Walla Walla Wines

We traveled to Walla Walla with friends for the 4th of July. We were just tag-alongs -- they planned the whole trip. What fun and adventures we had, including wine tastings (of course -- wasn't that the point?), a great B&B, many walks in the neighborhood (whether we wanted to or not -- haha Just Kidding, T!), fabulous food, and even a Native American Pow Wow near Pendleton, Oregon.

 

Taking photos upon photos upon photos for a food blog must be very annoying to those in the group who don't have a food blog, so this trip I mostly left the camera in my bag. Not many pictures this time.

On the way to Walla Walla, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Desert Wind Winery in Prosser. I had made a "picnic in a jar" lunch, plus some cupcakes. The lunch was actually pretty good.  At least it was clever, and wasn't typical picnic fare of fried chicken. The bottom layer was brown rice with green olives and cilantro, the next layer was garbanzo beans with spicy spices, next came eggplant and tomatoes, followed by roast chicken, with a bit of the rice on top.

We left Prosser with a few bottles of wine (in the car, and in us!) and kept on to Walla Walla. Seven Hills Winery was our first stop (the tasting room, not the actual vineyard). What a great place! The floors were beautiful! I would love to live in that space. Big high ceilings, a wall made of brick. Perfect for entertaining.

The first night, we ate dinner at Whitehouse-Crawford. Good thing we made reservations -- the place was packed. We had a long, relaxed dinner with plenty of wine and food. B had wagyu beef tenderloin steak with red wine sauce, mushrooms sauteed in foie gras butter and French fries. T and I both had roasted Copper River salmon with soba noodles, red dragon sauce, and tempura aparagus. T #2 had grilled lamb chops with Indian spices, garbanzos, summer vegetable raita, and coriander chutney. We had to try a couple of choices for dessert: strawberry fool Napoleon with chocolate wafers and mint crème anglaise, and twice baked chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  As we left, a group was checking out the menu hanging on the outside wall. We definitely recommended Whitehouse.

Penny (the woman that runs The Maxwell House, the bed and breakfast where we stayed), was a very gracious hostess. Her breakfasts were absolutely delicious. Our trip companions said it is unheard of to get "seconds" in B&B's, yet Penny gladly made more waffles for our group. Combined with fresh strawberries from the local farm, ham, hot coffee, and orange juice, the breakfast was very filling and yummy.


Her home was very comfortable, located just down and across from Whitman College. The neighborhood was peaceful and pleasant. We'd definitely suggest you stay there on your next trip to Walla Walla.


The second night we ate at T. Maccarone's. We weren't starving, so we shared some appetizers, and finished with dessert. We had a charcuterie plate with amazing house made crackers, Fritto Misto di Mare (various fried seafood), grilled Caesar salad, and mussels. I have to say though, the dessert we had was one of the best I've (ever?) had in a long long time. The Caramel Gateaux was yummy, but the Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart with carmelized banana was fabulous. I tell you, we might have licked the plate clean if there weren't other diners there. I've emailed the pastry chef, Sarah, begging for the recipe. I'm anxiously awaiting a reply. We haven't stopped talking about that dessert since we got back from the trip.


Cute little shops, yummy food, delicious wine, a great B&B.  Go to Walla Walla!