On the Road: Food

Had a few good meals on the trip. I especially enjoyed dinner at Jiraffe in Santa Monica. We brought along an old bottle of wine, a 1986 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne that needed to be consumed. It was a pleasure to take it to a restaurant where they understand wine. I didn't have to ask to have it decanted. I didn't have to point out that shaking the bottle would dislodge the sediment and make it undrinkable

In Paso Robles, I had a simple but tasty dinner at Berry Hill Bistro. I tasted a couple of interesting wines there as well--a 2006 Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre/Viognier blend by Miassian-Young and a 2006 Bien Nacido Vineyard Viognier by Anglim. Paso Robles is reminiscent of Sonoma. It has a central plaza surrounded by restaurants and shops in much the same way. Quite a few of the restaurants looked good. Paso Robles looks worth a future exploration.