Are you a jaded diner? In today's power-packed culinary world, many people are lucky enough to visit four and five star restaurants as a matter of course. Twenty years ago, for example, dining at a top restaurant would be because of a celebration, a birthday perhaps, or an anniversary.

In big cities, particularly New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles, executives often dine out every night in celebrity chef restaurants in the course of business. However, when envious spouses ask what they enjoyed, the executives often can't recall - they were too busy deal-making.

Happily, jaded diners can get in touch with their inner foodie at The Restaurant in the luxurious Meadowood Resort in California's Napa Valley. A jaded diner myself, I generally prefer to order a la carte, select my own wines and, in New York fashion, take personal control over my dining experience.

Perhaps there is something about the tranquility of this peaceful resort, or curiosity about new chef Christopher Kostrow (awarded two Michelin stars when he was at the helm of Chez TJ in Mountain View) that motivated me to order the multi-course tasting menu and leave my wine pairing in the capable hands of young, but highly professional sommelier Rom Toulon.

As you can imagine for a tasting menu that is $130 for food alone, the ingredients are quite luxurious. Starting plates included cold smoked toro & Osetra caviar, foie gras and apple, and citrus cured Spanish mackerel served with a very curious (and delicious) olive oil ice cream. Savory lobster and sweetbread was accompanied by Hedgehog mushrooms in a froth of a sauce, followed by the mains of crispy confit of suckling pig accented with maple syrup, and poached grass fed beef.

The pairings (an additional $90, with a different wine pairing virtually every dish) were fabulous and in my view, generous. 2006 Pierre Gaillard Le Secret Ivre was a personal favorite, a delicious flavorful wine with heady vanilla accents that paired excellently with the lobster. I also enjoyed 2005 Domaine Vincent Girardin Saint-Aubin 1er Cru. Of course, there is no real point in listing all the wines sommelier Rom personally selected to accompany our meal because when you dine here, the menu — and your wine pairings — will likely be different.