AustinMT

Popeye’s used to be great — right up until the holding company that owns Burger King bought the chain a couple of years ago

At Stanley's, hard for me to pass on the 4 -meat combo plate ("Meat only, no sides")

There are a number of places on Broadway that you can go in under 21, including Bluebird Cafe. Several restaurant/bar places as well on Broadway. Some places limit it to 21+ after certain hours. It will be fun just to walk up and down, pop in a few places, and see what a ****show it is Country Music Hall of Fame is nice as well

Farmstead is good, as other have said. Others in St Helena: Market, Goose & Gander, Brasswood (Italian),Press (steak). For quick sandwiches between wineries: Sunshine Market, Giugni WF & Sons Wineries: Revana is between St Helena and Calistoga. We like Dr. Revana’s wines, and the property is really nice. Calistoga area: Jericho Canyon (cool place with terraced vineyards and good wine. Ask to tour the vineyards in the ATVs), Perliss (small production place but really great wine. Aaron Pott is the winemaker on the cab, and consults on their others). VIneyardist (Diamond Mountain) —cab only, but amazing wine, though pricey. And Seven Stones — also between ST Helena and Calistoga — great cab/Aaron Pott wine, and beautiful property.

The Traeger does make it easy to throw on pretty much anything on a regular basis, so it gets a lot of use

I feel like i spend a lot of money on wine. Clearly I'm an amateur Not that bad. Apart from 3 that are 6-packs and one case, the rest are 3 packs, and ordered over several months. It’s just that the shipping all gets concentrated these days

Last 2-3 weeks have been crazy. Memento Mori, Immortal, Scarecrow M. Etain, Benediction, SHibumi Knoll, Pott, Vineyardist, Kelly Fleming, Peter Michael, and La Pelle, Still to come: Piper, more Pott (better stuff), Seven Stones, Arkenstone, Mascot, William & Mary, and some library Krupp I was able to get. My receptionist is getting tired of this...

I gave up my man card and got my "lazy ass want to put on the brisket and go back to sleep in 15 minutes" card

Had a Traeger for 5+ years and never had an issue with the auger feed.

You're right. They might be reaching for Dickie's.

He said “decent” BBQ joint. Bill Miller’s doesn’t reach that level.

Restaurant Rebirth, in the Warehouse district. The NO Art Museum and sculpture garden is actually really nice And sorry for your loss as well

You mean like going to the concession stand as a kid and ordering a “Suicide?”

Yeah -- so what they've done now is move most of their production to Solano County (next door to Napa) so they can continue to churn out massive quantities.

FYI -- it' s not just that some people don't like the wines; the Wagner family is notorious for over-producing.

What I meant was their chicken sucks now. Used to be great.

Popeye’s apparently ran out of chicken a long time ago, based on my last few times I went there. Not sure what the things are they are serving now.

Moon landing was fake.

We go outa couple of times a year. We really like staying in St. Helena. It os mid-valley so convenient to a lot of areas. It is also less crowded and much more low-key than the city of Napa. If you want some suggestions on hotels, restaurants and wineries let me know. Late February will actually be a goo d time because it is low season, so you should have plenty of options.

Is it this or is it that so many other great places have opened up that the 'que, though maybe really the same, just doesn't stand out as much anymore?

Hitch-n-Post in Livingston. It’s a Top 50.

Allocation/shipment season is starting! What are you getting? My list: Piper, Pott, Seven Stones, Immortal, Memento Mori, Harlan Mascot, Scarecrow M. Etain, Vineyardist, Arkenstone, William & Mary, La Pelle, Peter Michael, Kelly Fleming, Young Inglewood, Brand, Shibumi Knoll I need serious help...

Nothing wrong with WSM. I just like being able to set the digital temp control and not have to worry about the temp.

Yes. Had one for about 5 years. Early on, I was a little disappointed with the temperature control, which seemed to fluctuate too much. They came out with an upgraded controller, which I bought and installed, and it’s been great (keeps the temps in a tight range). It is on the new models so it won’t be an issue for you. I call it the lazy man’s smoker. Easy to use, easy to get up, throw on the meat, and go back to bed. Couple it with a good remote thermometer and it’s basically idiot proof. I am comfortable leaving the house if I need to do so even for an extended period. It’s also great for just putting a low temp smoke on meats then searing them. You can’t get it as hot as, say, a BGE, but you can buy sear plates that work pretty well to increase the direct heat for searing. Even without that the high setting will cook whatever you need, you just won’t get the classic grill marks with the sear plates. I will never go back to an offset, but, hey, I’m lazy. Been looking at upgrading to the new Timberline model.