wine tasting – Waiting For Delight https://waitingfordelight.com Honest Restaurant Reviews & Travel Experiences Wed, 07 Sep 2022 04:07:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://waitingfordelight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-WaitingForDelight_Coffee_Logo-32x32.png wine tasting – Waiting For Delight https://waitingfordelight.com 32 32 Rosenblum Winery https://waitingfordelight.com/rosenblum-winery/ Mon, 12 Sep 2022 17:10:00 +0000 https://waitingfordelight.com/?p=996
Ambiance
4.5/5
Service
4.5/5
Food / Drink
4.5/5
Overall
4.5/5

10 Clay Street, Oakland, California

Visited in July 2022

View during the sunset

Rosenblum is a wine cellar located in Jack London Square, where the San Francisco Bay Ferry terminal is in Oakland. It’s directly on water street and hard to miss. The setting is perfect for a date, happy hour with friends, birthday drinks, or just a hang with your friends. They do often get booked up, so I encourage you to make a reservation on Yelp. Otherwise, you may find yourself without a table (this happened to me once!).

They have three types of flights, the Rockstar (aka. red flight) is shown here

The Ambiance of Rosenblum is charming industrial. Indoors, there are low metal tables and high-topped wooden tables with stools. There is also some seating at the bar. Outside, there is a large outdoor patio seating area, with umbrellas. There are no heaters, so bundle up if it’s cold, but when it’s warm / sunny – it is a delight to sit outside. You have an unrestricted view of the water. They do have a 2-hour reservation window, meaning you can’t get too comfortable and hang out all night 😉.

The bubbly flight (comprised of sparkling wines)

The wine list is actually quite extensive. Rosenblum is known for their Zinfandels, big & bold, but they also have a variety of other wines from other producers you can order as well. If you are a wine aficionado, it’s a fun place to try some new things, just be warned that the staff are not trained sommeliers. They are kind and helpful, but as a person who used to work in the wine industry, they couldn’t tell me about old world / new world, flavors, scents, etc. So, I’d say just go with an open mind and to try what interests you. They have three different flights (a red, white, and sparkling), so those are great to do if you’re indecisive or want to see what they have to offer. 

A glass of their famous Zinfandel

If you end up ordering a glass that isn’t your jam, they will replace it for you. Also, if you become a regular, the staff make it a point to remember your name and make you feel welcome. I appreciate this 😊

Speaking of becoming a regular – if you are a local, I encourage you to sign-up for the wine club. No, I am not marketing for them, but it is actually quite a good deal, as there are discounts on food and wine. Since I live locally, I can take advantage of the discounts when stopping in, along with the free glass of wine when I do make it over. So, the membership really pays for itself if you go even a few times in a month.

The prairie breeze cheddar is my favorite of the hard cheeses

Rosenblum does have a short list of foods, which are helpful when hanging out for a bit. They have personal pizzettes, cheeses, hummus, crackers, etc. Everything is ala carte, meaning when you order a cheese, you get the whole block of cheese! So, order carefully, or you’ll be set with a lot of food. Prices are reasonable for what you get. I really like the Prairie Breeze hard cheddar and if you’re lactose free the Labneh cheese is not bad! I will admit I have never had it before, but I will likely order it again. 

Overall, if you are in the Jack London area and are looking for a casual place to hang, catch-up with friends, or simply grab a glass of wine, I recommend checking-out Rosenblum. It may not be located in Napa, but it definitely gives you a taste of wine country in the city.

~Jeremy

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Bear at Stanley Ranch https://waitingfordelight.com/bear-at-stanley-ranch/ Sun, 11 Sep 2022 08:09:00 +0000 https://waitingfordelight.com/?p=644
Ambiance
4.5/5
Service
5/5
Food / Drink
4.5/5
Overall (4.6)
4.6/5

Visited for dinner on May 14th, 2022

The experience and food at Bear is one that I will always remember! 

Years back, my friends and I all lived close to each other in the bay area. Since, people have moved and it’s not often we are able to get together. This was one such occasion. We got together earlier in the day in Napa. We kicked the day off with pool-time at one of the nearby resorts. We were supposed to head out to wine tasting in the afternoon, but instead we spent the day catching up at the pool. Don’t you love the feeling of meeting up with friends after years and just picking up where you left off? It’s refreshing and also brings a sense of calm and relaxation along with it.

While at the pool, we made a reservation at Bear, located at Stanley Ranch and were not disappointed!

 

Cheers from Bear

Anyway, after day at the pool, we got ourselves cleaned up and headed over to Stanley Ranch, which is where Bear is located. I’ll note that while using Google to navigate to Stanley Ranch, it is easy to get lost. And by easy, I mean we got lost! Google does not take you on a direct route through roads that are permissible. So, take a few minutes and map your route prior to heading out. Of course we ended up finding our way to the parking lot and walking up to the restaurant. The grounds are beautifully curated with nice paths through the ‘ranch’.

 

Sunset at Bear

When you walk into bear you can definitely see that this is a fun and fresh new California restaurant. The decor is modern, and the host was bright and cheerful – definitely good spirits when you walk in. We were lead by the host to our table, which was outside. This was perfect as the weather was delightful. The ambiance of the back patio, watching the sunset while we dined was beautiful. The sky did not disappoint and provided brilliant pastels as our backdrop. 

 

Bear menu on 5/22/2022

The menu at Bear looks to change seasonally, and we ordered quite a few things so we could have a nice sampler. Also, the wine menu (not pictured) was nicely curated. There were light reds and both California and old world wines.

 

Farm Vegetables

To start, we ordered the farm vegetables which were slices of raw veggies, mostly consisting of carrots and radishes with a few pieces of endive. Essentially was like hummus and veggies.

 

Sourdough Loaf

We also ordered the sourdough, which came with a very creamy butter. Throughout the evening, we ended up ordering a couple of these little loafs because they were delightfully crispy on the outside and the perfect amount of soft on the inside.

 

Sun Choke

As another share plate, we decided on the sun choke, which came with cheddar yeast and a little bit of a cream sauce (the menu describes it as brown butter, but it tasted more like a light & cool yogurt). The sunchoke (if you’ve never had it) is hard to describe – almost like a potato, but not quite. Best way I can describe the taste & texture of this dish is that it was crispy like a fried sweet potato on the outside and delightfully buttery like a yukon potato on the inside. It was delicious!

 

Crispy Rice

We also decided on the crispy rice dish, as we were intrigued by the description. I’m not sure what I was expecting from the menu, but when the fried rice squares arrived, I will say I was intrigued! The texture of the fried rice was perfect. You know when you have a good Bipimbop with the crisp/charred rice at the base? That is what these were – except that delightful crispy rice in every square! The pickles and coconut shavings for the presentation were a nice addition.

 

Off Menu Vegetarian Linguine

In terms of vegetarian entrées, as you can see they didn’t have any on their menu. So, I talked with the server and they offered to make a linguine pasta with a pesto sauce. 

The pasta had mushrooms and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and the noodles definitely tasted like they were freshly made so that was a good plus. I appreciate when a place gets noodles right! The sauce had good flavor and was a bit thin, but still coated the noodles well enough, so I enjoyed each bite. Overall, I think they did a good job with the linguine and if you’re in a pinch like I was, it’s a decent choice, but given the option would try something else next time. As you’ll hear me say a lot – I really wish that they had at least one permanent vegetarian entrée on their menu. This allows folks like myself to feel included and not that they need to make a special request.

 

Short Rib

As a main entrée the meat eaters in the group got the short rib. When the short rib arrived at the table, the server cut fresh (and large) basil leaves over the plate. The aroma of the herbs was great. Everybody who had it said it was delightful and melted in their mouth. Due to the flavors (and appetites) we actually ended up ordering a second plate so that folks could have some more! I got a high thumbs up from those of my friends who ordered this.

Overall, this place was a delight. You can’t beat the ambiance of being in Napa, particularly on a warm night with a beautiful sunset. The servers were really fun to be around and we laughed with them quite a bit. Also, with their well rounded selection of wines by the glass and by the bottle, you can’t go wrong, even if you just come to share a small bite. Honestly, it’s even a nice place to hang out after your meal is complete! There’s places to sit watch the sunset. 

Would definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself in wine country 🙂

~Jeremy

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