Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
A few of the Colorado delegation will be in SanFran for the UGC event on 1/25. We’re then heading to Napa for 1/26, and back in SF on 1/27. We are up for an offline the 26th in Napa or the 27th in SF, we’ll be drinking some fine wine both nights, so let me know if you’re available to join in.
Last edited by Blanquito on Sat Jan 05, 2019 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Offline interest in Napa or SanFran 1/26 or 27?
I might be able to do something on the 26th....let me get back to the office in a few days and revert back
Was trying to rustle up the SMF cadres for something late January without much success so maybe they can be coaxed into this instead!
Was trying to rustle up the SMF cadres for something late January without much success so maybe they can be coaxed into this instead!
- Comte Flaneur
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Re: Offline interest in Napa or SanFran 1/26 or 27?
Hi Patrick we have just booked and we are flying into San Francisco around the 22nd so would be up for all of that that plus a day on the slopes the week after.
We need to buy plane tickets to Denver from SF, what are the best options?
We need to buy plane tickets to Denver from SF, what are the best options?
Re: Offline interest in Napa or SanFran 1/26 or 27?
Hi Ian, great news! Are you referring to January or March (as it sounds)?
For skiing in March, I suggest flying into either Eagle or Denver on the afternoon of Tuesday March 26th so we can hit the slopes bright and early on the 27th. If you fly into Denver* (which could be cheaper than Eagle, but a longer trip) early enough (landing by, say, 3 PM), you could catch a ride with me up to the mountains (a 2.5 hr drive from the airport).
*Southwest Airlines often has inexpensive (~$90-110) direct one-way flights from SanFran to Denver.
For skiing in March, I suggest flying into either Eagle or Denver on the afternoon of Tuesday March 26th so we can hit the slopes bright and early on the 27th. If you fly into Denver* (which could be cheaper than Eagle, but a longer trip) early enough (landing by, say, 3 PM), you could catch a ride with me up to the mountains (a 2.5 hr drive from the airport).
*Southwest Airlines often has inexpensive (~$90-110) direct one-way flights from SanFran to Denver.
Last edited by Blanquito on Sat Jan 05, 2019 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Offline interest in Napa or SanFran 1/26 or 27?
Napa on the 26th sounds fun. Do you have any places you want to visit? wine/foodBlanquito wrote:A few of the Colorado delegation will be in SanFran for the UGC event on 1/25. We’re then heading to Napa for 1/26, and back in SF on 1/27. We are up for an offline the 26th in Napa or the 27th in SF, we’ll be drinking some fine wine both nights, so let me know if you’re available to join in.
SF on the 27th is open as well, Any restaurants/food interests in the bay area?
I might car pool with Arv if things work out and bring Stan from our Sacramento group.
Happy New Year - Gene
Re: Offline interest in Napa or SanFran 1/26 or 27?
Hey Arv and Gene, hope to see you and others in CA.gene m. wrote:Napa on the 26th sounds fun. Do you have any places you want to visit? wine/foodBlanquito wrote:A few of the Colorado delegation will be in SanFran for the UGC event on 1/25. We’re then heading to Napa for 1/26, and back in SF on 1/27. We are up for an offline the 26th in Napa or the 27th in SF, we’ll be drinking some fine wine both nights, so let me know if you’re available to join in.
SF on the 27th is open as well, Any restaurants/food interests in the bay area?
I might car pool with Arv if things work out and bring Stan from our Sacramento group.
Happy New Year - Gene
4 of us have plans to drive from SanFran on 1/26 to do some ‘library’ tastings starting at 11 AM at Ridge Lytton Springs and then Montelena, and at Phelps and Forman the morning of 1/27. We are at in a hotel in the town of Napa the night of the 26th and then we’re near Union Square in SanFran on the 27th, no arrangements at a BYOB restaurant in Napa or SanFran yet (we are very open to BYOB friendly options in both locales).
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
I'd love to but heading to Hawaii at the end of January. Have fun guys.
Bill
Bill
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
1/27 in SF works for me right now. I live in SF itself so let me know how many people and I can help coordinate.
SF Ed
SF Ed
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
BTW, San Francisco is never San Fran. It is San Francisco, SF, The City, but never San Fran.
SF Ed
SF Ed
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Great, let’s plan something for one or both days. Two of the Colorado party fly out on the 27th, so it will be just 2 from CO for dinner (me and Steve, who will be at the Convention too).
- JimHow
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Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
You might want to check in on MichaelP personally, he doesn't always check in on the site here for stretches of time.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Napa options I've used that are BYOB friendly/low corkage/no corkage:
casual: Pizzaria Tre Vigne, way up valley, St Helena, used to be no corkage... ~ 15.00/btl
very good diner/truck stop food: Cindy's Mustard's, Yountville used to be no corkage if you call/reservations, $20.00/btl waive if you buy from list
Michelin starred: Ken Frank's LaToque/DT Napa, 25.00/4 bottle limit, waived if you buy from list, ~$120-225 dinner,, 4-5 course tasting menu or chef table,all truffle course.
Mostly up to date info (as of Aug/Sept 2018: see www.napalife.com/corkage.pdf
casual: Pizzaria Tre Vigne, way up valley, St Helena, used to be no corkage... ~ 15.00/btl
very good diner/truck stop food: Cindy's Mustard's, Yountville used to be no corkage if you call/reservations, $20.00/btl waive if you buy from list
Michelin starred: Ken Frank's LaToque/DT Napa, 25.00/4 bottle limit, waived if you buy from list, ~$120-225 dinner,, 4-5 course tasting menu or chef table,all truffle course.
Mostly up to date info (as of Aug/Sept 2018: see www.napalife.com/corkage.pdf
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
BD: Thanks for prompting folks, and me.
Patrick: Thanks for PMing me.
Nalan and I are good for one evening for sure. At this point for SF on the 27th.
Very untypically, we happen to be doing wine events in Napa both weekends prior to the 26th, so a third weekend in a row might be a tough sell.
Let's see.....
Michael-P
Patrick: Thanks for PMing me.
Nalan and I are good for one evening for sure. At this point for SF on the 27th.
Very untypically, we happen to be doing wine events in Napa both weekends prior to the 26th, so a third weekend in a row might be a tough sell.
Let's see.....
Michael-P
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Patrick: ask Margaret at Forman why she doesn't respond to my tasting requests!
A few places in Napa have limited free corkage but you guys will blow through that quickly. BTW, sadly Charlie Palmer in Napa sucks. Food, service and atmosphere. Nothing like DC. Although their rooftop drunken bar scene is a hoot.
Michael-P
A few places in Napa have limited free corkage but you guys will blow through that quickly. BTW, sadly Charlie Palmer in Napa sucks. Food, service and atmosphere. Nothing like DC. Although their rooftop drunken bar scene is a hoot.
Michael-P
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Gene and Arv, you guys still game for dinner on Saturday? We definitely are and Ken Frank's LaToque sounds perfect. Please join us for any wineries you want to visit as well. We can get a head count and make a reservation.
MichaelP, glad you can join in on Sunday. Looks like there will be 6 of us all told in downtown SF. I’m gonna bring a 96 Baolo and Steve is aiming for a nice Côte Rotie.
And I’ll definitely get Forman your message!
MichaelP, glad you can join in on Sunday. Looks like there will be 6 of us all told in downtown SF. I’m gonna bring a 96 Baolo and Steve is aiming for a nice Côte Rotie.
And I’ll definitely get Forman your message!
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Nalan and I are in for the 27th in SF.
Let me see what additional (to me) Italians I can bring.
Looking forward to it!
Michael-P
Let me see what additional (to me) Italians I can bring.
Looking forward to it!
Michael-P
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Nice to see the 1/27 SF plan come together.
SF Ed
SF Ed
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
I have to be in Oakland for my nephew's party on the afternoon of Jan 26.
I think I will drive up from there into Napa for the evening dinner; it's about an hour away I think.
That probably blows up the carpooling idea with Gene/Stan from Sacramento.
Let me confer with the SO if all that is good, since it probably means we end up taking two vehicles into the Bay Area that wknd.
What are the estimated times of the Napa and SF dinners?
thanks
I think I will drive up from there into Napa for the evening dinner; it's about an hour away I think.
That probably blows up the carpooling idea with Gene/Stan from Sacramento.
Let me confer with the SO if all that is good, since it probably means we end up taking two vehicles into the Bay Area that wknd.
What are the estimated times of the Napa and SF dinners?
thanks
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Great, I hope you can make it happen. We are open for start times for Saturday. I haven’t made a reservation yet, should we get on that?
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
I pulled 2 Italians to bring for SF on the 27th.
Michael-P
Michael-P
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
I plan to attend in Napa Sat. Jan 26th. Anytime that works for all is fine.Blanquito wrote:Great, I hope you can make it happen. We are open for start times for Saturday. I haven’t made a reservation yet, should we get on that?
I'm about 90 min. away.
Not sure what I'll bring. I'll confirm if Stan is coming.
Go ahead and make reservations if that is OK.
Thank you - Gene
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Is la Torque good for all? What time is good for you Arv?
I’ll make a reservation for 6 people, to be safe. Right now, I count Gene, Arv, me, Steve and maybe Stan.
I’ll make a reservation for 6 people, to be safe. Right now, I count Gene, Arv, me, Steve and maybe Stan.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
6pm should be ok for La Tocque.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
6 PM La Toque (Napa Westin, near Oxbow market) is fine.
I think I'll bring a bordeaux, 88' Haut Brion, that almost drinks like a burg.....
Stan cannot make it as he has another commit on Sat.
I'll likely skip the winery visits and just join everyone for dinner.
I think I'll bring a bordeaux, 88' Haut Brion, that almost drinks like a burg.....
Stan cannot make it as he has another commit on Sat.
I'll likely skip the winery visits and just join everyone for dinner.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Looks like we need a plan b for Saturday. La Toque is booked until 8:45 for a party of 4. Any ideas or preferences?
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
If anyone has Amex Plat, the concierge might be able to get a table earlier.
Unf, I'm not in that rarefied silvery circle.
Unf, I'm not in that rarefied silvery circle.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Ok, I called la Toque (it was Open Table that said they were full, so I thought a call might give us more luck), I dropped the name JimHow and BWE repeatedly, and they gave us a table for 4 at 6 PM on 1/26! I had to give a card to secure the spot, but we can cancel up to 48 hrs in advance without any penalty.
Given Gene's 88 Haut Brion, I will bring a Bordeaux as well and so will Steve. I think I'll bring the 83 Lynch Bages.
Given Gene's 88 Haut Brion, I will bring a Bordeaux as well and so will Steve. I think I'll bring the 83 Lynch Bages.
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Thank you. I was going to call or email. If things did fall through my other options were (Iron Chef) Morimoto's for the Omakase or Bistro Jeanty for French. I've had a few dinners from Ken Frank, a 61' horizontal dinner @ LaToque and a catered affair @ Crocker Starr. Ken is a fan of good wine.Blanquito wrote:Ok, I called la Toque (it was Open Table that said they were full, so I thought a call might give us more luck), I dropped the name JimHow and BWE repeatedly, and they gave us a table for 4 at 6 PM on 1/26! I had to give a card to secure the spot, but we can cancel up to 48 hrs in advance without any penalty.
Given Gene's 88 Haut Brion, I will bring a Bordeaux as well and so will Steve. I think I'll bring the 83 Lynch Bages.
If the HB is flawed/corked I think I might bring an 81' Ch Margaux as a backup.
Gene
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
What's crappy about all those 3rd party intermediary booking sites is that they won't allocate good inventory (prime time tables) to them, and basically expect them to only book their Tuesday 9pm tables. And that creates a vicious bad cycle for the sales channel - once the clients realize OpenTable can't really deliver any value beyond maybe the administrative ease of auto-populating your Outlook or gCalendar - they stop using it and just call direct.Blanquito wrote:Ok, I called la Toque (it was Open Table that said they were full, so I thought a call might give us more luck), I dropped the name JimHow and BWE repeatedly, and they gave us a table for 4 at 6 PM on 1/26! I had to give a card to secure the spot, but we can cancel up to 48 hrs in advance without any penalty.
Given Gene's 88 Haut Brion, I will bring a Bordeaux as well and so will Steve. I think I'll bring the 83 Lynch Bages.
At least the legit concierge services can offer up the value proposition to venues (for truly scarce tables) that they interact with tons of customers all day who basically ask "where should I eat tonight? suggest something and get me table..." I don't think people go to these websites (like Opentable etc.) with that kind of open ended adventure in mind....
Thanks for arranging Blanquito. I'll revert back with wines. $25/corkage correct?
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
"LaToque: $25 corkage, with a 4 bottle limit, but waived if you buy from list". Maybe we buy a white off the list to start and then save $100 on our 4 bottles?
Re: Offline interest in Napa (Jan. 26) or SanFran (Jan. 27)?
Sure. I think their goal with that are just to get people to look at the lists, even if they are BYO'ing.
It's hard to get a bunch of happy, buzzed enthusiasts to stay under a $100 bottle (net) limit, especially at top end places where values (i.e. discounts to current auction values) are likely.
It might be worth double checking about the corkage fee waiver for list purchase. Sometimes it's they'll waive a fee, but only for each bottle purchased.
It's hard to get a bunch of happy, buzzed enthusiasts to stay under a $100 bottle (net) limit, especially at top end places where values (i.e. discounts to current auction values) are likely.
It might be worth double checking about the corkage fee waiver for list purchase. Sometimes it's they'll waive a fee, but only for each bottle purchased.
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