Taylor's Refresher- A New Staple

Of all the many things that St. Helena, Ca has to offer I believe that Taylor's Refresher might be one of the best! I am embarrassed to say that John and I ended up here on both days we were in St. Helena. On Friday night we drove up to the Napa Valley for (another) wedding. The rehearsal dinner at Tra Vigne was great, but the real treat was the next day when John and I drove over to Taylor's. Not only did we see Tommy Hilfiger and Pat Riley (apparently he's the coach for the Miami Heat, I think? I had no clue who he was, but John was excited. He also wanted to go over to Tommy Hilfiger and tell him that his pants don't fit him right and see if they can come to some solution, but I stopped him from that one). But we ate such good food. Above are the fish tacos. Not the best I have ever had but i think I am beginning to realize that I don't much like corn tortillas. Something about the texture, I don't know. But they always double wrap the tacos and I took a tortilla off each, which improved the prospect a bit.

The real hit of the lunch was the chili cheese fries. Now this would not be something that I would typically consume, but Taylor's is different, and I guess with the great ingredients they use they might be a teensy bit better for you than elsewhere. All that matters is that they were amazing. And this is the best chili I have ever had, and I don't really like chili. It was full of tomatoes and kidney beans, the flavor was incredible.

The boys had burgers, which I took rather unappetizing photos of.
There was a bacon cheeseburger that John ate:

I had a bite and it was okay. Still only flirting with the red meat, which is fine by me. And Dylan had the Blue Ring Burger. Or something along those lines. It's a burger topped with blue cheese and onion rings. I was told it was epic.
All said, Taylor's was good, once again. And I think that it's a good thing I only eat at the one in St. Helena,even though there is one within a 10 minute walk from my office. Even their amazing Ahi Sandwich overfills me to discomfort. Oh well. I can't wait to go again! I guess it might start up next year, as wedding season has, finally, come to an end!

HUGE Portions in Laguna Beach

This past weekend I went down to Orange County for a wedding and to see my dad. On Friday we went to lunch at the Montage Resort, this super fancy place on the beach right off PCH (Pacific Coast Highway-1). We sat outside on the patio at their restaurant Mosaic and enjoyed a lovely, and pricey, lunch.

I ordered the gazpacho with crab and my dad and I shared the fish tacos. The most incredible part of this meal was the huge and completely bizarre, in my opinion, choice of dishes the restaurant used. My gazpacho came in a bowl that was nestled in another larger bowl filled with ice.
The gazpacho was good but missing something. Perhaps a little acid, or a little zing. My dad on the other hand made the right order. He got their clam chowder which was absolutely incredible. I mean, the best clam chowder I've ever had.
It was full of chunks and not too heavy or fake cream tasting. I think that there is so much bad clam chowder out there that I don't even consider ordering it anymore. I figure it's not worth the calories, and the prospective belly ache for the lactose intolerant me. But I changed my mind with one, or ten, sorry Dad, bites of this.
We also shared fish tacos.

One for each of us. These were delicious as well, I thought I would miss out on the salsa, but the flavors of the beans and guacamole really made the taco. The meal was a success I would say, but I cannot imagine ever spending $75 on lunch again. Yes, the restaurant's lunch options were more expensive than most places' dinner entrees. Welcome to touristville. And the bowls were ridiculous. You can't see the size vey well in the pictures, but I do not enjoy eating at a restaurant where I am embarrassed by my portion size. Chevy's always does this as well, they lay out this huge platter and you feel a bit sheepish at the amount of food that you might consume. I suppose this is the American way though.
Another photo of Laguna.