bottega

i'm back with part two of my trip to california! part one featured our time eating our way through san francisco, but today i'm sharing our adventures in wine country! this is a longer post, but there are plenty of pictures and i promise it's worth it! the bf and i picked up a car and drove north across the golden gate bridge to thenapavalley. golden gate bridge welcome tonapavalley! tres sabores before our trip, i had combined winery recommendations from friends and family and was left completely overwhelmed. there are so many wineries, each with a different experience. there is truly something for everyone! fellow chicago food blogger anne of a squared had visitednapaabout a month before i left so i made sure to jot down some of her recommendations. one of the wineries she recommended was tres sabores in st. helena which was our first stop. when we pulled into the winery's driveway, we were greeted by two of the friendliest golden retrievers. it was quite the warm welcome! this tasting was by appointment only and was one of our favorites of the trip. new friends at tres sabores we walked around the property with a few other guests and were guided by the winemaker who poured us samples of several wines including sauvignon blanc, and zinfandel. tres sabores tres sabores sauvignon blanc tres sabores zinfandel the winery was in the process of cleaning out some barrels of wine before adding the wine back into the barrels. it was so cool to see the wine running down the driveway, especially because it was such a beautiful shade of purple! the dogs kept walking in the wine puddle, creating a trail of purple paws around the property! cleaning out the barrels speaking of dogs, they followed us everywhere as we walked around, including in the wine cave. tres sabores wine cave tres sabores not only has beautiful grounds including a garden, they also have sheep and hens which were quite vocal while we were there! tres sabores tres sabores tres sabores tres sabores tres

happy may long weekend great foodie friends, while travelling throughnapai was very happy to have dinner plans at bottega ristorante !napais one great region for flavour magic. the wine region boasts some of most wonderful wines you may ever taste, what kicks it up several notches is being able to enjoy the fruits of the valley along with award winning food created by award winning chefs…. bottegga did not not disappoint! on the contrary our taste buds were in true heaven. from the minute you park and start walking towards the restaurant the “feel” of being somewhere special in the valley was present. if you followed your nose it would take you along this path and lead you to the doorway to a great dinner. the decor was warm and inviting featuring natural brick and warm natural woods. when you walk in the entrance you immediately see the bar/lounge on your left along with a great wrap around patio that looked truly inviting. if you are lucky you will often see chef chiarello visiti

magnificent!!! we halted here during a short visit innapavalley . we made a beeline for the back of the property from the parking garage and found the café by a little courtyard. we were welcomed set outside under secured zone and requested a few hors d'oeuvres and primary courses. the nourishment quality was extraordinary. we had an extremely meticulous gathering who are for the most part foodies and every one could just depict this spot as phenomenal. from the support of the nourishment, this was a hard 10 in our books. profoundly suggested.

posted by foodoofus ⋅ march 13, 2015 ⋅ leave a comment filed under   bottega , foodoofus , michael chiarello ,napa“oooh, what kind of surprise is it? is it something i would like? why don’t you tell me about it” napa… will i ever get sick and tired of this place? probably, but for now i’ll enjoy every excursion until my mind grows weary of the crimson grape vines, luscious backdrops of mt. st. helena, and of course the wonderful gastronomic experiences (aka bomb ass food). i promise this is my last fancy-schmancy place (at least for a little while) and i’ll go back to eating my usual standard of stuff. as previously referenced in my nyc round 2 finale issue , sometimes the pressure builds and even the best and brightest chefs can have an off day. in this case, it is the complete opposite and perhaps it’s because of the system that this top notch italian place has established. yountville, which probably boasts quite a bit of rivalry amongst talented celebrity chef empires, and bottega is no different. chef michael chiarello has proven himself a force to be reckoned with ever since the three-way season one finale, of which even he himself is a good sport of my tongue and cheek commentary via twitter . the menu for this evening’s experience michael chiarello’s confidence could be mistaken for arrogance given his appearance on top chef masters season 1, majority of the chef-testants (beyond the italian mafia top chefs) would want him as their mentor. however after visiting his restaurant, his style of management spills onto the restaurant floor like a well-oiled (pasta) machine. there’s no lack of hesitation when having his staff push themselves to the limit by acknowledging every guest in attendance (big or small) while pumping out pasta dishes like nobody’s business with a high turnover. when we first arrived, our party was immediately seated and presented with this view from the corner seat. the ambiance is lively, bringing the grand italian family meal setting to

bottega is chef michale chiarello's marquee restaurant in located right in yountville and across the street from his ownnapastyle home good store. the restaurant atmosphere is very napa: chic, but casual all at the same time with beautiful touches of wood and stone and copper... the menu is filled with rustic, yet modern italian dishes that really epitomizednapafood...if you're a foodie or if you're looking for a really special meal while you're visiting napa, bottega should certainly be on your 'can't miss' list. just be sure to make a reservation ahead of time!

abysmal. michael chiarello would have been mortified if he had witnessed the despicable service my party of 8 received at his restaurant this past saturday night. my husband and i were giving his place a second chance to redeem itself after our first experience there a couple years ago when we were made to wait for our reserved table for 45 minutes past our scheduled time then ignored by our servers for the balance of the evening only to experience an unremarkable dinner.

so, our group travelled from far and wide and just had to one of try yountville's big name restaurants. for starters, we brought our own magnum of joseph phelps backus cab ($400+ value). we asked for it to be placed on ice so it would be at the appropriate temp for serving after a few minutes. when the world's worst server, scott, finally greeted us after a solid 15 minutes of sitting with no offer of beverages, bread, etc., we had grown anxious about where our wine had gotten off to. scott sent for his wine guy to fetch it, and this chap was so young and inexperienced, it was pathetic. he had no awareness of our wine choice. upon showing us our bottle at our request, he then disappeared to the back of the restaurant with it and returned with two decanters containing our wine. we never saw our wine uncorked, never were offered a taste of the bottle, never were offered the option to decant only a portion of the magnum to keep the bottle at temp, etc. absolute disgrace for any restaurant to lack this etiquette, let alone one in the heart of napa.

our wine was fantastic no thanks to the restaurant, but the service continued to go down hill. no joke, it took 4 requests to finally get bread. the meal wasn't horrible, but left no lasting impressions either.

bottom line, skip this placenapagoers. resist the temptation to tell your friends "we went to bottega" out of frommer's peer pressure. the reviewers are brain washed by the whole celebrity chef nonsense. try redd or a picnic from whole foods for that matter before you waste your time at this place for zero reward. please learn from my twice-made mistake. shame on you if you go anyway after my review. it is honestly that bad.

bottega - awful customer service. my husband and i walked out because the foh manager treated us so badly.

we had a reservation booked. we arrived. hostess said we were early and was not seating anyone until the reservation time. it was for 1:30 p.m. since we were 7-8 minutes early, per the hostess, we went to the shops to kill some time. we returned right on time. the hostess and the foh manager looked at each other, looked at us and he said "make them wait 2 more minutes". i knew right then and there we were going to be seated by the kitchen door or by the bathroom. another server came up to the stand and was ready to escort us but the foh manager stopped him and said no another place was getting set up. the poor server looked stricken when he looked at us.

sure enough, the table we were shown to was in front of the kitchen door. i looked at the dining room, the number of available tables were numerous. this was on tuesday november 29th. i cannot believe such an insufferably snobby, non customer service manger is representing michael chiarello! i have worked in the restaurant industry for well over 10 years and have never been treated in this manner. if i had an emplolyee like this i would make sure he or she never worked in my employment or my colleague's. competition for every dollar is too fierce especially for restaurants.

my husband and i were looking forward to dining at bottega's when we knew we were going to be visiting san francisco. this was the only bad experience we had during our entire trip.

i will tell everyone to avoid bottega and give them our recommendations on the restaurants we patronized in the three days were were innapavalley.

bottega on urbanspoonin my mind, i had hyped bottega to an almost unrealistic level of expectations. and yet, bite after bite, it absolutely delivered. the food was beautiful and flavorful, and expertly crafted. often when ashley and i go out to eat we think about ways that we can go back and recreate some of the things we enjoyed. but as we walked out of bottega we knew that the only thing we had any chance of recreating was the simple dip that accompanied our bread. it was the perfect ending to a perfect day in thenapavalley.

looking back i appear to have been a little more meticulous when it came to keeping on top of my travel eating, with the exception perhaps of the two weeks in san francisco ,napaand vegas when i was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of posts that needed writing. below are some forgotten bits and bobs from that fortnight, as well as a few strays from our trips to hong kong , singapore , bilbao and closer to home , cheltenham and oxford. daniel patterson's coi is one of our favourite restaurants in san francisco . his food is always elegant, considered, and impeccably sourced. there was much we liked from the spring 2011 tasting menu - a rich velvety smoke-infused green garlic and goats cheese soup garnished with almonds and delicate wild onion flowers, tender seaweed-dusted asparagus tips cooked simply in their own juice served with lemon sabayon, and a sinfully good moscavado cake with sticky medjool dates and raw milk ice cream, to name a few. most special though was the crab melt, ca

chef chiarello creates..once again.. a place with charm, excellent cuisine and a dining experience of pure bliss.. whether for lunch or dinner. the setting is a blend ofnapaand tuscany. the service is exemplary. and the food and wines...... as i said... pure bliss... we have dined here several times and always try new menu items..all are superb! recently we enjoyed an appetizer of fresh mozzarella, figs and fresh basil with a touch of honey! extraordinary!!

bottega restaurantnapavalley is run by star chef michael chiarello. chef chiarello is acclaimed chef, emmy-winning host of food network’s easy entertaining, tastemaker behind napastyle, originally starred at tra vigne, and proprietor of chiarello vineya

mike and i took my sister and her husband tonapafor a weekend before they moved from the bay area to hawaii. we decided we would dine at bottega, michael chiarello’s newest creation. on the night we arrived he was actually in the house. while waiting fo

i don’t know why i didn’t review bottega sooner? the return of michael chiarello has been long anticipated in thenapavalley. his new restaurant, bottega is a welcome addition to the yountville scene. i actually spoke with him at the bar on my first visi

it’s been awhile since chiarello has headed a kitchen, spending the last decade in front of the camera with his cooking shows or writing cookbooks or opening gourmet food stores celebrating the bounty ofnapavalley. so there’s no surprise that people hav

horrible experience. ! my wife and i and another couple from out-of -town went to bottega tues, march 24th and after having a great experience at the bar with the 2 young bartenders (very attentive and enthusiastic), our further experience with dinner took a sharp turn downward. our waitress looked like she had just finished a 12 mile run and was not knowledgeable about the details of half of the food items. while the descriptions of the items on the menu speak to great promise the follow-through at table-side was dismal. the shaved asparagus and brussel sprouts salad looked and tasted like coleslaw without any seasoning or dressing. very dry, bland and hard to eat. my wife's sea bass and skirt steak w/risotto was carelessly plated. the sea bass portion was tiny and thin and the beef was chewy and rubbery and the green colored risotto was mushy and looked like a left-over st patrick's day joke. my sword fish was the thinnest and smallest piece of swordfish i have ever been served and also carelessly plated as well. our friend ordered a pasta dish as an entree and it was served to him in a bowl the size of a cereal bowl with no serving plate underneath. our other friend ordered the ravioli's, and while tasty, they were served without a sauce and very greasy looking, piled by themselves in the middle of a plate. no extra shaved parmesan was ever offered, no ground pepper was ever offered ( we did finally ask for it). the whole experience was so underwhelming and so way below expectations that none of us could believe it. this is the worst dining experience we have ever had in our 20 years living in thenapavalley ( and i am in national sales in the wine biz). someone is not minding the store and not training the staff!!!