ad hoc

incredible food awful waiter...the food was heavenly yet simply. the menu for the night i dined there was caesar salad, pork chops, cheese(can't tell you what kind because our waiter pretty much rushed through everything) with honey and a cheese cake pudding type dessert. the pork chop was cooked perfectly, salted just right and they let the meat be the star and it was. the salad was simple but the added capers that seems to be lightly fried gave it a nice burst of flavor. the cheese plate again was simple but the honey went so perfectly with it. finally, the little dish of the cheese cake parfait or pudding(once again our waiter did not do his job in explaining) was divine and forced us to try and get every last bite out of the cup. each course had a glass of wine that went perfectly with the food but once again we receive no more than a 5 second robotic sentence. this is wine country, the customer definitely wants to hear a little more about the pairings. all that being said about the food, alex, our waiter may have been the worst waiter i've ever encountered. he did not spend more than a few seconds at our table, it was so bad i made sure that before he put our dessert on the table i had my credit card out because we had no idea when the next time he would come back. i'm usually very forgiving with waitstaff but his only job really was to be informative, courteous and check in every now and then considering it is a set menu. that type of service can happen from time to time but you would never expect it in a thomas keller restaurant. thank god the food was on point.

when i told friends that i went to thomas keller's  ad hoc , their replies were always the same-- "did you have the fried chicken?" unfortunately the famous fried chicken at ad hoc is served on mondays, and my friend and i were there on a thursday. i am happy to say though, that i was still blown away by everything i did try. ad hoc offers a $52 (+ $36 for wine) 4-course menu for dinner that changes on a daily basis. each course is served family-style. the restaurant serves brunch on sundays. this was hands down the best meal i've had in 2015, and looking back on it is making my mouth water. i cannot wait to return on a monday and get some of that fried chicken! mixed green salad with r ed beets, pickled red onions, crispy gaufrettes, granny smith apples, toasted caraway creme fraiche a superb salad with a wonderful combination of flavors. the beets were sweet, the onions spicy, and the apples refreshing. mar i muntanya:  saffron rice, piquillo peppers, green beans, cauliflower, chorizo, roasted chicken, pei mussels, gulf shrimp mar i muntanya is a catalan dish composed of chicken and seafood over rice. i am a huge fan of seafood paellas, and this dish won me over just one bite in. the rice was incredibly flavorful with a perfect al dente texture, the chicken skin was crispy, the inside moist and juicy, and all the seafood was fresh and amazing. veal cutlet ($16 addition) with o lives, tomato sauce, capers without the additional course, we definitely would've had more than enough food, but we did drive over to napa mainly for dinner at ad hoc ( wine tasting was just a bonus), so when it came to deciding whether to add on this veal cutlet or not, it took all of a minute for us to say yes. and i'm very glad we did. this was fried to perfection. it was simple but very solid. bellwether farms pepato with palladin toast, dijon mustard the sheepsmilk with peppercorn was semi-hard with a strong flavor. it paired well with the spicy dijon and warm bread. cranberry bourbon b

in the past, when i’ve gone to ad hoc i’ve always enjoyed the food (see this post ),but i’ve never been there for their fried chicken (which is usually served every monday night). it was our lucky day when we visited because they were serving fried chicken for the 4th of july...we started with the iceberg lettuce salad with fresh herbs, radishes, and carrots from the french laundry’s garden: everything was fresh and crisp; the vegetables were much more flavorful than anything we eat in new york!...the main course, the fried chicken, is served lukewarm: with a side of corn and watermelon: we also ordered the mac and cheese, which was cheesy...

meh. we ate at ad hoc this past saturday night and were generally disappointed by the food. the wedge salad to start was bland bordering on flavorless---all i could taste was ice berg. we asked for more dressing but that didn't help much, i should have asked for more bacon... the main was good--steak and potatoes, well cooked, big portions. the cheese plate was odd--really uninteresting cheese, and the dessert, a blondie with creme fraiche was fine, completely not memorable.
the price to interesting food ratio was definitely in the not worth it category.
service was good, very attentive wait staff which we appreciated.

any visit to a thomas keller restaurant would be exciting, but ad hoc in napa has a little twist that kindled our interest: there is one pre fixe menu every evening, so you have no choice in your order other than wine pairings. the menu is presented in a file folder, which made the office-supply-loving neurons in my brain do a disco dance. well done, mr. keller. bread. the brightly lit space, stainless steel tabletops, pale woods and flurry of servers dressed in chocolate brown uniforms combined with pig centric decor came together for a modern-tinged-with-farm look. the place was hopping when we arrived, and nearly every table was filled with diners. it’s popular, and after our experience, evident why reservations are required. the pre fixe menu includes four courses: a salad followed by the main course, then cheese, and wraps up with dessert. this is certainly an upscale place with impeccable service, but the file folders and family style dining make the entire experience casual and

fun but super loud. servers were nice but were ripping on diners left and right.

the main was an incredible pork dish served with a succotash of corn and bell peppers. it seems simple right? that is their goal. but as is often the case, simple does not mean boring. the pork was fall off the bones tender and incredibly flavourful.

let me introduce to you ad hoc.  i was taken there by a friend when we visited napa, california a few years ago. although i love savory food, i normally prefer something lighter for breakfast / brunch.  buttermilk fried chicken was definitely too heavy for me but i still have to admit, this was some very good fried chicken. i guess i shouldn't be surprised.  after all, ad hoc is owned by thomas keller, who also owned the famous (and coveted?) french laundry.  their menu rotates daily and i remembered my friend was ecstatic when we were told fried chicken was on the menu the day we went. i loved the bright and elegant interior design of the restaurant.  everything falls into place in the beautiful and relaxing environment in napa.   you might questioned:  it's been years since you were there, how can you remember?  i can tell you i can still remember the taste of that chicken wh

finally this gorgeous plan of buttermilk fried chicken arrived and it looked like a whole chicken. the golden crust had beautiful ripples and the second we bit into the crispy rich crust, the juicy chicken gave us the tingles. totally worth the trip. totally the best fried chicken one can ever eat. here is food & wine unveiling of thomas keller’s lemon brined fried chicken recipe if you want to try it at home.

happy friday! i like to end the work week with food posts that inspire me to enjoy life, eat well, and stay hungry. is there a fun new restaurant you're trying this weekend? while in calistoga for a wedding, husband and i had a double date dinner one night in napa with friends. we finally got to try thomas keller's ad hoc ! if you want to eat at a keller restaurant without breaking the bank, ad hoc is the much more chill and affordable brother to the french laundry . ad hoc changes its menu daily, which blows my mind. it takes so much skill and experience to perfect a meal in one shot! refreshing summery watermelon salad to start. in addition to the pre-fixe menu, we ordered some steak skewers, and they were a very good idea. the main dish was juicy pork chops that had so much flavor, especially near the bone. food is served family style, so go with people you're comfortable sharing food with. ;) a beautiful cheese plate with some fruit, nuts, and honey is always delightful. this set u

amazing food at a reasonable price ($52pp) but there was way too much of it. j says he regrets this meal just because of how much food there was (and yes, i know no-one was shoving it down our throats). but the friend chicken was worth it and overall i would recommend giving ad hoc a try, just don’t eat lunch, don’t order the additional dish and maybe skip the bread.

each of the dishes is served family style, and while we were a party of two i think each portion would have fed a family of four easily! no one will feel like they are not getting their money's worth here! to start, we had a farm fresh salad with oranges, sunflower seeds, beets, hard boiled eggs among other ingredients, which included a variety of lettuces. this was a hearty salad bursting with a variety of flavors and textures in each bite. next to arrive was the main course of the meal, which was an amazing prime rib, accompanied by the smoothest mashed potatoes accented with horseradish. we seriously could not believe how light and whipped the potatoes were. the horseradish was heavy enough to offer add a nice bite, but not overwhelming. ..

4. grilled bone-in ribeye: cavolo nero, tfl crosnes, baked piquillo peppers, polenta cakes, cipollini onions. where do i start with this fabulous course? well, i'll proceed one component at a time. first, the star of the show, the ribeye. this was one of the best ribeyes i have had the honor to eat. it was cooked perfectly medium rare and the flavor just made you crave for more of it. if i was a douche, i would have eaten it all and not allowed p any. good thing i'm not a douche (well, not a big one anyway). second, the cavolo nero, or kale. it was tasty and good for the body. next, the french laundry crosnes grown in the tfl garden. a crosne is a root vegetable - tuber - that is becoming more popular on menus. the flavor is described on wikipedia as "nutty" and "artichoke-like". the crosnes in our all-clad pan were indeed nutty as well as starchy and buttery- a pleasure. the baked piquillo peppers were sweet and smoky. the polenta cakes were to die for. i could tell that p especially

sometimes awesome. i've been here several times and each time seemed different to me because of selection on the menu. i've been here when the food was an explosion of delight in my mouth. but on my most recent visit they made a dish that was good ( corned beef ) but i wasn't crazy about the flavor because it tasted very beefy and not like corned beef and on the night i went there the dessert was just ice cream sundaes and they were ok and good but not special to me. i will visit again and hope for an awesome dinner.

she said…i have to say that i was a little disappointed with this meal. there wasn’t anything that was bad (although i thought the shrimp poboy was rather dry and lacking in flavor). there just wasn’t anything particularly memorable or exciting to me. we made these reservations a few months in advance of our trip due to the fact that it was harvest and a very busy time of year. since they change the menu daily, and there is no choice in what you get, we had no idea what we would be having that evening. that is generally fine with us, as we like to try new things and are fairly adventurous eaters, but had i known the main dish was chicken, i very well may have opted for another of the area’s many restaurants.