Lunch with Elle. Saturday I had a lovely lunch meeting with Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms at The Red Grape in Sonoma. She brought me a lovely treat of some home grown peppermint, tomatoes and quince! Wow. We both were in the mood for something light, although the pizza is amazingly good here. Elle is the only food blogger I've met in person so far, and it was evident from our first meeting that there was a kinship that would continue developing into a good friendship beyond blogging. I admire her many talents, she's so artistic and we may be seeing some more of that on her blog besides her great food.

I also mentioned our meeting place on Saturday a couple times in 2005, it was one of my father's favorite places to go when he was living in Sonoma. However, this is actually a review!

So both Elle and I ordered the Gargonzola salad and soup combination. I can never resist that salad! It has crisp spicy pecans, apple slices, red grapes and of course gorgonzola mixed with the tender mixed greens, and is paired with a cider vinaigrette. The clam chowder I ordered was full of tender clams and had a smooth flavor with hints of dill and some bacon bits along side the potatoes.

Elle had the same combination but tried the cream of tomato soup with basil, their signature soup. I tried a taste of this as well and it was smooth and sweet. I usually don't order tomato soups in restaurants as it can have a bite, but I wouldn't hesitate to order this one next time. Besides our favorite food topics, we discussed the state of the economy (ouch! with oil prices peaking over $90 during the week), and my niece Jessica, who I would see later in the afternoon as she is here for the Berkeley Edge Program. She has a very promising future pursuing Medical Microbiology. Elle beat me to the post, and her post about our adventure appeared on Feeding My Enthusiasms yesterday.