The Happy Couple

After all the excitement of the big weekend subsided and all of our family and out of town friends returned home, Molly and I packed our bags and headed out for a few days of honeymoon in Santa Barbara wine country, a region made famous by the 2004 movie "Sideways". We arrived at the Hadsten House (highly recommended!) in Solvang and began to inquire about some of the local attractions. A drink and chat with bartender Thomas, a trained sommelier, gave us a place to start our adventure: Trattoria Grappolo (pictured above) and a couple of places to check out over the next few days: Mellville Winery and Figueroa Mountain Road, a notoriously challenging ride that many Pro Cycling Teams train on in the preseason. This first conversation with a friendly local, passionate about his town and industry, set the tone for our whole experience: the more we extended ourselves to the locals and expressed our genuine interest, the suggestions got better and better. Plus, everybody we spoke with was massively impressed with us being just married!

Now being the foodie that I am, I have to say a few words about Trattoria Grappolo. Molly and I enjoyed it so much that we actually went twice during our stay. Just four miles down the road from our hotel in Santa Ynez, the Trattoria offers authentic Italian foods and wines. During the week is definitely the time to go to really take in the environment of the place. The kitchen is open to the dining area which allows diners to see cooks tossing dough in the air and placing bread and pies into the woodfired oven. The food is rich but light and after sharing a pizza crusted brushetta, eating a risotto dish with scampi and snacking on a bunch on Molly's linguine with shrimp and mushroom dish, chocolate tartufa dessert and a doppio espresso, I did not feel the usual heaviness and inevitable food coma that is usually associated with carb loaded Italian food. And this is good because I would have to be alert and energetic for certain activities later that evening, you know, like driving back to the hotel, preparing a nightcap and getting to the spa for a nice relaxing evening soak:)

www.hadstenhouse.com/

www.trattoriagrappolo.com/