This meant I had plenty of time to take photos and gaze lovingly at the French Laundry’s garden. (Thomas Keller, if you’re reading this, I swear I’m not a stalker. I just really wanted a reservation at the French Laundry!)

Once it was time for our Bouchon reservation, we walked back to the restaurant and to my surprise, Bouchon is far more intimate and casual than I thought it would be, in a good way. The seafood bar was busy and looked like the kind of place I could visit regularly if I lived nearby. As soon as we were seated, our waiter brought us a toasted baguette with white bean puree and butter.

The white bean puree was delicately seasoned with the faintest hint of herbs. I couldn’t stop slathering it on my baguette. Who knew the humble bean could be so elevated?

We ordered the boudin de lapin et figue, or rabbit and fig sausage, as an appetizer. The sausage came served atop a bed of polenta cake, sweet corn, mission fig and tarragon jus.

The sausage was delicious, and not too sweet. It could have been easy to let the fig’s intense flavor to overwhelm the rest of the dish, but it was all perfectly balanced.

For my entree, I chose the classic moules au pistou, which came served with a massive (and I mean massive) cone of frites. Even though Anthony Bourdain famously quipped about the dangers of eating mussels in restaurants in Kitchen Confidential, Bouchon can get a pass, right?

The Maine bouchot mussels were steamed with white wine, sweet garlic, basil and cherry tomatoes and I sopped up the briny juice with my frites. The mussels were tinier than I would have wished, and the sauce was not as strong as I was expecting, but it was still a good dish.

My dining companion ordered the steak with puree de pomme de terre, a pan-seared prime flatiron, served with maitre d’hotel butter and the most ethereal potato puree ever.

I had to stop myself more than once from picking at his potatoes. The steak was incredible too: rare, succulent, and topped with savory minced onions.

I’m happy to say that I’ve crossed one Keller establishment off of my to-eat list (well, two, if you count Bouchon Bakery). But the French Laundry remains, and so I left Yountville with unfinished business. Bouchon felt like a (delicious) taste of things to come, and I can’t wait to return.

I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and Oxbow was mostly empty, a far cry from the city’s Ferry Building. I guess that’s partly because there aren’t nearly as many vendors at Oxbow as there are at the Ferry Building, but I probably shouldn’t compare. Napa is not San Francisco.

While walking down its aisles, I could tell that Oxbow is being marketed to tourists, but it’s not quite there yet. A Hog Island Oyster Company outpost was being advertised as coming soon when I visited (and is now open) and the Oxbow Wine Merchant and Wine Bar seemed to be attracting customers. But the Ritual Coffee Roasters outpost was without a queue (unthinkable in San Francisco’s Valencia Street location) and the Fatted Calf had all of two people lined up to order.

I was craving something Latin American, so I had lunch at the market’s Pica Pica Maize Kitchen. I started with the bululu salad.

The salad was fresh tasting and although I usually don’t like fruity salad dressings, this one packed a punch, and was almost oniony.

Next I had a pelu’a arepa, which was tasty and filling, without being too greasy.

I finished off with some yucca fries with tamarindo salsa, which was not what I was expecting.

The fries didn’t have a fry-like texture, and while I absolutely love tamarinds, the tamarind salsa was syrupy sweet instead of tart and sour.

Oxbow Public Market is still relatively new, and things are still changing. I’m hopeful that in time, it will get the traffic it deserves, and in turn, encourage more vendors to move in. Until then, I’ll be at the Ferry Building.

The wine part mostly took place at Mumm Napa in Rutherford, where I spent an afternoon in one of the most inviting tasting rooms I’ve ever visited. Now maybe that had to do something with the ten or so glasses of cuvee I tried, but the service was warm and the view was incredible.

Mumm Napa wines are made in the Carneros region of Napa using the same process that is used in Champagne, France, the méthode traditionelle. The result is a wine with high acidity. My guide encouraged me to identify the flavors in the sparkling wines we tasted, and we did pretty well. I tried the DVX (my favorite), the Brut Prestige, the Rose, and the Blanc de Blanc, and uh, I sort of lost track after that.

Even if you opt out of a wine tasting at Mumm Napa, the view is spectacular and well worth the drive. The winery also boasts a fine art photography gallery, though it can be easy to miss if you don’t get past the wine tasting terrace. If you can stand the Napa Valley heat in the summertime, now is a wonderful time to go.

I had read online that Bouchon Bakery serves pesto-filled croissants that are to die for. While waiting in line at the bakery, I imagined how warm, buttery and oozing with basil-y goodness my croissant would be. I was a little disappointed that it turns out the Yountville branch of the bakery does not serve these pesto-filled goodies. I ordered a plain croissant instead, along with espresso macarons, a pecan sticky bun and the best iced coffee I’ve ever tasted.

The croissant was good: flaky and baked fresh that morning. Still, I couldn’t help but miss the imaginary pesto that they don’t even serve.

The macarons were tasty, but very sweet. But these babies sold out quickly, so it could be just me. I don’t have much a sweet tooth after all.

The sticky bun was just as its name suggests: a very sticky bun. It went perfectly with my drink: one bite of nutty gooeyness, one sip of strong coffee.

I ate my breakfast outside at the tables lining the bakery. The vibe was slow-paced, with diners taking their sweet time finishing their breakfasts (they had lap dogs and newspapers to tend to while they ate, after all).

As much as I love the city, I wouldn’t mind a weekend or two like this every once in a while. Yountville is worth the drive, after all.