There is a lot of wine at the end… and start… and middle… of that rainbow! J. and I just returned from five days in the Napa Valley, and we loved every minute of it.

Wine-wise, we did a cave tour and tasting at Schramsberg Vineyards, which uses méthode champenoise (the French way of making champagne) to make its line of sparkling wine; a tour of the bottling line at Francis Coppola Winery, which makes our favorite claret; and a great tasting at St. Supéry (so good we shipped a mixed case of wine back home), a winery recommended by an old camp friend of mine. We also spent a day on a Platypus Wine Tour, and our guide Scott took us and four other couples to Ballentine, Tudal, Madrigal, and Summers Estate. By the time we hit the third winery, I’d hit a wall on being able to notice much of a difference in the wines, other than “like” or “don’t like.” Thankfully, J. kept tasting for us both and found a nice muscat that we liked at our final stop.

Everything we ate on this trip was fresh and fantastic. Whether it was grabbing burgers outside at Gott’s Roadside in St. Helena (I had the most moist, flavorful turkey burger ever), or sitting down to a three-hour tasting menu with a wine pairing at the Restaurant at Meadowood (and we got a kitchen tour, and met super-chef Christopher Kostow!), the food almost universally made us murmur through a full mouth, “this is sooo good.” We also had a chance to eat at Redd (foie gras meatballs? yes, please!), Mustards Grill (which has a sign outside apologizing, “Sorry everything is delicious”), Brix (where we drank a cabernet made from the vines we were looking at), Rustic (a side of Asian-style slaw was the real stand out), and Michael Chiarello’s Bottega (“polenta under glass” set my heart aflutter).

Now that we’re back, I’m shell-shocked that there’s no menu to order from at each meal. Wait, I have to plan the meal, cook it, and clean up? I want to go back on vacation.

If you Like Chick in the Kitchen on Facebook (go head, click Like, I’ll wait…), you know I was in Maui on vacation for a week. My sister, who is living in Australia, met me and my parents there to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Believe it or not, Hawaii is pretty much a half-way point between New York and Brisbane. It was a heck of a long flight, but even if Maui wasn’t enough of a draw, spending a week with my sister was! It was fun to have my nuclear family together again — we laugh a lot.

“Practice Aloha” is a slogan created by Mark Ellman, a Maui chef. We ate at one of his restaurants, Mala Ocean Tavern, and in terms of creativity and flavor it was by far our favorite restaurant on the island. Our waiter, Jeremiah, definitely had the aloha vibe down. Practicing aloha is open to interpretation, but it essentially means putting a positive vibe out into the world by treating everything around you with love and respect. That includes people, animals, and our environment. Mala’s menu reflects this, and we especially loved the Stir Fried Brussels Sprouts with Sesame Seeds, Fresh Mint & Crispy Wontons.

We also had a chance to eat at Aloha Mixed Plate (my favorite for laid-back island vibe, great drinks, and delicious chicken, all on an outdoor patio overlooking the ocean); Cane & Taro (my dad had some rockin’ huevos rancheros); Leilani’s On The Beach (we had coupons for free Hula Pie — “This is what the sailors swam to shore for in Lahaina” — Oreo cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, fudge topping, macadamia nuts sprinkled on top, and whipped cream FTW!). Hula Grill and Roy’s – Kahana Bar & Grill were just OK.

We did spend a full day driving the Road to Hana, which is a 1.5-lane wide road traversing the north side of Maui in a series of blind curves and switchbacks. It is not a drive for the faint of heart, and my dad did a fantastic job keeping us safe. The Twin Falls farm stand photo above is taken just at the start of the trip. We’d packed a picnic lunch from Safeway the night before, as there is not much in the way gas stations or food along the drive. And as far as waterfalls, well, the four of us are a little jaded. We’ve spent a lot of time in Ithaca, NY after all, and there are some spectacular waterfalls there too.

At the end of that day trip we stopped in a cool little town called Paia, where Mama’s Fish House is an institution. We had our second chance to sample poi here, which is a traditional, bland porridge made of pounded taro root. This version was thicker, described as “one-finger: by our waiter because you eat it by dipping just one finger inside. We’re previously eaten a much looser version at Aloha Mixed Plate. Really, there is nothing offensive about poi, since it barely has a flavor. My sister didn’t mind this second version though, and was the only one of us to finish the small sample they gave us. Here’s the poi, looking as pretty as it can look:

There were two more fun food highlights. First, we had an opportunity to tour the kitchen of the Sherton Maui, where we stayed. I love a good behind the scenes tour, plus I am fascinated by how restuarants can cook for such huge amounts of people. Conrad Aquino is the executive sous chef there, and he definitely exudes the idea of practicing aloha. He was incredibly good-natured, always with a smile on his face, and seemed really excited to show me, my mom, my sister, and one other guest around the inner workings of the kitchen. Look at the size of those whisks and dough hooks in the back corner! They dwarf my own KitchenAid many many times over. (They actually use an industrial-sized Hobart mixer.)

After the tour Conrad cut up several fruits for us to sample. We tried rambutan, guava (I didn’t care for it), and an apple banana (I wrote in my notes this was a “vanilla banana,” but I think I got it wrong). We also had a jambong, which is like a less-tart, enormous grapefruit:

My favorite new fruit, though, was the chiamito, or star apple. The flesh was lightly sweet and very soft, but not slimy (though I think it looks that way):

Conrad also made us a delicious upside-down tart in a pan. He layered the supremed (sliced) jambong and Granny Smith slices in a skillet, then sprinkled them with sugar and dotted them with butter (and not with a light hand, I must add!). The prepared puff pastry cut to size was placed on top, and allowed to cook. The finished dish was flipped out of the pan upside down, so the fruit — beautifully arranged — was on top and caramelized. Just to gild the lily, it was served with a scoop of vanilla and macadamia nut ice cream. Wow. It was delicious, and Conrad graciously gave us leftovers to bring out to my dad since it was his birthday that day. Although we never got a chance to eat in the resort’s dinner restaurant, we found both of their bar menus to be generously portioned, with plenty of lighter and vegetarian options. It was easy and pleasant to eat lunch at the resort — we didn’t even have to get out of our lounge chairs if we didn’t want to.

On one of our last days in Maui, we hit a local farmer’s market nearby. I have to use the term “local” loosely, since there were bananas from Ecuador for sale amongst the Hawaii coconuts. I did treat myself to a young coconut for $4. The gentleman you see here cut a hole in the top so I could stick a straw inside and drink the coconut water (it’s not cream at this point). Then when I was done he chopped the whole thing open so we could scrape out the meat. It was more fun than delicious — my sister says the coconuts she gets in Brisbane are infinitely better. We also bought a couple of coconut bagels (does that mean I can no longer call myself a New Yorker?), which were barely sweet plain bagels with a sprinkle of dessicated coconut on top. Not bad, actually. We also bought some local cheddar and made a breakfast out of all that, along with coffee and chai from the Bad Ass Coffee Co.

I used the word “paradise” a mind-numbingly large amount of times on this vacation. It was truly a vacation of a lifetime, and I’m thankful to my parents for helping my sister and I get out there with them. They deserve an enormous Hawaiian “mahalo” — thank you. There are so many pictures that could sum up the aloha I felt on the trip, but this one is a favorite. I’m going to keep trying to practice aloha, even now that I’m far from that island paradise.

We took the kids to try Rain Water Grill (19 Main St. in Hastings on Hudson, NY) Monday night, after learning that it had been opened by the parents of one of A.’s friends. We’re not familiar with Hastings (it looks like a cute town to walk through), but found the restaurant easily and were glad to see a municipal parking lot next door (25¢ per half hour, but not on Sundays or holidays).

I adore the way this restaurant is decorated — chocolate brown wood, slate blue walls, and just an overall comfortable but stylish vibe. There were some whimsical touches like these salt and pepper dishes (different on each table) as well. Upbeat jazz was playing in the background, causing G. to periodically dance in his seat. “It sounds like the music from The Princess and the Frog!,” he said. It’s the kind of place you feel comfortable taking the kids, yet the adults get a nice dinner as well. There were other tables of families and some of just adults (including a birthday dinner) while we were eating.

J. ordered a burger with caramelized onions and Gorgonzola (there are several gourmet combinations on the menu, or make your own), which was served on a brioche bun with hand-made french fries that were excellent. The burger passed muster with my tough critic as well — the basic, unadorned burger is 10 oz. and $11. I had a Pear Salad ($10) plus chicken, which was mixed greens, sliced grilled pear, dried cranberries, Gorgonzola, and candied nuts in a balsamic vinaigrette. The salad itself is an appetizer, and you can add chicken, shrimp, or steak for another $5. That’s literally what they did — they plopped a grilled, sliced chicken breast (perfectly cooked) on top of a smallish, starter-sized plate of salad. It was a little awkward to eat because the plate was crowded. I would have preferred that the +$5 turned the salad into a true entree, on a larger plate with a little more greens (the other ingredients were plentiful enough already, I thought).

We ordered plain pasta for the boys, but there was a miscommunication with the waiter and he brought two dishes of sauced pasta instead. He insisted, once, that that was indeed what I had ordered before he offered to bring out two corrected meals quickly. Which he did — they were out fast enough that the kids didn’t even have time to kvetch about it. He was really on his game, because when it came time for the kids’ sundaes (they came with the meal), he brought them each a shot glass of chocolate syrup that they could pour on themselves — very prescient of him, especially since one boy wanted it and one wasn’t sure. I was impressed that he thought to do that, and his attention to our kids’ needs (OK, strict preferences) made our meal easier and more pleasant. And amusing, when A. tried to convince J. to drink the chocolate syrup straight from the shot glass.

We all really enjoyed the dinner. The food was carefully prepared and very fresh, and I’m sorry Rain Water Grill isn’t closer to our home; it’s a place we would definitely choose again.

If you go, note that some of the prices on the online menu are slightly lower than the menu we were given in the restaurant on January 18.

Cravings Eats & Treats, at 549 North State Rd. in Briarcliff Manor, NY, was just opened by my friend Erica a couple of weeks ago, and already G. is hooked on the frozen yogurt. In fact, I’m sure it’s the yogurt that had everyone buzzing about Cravings before it even opened. Aside from baked goods, sandwiches, salads, and soups, they also offer up to 6 flavors of Frogurt at a time, including the elusive slightly-sour, slightly-sweet “plain” — the same kind Bloomingdale’s serves. A small yogurt, which is more than just a kid-sized portion, starts at $3, with a long list of toppings (melba sauce, M&Ms, dried cranberries, etc.) for 50 cents each or fresh fruit for a dollar.

I’m most interested in going back for the Hale and Hearty Soup — Cravings offers three kinds a day. The Sweet Corn Chowder (gluten free, surprisingly) smelled delicious, and I like that the soups are all-natural, with ingredients I’d use in my own kitchen. A 12 oz. portion starts at $3.95, going up to $9.50 for a quart.

There were a number of guys buying salads to go the last time I was in the store. You build your own, starting with a choice of iceberg, romaine, spinach or mixed greens. Then top it with everything from hearts of palm (a favorite of mine) to mushrooms to roasted red peppers. A small salad, which includes 2 toppings plus dressing, starts at $6.95. You can add some protein on top if you’d like: roasted turkey, chicken, and tuna are available. Unique sandwiches, like a Greek salad in a pita, and paninis round out the light meal offerings.

Don’t forget the bakery — I can give you a rundown though I haven’t sampled any of it yet. Cravings has muffins, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, scones, and more. Plus, they do special orders and seasonal items — they had honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, for example.

I like the vibe of this place, shabby chic but with crisp, clean edges. You’re instantly comfortable when you step inside:

That’s my little guy eating Frogurt at the back of the store (vanilla with rainbow sprinkles). You can see that in addition to all their food offerings, Cravings is something of a gift shop as well. What caught my eye were a range of cute baking kits from Sassafras. I’d never seen them before and thought they’d make an original birthday gift.

Cravings is really a take away cafe, although there are a couple of benches with small tables. They’re right across the street from Terra Rustica, and on the way to Club Fit — I expect they’ll get plenty of business from people going to and from the gym. You can reach Cravings Eats & Treats at 914-944-4622.

I have two favorite salads at one of our local Italian restaurants, Paese Pasta & Pizza in Briarcliff Manor. The Toscana is arugula, sliced pears, roasted peppers, goat cheese, and thinly-sliced red onions in a honey-sweetened balsamic vinaigrette. The Mediterranean is red oak leaf lettuce mixed with grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, and diced Granny Smith apples in a sherry vinaigrette. They never disappoint.

I used the gorgeous head of red lettuce from our farm share this week to make a copycat Mediterranean salad for Saturday’s lunch, and served it with a wheat ciabatta. J. was kind enough to wash, spin, and chop the lettuce, and then I added a pint of halved grape tomatoes, a jar of drained Kalamatas, two diced Granny Smiths, and a whole lot of crumbled bleu cheese instead of the feta. We dressed it with a simple olive oil & balsamic vinegar combo, plus some salt and pepper. It was very good, but not great. I think Paese’s dressing may be sweeter, perhaps with some honey added — I will have to pay better attention next time.

Unfortunately, the leftovers didn’t keep well. By Sunday the salad was a soggy mess, and the saltiness of the olives and cheese overwhelmed the sweetness of the apples. Good thing we made a huge dent in it when it was still fresh on Saturday.

• Need more than just your organic veggies? I came across an ad for Greater Organic Foods recently, which basically acts like a Whole Foods-type personal shopper, delivering groceries to your door in BPA-free packaging. (Man, I am a sucker for a beautifully designed Web site!) It’s not a service I’m in the market for, but I like looking through their suggested menus anyway.

• Table Local Market in Bedford Hills, NY is on my short list of places I want to try to both shop and eat. Table is built as a year-round farmer’s market, featuring bread, cheese, meat, prepared foods and of course, fruit and vegetables from local producers. The NY Times recently wrote them up, too: “A Farm Market in a Store.” I plan to drag some friends up there with me this summer.

Sweet Grass Grill is a casual place — lime green walls plus some exposed brick, no tablecloths, a decent amount of space between tables, and big windows looking out onto the street. The facade of the original building from the late 1800s was restored (complete with outdoor lights flanking the former front door) and now makes up the back wall of the main dining room. The decor is peaceful, sort of spa-like.

There’s a short wine list with choices by the bottle or glass. Sweet Grass has a good-sized bar, too, and there were people ordering food there in addition to drinking. A large carafe of tap water with lemon and ice was delivered to the table (love that!) along with 4 small cubes of a focaccia-type bread and a shot glass-sized dish of thin, but yummy, garlicky bean dip loaded with black pepper.

The menu is small, focusing on locally-sourced ingredients in healthier, approachable presentations. Still, the offerings are plenty varied and with vegetarian options. There were perhaps a half dozen starters including sliders and mussels. Four salads, including one with a poached Stone Barns egg on top. Entrees included pork ribs (also from Stone Barns), grilled sausages with white beans, and a couple of veggie options again, including a pasta.

We ordered a vegetable terrine and dips & spreads plate to share as a starter; each was around $8. The terrine, though not really J.’s thing, was Spring on a plate: an asparagus-packed terrine slice, topped with lightly-dressed micro greens, plus shelled edamame and pine nuts. I loved it! The nuts were a great earthy contrast to the super-clean, herbal flavor of the rest of the dish. The trio of dips and spreads were good overall, though we liked the very thin eggplant mousse the least only because it was boring compared to the caramelized onion spread, and the ricotta topped with olive oil. The crunchiest crackers ever are served alongside, they seemed like ciabatta croutons. They weren’t hard to eat, but were almost distracting in their shatteringly loud crunch.

I tried to order a burger for dinner, but our waitress told me they were all out. At 5:30 on a Saturday? OK, I ordered roasted chicken instead. This was a lucky change for me, because the chicken was divine. Very crunchy skin, succulent inside, and served on top of a kind of deconstructed stuffing: roughly-torn chunks of bread soaking up the chicken’s juices, broccoli rabe, and some currents or dried cranberries. I really enjoyed it. J.’s bison burger looked forlorn next to my beautifully-plated dish. His fries were pale and I doubt restaurant-made. He described the burger as average. We’re still trying to figure out why I was told they were out of regular burgers, since after we placed our order there were sliders and burgers being delivered all around us (and I doubt everyone ordered bison).

It hardly seems fair to mention the service on the second night a restaurant is open, but I do have to comment that the server and bus boy working our table seemed to have never worked in a restaurant before — not just this restaurant. (I could overhear a different server at a nearby table, and she seemed much more polished.) We waited more than 20 minutes between our appetizers and entrees, and then it took a very long time to get the bill as well. The woman who seemed to be managing the floor did notice our attempts to track down a check, and she tried to help expedite the process.

I have a feeling the service issues will be ironed out within a month, and what will be left is a restaurant I would like to return to again. I like their simple, whole foods approach, and I always enjoy restaurants that source at least some of their ingredients from the local area. Only next time, I really want to try their burger.

Mmmm, cupcakes! Flour & Sun Bakery opened at 19 Washington Ave. in Pleasantville recently — it’s in the space formerly occupied by the kitchen-gadget store Steel Mandolin, and across from MacArthur’s. When I stopped by on Friday, almost all the cupcakes gave a nod to St. Patrick’s Day, either with green-tinted frosting or ingredients like Guinness stout.

I bought 6 cupcakes for $17.25. Ouch. Regular cupcakes cost $2.75, specialty cupcakes are $3, and some with liquor in them go up to $3.35 apiece. These are the same size as cupcakes you’d bake at home — 2½” in diameter, with lots of height from the frosting. The store has a few seats at a counter that looks out onto the street, and they sell coffee, tea, and milk too.

The thing that struck me the most about all the cupcakes is that they were restrained in their sweetness. There was none of that supermarket-type, clench-your-jaw reaction from the sugar in the frosting. To me, this made them taste much more like a treat I’d craft in my own home: high quality, good ingredients, made thoughtfully.

My official tasting panel included both boys, my parents, and me — we cut the cupcakes into quarters so we could each get a taste of most of them. Overall, we all liked them a lot and having them for dessert felt like a special treat. Cupcakes — any cupcakes — are just a happy food. They remind us of birthdays and childhood and other easy, simple pleasures. It is hard to go wrong with a frosted cupcake!

Clockwise, starting from the top and ending in the center, here’s what we tried:

Chocolate Guinness with Vanilla Buttercreme: My mom and I tasted the Guinness as a very pleasant undertone; my dad didn’t taste the stout at all but still thought the chocolate was good.

Chocolate Mint: A chocolate cupcake with a Peppermint Pattie center, topped with mint frosting. I’ve made brownies with embedded Peppermint Patties, and this cupcake reminded me of that delicious treat. The mint was very pronounced but you still tasted the chocolate, too. My mom and I liked it. The boys gleefully declared it tasted like toothpaste — this was a positive reaction from them. And my father, who does not like mint at all but was eating crumbs off A.’s plate, joked “This is the only cupcake I’ve ever had with fluoride!” If you like mint, you will like this cupcake.

Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercreme: My mom especially liked the frosting on this one, it’s spread on rather than piped and is super-creamy, not hard like some buttercreme frostings can become over time.

Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercreme: A. and G. split this one, and liked it.

Peanut Butter & Jelly: My dad and I split this cupcake — the boys were put off by the jelly on top, and my mom wasn’t interested. While my father felt lukewarm about it — he thought it tasted exactly like a PB & J sandwich rather than a cupcake — I thought it was the most interesting of the bunch. The cake part was much less sweet than I expected, closer to the flavor of a bread than a dessert but with a hint of peanut butter. The peanut butter frosting and jelly topping created the filling flavor of the sandwich. I thought it was pretty bold to go with such a barely-sweet cupcake, and I like less-sweet desserts, so this version gets a big thumbs up from me.

The Lucky: A vanilla cupcake with marshmallow frosting, topped with Lucky Charms cereal. Through no fault of the bakery, the cereal was getting soggy by the time we ate this late in the day. The marshmallow frosting was good, but while this cupcake was super-cute to look at, it was my least favorite to eat.

Flour & Sun is just a few shops down from Try & Buy, a toy store where I often buy birthday presents. I could see stopping in to buy the boys each a cupcake as a treat if I was running errands there anyway.

While Flour & Sun’s prices are on par with other cupcake bakeries, it seems like a difficult time to be selling a product at a premium price point like this. The truth is, I could make these same cupcakes at home. But I wouldn’t. Who needs 24 cupcakes sitting around the house, even if I could make that quantity for less than the price of two from Flour & Sun? So, perhaps it is exactly the perfect time for a cupcake bakery to come to Westchester: who couldn’t use an occasional little luxury in their day for just three bucks?

• GoPicnic seems almost too good to be true: ready to eat meals, all-natural and with no high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats, all in a cool package. Kosher, vegan, and gluten-free varieties are available. Seems like you can only buy them online right now. I can see these being terrific if you’re on airplanes a lot, are taking a road trip, or just have a very busy schedule with kids where you’re eating in the car between activities.

• I can’t stop reading about food storage and emergency preparedness. I’m not interested in extensive food storage for our household, but the organizational aspect of it appeals to me! Check out Shelf Reliance, which sells a wide range of freeze-dried foods and some can rotation systems for the very serious stockpiler. Jodi and Julie’s Food Storage Made Easy blog is also a fascinating read.

We got into the city a little early so we walked (quickly!) around in the freezing cold and settled on having a glass of wine at Oro Bakery & Bar on Broome St. I didn’t see the pastries out at night, but looking at their site now they look good! It was a cute, dark place to enjoy our drinks (and the Depeche Mode they were playing). Then, off to La Esquina.

We started with drinks, of course. Poor J. ordered the Michelada, a “classic Mexican beer cocktail… chipotle puree, fresh lime, served on the rocks with a salted rim.” It was, I’m sorry to say, horrendous. He is into very spicy, but this tasted like a bad bag of stale, hot sauce potato chips. He stuck it out and drank the whole thing, though! I was happy with my super-strong margarita on the rocks, and then we split some red sangria later, which was fruity and excellent.

We shared two “small plates” to start, including Quesadilla de Huitlacoche (Mexican “truffle”, roasted corn, mushrooms, queso oaxaca) with a spicy sauce, which both of us mushroom-lovers adored. The other, which is not on their posted menu, was taquitos with roasted tomatoes, cheese, and some other veggies. It was fine but nothing special.

J. choose the Chile Relleno (roasted poblano pepper, organic quinoa, manchego cheese, calabaza, tomato caldo) for dinner; I had the La Esquina Mole Negro (rotisserie chicken with mole sauce, rice, and grilled string beans). Again, really good. I’d been skeptical of the quality of the food since the gimmick is the secret entrance, but we were both surprised by how tasty and fresh everything was. The best part was those plentiful green beans that came with my chicken. They were just al dente, and had a great char on them from being cooked on a grill.

We skipped dessert at La Esquina and headed out again into the cold on a quest: durian ice cream (we watch too much Tony Bourdain, clearly). Five long blocks out (walking carefully over ice- and fish scale-covered sidewalks, as merchants cleaned out their displays for the night) we arrived at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Sadly, there was no durian flavor that evening, so we bailed on the ice cream altogether (we were still really full from dinner) and hoofed it back to the car.

It was a terrific birthday excursion, one that made me feel totally loved and cared for. Today, with a million birthday wishes from far-flung friends, coffee dates and cakes, thoughtful gifts, and calls from family, I am truly blissed out.