California Official Visitor's Guide 2009 - (Page 14) discover » dining » rural california backroad Outside the big city, where chefs cook with farm-fresh ingredients, the food sings S an Francisco and Los Angeles boast a dizzying diversity of fabulous restaurants overseen by world-class chefs. You might be tempted to think that rural California does not, but you would be wrong. The countryside here is full of culinary surprises: meals prepared with flair; menus based on fresh, local ingredients; and stylish, sophisticated restaurants around most every bend. After a day of hiking, water-skiing [ Central Valley water-skiing], or even luxuriating at a day spa [ rural spas], nothing hits the spot like a gourmet feast. In Auburn, the heart of the Gold Country, Enter don’t miss Carpe Vino. Housed in a rebuilt rendition of a red-brick building first constructed in haste after gold was discovered nearby in 1848, the restaurant and wine bar sits on Old Town Auburn’s main drag. The changing menu is heavily influenced by what chefs Courtney McDonald and Eric Alexander gather at the farmers’ market. They might toss a salad of roasted baby beets, oranges, watercress, and sheep’s milk cheese; rest a lamb sirloin atop a bed of flageolet beans and braised artichokes; or flavor rice pudding with lemon verbena. Accompany dinner with a house flight of wines, or design a flight of your own. 14 keyword in Search box at visitcalifornia.com CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: ALEX FARNUM (2); JENNY ELIA PFEIFFER; CEDRIC GLASIER surprises Three hours south in Oakhurst, relatively near the South Gate of Yosemite National Park, Erna’s Elderberry House at Château du Sureau is the sort of elegant country restaurant that you might expect to stumble on in southern France. Set amid a lovely garden, the grand dining room is accented with crimson walls, beamed cathedral ceilings, and brass chandeliers. Chef Karsten Hart’s nightly revised menu showcases European culinary traditions and California ingredients; you might find an eggplant and goat cheese soup; roasted duck with wild mushrooms, quinoa, and hibiscus duck jus; and a lingonberry linzer torte. Farther south, in Redlands, is Farm Artisan Foods, whose founder and executive chef Roberto Argentina grew up on a family farm in Brindisi, Italy. He bakes his own bread, makes his own fresh pasta, cures his own meats, and continually chooses locally grown ingredients for his inspired modern American cuisine. Favorite entrées include organic stuffed chicken breast over polenta with seasonal vegetables, and cumin-crusted lamb rack with Israeli couscous. As you roll through California’s farmlands and countryside, the challenge may not be finding a good restaurant, but figuring out which one to choose. AMY GRAFF CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT Lamb and dining alfresco at Erna’s; art lines the walls at Carpe Vino; try seared duck breast with squash blossoms at Farm. http://www.visitcalifornia.com
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