Lovina

-
Anna insisted that we try this restaurant in Calistoga she had spotted on an earlier trip to the city (while Val and I were in D.C.). So right after seeing Old Faithful, we dropped by Lovina, whose sign promised great food and whose building promised of a cozy dining experience. We just wanted to have a light snack before we drove back to the Bay Area.


Lovina was good on all its promises. Though the restaurant had a low ceiling, it didn't feel cramped (but also may because we arrived just before the dinner rush). The spring sunset made the interiors and the food look pretty as well. The staff were friendly too.

Most importantly, the food we ordered was delicious. 

We started off with a jar of kimchi, which was kind of a surprise because I didn't expect to find Asian influences to Lovina's offerings. It was not as spicy as the kimchi I've tried in Korea or in the Philippines, even. However, it was a great appetiser since the rest of our food were savoury.

I wanted to try the polenta because it had mushrooms in it. What we received were bite-sized pieces that we could dip into the sauce and just pop in our mouths. I'm glad that they didn't come in bigger pieces because the portions didn't overpower the palate. I just wished that there were more pieces in a serving because I didn't realise how hungry I was until I had my first bite.

fried mushroom polenta bites
The salad's flavour was courtesy of the duck confit. The duck was very tasty and tender; a contrast to the texture of the kale and the onions that came with it. I also enjoyed the dressing because of the umami flavours.

warm duck confit and kale salad

I don't know the story behind the name for "Susie's remedy", a dish that came with two sunny side ups, potatoes, and bacon. It definitely was a meal intended for brunch; however, we were told that we could get items from both brunch and dinner menus... so we did just that.

Susie's remedy

Anna's choice was really good. I certainly will make this a stop whenever I'm in the Napa Valley area.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

Skyflakes

-
One of the more famous Philippine exports is Skyflakes , a wheat-based, salty cracker. It is one of my emergency food items: I typically have some stocked at home and in my handbag in case I become hungry (like in traffic jams). When there's no electricity and it's impractical to cook rice (because the leftover would spoil), I'd open a pack of Skyflakes and generously coat each cracker with Cheez Whiz... if I had a bottle of it within reach. Anyway, each time I spent more than two weeks outside the Philippines, I'd be elated to see boxes of Skyflakes inside Asian stores (particularly when in I was Australia and in the USA). Back then, I took it as a sign of homesickness. When I moved to California, I didn't miss Skyflakes because Mommy made sure that there's a steady supply in the house. Skyflakes is embedded in Filipino gastronomy as a snack, a panawid-gutom , that anyone who reacts positively upon seeing Skyflakes outside the Philippines must have spe...
Read more

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

-
I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in...
Read more

Surat Mangyan

-
Image
In high school, part of the Filipino curriculum was learning about one of the country's ancient native scripts called Baybayin . I learned back then that this script was eventually abandoned because the Spanish, and eventually the Americans, encouraged the use of the Latin script for written communications. But that's in the lowlands; the rules were different up in the mountains. In the lush mountains of Mindoro, groups of indigenous people called Mangyans  live largely in isolation away from the Christianised Filipinos. This isolation has led to the continuous development of the Mangyans' old script, Surat Mangyan . As I walked inside the Ayala Museum , I saw this bamboo tube (I'm not sure if it's an instrument) with Mangyan script written all over it. I suppose that this was equivalent to a book or a song. But I haven't figured out what's written yet, despite the translation guide provided. What I can do, however, is write my name in Ma...
Read more