As most of my readers know, Will and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary last weekend in Calistoga. At the recommendation of my friend Becky, we stayed at Dr. Wilkinson’s, right on the strip of downtown Calistoga. As I mentioned in my Yelp review, the hotel had a classic, kitschy feel and the staff was accommodating and friendly.
The first day we were there we checked out the main strip – of course there was the typical touristy mix of art shops, wine shops, restaurants and gift shops. We selected Hydro Grill, a really cute place that seemed to serve typical American fare. I especially loved the decor – they had cool art hanging from the ceiling and exposed brick walls.
After a quick lunch we went swimming in the 88 degree mineral pool and read for the remainder of the afternoon. Of course, my life tends to revolve around my next meal – I know my mom will agree here – and so we finally selected on All Seasons a low-key restaurant nearby our hotel.
Thankfully, we selected the right place. Despite not having a “super trendy atmosphere”, All Seasons provided the most amazing dinner I’ve had in some time. We started things off with a really nice bottle of wine and quickly decided on the homemade ricotta gnocchi with fennel and tarragon cream and the roasted beet salad with micro greens, citrus vinaigrette, shaved fennel and goat cheese. Is your mouth watering yet? It should be- it was that good.
Will ordered the roasted lamb sirloin with ratatouille veggies and creamy polenta. I had the seared halibut with basil mashed potatoes and zucchini. Since we were celebrating our anniversary – and let’s be honest, even if we weren’t - we decided two desserts were in order. I ordered the creme brulee, a longtime dessert favorite of mine and Will got the ginger cake with warm blackberry compote and ginger honey ice-cream. Seriously – amazing.
The next morning we woke up early for a bike and wine tour. Of course, carbo loading was in order, so we stopped at Cafe Sarafornia for two different types of Eggs Benedict – one of our favorite breakfast meals. The place has this great local feeling – the waiters and waitresses transport you to the 1950’s and the food does not disappoint.
A local shop, Calistoga Bike Shop, provides bike rentals and has already established relationships with six local wineries. With a wristband, you get free tastings and – Bonus – they pick up all purchases so you dont have to worry about carting around several bottles of wine on the bike. Five hours, 18 miles, 5 bottles of wine, 1 new wine club later, we arrived back to return our rental. The weather was perfect for bike riding (even though, let’s be honest, I haven’t been on a bike in years) and that outing was probably the highlight of our trip. For those of you wondering, I only fell off of the bike once, and that was before the wine tasting had started, thank you very much.
I had expected to be incredibly sore after the bike ride so I booked a massage at the nearby Mount View Hotel. I adored the overall decor and atmosphere of the hotel and its spa.
That night we went to dinner at the Calistoga Brewery – the ambiance was lovely but the food was just so-so. I also overheard several people complaining about both the food and the adjoining hotel, so I won’t be trying either in the near future.
We woke up the next morning, had breakfast and packed up to leave. It was such a fun weekend but it flew by incredibly quickly…could have been all the wine.
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