For the last week, Jim and I have been hiking, picnicking, wine-touring and dining our way through one of the the most beautiful places on earth… Napa Valley in CA. This magical oasis of sundrenched olive groves, vineyards, giant red echinacea and gnarley cypress reminded us time and time again of our visits to both the Italian countryside and our recent trip to central Chile, which boasts a similarly mediterranean climate and terrain.
Jim and me kicking off our wine tour at the Joseph Phelps Vineyard
While the majority of our time was spent in said countryside (details in future post) we also had the opportunity to spend one fine evening “Dishcrawling” through Downtown Napa, enjoying the flavors of four different restaurants all in one night. See the history of Dishcrawl in my interview with Founder, Tracy Lee.
After each restaurant we took a quick commemorative photo to the tune of “Say Dishcrawl!” Tarla, known for Turkish & Mediterranean Tapas, treated me to a lovely spinach, citrus & golden & ruby beet salad, and for everyone: fresh pita w hummus & tzatziki and savory meatballs.
As with all Dishcrawl events, the names of the restaurants remain a surprise until the night of the crawl, unfolding to participants one by one as the evening progresses. It’s a ton of fun in more ways than just great food, especially, Jim and I thought, if you’re not actually from the area! We’d highly recommend the Dishcrawl experience to anyone traveling to a new city since it’s an excellent way to experience the city on foot (participants walk to each restaurant), meet locals and hear their inside stories of the region, and try out four wonderful restaurants all at once!
It’s a unique and adventurous experience we never could have put together ourselves and a fantastic way to learn a brand new city quickly. We met fabulous new friends and received tons of recommendations for additional places to go, see and do while visiting Napa and San Francisco.
Bottome line, if you live in a Dishcrawl city (there are over 125 around the USA & Canada), participate to get to know great people and restaurants you might never have encountered. And, if you happen to be traveling to a Dischcrawl city, get a quick snapshot of the region and a have a fabulous, fun night meeting new friends and trying four restaurants!
Walking to our next stop… hmmm, wonder where we’re headed next!?
Our lovely Napa Dishcrawl ambassador, Cynthia Delgado, planned a fantastic evening for us which spanned the cuisines of Mexican, Turkish/Mediterranean Tapas, California Fusion and a dessert finale. My absolute favorite was our first stop, the family-owned and operated Mexican restaurant, Cielito Lindo.
Originally from Puerto Vallarta, this talented family knows how to creatively prepare the rich, undiscovered world of regional dishes that vary throughout Mexico. We were treated to delectable Mexican Shrimp Chipotle Sopes with freshly made guacamole. And, they even made me my own vegetarian dish, Veggie Chiles Rellenos over white rice and black beans, all in the shape of a hot pepper… heavenly! Let’s just say I’m ready to fly back to Napa to try out more of this beautiful family’s delicious and creative menu of authentic family favorites!
Next time you’re in Napa, or if you’re already a local, be sure to stop in Cielito Lindo for absolutely fantastic, authentic Mexican food and the friendliest most attentive service imaginable. Thank you Cielito Lindo!
The talented owner, Enrique Gonzalez, of Cielito Lindo and yours truly!
Authentic Mexican Sopes with a Modern Twist… is your mouth watering yet?!
And Cieleto Lindo’s Vegetarian dishes do NOT dissapoint!
The fine family behind Cielito Lindo took great care to explain the story behind the dishes we were served. Everyone was oohing and ahing over their wonderful food as we ate!
Grace’s Table, serving California-Fusion style cuisine, had bistro-style, wide-open-walled, sidewalk seating. We were treated to fresh figs w or w/out prosciutto, corn bread w lavender honey butter & house made sausages. Another fine establishment I’d highly recommend for a wonderful night out in Downtown Napa. This is the talented owner next to yours truly:)
We made many wonderful friends!
And more terrific, new friends:-) Such a fun night!
What city/s have you “Dishcrawled”?
If you haven’t Dishcrawled yet, what city would interest you?
Much love,
Juliane
“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
―Albert Einstein
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