First of all the weather on the 31st and 1st was incredible. Very clear, bright and crisp. Brendan and I started out heading over the Golden Gate for the Russian River. We stopped at the vista point for some photos with the city as backdrop. We wanted to stop and have breakfast on the way but we purposely had no destination, this was just an adventure! He saw a cafe in San Rafael listed on Urbanspoon that had two names--Theresa and Johnny's. There was no way we could pass up a restaurant with that name, really? It turned out to be one of the best breakfasts we have ever had. We ordered the house specials, the Norcal Benedict, with creamy hollandaise, avocado, salsa and tator tots, and the crispy french toast, a deep fried confection that is really decadent.
We spent the night in Guerneville at the West Sonoma Inn and Spa, lovely spacious rooms with private decks and dined at Chef Patrick on a four-course New Year's Eve menu that was terrific.
Butternut squash soup, crab cakes, rack of lamb, filet mignon and chocolate bread pudding did the trick! We rang in the New Year at the iconic Rainbow Cattle Company, people watching the whole way. Guerneville is picturesque and quaint, barely changed over the last 50 years.
In San Francisco the next day, we had dinner at Roosevelt Tamale Parlor. I wrote about this great little place in my very first blog. It originates back to the 1920's and I am glad to say it is better than ever, under new ownership and we had, seriously, the best pork verde ever, smothering a chili stuffed tamale--incredible. Here's to more in 2013!
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