Wine Country Weekend

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope

What: A relaxing weekend in wine country

Where: Napa and Sonoma Counties, Calif.

When: August 21-22, 2010

Why: Sun, wine, and food! What, you need more?

The Scoop: In honor of my boyfriend, who was down from Canada for the weekend to celebrate his birthday, I threw financial caution to the wind (hello ramen for the entire month of September) and planned an amazing little escape up to wine country. Somehow we managed to plan our trip on a weekend that brought magically sunny weather to the Bay Area, so there wasn't much to "escape" from, but we were happy to nevertheless head up to beautiful Napa and Sonoma Counties.

Do you know what the best thing ever is? GPS navigation. We rented a car equipped with GPS, and I wouldn't shut up all weekend about how ingenious and low-stress it was to program in an address and then just sit back and let the automated voice (whom we fondly dubbed 'Sexy') guide us while we enjoyed the scenery. After a requisite stop at Rainbow Grocery to splurge (the first of many) on some Dr. Cow vegan cheeses to complement our wine, I programmed in our first location: Ubuntu, a "vegetables" restaurant in Napa with a plethora of vegan and veganizable offerings.

Image courtesy of ubuntunapa.com

Ubuntu specializes in creating small plates made with heirloom varieties of gorgeous fruits and vegetables, many of which are grown in Ubuntu's own organic and biodynamic garden. Its mission is to "bring to our customers a bounty of local biodynamically gardened produce handled with care and skill by talented artisans and chefs providing an unparalleled experience connecting our customers to the bounty of the earth." We ordered the freshest salad with three different varieties of tomatoes, two lettuces, and an avocado goddess dressing; marinated beets with eggplant and Meyer lemon blossom raisin paste; tangy artichoke grits with smoked corn husk and cilantro; and our favorite dish of fried chickpea clusters, Romesco stewed chickpeas, and arugula. The food was exquisite, and it was so refreshing to see tourists and locals alike getting excited about the vegetable masterpieces completely devoid of meat.

Creamy artickoke grits with heirloom vegetables

After more GPS-guided driving through beautiful Napa County and a stop at the The Hess Collection Vineyards for a sampling and to check out Donald Hess' impressive art collection, we headed for the The Gables Wine Country Inn in Santa Rosa. A Victorian mansion sitting on three acres of land including an inviting lavender garden, I'd chosen the Gables due to their willingness to prepare a vegan breakfast. The host couple at the inn were pretty much the nicest people in the world, our room was breathtaking, and the complementary wine tasting in a converted barn where we chatted with the other guests was a welcome touch. One omnivorous couple even admired, and then tasted, our vegan cheese.

Image courtesy of thegablesinn.com

Waking from a perfect sleep in our stately and eloquent room, I had breakfast on the brain. Our hosts pulled out all the stops with a full three courses complete with coffee and fresh orange juice. My first course was homemade toast with jam, which was followed by a Champagne glass filled with local fruit dusted with sugar before the star of the show: a savory potato casserole seasoned with fresh herbs and spices, featuring zucchini and peppers from the Inn's garden. Being accommodated as a vegan is always much appreciated despite the fact that I usually end up with a banana and dry toast, but in this case I was truly touched by the thoughtful and creative vegan menu, which fueled me long through more wine tastings and our journey back to the city.

Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria, VegWebmistress Laura Hooper Beck, and three honorary VN staffers
What: Northern California's first all-vegan bakery!
Where: Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery, Sacramento, Calif.
When: April 18, 2010
Why: The reason why we do most things: awesome vegan food

The Scoop: Maybe you've never considered the California state capital to be a "destination" city. Perhaps you've heard that it's not as glamorous as Napa, not as hip as San Francisco, and not as savvy as San Jose. Maybe you are wrong, dead wrong. On a recent staycation Sunday, a few brave adventurers—namely Laura, Peter, Khane, Cal, and yours truly—made our way up highway 80 to Sactown.

The case o' greatness at Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery

First of all, it was a gorgeous day, which always helps when falling in love with a new city. Second, we went straight for the good stuff—aka Sugar Plum. Having already thoroughly oggled the online menu, we were pleasantly surprised to arrive just as a batch of SPV's oversized cinnamon buns came out of the oven. Yes. We ordered two immediately.

Hello, cinnamon bun. Do you see that frosting?!

When the general excitement of the cinnamon smell abated long enough for us to be able to read again, we picked a tofu breakfast burrito, tempeh Reuben, and chef's salad. Um, let's talk for a second about Reubens, and why we should all eat one every day. It's because they are delicious, insanely so. SPV's version featured lightly toasted rye, crisp pickles, punchy sauerkraut, and perfectly flavored tempeh, all enveloped in vegan cheese and thousand island dressing. Heaven? Yes. Everything we ordered came out of the kitchen in record time, and was incredibly delicious. While we sat in the sun-drenched front patio and gorged, a steady line of eager diners marched into Sugar Plum, which we took as a good sign for the very recently opened eatery.

Tempeh Reuben. We could have eaten a dozen of these.

We easily could have eaten twice as much as we did, but only if we'd also thought to bring our extra stomachs with us. Instead, we took a leisurely (read: stuffed) stroll around the tree-lined neighborhood, sprawled for a while in a grassy park, stumbled upon Gluten Free Specialty Market—a totally gluten-free store, which carried a bunch of vegan goodies like the new retail packages of Daiya—and then headed back to SPV to pick up some sweet treats for the ride home. Among them were a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, an oatmeal-cookie sandwich, a burger (OK, that one's not-so sweet), and a cheddar biscuit. Amazing. Every last one. We are thrilled to announce that as soon as we convince the rest of the team, VegNews is officially moving to Sacramento. We're pretty sure the only convincing they'll need will be a taste of SVP's fantastic food.

There's Something About Ubuntu

Who: Editorial Assistant Lisa Mickleborough + her parents
What: Lunch in the heart of wine country
Where: Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio, Napa
When: May 17, 2008
Why: When in Napa ...

The Scoop: Like anyone, I love being visited by friends and family, particularly when they pick up and fly across the continent just to dote on their emigrant daughter. But hosting my very conservative, very old-world, very epicurean parents presented a new challenge: The visitors I’m used to expect little more than a floor to crash, cheap vegan food, a walking tour-guide—maybe a little toothpaste. My folks, however, had already visited San Francisco several times, would need to stay in a “proper bed” at a hotel, and would prefer to eat at high-end restaurants serving up slow-roasted body parts. Having lured them into the city’s finest vegan establishments—just to watch them poke cautiously at their cashew cream shitakes—I decided we needed to escape the city for the beautiful Napa valley, and try our gastronomic luck at the new, award-winning vegetarian dining and yoga establishment, Ubuntu. Named for the South African philosophy of reciprocal affirmation and community, the restaurant has earned myriad accolades and honors, including Food & Wine’s coveted Best New Chef of 2008 award. After cascading the breathtaking peaks and valleys of NorCal wine-country in our bronze rental car, we enjoyed an inventive yet simple spread of just-ripe marinated olives, crisp chickpea fries, and puréed mushroom and wilted kale-pesto pizzas—all incorporating the fruits of Ubuntu’s nearby organic garden. My parents were impressed. I dare say this was one of most exciting and satisfying meals I’ve ever had, and I’ll be going back again soon—you know, just to be sure. (Look for a full review of Ubuntu in the Sept+Oct Food Issue of VegNews.)

Here's a shot of my dessert: a beet-rhubarb-juice and candied kumquat Creamsicle Float that can only be described as both shocking and delightful: