What could be better than having your own private chef fly in from Amsterdam and serve you a meal? My buddy Sjoerd and his wife Jayne came for a visit to the wine country and brought their enthusiasm and positive energy not to mention their combined culinary skills. It was a great visit filled with culinary adventures.
Pictured here, the Chef is plating a salmon and roasted fall vegetables for a simple and delicious lunch at my house.
We took a drive through Napa Valley on day one where I had
arranged for a tour of the French Laundry kitchen. We arrived at noon right in the middle of prep. The kitchen was remarkably small but VERY clean and organized and was intensely silent. Interestingly, there is a flat screen TV in the kitchen with a live feed of the kitchen at Per Se in NYC. Following the tour, to keep the TK theme going, we went to Bouchon for lunch. Excellent!
Our next destination was one of the premiere Napa valley
wineries where we got a nice behind the scenes tour of the grape de-stemming, crush, and the winery kitchen. I am withholding the name of the winery because I may have a forthcoming job offer from the Chef at the winery. It all happened spontaneously when Sjoerd asked the Chef if he needed any help (referring to me). So, the Chef gave me his card and asked me to send in my resume. The job would be for special events at the winery as well as events throughout Napa and Sonoma Valley. This would be an ideal fit with the airline schedule. Needless to say, the resume went out ASAP the next day. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much...stay tuned.
The day was capped with a look through the CIA Greystone
in St Helena followed by a great dinner at the CIA restaurant Wine Spectator. What a beautiful setting. I highly recommend this restaurant. The chefs are students. The students also run the front-of-the- house on weekdays during lunch.
I have to say that the CIA facilities are very impressive. The demo room above put to shame my LCB Paris facility.
What could be better than having your own private chef fly in from Amsterdam and serve you a meal? My buddy Sjoerd and his wife Jayne came for a visit to the wine country and brought their enthusiasm and positive energy not to mention their combined culinary skills. It was a great visit filled with culinary adventures.
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