Erik and I just had a nommy nommy dinner in Napa. We toured the biodynamic gardens of Ubuntu, a not-yet-two-year-old vegetarian restaurant that has been making waves as far as the New York Times, and then enjoyed a five-course meal outdoors in these same gardens.
I have photos to post, but I’ll have to wait till I get back to LA for those, and I’ll save lengthy raves about the food till then too. I do have to say, though, that after all the hype, the meal didn’t blow my socks off quite as much as I hoped — but then I realized it’s because we’ve been spoiled by Shojin. At Shojin, the food isn’t executed as flawlessly as by Ubuntu’s Jeremy Fox, nor the produce picked just yesterday from their own garden, but considering Ubuntu uses eggs and dairy and Shojin doesn’t, it’s hard to be completely impressed by Ubuntu’s offerings. It was a lovely meal, but I think as somewhat practiced vegetarian eaters, fine vegetarian cuisine isn’t the revelation for us that it was for most of our companions.
Speaking of our companions… we sat with: two chefs (one of whom is also a potter), a pediatric anesthesiologist who also builds guitars and who is married to a painter, a sculptor married to a descendant of Oscar Wilde, and a yogi married to the gardener in charge of Ubuntu gardens. It was an interesting, if rather bourgie, evening!
[This post was imported on 4/10/14 from my old blog at satsumabug.livejournal.com.]
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
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