasantly enough. Drinks, the outdoors, and good company...

My husband and I visited DC for one night last September and we made the choices for our gastro crawl based on your recommendations, so I thought it was time to finally report back. We flew in on a Wednesday and went to Rasika in Penn Quarter for lunch. It was quite delicious and inspired me to start making some Indian food at home. I loved the modern approach and we experienced some very unique flavors. We sat at the bar and, while the bartender was not initially very warm, we won him over by asking him about his favorites. We requested he order 5-6 dishes for us. He good-naturedly went along with it and picked out some fabulous dishes. I specifically remember being wowed by an eggplant and banana dish and also the dal. Oh yes, and the fried spinach.

We did some touristy DC things after settling in at our hotel. Then we were off to dinner. We had a lot of trouble deciding where to go and eventually decided to visit to a few different spots. We stopped by Corduroy for a cocktail and snack. We weren't really into the atmosphere but thoroughly enjoyed our soup (corn?) and a salmon and tomato dish. The bartender was very sweet, and it came up in conversation that Rogue24 was around the corner. I had been considering this place for our big dinner of the night, but decided against it because of cost and also the desire to try a variety of places. The Corduroy bartender informed us they did have a bar (we weren't sure since it is a tasting menu), and that we would be welcome to stop in for a drink and a snack. So we crossed the street and walked down an alley and did just that. There is a tiny bar in the back of the room and we sat down and met the "chef-tender". I had his card in my wallet until recently and now I forgot his name. But he was fantastic and he seemed to have a lot of fun coming up with some drinks for us. There was a lot smoke involved in my husband's whiskey cocktail. We had a couple snacks, which were good, but we were happy with our decision not to have dinner there. It was just a little too deconstructed and modern for my taste.

So we finally decided it was time for our real dinner and hopped in a taxi and arrived at Proof. We sat at a tiny bar table (we always prefer informal bar seating if available wherever we dine) and ordered a ton of food that didn't fit on our table. But we juggled things around and made do. I am sure the bartender who was taking care of us thought we were crazy. He did a so-so job of recommending dishes to us. We found the food to be delicious and also had some fantastic glasses of wine. It was the 1st time we had ever seen the Enomatic wine machine and now my husband is obsessed with the idea of needing one in the restaurant he works at. I honestly can't remember what we ate, it wasn't anything extremely innovative, but it was all tasty. I believe we had some foie gras and also duck??

The next day we grabbed breakfast at the hotel and did some more touristy things. We then picked up our bags from reception and caught a taxi to Little Serow. Our plan was to wait in line and get the 1st seating. Also to eat in about an hour so that we could catch our plane home. It worked! We lined up at 5pm and snagged a seat at the bar and the courses began coming immediately. We loved everything about Little Serow. The restaurant is so unique and the service excellent. The food was spicy (which we love) and absolutely delicious. There is enough said about Little Serow on these boards so I won't go into any more detail, but it is suffice to say that we are fans and would love to go back. The following week I was able to eat to Pok Pok in Portland and decided after those 2 meals that we needed to head to Thailand. We ended up taking a spur of the moment trip last month and got to eat some amazing street food.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations on the boards. It has almost always steered us in the right direction! (see my future post about Schwa)