Before and after takeoff

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After feeling very relaxed after a spa session at the Rosewood Sand Hill, we had a few hours to kill before our evening flight home.  While we could have ventured out for a nice dinner somewhere, the easiest thing to do seemed to be staying for yet another meal at Madera.

Grape and almond gazpacho

Potato leek soup, Yukon Gold potatoes, pickled pearl onions 

Liberty Farms duck breast, cranberry beans, Brentwood corn, Nantes carrots, Sherry - the duck was pretty good, and the sweet corn purée was nice.

2010 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - smoky, graphite, minty, almost green peppers but with sweet fruit underneath.  A little alcoholic on the nose, but pretty nice.  Showed better after opening up for more than half an hour.

As I boarded my flight at SFO, staff at the gate informed me that I had been upgraded to First Class since it was my anniversary (18th year, apparently) for joining the Marco Polo Club.  Thinking that Champagne and caviar are a necessary part of the First Class experience, of course I ordered it up after takeoff, even though I had already eaten dinner...

2007 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne - wonderfully toasty nose, very fine mousse, soft and rounded on the palate, then lots of depth with a long finish.

The caviar came with blinis, crème fraîche, and minced egg white/yolk.

So the source is Kaluga Queen, and it's schrenkii dauricus.

The grain was fairly small, but thankfully it wasn't very salted, and tasted more rich and creamy.

Just for the hell of it, I asked for the stir-fried lobster with ginger and scallions, Chinese-style.  This wasn't bad.  And the kailan (芥蘭) was OK, too.