What We're Talking About This Week - City Guide Edition

So much is always changing in both of our cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and in the surrounding areas.  We love keeping up to date with the latest restaurants, sights, shops, and exhibits, so we are always looking for the next great city guide to inspire us... These are some of our favorites recent ones:

A Foodie Guide to Napa & Sonoma

San Francisco Cocktail Guide


Paso Robles Wine Country Guide

Brad Goreski's Guide to LA

A music-inspired guide to Joshua Tree

What We're Talking About This Week

The San Francisco food scene has been blowing up lately, but the most in the know group of the best dining spots are the chefs.  This list of their ten favorite local restaurants is a great reference.

Los Angeles is a great place for a staycation, especially on a long weekend.  There are plenty of things going on, from the fair to theater to live music, over the next few days to keep Angelenos in town...

If you're up in NorCal for the weekend, Goop just released their updated guides to the Bay Area.  We like this one for the Napa Valley.

Also in NorCal is the Sausalito Arts Festival.  This annual event features the promised arts, along with lots of food and several bands.

LA hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and they are bidding on it a third time for 2024.

Under the Napa Sun

Dress by Topshop, hat by Cuyana, bag Marc by Marc Jacobs (metallic is sold out), sunglasses A.J. Morgan, sandals DV by Dolce Vita (old, similar here), pinky ring by Stenich

What We're Talking About This Week

We love this guide to choosing a great summer dress based on the sensibilities of San Francisco's diverse neighborhoods.

If you are going to a Giants game this weekend, make sure to check out this comprehensive list of the incredible food options at AT&T Park before you head out.  Or just stay home and make garlic fries instead...

Eastern L.A. suburb Claremont is best known for being the home of the excellent Claremont Colleges, but as this adorable, Wed Anderson-inspired commercial shows, the city is full of charm and has plenty more to offer.

We are so excited for the LA Street Food Fest at the Rose Bowl tomorrow.  With over 100 vendors, there are sure to be WAY too many things we'll want to eat!  Be sure to get your tickets in advance here.

Up in NorCal, Thomas Keller's adorable French bistro and boulangerie, Bouchon, will be hosting a fabulous Bastille Day party from 12-7pm on Sunday.  

Menu: Summer Vegetable Dinner

Late summer in Napa

Labor Day weekend is always filled with barbecues, pool parties, and beach days, all of which tend to have burgers and hot dogs as staples. But the end of summer is also the end of the incredible variety of fruits and vegetables we have been enjoying all season, especially in California. Our warmest months do tend to flow into early fall though, so we don't have to say goodbye to our favorite produce too soon.  We will be savoring these delicious vegetable dishes for the next few weeks.

Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

Artichokes with Green Goddess Dressing

Summer Squash Carpaccio

Green Gazpacho

Corn Soufflé

Provençal Vegetable Tarts

Snap Pea Salad with Radish & Lime

Fashion Inspiration: Napa Vineyard Black Tie Bride

Clockwise from top left: bouquet, necklace, dress, heels, gloves, veil

winery

We Recommend: Ad Hoc

We recently visited Ad Hoc for dinner, and had an absolutely amazing meal. They have a set menu that changes daily. All of the dishes featured when we dined were delicious. To start with we had tempura vegetables with an aioli dipping sauce.

Then we had pork wrapped in pork belly with Asian Pear, brocolini and potatoes. 

Served separately was polenta with creamy farm cheese.

To finish there was a DIY sundae bar with chocolate, caramel and strawberry syrup, as well as whipped cream and nuts.
We have the cookbook as well, and every recipe we attempt turns out deliciously.
If you are in the Napa area, we definitely suggest trying dinner or brunch here.