ALEXIS' TIPS & SCOOP

the lover's cocktail

For years, I have used Greg Lindgren's bartending service called RYE ON THE ROAD, creating all the stunning specialty cocktails served up at his genius bar, named RYE and ROSEWOOD, in San Francisco-- where signature cocktails are muddled with every imaginable variety of exotic fruit + herb.

Never, ever one to drink spirits or cocktails-- Greg's exquisite concoctions made a convert in me with his basil gimlet + later with the blackberry OR raspberry caipiroska.

The raspberry caipiroska is the perfect Valentine cocktail, garnished with a pansy.

Greg's Raspberry Caipiroska 1.5 oz Hangar One vodka 2 lime quarters 5 fresh raspberries 1 tsp organic sugar

In a mixing glass, crush lime and raspberries with a mudller. Add vodka, sugar, and ice. Shake well, enough so that the sugar dissolves.

Pour all contents into a rocks glass. Garnish with 2 more fresh raspberries, and a pansy.

There's just no place like napa when it comes to a lover's getaway - a decadent little corner of the world that caters to passion enthusiasts everyday - is the only place to spend your love-laden valentine holiday. With the endless eateries to tuck into - bottomless wine tastings begging for your review - not to mention, home to lover's lane [aka Champagne Avenue.] This destination of dreams bolsters the most indulgent of love fests - beckoning you to bring out the big guns including such items with a just a pinch of burlesque! Late nights out translate to even later nights in - fabulous romps with your suitor whilst listening to jazz violin. And while you sit in bed and feed each other haute bon bons - you can reminisce of your evening where you lit up the Swanson Vineyards tasting salon! You'll want to capture the whole thing from the very start to the very end - leaving out not a single juicy morsel with which you can later brag about and thus recommend. So there, it's settled you're off to napa valley - you best confirm those eligible reservations, don't dilly-dally!

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love shack

The key ingredient to any house party weekend, is the house-- Durham Ranch is definitely the weekend destination location for the curious + eccentric, loaded with all kinds of extra-special enchantment: its' own teeny valley, surrounded by Oak trees; an old fashioned front porch with rockers; all kinds of hang-out nooks; lap pool surrounded by loungers + umbrellas; cozy bedrooms; and one of the most coveted barns for night time regalia, in all the land!!

Durham Ranch sits fifteen minutes outside the historic town of St. Helena. The 76-Acre acre property – marked by ancient oaks, rock-hewn streams, and a spring fed pond – is a former cattle ranch now surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and miles of white fencing. The centerpiece of the ranch is the 4000 sq. ft barn that acts as the social hub – hosting everything from casual dinners to large-scale receptions. With 33ft ceilings and steel and glass roll up doors opening up to the pool and beyond – the barn makes for a dramatic rustic cathedral. The jewel of the ranch is the original 1940s rancher’s cottage.

For those interested, contact: milton@kenfulk.com

Laurie Arons, the Bay Area's most sought after wedding planner, opens up her black book (in this case, white book) and answers the juicy questions we're dying to know.. But first, let me tell you about her. Laurie has been the go-to wedding planner for 16 years-- if I weren't so persnickety, I would have used her too! She knows and works with the most talented vendors-- she has seen it, done it-- and knows what works.

Describe your most favorite wedding? It’s hard to pick my favorite since every wedding is so unique and special in its own way. Of course, my own wedding is at the top of my list. It was held at a southern style mansion in Napa, complete with a southern style menu and tons of southern details. Guests sipped mint juleps and feasted on comfort food served family style under a beautiful sailcloth tent. We invited the children of our friends and family to the wedding and really wanted to make them feel special. (After all, I fell in love with weddings as a small child and always loved when I could attend a wedding with my parents.) We created a special round tent filled with miniature tables and big colorful pillows for the kids to hang out. After a magic show, they joined us for dancing with the Durell Coleman band. It was so much fun!

What is the most outrageous request you have ever had? I planned one wedding for a family many years ago, then when they hired me to plan another wedding for a sibling they told me they wanted to create a “more spectacular” wedding than the first for less money - 6 years later!

Favorite caterers? Paula le Duc Fine Catering or Elaine Bell for larger weddings and Daniel Ripley Catering for smaller affairs.

Favorite bands? I love Durell Coleman Band for dancing and Tim Hockenberry for cocktail/dinner music. Tim’s voice is sensational.

Favorite coiffeurs? Locally I love Jim Avila and Wallett Luberich. Stuart Matthew is also a favorite based in Las Vegas.

Receiving line or no receiving line? No thank you, no one really enjoys it. I always remind my clients that they need to make sure to thank each person for coming.

Other than love + guest list, what is the single most important ingredient/ expense for a FUN wedding? For fun I would say band and drinks. Dancing after dinner once all of the formalities are done is when everyone relaxes and celebrates on the dance floor. Great beverages, like an amazing wine if you are in the Napa Valley, relaxes the crowd so they cut loose.

Your top 3 favorite touches? At the wedding, I say nothing beats great lighting and unforgettable cake -it’s the last thing people eat and always remember. Beforehand, I love an amazing welcome amenity – it gets guests excited for what’s to come and expresses thoughtfulness that will (hopefully) be carried out throughout the wedding weekend.

Best advice you might give a bride? Surround yourself with a team of vendors who you know has your best interest at heart and will deliver 100 percent on the wedding day. The “team” of vendors needs to work well together in order for the day to come together with ease. A good team will troubleshoot to solve anything that might come up.

Favorite time of day for a wedding? I like late afternoon if you are in a scenic location. If possible I like to work back from sunset and time the sunset at the end of cocktails so the guests are going into the dinner area at twilight.

Favorite color combinations? That changes all the time but right now I am loving anything with blush tones and an elegant charcoal gray with a pop of fun color like yellow or green.

Favorite music genre? If I had to pick one for a wedding it would be Funk R & B for dancing. When it is done well, all ages will dance and have a great time.

Favorite party favor/ memento? I like edible favors in line with the theme of the wedding. I just had a wedding where we gave away homemade jam made by the bride’s aunt. At my wedding, guests walked away with the most perfect miniature pecan pie from Perfect Endings.

What is your go-to newlywed gift? Something that will last forever and is timeless, like a beautiful crystal vase or sterling frame.

Best advice for someone on a budget? Keep your guest list down to the most important family and friends and focus on a venue that won’t require a lot of décor. Quality not quantity is one of my favorite rules to live by.

What type of decor gives lots-of-look without breaking the bank account? Good lighting is so important if the event goes into evening. Local, in-season flowers help keep costs down a lot. Consider flowers with large blooms, like hydrangea and peonies which make a big statement and you don’t need as many. Candles also add lots of ambience for evening events and candlelight is always romantic.

What is a great menu, that won't break the bank account? I would do a 2-3 course dinner and do something a bit unexpected, but something that the bride and groom both love. Comfort food is always a hit. For my wedding the entrée was organic fried chicken with butternut squash puree and crispy onions. People loved it, They still talk about it.

What is the biggest mistake people make?

Guest faux pas? Not sending in the RSVP’s on time, asking to include a guest or child when one isn’t included on the invite.

Sam Godfrey is the proprietor of Perfect Endings in Napa Valley and is also known around the world as Oprah’s favorite baker! Sam is revered for his magnificent creations + confections!

Looking straight out of an old fashioned bake sale, Sam created for my wedding, a sublime cake buffet, featuring 10 different types of vintage cakes, all using his grandmother’s coveted recipes. They looked like cakes made by YOUR grandmother, with LOVE. For the bride + groom, he made a heart shaped, red velvet cake, and decorated with our initials in RED HOTS! It was perfection…..

AT: When did you start baking?

SG: I can't prove it, but I know I was baking cake and cobbler in utero! That is how much it is ingrained in my DNA. I was baking with mama -my maternal grandmother- before I could walk. She'd prop me up on the kitchen counter against a sack of flour as she rolled dough, mixed batter, cut biscuits. My hands (and feet and lord knows what else!) went into everything she made.

AT: Who taught you?

SG: Her name was Pearl, and she was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. I was her first grandchild and favorite guinea pig. She was a phenomenal cook and extraordinary baker who was overjoyed when I received a scholarship to Cordon Bleu, Paris, because it meant that I would learn to bake the "proper way." I left Paris after eleven days when I learned she was terminally ill and never went back or sought any formal training. One of my goals is to go to culinary school to be properly trained, but I must admit that it is deliciously ironic that baking "mama's way" has pleased so many people. I'm just the liaison... the talent was hers.

AT: Growing up-- what was your baking specialty?

SG: I baked the full repertoire of southern delicacies -especially sweet potato and buttermilk pies, peach cobbler and coconut cake -until I wandered into Alice Medrich's groundbreaking "Cocolat" dessert shop at age eleven. That was my Willy Wonka moment... had never seen European pastry before. The refinement, the restraint and sophistication. I inhaled it! This was the start of what mama most affectionately called my "___damn mousse" phase! At age twelve I marched into the Baptist church potluck -the temple of red velvet cake and pecan pie- with a heaping (green tupperware!) bowl of chocolate mousse... that I didn't receive the Medal of Honor for such bravery remains THE greatest slight of the 20th century!

AT: What is it today?

SG: I think we will always be known first and foremost as bakers of cake. However, we will releasing a broader repertoire of desserts later this year that I am very excited to share... fingers crossed that they will be well received.

AT: What are your top 3 most requested wedding cakes?

SG: Our most requested wedding cakes are my grandmother's pound cake, filled with our own crushed organic raspberry preserves and a bit of homey cream cheese frosting, our chocolate layer cake filled either with salted caramel truffle cream or cafe au lait bavarian cream, and our ivory apricot cake which is a glorious marriage of white chocolate and apricot.

AT: What is your favorite wedding cake?

SG: To eat, it would be our old fashioned banana layer cake...I taste my childhood in every bite. Visually, I love clean and simple as long as it is not boring. I must admit that big, over-the-top cakes can be thrilling...as long as they taste even better than they look.

AT: Tell me about your vintage cakes?

SG: Our vintage cake line is my homage -and also my apology- to my grandmother and all of those church women who unknowingly laid the foundation for Perfect Endings. I am not the product of an esteemed culinary institution. I desperately wanted to be...so much so that, during the aforementioned "mousse phase," I refused to bake the cakes that I was raised on...they weren't chi chi enough. I sit here today, decades later, having had the privilege to fulfill requests for our cakes from all over the world...often by those who could have any cake in the world. And what did they want? Nothing chi chi, no mousse...they wanted mama's cake. Lesson learned!

AT: How are wedding cake trends different now, compared to 5 years ago?

SG: Five years ago I had hope that pastry chefs would finally understand that the inside of the cake is every bit as important as the exterior....that it is, in fact, dessert and it should taste extraordinary. Unfortunately, with the advent of the "celebrity" chef and Food Network competitions, taste is a distant second to artistry. I will make a cake that looks like the Taj Mahal...I've learned that they have their place. It should not, however, taste like the Taj Mahal!

AT: Do you have a secret to baking chocolate chip cookies??? Pls tell!

SG: Two tips:

1. If you were born with willpower (unlike myself!), allow your dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator...a relaxed and well hydrated dough makes for superior flavor and texture.

2. (shameless plug alert!) Look for the "Perfect Endings at Home" line of cookie dough and cake mixes this fall in grocery stores!

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stanlee gatti, world famous event producer

On one hand, can I count this country's most beguiling/ imaginative/ other-worldly event producers... Stanlee Gatti is one of them, creating some of the most ravishing evenings of recent American history + memory.

Like all brilliant creatives, Stanlee has a wild method to his madness that conjures and electrifies night after night-- dreaming up parties that take you to his interpretation of: Andy Warhol's factory; magnificent circus big tops bathed + draped in vibrant stripes on silk; debaucherous bacchanalia in medieval hill top village in Napa Valley... just to name a few.

Favorite wedding venue? A home

Favorite wedding cocktail? Champagne always gives you the "love" buzz so that aside, Whiskey Sour

Who chooses the menu-- bride or groom? both

Who chooses the wine-- bride or groom? Groom usually or father of bride

Your top 3 favorite touches? Engraved menu, taper candles, crystal wine glasses

Best advice you might give a bride? Wear your love like heaven

Favorite time of day for a wedding? Sunset

Favorite color combinations? Always changes but right now, blue and green

Best advice for someone on a budget? Make a top ten list of what you can't do without - go from there.

Top 5 things you live to do daily...

1. daydream
2. invent and create
3. dance
4. conversation - challenge me with "how deep can you go" kind of conversation
5. shop for textiles

 

location, location, location

When hollywood comes calling... When big destination parties + celebrations need a super special venue in the Napa Valley... people always find themselves checking out mintlocations.com, and on the phone with proprietress, Cindy Osbourn who knows where all the beautiful + bespoke properties-- off the beaten path-- scattered across the valley.

Click here to dazzle your eyes: Mint Locations

In the meantime, take a look at this:

Torryne Choate is a world class avant garde florist + individual + madame of Hayes Valley.

Torryne owns BIRCH flower shop and is one of San Francisco’s great talents and avant garde artists. Torryne is a really good friend and a chief collaborator. Her fingerprints are all over our most coveted evenings and gatherings. Together we have charmed every manner of person using just about any medium: flowers, twigs, paper, moss, rocks, bird nests, tin and flickering light. Look out for Torryne’s magnificence regularly on our site.

AT: How would you describe what you do- because it's really not all about "flowers"...

TC: The only way I can describe what I do is- to continue to explore my obsession with all things visual and tactile through the medium of flowers and related organic materials.

AT: How did your love affair with flowers, botanicals start?

TC: I started loving flowers as a young girl, when my grandfather( a botany prof at berkeley), would take me on nightly hikes and tell me about each and every plant we encountered. He and my grandmother were major players at Filoli. He helped build the greenhouses, and she was the garden tour guide.

AT: Describe for me your brides.... What do they have in common?

TC: I am so very fortunate to be hired by brides who are ready and willing to take risks in order to achieve a new floral idiom. Or soil idiom, or rock idiom.

AT: Love that! What are your favorite, top 3 flowers to work with?

TC: My three most favorite go to flowers are lily-of-the-valley, narcissus and wild branches.

AT: what are your favorite flowers each season? Winter- Narcissus Spring- Poppies Summer- Cosmos Fall- straight and super tall willow branches

AT: Last question: how do you go about creating a lot of looking on a tight budget?

TC: Creating a great look on a budget inevitably produces a sleeper hit. It is the most challenging situation, that more often than not, leads to a light bulb- over- the- head moment. Alexis and I love to create dramatic and surreal bouquets of flowers made from the pages of a magazine, newspaper, gift wrap, or tissue. Her personal favorite is always the black tissue.

Below are some of my favorite of Torryne's best handy work.

this is how we roll

I don't know who would like this car better... my little boy or his daddy! This is the dreamiest way to see Napa Valley... I am seeing it parked at the Sip Shoppe, the French Laundry at lunchtime, or outside Panchas, late night!

PS - I am always on the hunt for special cars to rent, if you know of any, please let me know!!!

• Brilliant + hilarious chapters include:
• Before Us
• Uncomfortable Moments
• Gone With The Wind
• Yes or No
• The Absolute Truth
• Sex + Company
• Neuroses
• All Things Considered
• Face It
• The Long Run

A delicious, daily routine on the beach, during cocktail hour or night cap... This book inspires hours and days of amusement, entertainment, head scratching + serious learning! DON'T leave home without it!

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Coffee is served at 7am at Oakville Grocery, Dean + DeLuca and Bouchon Bakery, followed by a balloon ride with Napa Valley Balloons. Balloon rides are quintessentially Napa, and you simply cannot imagine the beauty of the valley in the early mornings.. As residents, the sound of balloons catching air overhead is a very surreal experience in the groggy hours; sounding much like a GIANT taking a toke off his MASSIVE peace pipe! These excursions are romantic and old world, and not for the meek at heart!!! FYI: In the summertime, it is shockingly cold and foggy in the morning, so make sure to pack a lot of layers.

Bouchon promises to delight, indoors or out! I live to sneak away here under any circumstance: a romantic lunch or dinner with friends. I adore everything about Bouchon: Tony at the door, the authentic Parisian bistro vibe, the cozy seating, the lighting, for starters... I live for that EPI baguette on the table, served with the perfectly salted butter, a dozen oysters, followed the shrimp cocktail, and then... either the chocolate mousse OR the warm chocolate bouchons... Not to be missed... their amazing in house by-the-glass wine program at $8 a glass, juice procured from some of the Valley's best cellars.

After lunch, be sure to stop by Ma(i)sonry wine collective on Washington Street and taste the gorgeous wines of Blackbird, Lail, Husic, Pedras, to name a few… I am all about “EXPERIENCE,” and have to tip my hat to the brilliant vision of Michael Polenske who has found a way to illuminate all the things that he is passionate about: fine wine, art, and antiques while creating a real life “gallery.”

Early dinner: Bistro Don Giovanni

This restaurant rocks year in and year out for a reason—it is passionately Italian-- the owners, the food, the clothing, the music, the coquettish waiters etc. The big deal is: the food is really exceptional and the porch is super special and fun, particularly for a summer lunch or dinner. I also love the owners, Donna and Giovanni, because when I was in high school they gave me a summer job, hostess-ing at their first restaurant, Piatti. I crave their summer gazpacho, fried olives, pizza with figs, gorgonzola and balsamic vinegar, the seared salmon, and lastly… the “bostini” trifle—that 1200 calorie extravaganza that is not to be missed.

This bar is a dream, and nothing you’d ever expect to find in the town of Yountville.. And in truth, it is something you’d expect to find in Mexico or along Route 66. Pancha’s is a treasure, that needs the respect of the Historic Preservation Society! During the day, its’ parking lot is home to one of the very best taco trucks in the Valley; and by night, it is the same as it was decades upon decades ago. The owners run a very authentic establishment, one that is seedy and tragically hip at the same time, with a juke box, 2 pool tables, and respectably priced drinks. A good time is a sure bet here! PS: they only take cash!!! 

The old mantra, “that, which is old, is new again” couldn’t ring more true, for the recently refurbished UPTOWN THEATER in downtown Napa. This old and magical theater had become an awkward and carved-up, 4 screen movie house, and was dying on the vine. For the past dozen years it has been under construction, and supported by some of the Valley’s wisest visionaries… and finally reopened this spring. The UPTOWN THEATRE of today, has been lovingly restored to its’ original glory and is bringing to the Napa Valley amazing musicians and performers of your youth. Their summer calendar include: Roseanne Cash, Gipsy Kings, Cyndi Lauper, Merle Haggard, English Beat, Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Lyle Lovett, Rufus Wainwright…

{photo credits: pancha image via chow.com, acme fine wines, uptown theater, maisonry}

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