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The WINE WRITER: George Medovoy

ROMANTIC LODGING COMPLEMENTS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WINE TRIPS
By George Medovoy

MILL VALLEY, CALIF. -- In all my years of searching for romantic lodging to match winery tours in Northern California, I've found more than my share of
special hotels.

Two of my latest finds are both small hotels with plenty of local color to make for memorable sojourns.

One is here in Mill Valley, the charming Marin County town 20 miles north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. The other is in the heart of San Francisco itself.

Pick either one, or divide your time between the two -- I think you'll
fall in love with both of them.

The Mill Valley Inn takes its name from the town of Mill Valley, long known as a mecca for artists and writers and for good food and wine.

The town is also a base for bike rides and hikes through nearby national parklands and treks to wineries and beaches.

Located a block away from Lytton Square, the town's bustling town center, the Mill Valley Inn has 25 rooms in three separate settings: a distinctive Mediterranean building, a rustic Creek House -- and two alpine-like cottages tucked away in a shady grove of California redwoods.

We opted for one of the inn's cottages and weren't disappointed. The lodging offered all the rusticity you could wish for, including a foot bridge over a creek just outside our front door, but inside were distinctive California furnishings, including a big, comfy bed, a TV, and a bathroom with shower.

In our cottage we could "escape," if you will, to the woods or, if we
preferred, walk a block away to Lytton Square, a lively place filled with small shops, restaurants and cafes, and the wonderful Depot Bookstore -- a town hangout with a cafe that fronts onto the square.

But as lively and as urbane as Lytton Square may be, there is the
ever-present feel of being in an alpine setting because of the
redwood-studded hills which surround the town.

One of the best times of the day at the Mill Valley Inn is morning, when complimentary breakfast is served on the Sun Terrace overlooking Mill Valley's rooftops.

There's fresh fruit, cereal and pastries, along with juices, coffee and
tea, plenty of sunshine -- and the morning paper.

You'll find a variety of good choices for dinner nearby. We tried Piazza D'Angelo, a big Italian place filled with people of all ages, including parents, children and grandparents, who gave the restaurant a nice, warm feeling.

We also liked where the Italian-accented maitre d' seated us: near the desserts, including a bevy of strawberry mousse topped with fresh strawberries.

The menu has everything from grilled monk fish medallion wrapped with panchetta in a lobster tomato sauce, to grilled rack of lamb, calabrian sausage and veal scaloppini in a demi glace sauce.

There is also an extensive wine list, including Italian and California
varieties.

For example, we found Italian reds like a 1994 Crociani Vino Nobile
di Montepulciano and a 1995 Ornellaia, Bolgheri; plus a sparkling wine like the 1993 Rotari Riserva.

We sampled a 1995 Sonoma County Golden Creek Reserve Cabernet and liked the distinctive plum and black currant flavors.

If you go in for French cooking, there's El Paseo -- which is not to be mistaken for a Spanish restaurant.

Every June the annual Mill Valley Wine and Gourmet Food Tasting is held here, offering over 70 California varietals and tempting gourmet foods to sample.

With its reputation for the arts, the town hosts the Mill Valley
Fall Arts Festival in September at Old Mill Park. The event features arts and crafts, entertainment and food, plus a children's area.

And don't forget the annual Mill Valley Film Festival, which takes place in October, with a variety of film screenings and a children's film festival.

Mill Valley also offers a variety of great parks, including the Marin
Headlands to the south, Muir Woods National Monument on the west, and Mt. Tamalpais State Park and the Mt. Tamalpais watershed on the north.

Nearby is Stinson Beach, which lies to the west of Mill Valley. We took a drive there along a winding road that cuts through the Muir Woods.

It was a windy day, but still pleasant enough to walk along the shoreline and watch someone's kite catching the powerful wind drifts....

Our second recommendation for places to stay during your Northern California wine outing is one of San Francisco's true gems -- the historic Archbishop's Mansion in the city's Alamo Square neighborhood.

In 1904, two years before the San Francisco earthquake, Alamo Square was San Francisco's most fashionable location.

As the city gradually changed from a Gold Rush town to a powerful
commercial and social center, Archbishop Patrick Riordan, San Francisco's second archbishop, busied himself building churches, schools and hospitals.

In 1904 he also built himself an imposing official residence at the
corner of Fulton and Steiner Streets.

Modeled after a French belle epoch chateau, the residence became a symbol of the church's prominence in San Francisco's religious and social life.

And thanks to its solid construction, the chateau also withstood the terrible earthquake of 1906.

Thanks, indeed, because today visitors can enjoy the residence in its metamorphosis as The Archbishop's Mansion, an elegant small hotel in the center of the city.

On a recent visit, we discovered one visual delight after another in the venerable mansion...like the ornate French-style parlor topped by a chandelier once used in the film classic "Gone with the Wind," and a 1904 Bechstein baby grand piano once owned by none other than Noel Coward.

The spacious dining room, with its large mahogany table, can accommodate up to 50 people.

And heat? Well, in addition to modern heating, the mansion offers a total of 18 fireplaces to keep you warm -- while adding plenty of atmosphere, too.

But the most dramatic trapping of all is the wide mahogany staircase, at the top of which is an original oval-leaded skylight that lets in the warmth and glow of sunny San Francisco mornings.

Once seen in the PBS television series "Tales of the City," the mansion has 15 spacious rooms and five suites, and with its close proximity to the San Francisco Opera House at the other end of Fulton, every room and suite bears the name of a well-known opera.

Thus, you could find yourself occupying the "Don Giovanni" or, as in our case, the "Cosi Fan Tutti."

The latter comes with a sitting room and fireplace, French doors that lead into a bedroom with an ornately-crafted four-poster bed, and, finally, one of those big, airy bathrooms so common in the 19th century.

From the bay window, there's an incomparable view of Alamo Square Park. We ventured over to the park and imagined the 12.7-acre area the way it was after the earthquake -- as a tent city offering refuge to the many poor souls who had lost their homes to the earthquake.

We could allow our imagination to wander even more to a time when the park area was known as Alamo Hill -- and local Indians delighted in its spectacular surrounding views.

Today, Alamo Park offers not only a view of the modern city, but tennis courts and pathways, too. Several live springs still exist.

From the park, we walked to a sloping section of the 700 block of Steiner Street, between Grove and Hayes, to gaze at San Francisco's famous "Painted Ladies" -- those elegant Victorian homes nestled beneath the city's modern skyline.

The Archbishop's Mansion will provide guests with a printed, self-guided tour of nearby Victorians, including nine of the city's most elegant mansions.

For example: Chateau Tivoli, a four-story brown-green-and-turquoise home at 1057 Steiner, described as "a fairy-tale Victorian" with a dizzying mix of cupolas, witches-hat bowers, balconies and gabled roofs, friezes and curlicues.

John Mahoney, who built the St. Francis and Sheraton Palace Hotels, lived in the Tivoli for a time.

In the 1920's, the White Russian consulate purchased it and opened a Russian restaurant in the basement called "Dark Eyes."

The structure's most unusual occupant, though, was a magician who burned 500 candles continually in its tower room!

Back at the Archbishop's Mansion, it was time for Saturday afternoon wine and cheese, as the innkeeper announced with a flourish: "Without further delay, I will bring the wine service out."

And soon after the wine and cheese, he walked over to the 1904 Bechstein baby grand and turned it on.

You could almost hear the words to a wonderful old melody: "You must remember this...a kiss is just a kiss..."

IF YOU GO:

The Mill Valley Inn and the Archbishop's Mansion are two of the
unique Joie de Vivre Northern California hotels, which have developed a reputation for unusual, one-of-a-kind lodging.

For information, call 1-800-738-7477 or visit www.sftrips.com.

The Mill Valley Inn is located at 165 Throckmorton Ave. in the center of Mill Valley's bustling restaurant, cafe and shopping area.

The Archbishop's Mansion is located at 1000 Fulton St. in San
Francisco, half a mile from Golden Gate Park and less than three miles from Ghirardelli Square.

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