Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I was very proud of one of my best friends this weekend. He's a self-described germaphobe, who not only reached into a garbage can during our Urban Spy Adventure (Click to read about that: here .) but he actually didn't mind. And the evening before that mandatory fun, I took Mr. No-Meat-No-Meal - along with his wife and my husband - to a vegan restaurant. Brian actually raved about the food! Major food coup. We dropped the kiddos off with grandparents and friends after work on Friday and headed up to San Francisco. After checking in to our hotel, we walked down to Hotel California's Millennium Restaurant for a late night meal. Here's what we ate... Zucchini and Carrot Pappardelle (raw) oil-cured black olives, fennel & sage marinated mushrooms, cheddar cauliflower, sweet pepper-cashew puree, macadamia nut crumble, basil & fresh herbs Crusted King Trumpet Mushrooms Arborio rice & sesame dredge, cabbage & carrot salad with line vinaig...

After our Pierce Ranch Vineyards adventure , Jake and I ventured down to the more touristy part of Cannery Row to check out the new bistro inside of Taste of Monterey . I'd been seeing enough drool-inspiring photos from there, so I figured we'd give it a try...even on the busiest tourist weekend of the year. So glad that we did! Here's what we tried... Applewood Bacon-Wrapped Dates filled with bleu cheese and drizzled with saba, which is a new-to-me ingredient Inzana Farms Almonds & Pistachios with brown sugar, cayenne, thyme Chicken Tikka Masalad Phyllo rolls with a fragrant spinach-masala sauce and walnut chutney Pig Wizard Flatbread with fennel sausage, foraged mushrooms, roasted peppers, and toma cheese Jake had a raspberry wheat from Peter B's and I - designated driver for the day - stuck with water. Besides, I was still swooning from the Pierce Ranch Vineyards' Cosecheiro.