California Part 3: Seriously Good Eats...and a bowl of rigatoni I'd leave my husband for...

Well how's your Tuesday going?

 

It's raining here. Not so great for business, but good for blogging!

 

So today I want to tell you a bit about the dining portion of our trip to the land of Milk and Honey.

 

I've never eaten better in my life than any of the times I've been to California.  I tell ya', they know what they're doing.  All the organic ingredients and wine doesn't hurt either.

 

So on we go!

 

California Part 3:

Good Eats!

 

During vacations, I eat an extremely large amount of food. When I say a lot, I mean it to the fullest extent.  You know how cows just graze and graze and graze all day long? ...

...Now blend that with one of those competitive eaters...

That is me on a vacation.
 
I love to eat. I am a firm believer that a good meal is the best way to a persons heart.  Amongst all the amazing grub we annihilated on this trip, there were a few meals that really stood out enough to me that I felt it necessary to be that lady at the table snapping pictures of her food.

 

If that doesn't scream "I'm a visitor" then I don't know what does.

 

Now, although we ate at many restaurants, cafes, bakeries, markets, food trucks, troughs, etc...there are two in particular that I want to share with you.  They were just so delicious that I felt they needed to be given a little extra attention...

...much like my waistline now needs...

First off...

 

"Rustic"

Francis Ford Coppolas restaurant at his Vineyard.

 

This place is awesome. My husband and I came here during one other visit and the deliciousness of that meal has stuck with us ever since.  Its a pretty cool place. While you wait for your table you can check out the gift shop/museum of all the props and cool stuff from all of Coppolas movies, but that's for another post.

 

As we walked up the castle-like steps to the restaurant the aroma of wine was extremely prominent and by the time we hit the doors, I was buzzed.

 

 I'm not sure what's up with this picture, but now I know what I'd look like if one
 of my parents had been Chinese.

We made our way in, oohed and aahed over the Godfather props, and then were sat at our outdoor table under the vine and café light covered trellis.  It was a little chilly that night, so it was really nice when we noticed that there were heaters outside. It was perfecto.  The very skinny waitress who obviously didn't dine often at her place of business came over to our table with our menus and a little brown paper bag that contained two Zeppole.  

For those of you who don't know, zeppole are little tiny savory donuts. 

I hadn't eaten in almost an hour at this point and therefore couldn't manage to wait another 5 seconds to take a picture without taking a bite.
 

We ordered our wine and our meals shortly after and then sat back and enjoyed the view of the vineyards while waiting on our entrees. 

I personally enjoyed a little people watching too...mainly the couple that was sat next to us.  They were an odd couple to say the least.  She was a very tall and thin trendy gal with wild, firey red hair and a giant rock on her finger. He was dressed like a salesman who probably took blood pressure meds and was a member of a Fantasy Golf league. This was a fine dining restaurant, and you could tell they were regulars because their waiter came up and asked if they would like their "usual".  They replied with a bit of a snooty "Yes" and then the waiter scurried off to enter in their order.  Not more than 10 minutes later their meals arrived...

...she had an entire pizza to herself, and he had a burger with fries with an extra side of fries and a Coke.  He ate every single speck of his food, she ate none of hers, and then they were gone.  It was just odd.

Anyways, when our food came I was officially famished and near death.  I ordered the New York strip with veggies which was absolutely divine. My husband ordered the meal he had been dreaming about for 2 years.. the meal he has repeatedly asked me to make for him on a nightly basis... the meal that all of his other meals now have to stand up to...

(tough, dude....you're gettin' Kraft Mac just like the rest of us)

...the Rack of Lamb.

 

 

He was a happy boy....

 

...my jokes about him devouring a baby lamb didn't even phase him.

 

We sat in silence, smiling like simpletons, slowing savoring our meals bite by bite, like parents with small children and a free babysitter for the night tend to do. 

 

That was a great meal. One that I shall longingly daydream about every time my children con me into making them corndogs for dinner.

 

The second of the two meals I want to share with you was nothing short of heaven on Earth.

 

Diovola Pizza.

 

Seriously... Heaven.

 

I had to control the urge to weep at several different points during this meal and at one point I'm pretty sure I saw the virgin Mary in the corner...

 

..she was eating pizza too.

 

 

This awesome little pizza place is set in Geyserville, CA which is seriously one of the cutest towns I've seen.  It's very tiny. The whole downtown main street is dotted with adorable little shops and old school touches.

 

Like this Mercantile. 

 

There really should be dirt roads and horses tied up outside.

 

And little modern touches, like this super tiny wine shop with this very lovely and intriguing oversized yellow door.

 

Just a little ways down the road from the yellow door was Diovola'a.  They had just opened for the day so we were the first ones in.  We were sat in the center of the room with a good view of the big brick oven in the kitchen, as well as the big window up front.  This place specializes in pizza but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they dabble in curing meats as well...

 

I love restaurants that give you bread or chips while you wait.  After all, the only thing I love better than eating, is free food.  The freebie at this place was these tall skinny, crispy parmesan bread sticks they had displayed in mason jars. 

 

Super cute. 

 

My children devoured these things like candy and luckily our waitress kept 'em coming for my two little ravenous beasts.

 

 

Cheese!!!

Olive and her new baby camera she got for her birthday.

Food blogger in the making? I think so.

 

First up. Salads.

 

I chose this warm greens salad that came loaded with walnuts, goat cheese, crispy pork belly and an over easy egg on top, all drizzled with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

It was so good, that if I could have made out with it, I would have...

 

...but you know what they say about having egg on your face...

...and no, I did not share and I don't feel bad about it.

 

 

Next on the docket was our pizza and this amazing dish of rigatoni that the waitress said they were famous for...

 

...I understand completely why she said that. I may have loved the pasta more than the pizza.  The tomato sauce was perfect. Tomatoey, herby, and just a little bit sweet and buttery.  And the meatballs...OHH the MEATBALLS!  They were made of pork and brisket.

 

Do I even need to go on?

 

They were so tender that they just fell apart, and that's when the magic happened.  After the meatballs crumbled under the pressure of my ravenous stare, each and every piece of the perfectly al dente rigatoni was then coated in this exceptional blend of tomato sauce and little flecks of brisket. 

 

I saw God that day.

 

Yes, I saw the Virgin Mary AND God...What of it?

Then there was the pizza.

Have you ever had a meal that was so stinkin' good that you figured you might as well just die now because no meal will ever live up to that one?

 

Ashley, don't you think you're being a bit dramatic?..

 

No damnit. It was that good.

 

Fire roasted red peppers, mushrooms, mozzarella, and MORE crispy pork belly.

 

Take me now God...

....yes, I'll wait while you finish your rigatoni.

 

 

So there you have it. The two best meals I had on our trip.

 

It's meals like these that really make me want to open a small fine dining, yet non fussy restaurant like this one....

 

....but then again, I probably wouldn't be allowed inside because I'd constantly be eating all the merchandise...

 

:) Ashley