Category Archives: Great Finds

A Visit to Chateau du Sureau and The Elderberry House

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Olive oil-poached steelhead trout at The Elderberry House.
Olive oil-poached steelhead trout at The Elderberry House.

When Ethan de Graaff was just 13 years old, he knew there was no other choice but to become a chef.

Now, the head chef of The Elderberry House in Oakhurst, he explains with a chuckle, “Once my dad started using mayo as a sauce on everything, I knew what I had to do.”

Today, he oversees the menu at the fine-dining restaurant at the Old World Chateau du Sureau, a 9-acre oasis in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, not far from Yosemite National Park. He works in conjunction with Culinary Director Chris Flint, the former chef de cuisine at New York’s storied Eleven Madison Park and former executive chef of Michelin-starred Maude in Los Angeles.

Also tasked with overseeing sister property First & Oak in Solvang, Flint was hired in late 2022. Since his arrival, he’s brought back the restaurant’s tasting menu and leaned into sourcing locally even more.

Last week, when I was invited in as an overnight guest of the Relais & Chateau property, I had a chance to experience the roll-out of his first full new menu.

Chateau du Sureau.
Chateau du Sureau.
Keys to your guest room.
Keys to your guest room.

You might say my visit was more than two decades in the making. Way back when, while staying at another property near Yosemite, my husband and I had made dinner reservations at The Elderberry House. Unfortunately, it happened to be one of those precarious winters with such a deluge of snow that we were alarmed to see a snow plow had gone off the side of the road. Because the onslaught kept forcing the closure of the roads, we ended up canceling our reservations, fearing that even if we made it to the restaurant, we might never be able to get out again.

Finally making it here was definitely worth the wait. Imagine pulling up to a turreted estate in the European countryside, and you get an idea of what Chateau du Sureau is like.

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Everything’s Coming Up Strawberries

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Chunks of strawberry chocolate dot these chewy-licious cookies.
Chunks of strawberry chocolate dot these chewy-licious cookies.

Other gals may covet a Prada purse or a pair of Louboutin heels.

This Food Gal? For the longest time, I had my eye on strawberry chocolate.

That would be the Valrhona Strawberry Inspiration Baking Chocolate that I spied online.

It’s white chocolate thoroughly combined with freeze-dried strawberries to create the prettiest-in-pink baking chocolate discs.

At $20 to $29 for an 8-ounce bag online, they were a splurge to be sure.

The color of these Valrhona chocolate discs is just dazzling.
The color of these Valrhona chocolate discs is just dazzling.

But I’m worth it, right?

At least that’s what I told myself when I finally went for it.

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Exploring Southern Oregon: Visiting Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards, Meadow Estate Vineyard & Winery, and Paul O’Brien Winery

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Say hello to my new big friend -- the playfully decorated concrete fermenter at Reustle Winery.
Say hello to my new big friend — the playfully decorated concrete fermenter at Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards.

Umpqua Valley, OR — Wine-growing here dates back to the 1880s, when German immigrants who once worked for St. Helena’s Beringer Vineyards (the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa), planted the first wine grapes in this valley.

More than 30 wineries now make their home here, producing more than 40 varieties of wine.

On a recent trip to Oregon, I had a chance to visit three of them, courtesy of Travel Oregon.

Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards

Few wineries in Oregon boast their own wine cave. Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards in Roseburg does, and boy, is it a sight to see.

The wine cave built on the side of a hill, one of the few such winery caves in Oregon.
The wine cave built on the side of a hill, one of the few such winery caves in Oregon.
Part of the cave's ceiling.
Part of the cave’s ceiling.

Stephen and Gloria Reustle, husband-and-wife owners, added theirs in 2008. It was built by the same man who made the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, which gives a hint to its Old World-style taken up a big fanciful notch.

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Cook’s Ilustrated’s Easier, Faster Version of Stanley Tucci’s Spaghetti with Zucchini (Plus Winner of the Food Gal Giveaway)

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So thankful to come across an easier yet equally delicious version of this Stanley Tucci favorite.
So thankful to come across an easier yet equally delicious version of this Stanley Tucci favorite.

You may not remember that last year I made Stanley Tucci’s famed “Spaghetti Con Zucchine Alla Nerano,” the captivating dish spotlighted on his CNN show, “Searching for Italy,” and in his memoir, “Taste: My Life Through Food.”

But I sure do. How could I forget every minute of carefully frying batch after batch of zucchini slices in a big pot of oil over a hot stove in summer for what seemed an interminable hour?

Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely adored the resulting pasta dish. But I haven’t made it since, even though, I’ve longed for its taste again. Heck, can you blame me?

That’s why I’m so happy to have discovered Cook’s Illustrated’s version that I could have hugged and never let go of its 2022 July/August issue that it published in.

In this rendition, there no deep-frying involved. Let me repeat that: No. Deep. Frying.

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A Rice Krispies Treat of A Different Sort

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Rice Krispies and rice flour make these cookies crisp as can be and light as a feather.
Rice Krispies and rice flour make these cookies crisp as can be and light as a feather.

Meet the more elegant and sophisticated Rice Krispies treat.

Sure, there are days for the winsome nostalgia of the marshmallowy, sticky-sweet squares we all grew up with.

But there’s also a time and place for wonderful “Toasted Rice Sables” that take the puffed rice cereal and turns it into airy, crumbly, and crispy-throughout cookies that are oh-so buttery and toasty tasting. They’re also gluten-free.

This clever cookie is from “What’s For Dessert” (Clarkson Potter, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by one of my favorite baking book authors, New York City-based Claire Saffitz, a best-selling cookbook author who hosts the cookbook YouTube series, “Dessert Person.”

Her desserts are winningly approachable, designed to entice but not to cause any undue stress in their making. Instead, they are doable and delightful.

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