More from Napa Valley

Hey there, Darryl Mickler checking in from Napa Valley.

Yesterday was a full day of seminars at the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone. This facility was set up in 1995 in the old Christian Brother's Winery to provide continuing education opportunities from professional chefs and food service professionals. I heard some great ideas inspired by the cuisines of Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean.

Today started with a tour of experimental farms and orchards run by the State of California, the University of California at Davis and USDA. While at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard, I had the pleasure of sampling 10 different varieties of fresh figs and more than 12 types of table grapes; trying these products fresh off the tree was an amazing flavor experience.

This area of California offers perfect growing conditions for many products and these experimental farm and orchards do an incredible job of both preserving the past and creating new items for the future.

At the Davis Repository, there are over 5,000 samples representing about 15 genera and over 175 species of fruit and nut crops. It was incredible to see the vast diversity of fruit species from grapes, plums, cherries, peaches and apricots. These plants are preserved here, researched and are made available to public and private researchers and growers worldwide.

I am looking forward to taking back all of this great information to the kitchen to see how we can implement these great flavors into the great recipes we come up with for your local Red Lobster's.

Thanks for stopping by the chef's blog and we look forward to seeing you back here soon. And don't forget to stop by your local Red Lobster and see what's fresh today.