During a recent trip to Calistoga with the Calistoga WineGrowers and Visit Calistoga, I experienced the most magical meal during my stay at The Solage, An Auberge Resort at their award-winning restaurant, Solbar. See more of this fabulous evening below!

I love the bright rich interior setting of the Solbar.  For this particular evening, our group was in a private room which made the dinner that much more intimate and special.

Prior to our dinner, the group toured the property with Hotel General Manager Donald Stamets (shown below) and Communications Manager Whitney Snow.  This sunset could not have been more perfect for this evening walk around the beautiful Solage Resort, An Auberge Resort. This is the Spa Solage which I had the chance to experience during this trip. Read about The Spa Solage and my amazing mudslide treatment here.

The fabulous Donald Stamets. He really is all smiles and beyond lovely. It’s rare that I get the chance to not only tour with a Resort GM but also have them share a meal with me. Donald clearly is very hands-on and truly wants to connect with guests sharing stories about the Resort, getting to know the guests better and really making that personal connection. A HUGE thanks to Donald, Whitney and the entire Solage Resort, an Auberge Resort for making this 4-day stay beyond special. It was very hard checking out.

Views of the garden where the SolBar sources various ingredients for their cuisine. Reminder this is in January I can’t imagine how lush and colorful it is in the Spring or Summer when it’s warm and sunny out!

Chef Gustavo Rios welcoming us with an amuse bouche.  This was the first of many courses and I have to admit, I loved every single course. It was such a magical meal.

Chips and dip, onion creme fraiche, California Caviar, and potato chips. This was such a lovely start to the meal, how can you beat creme fraiche and caviar?

The Bernard ranch charred avocado, ruby grapefruit, endive and garden sprouts. This dish was so light and the citrus and avocado pairing was perfect! Another slam dunk Chef Gustavo and team!

This slow cooked organic egg with winter black truffles and toasted brioche was a crowd favorite. And it paired heavenly with the Poggi Cabernet Sauvignon. This was my first time enjoying this wine and it was superb! Super smooth, silky with rich flavors, great balance and for sure a new Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon favorite.

This was probably my favorite dish, the Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi, Maine Lobster, curried walnuts, sauce beurre monte. The walnuts paired with the lobster and potatoes was so unexpected yet a delicious pairing and so tasty. 

Snake River Farms New York Stripe Steak, Jerusalem artichokes, sunflower gremolata, black truffle sauce. Another spectacular dish. We were really spoiled with truffles in more than one course and such seasonal fresh ingredients.

Last but certainly not least, was the Meyer lemon cake, lemon curd, candied kumquats. As if I had room for anything else at this point, this light yet yummy dessert was the perfect conclusion to the beyond over-the-top delicious meal.

Thanks to Chef Gustavo, The Solbar team, the Calistoga WineGrowers and Visit Calistoga for organizing this spectacular evening of great company, amazing food, and lovely wines!