Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead

2 dollar corkage fee!

BF, mom, and I went to wine country for Mother's Day.  After boozing it for several hours we had a late lunch at Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead.  This place is effing amazing - cheap corkage fee, fantastic food, and you get a token to drink more for FREE in their tasting room.

STARTERS

Creamy Mac + Cheese

Pretty dang creamy & cheesy.  It was good, but I'm not a mac & cheese person.  Mom & I had a bite each while BF slopped up the rest like a Dyson.



Cheddar Biscuits With Honey Butter

My friends know that I have had a long time obsession with butter.  (BTW, fave butters are Spaghetti Factory's garlic butter and Neiman Marcus' strawberry butter) But these biscuits were so oily and cheesy to begin with that I didn't put any butter on it.  Slightly crispy on the outisde and warm, moist, and chewy on the inside.  So good and I'm a sucker for anything that comes in a cast iron skillet, but I was annoyed. 

     SERVER: Would you like me to bring you some bread or chedder biscuits?

     BF + MOM: Sure!  We'll take some biscuits.

     (Server leaves)

     ME: You know they charge us for that, right?

The server made it sound like, 'Oh yea, sure...we give bread to everybody.'  Rule of thumb that I never can remember:

     FREE = Bread is brought to you automatically

     $ = Server asks if you want bread

I shouldn't be eating carbs anyway.

Salad of Lacinato Kale with Chile Pequin, Lemon and Toasted Grana

The picture makes the food look kinda gross, but it's really good.  Even BF, who can't stand kale actually like it.

Potato Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu, Peas, Mint and Grana

This was my dish and I couldn't be happier.  Being a drinking light weight I needed as much fatty & rich foods to keep me from passing out at the table in front of mummy dearest.  The ragu was perfectly gamey, but not too gamey, and had the perfect sauce-to-chunky meat ratio.  The gnocchi was crazy good.  They were teeny tiny soft pillows of carby goodness.  I would squish each pillow between my tongue and the roof of my mouth and it would ooze like butter down my throat.  Hands down the best gnocchi I've ever had in the whole entire world.

Cheeseburger on a Potato Bun with California Cheddar and Arugula

I thought this was a great burger with the nutty arugula and soft bun, but BF didn't think so.  Here are his thoughts:

The burger they serve is not a burger in my opinion. It tasted more like an Italian meatloaf. Don't get me wrong its good but I wasn't in the mood for a meatloaf sandwich. I was really craving the taste of a grilled beef burger. That charbroiled or grilled flavor of beef you get from a burger. So if you're looking for a good juicy burger know that this is closer to a meatloaf than a burger.

California Rock Bass With Wood Roasted Sausage, Fingerling Potatoes

And Cioppino Broth

This was Mom's dish and I had 1 bite and it was delicious.  She also Dyson'ed up this dish so I guess she really liked it.

More Drinking?

We were too full for dessert, and too sleepy from all the wine.  But for anyone who wanted to drink more they give you a token for a free wine tasting across the pathway for up to 4 people.  We didn't have to use it that day, so it's being saved for our next trip there.

 

Ambiance

The restaurant was converted from a nursery, so it looks like a barn inside with huge airy vaulted ceilings with a shabby chic country coziness to it.  I would definitely come back here again.