Tardy

I have been BUSY....so no posts of late, I am sorry about that. I just wanted to give a few shout outs to the fabulous restaurants of the Yountville area. If you ever have the chance to go or are in the area, please stop by REDD, Bouchon, and Bottega.

REDD is Richard Reddington's interpretation of the California wine country's cuisine with various European and Spanish influences. For our lunch, we feasted on prosciutto pizza with fontina and arugala, crispy calamari, bread salad and one of the best desserts I have ever had a dark chocolate pot de creme, beurre noisette, and warm beignets.

Bottega is Michael Chiarrello italian resteraunt. He is known for his shows on Food Network and his Napa Style store. I again, had some of the best food ever. His crispy gnocchi and angry prawns were amazing, as well as his panna cotta. We were impressed enough to get his just released cookbook of the same name.

Have a super weekend, and more posts to come about color trends through 2012, and next month, Ava will blog about her trip to India(I am so excited to hear about that adventure).

Bardessono Experience

Below are details of some of the room features from documents from www.watg.com, the architecture firm.

Furnishings: John Wells of Seattle, designed and constructed bedside tables of reclaimed wood and steel. Evan Shively fashioned guest room desks of Bay Laurel.

Guestroom and public area concrete floor tiles are sourced from Sonoma Stone. Bath and dressing room floors are of orchard walnut milled by Shively.

Salvaged Monterey Cypress has been milled into siding, walnut trees uprooted by farmers at the end of their productive life have been milled into flooring, guest room doors and furniture, redwood wine barrels create ceilings and doors in public spaces, and salvaged California Bay trees were cut into slabs for guest room desks.

Taken by K.Lovett

 watg.com

My favorite part of the room would absolutely be the bathroom. The finishes are so simple and green.They have integrated massage tables for in-room spa treatments, large closet units for 2 people and in-room safe. The sinks are Duravit and the whirlpool tub has small pinhead size holes at the bottom of the tub that are controlled via a pad on the side of the tub. I much prefer this design, than that of the side jets.

 

Above are courtesy of bardessono.com

 You can see where there are no carpets, drapes or bedspreads. All lighting and blind controls are done via wall push button pads on the walls. By eliminating those 3 elements, there are less allergens. There is a duvet with cotton cover and these sheets were super soft. The bedding is all down or pseudo down filled. 

Tomorrow, I will write about the restaurants and spa, as well as the other activities in the area.

Behind the Green-Bardessono

Why Bardessono, well, I was for one very interested in what one of 3 Platinum LEED certified hotel properties in the world would look like and function, and I was looking for a place I could go for a couple of days for total rest and relaxation. This place ticked all those boxes. The LEED(system of certification is point based and to be platinum certified, you have to pass with 52-69 points. 


Bardessono was named after the family who owned the land, and much of  the stone used on the exterior came from the original family home/winery(Tufa stone). Many of the environmental initiatives are listed on the links above. I will list several of the items that were interesting to me. 


I will let you know that if you prefer more "comfy"/traditional surroundings, than this place is not for you. There is a distinct contemporary, zen spirit, there is no carpeting and most materials lack real color.The furniture throughout is thoughtful, but not necessarily soft(the fabric on the daybed/sofa was ArcCom Moonbeam(not exactly soft, but is eco and crypton finish(holds up to liquid).  The sheets however were SUPER soft and the bed, wonderfully comfy.

View from rooftop pool of entrance, main outdoor area outside Lobby/Restaurant, you can see overall design and use of natural materials, drought resistant landscaping. Water features are throughout grounds.

Magnolia section of rooms, there are 3 other sections(Cypress, Birch and Olive) each have those species of trees included in the landscape design, with other water features. I will post more of those photos tomorrow.

Lobby-Vertical garden installation by Seth Boor, Scott Smith and Flora Grubb of 800 tillandsia in 4 vertical niches, ilo of revolving fresh floral arrangements that you would see in most hotels. Tillandsia require no soil and minimal water to grow(known as air plants also.)

Some of the environmental impact features are that many types of wood used in the understated, flat-roofed structures were salvaged from lumber mills and all from within 100 miles of Yountville, accented by naturally rusted steel. Each building's roof is fitted with a concealed photovoltaic solar collector and reflective material which makes it possible for the hotel to provide a significant portion of its electrical energy requirement. Another aspect of the hotel's energy saving : motion sensors determine room occupancy and turn off lights and electrical devices, drop shades and adjust temperatures while it is empty. When you return to the rooms, all settings automatically return to what they were when you left.

There were many other green aspects to the hotel, including low water flow fixtures, drought-resistant landscaping and a kitchen garden that grows fruit, vegetables and herbs for the dining room.

• Eighty two 300 foot wells beneath the Bardessono as part of a geothermal system for heating & cooling rooms and preheating of domestic hot water
• Automated external venetian blinds on windows and occupancy sensors to turn off lights
• LED and fluorescent light fixtures
 • Recycled wood furnishings with eco-friendly fabrics
• Redwood ceilings from old wine tanks
• Glues, adhesives, paints, and wall coverings with low VOC
• Concrete with a high potash (recycled product) content
• Glass Tiles with a high recycled content
• Steel with a high recycled content
• Organic linens and terry
• Organic cleaning products
• Spa & Restaurant food use organic and local
• Recycled Uniforms
• Drinking water, filtered on site
• Vegetable waste composted for use in the gardens
• Laundry done with limited hot water and non-detergent cleaners
• Recycling throughout the hotel
• Recycled paper products
• Electric and bio-diesel vehicles for hotel/guest use

In Lucy's Garden-they even give you seed packets when you have dinner at the restaurant.

Tomorrow, I will post video of the room and talk about the hotel experience. Have a great Tuesday!!

Napa Style....Bardessono

Courtesy of dwell.com

This week I will be dedicating the blog space to my quick trip to Yountville, California, which is in the Napa Valley. Yountville is most notably thought of as the home of Thomas Keller's resteraunt The French Laundry(which by the way you need reservations made 1-2 years in advance, unless you are a regular or someone of celebrity status). Yountville is home to many wonderful resteraunts, REDD, Ad Hoc & Bouchon(the other 2 Keller Resteraunts), Pacific Blue Cafe, just to name a few.

I believe that some of the best memories in life are had over a meal that you can't possibly afford or on a trip somewhere. For me some of my best times are with friends and family both near and far and birthdays are the best times for these occasions.(for those who know me best, its rare to find me at home on a birthday, or better yet with someone else for theirs.)


Today, I have posted some of the pictures of restaurant row and the entrance to Bardessono. I will post tomorrow about what makes Bardessono so amazing, not the least for being one of only 3 hotels in the WORLD that is platinum LEED certified.  Later in the week I will post about the amazing restaurants and why you would ever want to visit this charming town.

Have a great sunday, don't miss Mad Men, love that show!!

Corner of Washington and California(All Photos Courtesy of K.Lovett)

Washington-old railway station, the remaining cars are an Inn and a Coffee Shop)

Bouchon Bakery-One of 3 locations in the US, this is the flagship, with one in Vegas and one in NYC.

Corner of Yount and Washington, entrance of Bardessono in the distance