Tonight's Hotel Cheval Indulgence

Following four days of grueling Gem Faire action with less-than-usual culinary "cutting loose" I needed a break from the mostly monastic living (with the exceptions of breakfasts at Petros in Los Olivos and Anderson's in Santa Barbara) before resuming a more ascetic lifestyle myself (but for very different reasons than my boss). Earlier this evening I elected to indulge my craving for a nice glass of wine for a mere $7 (their two-hour happy hour deal makes that the price of ALL glasses of wine they serve) at Hotel Cheval here in downtown Paso Robles, CA. Having never tasted it before I selected the Dark Star Cellars zinfandel (I believe this is a 2009 vintage) and I loved it. I also splurged even more and ordered my own $16 cheese plate with all the fixings. I fully intended to make this my dinner.  It turned out to be a delicious accompaniment for my wine. However, it did not fill me up as would typically be the case as I was watching the Food Channel (or other similar "foodie" cable network) playing on the large television in the wine bar the whole time I was there. Ultimately, I could not resist walking into Mission Pizza on the way home and having some all-you-can eat pizza slices before ambling home a few blocks away. Anywho, for $28  (including a generous tip) I felt I got a bargain considering the quality of the ambiance, wine, food, and servers (Jessica gave me a lesson on TCA and Travis and I talked movies and music). Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).