Saturday the 21st of July was the last evening before we went on a well-deserved holiday with the whole staff. The holiday started for myself and Arjan Speelman (souschef) with a trip to the USA, California.
Ben Pon invited us to a culinary event at the Bernardus Lodge. This idea is created because we organised a culinary event at the Ciel Bleu Restaurant last year. The executive chef Cal Stamenov of the Bernardus Lodge was our guest chef for this event. This year it is our turn to be invited at the Bernardus Lodge.

Sunday the 22nd of July we left in the direction of California. After a flight of eleven hours we arrived the same day at the airport of San Francisco. We have spent three hours at the airport filled with checks and chats with the CIA and afterwards we finally drove on highway 101 from San Francisco to California. After a ride of approximately 1,5 hours we arrived at the Bernardus Lodge www.bernardus.com . First we drank a glass of Bernardus Chardonnay. Afterwards we went to a grill restaurant in the village. We met Call over there and had a nice dinner with a small group.

The night’s rest and breakfast were great. That morning we left to visit the vineyards of the Bernardus winery. Dean Korth is a winemaker who studied in France. He gained a part of his skills and knowledge in the Loire and Bourgogne. Nowadays he is using his knowledge and skills in California. We experienced him as a very enthusiastic winemaker and host. He has a lot of fun in his profession. He tells about it with a lot of passion. Furthermore we got a guided tour true the wineries from Matthew Shea. Halfway there was a fantastic pick nick waiting for us. 

From Wednesday on we started with the preparations and shopping’s for the special evening at the Marinus restaurant. This is the fine dining restaurant of the Bernardus Lodge. Thursday morning we visited California’s biggest biological farm, The Earthbound Farm www.ebfarm.com . We got a guided tour here.

We noticed that Organic is very HOT in the USA at the moment. There are a lot of billboards beside the roads, advertisements in magazines and menu cards with organic food in all kind of restaurants. Organic is known in the Netherlands for a couple of years. In California this it is upcoming business.
We went back to the kitchen in the afternoon to prepare the last things for the dinner of 60 guests. The evening started in the garden with a beautiful background of the sunset. In the garden the guests could enjoy an aperitif with some typical Dutch appetisers. At 19:00 the evening continued inside, where a 5-course dinner was served.

It was a great evening. A lot of guests were very enthusiastic and some of them were exuberant. This evening was a fantastic end of our visit at the Bernardus Lodge en and will be a fantastic memory.

Friday we left in the direction of San Francisco for a three-day holiday.
It is a beautiful journey alongside the coast. We went back in the direction of San Francisco true Salinas. Salinas is the biggest vegetable and fruit cultivating area of the USA. Around 14:00 we arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel, Mark Hopkins. This is one of the hotels where the General Manager of the Okura hotel Amsterdam, Mister van Aelst, worked as gm. The hotel is located in the middle of the centre, a beautiful spot. We had a room with a view over the city, the bay and Alcatraz.

That evening we had a dinner at Michael Mina. This is located in the Westin St. Francis hotel, situated at the Union Square www.michaelmina.net . This restaurant is rewarded with two Michelin stars last year. This is a terrific restaurant that offers place for 255 guests at the same time. Normally every table in the restaurant is taken two times per evening.

The chef cook is from Tunisia and you will find this influence back in the food. The kitchen is a mixture of different countries presented in a very innovative way. The service level is very high. This is something what we noticed everywhere in the USA. Sometimes the service is even a bit overdone.
Michael Mina is responsible for 8 restaurants in the USA.

The last day we visited Nappa Valley. This is the biggest wine area of California with approximately 400 wineries. After we visited a couple of wineries we drove to Yountville where the restaurant of Thomas Keller is situated www.frenchlaundry.com . Last year this restaurant has been rewarded with three Michelin stars. From the outside it looks almost picturesque and from the inside you can feel the cosy atmosphere divided over two floors. You can choose between two different menus. One of the menus is based on fish and meet and the other one is vegetarian. In both menus season vegetables and herbs are very important. This has been a wonderful experience and a very nice end of our working holiday in California.