A Northern California Study Tour for Students

From The Culinary Institute LeNotre

included San Francisco, Sonoma County & Napa Valley

October 11 to 18, 2008

Saturday, October 11   Met at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Group Check-in at Terminal E at 7:00 a.m.  Once through Security, took the Termalink train to Terminal C.  Departed Houston on Continental Airlines flight #378 departing at 8:50 a.m. Arriving San Francisco at 11:01 a.m.  Private transfer to the Sonoma Valley.   Stopped at Vista Point for pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

On the way to Santa Rosa, we stopped at Domaine Carneros by Champagne Taittinger for a private tour and tasting, "The Art of Sparkling Wine".  The Domaine Carneros château is a landmark of the Carneros region. Completed in 1989, the classic 18th century château-style building was architecturally inspired by the historic Taittinger Château de la Marquetterie in Champagne (1240 Duhig Road, Napa, California 94559 800-716-2788,   domainecarneros.com)

Later, we checked into the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa. (2777 Fourth Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95405 707-545-8530   flamingohotel.com)   The hotel opened with a gala bash in 1957 and quickly became a society hot spot and remained the place to see and be seen for two decades. By 1959, the Flamingo became known by Hollywood stars as the place to stay north of the Bay.  In 1996, the City of Santa Rosa declared the hotel a historic landmark. 

Welcome and Dinner at the hotel.   

Sunday, October 12  After Continental breakfast at the hotel we headed to Chloe's French Café (3882 Airway Dr. #145, Santa Rosa, CA 95405 707-538-3095  chloesco.com) for a hands-on cooking class, Pastries of Provence, offered by Renee and husband Alain Pisan, a third generation patissier from Provence, France. Brother Marc Pisan is a French-trained Sommelier and author of TastingRoomGuide.com. Marc and Alain Pisan came to the United States from France more than 10 years ago bringing their in-depth knowledge of the art of wine and food to California. Alain worked for gastronomic restaurants throughout France as a pastry chef, and Marc, after learning the art of wine and food pairing as a sommelier on the French Riviera, enriched his knowledge of world wines through professional experiences for major wine retailers in the US and for high-end California wineries.  The class is held in the kitchen at Sbragia Family Vineyards located on a beautiful site at the top of the Dry Creek Valley with sweeping views from the terrace.  French country-style lunch featuring locally grown produce and chicken served on the terrace

After the cooking class, we had lunch at the Café and then head to Michel-Schlumberger Wines for a 3 p.m. tour and tasting.  The estate of Michel-Schlumberger lies off the beaten track in Wine Creek Canyon.  Each of the wines from the hillside and mountain vineyards illustrates the French concept of terroir, or expression of a specific place.  (4155 Wine Creek Rd., Healdsburg, CA 95448  707-433-7427 michelschlumberger.com) 

Later we visited with Chef Duskie Estes and tour her organic restaurant garden while enjoying a glass of sparkling wine and salumi of local products.  We  had dinner at Zazu, her highly acclaimed Santa Rosa restaurant featuring seasonal local products, many grown in the adjacent garden, or raised naturally by local farmers. Husband John Stewart, also a chef, oversees their sister restaurant Bovolo in Healdsburg.  Featured on the June 2007 cover of Wine Spectator, the Zagat review says "the passionate, creative, whimsical chef-owners concoct sumptuous, innovative new American-Northern Italian cuisine". Casual dining.  (3535 Guerneville Rd., Santa Rosa, CA 95401   707-523-4814  zazu.com)

Monday, October 13   After Continental breakfast at the hotel, we left at 9:30 a.m. to travel to Sonoma for a wine blending class at Ravenswood Winery.   Our host Peter Griffith introduced zinfandel, carignane, and petite sirah, and discuss the flavor profile of each varietal explaining why they are blended together. Then each participant created their own blend and left with a bottle of their own.   (18701 Gehricke Rd., Sonoma, CA 95476    707-933-2332) 

After our wine blending class, we traveled to Sonoma town center for a tour at Vella Cheese Factory.  The Vella Family has been making hand-crafted cheeses here for over 70 years.  Best known for their Sonoma Dry Jack, they also make cheddar and Italian-style cheeses, all of which have received numerous awards and recogn ition both nationally and internationally.   Our hosts are Ig Vella, son of the founder and Roger Redeker, the cheesemaker..   (315 Second Street East, Sonoma CA 95476   707-938-3232)

At 2:30 p.m. we visited Domaine Chandon for a tour and tasting. The Napa Valley estate is firmly grounded in the traditional French sparkling winemaking practices established centuries ago by the French Champagne house founders. They also employ the latest sustainable farming practices and let the vineyards' exceptional regional character lead the way in creating distinctive, handcrafted sparkling and still wines. This blend of history and ingenuity is what makes Chandon wines truly sparkle. 

 At 5:30 p.m. we enjoyed a 4-course family style dinner at Ad Hoc, Chef Thomas Keller's casual eatery in Yountville. Thomas Keller is the chef/owner of two of the most highly regarded restaurants in the United States: the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and Per Se in New York. Each currently holds three Michelin stars, making him the only American chef to have two three-star restaurants to his name.  The menu at Ad Hoc changes daily to make best use of locally grown and seasonal products. (6476 Washington Ave., Yountville, CA 94599   707-944-2487    adhocrestaurant.com)

Tuesday, October 14         After Continental breakfast at the hotel we headed west to Sebastopol for a tour of Gourmet Mushrooms. Inc., (2901 Gravenstein Hwy N., Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-824-8885 gourmetmushroomsinc.com) the first commercial grower of shiitake mushrooms in the Western Hemisphere.  Between fresh culinary mushrooms and those used by the pharmaceutical and health food industries, they grow more varieties of mushrooms than any other farm in the U.S. Their harvest of five varieties of organic specialty mushrooms ships nationwide to America's finest restaurants, specialty food wholesalers, and gourmet grocers.  Our tour guide is Bob Engel, a former chef and now Director of Marketing

Next stop was Beekind owned by Katia Vincent, a local beekeeper. Here we tasted locally produced honey, infused honey and flavorful natural honey from across the country.  We learned of the medicinal and healing qualities of honey and bee products such a royal jelly and bee pollen.

Next we met for a wine and artisan cheese tasting and learn about the family history at the Seghesio Family Winery. Founder Eduardo Seghesio planted his first grapevines in the Alexander Valley in 1895.  Since then, four generations of the Seghesio family have tended remarkable vineyards. Known best for their bold Sonoma Zinfandels, they produce almost exclusively estate wines, some from fruit from those same vineyards Eduardo and Angela first planted in the late 1800s.  Then we enjoyed a 3-course lunch served in the private Founder's Room above the winery prepared by Chef Jon Helquist.

After lunch we headed to J Wines for a private tour and tasting of their sparkling wines produced in the Methode Champenoise or the traditional method.  From hand-harvesting the vineyards planted in the three classic grapes of Champagne to extensively bottle-aging their wines, they combine French practices with a unique terroir that is distinctly American: the Russian River Valley. The goal is to create a sparkling wine that is the highest expression of the unique region.

We headed back to the Tuesday evening Healdsburg Farmer's Market on the Plaza.  Where local farmers have been trucking fresh produce to town since 1978. 

For dinner this evening we choose from one of the many restaurants around Healdsburg Plaza including Bovolo,  and Willi's Seafood.   OR

6 p.m.  Dinner at Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen.  Chef Charlie Palmer, one of America's leading chefs and owner of the highly acclaimed Aureole in New York City and Las Vegas, went directly to the source-Northern Sonoma County-for the finest fresh seasonal produce, gourmet food purveyors like CK Lamb and Cowgirl Creamery complemented by fine wines, to create Dry Creek Kitchen in the Healdsburg Hotel. We will enjoy the 3-course Sonoma Neighbor Dinner featuring local seasonal products.

Wednesday, October 15   This morning we had Continental breakfast and checked out of the hotel before heading south to Petaluma to the McEvoy Ranch at 8:45 a.m.  In 1991, when Nan McEvoy decided to plant an olive orchard in the rolling hills of West Petaluma, she started with only 3000 trees imported from the Italian countryside. Today, through careful propagation and transplantation, McEvoy Ranch hosts over 18,000 trees covering more than 80 acres.  Our extensive tour takes us through the olive orchards and gardens to the frantoio (olive press) followed by an olive oil tasting and lesson.

After our tours we headed down the coast to San Francisco.  After a quick stop for photos, headed to Lombard Street, the ‘crookedest' street in the world, and on to Fishermans' Wharf for a taste of local dungeness crab and visited Chinatown for a traditional dim sum lunch.  The afternoon was free to explore the city.

Later, checked into The Orchard Garden Hotel. The Orchard Garden Hotel is California's first generation of true eco-friendly hotels - built to the national standards for ‘green' buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. 

After settling into the hotel we  enjoyed a group dinner at Jardinière, the fine dining restaurant of Chef Traci Des Jardins. (300 Grove St., San Francisco CA, 94102.  jardiniere.com) Housed in a beautiful landmark building in San Francisco's Civic Center area, Jardinière features the French-California cuisine of Chef Des Jardins in the warm interior designed by restaurateur/designer Pat Kuleta.   A 2007 James Beard Award Winner.

Thursday, October 16   After Continental breakfast this morning the group heade over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Farmers Market in San Raphael to purchase products to prepare for lunch and dinner at one of three Left Bank Brasseries (Larkspur, San Mateo or Menlo Park)   After the market, students headed to their restaurant to begin prep for lunch and dinner service.  They enjoyed lunch with the staff and then assisted with the evening service.  Later, enjoyed dinner at the restaurant.

Friday, October 17   After Continental breakfast, the groups will head back to the Left Bank Brasserie restaurant to assist with lunch and dinner prep.

That evening the group enjoyed a Farewell Dinner at La Folie in San Francisco.  A 1-star Michelin restaurant, Chef Roland Passot presented French food with a lighter touch.  Passot opened La Folie on Polk Street in 1988, a small brasserie in the Polk Gulch section of the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.  His wife Jamie conceived the name, which means "craziness" or "folly" in French, referring to the difficulty of opening a new establishment in San Francisco's competitive restaurant scene.

Saturday, October 18 Checked out of hotel.  After breakfast, at 9:00 a.m., private transfer to the San Francisco airport for the flight home.  Continental flight # 1716 departing San Francisco at 11:57 a.m.  Arrived Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport at 5:47 p.m.