A friend invited me to go eat lunch at addendum in Napa. I've been living in the bay area for two years now and yet it was my first trip to Napa! We left early to make the hour and a half drive up in time for lunch. It was a hot summer day that completely satisfied the summer deprivation I've been feeling in cold San Francisco.
Addendum is located in the rear garden area of Ad Hoc, where there are plenty of picnic tables for guests. It's only open seasonally and serves lunch only a few days a week. You order at the counter and a server brings out the food to you in a takeout box. The menu is simple, $16.50 for either the buttermilk fried chicken or bbq pork ribs & pulled pork, honey cornbread, and two rotating sides. Because we wanted to try both, we ordered the chicken and the pork. The chicken won. I was excited to try Thomas Keller's famous fried chicken because I have never had proper fried chicken before and my distaste for it stems from dry chicken experiences at KFC. With very low standards, I was obviously impressed by the crispy yet juicy fried chicken! The cornbread was delicious and the sides today, potato salad and cole slaw were good but the cole slaw was excessively dressed in mayo.
After enjoying lunch, we strolled through The French Laundry Culinary Garden, where heirloom tomatoes, corn, herbs, pumpkins, etc were growing. I can only dream of eating at The French Laundry so for now just Thomas Keller's fried chicken will suffice. Napa is beautiful with vineyards and farms... it was also extremely quiet and slow-paced. We joked that we'll move here when we're old. As we made our way back to the car, we stopped to buy bread and pastries at Bouchon Bakery, another Thomas Keller owned establishment. I got a loaf of brioche because I have had the strongest craving for french toast lately and it looked like the perfect bread for it. Will report back on how it turned out :-)
