Category — Napa

Can you imagine the Bay Area without Mount Tam, Half Moon Bay Beach, and Henry Coe? Well that’s what the Governor announced - a new proposal to eliminate state funding for our state park system – which will close more than 80% of the 279-unit state park system.  His proposal to cut $143 million from our state parks is 10 times worse than last year’s proposal.

What can you do?

1. Sign the petition from the California State Parks Foundation

2. Donate to the California State Parks Foundation, the only non profit dedicated to advocating for the California State park system.

3. Learn more about the issues and the California state budget.

4. Spread the word!

Last year, during this time, I realized I couldn’t handle the day to day tasks of a wedding while at work. So I made the wise choice of hiring a wedding planner. I looked for a green, environmental wedding planner, and I was able to find one!

I worked with Corina Beczner of Vibrant Events. I liked her style, her background in sustainability, and her ideas. She worked with me for several months before the big day in Half Moon Bay to concoct a green wedding. My wedding had so many green elements in it that it has been filmed by Bloomberg, along with other green wedding vendors like Brilliant Earth. More photos and ideas from my wedding to come!

I love Ubuntu. After being vegetarian for 20 years, this is one of the superstar vegetarian restaurants to have launched in a long time. Located in Napa, this is an upscale, Zen like environment without a lot of pretense. Food is prepared with the best local ingredients.

This is my favorite salad. Beets with avocado and grapefruit. Recently its recipe was featured in this month’s Sunset Magazine.

Zen like, relaxing atmosphere. Upstairs is a yoga studio.

Above is their signature dish, a rich cauliflower dish in a cast iron pot. Very creative and rich. However it was a little too creamy for my taste.

Although this doesn’t look the prettiest, this fresh farm egg was to die for. Similar to the type of egg yolk described by Michael Pollan’s Omnivore Dilemma, this yolk was a bright orange yellow and very rich.

All in all, this is an excellent find in downtown Napa. Creative vegetarian food, with great service and a relaxing feel. I’m definitely coming again.

Ubuntu is located on 1140 Main Street in downtown Napa.

California State and federal government officials plan to spray across the San Francisco Bay Area in order to eradicate the apple moth. According to a recent Chronicle article, “Hundreds of residents in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, where pheromone pesticides were aerially applied late last year, have reported health symptoms, including shortness of breath, muscle aches and sore throats.”

Read more about these issues through a local non profit dedicated against the spraying called Stop The Spray. I signed the petition to stop the spray on Care2 which already contains over 14,000 signatures.

Celebrating another big 30th birthday, my friend Laura rented a shuttle to Napa valley and checked out some of the wineries. Our first stop was Constantino, a family run winery. To be honest, I’m not really a wine person, more of a foodie, but I thought the atmosphere of the winery was very relaxed and intimate. It apparently is my friend Laura’s favorite winery in Napa and she bought a wine membership from them.

Our next stop was V. Sattui, another family run winery near St. Helena. Despite its beautfiul grounds with oak trees and picnic tables, the place was a mad house! We did arrive Saturday at noon, but once I walked inside the tasting room and deli, it felt like going into a squished Trader Joe’s during rush hour, with people running around everywhere. The picture above shows a very nice deli and cheese selection.
They also carried Frog Hollow Farms’ organic and locally made jams. Even better is their fresh produce (especially peaches) if you find them in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. I don’t think I would go back to V. Sattui, it was way too crowded and ruined any notion of being in Napa.
I used to live in New York, walking distance to the Dean and Deluca shop in SOHO. I was delighted to see even a larger Dean and Deluca in Napa. Above is a picture of locally sourced organic fruits. They had a wide assortment of farms nearby.

Dean and Deluca wasn’t as packed as V. Sattui, and the food options were way better, with fresh pastries, exotic teas, spices and wines. The only thing I wish Dean and Deluca could do better is to put benches or tables outside their patio so people can actually eat their food properly.