eileen makes sparkling wines. we’re not allowed to call it champagne, even though that’s what we all call it, anyway. she’s the president and winemaker of domaine carneros in napa valley. i’m sure this stuff is good, and not only because there’s a framed photo of liz taylor classing up the joint. unfortunately, i always get to do that little awkward apologetic dance when shooting at wineries, as i don’t drink. everyone always assumes it’s because, you know, i had a problem . . .  but actually, i’ve never been drunk in my life.

i’m a fan of carbonation. anything you can inject a little CO2 into, i say go for it, especially as i have been lucky enough to be gifted a home seltzer maker for christmas. grape juice? sure. grape juice that’s been sitting around a while? sure, i guess so. though i may just skip right to the corn syrup, with apologies to all the people who work so hard harvesting and fermenting grapes.

of course, i’ll jump at any excuse to shoot in napa. i can’t believe it’s been nine years since i’ve been there, especially given the incredible place i get to stay. and the fact that thomas keller’s bouchon bakery is nearby. oh my god, the donuts.

i was in san francisco a couple months back for amy mac’s wedding, and made sure to get there a couple days early to hang out. russ and i went to high school together, he’s the brains behind wangston’s law, and he’s always got a bead on the good eats in any place you can think of. on this day it was a moveable feast, meaning the food was moving and so were we. first stop was a taco truck that served not tacos but french food. russ is braver than i am and he ate frogs legs and an escargot “popsicle” (essentially a snail covered in puff pastry, on a stick). next was the knockout bar (pictured above, with the greatest out-of-context use of neon i’ve ever seen) where two guys had set up a slow cooker and griddle and were serving a damn good pulled pork sandwich. apparently they show up in different places every day, and twitter their locations (a la kogi). lastly we tried to chase down the rumor of another truck serving – of all things – creme brulee. it was supposed to be in some park, and we were following it on twitter but found that it had left just moments before we arrived. ah well. next it was over to oakland for korean fried chicken. a new one for me.

i can never really complain about any days where shredded pork and BBQ sauce are involved. they make lipitor for a reason.

thanks for the tour, russ. and the free t-shirt.