For lunch we went to Redd. I was a bit apprehensive since they don’t have a reputation for being very kid-friendly. When D’s dad called for reservations, they told him that they don’t have high chairs. That was fine, because n doesn’t really use high chairs anymore, anyway. However, our waiter could not have been friendlier. He told us that there was no children’s menu, but that the kitchen could make a simple pasta, or chicken wings, etc. I asked for a pasta with red sauce for k. When the waiter presented our table with the calamari appetizer we ordered, k exclaimed, “onion rings”! The waiter smiled, and said that the kitchen could do onion rings for her, if she liked. I said, “maybe just a few” but he came back with a full order, which we all ended up sharing. I can see why they wouldn’t want to necessarily encourage kids to come to their restaurant, but I found them very accommodating nonetheless.

Redd’s fancy rendition of pork buns. Not being a fan of pork belly fat, I had to take some fat off. However, I really like this dish…very flavorful.

D ordered the short ribs. In fact, D made a category of “best short ribs” on his List, in anticipation of our visit.

Loved the modern interior. Clean lines, lots of light.

We walked a bit in Yountville. There were lots of people out and about. Unfortunately, the line for Bouchon Bakery was out the door, so we skipped it. We did come across this public art installation that I thought was cute:

D’s brother’s family joined us for dinner. We ate at Bistro Don Giovanni, one of D’s family’s favorites in Napa. Funnily, D noticed that there was a group of four that we had seen earlier at Redd during lunch. I guess they have a similar good taste in food!

Really good pizza.

Silk handkerchiefs–housemade pasta with pesto.

Unfortunately, they only serve their famed hamburger on Fridays and Saturdays at lunch. Maybe next time.

Waiting with the restless kids at the fountain outside.

We went back to D’s parents house for dessert.

Tiramisu cake.

Playtime with their cousin.

Reading time with their auntie.

It was a quick trip, but it was nice to see everyone.

After the wedding, it took us two hours (with traffic) to drive to Napa to visit D’s parents house. In the morning, we went to Oxbow Market for breakfast. More specifically, we went to The Model Bakery. D remembered that we had seen this place featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, where Michael Chiarello recommended their english muffins. We tried one, and I can definitely say it was the best english muffin I have ever had. (Ask for it toasted, along with jam and butter).

(It was so good, we almost finished it before I could take a picture!)
Also, the prices were a little more reasonable than Bouchon Bakery, making it a solid breakfast choice. We also checked out the smallish farmer’s market which is held on Saturday mornings.

Afterward, D’s parents babysat the kids while D and I did a mini-hike at Bothe-Napa state park. I don’t think we mentioned this on our blog yet, but we bought a CA state park annual pass. D is determined to get his money’s worth, so we figured we should check it out.

We walked until we came upon this cemetary, and then turned back.

There was a small group of houses for the groundskeepers. This was one of the more “lived in” homes.

On the way back we decided to stop at another CA state park site, the Grist Mill.

Can you see the mill? We weren’t sure if our pass was good for the mill itself, so we just walked around.

It was nice to have a little time to ourselves, so that was our “date night” of the month.

When we came back, we met up with the kids/grandparents at the park.

k and n really liked the climbing wall.

n surprised us by climbing all the way up by himself (with D close behind, just in case).

The big kid had fun too.

We had breakfast at one of my favorite Napa stops, Bouchon Bakery. This time D opted for the cranberry orange muffin, while I shared the cream cheese danish with k. I also could not resist getting one of their famous macarons, which I ate later. I chose the espresso, and it was soft and crisp and chewy all at the same time…divine.

After breakfast, both kids fell asleep on the way to our next stop.

Our destination? A castle! Or, more precisely, the Castella di Amorosa. It is a winery located in an amazing castle that opened not too long ago. D’s dad said it took them ten years to build, and looking around, you can see why. (I also read that this was the castle used in the movie “Bedtime Stories”).

The Knights’ Room

The Dining Hall

Of course, this is a winery, so D and his dad did some wine tasting.

Some people at the bar joked that we should put some wine on n’s gums since he is teething, like they do in Italy.

k and I settled for breadsticks and “moat water” (aka Capri Sun grape drink). On the website, it says kids get grape juice. I was expecting some specialized juice, since it is a winery, after all. However, I guess the Capri Sun is more kid-friendly in terms of packaging. k was kind of too young to be into the whole castle thing, and the tours are limited to kids over 5. It was fun looking around, though, and if you are looking for an interesting winery in Napa, (even if you’re not into wine) this is it.

D’s friend invited us to his wedding in Sacramento, so we decided to make it a 4 day vacation. On Thursday we left for Napa to visit D’s parents. k and n did OK during the 7.5 hour car trip. I would give k an “A” and n a “B”. (Of course, n receives special consideration since he isn’t even 6 months, plus he is teething!) For our late lunch we ate steaks prepared by D’s parents. For dinner, we went to the Oxbow Public Market. We’ve been wanting to eat at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher ever since D’s parents moved to Napa, and now there is a location at Oxbow!

The place is casual and you order at the counter. We all ordered hamburgers and split sweet potato fries and garlic fries. k really enjoyed the sweet potato fries, along with the ranch dipping sauce (no surprise there!) The garlic fries were a bit much, however, since they are tossed in butter. This gave them a weird too-hard texture, although I liked how they were not shy with the garlic.

The one thing that really hits you in the face at Oxbow is how eco-friendly everyone tries to be and how much they want you to know it. At Taylor’s their plastic cups are made entirely of plants!

Their meat is from Niman Ranch. D did some internet research and found out that their cows “don’t consume human fecal matter”. Makes you wonder what all the other cows we eat consume.

Of course, we had to partake in some dessert. Since we couldn’t choose between cupcakes and ice cream, we had both! First we stopped Kara’s Cupcakes, which we had boxed up for later at home. D’s dad chose vanilla coconut, D’s mom chose passion fruit, and I chose Chocolate Velvet, so k could have a bite. D originally wanted vanilla chocolate, but I convinced him to go with the more adventurous Fleur De Sel (w/caramel filling!)

Such a cute place, and the cupcakes were $3.25; expensive, but still cheaper than Sprinkles.

Next we went to Three Twins Ice Cream.

D, k and I shared a single in a waffle cup. You get to choose two flavors. D wanted to “go healthy” after all of our overindulgence so we had lemon sorbet (the healthy choice) along with lemon cookie ice cream (the not so healthy choice). The two lemon flavors contrasted nicely, tart and creamy. D’s dad had mocha and cardamom. I had a taste of the cardamom, and liked it a lot. If I didn’t have to share with D and k, I would probably get that one since its different. (When D and I were dating I used to balk at him choosing vanilla ice cream if we went to an ice cream parlor. I guess I still do that–see above re: vanilla chocolate cupcake).

It should be interesting to see how Oxbow does in the future. There were a lot more stores open than during our previous visit. It’s sad to see that Copia, which is next door, is shut down for now. Hopefully all of the Bay Area foodies (and tourists) can keep it going.