Hellooo! Back from Napa! And oh, what a trip. Trip of a lifetime. John, Stu the Wine Genius, his wife Debbie, and I all stayed in the gorgeous Howell Mountain-top home of winemaker Larry Turley (long story, we had rented a different house, but happily ended up in theirs). Rudy and Ana stayed at the bottom of the mountain at the famed and lovely Meadowood Resort. John, Rudy, Ana, and I actually flew in last Wednesday, a day ahead of Stu and Deb, so the four of us opened with lunch at Greens at the Marina in San Francisco. All-vegetarian, all-fabulous, it was a festive lunch as we were so very excited to head up to Napa. After pasta with fava beans, gorgeous salads, and coconut cake, we wiped our mouths and scooted out the door.

We eventually found our twisty-turny-backassward-wrong-way up to the Turley's, quickly changed for dinner, and were off for another twisty-turny-backassward-wrong-way to an unforgettable meal at Cyrus in Healdsburg. Wow. And I mean, wow. We arrived so lost, and so late, and so stressed out, that we were ready for some pampering and a serious meal and Cyrus delivered in spades.

As it was John's 47th birthday - nice birthday, in Napa, yeah, baby! - we indulged in a sampling of caviars, served with smoking-hot polenta fritters topped with smears of creme fraiche, sieved egg yolk, and minced chives. Damn but my stress melted away like caviar on my tongue and with a few sips of champagne, I was ready to roll, roll, roll.

I chose the four-course option (you can choose as many as you would like) but sampled many, many tasties. The several amuses bouches the chef sent out were mind-blowing - little marble-sized potato and chick-pea fritters with asparagus tartare...seared hamachi with white-soy-sauce consomme (one of the best things I've ever had, ever)...yeah, pretty kill. Then, oh yes, my actual meal, ha. I "opened" (half full already) with artichokes "a la barigoule," a mini-tower of artichokes both tender and crispy. Next up was a silky pureed cauliflower soup with a sweet-crunchy raisin, caper, and white pepper emulsion and toasted almonds. Now that I think of it, that soup was John's, but I thankfully scored several creamy bites of it. My true "second" course was foie gras mousse served with - get this - baby, buttery lemon scones. Lord, foie gras melting into warm scones, that is not light fare but the bites were so small, I snapped them right up. Divine. And last, a darling little piece of perfectly roasted tender-crispy chicken, served alongside a poached egg (which came first? Hahaha, sorry...) and lovely little vegetables. Again I snagged several bites of John's uber-truffly truffled red wine risotto with Parmesan foam. Beyond decadent - and I loved every bite. Of course!

For dessert? Ohhhh, a few half-hearted bites of three gorgeous cheeses. I was beyond stuffed, whew. But nice opening, eh? Yeah. Napa loves me, and I love it right back. More later...