Living in San Francisco and deciding to travel to the midwest for New Years was a very frigid and snowy idea. It didn’t help that I was recovering from a cold, either. Nonetheless, wind, snow, bitter cold, and sickness couldn’t stop me from making our reservations at Alinea. I had it on good foodie friend authority…
Sydney, Wednesday 12/4/13, Lunch at Manly Ocean Foods My friend from Australia couldn’t remember the name of this place, but she strongly urged me to take the ferry from Circular Quay (that’s “Key”, not “Kway”) to Manly Beach and walk down the mall to find her favorite spot for fish & chips. Via Facebook Messenger,…
Lessons learned in Italy: Buy bus tickets at tobacco (tobacchi) shops, which is especially important in Rome where you shouldn’t expect to find good trams or subways When you see fixtures in Rome that look like fire hydrants but with a spout like a faucet that is always on, use your finger to plug the…
Wynn/Encore, MGM Grand, and Bellagio (Picasso) 10/2012 My first time ever in Vegas wasn’t until my late 20’s for a work conference at The Wynn. Within just over a year, I had been back another 4 times… On recommendation of my boss, I booked a room at The Encore to keep a small buffer between…
My first experiences with food in Korea came in the form of one of the many nameless kimbap restaurants lining the streets in Suwon where the menu is a list of 10 items hung on the wall and Grandma Korea laughs while the two gyopo try to decipher what and how to order. My cousin…
My first Euro trip involved stops at 15 cities in 6 countries, and it was one hell of a ride. Lessons Learned Included: Driving a manual (or any) car, with or without GPS, around Ireland means you will barely make it to any of your destinations in twice the expected time, especially when alone (no…
Since it’s not always proper to take pictures of your food during a business dinner, I wasn’t able to fully capture a reception at Fasskeller im Auerbachskeller, which claims to be the most famous and 2nd oldest restaurant in Leipzig and is supposedly where Goethe frequented in his time there. The food was a buffet…
Wednesday 4/1/2015, Dinner at Din Tai Fung This well-reputed dim sum restaurant chain has locations around the world, but it is originally from Taipei. A couple business trips took me to Taipei where we stayed right across the street from the Taipei 101, which housed a Din Tai Fung and is just down the road…
A brief post on a few spots I found when I stayed in Saratoga while on one of many business trips to Glens Falls NY. Glens Falls vs. Saratoga Glens Falls itself is pretty limited for food, especially in the winter, and seems to shut down around 7pm – not conducive to long working days.…
Saturday 3/10/12, Lunch at Shake Shack (Madison Square Park) After seeing Something Borrowed on a plane, Shake Shack wound up on my radar. It was a bit chilly to be eating outside in NYC, but nonetheless there were still plenty of people in line at this original location even at an odd mid-afternoon hour. Once through…
My final post on the Minneapolis theme is for the most stand-out and unique experience the Twin Cities has to offer. I have yet to find anything elsewhere that is like it. Travail originally was located in the current Pig Ate My Pizza spot. They shut down in April 2013, before I was able to make…
The much anticipated Eat Street Social, the Eat Street cousin to Joe Wagner and Sam Bonin’s Northeast Social, was widely covered in local media and quickly gained acclaim, especially for its cocktails. You can thank Nick Kosevich and and Ira Koplowitz, founders of Bittercube Bitters, for that. That’s probably why they decided to expand and opened the Torpedo Room a…
Butcher and the Boar burst onto the scenes in Spring of 2012 and was named Restaurant of the Year by local press in December. Chef Jack Riebel, formerly of La Belle Vie and Dakota Jazz Club, did quite well before leaving the restaurant in early 2014, originally for the collaboration with Joe Kaplan (Joe’s Garage)…
Even though I spent most of 4 years in the neighborhood of this next restaurant and even had heard great things about it back then, I didn’t make it here until the summer of 2013. While it doesn’t get a much attention from the press, Restaurant Alma’s Alex Roberts won City Pages Best Chef 2008…
A quick post for a long-standing local stand-by. Muddy Waters was originally a coffee shop located in the LynLake neighborhood. A few years ago in 2011 it was reinvented and turned into a more complete watering hole, adding a liquor license and full food menu, widely covered by local media. Venue The interior is mostly dark…
Gastronomic Portions 