ad hoc

yountville, ca

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derek and i had just been to french laundry over new year's, so we decided to try its less expensive and less formal sister restaurant, ad hoc, for our anniversary dinner. ad hoc has a very casual atmosphere - waitstaff in jeans, loud classic rock/soul music, and no tablecloths on the tables. we were planning to order their famous fried chicken, but it turns out that it is only available on certain monday nights. instead, they had a set menu to be served family-style: a salad, an optional shrimp risotto, tri-tip steak, vegetable sides, a cheese course, and ice cream sundaes.

we weren't really in the mood for steak and the tri-tip was sadly overcooked. also, despite being served in a baking dish, it got cold quickly. the only highlight of the meal was all of the vegetables - incredibly fresh (from the french laundry garden, perhaps?) and well-prepared. the fennel, in particular, was amazing. derek was bewildered as to why i kept raving about the fennel, but it was seriously delicious. the sundaes were underwhelming - while the chocolate sauce was terrific, we didn't drive all the way up to yountville and make reservations weeks in advance to get ice cream sundaes for dessert. sigh.