Mmm Mmm Good… A Delicious Eating on the Road

{I typically post about my own creations, but today, I’m posting about someone else’s- the genius chef at Gardens of Avila in Avila Beach, Ca. Thank you Mister Chef… you made me a happy happy girl!}This week, I went on a mini road trip (Spring Break-one of the perks of working in the school system!). Usually, my mind thinks of a good vacation as being as far and foreign as possible, but this time, I went for something simple: exploring my own backyard. There are so many beautiful places right here on the central coast… why not play tourist near home? People flock from all over the world to play around these parts, so I thought I’d join in on the fun. I planned a few day road trip from home (Santa Cruz) to a beautiful mineral hot springs in Avila Beach, then stayed at the oh-so-strange-but-amazing Madonna Inn in San Louis Obispo, and then meandered down to Santa Barbara. On the way back up we popped through Solvang, a cute little Danish-themed town full of tasty treats! So why am I telling you all of this? Because I had one of the most amazing eating experiences of my life on this mini getaway… I just have to post about it!

The kind of meal I had in Avila was a rare treat. I had read that this little farm-to-table restaurant at the hot springs was amazing, but I didn’t expect it to be soooo amazing. My boyfriend had the brilliant idea to try the “Garden Party”- a chef-selected dinner with 5 plates and 5 paired wines. Normally, these kinds of meals are a small salary at least, but this one was pretty affordable, so we couldn’t resist. When in Rome!! (Or however that expression goes.) I’m pretty sure the entire meal was 5,000 calories or so haha, but hey… when dabbling in a tasting heaven like this, one simply cannot care. 🙂 Beyond the incredible freshness and flavor of the food, I was extremely impressed that each of the five plates was a complete portion, as were the five wines! I had figured we’d get a little tasting, but nope… five full plates, five full glasses of wine for each. Needless to say, I was in heaven. The menu had an impressive array of dishes- but the real fun of the “Garden Party” is that you don’t choose any of them- the chef does… so each dish and wine is a complete surprise! And everything’s grown locally and organically-even the wine is local!! So here’s what we had…

The 1st plate…
Nantes carrot soup, black pepper cream, pickled radish, brioche
{served w/a tasty rose}

The 2nd plate…

Grilled local asparagus, slow poached organic egg, brioche, pea tendrils, beet “soil”

{served w/a crisp sav. blanc}

The 3rd plate…

Pan roasted California halibut, mustard sabayon, baby mushrooms, turnip, radish

{served w/a light white blend)

The 4th plate…

Pan roasted drake duck breast, roasted carrots & puree, vadouvan, tempura spinach, smoked walnuts

{served w/a delicious red blend}

The 5th plate…

Not sure exactly what this was because it wasn’t written on the menu- and by this time I’d had quite a bit of wine so paying attention to what the waitress said became a wee difficult, but some sort of a chocolate ganache mouse with a deliciously flavored whipped cream of sorts served alongside toffeed nuts and strawberries

{served w/a light dry red w/berry hints- delish}

So while I didn’t get a chance to cook during my mini road vacay, some amazing eating definitely went down! Inspiration for my own kitchen! And maybe for you to get yourself to Avila 😉

Here’s a peek into the trip…

The Madonna Inn